Late Ming and Qing Period painting - Essay Example

LATE MING AND QING PERIOD PAINTING The sixteenth-seventeenth century period was the time of great changes for China. The power of the ruling classes, traditionally made up of the emperor, his imperial clansmen and hereditary landed gentry, was being challenged by the rise of new class of intellectual bureaucrats who had ascended to the top levels of government through the civil service examination system. This profound change had taken place since the mid-Tang dynasty and accelerated in successive periods. This social change coincided with economic changes whereby the agrarian based Chinese economy was gradually changing into a capitalistic economy based on trade and industry as a result of the rise of urban centres in the Jiangnan area. In the recent development of Chinese art historiography, it has been an established practice to consider the late and early Qing periods (Mingo-Qungchu) as a continuous entity due to these social and economic factors. This historical continuity is taken as given in spite of the dynastic changes that took place in 1644. In the analysis and comparison of late Ming and Qing painting traditions, it is important to understand that both traditions were influenced by preceding cultural, socioeconomic and political events. The late Ming period embraced many artistic traditions and branches that originated in the early Ming period, namely scholar painters at the Hongwu court (1368-1398), the the professionals at the Xuande (1426-1436), and Chenghua courts (1436-1465) (Lin, 1967). However, from the critical perspective, Wumen School has been the most influential artistic school for the formation of late Ming period distinctive painting style. Although this school emerged in the middle Ming period, it has had profound long-lasting effect on Chinese painting tradition that extended not only to late Ming period, but had significant manifestation in Qing painting period (Lin, 1967). Historically, despite great variety in numbers and geographic locations, the artistic schools of late Ming can be limited to a few most distinctive ones, namely Xu Wei School, Don Qichang School, Huating School, Zhao Zuo, Susong School, and Chen chun School (Lin, 1967). Walter Benjamin has argued that the Art for Art’s Sake movement in the later half of the nineteenth century was a reaction to the commercialization of culture and the possible threats it posed to the elite’s exclusive claim to art (Benjamin, 1968, p. 226). The commercialisation and popularisation of art apparently allowed the larger public to participation and appreciation of art and ultimately afforded them a role in the artistic arena. Historical evidence proves that this was exactly the case in late Ming art world. Contemporary critics, including arbiter of artistic taste, Don Qichang (1555-1636), claimed that modus operandi of true masters of late Ming period was to pursue and accomplish innovative and original expression (qui). Dong noted, “When old master wrote calligraphy, they did not follow established models. Instead, they always took originality as their canon” (Murck, 1976, p.122). He also commented that “In general, the divine painting of the masters must have originality in their brushwork” (Murck, 1976, p.122). In these statements, he emphasized the importance of qui (bizarre, strange, original), a value concept advocated by a number of contemporary critics. As Andrew Plaks has explained, the word “qui” no longer had negative connotations in late Ming cultural criticism; rather it unequivocally indicated something completely new and ingenious and thus carried a strongly positive value” (Plaks, 1991, p.487). Yuan Hongdao, an unconventional critic of the period, avidly promoted ingenuity, individuality and thus originality in art and literature, as opposed to mechanical imitation of the models from the past (Moss, 1984). Yuan noted, A good artist learns from nature, not from any one person. A good student embraces the spirit, not the doctrines. A good master takes for his master not someone in the past, but the whole glorious creation. Take for instance, the person, who considers Li Tang his master. Does he try merely to learn the compositions and stroke techniques of Li Tang? Or should he not rather learn the spirit of Li Tang, the spirit of not wanting to be Han, or a Wei, or a man of the Six Dynasties? This is the right way to learn…Thus, to disobey the rules Is sometimes the right way to follow the masters of the past (Moss, 1984, p.79). This comment clearly defines the changes role of artists, occurred in late Ming period. They are supposed to break away from established rules in art and establish their own styles, which will distinguish their identities and secure their unique place in history. Thus, learning the style and formal habits of established masters was insufficient and inferior. As Katherine Burnett has aptly pointed out, in both their subject matter and styles, many of the leading painters of the late Ming period produced idiosyncratic work that distinguished them from previous and contemporary artists (Burnett, 2000, p. 524). These examples include Wu Bin’s exaggerated mountain forms, Li Shida’s chubby and humorous figures ad Chen Hongshou’s powerfully intimate and personalized nature (Murck and Fong, 1991). Artistic originality was the new watchword, motto and canon of the later Ming masters. It has been shown that during the early Ming period professional painters were often treated as social equals by scholar-amateur painters and patrons. Kathlyn Liscomb has pointed out that “the popularity of this new painting style within elite circles of court officials suggests that the new expressionism touched a responsive chord in many patrons and critics” (Liscomb, 1992, pp.70-71). Late Ming professional artists enjoyed similar relationship with their patrons. Professional artists were close friends and collaborators with scholar-amateur painters, and painting was executed in an atmosphere of scholarly intercourse shaped by poetry clubs and literary gatherings. As an example of this phenomenon is the set of album leaves, entitled Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers (Lin, 1967). This work combined the paintings of four separate professional artists