Visual Analysis
Modern China
Galen Anderson
Source 1 >>>>>
Source 2 ^^^^^^^^^
Source one is a full body portrait of the qing imperial guard Zhanyinbao done in ink and color on silk. Depicted in a western style is a man wearing an unbrimmed cloth hat and military uniform. Attached to the top of his hat is a single peacock feather, signalling his experience in battle. Behind him a quiver is full of arrows, some with black fletching and some with white fletching. Zhanyinbao holds a bow in his exposed left hand, which is rendered with different shading than his head and neck. The dissimilarity between the two parts of his body contributes to an understanding that multiple artists were involved in the production of this portrait. On his left hip Zhanyinbao is wearing a green hilted saber, likely a yanmaodao standard to qing military officials, in a green scabbard. Over the sword is a bow sleeve, which is black with green accents on the edges. His shoes and trousers fully cover the visible portion of his feet and legs, both are black, though the soles of his shoes are white and green. The coat Zhanyinbao is wearing is green, covering his torso and three fourths of his legs, with a blue strap separating the two portions. The strap’s fastenings are a gold colour.
Above Zhanyinbao is a description of his actions in and after battle. They are both in Manchu and Chinese, in that order from left to right. The description is the following: “Barehanded he rode the giant whale, Capturing Weinuo in battle. The bandits’ heads were strung together The length of his long lance. With both hands he held open the declaration of war All the way to Balikun [in Sinjiang Province]. Without [even pausing] to comb his horse’s mane, He returned and reported to his commander.”
Source two is an image of a farmer riding a plow being pulled by a water buffalo. This image is rendered on paper through black ink. Separations in the image contribute to the understanding that this is likely a multi section lithograph print. The image is part of the larger imperial handbook of plowing and weaving. The farmer is wearing a large fur garment that obscures his shape, trousers that cover his legs down to his knees, and a brimmed hat that seems to be made of a plant material. In his right hand is held a stick that is about as tall as his body, in his left a lead to the harness attached to the water buffalo’s head. The farmer is wearing sandals. The plow the farmer is riding is flat and wide, it is depicted in active use tilling the soil . Under the farmer and buffalo is a submerged field of soil, boundaried by a raised walking path leading to homes protected by a fence. Across the walking path is another field of soil, also submerged in water. On the edges of the fields are trees and stones. In the top right corner of the illustration is a bridge. The image depicts a step in the cultivation of rice, where the fields are tilled before seedlings are placed into the water of the paddy. To the right of the image in the handbook is a brief description of how this practice changes based on the terrain in which the rice is being grown.
Both sources seem to have been made in pieces by multiple individuals. In Source 1 the hands and clothing are rendered in different amounts of detail from the fully shaded head and neck. In source 2 the lines or gaps between different vertical portions of the piece make it appear as if multiple lithograph blocks were used to print this single image in combination. Both of the two images are supposed to be sourced from the Qing government, and though they had different purposes, one used for decoration and veneration while the other was used for education, both lead to a question about the infrastructure that allowed them to be produced. How did the Qing government produce large pieces of art?
After the fall of the Ming dynasty, the arts in China prospered. The increasing size of the merchant class, the continued existence of the court, and the strengthening of the literati through development of the examination system under the Qing dynasty government created the right conditions for the growth of the patronage system. Under the Qing and with the promise of stability, artists were able to devote resources towards training in the arts. The Qing practiced a style of empire that bettered conditions for artists, their choice to allow the cultures of those they ruled to maintain their differing natures combined with an impetus for positive relations with those they captured in the form of continued internal trade and taxation led to an opportunity for the government to patron the arts. The sponsoring of artists eventually became an established institution, the court academy. Court painters were, like other court officials, brought in by means of the examinations, and trained specifically in making art that supported the Qing dynasty. The academy likely produced the artists that would go on to create source one. The artistic identity of China was also further developed in the academy, as focus was placed on jiehua works. As time went on, the academy became a body increasingly focused on the production of propaganda and imperial identity.
The varying separation between the academy and the court allowed them to create works that were stylistically different from traditional jiehua art, utilizing some western techniques. In source one, these western techniques can be seen in the shading of the face of Zhanyinbao, produced under the Qianlong emperor, who was heavily involved with painting activities of the court. His features are accentuated in a different, more detailed style than what would have otherwise been prevalent. This piece also fits into the view of the court academy as a propaganda producer. Above Zhanyinbao is a description of his act defending the Qing, a patriotic message for someone portrayed with expensive materials. The work would eventually be placed in a place of veneration, suggesting that its ultimate purpose was to reinforce cultural ideas about bravery in the service of the empire. It is of note that those who would most often see the work would be those who would be engaging with the Qing in the Hall of Imperial Brilliance, because while some would be delivering tribute, where the incentives to support the empire are obvious in their effect to its citizens, others were foreigners who would be engaging with this piece as a representation of imperial wealth and power signalling. The value of the academy as a culture manufacturing body was not just internal but external as well.
Source two likely was also created as the result of action within the court. As the interface with western styles of painting and art continued on, perspective in depictions of landscapes, originally a western technique, became a prominent technique. Though differentiated from its western influences by its out of frame vanishing point, the Chinese version of this artistic idea which can be seen in source two was integrated into the traditional style of jiehua art in the academy. In the second source the vanishing point can be understood as an example of this change in Chinese art. The bridge in the top right of the image is smaller, but objects do not actually disappear from view at that distance, suggesting that the vanishing point is somewhere slightly to the right and further back. Both pieces were only producible because of the larger conditions that surrounded the arts within China during the Qing period, the artists who would have worked together to create them would have been trained in academies as a part of the court, who would have likely taken similar exams. Both come from the Qing government also, so it is possible they were produced in similar locations. The changing relationship with the west within China is also visible, as the techniques like western lighting and perspective become more integrated, which can also be seen in the other images that accompany source two in the imperial handbook of plowing and weaving, all of which use perspective, notably none use shading. The development of China’s cultural identity is clearly tied to the means by which its art culture is developed. In class there was a discussion of the photography that opened up the sacred places of China, and dispelled the mystique behind important locations to the Qing. It is of note that the larger movement of perspective based art in China may have a connection to the demystifying of the court as a whole.
Contributing Works
Chung, Anita. “Patrons and Painters.” In Drawing Boundaries: Architectural Images in Qing China, 45–74. University of Hawai’i Press, 2004. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wqrvg.6.
Wasserstrom, Jeffrey N., ed. The Oxford History of Modern China. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
“Unidentified Artist – Portrait of the Imperial Guard Zhanyinbao – China – Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) .” – The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/49249.
The Imperial Handbook on Plowing and Weaving御製耕織圖 – Waseda
https://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/na01/na01_03477/na01_03477.pdf