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« Oriental Art » Vol. 38 no. 3, 1992 Fall

BIAN WEN-JIN AND HIS FLOWER AND BIRD PAINTING

Hou-mei Sung

Flower-and-bird painting was of great importance in the Ming dynasty. Renewed interest in this subject in the early Ming period had set many new trends for the following decades. Bian Wen-jin was the first great master of this art and his discipline in the traditions of Huang Quan and the Song masters and his success in combining these traditions with the late Yuan dynasty Min-Zhe (Fujian and Zhejiang) regional style, had set a new trend in the Ming court. Furthermore, as a member of the first generation of Ming court painters, Bian was a crucial figure for our understanding of the status of the early Ming court painters and their organization. Thus, this paper will focus on Bian Wen-jin and his painting activities from the Yong-le (1403-1424), to the Xuan-de (1426-1434) era.

As with most early Ming painters, little is known of Bian's biography. Bian Wen-jin (zi: jing-zhao) was a painter of Sha-xian, Fujian. Yet his family must have come from Long-xi, Gansu, because Bian often signed his works as a native of Long-xi. He was also remembered as a man with a good education who could write poems. There is a good deal of uncertainty surrounding his dates and titles when he served in the court. Most of his biographical sources, including Ming-hua-lu. Wu-sheng-shi-shi, Min-shu, and Yan-ping fu-zhit recorded that Bian entered the court in the Xuan-de reign and received the title of Wu-ying-dian dai-zhao. Yet through evidence provided by other sources and some surviving paintings, it is clear that Bian first served in the court in the early Yong-le era. This is documented by the recorded San-you-xue-he tu (The "Three Friends" and Cranes), painted in 1410 (the eighth year of Yong-le). Bian inscribed on this painting that it was painted in the official residence of Jin-ling (Nanjing). Two extant works are also datable to the Yong-le era, when Bian was attending the imperial trip to Beijing. They are: San-you-Bai-qin (The "Three Friends" and a Hundred Birds) of 1413 and Zhu-he-shuang-qing (Bamboo and Cranes), a collaborative work with Wang Fu (1362-1416), which can be considered as painted between 1414 and 1415, based on Wang Fu's dates and biography.

In fact, Bian's career as a court painter ended in the first year of the Xuan-de era. According to Xuan-de shih-lu (The Veritable Records of the Xuan- de Reign), at the end of the first year of this era (January 1427), Bian was stripped of his official title, Wu-ying-dian dai-zhao and made a commoner for having accepted bribes in recommending two of his friends to the court. The title, Wu-ying-dian dai-zhao, was recorded in most of Bian's biographies. Yet none of them mentioned Bian's status in the early stage of his career. The first indication that Bian had a different earlier title was found by the writer in Sha-xian-zhi of the Dao-guang era (1821-1850). According to this late Qing dynasty. gazetteer, Bian was summoned to the court in the Xuan-de era to serve in the Wen-si-yuan (Crafts Institute) and received the title of Jin-shen-dian dai-zhao. This information obviously contains some error, because, as mentioned earlier, Bian was confirmed as serving as Wu-ying-dian dai-zhao in the early Xuan-de era until he was stripped of this title on 10th January 1427. Fortunately, the puzzling problem was solved with the discovery of some new information found by the writer in an earlier version of the same gazetteer, Sha-xian-zhi of the Jia-jing era (1522-1566). According to this Ming dynasty gazet- teer, Bian first entered the court in the Yong-le era and was offered a position in the Wen-si-yuan. The title, Jin-shen-dian dai-zhao was not mentioned in the Ming version of Sha-xian-zhi, and therefore could be a title offered to Bian either at the same time of the Wen-si-yuan assignment or later in the Hong-xi era (1424-1425). Yet judging from the fact the Guo Chun, the first court painter recruited in the Yong-le era, was not given an official title as Xi-hua dai-zhao until 1424, the beginning of the Hong-xi reign, it is more likely that Bian also received his Jin-shen-dian dai-zhao around the same time. In this case, Bian's last title, Wu-ying-dian dai-zhao, would be a title offered to him at the beginning of the Xuan-de era. Information concerning Bian's career as a court painter is extremely significant, because it provides crucial information concerning the early organization and status of the Ming court painters before the Painting Academy was officially formed.

Bian's dates can be estimated as approximately between 1356 and 1428. This is based on the fact that Bian was over seventy when he was left the court in 1427. An extant painting in Japan, An-le deng-feng (Peace and Prosperity), dated 1428, provides us with the latest date known of Bian's activities. During Bian's service in the Yong-le court, his talent and skill were fully recognized. In fact, Bian's depiction of plumage, together with the human figures of Jiang Zi-cheng and the tigers of Zhao Lian, were known as the three wonders of the Yong-le court. Bian owed his success partly to the support of the Grand Secretary, Huang Huai. Most of the Yong-le court painters were recruited by Huang Huai, who was ordered by the emperor to supervise the establishment of the Ming Painting Academy in the early Yong-le era. Two of Bian's contemporaries, Xie Huan and Guo Chun, both court painters from Huang's home town of Yong-jia, entered the court through the Grand Secretary's recommendation. Bian's close association with Huang was also reflected in the farewell poem Huang wrote for Bian on his retirement. Although the Painting Academy was postponed because of the emperor's campaign. to the North, the painters recruited by Huang stayed and played an important role in the formation of the Painting Academy.