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Mi Fu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In this Chinese name, the family name is Mi.

Mi Fu
Mi Fu as depicted in a 1107 painting by Chao Buzhi
Chinese name
Chinese米芾
Traditional Chinese米芾
Simplified Chinese米芾
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinMǐ Fú
Wade–GilesMi Fu
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingMei5 Fat1
Middle Chinese
Middle ChineseMieiB Pjwǝt
Korean name
Hangul미불
Transcriptions
McCune–ReischauerMi Bul
Japanese name
Hiraganaべいふつ
Transcriptions
RomanizationBei Futsu

Mi Fu (Chinese: 米芾; 1051–1107)[1] was a Chinese painter, poet, calligrapher, and art theorist during the Early Song Dynasty. Born in Taiyuan, he is known for his misty landscape paintings, which employed broad, wet ink dots applied with a flat brush. This technique, later known as the "Mi Fu Style", significantly influenced Chinese painting. His poetry was inspired by Li Bai, and his calligraphy by Wang Xizhi.[2]

Mi Fu is considered one of the four most influential calligraphers of the Song dynasty, along with Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and Cai Xiang. His major works include Zhang Jiming Tie (張季明帖), Li Taishi Tie (李太師帖), Zijin Yan Tie (紫金研帖), and Danmo Qiushan Shitie (淡墨秋山詩帖). Among these, Shu Su Tie (蜀素帖), also known as Nigu Shitie (擬古詩帖), is an important work in running script calligraphy. Mi Fu described his calligraphy as "a collection of ancient characters", indicating his style was rooted in tradition, yet he developed distinctive features. His artistic style was also adopted by his son, Mi Youren, who became known for interpreting his father's techniques, particularly the use of large, wet ink dots, known as "Mi Dots".[3]

Beyond his artistic achievements, Mi Fu was known for his eccentricity and fastidiousness.[3] His fascination with collecting unusual stones was a distinctive trait, contributing to his epithet "Madman Mi". Later biographical accounts mention his occasional indulgence in wine.

Biography

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Mountains and Pines in Spring (detail), National Palace Museum (Taipei)

Some historical sources trace Mi Fu's ancestry to Mi Xin, a Later Zhou and Early Song Dynasty general associated with the Kumo Xi, a tribe believed to have descended from the Xianbei.[4][5] Some scholars suggest his family may have had distant Sogdian heritage, though this is debated. The surname "Mi" may have Sogdian origins, coinciding with a period when Sogdian merchants and settlers formed communities within China.[6][7]

Mi Fu showed an early interest in arts and letters and possessed strong memory skills. His mother worked as a midwife and later as a wet-nurse, looking after the Emperor Shenzong.[8] This connection led Mi Fu to spend part of his early life in the royal court.[9]

He began his civil service career as Reviser of Books in the imperial library. He then served in three posts outside the capital of Kaifeng, in Henan province. In 1103, he was appointed as a Doctor of Philosophy and served briefly as the Military Governor of Wuwei in Anhui province.[8]

In 1104, he returned to the capital to serve as Professor of Painting and Calligraphy, later being appointed as Secretary to the Board of Rites. His final post was as Military Governor of Huaiyang.[8]

Mi Fu collected old writings and paintings as his family wealth diminished.[citation needed] His collection grew in value, partly through inheritance. His collection was arranged in two parts: one kept secret and shown only to a select few, and another shown to guests.[citation needed]

In his later years, Mi Fu became fond of Holin Temple (located on Yellow Crane Mountain (黃鶴樓)) and requested to be buried at its gate. Although the temple is gone, his grave remains.[10]

Mi Fu had five sons, of whom only two survived infancy, and eight daughters.[8] His elder son, Mi Youren, was also a Chinese calligrapher.

Historical background

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Mi Fu Memorial Temple in Xiangyang

Following the rise of landscape painting, creative activities expanded to include other subjects such as religious figures, birds, flowers, and bamboo. These artistic pursuits were undertaken by educated men, often officials or those of independent means, for whom painting was not a profession but a means of expressing their connection to life and nature. Poetry and illustrative writing were highly valued. Despite being skilled in ink painting and calligraphy, they generally avoided the status of professional artists and became known as "gentleman-painters" (Chinese: 文人画 (wénrén huà)). Artistic occupations like calligraphy and painting were seen as leisure activities separate from official duties or practical occupations. Their technical skill was rooted in writing and calligraphy, which allowed them to convey ideas through symbols of nature as easily as in conventional characters. This art became a personal form of expression, later described as "idea-writing". The beauty of this art was associated with the visible ease of production, an ease achieved through intense training and contemplation.[citation needed]

Mi Fu is considered one of these gentleman-painters. His artistic observation, sense of humor, and literary ability have been noted. His approach was characterized by direct, first-hand observation, rather than relying on secondhand information.[clarification needed] Mi Fu often expressed his own views, even when they differed from prevailing beliefs or official opinions. His notes on painting and calligraphy are considered valuable by art historians for their spontaneous expression of his observations and independent ideas, which aid in understanding Mi Fu and the artists he wrote about.[citation needed]

Art

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Calligraphy by Mi Fu, ink on paper, collection of the Tokyo National Museum

