The Non-instrumental Stone:The Study Of Shen Zhou,and The Art And Culture In Late 15-century Suzhou

In the latter forty years of the fifteenth century,between ?? and ??,Suzhou(??)was undergoing a "change of time".The relaxed political atmosphere and prosperous economy not only brought the city' s changing face,but also led to the emergence of a group of literati with great personality and creativity,of which Shen Zhou(??,1427-1509)was one.They together show the attention to local history and landscape,to travel,monuments and painting love,as well as the importance of self-expression,the birth of a new batch of scenery,a group of collectors and writers,a new image of literati,but also produce a new painting perspective,theme,language and concept,these together to give the unique image of Suzhou culture at that time,became the key to change the face of art and culture in the Ming Dynasty.Of course,elegance and art are only one side of history,but on the other side,successive floods have caused more and more social problems and become the focus of attention of this group of literati,Shen Zhou together with his paintings also participate in a special way.In addition,among this group of literati,Shen Zhou is a very special one,he abandoned the literati ideal of life and used"amateur" painting as a lifelong pursuit,and achieved great success.Are useless paintings worthy of literary pursuits?What exactly is the point of painting?This article is a study of Shen Zhou and his paintings,and hopes to look back at the cultural changes in Suzhou during the years when the art changed.This paper attempts to answer the questions of what world Shen Zhou is in and what kind of painting he is facing;why he stands out and what he creates in his paintings;how he views painting and understands its meaning.This paper is divided into two parts.The first part will discuss the mutual transformation between landscape viewing,individual experience and painting representation through a series of Shen Zhou paintings,explain the connection between the "sense of authenticity" in Shen Zhou's paintings and the language of his paintings,and look for the conceptual changes that occur behind new landscapes,themes and perspectives into painting.The second part seeks to open up the contradictions in the concept of "literati-painter"(�??-??�),to uncover the hidden anxiety of the literati about painting as a useless "afterthought",and to consider how Shen Zhou reconciles the triple identity of literati,painter and recluse.It also explores the possibility of painting intervening in reality through two disasters that occurred during the years of ?? and??.In the end,we will see that it is through an understanding of the usefulness and uselessness of painting that Shen Zhou completes the double metaphor between self-consciousness and art.