Red Mansion Reader

Chapter 41 On Painting
After eating the lunch brought back by Xue Biao, Chen Heng continued to copy on the white paper with a pen.Because it was going to be sold in the library, Chen Heng tried his best to write every word perfectly, and there should be no mistakes or alterations.So when he writes a few sentences, he will pause for a moment to let his hands and thoughts slow down.

Xue scorpion is unruly by nature, where you can see this.After only glancing at Chen Heng's words, he went to his seat to read some idle books.

A classmate hurriedly pushed the door open and came in, saw them and said, "Why are you still sitting here, hurry up, Cui Youdao and Du Yunjing are quarreling, let's watch the fun."

"Brother Jiang, what are they arguing about?" Xue Biao put down his book and looked at the visitor curiously.

This person's name is Jiang Yuanbai, he is just 11 years old this year, just the age he likes to watch fun, "Hahaha, you will know when you go. Brother Heng, why are you still sitting, stop writing."

When Chen Heng saw that he was coming to pull him, he immediately put away his pen, stood up helplessly and said, "Probably he was commenting on the other party's article again, and then he had a disagreement."

Jiang Yuanbai was willing to give him the time to continue to evade, so he took Chen Heng's hand and ran out.

This Cui Youdao and Du Yunjing don't know if they are born with bad characters.The two of them, one fourteen and one fifteen, still live in the same room, and they are also the top three in this government test.After so many chances and coincidences, I don't know how these two people got into such a situation that they didn't like each other.

Follow Jiang Yuanbai to the Tiren Hall, which is a single small building with its back to the lecture hall, where there are calligraphy, painting and calligraphy donated by salt merchants, as well as some treasures of the masters.

At the entrance of the Tiren Hall stands a stone tablet, engraved with the names of the salt merchants who donated tuition fees.The first name at the beginning was Feng Zhu whom Chen Heng had met once.

Chen Heng had no time to pay attention, when he was dragged into the hall, there were already many seniors standing there watching the excitement, among them were Cui Youdao and Du Yunjing.The two stood in front of a painting each, still arguing.

"I still think Qin Shangong's paintings are better. The peonies he painted are bold and unrestrained, and the colors are bright and bold." Cui Youdao pointed to his favorite painting and continued to make it famous, "Let's look at this cat again."

Everyone looked over, and saw a lifelike civet cat standing on a stone, poking its head out behind the peony, and its tail curled slightly, resting lightly on the peony branch.People can feel the lazy and comfortable demeanor of cihuamao just by looking at it.

Cui Youdao continued: "Master Xu and Master Mei have said that when appreciating and judging a painting, the first is the spirit, the second is the skeleton, and the third is the exquisiteness of transmission. Doesn't Qin Shangong's "Peony at Noon" take up a wonderful word everywhere?"

Everyone was stunned and nodded their heads in approval.

Since Du Yunjing is also a man of the academy, he naturally has his own set of arguments.It is definitely not the generation who makes a lot of trouble out of nothing.He also admitted that he nodded and said, "Qin Shangong's paintings are indeed very good. But you also mentioned the three methods of painting evaluation. If you really want to talk about spirit, bone image, and exquisite transmission, isn't Li Daizhao's better?"

Everyone turned their heads to look at Du Yunjing's painting on the platform again, and saw that the brushwork in the painting was also brilliant, with the meticulously painted peonies occupying most of it, and a half-standing raccoon cat standing under it, stretching its front paws to pounce on the butterfly in midair.

The delicacy of this painting, apart from the exquisite painting technique, is the change of light and shadow.

After Ouyang Xiu became famous for the picture of "Peony at Noon", it became a must-practice question for many painters and masters in later generations.Most of the painters of later generations set the light on the top of the drawing paper, combined with the changes of the cat's eyes to highlight it.

But the pair Du Yunjing likes does the opposite. First, he boldly moves the sunlight from the top to the side, and then uses the light and shadow changes on the butterfly wings to set off the raccoon cat standing sideways.Let everyone not only see the cat's eyes like a thread, but also feel the transition between movement and stillness through the butterfly.

Everyone has studied painting for half a month, so they can naturally tell the difference between good and bad.Just let them make a choice between the two, and they will inevitably fall into disputes between each other.

Jiang Yuanbai took advantage of everyone's argument and pulled Chen Heng and Xue Biao to talk about the cause of the incident.The painting that Cui Youdao likes has been placed in Tirentang for a long time.Du Yunjing likes this pair, I heard it was put on by Master Xu this morning.

Coincidentally, these two paintings are both "Peony at Noon".I think it is because of this that Master Xu put them together for students to comment on.

The authors of these two paintings are both well-known great painters in the Song Dynasty. The real name of Qinshan Gong is Ma Yuan, and Qinshan is his nickname.Li Daizhao is referring to Li Tang, because he was the waiter of the Song Dynasty Painting Academy.Later generations often call him: Li Daizhao.

I don't know how Cui Youdao and Du Yunjing, two sparks, collided to appreciate the painting.

After listening to Jiang Yuanbai's narration, Chen Heng couldn't help but nodded. He guessed what Master Xu meant, and hoped that the students could put the knowledge in their minds into practice by comparing the two famous paintings.

He also exchanged his views on them with the two classmates beside him.Chen Heng prefers the one Li Daizhao likes, while Jiang Yuanbai thinks Qin Monkey's painting is more vivid.Xue Tiao was on the side, smiling without saying a word.

Just when Jiang Yuanbai was about to ask, someone suddenly raised his hand and pointed in their direction.

