| A Dream in Red Mansions is the pinnacle of Chinese classical fiction,which is called “holographic image of history and culture”.Based on the investigation of novel texts and related commentary materials,readers of all dynasties feel the unique aesthetic view of painting in this novel.The formation of the aesthetic view of painting in A Dream in Red Mansions benefits from three factors: the spread and influence of Western painting art in China at that time,the special cultural accumulation and painting accomplishment of the author Cao Xueqin’s family,and Cao Xueqin’s personal tortuous experience and unique artistic pursuit.The expression of painting aesthetics in A Dream in Red Mansions is mainly through three ways.Firstly,it presents the artistic characteristics and narrative effect of the paintings in the novel;secondly,it shows the aesthetic opinions about painting through the mouth of the characters in the novel;thirdly,it indirectly shows the aesthetic viewpoint of painting through the process of the story plot and the painting beauty of the scenes in the novel.The aesthetic view of painting in A Dream in Red Mansions can be basically summarized as four points: the concept of physique and vitality of combination of unity of form and spirit and freehand brushwork,the concept of painting frame of multilevel equilibrium,the concept of technique of combination of Chinese and western painting techniques,and the aesthetic view of painting of attaching importance to image and acquiring artistic conception.The main value of the painting aesthetics in A Dream in Red Mansions enlightened the creative thinking of painters and writers in the later generations,promoted the understanding of the relationship between novels and court painting in the Qing Dynasty,developed the critical function of art to the society,and achieved the important long pictorial novel in the middle of Qing Dynasty. |
