Eremitic Landscape Dwelling in Confucian China and Enlightenment Europe: Structuring the Moral Self in Reclusion and Performing Public Duty
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EREMITIC LANDSCAPE DWELLING IN CONFUCIAN CHINA AND ENLIGHTENMENT EUROPE: STRUCTURING THE MORAL SELF IN RECLUSION AND PERFORMING PUBLIC DUTY. Submitted by Maria Anesti to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Chinese Studies In November 2019 The thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgment. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: 1 Abstract. This thesis explores how the experience of reclusion in free landscapes and private gardens of Confucian China and Enlightenment Europe contributed to people’s moral improvement by cultivating good passions such as temperance, encouraging introspection, increasing the sense of responsibility towards society and rendering erudite individuals prompt to perform their public duty as politicians and civil servants. The thesis is based on the comparative analysis of philosophical concepts, works of art, poems and cultural practices in order to highlight the similarities and divergences between Chinese and European – particularly British and French - eremitic landscape dwelling. Taking into account the historical context in which two important systems of thought were developed in different geographic regions, the research brings together the state-sanctioned Confucian ethics with Enlightenment Deism which, inspired by Roman Stoics, played a pivotal role in the promulgation of reclusive landscape culture and the creation of non- geometrical gardens used as retreats in the eighteenth-century Europe. Investigating human relationships with the natural environment and organized society, as well as views on interpersonal relationships, established religion and matters of cultural heritage, the thesis shows that gardens where Confucian literati and socially privileged Europeans, who had espoused Enlightenment ideals, liked to retire comprised mediating spaces between the private realm and the public sphere, solitude and public action. Eremitic landscape dwelling did not derive from a sentiment of contempt for the world or from a selfish desire to avoid hardships. Rather, this noble form of reclusion whose purpose was the cultivation of virtue and humaneness revolved around the greatest interest of individuals and the welfare of society. 2 Table of Contents Title Page, p.1 Abstract, p.2 Table of Contents, p.3 List of Illustrations, p.6 Acknowledgments, p.13 INTRODUCTION I. Addressing the Idea of Chinese Cultural Influence on European Landscape Gardens, p.14 II. Analysing Key Terms and Concepts Related to Eremitic Landscape Dwelling, Moral Cultivation and Performance of Public Duty, p.19 III. Methodology and Sources, p.36 IV. Summary of the Thesis Chapters, p.45 FIRST PART: EREMITIC LANDSCAPES IN ENLIGHTENMENT EUROPE AND CONFUCIAN CHINA: SELF-CULTIVATION AND THE TRAINING OF PASSIONS 1. Advantages of Living in the Landscape, p.50 CHAPTER ONE: BRITAIN AND FRANCE DURING THE ENLIGHTENMENT. 1.1 Landscape, Solitude and the Cultivation of Good Passions in Shaftesbury’s Philosophy, p.53 1.2 Landscape and Temperance: Endorsing Frugality, Purity and Simplicity, p.60 1.3 Landscape and Natural Religion: the Deist Approach of the Divine and its’ Importance in Self-cultivation, p.67 1.4 Learning, Virtue and Happiness in the Landscape, p.74 1.5 Ruins as a Device of Self-Cultivation in the Landscape: Identity and Pride, Transience and Temperance, p.80 1.6 The Hermit in the Landscape: Epitomizing Wisdom and Virtue, p.99 3 CHAPTER TWO: CONFUCIAN CHINA. 2.1 Forming the Aesthetic Consciousness and Nourishing the Ren: Music and Landscape, p.111 2.2 The Role of Plants in the Self-cultivation Procedure; Bamboo, Chrysanthemums and Literati in Reclusion, p.117 2.3 The “Bones of the Earth” in Chinese Gardens; the Moral Benefits and Hazards of Literati Petrophilia, p.136 2.4. “Purifying the Will” and “Enhancing Virtue” in the Garden, p.153 2.5 Chinese Hermits: Epitomizing Virtuous Life in Eremitic Landscapes, p.159 SECOND PART: EREMITIC LANDSCAPES, FRIENDSHIP AND PUBLIC DUTY IN CONFUCIAN CHINA AND ENLIGHTENMENT EUROPE: CULTIVATING EMPATHY IN RECLUSION. CHAPTER THREE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND. 3.1 Performing Public Duty as Ultimate Purpose of Self-cultivation, p.166 3.2 Tranquillity of the Mind and Public Welfare, p.170 3.3 Cosmopolitanism and Public Duty, p.176 3.4 Landscape Dwelling and the Evolution of Friendship in China and Europe p 178. 3.5 Maintaining the Balance Between Seclusion and Contribution to Public Welfare, p.189 CHAPTER FOUR: GARDEN RECLUSES AS FRIENDS AND MEN OF PUBLIC ACTION IN CONFUCIAN CHINA AND ENLIGHTENMENT EUROPE. 