Chinese Painting: An Intellectual History
Chinese Painting: An Intellectual History provides a panorama of Chinese painting from primitive times to the Qing Dynasty. But it is not a mere list of various theories, paintings, and painters in chronological order. Much space of the book is devoted to describing the political, cultural, and economic situations as well as the philosophical, literary, and academic elements that have influenced Chinese painting. In its presentation of painters, painting theories, schools, and genres, the book combines general introduction with case studies, and in so doing maintains an objective and unbiased stance. To controversial topics such as the role of Buddhism and Taoism and the division of Northern School and Southern School in landscape painting, the book analyzes political and cultural causes, but gives no definite answer, thus allowing interpretation by the readers.
As the title suggests, the book is not an exclusive discussion on painting theories; otherwise, a more appropriate title would be "Chinese Painting Theories," or "A History of Chinese Painting." By "intellectual," the author meant to include not only systematic painting theories and fragmented commentaries that are written in words, but also the implicit and intangible message or thoughts underlying the creation of Chinese painting. Therefore, reading this book is not only a way of appreciating Chinese painting, but also helps in understanding Chinese culture.
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