Study On The Image Of Geisha By Painters Of The Late Qing Dynasty And The Republic Of China

From ancient times to the present, geisha image exists widely in the Chinese literary and artistic works, however, few dedicated to the art of the geisha image as the research object of study in the domestic field of art history. Furthermore, there has no monograph in this field. The image of geisha in ancient art works cannot be simply categorized as vulgar and graphic sex which is closely related to lifestyle of the literati and moral sentiments. For this reason, this article will focus on the image of geisha by painters, and explore the links between the artist and the image of geisha, which influence art activities and works directly.The literary creation of Ming Dynasty appeared in many literary works mainly by describing the image of geisha. In the field of art history, Wu Wei and Tang Yin who is frequently depicted the image of geisha became a pioneering and outstanding painters of traditional Chinese painting category, until the late Ming Dynasty, Qinhuai eight brilliant made the birth of the geisha community was elevated to the top position in the literature for the first time. The geisha culture in late Ming Dynasty played an important role in promoting to the geisha theme of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. Since the late Qing Dynasty, the decay of the country making Gai Qi, Fei Danxu and Ren Bonian and other artists in the creation of constantly pursues the pioneer in the late Ming Dynasty, meanwhile, these artist gave new feedback of art for the geisha community who had already transformed under the new environment. When literati’s social dominance gave way to bureaucracy and capitalists, they also had the new change about the geisha. With the traditional geisha image gradually transformed into the more entertaining the public image of the actress, it also has declared annihilation of the traditional geisha complex.This study will focus on Gai Qi, Fei Danxu, Ren Bonian, Wu Youru, painters of yuefenpai and Zhang Daqian, through their lives to their works of geisha, interpreting everyone’s most typical significance of geisha theme, and generalizing the historical evolution of the image of a geisha, then exploring the cultural meanings and the humanities which inside the image.