A Study On Decoration Art Of South Hunan Traditional Residence

South Hunan traditional residence refers to the duildings finished during the relatively prosperious Ming and Qing dynasty in the south part of Hunan Province including areas such as Chenzhou, Yongzhou and the south part of Hengyang. The decoration art is an important component of South Hunan traditonal residence and a major subject of the study of South Hunan traditonal residence. This essay will probe into the artistic and realistic value of South Hunan traditonal residence through the explanation of its cultural and artistic characteristics.In the introduction, the significance and the present condition of the study is pointed out. And in the first chapter, a summarized description of the decoration art is made and the classification of the decoraton art is introduced as a convinience for the development of the following part. Chapter Two and Chapter Three are the major part of this essay. Chapter Two probes into the cultural characteristics on analysis of the content, form and funciton of the decoration and discusses the influence and incarnation of the clan background, the Confucianism, the Feng Shui ideas, religious background and traditional humanism on the decoration art. In Chapter Three, the artistic characteristics of the decoration art of South Hunan traditional residence is discussed. The decoration appears as direct, immature, exaggerated, fierce and pithy, and indirect, mature, realistic, fefined and complicated as well.The two sides are contradicted and unified so as to form the peculiar feature of the decoration of South Hunan traditional residence. As the concluding part of this essay, Chapter Four mainly discusses the artistic and realistic value of the decoration art of South Hunan traditional residence. The decoration embodies a value based on progmatism and the spirt of carrying ethics. And content of the decoration shows worship and love for life. The realistic value of the study lies in the inspiration of how to build a harmonious human living condition in modern society which is derived from the true meaning of the decoration of traditional residence.