A poor son of a privileged family had a great fondness for snuff. He lived in the days of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) under the “Banner System.” This had been introduced by the ruling Manchu to control the empire through loyalties pledged under the various banners of their unique system of military organization. His family had privileges within this administration but still he had managed to end up in jail. Here his snuff ran out. With a desperation that would be familiar to any tobacco user today, he used a spoon to scrape the very last essence of snuff from inside his snuff bottle. And so a new art form was founded in the wonderful patterns he created on the inside of his little crystal bottle.
This is the story of the origins of inner-drawing as revealed through the pen of well-known novelist Deng Youmei in his novel Snuff Bottle.
Zhang Guangqing is a master of the inner-drawing arts and president of the Zhang Guangqing Inner-drawing Art Research Institute. This is based in Zichuan, a district of Zibo in Shandong Province. Zibo has been known as the “Ceramics Capital” since ancient times.
His smile has an air of resignation about it when he said, “This version of the origins of inner-drawing comes down to us from the remote past so there is no way to verify it. People today are content to accept the story from Deng’s novel.”
Born in Jining, Shandong in 1948, Zhang was apprenticed at the age of 16 to Xue Jingwan to learn inner-painting. During his time in the Boshan Art Glass Factory from 1964 to 1988 he became dissatisfied with the limitations of the traditional master-to-apprentice mode of training.
Zhang realized that in the absence of a unique body of theoretical knowledge, inner painting would at best remain a folk art. He recognized the challenge to develop the style into a discrete and mature artistic genre. And so his thoughts turned to the idea of founding a school of fine art. This was a proposal, which was welcomed by the Zichuan district government, a body known for its progressive policies.
In 1992 Zhang moved from Boshan to Zichuan to found the Zhang Guangqing Inner-drawing Art Research Institute. This is the first and only inner-drawing institute in China. World-famous traditional Chinese painter Liu Haisu became honorary president of the institute.
“Inner painting is a painstaking process requiring a high degree of precision. Paint is applied in reverse order compared with other techniques. One holds one’s breath and channels every possible bit of concentration to guide the hand. The work is so fine that the niceties are barely visible to the naked eye,” said Zhang. “Here the students not only learn inner-drawing skills but also undertake extensive theoretical training. They study the history of inner painting, sketching, the principles of traditional Chinese painting, freehand brushwork, ink and wash techniques and so on.”
“Since inner-drawing skills have been handed down traditionally from master to apprentice for hundreds of years, running a school can be thought of as a pioneering undertaking. I hope my work might play a modest part in spurring further innovation in this age-old industry,” said Zhang.
Though ten full years have already passed, fewer than 100 students have graduated from Zhang’s school. “Let me offer you the examples of the panda and the pig,” Zhang explained in his own unusual way. “The difference is in the breeding. There are lots of pigs around but the giant panda is rare because it propagates slowly. Art forms can be like this. In other words to keep inner-painting special, both the scope and pace of development must be controlled. We would rather have fewer but better.”
Zhang’s institute enrolled as many as 20 students in 1992 but for the first and last time. Since then no more than 6 new students have been admitted each year. The best are kept on in the school as staff members after graduation.
“Most of our graduates are still engaged in inner-painting. Some even practice their art in the name of the institute. For example I heard of a couple of artists who actually gave a live demonstration at the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge under a banner of ‘Zhang Guangqing Inner-drawing Art Research Institute.’ However I have my own thoughts on the matter,” Zhang said tolerantly.
“After all art is not like a business activity where infringing a trademark would be unlawful. When people do their inner-drawing in the name of my school, they are not only promoting the products of the institute but are also attesting to value of its reputation.”
Faced with scarce funds and keen competition, Zhang has had to adopt an approach of fostering art through commerce. He has developed the institute with a mix of teaching, scientific research, production and sales. Of commercial necessity it is neither fish, flesh nor fowl. Speaking of an institute with only 30 or so staff, Zhang is extremely grateful to his wife. In his own words, “As the saying goes, behind any successful artist stands a supportive wife.”
Zhang said, “On the one hand, she doesn’t complaint at my having to go out and about and be away from home at all times of the year. On the other hand, I pay more attention to teaching and artistic creation while my wife takes full responsibility for production and sales, so she has contributed most to the success of the institute.”
Inner-Painting Past and Present
According to Zhang, Italian Catholic missionary Matteo Ricci first brought snuff and the snuffbox to China when he came to Beijing to preach in 1582.
The snuff bottle itself appeared in the Qing Dynasty. It was popular during the reigns of Emperors Kangxi (1662-1722) and Qianlong (1736-1795). Its introduction to replace the original snuffbox came when snuff taking was in vogue among ranking officials and minor royalty. For the convenience of snuff-takers it was made small to fit nicely into the hand between the thumb and index finger.
