Gao Qipei (1660–1734), zi Weizhi韋之, hao Qieyuan且園, Nancun 南村, Chuangjiang 創匠) was a member of the Han army in the “Yellow Bordered Banner.”Trans. Note: one of the eight banners that were a core organizational feature of Mongolian rule, this particular banner was located in what is now Inner Mongolia. Having served both in Suzhou and Zhizhou, he attained the rank of Right Attendant Gentleman in the Bureau of Punishments, Commander-in-Chief for the Han army Zhenghong banner, and Salt Controller of Zhejiang, as well as other official positions.For biographical information on Gao Qipei see Yang Renkai楊仁愷, “Gao Qipei” 高其佩in Zhongguo lidai huajia daguan 中國歷代畫家大觀, Qing vol. 1 (shang) (Shanghai: Shanghai renmin meishu chuban she, 1998): 505-564. In the history of Chinese painting, Gao Qipei is famous for painting with his fingers. While traditionally the brush is considered the primary tool of Chinese painting, in reality there is no limit to what the artist might use to paint. When thinking of using fingers to paint, the Tang-era painter Zhang Cao張璪 (Wentong reign period, fl. 755–763) comes to mind, about whom it is said,

“Immediately upon viewing it [the painting of Zhang Cao], he [Bi Hong] gasped in surprise. Wondering how he either used a bald brush or his fingers to rub the plain silk, accordingly he asked Zhang if he might have it (畢宏)一見(璪畫)驚嘆之，異其唯用禿筆，或以手摸絹素，因問璪所受….”Zhang Cangyuan張彥遠, Lidai minghua ji歷代名畫記, in SKQS, 10.6.

Yet it is unclear exactly how Zhang Cao used his hands to paint as we have no further explanation and no extant paintings.

There are more literary references on finger painting during the Qing period (1644-1912). For example, the Shunzhi 順治 emperor of the Qing dynasty (reign 1638–1661) is described as occasionally using his fingertips to paint horses. In regard to Gao Qipei, the well-known Qing dynasty painter Zou Yigui 鄒一桂 (1686–1772), in his Xiao shan hua pu小山畫譜, writes, “Qipei paints with his fingers and is known for making a living with his fingertips其佩工指畫, 名指頭生活.”At the time Gao Qipei was understood to “dip his fingers in ink and paint people, landscapes, and animals, which in every case he made come to life. 手指蘸墨，畫出人物、山水、禽魚，無不生動.”Zou Yigui, Xiao shan hua ji小山畫譜, in Meishu congshu美術叢書, vol. 5 (Taibei: Yiwen shuju, 1975), xia: 137.

Gao’s grandson, Gao Bing高秉 composed a text titled Zhitou hua shuo 指頭畫說 in which he had the following explanation of Gao Qipei’s painting method:

“At the age of eight he (Gao Qipei) studied painting. When he found a work he would immediately copy it, continuing in this manner for over ten years filling two baskets [with his paintings]. When he reached the capping age (twenty years old) he longed to become a painter, and so he persisted [in his practice].

Having exhausted himself, he laid down and fell asleep. He dreamt that an old man had directed him to his studio where the walls were covered with paintings. Every painting was executed with perfect technique, but there was not a single brush to be found in the room and so he could not copy them. There was only a pot of water, so he dipped his fingers into it and began to practice.

Upon waking up, he was extremely excited, wondering how could he obtain [this method] in his heart and not be able to reflect it in his brush. And so he at once plunged into practice. Thinking back to how he had used his fingers with water in his dream, accordingly Qipei dipped his finger in ink and copied out the broad outlines recapturing the spirit [that he had while in his dream], casually using his fingers to bring forth paintings which in every case were wonderful works. Committed to this method from that moment forward, he discarded his brushes.”Gao Bing, Zhitou hua shuo, in Meishu congshu, vol. 4, 37.

八齡學畫，遇稿輒摹，積十餘年，盈二簏。弱冠恨不能自成一家，居恒鬱鬱。倦而假寐，夢一老人引至士室，四壁皆畫，理法無不俱備，而室中無文具，不能模仿。惟一水盂，爰以指蘸而習之。覺而大喜，奈得於心而不能應之於筆，輒複悶悶。偶憶土室中用水之法，因以指蘸墨，仿其大略，盡得其神，信手拈來，皆成妙諦。職此遂廢筆焉。

Gao Qipei once made a seal with the inscription, “I learned painting from a dream, and the dream arose in my mind. 畫從夢授，夢自心成.”Ibid. This is a case of ri you suo si, ye you suo meng日有所思，夜有所夢 (“That which you think about in the day is that which you dream of at night”).

