Helen Deng

NOVELIST Cao Xueqin is a household name in China thanks to his masterpiece “A Dream of Red Mansions.” The fate of characters Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu has moved readers for well over two centuries. The novel has also inspired many artists to depict its characters and actions in paintings.

These numerous paintings have come in the form of New-Year drawings, prints, frescos, embroidered portraits and so on.

The picture book of “A Dream of Red Mansions” by Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) artists Sun Wen and Sun Chengmo surpasses all other paintings on the subject by its detailed and complete scenarios and vast size. The picture book, painted with fine brushwork techniques, reproduces the novel in 230 pictures.

The paintings, collected by Lushun Museum in North China’s Shandong Province, is now being shown to the public at Shenzhen Museum. It is the first time for the whole set of paintings to be exhibited in South China.

The picture book was painted on silk, and for the purpose of preservation, they were seldom shown to the public. The last public exhibition of the paintings was in 2004 at the National Museum.

Little is known about the lives of Sun Wen and Sun Chengmo, as neither of them were famous in their own lifetimes. It is widely believed that Sun Wen was the uncle of Sun Chengmo, and the two painted the artworks during the reigns of emperors Tongzhi and Guangxu during the late Qing Dynasty.

Apart from the picture book, the uncle had left no known artwork, and the nephew had only one painting that survived.

The two artists were amazingly skilled, according to Guo Xuelei, vice curator of Shenzhen Museum.

Based on the version of “A Dream of Red Mansions” with 120 chapters, from Chapter One “Zhen Shiyin in a Dream Saw the Jade of Spiritual Understanding” to the last one “Jia Yucun Concluded a Dream of Red Mansions,” the painter carefully selected and tailored the figures and scenarios in each painting. There are over 3,700 characters portrayed in the picture book. Each one is unique.

Each painting is 43.3 centimeters long and 76.5 meters wide. The picture book is believed to be the template for lithographed illustrations of “A Dream of Red Mansions” at the time.

The scenes and figures were precisely composited with fine brushwork and thick color pattern. Different from other novel illustrations that were usually made with limning monochrome painting techniques, the picture book was painted with colored fine brushwork on silk.

The painters mainly used traditional crimson and emerald. Despite the thick and bright color pattern, the paintings look refreshing and elegant because the artists successfully integrated the figures with their surroundings.

Though the whole picture book was loyal to traditional Chinese folk painting style, the painters adopted the foreshortened figure, a painting technique widely adopted in Western painting.

It not only exactly captured the spirit of the novel and provided visualized materials for study on “A Dream of Red Mansions,” but also attained an extremely high level of Chinese classical painting art, said Guo.

Guo said the pictures were important resources for studying the folk paintings and social customs of the late Qing Dynasty. Time: Dec. 23-Feb. 23

Venue: Shenzhen Museum (the old museum)

Add: 6 Tongxin Street, Shennan Road Central

Tel: 8201-3036

Hours: 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Closed on Monday (except national holidays)

Metro: Grand Theater Station (大剧院站), Exit A