A Study On The Painting Thought Of Gentry In Beijing In The Early Republic Of China

In the early years of the Republic of China,the gentry-oriented Beijing painting circle was criticized by the "New Youth" who opposed traditional culture because of their advocacy of traditional painting.With the emphasis on ethnic culture,researches on the Beijing painting circle in the early Republic of China period have been increasing.The problem is that the existing studies are difficult to define the painting ideology of "traditional gentry painting” in early Republic of China period,either as a continuation of the "orthodox" painting view of the Qing dynasty or as the progressive values advocated by the “New Culture Movement”.In other words,the academic community has not yet been able to clearly define the similarities and differences between the gentry painting ideology and the traditional social painting ideology,the ideology of"improved Chinese painting"(such as Xu Beihong and Lin Fengmian),and the ideology of artists who adhered to the traditional painting style(such as Pan Tianshou and Zheng Ruchang).Therefore,this paper,based on the perspective and method of the ideological history,makes an effort to clearly define the characteristics of the gentry painting ideas in the early years of Republic of China through the comparison with the traditional social painting theory and the idea of "improved Chinese painting".In the early years of the Republic of China,the thought of the "traditional painting" in Beijing was mainly represented by four painters: Lin Shu,Jin Cheng,Chen Shizeng and Yao Mangfu,so this paper takes their works as the core of the research.The common ground of their painting ideology is that they affirm both the value of traditional Chinese painting and Western painting,and they also consider the two are different in nature,thus oppose the use of Western painting to improve Chinese painting.This pictorial view is consistent with the idea of "East-West dualism" in which the four painters believed in Confucian ethics and actively studied the "new Western knowledge".This idea was a common idea of the "constitutionalists" who tried to establish a "modern national state" in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China period,namely,they advocated the preservation of traditional morality in "individual morality" and meanwhile they brought Western modern values such as nationalism,individual rights and instrumental rationality into "public morality".Therefore,they still regarded traditional painting as the continuation of moral cultivation in "individual morality" and Western painting as the expression of rational spirit in "public morality".They believed that the two were different in nature.In addition,they also regarded traditional painting as the expression of "cultural nationalism" in "public morality",so they opposed the tendency of "anti-traditional painting" in the "New Culture Movement".In the context of the "East-West dualism" of the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China period,the scholars and gentry generally had a dualistic knowledge structure in which "traditional common sense" and "new Western knowledge" coexisted.Lin Shu,Jin Cheng,Chen Shizeng,Yao Mangfu and others also based their painting on "traditional common sense" while incorporating some of the "new Western knowledge",and incorporated the value of "public morality" into their painting ideology.They think painting has aesthetic autonomy and can promote intellectual education for truth-seeking.This is different from the traditional society where painting was only based on "traditional common sense",and also different from the "New Youth" who received a new type of education based on "scientific common sense".The scholars still regarded traditional painting as a continuation of "individual morality",and their view of painting can be divided into two subtypes according to the difference in the way they morally cultivated themselves: Lin Shu and Jin Cheng were influenced by the Neo-Confucianism that “Study Things to Acquire Knowledge” and focus on objects,while Chen Shizeng and Yao Mangfu were influenced by the idealism that advocates to cultivate the morality through emotion improving.In contrast to the Qing Dynasty’s Neo-Confucianism theory of painting,the changes in Lin Shu’s and Jin Cheng’s "object-oriented" painting ideology are as following.First,the tendency to de-moralize orienting from “Study Things to Acquire Knowledge”.This is because in the process of learning "new knowledge of the West" the traditional source of legitimacy of painting,the "Heavenly Way View",tends to disintegrate.Second,painting is regarded as a kind of fine art aesthetics and enlightenment.This gives new values and meanings to traditional painting and compensates for the lack of its original legitimacy.Third the characteristics of Qi theory in "traditional common sense" is fully demonstrated.Because only by downgrading the "heavenly principle" in "traditional common sense" to the "Qi principle" in Qi theory can "progressive historical view" be derived and affirm "individuality" in order to harmonize with the study of modern Western values.In contrast to the traditional painting theory,Chen Shizeng and Yao Mangfu’s painting thought also contains the second and third points mentioned above.In addition,they proposed the "theory of literati painting" to position traditional painting by "writing about the spirit like poetry".In a context where the original legitimacy of traditional painting(the "Heavenly View")was questioned and had to be regarded as an expression of national culture,traditional painting’s potential tradition of expressing emotions was brought to the fore.Chen Shizeng and Yao Mangfu’s "literati painting theory" was thus widely accepted by the "New Youth".In contrast to the idea of "improved Chinese painting",Lin Shu,Jin Cheng and Xu Beihong all regarded it as having moral connotations in terms of "focusing on objects",because both sides shared the thinking of "Study Things to Acquire Knowledge".And the difference is that Lin Shu and Jin Cheng basically continued the traditional view of "Study Things to Acquire Knowledge",affirming "traditional common sense" in painting while partially absorbing "new Western knowledge".Xu Beihong gave scientific realism to the pursuit of "truth",in order to remove the "traditional common sense" in traditional painting that did not conform to "scientific common sense".In terms of "focusing on emotion",Chen Shizeng,Yao Mangfu,and Lin Fengmian all had a moral-enhancing effect on their works.The difference lies in the fact that Chen Shizeng and Yao Mangfu’s "literati painting theory" was motivated by "cultural nationalism" and valued its role in enhancing traditional "individual morality",while Lin Fengmian’s "cosmopolitanism" valued its role in enhancing the equality of "new morality".In addition,Xu Beihong’s view of painting reflects the integration of "knowledge(scientific common sense)" and "morality",while Lin Fengmian’s view of painting reflects the integration of "aesthetics" and "morality" as he advocates the collectivist "art for life".In short,the gentry painting ideology of the early Republican China advocated not only the moral cultivation of painting but also the "intellectual education for truth" and "aesthetic autonomy" of painting,as well as the separation of "morality","aesthetics" and "knowledge",which was the inevitable result of its "East-West dualism" mode of thinking.