Mi Fu is associated with the Southern School (南宗畫) of landscape painting, though the extent of his direct contributions remains debated. Several paintings are attributed to him, but scholars question their authenticity. While his contributions to landscape painting are noted, Mi Fu is primarily remembered for his calligraphy and his influence as an art critic and writer.[citation needed]

For Mi Fu, writing or calligraphy was connected with composing poetry or sketching. He believed an alertness of mind for these activities was best achieved through the enjoyment of wine. Su Shi (蘇軾) admired Mi Fu and wrote that his brush was like a sharp sword or a bow that could shoot an arrow a thousand li.[citation needed]

Critics claimed Mi Fu could imitate the styles of calligraphers from the Six Dynasties. Mi Fu's son testified that his father always kept a calligraphic masterpiece from the Tang or the Qin period in his desk as a model, placing it in a box at the side of his pillow at night.[citation needed]

According to some writings,[which?] Mi Fu did most of his paintings during the last seven years of his life. He wrote that he "chose as his models the most ancient masters and painted guided by his own genius and not by any teacher and thus represented the loyal men of antiquity."[citation needed]

Paintings attributed to Mi Fu depict wooded hills or cone-shaped mountain peaks rising out of layers of mist. Bodies of water and clusters of dark trees may appear in the foreground. One example often cited as being in the "Mi Fu style" is a picture in the Palace Museum known as Spring Mountains and Pine-Trees. It is the size of a large album-leaf and has a poem at the top said to be added by Emperor Gaozong of Song.[citation needed]

Many paintings attributed to Mi Fu are likely imitations from the Southern Song period or possibly the Yuan period, when some painters utilized the manner of Mi Fu to express their own ideas. Many may date from the later part of the Ming period when a cult of personality around Mi Fu developed among followers who viewed him as an important representative of the Southern School. Mi Fu himself saw many imitations and noted wealthy amateurs spending money on famous names rather than original works of art, writing that they "place their pictures in brocade bags and provide them with jade rollers as if they were very wonderful treasures, but when they open them one cannot but break out into laughter."[citation needed]

Poems in Wuzi's Boat (Part), ink on paper, private collection in New York

Mi Fu's manner of painting has been characterized by writers who knew it through observation or hearsay. He is said[who?] to have always painted on paper not prepared with gum or alum (alauns) instead of silk, and he never painted on the wall. In addition to using a brush, Mi Fu also utilized paper sticks, sugar cane, or a calyx (kauss) of a lotus.[citation needed]

Mi Fu was principally a landscape painter, though he also created portraits and figure paintings. He likely spent more time studying samples of ancient calligraphy and paintings than producing his own work.[citation needed] His book Huashi ("History of Painting") contains hints as to the proper way of collecting, preserving, cleaning, and mounting pictures.[11]

See also

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Citations

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  1. ^ Barnhart: 373. He was born with the name 米黻, also pronounced Mi Fu. His courtesy name was Yuanzhang (元章) with several sobriquets: Nangong (南宮), Lumen Jushi (鹿門居士), Xiangyang Manshi (襄陽漫士), and Haiyue Waishi (海岳外史)
  2. ^ 脱脱 (June 1985). 宋史·列傳·卷二〇三 [History of the Song Dynasty, Biographies, Volume 203] (in Chinese). Zhonghua Book Company. ISBN 9787101003239.
  3. ^ a b Sturman, Peter Charles (1997). Mi Fu: Style and the Art of Calligraphy in Northern Song China. Yale University Press. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-300-06569-5. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  4. ^ Sturman, Peter Charles (1997). Mi Fu. Yale University Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-300-06569-5.
  5. ^ Kessler, Adam Theodore (2012). Song Blue and White Porcelain on the Silk Road. Brill. p. 202. ISBN 9789004218598.
  6. ^ Kaikodo (Gallery : New York, N.Y.), Sarah Handler (1999). 懐古堂. LIT. p. 74. ISBN 9789627956204. Mi Fu (1052-1107), a Northerner by birth (and of Sogdian heritage) developed a passionate attachment to{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, Percival David Foundation of Modern Art (2003). McCausland, Shan (ed.). Gu Kaizhi and the Admonitions Scroll. British Museum Press. p. 143. ISBN 9780714124148. An eccentric character, Mi Fu reputedly was descended from Sogdian ancestry
  8. ^ a b c d "Mi Fu | Chinese Calligrapher, Painter & Poet | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
  9. ^ "Mi Fu's Revision and Innovation in Calligraphy by Adah Liana Hudson".
  10. ^ Red Pine. Poems of the Masters, p. 127. Copper Canyon Press 2003.
  11. ^ Ulrich Theobald (4 September 2013). "Huashi 畫史". www.chinaknowledge.de. Retrieved 31 March 2023.

General references

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  • Barnhart, R. M. et al. (1997). Three Thousand years of Chinese Painting. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07013-6. p. 373.
  • Rhonda and Jeffrey Cooper (1997). Masterpieces of Chinese Art. Todtri Productions. ISBN 1-57717-060-1. p. 76.
  • Xiao, Yanyi, "Mi Fu". Encyclopedia of China (Arts Edition), 1st ed.
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