Typological Features of Chinese Culture in the Ming Dynasty (1398-1644)
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central and centripetal vectors. These plastic principles are maintained at the
macro and micro levels of the whole.
Chinese artists are known for their special love of curved, wavy lines,
which allow the energy of motion to be translated visually. Hidden channels
through which internal life impulses can pass, trajectories formed by
interactions between the rhythms of space and matter, these lines were
called “dragon veins.”
“The system of dragon veins, lost in the infinitely complex geometry of the
space-time continuum, in every moment of deployment appears a grasp of
form and shape, extended and intermittent. We can see signs of this grasp in
those lines favoured by Chinese painters of the curve of branches and swirls
of clouds, in winding paths and streams, the broken contours of mountains
and the lacy outline of stones, reached by emptiness - in all that gives the
impression of a cliff, the transition to otherness, the convergence of the
dissimilar.”
19
China masters began to give their attention to the concept of energy
quite early in the days of the ancient kingdoms and empires, when the first
state associations formed in the Bronze Age (second millennium BC). Much
as in India, art at this time was a part of complex magic rituals, which
accounts for the special suggestive qualities of ancient Shan artefacts.
20
“Shan Dynasty art represented the sacred power of the state. ... The purpose
of ritual was to maintain cosmic balance and the continuing dominance of
the Shan government, in connection with which in the casting of ‘green
bronze’ received an unprecedented concentration of energy, producing
significantly superior artefacts compared both to those of neighbouring
states and the products of later ages.”
21
The development of culture in during the Zhou Dynasty (7
th
-3
rd
century BC), the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC) and the Han Dynasty (206 BC-
220 AD) was marked by the dominance of the political sphere. The Qin
Dynasty, through military progress, created the conditions for many
innovations in the field of art, which moved in the direction of the cultural
synthesis and aesthetic pluralism which was fully realised in the ideology of
the Han era (Confucianism-Legalism-Taoism). Particularly noteworthy is
the heritage of three famous military writers Sunzi, Wuzi and Wei Liaozi.
Ancient treatises describing martial arts techniques indicated the
concentration of artistic efforts not only within the arts, but also in military
strategy. An essay by Sunzi, The Art of War, describes 13 stratagems, among
19
Ibid., p. 268.
20
Kozhin 2009, p. 15-22.
21
Titarenko 2010, p. 32-33.
www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html / www.cimec.ro
R. K. Bazhanova, D. E. Martynov, Y. A. Martynova
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which a special place is occupied by tactical subterfuge. Sunzi describes the
necessity in military activities of exploiting the enemy’s weaknesses, using
camouflage, feints and other misleading tactics, such as misrepresenting
one’s defences as weak. He emphasises that strategy does not mean
planning in the sense of making a list of tasks, but action on the basis of
rapid and appropriate response to constantly changing conditions.
Much of the text is given over to the discussion of how to make war
without actual military engagement and how to outwit the enemy without
physical effort, i.e. without a fight. Warfare, according to the author, is
based on deception. Military campaigns which achieve rapid success are
preferable to a protracted war, which is costly, so the actions of a successful
commander must be characterised by speed, efficiency and flexibility. The
treatise has a curious passage describing a mysterious method called “a
treasure for the governor.” Dealing with intrigue and subterfuge, it
describes obtaining advance knowledge through the use of five types of
spies: local, domestic, converted, doomed and retrievable. Advance
knowledge, it states, does not come from heavenly signs, spirits, demons,
but from the people. This knowledge is of the “true state of the enemy.” In
addition he proposes that the conduct of a military leader should be calm
and inspirational to others, direct, disciplined, and able to “deaden the
hearing and sight” of soldiers and commanders, i.e. to keep them in
ignorance. He makes changes to strategy and plans that those around him
do not know about; he hides his position and acts in a roundabout way such
that others can not foresee his actions.
22
Although these principles of military ingenuity lie far from the sphere
of artistic activity, in the latter field it is also impossible not to see
manifestations of rationalism and pragmatism, combined with camouflage
and a spontaneous approach. Also clear is the penetration into artistic
working practices of new ideas about the nature of particular skills
associated with the phenomenon of gradation (variations in shade, tone and
colour) and the nuances of its formal features.
This quality is most vividly revealed in masterpieces of calligraphy
from this period. Black ink, with its silver-grey nuances, gave a sense of the
unity and integrity of the world. Here two styles of writing were singled out:
one thorough, with precise representation of every detail, known as
“diligent brush” (gongbi) and the other free-style, careless and spontaneous,
referred to as “painting ideas” (seyi). Nadezhda Vinogradova emphasises
that:
22
http://lib.ru/POECHIN/suntzur.txt, accessed 20 June 2014.
www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html / www.cimec.ro