Guhua Pinlu (Old Record of the Classifications of Painters)

-From the book

Chinese Art by Mary Tregear

A survey of ancient painting, Guhua Pinlu (Old Record of the Classifications of Painters) by Xie He, of the Sixth Century. In his introductory comments Xie He lists six points to consider in juding a painting:

1. Spirit Resonance, which means vitality ('Spirit' here seems to denote nervous energy which is to be transmitted from the artist through the brush into his work)

2. Bone Method, which means using the brush (this seems to be an allusion to an ancient tem dealing with anthroposcopy, the reading of character from the bone structure in the head and body)

3. Correspondence to the object, which means depicting the forms.

4. Suitability to type, which has to do with laying on of colour.

5. Division and planning, that is, placing and arranging.

6. Transmission by copying, that is, the copying of models.

Xie He says that the most important of these critical principles is the first, and that if this element is absent one need look no further. The very simplicity of this categorization has given rise to several interpretations among scholars. But it is generally aagreed that Xie He thought tha, having first confirmed the 'life' of the painting, one could then proceed to assess the quality of brushwork, composition, structure and likeness. The mention in Xie He's sixth principle of the importance of antiquity and ofthe need to imitate the ancients has led some students to consider these points as exhortations to painters, rather than as critical principles. However, the first five points seem designed as principles of art criticism or of connoisseurship for the collector.

Wu Daozi regarded as a magical painter, able to transmit actual life into his pictures, Wu produced wall paintings for temples and palaces, as well as hanging scrolls and handsrolls. He was believed to have executed paintings of horses which galloped away and of dragons which flew out ofthe picture over night, such was the feeling of life in his work. In this respect, he must have been the embodiment of a certain aspect of Xie He's first principle. His line was apparently calligraphic, thick and thin, nervous and energetic, expressing life within the line as does the hand of many a great draughtsman (and product designer hehe. )