"What's the use of everyone talking so much. Isn't the head of the government trial here? Chen Lang, come and tell everyone."

Chen Heng secretly screamed in his heart, how could I be involved in this kind of thing where the public says the public is right, and the mother-in-law says the woman is right.Just as he was about to pull away, the crowd in front of him had already parted into a lane, and at the end was Du Yunjing, who was staring at him covetously.

Seeing that Chen Heng was helpless, he had no choice but to step forward.Smiling wryly at the two of them, he said, "Both elder brothers, I am not good at appreciating paintings. I speak childishly. If there is something biased, please bear with me."

"It doesn't matter, Brother Heng, please be at ease. This is a matter of preference, each can speak freely." Cui Youdao smiled kindly.Du Yunjing, who was standing opposite him, just nodded, obviously agreeing with Cui Youdao's words, and taking advantage of the situation, he directly stepped aside to make room for Chen Heng to enjoy the painting.

Chen Heng stepped forward to observe the two paintings carefully. There were many classmates outside before, and there were many details that he didn't see clearly.Standing so close this time, he found some clues.

It's just that Chen Heng was still a little uncertain, so he found a tall senior and asked him to take down Li Daizhao's painting.After Chen Heng put it in his hand and looked at it carefully, he shook his head at Du Yunjing and the others and said, "I think we all got it wrong. This painting should not be the painting of Li Daizhao."

The crowd shouted loudly, and said one after another: With so many people standing, how could they be mistaken?Chen Lang should not be partial to Yun Yun.

Chen Heng also said frankly: "Everyone can still remember that when Master Xu talked about Li Daizhao, he said that in his later years, his painting style improved greatly, and he entered the realm from complexity to simplicity.

"Then the stones in this painting, don't they fit this point?" Someone retorted.

"Yes." Chen Heng nodded, but also stretched out his finger to point to the top, "But this is Li Daizhao's painting style in his later years. You can see that the seal used here is the one used by Li Daizhao when he was in the court in his early years."

When Chen Heng said this, Qian Dayou, who didn't know when he came, raised his hand excitedly in the crowd, "I know, I know. Master Xu said that this seal will no longer be used after Li Daizhao leaves the court."

It was only then that everyone understood what Chen Heng meant. After thinking about it carefully, Xu Jinhou had indeed said this.

At this point, there is no need to debate which painting is better.Chen Heng still turned to Du Yunjing and said: "If you really like the two paintings, I still like this imitation more. The beauty of the movement and stillness makes me feel that the raccoon cat will jump in front of me."

Du Yunjing suffered a lot in the midst of it, his face turned green and then pale, and he didn't reply to Chen Heng's words.He just looked at Cui You, who was always smiling, and said, "You found out a long time ago, didn't you?"

Therefore, there were noisy voices, and I don't know if Cui Youdao heard it clearly, but Chen Heng himself understood it.He turned his head to look at the former, Cui Youdao was still the same as before, squinting his eyes and smiling, his face full of kindness.

When Chen Heng turned his head to look at Du Yunjing again, Du Yunjing had already turned and walked out.

Xu Jinhou, who appeared from nowhere, walked up with a big smile, took the painting from Chen Heng, and said bluntly, "This painting was made by the family of the head of the mountain. As for the seal on it, I was the one who carved it and put it on."

Only then did everyone realize, "So everything is planned by you, Master Xu?"

Xu Jinhou laughed and said, "If you don't test you, how will you know how well you are studying? Those students who admitted their mistakes just now, copy all the main points I said last time, and leave them to me tomorrow."

Everyone panicked and didn't choose their way for a while, and they scattered like birds and beasts.Only Xu Jinhou chased after them and said, "It's useless to cover your face, I've been watching carefully. If anyone fails to hand in, be careful with my board."

Hey, it was not easy to study in ancient times.Chen Heng was lucky enough to escape, but there was a kind of sadness in his heart.These masters buried a hole in the east, hiding a trap.It really makes people read books carefully.

On the way back, Qian Dayou and Jiang Yuanbai were with them.Chen Heng suddenly remembered Xue Biao's appearance before, and asked, "Did you find out a long time ago?"

"I have the ability to see the seal clearly from such a distance." Xue Biao just waved his hand, disapprovingly said: "It's just Li Daizhao's "Noon Peony", which hangs in my father's study."

Qian Dayou and Jiang Yuanbai opened their mouths wide open, and suddenly understood what a wealthy family is.

"I'm so stupid." Qian Dayou looked up at the sky helplessly, "When you first entered school, I wanted to compare myself with you. Now that I think about it, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch up with you in a few lifetimes."

Jiang Yuanbai was only ten years old this year, and he only wondered from the sidelines: "Brother Qian, what's so difficult about it. As long as you pass the scholar exam earlier than your younger brother, you will be better than him."

"How can a scholar be enough? At least he must be a Juren." Qian Dayou had a bitter face, his family's examination results were not good, and his reading and writing were quite satisfactory.When it comes to Zhongju, he himself starts to worry.

Chen Heng patted the other person's shoulder with empathy, "We can't bear the burden of hard work, we just have to work hard."

　Thank you book friends for voting. As a ignorant newcomer author, I still have the cheek to hope that everyone can support me more. I know that my writing is average, but I will try my best to write better.

　　Thank you, thank you, there are actually a hundred book friends who invested in this book, hahahahaha, I am too embarrassed to tell my family the title of my book.Suddenly, I was a little proud that 100 people invested.Hahaha, does this investment require money?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)