At the beginning of the 20th century, with the rise of modern scholarship, traditional Chinese painting gradually transformed into modern academic art history research. Nowadays, under the trend of global academic cross-border integration, the study of Chinese art history introduces and integrates the concepts and methods of Western art history research, expands new space, opens up new perspectives, and presents an academic prosperity. In contrast, traditional painting has gradually declined due to its alienation from the original cultural environment.
As a "key word" in traditional painting, the withering of painting terminology is particularly obvious. Due to the mutual reference and integration between the language system and style of traditional Chinese painting and Western painting, contemporary art and even world art, a new narrative mode and language system have been formed, and it is difficult for the traditional painting terminology to play its proper expression function. With the increase of the terminology of Chinese painting and the transformation and transformation of its connotation, the term of painting that is detached from the original context can no longer construct the context of early painting, and the original meaning of the term of painting has gradually weakened in the continuous interpretation of later generations. Compared with the reading, teaching and research of traditional painting, the terminology of painting has gradually drifted away from its original meaning due to the loss of its original living environment, resulting in frequent misreadings.
Liu Yulong, a young scholar of art history, is deeply anxious about the above academic dilemma and deeply reflects on it, which has also become the internal motivation for him to focus on the study of traditional painting terminology in recent years. His research results are embodied in this book "Research on the Terminology of Chinese Painting". This book is divided into four chapters to comb, examine, analyze and discuss the types of Chinese painting terms, involving nearly 30 terms of painting. The book draws on a large number of ancient documents, and extensively combines the research results of modern people to examine the plurality and ambiguity of these terms, which can not only make up for the lack of dictionaries, but also pave the way for entering the original state of ancient Chinese painting history.
Table of Contents of the Book
It must be noted that in the relationship between the theory of ancient Chinese art history and the study of painting terminology, the term of painting has always lacked subjectivity, which has led to the lack of scientific research methods and research systems. Therefore, it is urgent to establish its own methodology in the study of painting terminology. On the other hand, since the beginning of the 21st century, literature can be searched through various databases, and the way to obtain painting texts has become more and more concise and convenient. This not only facilitates the study of painting terminology, but also obtains an extremely rich literature on painting at the same time, but also forms a dilemma of painting research that is lost in it due to the "excess literature". Therefore, "Research on the Terminology of Chinese Painting" is a seemingly simple but actually arduous academic work.
This book first establishes the internal spatial structure of the study of Chinese painting terminology. The terms of painting as the object of study are actually key concepts in the history of ancient Chinese painting, and by extracting them, the basic outline of ancient Chinese painting is outlined. The purpose of the book is to explore the commonality of Chinese painting terms, and to analyze the connotations of these terms and their relationships with each other from the factors such as the generation of concepts, the evolution of connotations, and the division and combination of structure and meaning. The use of terminology is popular, but its generation is derived from some texts, for which the book has done a great deal of exegesis. In the process of argumentation, the interpretation of contemporary dictionaries has also been revised and even questioned, aiming to formulate a more theoretical, rational and feasible research method of pictorial terminology. On this basis, if the text is further condensed and collected into a professional dictionary, it can also facilitate the reading and research of Chinese painting literature.
Inside the book
The author adheres to a clear sense of history and governs the research of the book from the perspective of development and change, focusing on the time, region, culture and other factors that affect the generation and evolution of the terminology of Chinese painting. The author points out that in the process of dissemination and application in later generations, the term of painting has been separated from its original generative cultural context and descriptive object, and has become a concept of historical text description, which has a certain degree of independence. However, it can still be understood from three different levels: the first is as a literary word itself that has been continuously used from its inception to the present, the second is as an expression of the things related to painting and has become a fixed and conventional "knowledge" of painting, and the third is as a language system that carries the intellectual tradition of painting and continues this traditional concept of painting, and the history of concepts that are constantly evolving along with painting styles, techniques, and language. Within the scope of the organic painting terminology system composed of these words, a systematic and regular structure has been formed, which not only contains rich theories and ideas of painting, but also covers the laws and history of the evolution of ideas and concepts.
The author's research not only regards the terminology of painting as a text constructed from Chinese characters, but also sees it as a living entity that grows in the space of the history of painting. The generation of painting terminology is also an independent connotative evolution, which is the superposition and accumulation of many factors in different eras, different regions, and different cultural contexts. At the same time, once the term of painting was generated, it indicated that it had been interpreted, accepted and used by many people involved in the study of painting, and became a common word in the field of painting at that time. Therefore, in addition to the characteristics of the times and regions, the generation of painting terminology will retain its original connotation for a period of time, and then it will inevitably evolve with time. Although the terminology of Chinese painting is a product of traditional painting, it is not a delayed delay in the traditional painting language. Another perspective from which the texts of the predecessors were studied in later generations is the interpretation and analysis of the time, angle, connotation and ideas of the use of words in the context of contemporary painting and even the entire cultural context. This kind of thinking has an empirical component, but at the same time, it breaks the shackles of the original method and experience, and is a re-exploration of the established connotation of the current term of "qualitative" painting, and the development of this perspective is still based on historical documents.
