Intermediality in Kesi Silk Tapestries in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912)
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Woven Paintings, Woven Writing: Intermediality in Kesi Silk Tapestries in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) Dynasties Alexandra Tunstall Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2015 © 2015 Alexandra Tunstall All rights reserved ABSTRACT Woven Paintings, Woven Writing: Intermediality in Kesi Silk Tapestries in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) Dynasties Alexandra Tunstall This dissertation explores pictorial kesi, silk-woven tapestry, from its origins in China through the Qing dynasty, focusing on objects and sources from the Ming and Qing periods. While pictorial kesi imitated the visual appearance of paintings and calligraphy, no in-depth study of the three media in relation to each other has been undertaken. By approaching kesi through the techniques of the weaver and the materiality of the finished product, this dissertation explores an important pictorial art form on its own terms. This dissertation is divided into two parts, the first focusing on the origins, technology and techniques of weaving kesi in China. While tapestry weave was imported from Central Asia in the seventh century, Chinese craftsmen embraced the technology of creating colorful clear designs in silk and used it to imitate court paintings of the Song dynasty in the twelfth century. The author will study the intricate techniques of color blending and color joining that were developed by Chinese weavers to create complicated, beautiful images inspired by paintings. Looking at a kesi reproduction of a calligraphy scroll by Dong Qichang (1555-1636), I will analyze kesi calligraphy through the process of its making and the meaning in its materiality, as well as the political implications of this work. The second part will study kesi in relationship to the visual arts, focusing on painting. Examining a kesi attributed to the woman weaver Zhu Kerou (active twelfth century) will shed light not only on the practice of weaving painting-like images but also on the elaborate system of male connoisseurship in the Ming and Qing dynasties that judged and categorized it. Lastly, focusing on a composition attached to the name of a famous Ming painter, Shen Zhou (1427- 1509), this dissertation will study the issue of authorship in kesi and the practice of adding famous names to woven compositions. Through studying the issues of intermediality, reproduction, connoisseurship, and materiality, the author will shed a new light on kesi, believed for so long to be decorative copies of paintings. These works incorporate complex techniques developed to solve aesthetic problems and have a unique visual language of their own. Through this study, the objects, so carefully and painstakingly created by craftsmen and weavers, will begin to speak for themselves. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiii INTRODUCTION 1 The Origins of Kesi.................................................................................................................4 Timeline of Kesi......................................................................................................................9 Intermediality of Kesi.............................................................................................................15 CHAPTER 1 Kesi Tapestry Weave: Terminology and Technology 24 Kesi Terminology...................................................................................................................25 The Technology of Kesi.........................................................................................................30 Documentation of Kesi Technique.........................................................................................33 Color Block Transitions and Color Joining............................................................................37 Outlining and Structural Design Techniques..........................................................................41 Color Blending Techniques....................................................................................................42 Weaving a Painting.................................................................................................................47 Kesi “Carved Silk”..................................................................................................................52 Formats of Chinese Tapestry..................................................................................................54 i Conclusion..............................................................................................................................55 CHAPTER 2 Tapestry Reproduction and Art Collecting: A Calligraphy Scroll by Dong Qichang 57 Woven Writing.......................................................................................................................59 Copying Calligraphy..............................................................................................................63 Copying Calligraphy in Tapestry Weave...............................................................................66 Kesi Calligraphy.....................................................................................................................69 Handscroll after Dong Qichang Copying the Four Song Masters, Boston Scroll................71 Weaving Calligraphy: How to Represent Ink Effects with Thread......................................73 Dong Qichang Scroll: Documentation...................................................................................75 Handscroll after Dong Qichang: The Four Masters..............................................................76 Comparing the Boston and Shenyang Scrolls........................................................................84 Woven Seals...........................................................................................................................87 Replication and Materiality in Qianlong’s Collections..........................................................89 Postscript................................................................................................................................95 CHAPTER 3 The Construction and Circulation of a Woman’s Woven Painting in Literati Circles: Zhu Kerou’s Butterfly and Camellia 96 Tapestry Weave and Painting in the Song Dynasty................................................................98 Kesi Wrappers and the “Pictorial Turn” of Kesi....................................................................103 ii Documentation.......................................................................................................................110 Ming and Qing Connoisseurs on Kesi....................................................................................114 The Gender Difference...........................................................................................................119 Look to the Object, Again......................................................................................................122 CHAPTER 4 Reproduction of Famous Names: Shen Zhou and Cui Bo in Kesi 126 The Legend of Dongfang Shuo..............................................................................................127 Immortal Holding a Peach, Two Versions............................................................................129 Shen Zhou’s Style and Immortal Holding a Peach...............................................................132 The Iconography of Dongfang Shuo in the Ming Dynasty...................................................138 Birthday Peaches....................................................................................................................141 Another Shen Zhou Inscription..............................................................................................143 Stylization of the Peach..........................................................................................................149 Shifts of Taste and the Iconography of Dongfang Shuo........................................................150 Authorship and Reproduction................................................................................................151 The Name of Cui Bo..............................................................................................................152 Conclusion: What’s in a Name?.............................................................................................157 CONCLUSION 159 The Last Word: Reproduction of the Imperial Hand............................................................162 iii FIGURES 168 GLOSSARY OF CHINESE CHARACTERS 258 BIBLIOGRAPHY 263 APPENDIX 278 iv LIST OF FIGURES INTRODUCTION I.1 Detail of band with a pomegranate design, Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 CE), Wool tapestry, 59 x 57 cm, Excavated from Tomb 2, High Plateau, Loulan, Xinjiang, Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Social Sciences of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. I.2 Silk Tapestry, kesi, Belt, Originally adorning a small wooden figurine, Tang dynasty (618-907), ca. 685 CE, 9.5 x 1 cm, Excavated, 1973, from Tomb 206 at Astana, Turfan, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Museum, Urumqi. I.3 Female Figure, Tang dynasty (618-907), before 688, Wood with pigments, paper, and silk (belt made from kesi), Height: 29.5 cm, Excavated, 1973, from the tomb of Zhang Xiong and his wife, Turfan Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Museum, Urumqi. I.4 Silk tapestry, kesi, with quatrefoil design, Tang