The Concept Of ’Ink Play’ In Song Dynasty And Its Symbiotic Model With Public Zen Cases

Since Wu Zhen pointed out that “Ink play” works are based on scholar-bureaucrats’ interest at Yuan Dynasty,the later discussions of the concept of "ink play" were almost constant with literati painting,and freehand brushwork."Ink play" has been understood as a kind of entertainment.However,for a long time,the theoretical study of "ink play" has ignored its origin of Zen tendency.In fact,the “ink play” first appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty,among the monks and scholarbureaucrats who embraced Zen,like Huang Tingjian,Su Shi,monk Hui Hong and monk Zhong Ren.With analysis of the literatures in that period,it becomes clear that the concept of "ink play" conceived in Zen,which actually is a kind of artistic creation based on Zen practice,also a convenient help to Zen meditation practice.But after the development of the Yuan Dynasty with the change of times,cultural background,and the decline of Zen,the original concept with Zen core collapsed,absorbed by the so-called "literati painting".At the same time,the "ink play" painting tradition was brought back by the Japanese monks who came to China to seek enlightenment in the Song Dynasty,and continued to develop in neighboring Japan,constructing the historical context of "Zen painting".In the process of combing the history of Zen painting,the modern Japanese art historians traced the origin to Su Shi,Wang Wei and other so-called representatives of literati painting,which triggered the discussion of domestic scholars on whether Zen painting existed in Chinese history.Through the analysis of the concept of "ink play" in the Song Dynasty,this paper deduces that there were only in Song Dynasties in China,and there was a unique painting style supported by the thoughts of Zen--ink play,namely the so-called Zen painting.