"Gezhi" In Traditional Chinese Flower-and-Bird Painting

Since1905, China had abolished Chinese imperial civil serviceexamination, science replaced gaining knowledge by studying of principle ofmatters (gewu zhizhi), which led to educated scholars (shi) have forgotten how tocultivate themselves by this study, particularly since the May Fourth Movement.Although the study had been reserved in Chinese painting tradition through themeans of oral training practices, most painters have little knowledge of how tostudy gewu zhizhi. By adapting the methodology of Chinese painting theories,this thesis, thus, aims to examine one of the earliest surviving andwidely-circulated flower-and-bird painting manuals-Meihua xishen pu, whichexplores the influence of gewu zhizhi. Based on it, the paper studies the process ofhow painters applied for gewu on a variety of categories, such as:flower-and-bird painting, figure painting and landscape painting.The thesis has three main points:1. Meihua xishen pu, likely a genealogical chart, records lives of plumblossoms and is the pioneer of following painting manuals.2. Although Meihua xishen pu has been considered as the model book, it notonly depicts that how author admired and depictd plum blossoms but alsoresponsed the “gewu” in Song Dynasty.3. How Song painting carried out gezhi in art works.This dissertation scrutinizes this model book and challenges two ideaspromoted by late Qing scholar Ruan Yuan (1764-1849): one is self-learningpainting manual; the other regards the inscriptions as object-chanting poetry.Meanwhile, it further examines that how Song scholars experienced to managethe world by depicting plum blossoms. By portraying plum blossoms, artistsrealised daily human ethics, such as ethic of reciprocity (ren), rightness (yi),etiquettes (li), wisdom (zhi), honest (xin), filial piety (xiao), reclusion and so on.Landscape painting and flower-and-bird painting had been boomed since theSong dynasty as painting is so valuable for shi. We not only discover the custom of the Song’s favor and appreciation of plum blossoms with morality but alsoidentify how Song scholars practiced gewu. Philosophers often quote that howZhu Xi (1130-1200) and Wang Yangming (1472-1529) investigated and increasedknowledge of bamboos (gezhu) to illustrate the Confucian scholars’ moralpractice. However, no one knows how they practiced gezhu in detail. Dependingon the interpretation of this painting manual, we gain knowledge of theprocess——how they practice gezhu in the past. According to the “li yi fen shu”,it makes no differences between acquiring “tianli” by gezhu and by surveyingand extending knowledge of plum blossoms (gemei). Hence, we can image howZhu Xi and Wang Yangming practiced gezhu through the study of Meihau xishenpu.