The Connotation Of “Gaogu” In Chinese Figure Painting

“Gaogu” is one of the most important standards and contents in the measurement of the state,style and spirit of the figure painting.The style of “Gaogu” in the figure painting is not only affected by the life experience,characters,spirits,taste and the style of the painters,but also by the current cultural trend and the traditional culture.The change and development of “Gaogu” in the figure painting has always been closely related to the social economy,and it has shown different charm and aesthetic point at every historical period of time.For example,the simple and unsophisticated Gaogu style in Pre-Qin days,the detached Gaogu style in Wei-Jin dynasties,the luxurious Gaogu style in Sui and Tang dynasties,the graceful and restrained Gaogu style in Southern and Northern Song dynasties,the ancient restoring Gaogu style in Yuan dynasty,the unconventional Gaogu style in Ming and Qing dynasty and the creative Gaogu style in the modern times.Through the constant changing of the connotative and denotative meaning of Gaogu,we can grasp a better understanding of the spirit of Gaogu in the figure paintings and to see what a mysterious state they try to represent.This dissertation will discuss the connotative meaning,the aesthetic value and the display form of Gaogu figure paintings from three perspectives,which are the historical course of changing of Gaogu paintings,the essence of the spirit of Gaogu and the outstanding representatives in the field.Furthermore,by getting a specific idea of Gaogu style of the figure paintings from the aspects of coloring,lining and spirit,it is to analyze and summarize how to populize Gaogu style of the figure painting and how to entrust it with a refreshed feature in the background of the digital world in order to make it a better inheritance of the history.At the same time,Gaogu style should keep up with the pace of the modern lifestyle to enhance the great national cultural heritage.