4.1 The Garden as Mediating Space between Solitude and Public Action, p.195 4.2 Cultivating Friendships in Garden Reclusion: William Shenstone and Wang Xianchen p.196 4.3 Garden Reclusion, Detachment from Public Praise and Sense of Public Duty p.213 4 4.4 Reclusive Garden-dwelling as Vehicle of Good Governance: Qi Biaojia, Rene de Girardin and Emperor Kangxi p.233. CONCLUSION, p.248 BIBLIOGRAPHY, p.257 ILLUSTRATIONS, p.288 5 List of Illustrations Fig.1. Simon Gribelin, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, date unknown, engraving, 17.7 x 9.80 cm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery (Print Room), reproduced in Leatherbarrow David, “Character, geometry and perspective: The Third Earl of Shaftesbury’s Principles of Garden Design”, The Journal of Garden History 4, (1984), 332-358, p.342. Fig.2. John Closterman, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, Winborne St. Giles, 1700-1701, oil on canvas, 237,5 x 144,8 cm, private collection, reproduced in David Mannings, “Shaftesbury, Reynolds and the Recovery of Portrait Painting” Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 48 (1985) 319- 328, (p.321) Fig.3. Chen Hongshou, Renouncing the Official Seal (section of the handscroll “Episodes from the Life of Tao Yuanming”), 1650, ink and colour on paper, Honolulu: Honolulu Museum of Art, retrieved from: https://art.honolulumuseum.org/objects/39183/scenes-from-the-life-of-tao- yuanming;jsessionid=DE67DEA67EC4484C106DE05BAC5E4AA2 Fig.4. Giuseppe Castiglione (alias Lang Shining), Qianlong Emperor in his study, ca. 1760, ink and colour on silk, 100,5 x 95,7 cm, Beijing: The Palace Museum, retrieved from: https://en.dpm.org.cn/collections/collections/2009-10-16/634.html Fig.5. William Kent, Temple of Modern Virtue, 1737, Elysian Fields, Stowe Park, Buckinghamshire, retrieved from: https://stowehouse.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/102773cnti-rupert-truman.jpg Fig.6. William Kent, Temple of British Worthies, 1734-1735, Elysian Fields, Stowe Park, Buckinghamshire, retrieved from: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2472777 Fig.7. William Kent, Temple of Ancient Virtue, ca.1734, Elysian Fields, Stowe Park, Buckinghamshire, retrieved from: https://nt.global.ssl.fastly.net/images/stowe70449templeofancientvirtue.jpg?wi dth=960&auto=webp&crop=16:9 Fig.8. D. Jenkins, Image of the view from the ruined Halesowen Priory towards the Leasowes, engraving, 1779, 31 x 19 cm, reproduced in: “The Modern Universal British Traveller or a New, Complete and Accurate tour through England, Wales and Scotland”, (J. Cooke: London: 1779-1790), retrieved from: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1779-Good-size-18th-century-print- of-Leasowes-in-Shropshire-/292059103565 6 Fig.9. Charles Hamilton, Hermitage, (built in 1760s, reconstructed in 2004), Painshill Park, Surrey (my photo). Fig.10. Jusepe de Ribera, Democritus, 1630, oil on canvas, Madrid, Museo del Prado retrieved from: https://www.museodelprado.es/coleccion/obra-de- arte/democrito/eb5f6aeb-ae96-40ff-a401-7dc415664189 Fig.11. Salvator Rosa, Philosophers’ Wood, 1641-1643, oil on canvas, 148,3 x 220,5 cm Florence, Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, retrieved from: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-philosophers-wood-115794#) Fig.12. Salvator Rosa, Democritus and Protagoras, 1663-64, oil on canvas 185 x 128 cm, Saint Petersburg, Hermitage Museum, retrieved from: (https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/!ut/p/z1/04_Sj9CPy kssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfIjo8zi_R0dzQyNnQ28_D29zQ0c_UNMPfz9w5yNnE30 wwkpiAJKG- AAjgZA_VGElBTkRhikOyoqAgDOvDDP/dz/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/?lng =en) https://www.arthermitage.org/Salvator-Rosa/Democritus-and- Protagoras.html) Fig.13. Salvator Rosa, Mountainous Landscape with St. Jerome, beneath a Craggy Rock, undated, oil on canvas, 120 x 167 cm, English private collection, reproduced in Caterina Volpi, Salvator Rosa, (Rome: Ugo Bozzi 2014), p.498, cat. no.181. Fig.14. Salvator Rosa, Philosophy (Self-Portrait), ca.1645, oil on canvas, 94 x 116, 3 cm, London, National Gallery, retrieved from: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/salvator-rosa-philosophy Fig.15. Richard Wilson, Landscape with Hermits, 1762, oil on canvas, 142,1 x 210,1 cm, Washington, National Gallery of Art, Paul Mellon Collection, reproduced in: Hayes, John. British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 336-339, color repro. 337. Fig.16. Richard Wilson, Solitude: Landscape with Hermits, ca. 1770, oil on canvas, 101, 5 x 127 cm, private collection, reproduced in David Solkin, Richard Wilson: The Landscape of Reaction (London: Tate Publishing 1981), p.213. Fig.17. Woollett and Ellis (after Richard Wilson), Solitude, 1778, engraving, 38,6 x 52,9 cm, London, Royal Academy of Arts Collection, retrieved from: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/solitude Fig.18. Hubert Robert, Ermite dans un jardin, 1790, oil on canvas, 151,4 x 80 cm, Louisville, Speed Art Museum, reproduced in Joseph Baillio, A hermit in 7 a garden by Hubert Robert (1733-1808): A new acquisition for the Speed Art Museum, (Louisville, Ky: Speed Art Museum, 2001) Fig.19. Hubert Robert, Hermit praying in the ruins of a Roman Temple, 1760, oil on canvas, 57,8 x 70,5 cm, Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum, reproduced in David Jaffé, Summary Catalogue of European Paintings in the J.