Study On The Naming Of "Xiaoxiang Map" Painted By Dong Yuan

As a representative work of the southern school landscapes,“Xiaoxiang Map”(Scenery Along the Xiao and Xiang Rivers)played an important role in the history of Chinese paintings,and its creator,Dong Yuan,a painter in the Five Dynasties,was respected by later generations as the founder of the southern school landscapes.The status of Dong Yuan and “Xiaoxiang Map” in the history of Chinese paintings was not established overnight.Dong Qichang,as the leader of the literati and officialdom in late Ming Dynasty,played an important role in it.Before Dong Qichang,“Xiaoxiang Map” was rarely known and there was no title on it.After Dong Qichang got this work,he was quite sure that it was the “Xiaoxiang Map” painted by Dong Yuan recorded in Xuanhe Huapu.Dong Yuan recorded in the history of paintings and “Xiaoxiang Map” appeared together on Dong Qichang's painting and calligraphy boat after 500 years.There were occasional factors among them,but there did exist certain inevitable links between the evolution and development of history.The images of Xiao and Xiang rivers had a long history,and new development took place in the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty.Its spiritual connotation coincided with the class of the literati and officialdom represented by Dong Qichang in late Ming Dynasty.The social unrest made Dong Qichang worldly-wise and play safe in politics,which made him more fond of images of Xiao and Xiang rivers.His experience in Hunan and other places,as well as his collection of works on the theme of Xiao and Xiang rivers,all provided the basis for the naming of “Xiaoxiang Map”.Based on the theoretical foundations of Shen Kuo,Mi Fu,Tang Bian,etc.,Dong Qichang constructed the theory of " Southern and Northern School",which helped the establishment of Dong Yuan's position as the founder of the landscapes in Southern Song Dynasty.Dong Yuan played an important role in the orderly system of inheritance of southern school landscape paintings,which made the concept of "Dong Yuan" more concrete.The two clues of “Xiaoxiang” and "Dong Yuan" finally met and collided in “the sixth month of Ding You year" with the propel of Dong Qichang,which finally made this extraordinary work truly completed.