For the Chinese, eating encompasses more than mere nourishment. Food must please the eye and the sense of taste, but it must also sustain good health and longevity. Eating is also a collective and intimate activity, as family members and friends gather around a hotpot and eat together while enjoying one another's company. The Chinese palate is also notoriously adventurous, ranging from snakes to birds' nests.
Food vessels were highly important in ancient China. Many vessels were designed to properly enjoy special dishes. When made of expensive materials such as bronze, the vessels often signified the social status of the owners.
Ancient Chinese food vessel, Ding, early-mid 11th century B.C., Chinese, 49.152
The Relationship Between Painting and Calligraphy
As the most important art forms in traditional China, painting and calligraphy are conducive to conveying the cultivation and sentiments of scholars and artists. Through inscriptions and colophons (writing added by others to a scroll at a later time), calligraphy enhances the meaning of a painting. Oftentimes an image such as a tree branch or bamboo frames the space in which an inscription can be added. The frame indicates that the space should not be construed as a pictorial form (sky or water, for example) in the painting.
In contrast with these traditional practices, Li Jin fills up the space between images of food with characters that provide "texture" for A Feast. The juxtaposition of characters and images contrasts line with wet ink and color washes. When Li considered the content of the written passages, he realized that the descriptions in recipes are "active," which served to counterbalance the "passivity" of the dishes. The contrast is both visual and conceptual.
The Lanting Pavillion, 1612, Chen Fu, 52.138
Selected Recipe Translated from A Feast
Pork in fine slices 60gm; cooked mushroom 3 pieces; tofu 180gm; onion in slices, 1 soup-spoon; ginger in fine slices, 1 soup-spoon; green onion in fine slices, 1 soup-spoon; sugar, ¼ tea-spoon; pepper powder, ¼ teaspoon; oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon.
Translated by Jan Hwang.
Detail showing this recipe on the scroll, 2003.119
What is the importance of food in Chinese culture? How do Li Jin's painting and calligraphic styles differ from more traditional Chinese artists? Follow the links below to explore these and other questions related to A Feast.
Li Jin in his studio
Courtesy of the artistA Feast measures eighteen meters in length and one meter in width. It uses a horizontal format inspired by the traditional Chinese handscroll, which was intended to be unrolled and viewed by an individual. On the other hand, the large size of A Feast encourages public viewing. The painting, however, unlike a typical handscroll, is not a narrative, so viewing the scroll need not begin at its front end.
In the painting, the tone of the ink is masterfully manipulated to render the contour of objects, their shadow and the burnt parts of some dishes. Similarly, the uneven gradation of colors—the result of mixing the color pigments with water—has been exploited to give the painted objects a sense of volume. They are, however, painted rather casually. Colors occasionally spill over the black outline, making the images appear both realistic and spontaneous at once.
Li Jin at work
Courtesy of the artist