Comparative Study On The Rockery-art Ideals Of Zhang Lian And Ji Cheng

The dissertation is about the Chinese rockery-art(pilling mountain) of Zhang Lian(zi Nanyuan) and Ji Cheng(zi Wupi), and the focus is on their artistic ideals. As Zhang Lian and Ji Cheng were the typical persons of the rockery-art around period of Ming-Qing transition, it is worthy to study their artistic ideals. The present situation of rockery-art study is good about the historical research and theoretical construction on traditional rockery-art in the past. In the dissertation, it is pointed out that, there were similarities and differences on ideals between Zhang and Ji, and that it shall become an important topic, as is about how to reveal the inevitable artistic change showed by the common stand of these two persons in similar background of history and tradition, and how to find out and explain the individual differences between these two persons. The dissertation attempts to do a comparative study on these two typical persons, and by this way to discuss the internal opposition of value orientations in traditional rockery-art, and to provide improved opinions on the rockery-art development around period of Ming-Qing transition.The study method of the dissertation is textual study, as the key, which is to do interpretations and analysis around two important textual materials-- Biography of Zhang Nanyuan and The Craft of Gardens, based on historical records, technical facts and artistic theory, so as to compare the rockery-art ideals between Zhang Lian and Ji Cheng. The dissertation includes two parts mainly, as one is the research of historical materials, and the other is the interpretation of textual materials. The former is a basis of the latter, and the latter is the core of the dissertation.The part of research of historical materials is to:(1)Confirm the publication sources and the value for study of historical materials.(2)Research scholars’ bygone historical examination and textual interpretations and take adoptions on them.(3) Compare the historical background, cultural background, life experience, gardening experience of the two persons, and provide an actual historical circumstance for textual interpretation later.(4) Research the influence of the gardening opinions of the two persons, and provide some ancillary evidences for textual interpretation later.The part of interpretation of textual materials is to:(1)Select and interpret the paragraphs about rockery-art from the textual materials, and extract the conceptual words.(2)Analyze the main opinions and operational features of the two persons, on the aspects of material using, elements arrangement, position management, the conveyance of landscape meaning, the prototype of landscape spectacle, and the patterns of gardening.(3)Rebuild the ideological systems of the two persons self-consistently, and compare the differences on them.(4)Give another discussion on the relation between rockeryart and painting, and figure out the huayi(painting conception) in the ideals of the two persons.The dissertation concludes as the following:(1)Zhang and Ji both had critical opinions on the old custom of setting stones as peaks and put forth their personal innovative ideas, which showed the common historical significance to the evolution of artificial mountain art during the end of Ming Dynasty.(2)It is different between the understandings of Zhang and Ji in their ideological systems about the essence and existing reason of rockery-art, for Zhang considered it as partial representation of real landscape interception, but Ji considered it as pictorial expression of imaginary landscape collaging.(3)It is showed by the individual differences of Zhang and Ji that there are two internal value orientations in traditional rockery-art as naturalism and stylization.(4)It is an advancement for the rockery-art development in later ancient time that Zhang and Ji thought about the realistic or romantic creating method, and about the meanings of subject-object.(5)Huayi(painting conception) for Zhang and Ji is an self-conscious idea, as is considered in artificial mountain by Zhang the representation from natural region features, and by Ji the autonomous operation within limited sites.