Elegant Bubbles—Analysis Of The Circulation Of Calligraphy And Paintings In The Jiangnan In Late Ming Dynasty

Consumer culture is an important topic in western historiography on the study of early modernity.Influenced by it,since the 80s of the last century,the study on the consumption of calligraphy and painting in the Ming Dynasty has been rising gradually.Scholars such as Li Zhujin,James Cahill.Craig Clunas.Wu Renshu and other scholars have made a thorough observation and discussion from different angles.Wu Renshu believes that consumption activities are the field of social competition.China has entered the "consumer society" in sixteen,seventeenth Century.The author believes that some of the previous studies have the tendency to equate "buying" behavior to "consumption" behavior,and some conclusions are idealized on the premise that China has already entered early modern times in the late Ming Dynasty.For example,the cultural consumption of late Ming and calligraphy and painting is regarded as "flaunting consumption",and it is considered that China in the late Ming Dynasty has entered a "consumer society" characterized by "mass consumption".In this regard,this paper takes the circulation of calligraphy and painting in the late Ming Dynasty as the research object,and analyzes the so-called consumption characteristics in the process of the circulation of calligraphy and painting during this period,and then rethinks the new theory of "consumption" and"consumer society" in calligraphy and painting.This article is divided into three parts.The first part examines the market buying and selling situation of Jiangnan calligraphy and painting in the late Ming Dynasty,and probes into the new changes in this circulation situation.During this period,the scale of painting and calligraphy was enlarged and varied in form,but it was not obvious compared with the previous generation.There are two points in the more obvious development.First,the attack on the gentry in the early Ming Dynasty made the economic strength of the scholar bureaucrats descended.In order to maintain a higher standard of living,the literati and calligraphers gradually ceased to be "ashamed to say profit".In addition,in the late Ming Dynasty,the imperial examination was blocked,and a large number of literati were forced to enter the calligraphy and painting market,making the professionalism of literati painters deepened.This laid an important manpower foundation for the prosperity of the calligraphy and painting market in the late Ming Dynasty.Second,in the way of payment,this period of painting and selling activities still retain the way to pay,but with the development of monetary economy,cash is the main means of payment.The second part discusses the transfer situation outside the market.Traditional human kindness is still one of the important situations of calligraphy and painting in late Ming Dynasty.The effects of giving and receiving motives and gifts are complex,and often involve the color of human transactions or money rights transactions.This situation shows that calligraphy and painting are still the game of traditional scholar bureaucrats.And calligraphy and painting as a bribery for a long time,the late Ming Dynasty and the previous generation are the same.It is one of the main ways of high end calligraphy and painting,although the overall number of the circulation mode is less than the market trade,but the quality is the owner of the famous historical sites and the famous famous people all over the world.In addition,it is not uncommon for the high officials to show their officials and their trust in their reliance on other people's books and paintings,but it can be determined that the main driving force for the two ways is not economic factors such as "capital".This also explains the traditional characteristics of these two ways of circulation.In this situation,it can be observed that the outflow of a large number of fine paintings and paintings objectively provides an important source of commodity for the prosperity of the late Ming and calligraphy and painting market(mainly the high-end painting and calligraphy market),but the main beneficiaries are the few bureaucrats and bureaucrats and businessmen.This aspect reflects the recognition of the economic value of the calligraphic and calligraphy works in this period,but on the other hand,it reflects the huge hidden danger of the late Ming finance.The third part analyzes the above transfer situation,and reflects on the views of"competition among scholars," "mass consumption" and "consumer society".The author believes that there is no such thing as "concurrence" or "integration" in the late Ming Dynasty.At least in the field of painting and calligraphy,the gap between scholars and businessmen is still hard to cross.Although the entry of the merchant group in the late Ming Dynasty increased the amount of money in the painting and calligraphy market to a certain extent,these funds were speculative and hot money,but did not make the businessmen the leading role in the market.The gentry group,with officials as the core,is still the most important and top participant in the field of calligraphy and painting.This is the best footnote in the late Ming Dynasty's painting and calligraphy consumption which is still full of the characteristics of the traditional aristocracy.In addition,most paintings and calligraphy purchases are speculative rather than consumption.Its performance is:first,regard calligraphy and painting as the industry,hoarding and hoarding;two,the counterfeit and false purchase of fake;three,the prices of contemporary famous works are fluctuating,and the appreciation of buyers is low.The main reason for the prevalence of speculation is the heavy taxation of agriculture in late Ming Dynasty,forcing some of the landlords to withdraw their capital from their businesses and turn to light taxes.But there are few commercial options in traditional society.Some of the capital has become speculative capital and has entered the high-risk and high-yield painting and calligraphy market.The combination of capital and numerous practitioners has blown up the bubble of calligraphy and painting.In the traditional society based on agriculture,the withdrawal of social capital from the industry is a precursor to the intensification of social crisis and the collapse of the dynasty.The flourishing market of calligraphy and painting in late Ming Dynasty is not the basis for the arrival of "consumer society" or"consumption era".In terms of historical materials,this book is mainly based on various kinds of calligraphy and painting cataloguing,notes,collections,local chronicles and daily books.On the basis of fully paying attention to the research results of predecessors,we have carried out a more detailed and rigorous interpretation of some common historical data.