Paintings Of The Ming Dynasty Wanli Period Of Transition And Its Impact

The period during the reign of Wanli marks the beginning of the late Ming Dynasty and also the dynasty's decline.The society is rather dark and stagnant then,with troubles both at home and from abroad.However,this period sees a turnpoint in the academic area;with the innovation and reformation in art which becomes more blooming and brilliant,fine arts develops greatly against the turbulent social background.This is a phenomenon deserving our meditation.With an aim to complement the present study on the fine arts of Wanli period,which is far from prefect, the author studies several artists living in this period as well as their works,trying to explore and analyze deeply the transformation taking place at that time in the area of fine arts and its influence on the coming age.Wanli period is a period of rebelion,the surge of democratic thoughts and anti-monarch campaign present enormous challenges to the feudal imperial power. Also,in this period,the occidental civilization and oriental civilization begins to communicate and exchange with each other,which is without precedent in the history;The ascendant bud of capitalism breeds a new kind of production relations;public forces grow gradually and for the first time they struggle against the feudal power;the society is turbulent and in need of a revolution;The new appearing political parties and properous academic schools widely spread the new thoughts of human liberation and freedom.All of these lead to a transformation in the area of fine arts.We can see that the ever flourished court paintings of the Ming Dynasty plunges into a downfall;artists forsake Yuanti and prefer the wild and vigorous spirit in the Yuan Dynasty, and announce a new artistic era with their creative ink language.The introduction of western art brings along new thoughts and new content;the rise of commodity economy,the prosperity of cities,the increasing demands for paintings among people and the development of folk arts like engraving all exert a significant influence on art both at that time and in future.This transformation in such an environment,i.e.in the end of feudal society but a time free from the assault of the world's capitalist waves,forces Chinese fine artss to make a choice:forge ahead or be driven back.The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the aeshetic and artistic accomplishment of the artists in Wanli period and their important role in the history of Chinese fine arts,hoping to contribute to the study on fine arts in later Ming dynasty.