"At the end of the sixteenth century, Tung Ch'i-ch'ang (1555-1636), painter, calligrapher, connoisseur, art historian and theoretician, and quintessential scholar-official, revolutionized Chinese painting and calligraphy. He brought to these arts a new vision and historical perspective, and established the direction both would follow for centuries to come. Indeed, he is generally recognized as the most important and influential figure in Chinese art to have appeared since the fourteenth century. The Century of Tung Ch'i-ch'ang, the first major exhibition and publication of Tung's painting and calligraphy, reappraises this unparalleled artist in light of modern scholarship. Not only are his most important works included in this study, but examples of the works of more than forty major seventeenth century artists who were influenced by his genius have also been assembled to demonstrate his enormous impact on both the Orthodox and Individualist movements of later Chinese painting. This international project, organized by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, has been realized through the unprecedented cooperation of China's two preeminent museums, the Beijing Palace Museum and the Shanghai Museum. One hundred of the one hundred and seventy-one works in the exhibition are on loan from these two renowned collections. The material is rare, and hitherto unknown masterpieces are made available for the first time to scholars and the general public alike. The remaining works have been gathered from the most important public and private collections in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Europe, Australia, and North America. This two-volume scholarly catalogue, featuring more than seven hundred illustrations and including extensive biographical, chronological, and critical material, is the work of a venerable team of international scholars who have made major contributions to the study of Tung Ch'i-ch'ang and his extraordinary influence on the history and evolution of Chinese painting and calligraphy." -- Provided by publisher

Written by a team of eminent international scholars, this book is the first to recount the history of Chinese painting over a span of some 3000 years.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Zeurich, 2003.

In May of 1985, an international symposium was held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in honor of John M. Crawford, Jr., whose gifts of Chinese calligraphy and painting have constituted a significant addition to the Museum's holdings. Over a three-day period, senior scholars from China, Japan, Taiwan, Europe, and the United States expressed a wide range of perspectives on an issue central to the history of Chinese visual aesthetics: the relationships between poetry, calligraphy, and painting. The practice of integrating the three art forms-known as san-chiieh, or the three perfections-in one work of art emerged during the Sung and Yuan dynasties largely in the context of literati culture, and it has stimulated lively critical discussion ever since. This publication contains twenty-three essays based on the papers presented at the Crawford symposium. Grouped by subject matter in a roughly chronological order, these essays reflect research on topics spanning two millennia of Chinese history. The result is an interdisciplinary exploration of the complex set of relationships between words and images by art historians, literary historians, and scholars of calligraphy. Their findings provide us with a new level of understanding of this rich and complicated subject and suggest further directions for the study of Chinese art history. The essays are accompanied by 255 illustrations, some of which reproduce works rarely published. Chinese characters have been provided throughout the text for artists names, terms, titles of works of art and literature, and important historical figures, as well as for excerpts of selected poetry and prose. A chronology, also containing Chinese characters, and an extensive index contribute to making this book illuminating and invaluable to both the specialist and the layman.

Chinese, one of the oldest active languages, evolved over 5,000 years. As such, it makes for a fascinating case study in the development of language. This cultural history of Chinese demonstrates that the language grew and responded to its music and visual expression in a manner very similar to contemporary English and other Western languages. Within Chinese cultural history lie the answers to numerous questions that have haunted scholars for decades: How does language relate to worldview? What would happen to law after its language loses absolute binding power? How do music, visual, and theatrical images influence literature? By presenting Chinese not as a system of signs but as the history of a community, this study shows how language has expanded the scope of Chinese imagination and offers a glimpse into the future of younger languages throughout the world.