Guanyin, Gibbons and Crane

Cleo Chang & Alizia Chagoya

Muqi, Guanyin, Crane, and Gibbons, Southern Song dynasty, 13th century CE, set of three hanging scrolls, ink and light color on silk

Buddhism first spread to China during the Han Dynasty and continued to spread through the coming centuries. Buddhism began to influence not only politics and culture, but also art and literature. Guanyin, Gibbons, and Crane is a traditional Chinese ink painting created during the Song Dynasty in Kyoto. Muqi, the creator this painting is now regarded as one of the greatest Chán Buddhist Chinese ink painters in history. Muqi was known to gather much of his inspiration for his paintings from nature and buddhist, Daoist, and Confucianist ideals and symbols. This painting is a prime example of traditional Chinese ink painting influenced by Chán Buddhism that emphasizes the subject matter in a more abstract and imaginative way, focusing on the value of mental and spiritual transcendence and influence as opposed to just visual perception. 

Formal Analysis

The painting, Guanyin, Gibbons and Crane was patronized by Muqi, Muri Fachang in the 13th century during the Song Dynasty in Kyoto, Japan. At first glance the painting seems quite bland and somewhat hard to understand because of the condition it is in. Since colors are usually what draws our attention to a painting, this one isn’t so eye catching due to the neutral muted shades of brown and black ink that are used.  Even though there was a “tendency more towards black and darker colors” emphasized here in this painting, it is still an amazing work of art. This lack of attention to color and how the artist portrays the different shades of lighting being shown in the painting, could have been done purposefully by the author to convey some sort of muted, dull emotion. The audience seeing this painting can obviously tell that the scene is taken place outdoors because of the tree scenery in the background of the main objects. Although there are mainly two shades of colors being used, there isn’t really a high contrast between the colors. the colors are subdued to blend together well. Also, the painting was done on, was silk and the material used in painting was ink, so due to the uneasy texture of silk when it comes to drawing or painting on it the artist didn’t have much control in how it would hold up over time. The viewer has to really examine the painting and not just look at it like other paintings.

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Contextual Analysis

The creator behind this painting, Muqi or Muxi, was a Chinese buddhist monk and painter during the end of the 13th century, or the southern song dynasty. Muqi is regarded as one of the greatest Chinese ink painters in history (Purdue University). His paintings are extremely symbolic and meaningful to Chán Buddhism, eventually influencing art styles all across Asia. Muqi was known to gather much of his inspiration for his paintings from nature and buddhist, Daoist, and Confucianist ideals and symbols. Guanyin, Crane, and Gibbons is one of his most renowned ink paintings. The painting is a triptych and consists of 3 panels in the form of hanging scrolls, which feature 3 different scenes painted with ink and color on silk panels (China Online Museum). This painting was created during the Southern Song Dynasty in Kyoto, Japan. The left panel depicts a crane walking in a Bamboo Grove. The center panel depicts Guanyin, the Buddhist bodhisattva who is associated with compassion dressed in a simple white robe. The Chinese name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means, “the one who perceives the sounds of the world” (Foundations of Buddhism). The right panel depicts a Monkey with her baby sitting on a Pine Branch. There is a dispute over whether or not the paintings were created as a triptych. Because of the natural scene in the background, which seem to align, the theory that these paintings were created to be hung together is supported; however, the Guanyin panel seems to be more damaged than the others, supporting the theory that the paintings were not created at the same time (China Online Museum).

This painting style depicts Chán Buddhist iconography, while simultaneously demonstrating an indigenous Chinese style ink painting technique. This technique in Chinese ink painting is known as “the spontaneous mode,” an expressionist style which is created by the spontaneity of a brush and ink (China Online Museum). Towards the end of the Song dynasty, this technique was used widely by court painters and Chán artists to emphasize the Daoist and Buddhist intuitive response to nature. In Mu Qi’s triptych, the subject matters are not painted with any flashy colors or extraordinary details. The Guanyin depicted is painted in a very simple and abstract way, wearing a white flowy robe and few pieces of jewelry. The range from extreme darkness to extreme lightness, as well as the range of soft strokes to harsh lines throughout the painting helps showcase a traditional Chán Buddhism style painting created with the traditional Chinese spontaneous mode technique. The crane and gibbons are painted in a distinct way, not highlighting the anatomical details of the animals. The muscles and bones are barely visible, creating a simplistic yet somewhat mythical image of the animals.

This painting features a Guanyin, a crane, and gibbons, which are all symbolic in Chinese culture, as well as buddhist Confucianist, and Daoist beliefs (China Online Museum). In traditional Chinese culture of Daoism and Confucianism, gibbons and cranes are symbolic of human life and are known to represent longevity and immortality. Guanyin is widely referred to as the most influential Bodhisattva in China and is known for her association with compassion in Mahayana Buddhism (Met Museum). The painting depicts her surrounded by mountains and mist. The specific Guanyin Muqi chose to paint shows supreme compassion, which is represented by her traditional meditative pose, her simple, flowy white robe’s abstract draping detail, as well as her symbolic round earrings (Foundations of Buddhism). The crane on the left panel seems to be speaking to the Guanyin, while the two gibbons on the right panel shows the mother gibbon holding her baby both seemingly staring directly at the viewer. Unlike the crane calling out to Guanyin, the two gibbons sit silent and still gazing directly at the viewer, creating a feeling of direct interaction with the viewer and not with Guanyin.

Buddhism’s roots in China began around the Han Dynasties (206 B.C – 220 C.E.) Through preceding centuries and dynasties, Buddhism has become not only a very important religious, but also cultural and political influence in China. During the Song dynasty (960-1279 C.E), it had become a large influence in art (Britannica). During the Song dynasty, many great temples maintained the traditions of possessing highly trained painters among the other academic and professional masters. These painters lived in a more unrestrained community known for its unconventional, eccentric, and radical attitudes and lifestyle (Britannica). Art created in this dynasty not only showcased traditional Buddhist iconography as its subject matters through the technique of traditional Chinese ink painting, but also employed a somewhat unique, spontaneous style, which in turn, helped instill the values of achieving mental and spiritual transcendence through paintings and other art (Encyclopedia.com). This kind of painting was known as “Chán,” which featured influence from ancient indian Buddhism and ideals, as well as Chinese elements (Britannica). Eventually, this art style became the signature painting and art style throughout eastern and southeastern Asia. The Chán art style defines a different kind of aesthetic value than western art. Western art seems to emphasize form, color, composition, and different dimensions of the subject matter, whereas, the Chinese art style emphasizes the spiritual value of beings in a more abstract and imaginative way, focusing on mental and spiritual inspiration and influence as opposed to just visual perception. 

In conclusion, this painting is a great representation of Buddhist iconography and traditional Chinese ink painting technique. The creator of this painting, Muqi became renowned as the most influential Buddhist Painter in Chinese history, spreading his art style and influence throughout Asia throughout the past centuries. Muqi’s art style drew inspiration from the aspects of nature’s beauty, as well as Chinese culture and buddhist ideals. By using a unique art style of “spontaneous mode” combined with traditional Chinese ink painting techniques, Muqi successfully created many paintings, now seen to be symbolic to the Chán Buddhist style.

By:
Group #5: Cleo Chang & Alizia Chagoya
Word Count: 1563