Research On The Print Of The Youthful And Graceful Beauties In Different Dynasties

In 1909,the Russian explorer Alexei Kozlov excavated a print titled The Youthful and Graceful Beauties in Different Dynasties at the Heishui City Site in Ejina Area,Inner Mongolia,China.In 1916,the Japanese scholar Mamononaoki published this work for the first time in the third issue of the Japanese magazine Art and Literature,which attracted the attention of domestic and foreign experts one after another and made the discussion focus on the production time and function of the work.Starting from the source,this paper has collected the relevant results of the research on this topic in the past 100 years,and reanalyzed the cultural relics excavation report of the Heishui City Site and the historical data of the printing industry in Pingyang from the perspectives of sociology and fine arts.Starting from the place of discovery as well as the place and time of production of the work,this paper makes clear through the study of the history of the Western Xia Dynasty that the Western Xia culture had been deeply influenced by that of the Tang Dynasty and that the work has remained as a result of regional cultural exchange.According to the records in The New Laws and Regulations of Tian Sheng in the Western Xia Dynasty,the spreading route of the work should start from Pingyang and reach Xingqing via Suide before finally going across the Helan Mountain and ending up in Heishui City.Referring to the Russian explorer Kozlov's books Journey to the Dead City and Mongolia,Ando and the Dead City of Harihot,the author carefully analyzes the excavation process of the work,makes an on-the-spot investigation of the cultural relics site,and makes a retrospective review of the stupa collection excavated with The Youthful and Graceful Beauties in Different DynastiesFor a long time,scholars at home and abroad still have a great dispute over the production time of the work.Most people think it was made in the Song Dynasty,the Jin Dynasty or the Yuan Dynasty.Up to now,there has been no unified explanation.The author believes that during the reign of Emperor Shizong in the Jin Dynasty,the society was stable and trade andBuddhist exchanges with the Western Xia Dynasty were frequent,providing a good social environment for the production of the work.Besides,the development of the printing industry in the Pingyang region had given birth to the "Pingshui printing school” in the history of printmaking.The production technology of Pingshui printing also reached an unprecedented level during this period,and it was during this period that Pingyang Carving House of Ji Family was founded.All these provide strong evidence for the time when the work was produced.In addition,geometric symbols are printed on the four right angles of the Chinese character "?"(hui).At the same time,geometric symbols are also found in many engravings such as Lotus Sutra,The New Laws and Regulations of Tian Sheng,and The Dictionary of Chinese and Minority Languages,which were produced between 1183 and 1194.Thus geometric symbols become one of the key points to tell the exact time of the work.Based on the above content,the author believes that the production of The Youthful and Graceful Beauties in Different Dynasties was in the late years of Emperor Shizong and the early years of Emperor Changzong of the Jin Dynasty,that is,in the 1190 s.This paper focuses on the form of the work,and analyzes the details of the picture through the image analogy method.Based on the image content and symbolic meaning,the paper analyzes the religious beliefs and cultural information contained in the work by using the theory of art sociology,thus interpreting the artistic style of the work and solving the pending problem of the work's function.Besides,this paper also analyzes the Song-style composition of the Chinese painting,special patterns and characters in the work,which provides the basis for studying the functions of the work and recognizes the relationship between the traditional Chinese painting and the religious information implied in the patterns and lotus-shaped column capitals,figures,rockeries,signboards and railings.The field investigation of the "Pingshui printing" recorded the production characteristics,artistic features,trade and communication methods of the Pingshui printing,and inferred that the Ji family of Pingyang was presumed to be a rich family workshop with a humanistic atmosphere.Judging from the exquisiteness and content of the picture,the function of the work is different from that of an ordinary work,and it is ascertained that the work is a religious water and land painting with decorative functions used by noble women and exhibited in family houses and social religious activities.The article establishes the image pedigree of this work through deeply analyzing its content and background,and determines the identities of the four beauties through analyzing real historical stories and legendary stories in connection with some stories about history and legends,which specifically expounds the significance of character symbolization and symbolic aesthetics.By making textual research on the rhombic combination of the four beauties and the inheritance of character images and by comparing the characteristics of various paintings from the Sui Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty,the author has found that the "rough sketches" used by the painters bear the blood relationship between these works.Besides,the itinerant work of painters leads to the similarity of the works between regions while the changes of regions,environment and human factors result in the variation of the images.Through the above analyses,this paper points out that from the Sui Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty,the wide application of "rough sketches" made contribution to the formation of image pedigree of folk paintings.The Youthful and Graceful Beauties in Different Dynasties has implications for the traditional female evaluation and behavior standards.Through analyzing the symbolic characteristics of mass aesthetics,the author explains the symbolic significance of beauties and words in the work,and discusses the religious enlightenment concept carried by this work.By interpreting the identities,skills and appearances of the four beauties,this paper interprets the top-down communication form and the bottom-up appeal of culture.The Four Beauties,as one of “the traditional paintings of beautiful women”,has been transformed into a symbol of cultural communication.This paper discusses the cultural metaphor in the work The Youthful and Graceful Beauties in Different Dynasties.This painting is one representative of the transition from Buddhist prints to secular prints.The four beauties in history have also gradually become "graceful" standards for women during the continuous process of development to meet the requirement for secularization bearing religious significance.Therefore,the characteristics of the times reflected in the work The Youthful and Graceful Beauties in Different Dynasties are based on the Buddhist and opera illustrations of the Tang and Song dynasties.And because of its special content and unique social function,this work has broken away from the shackles of the original schema,formed an operating paradigm of original works and workshops,thus becoming an independent creative print in the history of Chinese printmaking.