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What Remains of Mountains and Waters: Fragments, Mutilation, and Creation in Early Qing Literature and Culture

What Remains of Mountains and Waters: Fragments, Mutilation, and Creation in Early Qing... This article examines the discourse and representation of canshan shengshui (devastated landscape) in early Qing literature and culture through a focused interpretation of the works of Ming loyalists Zhang Dai (1597–1684) and Wang Fuzhi (1619–92). Connecting aesthetics with ethics, these authors symbolically translate the devastated landscape (aesthetically objectified) into ethical sites, namely, the mutilated body and the shattered psyche. They push beyond the orthodox discourse of canshan shengshui, which seeks to supplement the natural landscape with artistic representation and thereby re-create nature. Zhang and Wang stand as outliers of this tradition as they explore the nuances of creation through destruction—their symbiosis, the dark forces behind creation, and destruction beyond redemption. Their insights liberate the aesthetics of the devastated landscape from the immediate political context, evoke social and intellectual trends predating the dynasty's demise, and infuse new and lasting life into the writings of the loyalists. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture Duke University Press

What Remains of Mountains and Waters: Fragments, Mutilation, and Creation in Early Qing Literature and Culture

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Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by Duke University Press
ISSN
2329-0048
eISSN
2329-0056
DOI
10.1215/23290048-7496859
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This article examines the discourse and representation of canshan shengshui (devastated landscape) in early Qing literature and culture through a focused interpretation of the works of Ming loyalists Zhang Dai (1597–1684) and Wang Fuzhi (1619–92). Connecting aesthetics with ethics, these authors symbolically translate the devastated landscape (aesthetically objectified) into ethical sites, namely, the mutilated body and the shattered psyche. They push beyond the orthodox discourse of canshan shengshui, which seeks to supplement the natural landscape with artistic representation and thereby re-create nature. Zhang and Wang stand as outliers of this tradition as they explore the nuances of creation through destruction—their symbiosis, the dark forces behind creation, and destruction beyond redemption. Their insights liberate the aesthetics of the devastated landscape from the immediate political context, evoke social and intellectual trends predating the dynasty's demise, and infuse new and lasting life into the writings of the loyalists.

Journal

Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture – Duke University Press

Published: Apr 1, 2019

References