Smoke Clouds In The Ches

Zhang Boju(1898-1982), as one of the six most famous collectors by the accepted opinions in China of 20th century, plays a very important role in the modern arthistory. The paper starts with the two books, Congbi Calligraphy and Painting Album and Chats in Spring Outing, to analyze Zhang Boju’s collection from different perspectives.The first chapter gives a brief introduction to Zhang’s life experience, capital source and his social network, depicting an overall picture of his political and cultural life. The second chapteranalyzes his collection composition by the discussion of Congbi Calligraphy and Painting AlbumandChats in Spring Outing. The chapter also draws forth the following discussion about his collection motivation through two representative collection events. The third chapter unravels the nationalism in his collection. The loss of cultural relics during the Republic of China provides objective material conditions for his appreciation and collection. The founding of Antiquities Gallery and the Palace Museum also broadened his horizon with the enhancement of his percipient because of the communication with other collectors. In the republic of China, the liquidity among collectors was also improved because of the exhibition of calligraphy and painting. The collections in calligraphy and painting exhibition were rich and high-caliber, which is an important origin of his high percipient. At the end, the chapter focuses on Wanyan Jingxian’s impact, a connoisseur of the late Qing Dynasty, on Zhang. Zhang’s favor of Wanyan is mirrored in their similar structure and taste of collection. The forth chapter discusses the change of Zhang, who shifted from a private collector in the republic of China to a public collection manager after the founding of PRC. This change is a transition from privacy to publicity and from elitism to popularization of his collection.