working in Suzhou, Shen Maoye (act. 1596-1640), Li Shida (act. 1573-1621), and two lesser known artists, Chen Huan (act.1600-1621) and Shen Xuan (act.1600-1621) (Moss, 1984). The accompanying poems, all quatrains, are by two renowned scholars of the late Ming period living in Suzhou. This set of album leaves is unique in several ways. Although the theme of Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers was popularized as painting subject in the Southern Song period, it was usually restricted to a single artist executing all eight scenes. From the same period there emerged from this theme a set of corresponding poems, the titles of which later became a standard set of painting themes. Here, four different professional artists painted two scenes in each, and new poems were written in harmony with those of the twelfth century by two high-ranking scholar-officials. A full understanding and appreciation of these works required considerable literary and artistic sophistication, a phenomenon that raises questions about the kind of audience that would appreciate a work of this type. In the fifteen and sixteenth centuries, Suzhou emerged as the leading artistic center of the Ming period, nurturing artistic circles of painters and other professional artists which were eventually transformed in the Wu school (Liscomb, 1992, p.215). The Wu school established the patronage trend in the Ming period, according to which scholars and painters were given an opportunity to make their living by selling paintings. In the later Ming period, patrons crossed social boundaries, and thus the production reflected their needs, along with the painting traditions with which artists became associated. Critics suggest that there was a great exchange and communication between artists, both amateur and professional, and their patrons. For instance, the emergence of sobriquet landscapes genre often used by Suzhou artists in the late Ming period aimed to celebrate patron’s virtue and outstanding deeds. Although conditions under which late Ming artists made and sold their paintings remain unclear, with a few inscriptions and recorded writings that relate to the patrons, historians made fairly accurate assumption as to whom and what type of audience artists were producing for, including foreign markets and various levels of local consumption. Artistic collaborations among Wen Zhenmeng, Fan Yunlin, Li Shida, and Din Yunpeng occur within intellectual elite and even broader segments of the population. Artistic tradition during Qing period has been determined through various processes, including economic transitions, political changes and cultural heritage left by the Ming epoch. The first period of the Qing dynasty during the reigns of Kangxi and Quinlong emperors has been characterised with the blend of Manchus and Chinese cultural traditions, and similarly to the Ming period, the court established itself as a major patron for the arts. Thematically and artistically Qing period painting can be divided in three major traditions, namely traditionalists, individualists and professional artists who served the Manchu court. Traditionalists pursued the heritage of Ming painting culture and sought to establish new orthodox style through assembling and collecting prime models of old Ming painters (Lin, 1967). Once the lineage of scholar painting was defined, the Orthodox School has been established. One of the main representatives of the Orthodox School, Wang Hui (1632-1717) developed his painting style, synthesising landscape styles of the Song dynasty, calligraphic brushwork of the Yuan period and expressionism of Ming period. Wang Hui specialization became landscape painting with Daoism thematic emerging by the end of his career. His landscape panoramas created for court officials during 1680s led to his appointment as the master painter of the Nanxun tu, a collection of scrolls illustrating emperor’s Kangxi’s Southern Tour of 1689. The individualist painting tradition during Qing period has been formed by Ming public officers and loyal artists who retired or withdrew from public service after the Ming dynasty decay. The representatives of this painting division pursued individual and artistic self-cultivation and obtained inspiration from rural scenery and Chinese natural beauty, not having access to old masters collections. Again, landscape painting remained predominant style in individualist style. Simultaneously, individualists formed their distinctive features varying the density and darkness of ink (Chou and Brown, 1985). Professional branch of Qing artistic tradition was represented primarily through artists creating in the city of Yangzhou. This particular school has been characterised with artistic experimentation and consumption motivation (Chou and Brown, 1985). For instance, some artists of this branch produced large scale paintings on silk utilising mineral pigments, which allowed producing highly detailed images. Simultaneously, other artists focused on figure painting, such as flowers and bird illustrations, interests in which were largely dictated by the public demand (Chou and Brown, 1985). REFERENCES Benjamin, W. 1968. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” In Illuminations, ed. Arendt H. New York: Schocken Books. Burnett, K. 2000. “A Discourse of Originality in Late Ming Chinese Painting Criticism,” Art History 24, no.4, pp. 522-558 Chou, J., Brown, C. The Elegant Brush: Chinese Painting Under the Qianlong Emperor, 1735–1795. Phoenix: Phoenix Art Museum, 1985. Lin, Y. 1967. The Chinese Theory of Art. New York: Putnam. Liscomb, K. 1992, “Shen Zhou’s Collection of Early Ming Paitning and the Origins of the Wu School’s Eclectic Revivalism,” Artibus Asiae, pp.215-52 Murck A. and Fong, W.C. 1991. Word and Images: Chinese Poetry, Calligraphy and Painting, Princeton University Press Moss, P. 1984. Emperor, Scholar, Artisan, Monk: The Creative Personality in Chinese Works of Art. London: Sydney L. Moss Ltd. Murck, C. 1976. Artists and Traditions: Uses of the Past in Chinese Culture. Princeton University Press Plaks, A. 1991. “Aesthetic of Irony,” in Word and Images: Chinese Poetry, Calligraphy and Painting” ed. Alfreda Murck and Wen C. Fong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp.487-500 Read More