Study On Gong Xian

Gong Xian, who lived between late Ming and early Qing Dynasty, was a maverick landscape painting master in the history of Chinese painting. He once had close relationship with Fu Society and many Donglin members with the ambition to revitalize Ming Dynasty, and refused to shoulder any official position for the new dynasty. Being a master poet, he handed down his own poems collection "Fragrant Grassy Hall Collection" along with lots of poems on paintings, and devoted numerous efforts to collect late Tang Dynasty poems and compiled62volumes of "Late Tang Dynasty Poem Collection". As a distinguished and talented master painter and ranked first among the Jinling Top Eight Master Painters, at the time when the imitation of the classic master pieces was prevalent among the art community, he preserved a distinct personality of his own and gained a reputation for his unique vigorous style. He specializes in theory and had a unique insight of his own; he was also good at calligraphy, which could be perceived in his many painting postscripts, the inscriptions, and poems. Besides, he was proficient in teaching and once compiled "Apprentice Paintings Collection which had a far-reaching influence and had excellent students like Wang Gai, who compiled "Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual". With his comprehensive talents and achievements, Gong Xian undoubtedly deserves our research for the benefit of contemporary art world, the education sector and the academic circle.Ancients liked to use Zi and Hao other than names. Different than the modern practice, the ancients’name actually consist of two parts,"name" and "word", and the so-called "name" of modern people is just the part of "name" of the ancients. Last name is born to have and not free to change, the name after birth are given by parents according to their educational level, family background, social status, and cultural background, but this name is no more than a nick name or a childhood name. The ancient men could not have a Zi and Hao until they reached the age of20and women until15. Zi and Hao were more popular among the literati, used to embody their hobbies and interests, or to express their ideals and ambition, and so on and so forth. Therefore, to study Gong Xian’s Zi and Hao could reveal a lot about his conduct, hobbies, place of origin, or his personality and character.Gong Xian’s life has been a confusing issue, especially when it comes to his early life status. Gong Xian once worked as a minor official before hiding in Qingliang Mountain. Later on, he was forced to leave Nanjing due to the internal political environment and his background. He experienced several twists and turns before he could settle and and put an end to the nearly two decades of this bustling life. At last, Gong Xian went back to Qingliang Mountain, which could be interpreted as the return of his mind to the old land. When still young, Gong Xian once went along the Yangtze River in search of his father, which was called the "grand tour" experience.At the so-called "the collapsing era" in the late Ming and early Qing period, Gong Xian, with his adherent identity, independent personality, unique style, distinguished himself from other famous painters in the early Qing Dynasty, and won the respect and admiration of the same period and later years. The public did not recognize his achievements at that time, but after a few hundred years later, he had a direct impact on the style of masters such as Fu Baoshi, Huang, Li Keran, and this impact will last forever from generation to generation.Gong Xian was known for his poetry, and the time he spent on poetry was far more than the painting. Gong Xian regarded his poetry career as the pursuit of life, from composing poetry to compilation of Verses, Gong Xian had always been practicing the fine traditional values of learning ideals and poetries, so the painting of the GongXian is always filled with poetic feelings and literary thinking, as well as understanding of the "Taoism" ideals.Gong Xian make friends very widely at all levels, from the upper officials, dignitaries, the unconventional scholars, to the painters, and booksellers.The aim of this present thesis is to aims to gain a comprehensive insight into Gong Xian’s life and learn from his experience by investigating the friends he kept, his art of painting, poetry and art achievements, and a real artist’s road to success.