Art of the elite

The art of the elite

Since the time of the Tang dynasty and with the establishment of the imperial examinations, art assumed a special function within the Chinese elite. Art was mostly carried out by scholars and officials who had studied the Confucian classics. This type of visual expression has found wide acceptance through Confucianism, which recommended to enjoy the glory of art. Persons who were able to express themselves in outstanding ways by using art would bring the wonders of the world to life. This earned these scholars particularly high recognition. In the course of time, the scholars, who had invested a lot of time and effort in their studies, became more and more concerned with expressing their own personality, independent of external influences. 

Therefore 2 different movements of art arose: academy painting, which was based on the guidelines of the court, and the art created by independent scholars. The intention of the independent scholars arose from the desire to promote themselves. Many of these artists turned to philosophical schools. If they were already influenced by Confucianism, they often turned to Buddhism or Daoism in the course of their lives. 

Calligraphy is of particular importnace for the history of Chinese art. Therefore, a picture always contained several components, including painting, poetry and calligraphy. The first artists to use this form sytle of art were Wang Xizhi (王羲之) and Wei Shuo (卫 铄) during the Jin dynasty (265-420 centuries AD). There are different types of calligraphy that have been validated and standardized by the court. Among other things, the concept font (草书) was used at court, which also has different subcategories. It is characterized by its graceful, abstract character and its fast writing speed (Huang Tingjian 黄庭坚). 

Calligraphy also offered scholars an opportunity to express themselves fleetingly (Li Bai 李白) or socially critical (Du Fu 杜甫, Zhu Derun 朱德润). Since the time of the northern Song dynasty and with the completion of the civil servant system, a new understanding of culture emerged among the elite of population. The art turned into refined, urban depictions. The painting at the imperial academy, which was mainly characterized by landscape motifs, differed from other artists who did not limit themselves to a purely realistic representation of things (literary painting: wén rén huà 文人 画). 

For those who followed their art independently of the court, the essence of literary painting lay in expressiveness, individuality, brushwork and in the representation of the personality of the artist himself - painting without expecting anything. This often implied that the painted pictures were not being sold. Pictures should serve to promote one's own mind. Because of this attitude, many artists turned to philosophical schools and isolated themselves from society. Furthermore, the general concept of painting created a distinction between artists of amateur-scholarly character and professional craftsmanship. 

One of the most famous artists of the Song dynasty, who was the first to coined the term of literary painting, was Su Shi (Su Dongpo 苏东坡). Su Dongpo is known not only for his poetry but also for his painting style. Another example of literary painting is represented by the artist Liang Kai (梁楷), who was an academician at the court of the Southern Song dynasty. Later on Liang Kai oriented his life towards the tradition of Zen Buddhism. His pictures are characterized by there seemingly unfinished appearance. This can be traced back to the sketch style, which he used and which was particularly related to the Buddhist world of thought. 

Huang Gongwang (黄 公 望) was originally an official of the Yuan dynasty, who quickly lost his position and oriented himself towards the study of Daoism by withdrawing from society (landscape paintings by using both many small brushstrokes and the cun technique). Another important artist of the Yuan dynasty was Zhu Derun (朱德润) who had contact with scholars from Korea through his office position of high status. He later retired and lived as a painter and calligrapher. His art is characterized by a shift in perspective. Wang Meng (王蒙) was one of the 4 great literary painters of the Yuan Dynasty, whose sytle of art differed from the other 3 artist by using broader brushstrokes while painting. 

Source: Clunas, C. (1997): Art in the Life of the Élite. In: Art in China. Oxford University Press, USA. S.: 135-171.

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