Early snuff bottles were made of materials such as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, jade, jadeite, agate, wood and even bamboo. They were decorated outside with colorful miniatures. Inner-drawing did not appear until snuff bottles became transparent with the advent of the use of crystal.
Inner-painting is one of several handicraft skills like cloisonné, ivory carving and jade sculpture, which have been handed down from the Qing Dynasty. By the time of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 there were 40 or so workers engaged in the field in Beijing. Later on, some experienced inner-painters from Beijing were invited to Shandong to take on some 30 apprentices. This led to a burgeoning of inner-drawing in that region.
During the “Cultural Revolution” (1966-1976) many master craftsmen were sent off to Hebei and Guangdong. Thus the skills of inner-painting came to be disseminated in the rural parts of these two provinces.
“As a result with four centers in Beijing, Shandong, Hebei and Guangdong the total number of inner-painters in China has increased from less than 200 in the early days of the republic to some ten thousand today,” Zhang said proudly.
Unlike Beijing where inner-drawing bottle making was treated as a business, Shandong took the path of artistic creation.
“So what’s the difference between a work of art and a commodity? Let me give you an example,” Zhang explained. “An enterprise is preparing for a commemorative event. It arranges for both its trademark and the emblem of the factory to be printed on its products. This is pure merchandise. It is produced in mass quantity and there is a deadline for the job. Inner painters in Shandong however have been encouraged to develop individual styles and make each inner-drawing a unique work of art.”
At the same time, Zhang admitted that his institute was facing increasing market pressures. “To think of the artist living free from worldly cares in some ivory tower and just producing works of art would be unrealistic today. Artistic value will ultimately be measured by the market, just as a Picasso might sell for US$50 million and a Van Gogh can fetch US$90 million,” Zhang said.
Turning a work of art into a saleable commodity takes time. “We have to be responsive to changing market demand. Prices are high, usually over ten thousand yuan for a single piece (US$1,250). Ten years ago inner-drawing bottles were made mainly for the export market
Today against a background of improvement in people’s purchasing power and a real boom in the domestic market, Chinese customers have become the main buyers. This has required us to match our products to changed tastes and interests,” Zhang said. “However, we have to maintain a balance between commercial activities and artistic creation. Sometimes this can present a real dilemma.”
Artistic Creation
Even today Zhang well remembers how a single inner-drawing bottle once took him six months to finish. “Of course there are times when one or even two bottles might be finished in a day but this is something that happens only very occasionally,” Zhang said. “Usually deciding the overall composition of a picture is the most time consuming part. Once started on the actual painting, a good artist will spare no effort to render the main features continuously and without interruption. As for the details, these can be applied piecemeal and not necessarily at one stroke.”
Zhang studied inner-drawing under the guidance of his teacher Xue Jingwan for only two years. Following the “Cultural Revolution”, Zhang either learned on his own or compared notes with his fellow apprentices. Zhang’s 38 years of inner-painting have seen changes both in his personal style and chosen subjects.
Zhang is well versed in drawing tigers. In the 1980s he paid particular attention to portraying the tiger in many different poses. In his own words, “A tiger for a tiger’s sake.” During the 1990s Zhang added landscape depiction to his drawings to serve as a foil to the imposing and dignified bearings of the tiger. And so he developed his unique artistic style.
Zhang once based an inner-drawing on Heroes of the Marshes, a Chinese novel of the early Ming Dynasty by Shi Nai’an. “There are different ways of depicting the 108 heroes in the novel,” Zhang said. “They can be drawn individually or placed into their different settings. I chose the latter approach. Viewing the bottle is like reading the novel.”
“The inner-painters of Shandong have a tradition of innovation,” Zhang said. “The bamboo point that had been used for inner-drawing for hundreds of years was replaced by a special brush in 1958. This made even more exquisite workmanship possible. Also painters now use oil colors to supplement the original ink and wash of inner-painting. This greatly enriches the power of expression of this ancient art.”
Zhang cultivates a pioneering spirit in his teaching at the institute. “I never let the students copy my drawings. Instead I tell them to seek out their own influences in the artistic publications. Everybody should develop his or her own style,” he said. “Students are encouraged to choose subjects from a wide range including mountains and water, flowers and plants, figures, animals and so on. Only in this way by building on personal strengths will a student draw with interest and passion. Hopefully this can release the potential within and give rise to excellence.”
Since 1980 Zhang has put on exhibitions of his inner-drawings in such countries as the United States, Germany, Austria, Canada, Sweden and Thailand. The Chinese government has chosen over a hundred pieces of his work as state gifts to foreign government leaders and personages. Recipients have included former US President Jimmy Carter, former German Premier Helmut Kohl and Thai Princess Chulabhorn Mahidol. After watching a live demonstration of his inner painting in 1982, the then US President Carter exclaimed, “What a miraculous artist China has!”
(china.org.cn by staff reporter Shao Da, January 23, 2003)
