SHEN FAMILY LEGACY
沈氏家族
沈承书笔下的《四季图》
The Four Season Paintings
中国历史上的著名山水画家，基本都画过四季图，就是以春夏秋冬的风景为题材作画。四季图不是写生，也不是寄情言志的文人画，而是表现创意思维和功底笔力的作品。四季景色全然不同，表现笔法迥异。正如北宋著名画家郭熙所说：“春山淡冶如笑，夏山苍翠如滴，秋山明净如妆，冬山惨淡如睡”。画家通过构思意境，选景构图，表达方式，运用技法，显示自己全面的绘画功底。同是四季图，由于画家的着眼点不同，景色，画名选择会有很大差别。
沈承书也做过四季图，名字分别是《春风扬柳》《烟雨归舟》《山庄秋艳》《寒林雪霁》。这四幅画全面展示了沈承书绘画各种景色的扎实功底，下面将对每一幅画分别介绍。、
Famous landscape painters in Chinese history have all attempted to paint sceneries of the four seasons. Four season paintings are not mere sketches, nor are they paintings expressing emotions and aspirations, but to show the painters’ creative thinking and their brushwork. The painters show their comprehensive painting skills through the conception of artistic expression, selection of sceneries, the expression methods, and the use of their own styles.
For all the different Four Seasons paintings, details may vary based on the artists. Different painters may have their own choices of names, special focus or simply just to demonstrate their skills.
Chengshu Shen also painted the four seasons, and the names are "Spring Breeze and Willows", "Returning Boats the summer mist", "Autumn Beauty in the Mountain Villa", and "Cold Forest in Snow". These four paintings fully demonstrated his solid foundation in painting various scenes. I will explain in more details below.
之一《春风扬柳》
Spring Breeze and Willows
春季图起名《春风扬柳》，请注意，是“扬柳”而不是“杨柳”。意思是，春风徐来，柳枝飘动。画面上，远山近树，返青吐翠，田园野岭，新绿盖地。春江水涨，花红柳绿，两岸茅草半没水中。渔舟趁春汛，渔夫撒网捕捞。河边的篱笆院落里，桃花争艳。篱笆外稻田新绿，竹报春来，一片早春明媚的田园景色。
画面景物不多，看似“疏可跑马”，实则意境深远。景色随江流向远处延伸。左上方大片留白，如晨曦雾霭，虚实相生，无画处皆成妙境。近处河两岸的农家院落，柴门草舍，三株垂柳，几处桃花，柳绿禾青，一片春意盈然。山脚下，江面上，轻雾弥漫，水天淡渺。两岸春风摆柳，万物复苏。画面设色淡雅，清新明快。简洁清爽，似迎面扑来一阵春风。
The spring painting is named "Spring Breeze Swaying Willows". The name suggests that the spring breeze is blowing and the willow branches are fluttering. In this picture, the distant mountains and nearby trees are tinted green, and the fields and the hills are covered with fresh grass. Rivers in the spring flow with life, flowers blooming, and the grass on both sides were half submerged in the water.(water here symbolizes life as it’s a life giving source) Fishing boats are taking advantage of the spring flood, and fishermen cast nets to catch fish. In the fenced courtyard by the river, peach tree blossoms are in full bloom. Outside the fence, the rice fields are green, and bamboos herald the arrival of spring, a bright pastoral scene in the early spring.
In this picture, there are a lot of empty spaces, one might feel it’s missing some elements, but in fact it has a profound artistic concept. The scenery extends to the distance with the river. The large blank space on the upper left side resembles the morning mist, and the unpainted areas leave the viewers with uncharted imaginations. In the farmyards on both sides of the river, there are wooden doors and houses, three willows, a few peach blossoms, green willows and crops, bristling with energy in a spring atmosphere. At the foot of the mountain above the river, there is light a mist. The spring breeze on both sides of the river sways the willows, and everything comes back to life after the winter. The painting is elegant in color, fresh and bright. It's simple and feels refreshing, makes you feel that you are experiencing the spring scenery and if you try harder, you might even feel a draft of spring breeze coming towards you.
