Yunlin Stone Collection And The Tastes In Appreciating Stones By The Literati In The Song Dynasty

Since ancient times,the Chinese people have been appreciating stones.As an art form like other traditional ones such as poetry,painting,music,drama,appreciating stones is an art form with traditional Chinese culture features and was established by the ancient Chinese literati by their long-term artistic practices and cultivations.In the Song Dynasty,one of the most economically and culturally prosperous eras in the history of China,the art of appreciating stones,like other art forms,reached an unprecedented prosperity.In the development of the art of appreciating stones,the literati in the Song Dynasty were the most representative group.As a summary special work on the art of appreciating stones in the Song Dynasty,the Yunlin Stone Collection presents detailed accounts and appreciations on over 116 stone varieties in the Song Dynasty,and records many widely influential ideas and activities in the art of appreciating stones based on the aesthetic tastes of the literati in the Song Dynasty.It possesses vital values and significance to research on the art of appreciating stones,restore the prosperity of the activities of appreciating stones and explore the aesthetic spirit of appreciating stones by the literati in the Song Dynasty.Centering on the Yunlin Stone Collection and considering the art forms such as the poetry and painting in the Song Dynasty,this paper sorts out the overall state,probes into the ideas,types and methods,interpret the diverse aesthetic forms of appreciating stones by the literati in the Song Dynasty,focusing on exploring the aesthetic tastes in appreciating stones by the literati in the Song Dynasty and the influences of the aesthetic ideas in appreciating stones in the Song Dynasty on the later generations.This paper is divided to three chapters.The first chapter mainly introduces the major contents and its features in appreciating stones.First of all,it summarizes the development of the art of appreciating stones before the Song Dynasty,elaborating on the preliminary cognitions of the people on the stones and the evolution of the humanistic connotations of stones.On this basis,it explores the writing and the major contents of the Yunlin Stone Collection.Next,it points out the features of the Yunlin Stone Collection in appreciating stones,which are embodied as the application of the scientific ideas in appreciating stones,the exploration of the aesthetic culture and meaningful deposits,and the key appreciations on the stones of the literati in the Song Dynasty,so as to understand the book of the Yunlin Stone Collection from multiple perspectives.The second chapter starts from the text of the Yunlin Stone Collection to explore the activities of appreciating stones by the literati in the Song Dynasty and generally sort and grasp of the activities of appreciating stones in the Song Dynasty,which are specifically embodied in three aspects,including the ideas,types and methods of appreciating stones by the literati in the Song Dynasty.In the ideas of appreciating stones by the literati in the Song Dynasty,“the View of Ugly Stones” by Su Shi and “the Method of Judging Stones with Four Characters” by Mi Fu are the representative and most influential ones.The stones used in the Genyue Garden by Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty also reflected the general fondness on appreciating stones by the literati in the Song Dynasty.The stones appreciated by the literati in the Song Dynasty can be mainly summarized into the appreciations on the four famous stone varieties including the Lingbi Stone,the Taihu Lake Stones,the Kun Stones and the Ying Stones,on the rare stones and misshapen stones,and on the ink stones used in the literati’s studios.The diversity of the types in appreciating stones has given rise to a diversity of the methods in appreciating stones.Methods in appreciating stones favored by the literati in the Song Dynasty including honoring stones in elegant rooms,cleansing and playing stones on the desks,and placing stones in gardens.By sorting out these three aspects,it seeks to restore the overall state of the activities in appreciating stones by the literati in the Song Dynasty.The third chapter,based on the activities in appreciating stones by the literati in the Song Dynasty,explores the aesthetic forms of the stones appreciated by the literati in the Song Dynasty,including the natural forms and beauty of the appreciated stones,the cultural images and beauty of the appreciated stones presented in the poetry and paintings in the Song Dynasty,and the artistic beauty of the supporting frames and the names of the appreciated stones.Then,starting from the aesthetic forms of the appreciated stones,it conducts key explorations on the aesthetic tastes and spirits in appreciating stones by the literati in the Song Dynasty.In appreciating the stones,the literati in the Song Dynasty honored the aesthetic tastes of “depositing their aspirations in the things” to take the appreciated stones as the vehicles for their thoughts and affections,which show their life pursuits for a long and even an immortal life,a lofty and clean spirit honoring nobility and elegance,an unyielding personality featuring magnificence and toughness.At last,the aesthetic thoughts in appreciating stones in the Song Dynasty have generated profound influences on appreciating stones by the literati in the later generations.Many works such as Stone Collection in the Plain Garden,Records of Superfluous Things and others have inherited the theories on appreciating stones in the Song Dynasty,and transmitted the aesthetic tastes and in appreciated stones by the literati in the Song Dynasty.