The revised edition of "Traveling with the Ancients: A Study on the Collection of Xiang Yuanbian's Paintings and Calligraphy" was published

500 years is a big day for the history of Chinese art, Xiang Yuanbian, the owner of the Tianlai Pavilion, is about to usher in the 0th anniversary of his birth, and the Palace Museum will also usher in its centennial.

As Huang Xiaofeng, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, said, the Palace Museum's vast collection of ancient paintings and calligraphy was based on the Qianlong-led Qing collection, and the systematization of the Qing court collection greatly benefited from the lifelong efforts of Xiang Yuanbian, a private collector in the late Ming Dynasty.

In order to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Xiang Yuanbian's birth, Feng Zhiguo, a professor at the China Academy of Art, recently launched a new revised edition of "Traveling with the Ancients: A Study on the Collection of Xiang Yuanbian's Calligraphy and Paintings" (hereinafter referred to as "Traveling with the Ancients").

What kind of character is he, and what is hidden behind him?

In the affluent areas of Jiangnan, there are many collectors. Since the middle and late Ming Dynasty, "Jiaxing Xiangshi" centered on Xiang Yuanbian has become a specific proper noun and frequently appears in the records of various families. On many priceless picture scrolls and law books, you can often see collection seals stamped with "Xiang Zijing Collection", "Xiang Yuan Bianyin", "Tian Lai Pavilion Molin" and "Tian Lai Pavilion".

Every time you see those familiar marks, there will be many people speculating, what kind of character Xiang Yuanbian is, and what is hidden behind him? How did those rare treasures like crown jewels enter their pockets? How does he manage and authenticate so many collections, and where does the collection end up? These are the key points that the author of the book, Feng Zhiguo, wants to expound.

12 years ago, as soon as the first edition of "Traveling with the Ancients" came out, it attracted wide attention in the academic circles and readers, and became an important document for the study of Xiang Yuanbian and the history of painting and calligraphy in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now, the revised edition has been relaunched with the support of new historical materials.

Opening this book is like traveling through time and space, entering the long history of Jiangnan calligraphy and painting collection, and revisiting the brilliant world of calligraphy and painting in Tianlai Pavilion. The book is divided into two parts, the first part of which conducts a comprehensive study of Xiang Yuanbian's genealogy, social network and connoisseurship, and deeply discusses Xiang Yuanbian's cultural background and connoisseurship activities. The following is the "Annals of Xiang Yuanbian", which aims to provide a basic research result on the history of painting and calligraphy in the Ming Dynasty centered on Xiang Yuanbian.

From the broad perspective of the history of Ming Dynasty connoisseurship, "Traveling with the Ancients" not only analyzes the general concept of Ming Dynasty painting and calligraphy connoisseurship, but also conducts a nuanced exploration of the exchanges between Xiang Yuanbian and Wumen School of Painting, Dong Qichang and other famous artists, and strives to show a vivid picture of the history of Ming Dynasty painting and calligraphy connoisseurship in an all-round way.

Years of hard work in the wind, frost, rain and snow have drawn the overall outline

In the field of Chinese oil painting, the creation of historical paintings and portraits of the feudal rulers has attracted considerable attention. And in the dead of night, he always crawls and combs in the old documents, using words to restore the vivid picture of the old days.

Fan Jingzhong, professor and doctoral supervisor of the China Academy of Art, said in the preface to "Traveling with the Ancients": Professor Feng Zhiguo is an oil painter, but the book he wrote reminds me of a great British connoisseur's evaluation of a great art historian: in Chinese, it is keen, confident, low-key, restrained, and wise, but when it comes to humor, Feng Zhiguo is full of laughter wherever he goes, making "those who can't help but be ethereal."

To Fan Jingzhong's surprise, Feng Zhiguo perfectly matched the personality of art with academic contemplation, and there were so many thought-provoking questions. He also mentioned that we sometimes forget the sympathy of understanding that Mr. Chen Yinke said, and forget to evoke the deceased ancients with good intentions, not to mention that we don't know much about the ancients in the first place, "For example, the understanding of Xiang Yuanbian has only drawn the overall outline in recent years, especially the efforts of the author of this book in many years. ”

The emergence of Xiang Yuanbian, a collector unique in Chinese history, also made Jiaxing the center of national collecting, and thus shaped Jiaxing's culture.

Restarting a historical figure and restoring a historical situation requires not only rich historical documents and solid theoretical basis, but also strong courage and broad humanistic feelings. Wan Muchun, a professor at the China Academy of Art, was a close friend of Feng Zhiguo, and he mentioned in the preface that Feng Zhiguo was writing this book, and went deep into Jiaxing to investigate, discovered and used the little-known Xiang family tree in the past, and at the same time made a lot of effort in the literature examination and revision of Xiang Yuanbian's exchanges, completed the most detailed Xiang Yuanbian yearbook so far, and solved many historical problems in the past. "Traveling with the Ancients has been regarded as a standard work of Xiang Yuanbian's research at home and abroad."

　　從20世紀70年代末至今，不少學者均嘗試了對項氏藏品的統計與整理，封治國也在書中綜合他們的研究成果，並把項元汴放置於更為廣闊的背景下，分析他與前輩收藏家以及與同時代收藏家之間的微妙關聯。“從這一意義看，倘若讀者能對此書的觀點有所認同，那將是數代美術史學者集體力量的功勞。”

Traveling with the Ancients: A Study on the Collection of Xiang Yuanbian's Paintings and Calligraphy (Revised Edition)

Written by Feng Zhiguo

China Academy of Art Press

■Reporter Xu Jinyu