Willows in Troubled Times: Ecology, Gender, and Apocalypses in Gong Xian's (1619-1689) Paintings and Theory

Translated title of the contribution: 亂世之柳: 龔賢(1619-1689)繪畫及理論中的生態觀、性別與末世

Yizhou Wang* (Contributor)

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to conferenceConference paper

Abstract

This paper focuses the representation of willows or withered trees in the paintings, painting theory, and poetry of the seventeenth-century poet-artist Gong Xian (1619-1689) and the human-plant relations in the context of the Ming-Qing transition. Gong Xian has been known as a loyalist yimin artist in the early Qing period and the most distinguished painter of the so-called “Eight Masters of Jinling (Nanjing)”. Since the art historian Silbergeld (1980) first discovered the significance and political symbolism of the willow theme in Gong’s paintings over four decades ago, scholars have hardly continued to investigate Gong’s depiction of the willow, a prominent subject in his painting practices throughout his life span. This research contributes to the study of Gong’s art with new insights into the willows in his paintings, painting treatises, and inscriptions or poetry on his paintings from the interrelated perspectives of gender, ecology, and apocalypse. It applies a transdisciplinary approach combining art history, gender studies, literary studies, cultural history, and ecocritical art history.

The study indicates that, by emphasising a gendered division in the pictorial depiction of willows and his writings, Gong differentiated his own willow imagery from the dominant literary imagery of willows that was associated with women, femininity, and sexuality. Also, Gong highlighted the notion of time and seasonal changes in the life of a willow tree. He developed a distinctive willow imagery called huangliu, “abandoned willow”, that was no longer praised for its flourishing in spring and was absent of gendered characteristics of females; while instead, it was transformed to parallel the Chinese category of “virtuous” plants such as pine trees and cypress that are evergreen and are associated with Confucian scholars’ qualities. Gong’s “abandoned willows” became an iconic presence in his landscape paintings without human figures, either as his metamorphosis or his/audiences’ companions for living through cataclysms. Finally, the research examines the connections between Gong’s paintings and the intellectual thoughts about apocalypses in the Ming-Qing transition, with a discussion on the intersection with the ideas about “indignation” and winter of the Ming loyalist monk Juelang Daosheng (1592-1659), as Gong’s Chan Buddhist teacher.

本文主要圍繞十七世紀中國畫家及詩人龔賢(1619-1689)的繪畫、繪畫理論及詩歌中的柳樹或枯樹,討論明清易代、自然環境變化(如小冰期)之際,自然界在藝術家筆下的特殊地位和表現,及繪畫所呈現的人類與植物之關係。在現有中國繪畫研究中,學界對柳樹的關注遠遠不及其它植物,如象徵儒士品行的梅蘭竹菊。龔賢,作為一名清初遺民畫家及「金陵八家」之首,柳樹是貫穿其藝術生涯的重要題材和意象。自四十多年前藝術史家謝柏柯首次探討龔賢繪畫中柳樹意象的重要性和政治隱喻,學界鮮少繼續挖掘並深入研究龔賢筆下的柳樹。筆者採用跨學科的研究方法,結合藝術史、性別研究、文學研究、文化史,及生態批評。從性別、生態藝術史、末世及後末世的多重角度,通過分析龔賢的山水畫、課徒畫稿、題跋及詩歌,本文企圖對龔賢的繪畫及柳樹意象提出新的闡釋和解讀方式。

本研究認為,龔賢在其繪畫和寫作中強調了柳樹的性別化,使其筆下的柳樹褪去文學意象中柳樹常見的女性化陰柔特質和風塵意味。同時,龔賢強調了柳樹植物屬性中所體現的時間與季節交替。他時常描繪冬季蕭瑟、枯萎之柳,他自稱「荒柳」,與生機勃勃的春日新柳迥異,也不再有女性化特質,更像是並行於中國繪畫及文學中象徵高尚德行的耐寒植物,如松柏、梅竹。龔賢之「荒柳」不僅僅是體現其抗清意志的政治表達,也是對其經歷人生跌宕、盛衰無常、情緒起落的自我隱喻。此外,本文還討論了龔賢柳樹題材繪畫與明末清初思潮中末世觀念的可能關係,特別是與其師明遺民僧覺浪道盛禪師(1592-1659)關於「怨」、冬季的理論的關聯。
Translated title of the contribution亂世之柳: 龔賢(1619-1689)繪畫及理論中的生態觀、性別與末世
Original languageMultiple languages
Pages131-154
Number of pages24
Publication statusPublished - May 2024
Event10th Young Scholars’ Forum in Chinese Studies 2024 = 第十屆中國文化研究青年學者論壇 - Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong , Hong Kong
Duration: 23 May 202425 May 2024
https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/ics/general/forum/2024/program.html (Conference program)

Conference

Conference10th Young Scholars’ Forum in Chinese Studies 2024 = 第十屆中國文化研究青年學者論壇
Country/TerritoryHong Kong
CityHong Kong
Period23/05/2425/05/24
Internet address

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