Nine Dragons by Chen Rong

Here are three close up images from one of the most famous Chinese ink paintings ever created, the _Nine Dragons_, by Chen Rong.

Chen Rong produced this handscroll in 1244, and it is massive — over ten meters long! (32 feet) The aesthetic qualities are immediately grasped even if you don’t know a darn thing about dragons in Chinese mythology, or Daoist philosophy, or the artistic techniques of Chinese ink calligraphy. But, when you think about how all these components are in synch together in this masterpiece, it’s mind-blowing.

Along the scroll (and I’ll put a link to a digital version you can really take your time with), nine dragons tumble and weave amidst natural forces like winds and waves, over billowing clouds and above high mountains. The number nine has auspicious qualities in Chinese numerology, and the nine dragons stand for different qualities, like blessings, longevity, protection, justice, et cetera. Their interaction with the various elements represents Daoist ideas about engaging with ever-changing conditions. Dragons themselves were considered transformative beasts, and resonated with Buddhist ideas about existence being driven by change.

All of this echoes in the techniques of Chen Rong, who painted his masterpiece at age 56. Elements of exactness — such as the “ax-cut texture” of the cliffs and the surgically precise expressions on the dragons’ faces — interplay with spontaneous free-form brush strokes. The clouds, for instance, billow and mist with long strokes of washed ink, and the rain droplets are either flung or blown into the paper.

The 13th-century art critic Tang Hou wrote about portraying dragons in art, and how difficult it is to balance the elements of freedom with precision when you render them: “if one mainly focuses on the transformations [of dragons’ emergence], the brushwork would become reckless ink play and lack painting discipline; if [one] was restricted by the painting method, then the idea of transformation is lost. Therefore, painting dragons is especially difficult”.

In the scroll, Chen Rong tells the viewer he was drunk on wine when he painted his _Nine Dragons_. “In vinum, veritas”?