A Study On Jin Nong 's "Lacquer Book"

Since the mid-Qing Dynasty, political situation was relatively stable which broughteconomic recovery. Some cities with convenient transportation presented a prosperous sight ineconomy and culture. The time when Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics were popular was the goldenage for Yangzhou city. The calligraphy and painting of Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics werefashionable in China during the Qianlong period. Jinnong who was listed on top of YangzhouEight Eccentrics was ingenious from childhood. He studied poems on his own, and consideredhimself to be a poet before middle age. At that time, his poems were appreciated by manymasters of poetry circles. After his family was in straitened circumstances, he felt depressed andhad to choose the life style of traveling around with such great talent. The traveling life had agreat influence on his view of art, which helped to bring about his own special style of art. It wasthis experience that made him as popular as master Zhengxie who was good at poetry,calligraphy, painting and seal cutting. However, his calligraphy and painting made him theleading master of calligraphy circles in art history of the Qing Dynsaty which was the skills thathad been belittled by himself.Jinnong was a thought-provoking artist in calligraphy circles of the Qing Dynasty. His lifeexperience, pursuit of art and academic achievement constituted a very profound andcomplicated cognitive world. The study of Jinnong is in a manner of speaking the inspection andanalysis of culture at that time. In calligraphy circles in the Qing Dynasty with popular study ofcalligraphy books, Jinnong was the first to hold the high banner of the study on stone inscriptionsand declaredly oppose orthodox calligraphy style. With his brave investigation, he broke a newpath which means pursuing beautiful style by clumsy style. His calligraphy style was stately andunusual. Qishu (a calligraphy style which has the effects of brushup) which was created byhimself was amusingly called “ugly calligraphy”, and formed his special calligraphy values.These values are regarding ugly style as beautiful style, regarding clumsy style as ingenious style,taking good advantage of side face of calligraphy brush and not being pride of learning orthodoxcalligraphy style in ancient times. He initiated the mixture of calligraphy books and stoneinscriptions which exerted a profound influence on ages.The thesis was deeply explored and elaborately illustrated from five perspectives which arelife experience of Jinnong, the formation of Qishu, Jinnong’s calligraphy and art style based onQishu, the status and influence of Qishu in calligraphy history.In the process of writing this thesis, the biggest difficulty was the lack of relative materials.Nowadays, scholars are not attaching importance to the study of Jinnong in academic world.There are some articles about the study of Jinnong but not enough. More articles focused on the study of Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics. Articles about Jinnong with small quantities were moreabout his poems and painting. The articles about his calligraphy are not elaborately illustratedwhich created disadvantage for the accomplishment of the thesis. This thesis mainly exploresJinnong’s calligraphy, especially Lishu, not poem, painting, and seal cutting. The author’sresearch and writing level is limited and would be very grateful for correction and suggestionfrom scholars and experts.