Freehand Reality Projection

The thesis attempts to discuss the issue of "reality projection of xieyi",namely to focus on "projection of reality" in the field of xieyi and analyze the mechanism of projection of reality in xieyi.With the question "how reality is projected in xieyi" standing in the core,the thesis believes that it is not a "contingent' cause but some "essential" reasons which lead xieyi to be misunderstood as a term merely refers to the specific technique of Chinese painting or a byword for "looseness" nowadays.By case studies of Post-Cultural Revolution artistic practices of two "educated urban young people"(zhiqing) Chinese painters -- Yang Gang and Nie Ou -- in the frame of reference of the interrelation between art and life,the significance of projection of reality to xieyi could be brought to light.By interviews with painters and close-reading of their writings of remembrance,the case studies interpret their paintings,explore the visual and psychological dynamics of painters who experienced the Cultural Revolution to analyze how the very visual modes formed by specific historical and life experience as members of the group of zhiqing function in Yang Gang's representation of figure-horse and grassland,as well as Nie Ou's construction of countryside and city,in their practice of xieyi.From their interpretative creation of classical imagery and traditional motif,the mechanism in which the painters project their reflection on the past and criticism to their present could be revealed.Moreover, the thesis tries to make a potential connection between the projection of reality in zhiqing painters' artistic practice of xieyi during Post-Cultural Revolution period, and the cultural tradition of Chinese shi-literati-intellectual,with the purpose to question not only the issue of "art" but also that of "die geistige situation der zeit".