Compare And Contrast Ming And Shen Weng

INTRODUCTION
The conflation of poetry, painting and calligraphy is an ideal that dominated the development of Chinese literati culture for more than a thousand years. In this context, the term literati refers to the well-educated scholars who demonstrate intellectual cultivation and reveal personal feeling in artistic activity as amateurs. The literati painting, which was first advocated in the Northern Song by Su Shi and had gained prominence during the Yuan, again flourished with the prosperous economy of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming scholars formed a unique taste towards life and art and often painted the elegant, refined life scenes. Luckily, in the Johnson Museum collection, there is the painting New Year’s Gathering by Wen Zhengming, which
can let viewers get a glimpse of the scholars’ pursuit from the Ming Dynasty.
By analyzing the painting with its visual elements, iconographical meaning, and social background, I attempt to understand how Wen Zhengming’s piece reflects the literati tradition. I would like to begin with a brief introduction about Wen’s life and point out that this piece belongs to his late works. Next, I give a detailed description of the painting and a formal analysis, mainly focusing on its composition, brushstroke, and color. Eventually, I attempt to explain what makes the piece a literati painting, in terms of its aesthetic elements, visual motifs, subject matter, and inscription. All in all, the New Year’s Gathering not only portrays the balanced man-nature relationship but also reflects the aesthetic taste, leisure pursuit, moral characters, and life style of the Ming gentry-literati.
REGARDING WEN ZHENGMING Known for its picturesque landscape, Suzhou had become the center of cultural activity by the middle of the Ming.
Due to the reduced taxes and the improving condition for artists in the mid-Ming (Barnhart, 217), both literati artists, such as Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming, and professional artists, Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, became active in Suzhou, and together they are known as the Four Great Artists of Wu. Following the early master Shen Zhou’s death, Wen Zhengming “gathered around him a large number of students” (Sullivan, 224) and carried the literati culture of the Wu School to its zenith. At a young age, Wen Zhengming had the best teachers among the Wu area: he studied the Classics under Chen Kuan, calligraphy from Li Ying-zhen, and painting from Shen Zhou (Barnhart, 219). Although known for his diligence, Wen was ill fated. After failing the local examinations ten times, he finally “served in the Hanlin Academy in a low-ranking secretarial job. He resigned after four years and returned home” in 1527 (Barnhart, 220). He truly devoted his life to being a scholar, a painter, and a calligrapher. The New Year’s Gathering was done in 1532, five years after he went back to Suzhou. Therefore, it is not surprising to see that the painting reveals an eremitic theme, and “such sentiments were reflected in painting through the pursuit of sensuality in the form of aesthetic pleasures” (Barnhart, 198). After the unpleasant experience of serving in officialdom, Wen
immersed himself in the literati life, while seeking the consolation in the beautiful nature.