Yan Shan:Wang Shizhen And The Circle Of Literary Scholars In Suzhou

My dissertation,Yan Shan:Wang Shizhen and the Circle of Literary Scholars in Suzhou,tries to observe the whole cultural milieu of Suzhou area during Jiajing and Wanli periods of the Ming dynasty by exploring artistic communication between Wang Shizhen and other scholars.Wang had written many books with rich philosophical and historical intelligence and participated various kinds of literary assemblies to communicate with other scholars by writing poems and art criticism Wang Shizhen played a key role in the art history and society in later Ming dynasty as the leader of literary restoration movement in the Ming dynasty,and he was also the chief of literary circle in Suzhou after Wen Zhengming.I believe Wang would be a good case to understand art history of the late Ming dynasty thoroughly.The whole dissertation,consisting of two parts,attempts to reveal,through the method of social history of art,the value and historical influence of Wang Shizhen's social activities on the basis of tremendous historical documents and materials.Starting from the death of Wang Shizhen's father,the first part explores the close relationship between the literary restoration movement and polarized politics in the Jiajing period in Ming dynasty and his social activities in Suzhou area.By historically describing the rumor caused by his family disaster,I intend to show the popularity of forging and copying old paintings in the Suzhou area;at the end of this part we will learn the living environment and humanist atmosphere in the Wangs' family in Tai Chang,Suzhou.The second part focuses on the garden construction and art communication.Firstly,I have described Wang Shizhen's private garden and try to prove the existence of competition among literary scholars in elegant gatherings and painting,then I have explored the exclusive connotation of "Yan Shan" for Wang Shizhen;secondly,it is my intention to analyze how Wang Shizhen became the the leader of literary circle in Suzhou area and his relationship with Wen Zhengming's family;at last,I concern myself on the elegant gatherings and association of Wang Shizhen and Shanren circle in Suzhou.