Chinese Thought And Philosophy In The Works Of Art-On Jade Articles And Culture In Qing Dynasty

The history of Chinese jade article can be traced back to Neolithic age. Despitethe development of society and the advancement of civilization, people's enthusiasmof turning the pieces of jade into exquisite art works with emotions and concepts hasnever changed for thousands of years. Therefore Chinese jade article and the socialculture are inseparable.The definition of jade in this thesis comes from the ancient literature: "jade, akind of beautiful stone, has five virtues". From the scientific point of view, thedefinition is ambiguous and abstract. However, it reflects the Chinese traditionalconcept of unifying the internal and external beauty of the jade article, which is alsoapplied to the research of Chinese traditional jade culture. Then the author enumeratesthe understandings of major schools of philosophy towards "Tao", the common pointof which is that "Tao" is abstract and metaphysical;actually politics,economy,culturecould all be called "Tao" . Also, the essential function of the Chinese jade article hasbeen identified, i.e. to reflect the philosophical thoughts by using art works. Based onthese concepts, the author lists several jade articles of different periods, and explainsthe cultural features they reflect.Then the thesis focuses on the jade articles and culture of Qing Dynasty. QingDynasty was a special historical period when Manchu dominated Han. Comparedwith the previous dynasties, the social culture of Qing Dynasty has the particularitythat the cultures of Manchu and Han distinct from each other and melt with each other.This thesis analyses the culture of Qing Dynasty in the jade articles from such aspectsas model, embellishment, material and craft. Some special models of the Qing jadearticles clearly display the Manchu cultural features. However, most of them areclosely related to Han culture, for their expressive form and expressive contents areparticular for Han. This kind of jade articles can be found everywhere in the PalaceMuseum, which shows that Manchu culture is deeply influenced by Han culture. Atlast, taking "Dayu harnessing floods" as an example, the thesis analyses therelationship between the culture of Qing Dynasty and the model, embellishment,material and craft of the jade articles.