His desire to develop a personal style is clear in his poem “Shu hua shi 述畫詩,畫 which reads,

I paint using my hands,

My nails, palm, and back of my hand, all serving as my tools.

When my hand is lowered, there is nothing,

The object appears as my hand moves away.Originally from Tiebao 鉄保 & Zhihui Zhao 趙志輝, Xi chao yasong ji 熙朝雅頌集, cited in Yang Renkai楊仁愷, “Gao Qipei” 高其佩in Zhongguo lidai huajia daguan 中國歷代畫家大觀, Qing vol. 1 (shang) (Shanghai: Shanghai renmin meishu chuban she, 1998): 520.

吾畫以吾手，甲骨掌背具。手落尚無物，物成手卻無.

Without doubt, finger painting requires a great understanding of brush painting. As Zou Yigui notes,

“Never has there been a painter who was unskilled with a brush but capable [of painting] with his fingers. The vulgar painters who do not know how to wield their brushes, longing to imitate the great, only waste ink and paper.”Zou Yigui, Xiao shan hua pu, xia: 137.

未有不能筆而指者。俗手未知握管，強欲效顰，畫虎不成災墨紙.

In the Seattle hanging scroll, a horse in frontal pose stands beside a willow tree, looking out at the viewer. Behind the horse is the groom, who looks up at a flock of birds flying away into the distance.

When master painters discuss what is easy and what is difficult in painting, they say: “It is easy to paint a hand strumming five strings of a zither; it is difficult to paint a viewer watching a line of returning geese手揮五弦易；目送歸鴻難.” The reason is that, for the former, the fingers are connected to the strings, and hence the treatment of form is easily resolved. On the other hand, a viewer watching geese suggests distance, and the difficulty lies in making the connection among things that are spatially separate and isolated.

In the Seattle work, however, the three elements: horse, groom, and birds are harmoniously combined in a skillful composition. Both willow trees and birds—perhaps sparrows—are associated with spring, as are horses, thereby recalling the favored subject “Breaking in horses in the suburbs during spring春郊試馬” in ancient paintings. In the Seattle Gao Qipei, even though the painting is large, the willow tree, horse, and groom are clearly arranged in space, from the large forms in the foreground to the open space of the background.

Being a finger painting, the line and ink qualities are distinctive, different from brush painting. If we compare finger painting with brush painting, finger painting lacks gentle curves, subtle modulations and the smooth fluent lines created by the brush. The characteristic features of finger painting are due to the use of fingernails, fingertips and palm combined together to create a painting. Using this method a person can both paint with fingers in a way that is like and unlike a brush. Trans. Note: the basis of this phrase is understood to come from a poem in a set of 18 poems by Xi Kang嵇康 (223–262) titled “Zeng xiucai ru jun” 贈秀才入軍 (Presented to the Flourishing Talent upon Entering the Army). Xi Kang, Xi Kang ji jiao zhu 嵇康集校注 (Beijing: Renmin wenxue chuban she, 1962): 1.16. This phrase is then modified by the famous master painter Gu Kaizhi to the exact line structure we see cited here.

Regarding the contours in this painting, the scraped, stiff lines show the clear use of dipping both the fingernail and the fleshy parts of the finger in ink. Due to the fact that the fingertip holds less ink than the brush, the way ink suddenly stops and starts, flows and pools, then quickly dries, is distinctive. Often white space occurs in the middle of the stuttering ink lines created by the fingers. In comparison to paintings executed with a brush, the appearance is rough, as if scraped.

Generally speaking, in finger painting low absorbency or sized paper is used. But according to Gao Bing’s record, Gao Qipei usually preferred unsized paper, and only when that was not available did he use sized paper.Gao Bing, Zhitou hua shuo, in Meishu congshu, vol. 4, 57. Based on the pooling ink in the Seattle work, the paper is likely to be unsized. Unfortunately the surface has been abraded and damaged over time.

In the application of color on finger paintings, often a brush was used as we see on the blush color of the groom’s face, his rose-colored lips, blue hat string, and the ink washes of his hat and the collar of his robe. The tree trunk appears to have been produced with both finger and brush. Beneath the horse's belly are a group of ink marks created by pressing the finger tip.

As for the inscription, the calligraphy is dominated by round blunt strokes, the ink flowing on the paper and stopping abruptly forming numerous concentrations of ink. This does not have the characteristic smooth curves of brush strokes, and is most likely written with a fingertip.

© 2013 by the Seattle Art Museum