Analysis And Research Of Xu Wei's "Miscellaneous Flower Picture"

Xu Wei of the Ming Dynasty is a remarkable artist in the history of Chi-nese painting.He managed to bring ink painting since the Song and Yuan dy-nasties to a new height,creating a way of expression that makes the most of water and ink and reveals the truth of nature.His works are highly influential on the style of flower and bird paintings after the Ming Dynasty,especially on Shi Tao and Zhu Da in early Qing Dynasty,the Yangzhou Painting School in the middle Qing Dynasty,and the Shanghai School in the late Qing Dynasty.Among Xu Wei’s works handed down from his times,nearly a third of them are about various kinds of flowers in different seasons.This paper seeks to study the complicated architecture of Xu’s works through the small category of mixed flowers.By reviewing his works of mixed flowers,the author attempts to analyze the origin of the "picture of mixed flowers," and follow the historical development of this painting category of Xu.Through the analysis of the origin of Xu’s painting style,as well as his unique pursuit regarding strokes,use of ink,image creation,and structure,the author seeks to deeply explore how Xu’s way of expression came into being and how he applied that artistic language to his works.The author will interpret Xu’s view on "the true self," analyze his thoughts on literature and art,explore into his study on the philosophy of the mind,Buddhism and Taoism,and attempt to understand how he built his view of“the true self," so as to get closer to Xu’s pursuit of beauty and his emotions.