Study On The Seclusion Thought Of Literati Painting In Song And Yuan Dynasty

The seclusion thought is an important part of Chinese ancient thought history,which is widely existed in the consciousness of the ancient scholars.The literati paintings are the works of ancient scholars,as same as the poems and articles,which carry the colorful and hermit thoughts of the ancient scholars.The study and analysis of the reclusion thought of Song and Yuan literati paintings could deepen our understanding of the situation of literati in Song and Yuan Dynasty,and deepen the understanding of development of painting art and human thought of ancient China.The Song and Yuan dynasties were the period of the literati painting going to maturity,and it was also the period of important changes in the hermit thought.The literati paintings was the reflection of the seclusion thought of that time.In Song and Yuan Dynasty,Political system and ethnic conflicts caused the political environment of the Royal Court to be bad,in addition,the cultural transformation,the integration of Confucianism and Taoism,and the complicated realities caused the tide of seclusion to be prevail.The seclusion thought of Song and Yuan dynasty has its own characteristics.Since the Pre-Qin dynasty,hermits often expressed their ideal and personality aspirations by being far away from politics and society,this kind of action is called bodyseclusion.However,keep the heart far away from politics and benefits is called heart-reclusion.Physical-reclusion was the typical behavior.Only those who could be both Physical-reclusion and heart-reclusion got high praise for their nobility character and morals.But the change of the politics and economic structure affected the idea of scholars,the connotation of the hermit culture is in constantly changing and restructuring.After the "Bi Shi Jin Ma Men" of Dongfang Shuo,the thought of hiding in the Royal Court emerged,Wang Kangju a man of the Western Jin Dynasty proposed ”Small hermit lies in the wild,Great hermit lies in the Royal Court ” in his poem,then,in the Tang Dynasty,Middle-hermit and Official-hermit appeared,the trend of reclusion culture could be seen in the process.Till Song and Yuan Dynasty,hear-reclusion made the main stream and standard of reclusion.To search for the peace of mind and spiritual freedom became the life pursuit of the scholars.The reclusion thought of ancient China completed its transformation from Physical-reclusion to Heart-reclusion.Song and Yuan dynasty promoted the remarkable achievement of literature and art,lots of the artistic works expressed the thoughts and feelings of reclusion,the literati painting also became the important carrier of the seclusion thought of the ancient scholars.Therefore,these kind of paintings were popular during that time.For the literati,painting is not only a kind of entertainment but also a carrier of their emotion and ambitions.Moreover,the landscape paintings and flower-and-bird paintings could bring their heart and soul far from the reality.It was popular because it could meet the demands of the literati for spiritual freedom,the liberty of the official life,and the comfortable status.The literati paintings focused on the life attitude and spiritual pursuit of the Song and Yuan scholars.In the observation experience of the mountains and vegetation,they could pursue the inner aesthetic feeling by painting.Being official or hermit,getting out of the political or being alone with it were the two kinds of thoughts of the literati,painting was taken as a tool to reconciling the confliction by Song and Yuan literati.Balance and spiritual sustenance could be found beyond different thoughts.Painting is a kind of art that reflects reality and expresses the emotion and aesthetic taste of artists.Literati paintings follow the creation concept and literary tradition “Learning from the nature outside,mining the origin from heart inside”,paying great emphasize to express emotion by scenery and material.The reclusion thought of the literati is also represented by the specific image on the painting.The literati paintings of the Song and Yuan dynasty formed a series of hermit figures,such as the father of the fishery,the forefathers of hermits,the natural landscape,and plum blossoms,orchid,bamboo and chrysanthemum.These images were filled with the painter's emotions,thought,emotion and life character.They were carriers of literati's soul.It was the concrete form of the reclusion thought of the artist.Chinese painting is an independent art which has its special artistic language and expression.The literati integrate the poems,calligraphy and seals into paintings,which enrich the language and expressions of Chinese paintings.The literati paintings in the Song and Yuan dynasties reflects both the artistic characteristics of literati paintings and the characteristics of its age.Reclusion was an important theme of the literati painting of that time.The preference of reclusion theme led to the unique aesthetic characteristics of the literati paintings in aesthetic image,ink style and artistic conception.It has a far-reaching influence on the later generations of literati paintings.