A Study Of Zhan Jingfeng 's Views On Painting And Appreciation

Zhan Jingfeng, a Chinese painting and calligraphy artist of the middle and late Ming dynasty, was also a notable connoisseur at his time. Instead of collections of paintings, he left us quantities of works on art appreciation with his distinctive theories. Based on his practice of painting appreciation, he enriched the traditional painting aesthetic criteria with new theories; he explored the appreciation theories of art from "brush using" and "facsimile" and he offered his original ideas. Meanwhile, he offered rational criticism on painting circle of the late Ming dynasty. People of that time tended to value the Yuan instead of the Song paintings, and belittle the Zhejiang school of painters. Zhan disapproved of this general conduct and advocated that the dispute over painting styles and school of painters should be treated fair and objectively. Zhan’s objective views and pertinent criticism on the paintings of his time manifested his personal value and enhanced the painting philosophy of the Ming dynasty. The author, by combing, analyzing and summarizing Zhan’s painting theories in the perspective of Zhan’s painting appreciation practice, gave his own opinions about Zhan’s values of painting appreciation and made definite the position and influence of Zhan Jingfeng on the history of Chinese painting appreciation.