The Subtle Way Of Life

The "Four Wangs" in early Qing Dynasty, i.e., WANG Shimin, WANG Jian, WANG Hui and WANG Yuanqi, have always been revered as the paramount grandmasters of landscape drawing by later literati painters. A typical review of their historical position comes from SHENG Dashi, also a literati painter in Qing Dynasty, that "the’Four Wangs’were undoubtedly the best painters in the early days of the imperial state, of them three belonged to’Loudong’ and the other one to ’Yushan’ school of drawing." Their loftiness remained unchallenged till the end of Qing Dynasty, when WU Changshuo, a famous painter of "Shanghai" school, still advised learners to "model the’Four Wangs’ like how drinkers appreciate pure wine".WANG Shimin is the senior of the "Four Wangs" and painter is just one of his various social roles. He was not only a leader of the drawing circles, but also a calligrapher, poet and collector. His life was interwoven with almost all the important political, academic, religious and art events of the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Therefore, taking WANG Shimin as the start-point of research could help clarify some of the details and profound structure of Chinese art history and contribute to the interpretation of the spiritual traits of Chinese elite scholars in the very special transitional period from Ming to Qing Dynasties.The author had a chance to write Biography of WANG Shimin and the relevant detailed chronological record under the National Qing Dynasty History Program in recent years. During this process, a rather clear profile of WANG Shimin has been gradually formed in her mind. Despite his multiple identities and changing roles, a very special identity, lay Buddhist, had accompanied Wang’s entire adult life. And moreover, this was an identity almost unknown to the outside world. Wang resorted to Buddha to settle heart and calm mind, to free himself from the physical and metaphysical dilemmas encountered. His religious life had direct connection to the cultural choice and value stance of elite scholars remaining loyal to the Ming imperial court in early Qing Dynasty. His psychological journey was homogeneous to that of the general elite scholars south of Yangtze River during the drastic transition of imperial rule.When WANG Shimin’s behaviors, works and thoughts are analyzed in terms of Buddhist beliefs, and when his Buddhist life and values are studied against the general social and academic backgrounds in late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, it is found that the conventional view that there exists contradiction in Confucian mundaneness and Buddhist supermundaneness is no more than a questionable and unwise definition of black and white when the underlying substance of both is grey in color. In the rather peculiar historical setting of late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, WANG Shimin is a valuable representative case deserving in-depth study. His life as a unknown layman Buddhist and adherent to the previous imperial court not only presents a typical example of the real world activities of elite scholars at the time, but provides a profound indication to the psychological content of these elite scholars south of Yangtze River during the transitional period from Ming to Qing imperial government. In this sense, his life constitutes a quite exemplary "drawing" of the spiritual image of his peers, and has general implications beyond that of a unique and individual life.