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Huang Zhen "Sketch of Rare Birds" (detail) Collection of the Palace Museum
Of course, the study of this book is not limited to the internal space of the terminology of painting, but extends to the academic environment of art history and social and cultural history to observe the existence and transformation of the terminology of painting. As we can see, the author not only researches and analyzes the meaning of words, nor does he just interpret concepts, but also incorporates the terminology of painting into the original context in which it was generated, and analyzes its origin and the painting concepts and consciousness of the ancients in combination with images. When the author distinguishes and analyzes painting terms such as "sketching", "portrait" and "portrait", he not only uses exegetical methods to compare many annotations on ancient texts, and carries out detailed arguments and interpretations of these terms, but also appropriately combines painting techniques and related painting theories, so as to make his interpretation closer to the truth of painting history. On the one hand, it reflects the author's basic literacy in philology, philology, exegesis, etc., and also reflects his skills in painting practice and formal analysis, so as to integrate the analysis of painting form, structure, function, style, language and implication into the entire literature research of painting. His research on painting terminology strives to condense and improve research methods, accumulate and construct corresponding knowledge systems, and try to provide theoretical support for art history theory and image research. Here, the terminology of painting is not only a reference for the discipline of literature and history to interpret its internal problems, but also provides ideological resources for the entire research of art history and artistic creation, and also opens up a new space for the study of painting literature and art history. Furthermore, to a certain extent, the research in this book also jumps out of the perspective of art history, using interdisciplinary thinking and methods to reconstruct the historical, social, and cultural context in which the terminology of painting was generated. It can also be said that the study of painting terminology in this book is not only a study of the concept of painting centered on the main words, but also a study of cultural integrity. The academic divisions of painting history, technique language, aesthetics, education, criticism, etc., the theoretical framework and creative paradigm of traditional painting, the integration of ancient and modern, Chinese and Western and independent conceptual categories, historical texts, creative practices, painting theories and concepts, etc., draw on many research methods and expressions, as well as academic research and painting creation directions that integrate protection and expansion, etc., jointly construct a research paradigm of painting with contemporary Chinese characteristics. In the construction of the discipline system, academic system and discourse system of art with Chinese characteristics, the study of Chinese painting terminology has its unique value and significance.
Inside the book
It should also be mentioned that this book is not only an analysis and supplement to the connotation of the terminology of painting, but also a reflection on the use and generation of terms in the context of painting. The terminology of painting itself must be adapted to the current painting environment, and be able to express the language, style, style and theory of contemporary painting. Therefore, based on the present, it is also one of the purposes of this book to provide a reference for the use and research of painting terminology in today's people, and to supplement the lack of interpretation of painting terminology in various dictionaries. The author also hopes to cultivate the interest and ability of the new generation in the study of painting terminology, and enhance their respect and self-confidence in traditional culture, so as to maintain the vitality of traditional painting in contemporary art creation and art historical research. In fact, the study of pictorial terminology is to understand and discover history in the language (documents) used by people at that time, and to present this history in the current context with the language thinking of modern people. This kind of academic reconstruction requires the researcher not only to enter the historical realm of the terminology of painting, but also to enter the expected vision of contemporary art history, so that his research can radiate the academic penetration of the past and the present. In future research, while expanding the number of pictorial terms, it is also necessary to establish the node positions of these terms in the semantic network, so as to weave a knowledge framework composed of pictorial terminology and present a history of the concept of ancient Chinese painting for contemporary readers. Therefore, Yulong's future research is hugely malleable, and when his "Research on the Terminology of Chinese Painting" is published, it is expected that he will continue to present new research results.
Chinese Academy of Arts, Niu Kecheng
January 2023
(This article is the preface to the book "Research on the Terminology of Chinese Painting", and the title is prepared by the editor)
Research on the Terminology of Chinese Painting
Liu Yulong
978-7-101-16417-6
$98.00
Introduction
The "terminology" of Chinese painting, that is, the "key words" in traditional painting, is a special word that describes the content, form, technique, style, meaning and concept of traditional Chinese painting. Understanding and grasping these "terms" will help us to accurately appreciate and study traditional Chinese painting, as well as its related creations and related theories. On the basis of combing a large number of ancient documents and paintings, and extensively absorbing the research results of modern people, this book examines and analyzes nearly 30 traditional painting terms, such as danqing, ink painting, coloring, coloring, brush and ink, splashing ink, broken ink, white drawing, boneless, boundary painting, freehand, sketching, courtyard painting, literati painting, etc., and carefully combs the basic outline of ancient Chinese painting from the aspects of concept generation and connotation evolution, and outlines the basic outline of ancient Chinese painting, which provides ideological resources and theoretical reference for the study of Chinese art history and artistic creation.
About the Author
Liu Yulong, born in 1981, is a native of Pengyang, Ningxia. Doctor of Fine Arts, Chinese Academy of Arts. He is currently an associate professor at the Academy of Fine Arts of Shaanxi Normal University. He has published more than 10 academic papers in journals such as "Literature and Art Research", "Fine Arts", and "Art Observation", and has presided over and completed the art planning project of the National Social Science Fund "Research on Chinese Painting Terminology" and the National Art Fund "Mountains and Rivers Tracing Picture Scroll".
Inside page appreciation
(Co-ordinator: Yibei; Editor: Siqi)