18세기 揚州의 상업적 예술시장 속의 문인 ―板橋 鄭燮을 중심으로

Abstract

This paper investigates the interaction between the literati and the commercial art market through Zheng Xie 鄭燮 (1693～1765) in Yangzhou 揚州 in the eighteenth century. Zheng Xie was a scholar-official painter; his life and thoughts were stereotypical in traditional Chinese literati. On the other hand, he is considered as one of the Eight Eccentric Masters of Yangzhou [揚州八怪], and he may have been part of the literati who lived in the art market in the city of Jiagnan 江南. In particular, he presented an actual price list for his paintings and calligraphy, which would be regarded as a non-literati practice in the tradition of the literati painters, as literati paintings were never treated as a commodity openly in this way. It seems that Zheng Xie's identity as part of the literati contradicts such a price list. However, when taking the sociocultural environment of Yangzhou into consideration, this can be interpreted in different ways. Yangzhou was a newly ascended city in Jiagnan in the eighteenth century, not only an economical center but also a cultural center. It grew due to the influence of salt merchants [鹽商], highly placed government officials and due to Emperor Qing 淸's collaborative efforts. In particular, salt merchants played an important role in the project of Yangzhou. They led the literati culture of Yangzhou as connoisseurs, consumers and as patrons of numerous literati, including scholars, artists, and writers. Nonetheless, some who had not high cultivated tastes tended to boast about their sociocultural status and sought to possess the things of literati culture. Moreover, given that Zheng Xie had lowered his art's prices so that they could be purchased by the middle class of Yangzhou, the sociocultural value of his art may have been diminished in the eyes of wealthy merchants. Therefore, his price list could be reinterpreted as ridicule due to the vulgarization of the literati culture in the commercial art market of Yangzhou. While his price list may have been created as an effect of the symbolic exclusion by wealthy merchants, when it was combined with his paintings and his status as a retired scholar-official painter, it is in fact a celebration of Zheng Xie's arts and of him. The main themes of his paintings were orchids, bamboo and rocks, which were standard literary subjects, and he represented himself through these themes. As a result, this may have been a strategy related to his brand image in the commercial art market of Yangzhou.