The Meaning of Painting
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers interested in traditional painting concepts and aesthetic categories
- Beginners who want a short text as an introduction to the concept of "artistic conception" (yijing)
- Readers who enjoy reading colophons, poetry, and painting treatises side by side
- Teachers or students who need general materials on classical art
Not a good fit for
- Readers who want systematic instruction in painting techniques and steps
- Readers expecting a complete history of painting or extensive analysis of plates
- Readers seeking only quick practical skills and impatient with conceptual distinctions
Reading tips
- First clarify how huayi relates to yijing and yizhi, then read the main text to avoid conflating the concepts.
- Choose one or two familiar traditional paintings and try describing them in terms of "intent" and "artistic conception" to test your understanding.
- Take notes on the book's explanation of the source in the "Biography of Huo Guang" in the Book of Han, and look up the original context.
- Read alongside selections from painting treatises or poems inscribed on paintings to see how the same concept is used in different texts.
About the publisher
Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 画意
FAQ
What does the term huayi mean in this book?
Can I read this book without any background in painting?
Can this book be used as a history of painting or a technique book?
Should I look at paintings while reading?
Comments
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About the author
Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.
