文震亨의 長物志 중 ‘懸畵月令’과 明代 末期의 繪畵鑑賞

Abstract

Wen Zhenheng(1585-1645), one of the most representative literati of the late Ming period, and a scholar, artist, and arbiter of taste, wrote the manual Zhangwuzhi(Treatise on Superfluous Things) to provide detailed information about the art of living and rules of style and taste for literati trying to aestheticize the details of daily living, and to maintain their position among China’s social elite class, when object became the agent for both the assertion of individuality and integration into the elite culture. Zhangwuzhi includes ‘Calendar for the Display of Scrolls’ that advises on the appropriate images for paintings to hang on major holidays and special occasions, which is hung for short duration and useful for charting the passage of the time around the year. It lists the precise circumstances and times of the year when certain types and subjects of painting suitable for the literati’s taste could elegantly be displayed, and reflects the concept of time manifested in Chinese visual and material culture. Wen Zhenheng provided a detailed calendar as to what images should be hung at what time of year, showing that as a renowned literati painter and connoisseur, he was not indifferent to subject matter of painting, and even in regard to the highly prestigious art form of painting, he was aware of traditional apotropaic, performative and decorative functions of picture making and painting appreciation. He also emphasized that when paintings were seen was as important as what they depicted. ‘Calendar for the Display of Scrolls’ also shows reasons for the popularity of certain themes of painting, and Wen’s reference to displaying Song and Yuan paintings on certain themes testifies that already by the Song, specific imagery were used for the special season and time, and in the mid-Ming period, the themes of paintings he mentioned became important items to collectors to amass in their collections. Therefore, it provides a good indication not only of the practice of hanging scrolls of different subjects to suit season and occasion, but also of the increasing demands on painting that facilitated the production of professional painters’ works and forgeries for the antique market. The choice of paintings to be displayed on a particular time or occasion depends largely on individual taste and preference. However, Wen’s list explains that certain rules and traditions of painting appreciation were adopted by the literati of refined taste, which influenced development of different styles and diverse subject matter of the late Ming painting with a proliferation of writings on collecting and connoisseurship. It also offers some insight into a little studied concept of time underlain Chinese painting and helps understand the meaning and social, cultural background of the extant Ming and Qing paintings more precisely.