Abstract
Topographical painting of local scenic sites had become a popular genre of landscape painting during the Ming dynasty. As the cultural center of the Ming empire, painters from Suzhou, both literati and professionals, painted a significant amount of works with the content of local landscapes. This research tries to reveal relationship between these topographical paintings and the Suzhou local elites’ thriving interest of building their collective regional identity throughout the Ming dynasty.This research focuses on the visual materials, paintings mainly and woodblock print pictures as supplement, of the scenic landscapes of Suzhou produced during the Ming dynasty. In this research, I consider these paintings, to a great extent, as the visual narrative of the local culture, through which a certain kind of local cultural identity was constructed and represented. During this period, landscape paintings, especial those related to local scenic sites, had acquired multiple social functions, such as the record of travel activities, the gift of birthday celebration, and even the gift of commemorating the departed local officials.
This research examines the specific social context of each type of works and the cultural background of the local landscapes in order to answer two major research questions: how the function and cultural meaning of the topographical landscape paintings had developed, and what role it had played in the construction of the local culture and local identity during the Ming times.
| Date of Award | 7 Sept 2018 |
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| Original language | Chinese (Traditional) |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Hsiao-ti LI (Supervisor) |