之二《烟雨归舟》
Returning boats in the Summer Mist
以《烟雨归舟》为夏季图命名，更能表现山水画的特点。烟雨是典型的夏日景色，有云山，必有烟雨，有绿水，必有渔舟。画面上群山苍翠，树木葱茏，阴云如晦。水面一渔舟，渔夫着蓑衣斗笠，冒雨撑蒿，逆流而上。河流转弯处有石拱桥，山坡岸边农家草舍掩映在绿树丛中，房后山顶上有一草亭，右边有一方农田。 渔船已经离家不远了。然而雨后水涨流急，逆水而上 ，归舟最后一程必有一番与激流搏斗。远山上雨水汇成山溪，顺山势冲出沟豁，飞流直下，一幅青山喜雨的景象。
Naming the summer painting "Returning Boat in Summer Mist" better reflects the characteristics of C.S Shen’s landscape painting styles. Mist and rain are typical summer scenery in the southern part of China. Where there are cloudy mountains, there must be mist and rain. In this picture, the mountains are green; the trees are lush under some dark clouds. You can see a fisherman rowing his boat in the river. The fisherman is wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat, braving the rain and sailing upstream. There is a stone arch bridge at the bend of the river. The cottage of the farmer on the hillside is hidden among the trees. There’s a pavilion on the top of the mountain behind the house, and there is a small farmland on the right side. We can assume that’s the Fisherman’s home. Maybe he had finished his day’s work and fighting the current trying to get home.
为表现盛夏的绿树浓荫，画面设色青绿深沉。而烟云雨雾则以浓郁的墨色渲染。天空以淡墨晕散，清水渗化，更显“天低云暗雨意浓”。为表现盛夏雨露滋润，绿色浓郁。此次画一反近浓远淡的常规，远山也以浓浓的墨点出山体丰厚的植被。尤以山涧沟豁处，墨色浓重深沉，不仅是雨中草木茂盛，更有阴云密布光线暗淡的效果。
In order to show the thick shade of trees in midsummer, this painting used dark green water color. The dark cloud suggests that this could be a summer rainy season, from the rich vegetation on the mountains, the viewers can take away the ideas that this’s humid environment. In order to show the moistness of the rain and dew in midsummer, he implemented dark green to illustrate that. This painting is contrary to the conventional tactic, where you use darker ink for nearby sceneries and lighter paint to reflect afar. Here, the distant mountains are also dotted with thick ink to show the rich vegetation on the mountain. Especially in the mountain streams and gullies, the coloring is deep, not only the lush vegetation in the rain, but also the effect of dark clouds blocking out the sun.
《春风扬柳》的笔法是疏而不空，以大片留白表现江上烟波迷蒙，云遮雾霭，无画处皆成妙境。而《烟雨归舟》整个画面充满青山绿树，连盛夏的河面也不似春水，仅以留白表现，而是以淡绿散染。除了山涧留白表现云雾缭绕，大半个画面都被浓墨青绿实景占据，就是天空也以淡墨晕染出乌云压顶的效果。作者以虚实笔法，表现出春夏季节的鲜明特点和不同。
沈承书还有一幅《青山喜雨图》，题有“甲子盛夏欣闻丰收雨中有此作”。中国历代传统文人，受儒家思想影响，重农桑收获，心系黎民百姓忧乐。沈承书虽然自己有铁饭碗，不靠天吃饭，但依然关心农家的旱涝丰欠。久旱喜雨，是他心中最美好的盛夏景色。
南宋诗人，官拜礼部侍郎的曾几写过一首七律，记叙久旱喜雨的心情。“一夕骄阳转作霖，梦回凉冷入衣襟。不愁屋漏床床湿，且喜溪流岸岸深。千里稻花应秀色，五更桐叶最佳音。无田似我犹欣舞，何况田间望岁心。”再看现在的贪官恶吏，为了贪赃受贿，竟然把丰收在望的青苗推平盖楼，全然不顾跪在田边痛哭的农民。而几乎所有这些贪官，从小就是在村子里的田边地头长大的。一旦当了官，为了自己官运亨通，就把百姓往死路上逼。这就是中国君子与小人，仁人志士与刁民暴发户的根本区别。
The brushwork of "Spring Breeze Swaying Willows" is well controlled on the different levels of shades. C.S Shen used large areas of white space to express the misty waves on the river, clouds covering the mist, and leaving the unpainted areas up to your imaginations. The entire picture of "Returning Boat in Summer Mist" is full of green mountains and trees. C.S Shen tried to give the water some life by giving a layer of tinted green. In addition to the white space in the mountain stream that expresses clouds and mist, most of the picture is occupied by thick green water colors, and even the sky is smudged with light coloring to create the effect of dark clouds. The artist uses different brushwork strokes to express the distinct characteristics and differences of spring and summer.
