The Traditionalist Painter Lu Yanshao (1909-1993) in the 1950S
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COMMUNIST OR CONFUCIAN? THE TRADITIONALIST PAINTER LU YANSHAO (1909-1993) IN THE 1950S THESIS Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Yanfei YIN B.A. Graduate Program in History of Art The Ohio State University 2012 Master's Examination Committee: Professor Julia F. Andrews Advisor Professor Christopher A. Reed Copyright by Yanfei YIN 2012 Abstract The establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 triggered a deluge of artistic challenges for the Chinese ink painter. Lu Yanshao (陸儼少 1909-1993), an artist skilled in poetry, painting and calligraphy, had built his renown on landscape paintings following a traditionalist style. As of 1949, however, Lu began to make figure paintings that adhered to the guidelines established by the Communist Party. Dramatic social and political changes occurred in the 1950s under the new Communist regime. The Anti-Rightist Campaign, launched in 1957, targeted a large number of educated people, including many artists. Lu Yanshao was condemned as a Rightist and was forced to endure four years of continuous labor reform (laodong gaizao 勞動改造) in the countryside before finally ridding himself of the label of Rightist in 1961. Starting in 1957, Lu shifted his focus from making figure paintings for the country’s sake to his personal interest – creating landscape paintings. In 1959, the artist completed the first twenty five leaves of his famous Hundred-Leaf Album after Du Fu’s Poems. The surviving fourteen leaves combined painting, calligraphy and poetry, and are considered to be early paintings of Lu’s mature phase. Lu Yanshao had studied Confucian texts since he was very young. In this thesis, I argue that changes in his approach to art and to his artistic career after being labeled a Rightist in 1957 can be productively considered from the perspective of the Confucian i teaching of Mencius: “If poor, they [“men of antiquity” 古之人] attended to their own virtue in solitude; if advanced to dignity, they made the whole kingdom virtuous as well 窮則獨善其身，達則兼濟天下.”1 That is to say, a scholar privileged to hold office will do everything in his power to serve effectively; if suffering from adversity, however, the scholar will cultivate his personal talents instead. It was by focusing on his own artistic virtue while otherwise suffering as an alleged “Rightist” that Lu gradually entered the mature phase of his artistic career in 1959. Between 1949 and 1957, Lu Yanshao made figure paintings based on the Communist Party’s guidelines because he wanted to contribute to the newly established country through his artwork. Serving the country through art accords with the idea of making “the whole kingdom virtuous.” However, in Lu’s view, the art bureaucracy, which enforced the Party’s ideology, rejected him by labeling him a Rightist in 1957. At this time, Lu experienced a psychological nadir. After years of adjusting himself as a Chinese ink painter in the new society between 1949 and 1957, Lu returned to Chinese landscape painting, developing a brilliant style out of a desperate situation. This maturation in Lu Yanshao’s art can also be considered from a Confucian perspective, especially Mencius’ teaching, “If poor, they [“men of antiquity”] attended to their own virtue in solitude.” 1 Mencius, The Works of Mencius, trans. James Legge (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1895), 453. ii For my grandparents iii Acknowledgements I am indebted to many people without whom this thesis would not be possible. First of all, I want to thank my adviser Dr. Julia F. Andrews. It was Dr. Andrews who helped me expand my view of Chinese art in the twentieth century, particularly in the People’s Republic of China. My interest in the artist Lu Yanshao originated from a survey of Meishu magazine between 1954 and 1965. These are valuable sources for the study of Chinese art history during the People’s Republic period. Dr. Andrews generously lent her collection of Meishu to me and provided me helpful guides for using this material. During the process of writing and revising my thesis, Dr. Andrews gave me many valuable suggestions. I really appreciate her thoughts and patience. I would also thank Dr. Christopher A. Reed in the Department of History at The Ohio State University for his teaching in seminars and his valuable suggestions for my thesis, which helped me develop my methodology and taught me how to improve academic writing. Without these teachings, suggestions and support from Dr. Andrews and Dr. Reed, my thesis would not have been possible. Here, I want to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Andrews and Dr. Reed. I would also show my thanks to my family and friends. I thank my family members for trusting, loving and supporting me all the time. My grandparents showed their concern about my thesis, and told me stories of the 1950s. My father helped me buy iv books in China about Lu Yanshao, and my mother mailed those books to the U.S. My friends also helped me a lot. Elise David, my colleague in the Department of History of Art at The Ohio State University, was very kind to help me edit my English. Hyunkyung Kim, another colleague from my department, always encouraged me with her warm words. Wang Hao at Zhejiang University helped me download useful articles in Chinese from the databases to which I do not have access. I will also remember the days and nights that I spent in Thompson Library with my friend Hao Qian, a recent graduate from the Department of Geography at The Ohio State University. Thank you all for your help and psychological support. v Vita 2009................................................................B.A. Literature, Wuhan University 2009 to present ...............................................History of Art, The Ohio State University 2010 to present ..............................................Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of History of Art, The Ohio State University Fields of Study Major Field: History of Art vi Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iv Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: State of the Field ............................................................................................. 14 Chapter 3: Serve the Country: Lu Yanshao’s Figure Painting in the 1950s ..................... 21 Chapter 4: Lu Yanshao’s Landscape Paintings After Du Fu’s Poems in the 1950s ......... 41 Chapter 5: Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 64 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 66 Appendix A: Important Events of Lu Yanshao’s Artistic Life ......................................... 72 Appendix B: Figures ......................................................................................................... 77 vii List of Figures Figure 1 Wang Mian (1310-1359), A Prunus in Moonlight, undated (c. 1350s), hanging scroll, ink on silk, The Cleveland Museum of Art (after Maggie Bickford, “The Flowering Plum in Painting,” in Bones of Jade, Soul of Ice [New Haven: Yale University Art Gallery, 1985], p. 81).................................................................................................. 78 Figure 2 Shen Zhou (1427-1509), Rainy Thoughts, 1487, hanging scroll, ink on paper, 67.1 x 30.6 cm, National Palace Museum, Taibei ............................................................ 79 Figure 3 Wen Zhengming (1470-1559), Spring in Jiangnan, hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, National Palace Museum, Taibei (after Wupai hua jiushi nian zhan [Taibei: Guoli gugong bowu yuan, 1975], p. 14) ........................................................................... 80 Figure 4 Shitao (1630-1724), Wilderness Color, one leaf from an album of twelve, 1700, ink and color on paper, 27.6 x 21.6 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art (Artstor) ............. 81 Figure 5 Lu Yanshao, Album after Du Fu’s Eight Poems on Autumn, leaf 1, 1950, ink and color on paper. (http://artist.artmuseum.com.cn/hisArtworkDetail.htm?id=411) ............ 82 Figure 6 Lu Yanshao, Album after Du Fu’s Eight Poems on Autumn, leaf 6, 1950, ink and color on paper. (http://artist.artmuseum.com.cn/hisArtworkDetail.htm?id=406) ............ 82 Figure 7 Lu Yanshao, Album after Du Fu’s Eight Poems on Autumn, leaf 7, 1950, ink on paper. (http://artist.artmuseum.com.cn/hisArtworkDetail.htm?id=408) .......................... 83 viii Figure 8 Lu Yanshao, Album after Du Fu’s Eight Poems on Autumn, leaf 8, 1950, ink and color on paper. (http://artist.artmuseum.com.cn/hisArtworkDetail.htm?id=404) ............ 83 Figure 9 Lu Yanshao, Teaching Mama to Read, 1956, ink and color on paper, 78.5 x 52 cm (after Shu Shijun, Lu Yanshao [Shijiazhuang: Hebei