The spectrum of colours in black ink : Wang Yuan (act. c. 1300 - 1360) and the flower-and-bird paintings of Song (960 - 1279) and Yuan (1271 - 1368) China

Abstract

This thesis examines the importance of ink-bird paintings executed only in black ink, focusing on the Song (960 – 1279) and Yuan dynasties (1271 – 1368). I grant special emphasis to the works produced by Wang Yuan 王淵 (act. c 1300 – 1360), the Yuan painter who created the genre of ink bird in terms of style and composition. Moving beyond an exploration of the meanings of bird paintings as auspicious or visual puns on words, I investigate the florescence of ink-bird paintings in the Yuan dynasty. Extant bird paintings and texts from the Tang dynasty (618 – 907) to the Song dynasty indicate that the bird paintings made prior to the Yuan emphasized the qualities of naturalism and were predominantly painted in ink with the addition of colour pigments. Paintings of birds in monochrome ink gradually developed in the Tang dynasty and an increasing number of Song painters turned their attention to this subject. In the Yuan dynasty, as more painters devoted themselves to the representations of birds in monochromatic ink, the genre gained status as an independent subject. The ideas of naturalness, ink-play and guyi 古意 (a reference to classical values) promoted by Song and Yuan literati contributed to interest in ink-bird paintings in the Yuan. Texts written by the Song and Yuan literati provide evidence for my argument. Wang Yuan introduced iconographic innovations to the genre of ink-bird paintings, integrating the qualities of naturalism and naturalness in his bird paintings through contrasting styles of brushwork in ink. Wang painted fowl in meticulous detail and with refined brushwork in a great degree of naturalism. In the landscape settings of the birds, he deployed a more expressive and freer style of brushwork. Elements such as rocks and trees were painted in this manner to imbue a sense of naturalness to the scene. Wang Yuan expanded the meanings of the pheasant in new arrangements. I suggest that Wang Yuan designed his pheasant paintings for a group of patrons or audience members. He painted these compositions of ink pheasants for the Jiangnan educated men who might have lacked an imperial family or bureaucratic background. Wang positioned the pheasant, a bird strongly associated with the idea of wen 文 (literary and cultured) and the virtuous character of integrity, as a metaphor for these educated elites. He combined pheasants with natural elements including Taihu rocks, bamboo, and blossoming peach trees in his compositions. I reason that Wang in all likelihood regarded his pheasant paintings as an ideal image of the reclusive life of these educated men of Jiangnan. As it was increasingly challenging for educated men to enter the Yuan civil service, Wang Yuan’s patrons sought to affirm their status through alternative means, hoping to advance their cultural status and literati identity through the appreciation of his pheasant paintings.