之三《山庄秋艳》
Autumn Beauty in the Mountain Villa
秋季是多彩的，所以秋的题材可以千变万化，秋风黄叶，秋山红树，收获金秋。而《山庄秋艳》则突出一个艳字，把五彩斑斓的秋色表现的淋漓尽致。沈承书的山水画，一般近景为山石树木，因为前面的景物可以精心勾描，仔细皴擦，在细微之处见功夫。而这幅画的前景竟是平静的水面。远处山溪飞瀑直下，穿流于岩石之间，注入画面下前方的水面。画家放弃了最能表现技法的近景，以大片留白表现秋水之空灵清冷，引出王维诗句“寒山转苍翠，秋水日潺湲”“清泉石上流”的境界。
Autumn is a colorful season, so the themes of autumn can be ever-changing, painters can use yellow leaves in the autumn wind, red trees in the autumn mountains, and golden harvest. However, "Autumn Beauty in the Mountain Villa" highlights the word "beauty", which expresses the colorful autumn colors vividly. In Shen, Chengshu's landscape paintings, the foreground is usually mountains, rocks and trees, because the scenery in front can be carefully outlined and painted, his skills can be shown in the details. But the foreground of this particular painting is actually a calm body of water. In a distance, a mountain stream waterfall falls straight down, flows between the rocks, and ended up in the body of water in the near-view. The painter used the water space to express the ethereal and that temperature is dropping, letting the water give you a “cooling down” feeling.
自古以来，诗画相通。文人以诗词出题，画家按诗意作画。留下许多诗词吟咏山川胜景，画笔挥写名家诗意的传说和作品。沈承书对诗画之间的相互衬托有相当深刻的认识，不仅能以诗词作画，而且善于把诗情画意交融。他曾多次书写王维的这两首诗，并以“写王维诗意”作过几幅 画。王维的诗句和他心中的秋色已经溶为一体，这幅画虽未题其诗，却有其意境。
Since the old times in China, poetry and painting have been connected. Literati used poems to describe a setting, and painters often paint according to the poetic ideas. There were many works of poems chanting the beautiful scenery of mountains, rivers in paintings expressing the poetic ideas of famous artists. Shen, Chengshu has a very deep understanding of the mutual contrast between poetry and painting. He didn’t only paint sceneries out of poetries, but also blend the poetic feelings into paintings.
从画面的色调看来，应是时值晚秋，水边树木最前面的两株的树梢已被秋霜染黄，而树身依然浓绿，正中的阔叶树叶经霜打蔫，但尚未飘落。旁边的树叶已完全变成赭红色。其他的杂树灌木则已是“落叶尽随流水去，只余枯枝迎秋风。”山坡上一丛丛零落的杂木早已黄叶飘零。山坡树木环抱之中，有一户山庄农舍，屋顶茅草的纹理，柴门围栏的树枝，都勾画的清晰可见。柴门外有台阶通往山下水边。一荷仗老者和身后的童子正拾级而上，茅舍窗前依稀有人向外张望，等待家人回归。
Judging from the color tones of this picture, it should be late autumn. The tops of the trees in front of the waterside have been dyed yellow illustrating the fall colors. The tree leaves in the middle have wilted and have not yet fallen. The leaves next to it have completely turned ochre red. The scattered clumps of miscellaneous trees on the hillside have their leaves fallen. Surrounded by trees on the hillside, there is a farmhouse. The texture of the thatched roof and the branches of the wooden gate fence are clearly outlined. There are steps outside the wooden gate leading to the waterside at the foot of the mountain. An old man and a boy behind him are climbing the stairs. Someone is vaguely looking out of the window of the thatched cottage, waiting for his family to return.
画的主题是“秋艳”，但画面没有“万山红遍，层林尽染”的豪迈和浪漫，不过是几株色彩不同的树而已。然而整个画面的山坡岩石，在以笔勾勒出轮廓，以墨皴擦岩石质感，墨笔点染出草木杂树后，尽染淡赭黄色，这收获季节的色彩，才是山庄的深秋之艳。画面设色鲜亮温暖，表现了画家对 丰收的渴望和企盼心情。
The theme of the painting here is "autumn splendor", but the picture does not deliver the romance of a golden harvest and colorful fall leaves, it’s just a few trees of different colors. However, the hillside rocks in the whole picture are all colored with light yellow, the texture of the rocks was brushed with ink, and the grass and trees are gracefully crafted. This color of the harvest season is the splendor of late autumn in the villa. The picture is bright and warm in color, showing the painter's desire and expectation for a good harvest.
