Research On Lingnan School Of Painting

By studying the Lingnan School of Painting, this paper aims at understanding the role it played in the historical development of the art of Lingnan.The study focuses on the Lingnan region, referring in particular to provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, with Guangzhou and Guilin as the core areas for painting activities.The so-called School of Painting refers to a group of people formed by painters and those who are passionate about painting in society, including literary intellectuals, officials, wealthy merchants, as well as Buddhist monks and Taoist priests.The study mainly concerns the eighteenth century and the nineteenth century, which witnessed revolutionary changes in Chinese society. A variety of reasons ensured the unique position of Lingnan culture, and painting is no exception.The research method in this thesis includes screening for the part related to Lingnan ancient paintings from ancient writings, poetry and various historical documents, and then conducting an in-depth research of Lingnan paintings from three aspects-general introduction and achievements, painters and artist groups, and painting theories.Due to the lack of innovation, traditional literati paintings gradually declined in the late Qing Dynasty. However, Lingnan painting not only inherited the tradition of literati paintings but also showed a unique style and vitality for many reasons. Abundant natural resources were the source of the artists, the sacred mountains and rivers gave birth to a large number of outstanding artists. They frequently held calligraphy and painting gatherings, and creatively combined the production of painting, calligraphy and poetry as well as combining painting collection, appreciation and learning, thus resulting in a great variety of excellent works, which displayed the artistic characteristics of Lingnan painting, like tolerance, diversity, absorption, care for reality, and innovation. These achievements could not have been made without the efforts of artists and the support of the community that loved painting, and were also inseparable from the communication and blending of different cultures. These celebrities and talents have made an indelible contribution to the development of Lingnan Art.Till now, there has been no research on the ancient Lingnan School of Painting both at home and abroad. Historically, there were only limited writings and studies on ancient Lingnan paintings, mainly focusing on the study of individual painters. These results provide valuable clues for researches of later generations, but they are dogged by the simplicity and superficiality in the studies.The innovation of this paper is threefold:1. It conducts a comprehensive and systematic study on Lingnan School of Painting, revealing the law of development of ancient Lingnan paintings.2. It carries out a full, in-depth study on representative figures, analyzing their art theories, works, styles, and their impacts on the development of Lingnan Art.3. It intends to sort out the contacts among people, between people and society, so as to examine the role of these linkages in improving painters’artistic culture and promoting the development of Lingnan Art.The subject has important academic value, theoretical and-practical significance in the research on Lingnan Art. If it wasn’t this stage of gestation, accumulation and development, there would be no such fruitful achievements of the Lingnan School of Painting afterwards.