Jiajing In Ningbo Area Of ​​stone Paintings Collection

When researching the connoisseurship and collecting of Chinese painting and calligraphy, scholars tend to focus on collecting practice in such major cities as Suzhou, Nanjing, and Beijing. This thesis focuses on three types of collectors in the persons and collections of Feng Fang, Fan Qin, and Fan Dache, who lived in the relatively peripheral area of Ningbo during Emperor Jiajing's reign in the Ming dynasty. Based on historical documents and the contents of several collections, this thesis will explore the careers, collecting activities, and characteristics of the collections of these three Ningbo collectors to reveal regional characteristics in the practice of collecting ancient bronze and stone objects, painting, and calligraphy in Ningbo. At the same time, by comparing the social backgrounds, collecting strategies, collection components, and relations to art creation of these Ningbo collectors with those of their counterparts in Suzhou, critical issues will be raised and discussed with respect to the study of regional collecting practice. Because of its location, Ningbo had close relationships with Japan; therefore, cultural exchanges between Ningbo literati and Japanese envoys to Ming China during Emperor Jiajing's reign will be studied to highlight the unique characteristics of collection practice in Ningbo.