Zhou Fang was a painter of many talents. According to Famous Paintings Record of Past Dynasties and Xuanhe Collection of Paintings, he was particularly good at painting Qiluo Characters and a specialist on portraits. He was also an accomplished religious painter. His the Relaxed Mother Buddhisattva of Water and Moon is a fine example of his accomplishments in this regard. The Huizong emperor of the Song Dynasty was a keen collector of his works, particularly his paintings on court ladies. Today we only know many of his paintings through the copies of the Huizong emperor. The aesthetic conception of the Court Ladies with Fans is very similar to Preparing for the Newly Woven Silk. But the busy working scene of Preparing for the Newly Woven Silk has been replaced with a contrasting leisurely story of bored courting ladies. There are sixteen of them in the painting, through their individual postures and related activities, depicting vividly their sense of loneliness and melancholy in the imperial court. The court ladies portrayed by Zhoun Fang are more luxurious, dispirited and plump than most paintings of his time. Some, then and after his death, h, have criticised he went to too extreme to depict the Qiluo Characters to the extent of distortion and had ignored a basic aesthetic standard. However the aesthetic standard is influenced by the social values and perceptions of the period and his paintings are a reflection of the fashion and luxurious livings of a dynasty at its peak of prosperity. We can only admire his artistic talent. With the fall of its prosperity and the Empire itself eventually, this aesthetic standard and the fashion associated had gone for ever.
Han Huang (723 t0 787 AD) painted Five Buffalos and the masterpiece was considered as a “rare treasure of all periods” by artists and critics during the Yuan Dynasty. Han Huang was an amateur painter while his main occupations were agriculturist and court official. His speciality was countryside scenes, and farmers and farming animals. His Five Buffalos is painted on a long paper scroll and they are separately drawn, each with a unique vivid posture, grazing quietly along, running with head up, mooring with leg stretched, licking at back, and gently strolling along, and no figures on the painting. All of them look joyful and contented. The composition is balanced and proper ratio and perspective are followed. The sketch lines are simple and solid, and full of varieties. Color is light but depicting a strong sense of heaviness. The whole picture is splendid and lavishly beautiful, a delight to enjoy.
The emperor portraits by Yan Liben, and the fashionable Qiluo and Saddle Horse Characters displayed the newly found generosity and confidence of the great Tang Dynasty. In the Imperial Palanquin, we have discovered the grace, solemn and elegance of the imperial court and from the paintings of Zhang Xuan, Zhou Fang, Han Gan and Han Guang, we have witnessed the affluent and opulent living standard of aristocracy in particular and the general public at large. All of these depict a golden age of economic prosperity and artistic creativity.