之四《寒林雪霁》
Cold Forest in Snow
山水画里的雪景是最难画的。因为除了用笔锋勾画出山石树木的轮廓，略加皴擦点染，以留白表现积雪，以淡墨晕染，清水涂散表现冰面和彤云密布的天空，几乎没有施展任何笔法，风格和上色的机会，寒林雪霁的景色，基本靠水墨黑白两色表现。中国历代的画家以雪霁为题材的画传世不少，其中李成，关仝，王石谷的最受推崇，沈承书就有仿石谷雪霁的作品。这幅《寒林雪霁》，就是他以前人的笔法风格，自己构思创作的雪景。
Snow scenes in landscape paintings are among the most difficult to paint. Apart from using the tip of the brush to outline the rocks and trees, you have to leave enough white space to illustrate the snow. Besides using light ink to smudge, and clear water to express the ice surface, there is almost no opportunity to use any other brushwork and styles. The scenery of the cold forest after the snow is basically expressed in black and white only. Many paintings showing snow as the theme have been handed down by Chinese painters from past dynasties. Among them, Li Cheng, Guan Tong, and Wang Shigu are the most respected. Shen, Chengshu has a work imitating Shigu's snow sceneries. This "Cold Forest After the Snow" is a snow scene that he conceived and created in the style of his predecessors.
雪景寒林的绘制，最重要的是能仅以水墨就营造出“千山鸟飞绝，万径人踪灭”的荒凉寒寂境界。画面景物多了，与表现荒寒苍凉的目的就南辕北辙了。然而越简单的雪景越难画，而这幅画，就是沈承书就是以最简单的构图和笔法，表现出最典型的山林雪景的一次成功的尝试。
The most important thing in painting snowy forests is to create a desolate and cold scene of less activities and a very remote setting. If there are too many activities in the picture, it will go against the purpose of expressing desolation and coldness. However, the simpler the snow scene, the harder it is to paint. This painting is a successful attempt by Shen, Chengshu to express the most typical snowy mountain scene with the simplest composition and brushwork.
画面近景无山石树木，一条小河从远处蜿蜒流出，在画面下前方形成结冰的河面。河两岸几株枯树，苍干似铁，枝杈直刺天空。前景无傲雪凌霜的苍松翠柏，岁寒修竹的高雅，远景没有冰山雪岭雄伟，没有银装素裹的妖娆，没有群峰逶迤的壮阔。整个画面野旷云浓，天幕低垂，雾霭弥漫，荒山野地，枯树寒林，冰封河面，荆棘丛生，一片凋零破败景象。林木间以留白表现出雪后云雾缭绕不散，背景白雪皑皑的山坡上几丛荆棘杂树，阴云密布的天空上一群寒鸦飞起觅食。虽然构图简约，着墨不多，但一看就给人以空旷，阴冷，萧瑟，苍凉的感觉。
There are no rocks or trees in the foreground of this painting. A small river meanders from a distance, forming an icy river surface in front of the painting. There are several trees in hibernation on both sides of the river. There are no green pine trees standing proudly in the snow in the foreground, and no elegant bamboos growing tall in the cold winter, showing a different style than most of C.S Shen’s works. You also don’t see majestic mountains and high peaks in this painting as you normally would in other C.S Shen’s paintings. There are barren mountains and fields, dead trees and cold forests, frozen rivers, and thorns. The white space between the trees shows that the clouds and mist linger after the snow. There are a few thorns and miscellaneous trees on the snow-covered hillside in the background, and a group of jackdaws flying up to find food in the cloudy sky. Although the composition is simple and not much color is used, it gives people a feeling of emptiness, coldness, and desolation at first glance.
画雪景的技法也简单，以墨线勾出苍干枯枝，荆棘杂草，寒鸦惊起；以留白形成白雪盖地，云雾缭绕的效果；以深浅墨色染出雪下覆盖的河岸，石头，山坡的形状；淡墨晕染出河面的冰层。画面除黑白外，没有任何色彩。简单的几笔，就把雪后荒原的景色刻画的如此传神。当作画达到“削尽冗繁留清瘦”的境界，就到了炉火纯青的境界了。
The technique of painting snow scenes may be simple. Use ink lines to outline withered branches, thorns and weeds, and startled crows; leave blank spaces to create the effect of snow covering the ground; use dark and light ink to dye the riverbank, stones, and hillsides covered by snow; and use light colors to brush the ice on the river surface. You might have noticed that C.S Shen only used black ink in this painting to illustrate this landscape; various controls of the brush gave the different shades of colors. With just a few simple strokes, the scenery of the wasteland after the snow is portrayed so vividly.
