Cultural Relics Description of Han Xizai's Night Banquet

Han Xizai's "The Night Banquet" is a masterpiece in China's painting history and one of the top ten famous paintings handed down from generation to generation in China. It depicts the scene of Han Xizai's family feasting, playing and having fun in a long scroll. In order to avoid the suspicion of Li Yu, the ruler of the late Southern Tang Dynasty, Han Xizai took lewdness as his hiding place. Every time he holds a big banquet, he likes to swim with the guests. This picture depicts the whole process of a banquet in Hanfu. This long scroll has accurate and smooth lines, exquisite workmanship and expressive force. Elegant color, layered and unique.

China's porcelain is the quintessence of China since ancient times, which can be described as inheriting the culture of China for 5,000 years. As early as 6000 years ago, during the Yangshao culture period, ceramics had become attached to wine, and ceramic jars and wine glasses appeared. Since then, the relationship between wine and ceramics has been closely linked and has been accompanied to this day. During the Song Dynasty, secular life was rich and colorful, and drinking was prevalent. Different classes, whether literati or ordinary people, are wonderful. Among the existing kiln mouth utensils in the Song Dynasty, wine vessels account for a very large proportion, mainly including bottles, cans, pots, cups, bowls, cans, jars, etc., which reflects the importance of wine in the Song Dynasty in people's lives.

Drinking has become an indispensable part of life, and it is of course necessary to drink and have fun in various festivals. Especially in winter, it is a good time to warm up and drink around the stove. Not only literati, but also ordinary citizens are keen on drinking, and even women enjoy drinking. In the Song Dynasty, women had the habit of going out to play and eating in restaurants on the Cold Food Festival, the winter solstice and New Year's Eve. According to ancient records, on the first day of November of the lunar calendar, "people will buy wine heaters", and the palace will have a feast in case of snow. When enjoying the snow, "lambs will give wine". It seems that nothing is important except drinking and having fun all winter.

Of course, you have to drink warm wine on snowy days, so the ancients invented a special wine container, a warm hip flask. The biggest producing area of warm hip flask should be the kilns in Jiangxi and Fujian, especially the Hutian kiln products in Jingdezhen. The earliest recorded picture of a warm hip flask should be Han Xizai's Night Banquet, written by Gu of the Five Dynasties. Popular in the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Mengyuan's "Tokyo Dream" also recorded: "The average person is extravagant and the measurement is slightly wider. If you don't invite people in the hotel, you have to use a pair of bowls, two sets of dishes, five fruits and vegetables, and three or five fruit bowls, which is nearly a hundred taels of silver. "

Each part of the picture scroll is cleverly separated by screens, boxes, orchestral instruments, beds and so on. It is just right to be independent and contact back and forth.

In order to be suitable for desk viewing, the author divides the development process of the event into five related and divided pictures. The composition of the composition and the gathering and dispersion of the characters are good, and the scene is dynamic and quiet. The portrayal of Han Xizai is particularly prominent. It appears repeatedly in the picture, either front or side, or moving or static, depicting subtly and vividly. Among the many roles, he is detached and generous, but there is no smile on his face. Under the contrast of joy, he reveals his inner depression and depression more deeply, which makes the characters have the nature of portrait painting in the plot painting. The whole painting is neat and delicate, and the line drawing is accurate and elegant. Characters often use bright colors such as scarlet, light blue, light green and orange, while indoor furnishings, tables and chairs, bed curtains often use dignified colors such as black gray and dark brown, which set off each other, highlight the characters and give the picture a calm and elegant meaning.

Han Xizai's Night Banquet was written by Gu, a great painter of the Five Dynasties. This picture scroll is not only a picture depicting private life, but more importantly, it reflects the customs of that particular era. Thanks to the author's careful observation, he never misses a detail, vividly portraying Han Xizai's life scene, and all the characters in the picture are lifelike. In this masterpiece, there are more than forty characters with different expressions, which appear repeatedly like montage, with outstanding personality and natural expressions. Han xizai's Night Banquet vividly reflects the life scene of the ruling class at that time from one aspect of life. With amazing observation and profound understanding of the protagonist's fate and thoughts, the painter created this masterpiece that deserves our eternal recollection.

The whole volume is divided into five sections, and each section is separated by a screen.

The first paragraph: Listen to the pipa.

It depicts the scene where Han Xizai and the guests are listening to the pipa. The painter focuses on the moment when the performance has just begun and the audience atmosphere is concentrated. The spirit and sight of each character in the painting are concentrated in the hands of the pipa girl, with compact structure and concentrated characters. However, the expression of people holding their breath made the scene very quiet. From this pipa player's hand, it seems that there are wonderful and crisp notes that shock the audience's eardrums and capture their inner feelings. According to their different identities and ages, painters depict their different postures, personalities and expressions, showing the author's extraordinary painting skills. There are seven men and five women in this passage, some of whom are real people. The pipa player is the sister of Jiao Fang's deputy envoy Li Jiaming. Li Jiaming left her and turned his head to her. The one in red was the charm of Champion Lang. Another student of Han, you, Lan, prostitute and Shan.

The second paragraph: group dance.

It depicts Han Xizai personally beating gongs and drums for maiko, and the atmosphere is warm and turbulent. One of the monks stretched out his finger, as if he had just clapped his hands, and stared at Han Xizai's drumming without looking at the maiko, revealing an embarrassed expression, which completely conformed to the specific expression of this particular character.

The third paragraph: intermittent interest

It depicts the rest scene in the middle of the banquet, and the characters are loosely arranged. Han Xizai, surrounded by the maids, lies on the back couch, washing his hands and talking to the maids. This is also a pause in the banquet plot shown in the whole picture, and the overall atmosphere is relaxed.

Fourth paragraph: Enjoy music alone.

The characters are dense, and the musicians' playing actions make people feel the high and rich harmony of wind music, which arouses the emotions of the appreciators. When the poetess played wind music, Han Xizai changed her casual clothes, sat cross-legged in a chair and talked to a maid. Female geisha who play music are arranged in a row, uneven and graceful, each with different dynamics, showing changes in unity, as if the picture is full of clear and pleasant music.

The fifth paragraph: Say goodbye.

The picture depicts the end of the banquet, some guests leave, and some reluctantly talk and laugh with the prostitutes, ending the whole picture. A complete picture is interwoven with a warm, cold, lingering and gloomy atmosphere. Han Xizai's reluctance to life is implied in "eating, drinking and living", which in turn strengthens his persistence and yearning for life.