Lan Ying Friendship Studied

This essay studies the influence of socializing activities on Lan Ying’s creation through a textual research on his life and social connections based on Lan Ying’s original works and relevant historical documents.The essay analyses the influence of co-creation, gift-giving and social gatherings on his paintings, including the formation of his painting style, the growth of his fame as well as the rise of his position in the art history. The essay also introduces his circle of acquaintances, including their location, family background, status in circles of politicians and artists and contacts with Lan Ying, etw. A simple database about relevant persons based on reference books is established to restore Lan Ying’s multiple social identities and his living environment to the greatest extend. Omitted are those important subjects in his socializing circle, who have been well-studied, as well as those, the available information about whom is too inadequate to serve as reference.The essay composes of four parts. The first part deals with the role of co-creation with friends on Lan Ying based on the existent postscripts, historical documents and his co-creation with painters in Huai Yang, Zhe Jiang and other places. The second part studies the importance of gift-giving to other painters. It includes an introduction of the paintings that Lan Ying sent to his friends as presents, as well as how the form and contents of the paintings were related to the social trend and aesthetic taste of his time. The receivers of the paintings are divided into three groups by the author of this essay according to their social role:officials/gentry, scholars and painters. The third part points out that, gathering with literati and painters was one of Lan Ying’s important socializing forms. A description of his art improvisation and appreciation in these activities are also provided in this part. The last part offers a general account about his footprints in his lifetime and his socializing process, as well as the influence of socializing on the style of his painting and the value of socializing in the popularization of his paintings.