Danqing

The word danqing has a long history in the Chinese culture and language. It appears often in Chinese classics, historical records, literature, etc. Some of the earliest historical records of danqing include the Rites of Zhou, Guanzi, the Records of the Grand Historian, the Book of Han. It also appears in many other ancient Chinese classics.^{[citation needed]}

Danqing was mentioned in the chapter Office of Autumn on Justice of Rites of Zhou (simplified Chinese: 周礼·秋官司寇, traditional Chinese: 周禮·秋官司寇), a text written between 300 BC and 200 BC on the bureaucracy and organizational system of the Zhou dynasty. Danqing is mentioned as one of the minerals in the treasury, which was guarded by officials in the Zhi Jin (職金) position.^[5]

In Guanzi (管子), written by Guan Zhong (720 BC – 645 BC), danqing was referred to as the minerals that can be excavated from the mountain.^{[6][clarification needed]}

In the Records of the Grand Historian, written in 94 BC, a conversation between Li Si and Qin Shi Huang was recorded during the Warring States period. Li Si argued that Qin Shi Huang should not only use people and things within Qin to build the Qin dynasty, using danqing minerals from the Shu region used in Qin as an example.^[7]

In the Book of Han, Sima Xiangru (179 BC – 117 BC) described a place called Yunmeng in Chu (state) to the Emperor Wu of Han, stating that the place's soil contained danqing among other colorful minerals.^[8]

By the Han dynasty, danqing had been used to refer to the style of Chinese painting. For example, in the Book of Han, Li Ling used the phrase "painted in danqing (丹青所畫)".^[9]

During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Pi, before becoming the first emperor of Cao Wei, wrote a letter to Meng Da, stating that "danqing draws figures, while historian records the meritorious services and achievements", in which danqing referred to the artist.^{[4][10][clarification needed]}

By the Jin dynasty, the word danqing was extended to mean the process of Chinese painting. In the Book of Jin, published in 648 AD, the Chinese painter and politician Gu Kaizhi was described as "especially good at danqing", in which the word meant the art of painting.^[11][12]

In Complete Tang Poems (全唐诗, Complete Collection of Tang Poems), Du Fu wrote a poem called Prelude of a Painting: Presented to General Cao Ba (Chinese: 丹青引贈曹將軍霸).^[13] Although the title refers to the Chinese painting, in the verse the word refers to the art of Chinese painting: "丹青不知老將至" (transl. "While I was painting, I didn't realize old age is coming").^[14]

Du Fu also wrote another poem called Passing by Guo Daigong’s Old Residence (过郭代公故宅), in which Du Fu paid ode to Guo Yuanzhen. When recalling Guo Yuanzhen's military achievements in defending and protecting the Tang dynasty, Du Fu wrote expressing his admiration for Guo by writing: "The general outstanding other famous ministers and the danqing (his painting) illuminates the central pavilion."^[15]

In his book Some Technical Terms of Chinese Painting, Benjamin March transliterated the word "丹青" using the Wade–Giles romanization system as Tan Ch'ing and translated it as two definitions in English: "red and blue", and "painting, the art of painting".^[16]

In China, ancients called the painter danqingshou (丹青手), the outstanding painter danqing miaoshou (丹青妙手), while common folk called the painter the danqing shifu (丹青師傅).^{[citation needed][clarification needed]}

• Gu Kaizhi
• Li Tang
• Qian Xuan
• Qiu Ying
• Wang Ximeng
• Wu Daozi
• Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou
• The Four Great Academy Presidents
• List of Chinese painters^{[citation needed]}

• Chinese painting
• Chinese pigments
• Gongbi
• Blue-green shan shui
• Bird-and-flower painting