Dong Qichang
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Dong Qichang (;
courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...
Xuanzai (玄宰); 1555–1636) was a Chinese art theorist,
calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...
,
painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
, and
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
of the later period of the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
.


Life as a scholar and calligrapher

Dong Qichang was a native of Hua Ting (located in modern-day
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
), the son of a teacher and somewhat precocious as a child. At 12, he passed the prefectural
Civil service entrance examination Civil service examinations are examinations implemented in various countries for recruitment and admission to the civil service. They are intended as a method to achieve an effective, rational public administration on a merit system for recruit ...
and won a coveted spot at the prefectural Government school. He first took the imperial civil service exam at seventeen, but placed second to a cousin because his calligraphy was clumsy. This led him to train until he became a noted calligrapher. Once this occurred, he rose up the ranks of the imperial service passing the highest level at the age of 35. He rose to an official position with the
Ministry of Rites The Ministry or Board of Rites was one of the Six Ministries of government in late imperial China. It was part of the imperial Chinese government from the Tang (7th century) until the 1911 Xinhai Revolution. Along with religious rituals and c ...
. Qichang's calligraphy drew inspiration from prominent calligraphers
Wen Zhengming Wen Zhengming (28 November 1470 – 28 March 1559Wen Zhengming's epitaph by Huang Zuo indicate that he died on the 20th day of the 2nd month of the ''ji'wei'' year during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor. (嘉靖己未二月二十日,与严侍 ...
and Zhao Mengfu and of the masters of the Jin and Tang dynasties. His positions in the bureaucracy were not without controversy. In 1605 he was giving the exam when the candidates demonstrated against him causing his temporary retirement. In other cases he insulted and beat women who came to his home with grievances. That led to his house being burned down by an
angry mob Mobbing, as a sociological term, refers either to bullying in any context, or specifically to that within the workplace, especially when perpetrated by a group rather than an individual. Psychological and health effects Victims of workplace mo ...
. He also had the tense relations with the eunuchs common to the scholar bureaucracy. Dong's tomb in
Songjiang District Songjiang is a suburban district (formerly a county) of Shanghai. It has a land area of and a population of 1,909,713 (2020). Owing to a long history, Songjiang is known as the cultural root of Shanghai. Songjiang Town, the urban center of the ...
was vandalized during the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
, and his body dressed in official Ming court robes, was desecrated by Red Guards.


Painter

His work favored expression over formal likeness. He also avoided anything he deemed to be slick or sentimental. This led him to create landscapes with intentionally distorted spatial features. Still his work was in no way abstract as it took elements from earlier Yuan masters, specifically, the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty. His views on expression had importance to later "individualist" painters.


Art theory

In his art theoretical writings, Dong developed the theory that Chinese painting could be divided into two schools: the "Northern" school, characterized by fine lines and colors, and the "Southern", school noted for its quick calligraphic strokes, as first suggested to him by his friend and older contemporary Mo Shilong. These names are misleading as they refer to Northern and Southern schools of
Chan Buddhism Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit '' dhyāna'' (meaning " meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and Song ...
thought rather than geographic areas (hence a Northern painter could be geographically from the south and a Southern painter geographically from the north). He strongly favored the Southern school and dismissed the Northern school as superficial or merely decorative. Maintaining that the Northern school realized truth gradually, while the Southern school intuitively brought the actualization of such insight. His ideal of Southern school painting was one where the artist forms a new style of individualistic painting by building on and transforming the style of traditional masters. This was to correspond with sudden enlightenment, as favored by Southern Chan Buddhism. He was a great admirer of
Mi Fu Mi Fu (Chinese language, Chinese: 米芾; 1051–1107)Barnhart: 373. He was born with the name 米黻, also pronounced Mi Fu. His courtesy name was Yuanzhang (元章) with several sobriquets: Nangong (南宮), Lumen Jushi (鹿門居士), Xiang ...
and
Ni Zan Ni Zan (; 1301–1374) was a Chinese painter during the Yuan Dynasty, Yuan and early Ming Dynasty, Ming periods. Along with Huang Gongwang, Wu Zhen (painter), Wu Zhen, and Wang Meng (painter), Wang Meng, he is considered to be one of the Four M ...
. By relating to the ancient masters' style, artists are to create a place for themselves within the tradition, not by mere imitation, but by extending and even surpassing the art of the past. Dong's theories, combining veneration of past masters with a creative forward looking spark, would be very influential on
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
artists as well as collectors, "especially some of the newly rich collectors of Sungchiang, Huichou in Southern Anhui, Yangchou, and other places where wealth was concentrated in this period". Together with other early self-appointed arbiters of taste known as the Nine Friends, he helped determine which painters were to be considered collectible (or not). As Cahill points out, such men were the forerunners of today's art historians. His classifications were quite perceptive and he is credited with being "the first art historian to do more than list and grade artists." Lawrence Gowing, ed., ''Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists'', v.4 (Facts on File, 2005): 683.


Gallery


References


Sources

*Bryant, Shelly, ''The Classical Gardens of Shanghai''. Hong Kong University Press, 2016. p. 26-40. * *Rhonda and Jeffrey Cooper, ''Masterpieces of Chinese Art'' (pages 106 and 109), Todtri Productions, 1997. *Xiao, Yanyi
"Dong Qichang"
''
Encyclopedia of China The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, be ...
'', 1st ed.


External links


Calligraphy Gallery of Dong Qichang
at China Online Museum
Painting Gallery of Dong Qichang
at China Online Museum

at Chinapage

at MildChina *Paintings at the site of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston'
online collectionLandscapes Clear and Radiant: The Art of Wang Hui (1632–1717)
catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dong Qichang 1555 births 1636 deaths 16th-century Chinese calligraphers 17th-century Chinese calligraphers Chinese art theorists Ming dynasty calligraphers Ming dynasty painters Ming dynasty government officials Ming dynasty scholars Painters from Shanghai Politicians from Shanghai