Nanshu painting

This is one of two major classifications of Chinese painting that were advocated by Mo Shilong and Dong Qichang in the late Ming Dynasty in China. They divided Chinese painting into the Southern School and the Northern School, and considered the founder of the Southern School to be Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty, through Dong Yuan and Ju Ran of the Southern Tang Dynasty of the Five Dynasties, Mi Fu and Mi Youren (father and son) of the Northern Song Dynasty, the four great masters of the late Yuan Dynasty, Wang Meng, Ni Zan, Wu Zhen, and Huang Gongwang, and finally Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming of the Wu School of the Ming Dynasty. Mo Shilong and Dong Qichang, who considered the Southern School of painting to be the orthodox style of painting, disliked the technical paintings of professional painters (Northern School of painting), and sought the spirit of calligraphy in painting, hoping to express natural inspirations in a gentle manner. Technically, they often used soft lines like loosened hemp, and many of their works were light in color.

The classification of painting into the Southern and Northern Schools is a highly arbitrary argument, as it likens the classification of paintings to Zen, as in "Southern and Northern Gradually," and cites Wang Wei, who was deeply devoted to Buddhism, as the founder of the Southern School of painting. However, one reason for this is that Dong Qichang himself had a strong interest in Zen, as shown by the title of his book on painting, "Essays on the Zen and Painting Room." In any case, since the theory on Southern and Northern Schools of painting appeared in the late Ming dynasty, its influence has continued to this day, and the so-called "Southern and Northern Disparagement Theory," which sees Southern School painting as good and Northern School painting as bad, remains deeply rooted in some people. However, now is the time for this theory to be reexamined, and the understanding of painting history is also changing. The term "Nanga" is only used in Japan, and although it is based on the Southern School of painting from mainland China, it is naturally different in meaning and form.

[Kondo Hidemi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、明(みん)代後期に莫是龍(ばくしりょう)、董其昌(とうきしょう)らが唱道した、それまでの中国絵画を大きく二つに分類したうちの一つ。彼らは中国絵画を南宗画と北宗画とに分け、南宗画の祖を唐代の王維(おうい)とみなし、五代南唐の董源(とうげん)、巨然(きょねん)、北宋(ほくそう)の米芾(べいふつ)・米友仁(ゆうじん)父子、元末の四大家、王蒙(おうもう)・倪瓚(げいさん)・呉鎮(ごちん)・黄公望(こうこうぼう)を経て、明の呉派(ごは)の沈周(しんしゅう)、文徴明(ぶんちょうめい)に及ぶものとする。南宗画を絵画の正統とする莫是龍、董其昌らは、技巧的な職業画家の絵画（北宗画）を嫌い、絵画に書巻(しょかん)の気を求め、自然な感興を穏やかに表現することを望んだ。技術的には披麻皴(ひましゅん)（麻をほぐしたような柔らかい描線）を多く用い、色彩も軽やかなものが多い。

　そもそも南宗画・北宗画という分類は、絵画の分類を南頓北漸(なんとんほくぜん)と禅に見立てたり、南宗画の始祖に仏教に深く帰依(きえ)していた王維を持ち出してきたり、多分に恣意(しい)的な立論であるが、董其昌がその画論書を『画禅室随筆(がぜんしつずいひつ)』と名づけたように、董其昌自身禅に強い関心を寄せていたことにも一因がある。とにかく南宗画・北宗画の論が明代後期に出現して以来、その影響力は今日にまで及び、南宗画をよしとし北宗画を悪くみる、いわゆる「尚南貶北(しょうなんへんぼく)論」が一部の人々には根強く残っている。だが現在、この論が改めて検討される時期に達し、絵画史の認識も新しくなりつつある。なお、「南画(なんが)」と称するのは日本のみで、中国本土の南宗画を母体としつつも、その意味と形態の差でおのずから違ったものとなっている。

［近藤秀実］

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