Style And Evolution Of The "Knick-Knack Peddler" In The Ming And Qing Dynasties

“Knick-knack Peddler” depicts the life of small vendors who travel between urban and rural areas,and its imagery can be traced back to the Northern Song Dynasty’s“Along the River During the Qingming Festival” by Zhang Zeduan.In the Southern Song Dynasty,the palace painters Su Hanchen and Li Song incorporated the image of the vendors into the popular “Children Play Painting”,which became a new pattern of painting,with the vendors selling goods and children playing as a fixed theme.Subsequently,“Knick-knack Peddler” became a traditional painting subject,and in the Ming and Qing dynasties,it developed a new style beyond the customs and had more meanings.This paper takes “Knick-knack Peddler” as the research object,attempting to clarify the historical development of “Knick-knack Peddler” from its image appearance to the establishment of its painting subject,and focuses on exploring the form and meaning of such themed works in the Ming and Qing dynasties.Based on the relevant records of “Knick-knack Peddler” in the literature and the analysis of Li Song’s“Knick-knack Peddler” image,this paper discusses the different formation times of“Knick-knack Peddler” images and painting subjects.It then talks about the background of the popularity of “Knick-knack Peddler” in the Ming Dynasty through the study of the dating of Su Hanchen and Wang Zhenpeng’s “Knick-knack Peddler”.From the content of the drawings,the paper discusses the form and new meanings of the Ming Dynasty “Palace Scenery Peddler”,analyzes the source and significance of its“characters under the trees in the courtyard” spatial composition.Finally,this paper explores the new changes of “Knick-knack Peddler” in the Qing Dynasty,namely,the symbolic and realistic life expression of the vendors,and discusses the reasons for the disappearance of the “Palace Scenery Peddler” in the Qing Dynasty.Since the image creation of the Song Dynasty,“Knick-knack Peddler” has been a reproduction of social customs and culture.However,there was no record of“Knick-knack Peddler” during the Song and Yuan Dynasties.It was not until the Ming Dynasty that it became an independent painting subject established in the history of painting.At this time,“Knick-knack Peddler” was inherited by the Ming Dynasty painting academy as a theme for the court painting.With the development of court festivals and customs,the stylized “Palace Scenery Peddler” became popular,with new meanings such as seasonal festivals,birthday celebrations,and good wishes.Later,it entered the view of scholar collectors in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties.With the changes of social customs after the Qing Dynasty,the single “Knick-knack Peddler” declined.From the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty,the appearance and popularity of “Knick-knack Peddler” reflect the transformation of social culture from nobility to common people since the Song Dynasty,and the interaction and communication between folk culture and court culture.