A Study On Dong Qichang’s Activities Of Art Collection And Virtuosity

As a prominent figure in the history of Chinese calligraphy and painting, Dong Qichang has left us rich and sophisticated cultural heritage on which the researches from various approaches can be conducted. Dong is widely known as a calligrapher and painter, whereas his role as a connoisseur still remains veiled. He lived in Wanli Period of Ming Dynasty, when the collections from the imperial storehouse appeared frequently in private circulation. The antiquarian tradition in the Jiangnan Region boosted the literary men’s interest in the collecting realm, and some of them stood out with their abundant collections. Immersed in such environment, Dong started his collection early and spared no effort in searching for the famous painting and calligraphy works. He attended the literati gatherings to exchange his collection with other collectors, and the trade fair dealings enabled him to acquire many works that he preferred. As his collection grew with time, he began to develop his own thoughts on painting and cal igraphy history. Obviously marked by his personal taste, his thoughts represented the essential taste which he extracted through his painstaking study on the painting and calligraphy works of the various dynasties.On the basis of many prefaces and postscripts written by Dong Q ichang, this study examines Dong’s collection career in four parts. The first part reveals the cultural environment of painting and calligraphy in Dong’s time from the life style of the literati and the circulation of painting and calligraphy works at that time. The second part looks into the specific situations throughout Dong’s collecting activities, with a purpose to reproduce the process how Dong hunted for and selected the objects, and to analyze why he made disingenuous comment on the painting and calligraphy works on the social occasions due to his role shift. Part three focuses on Dong’s selection of works and pursuit of personal style in his collection career. It is obvious that Dong’s personal taste in painting and calligraphy has a direct influence on his connoisseurship. Part four examines how Dong’s collection influences his concept and creation of art works. As for Dong Q ichang, collection and creation were two parts of oneness and they took place at the same time. It can be seen from his collection as well as from his concept and art practice that he persistently sought for free aesthetic pleasure and innocence in art.