Eva Ströber1 LITERATI AND LITERARY THEMES ON PORCELAIN From the collection Keramiekmuseum Princessehof Leeuwarden The Confucian ideal of a successful career in society was the passing of the PORCELAIN traditional civil service examinations to become an official. However, only a small proportion of the ‘scholar-officials’ actually became integrated into the imperial administrative system that ran the country. The majority of these learned gentlemen, the literati, wenren (men of letters), had to stay in the ON villages or towns of their families, helping with minor social work and education, and spent a life committed to cultured leisure, the Tour Arts of the Literati’: writing and calligraphy, painting, playing the guqin (zither), and weiqi, a kind of chess. Over the centuries these intellectuals contributed substantially to social, intellectual and artistic life in China, and the role they played in Chinese cultural history cannot be overestimated. They represented the ideal of the THEMES cultured gentleman. The literati ideal also became the ideal for disillusioned Confucian officials looking for an escape from their intensely bureaucratie and hierarchically organized life. They dreamed of a life of freedom and reclusivity, close to nature; they longed for a balance of intellect and senses, of meaningful interaction with nature and like-minded companions, a life envisioned by painters and poets. These concepts were formed to a great extent by the influence of Daoism. In most cases turning to the ideals of the literati did not mean turning to an alternative lifestyle. Most literati looked for inspiration not to wild nature but LITERARY to smaller-scale, indoor alternatives. These could be landscape paintings, miniature gardens or ‘scholar’s rocks’: small, interesting rocks that were thought to represent the energy of nature, or qi Through these substitutes they created a sophisticated lifestyle for themselves. AND Literati life depicted Ceramics played an important role in their world, as an expression of refinement and style. Designs were sometimes allusions to famous personages of the Chinese intellectual past, scholars, painters, poets, or calligraphers, evoking the long and glorious tradition of which they feit part. The motifs of retirement from office into a life without official obligations, and close to nature, are expressed in poems by Tao Yuanming (365-427) LITERATI and Liu Zongyuan (773-819). Dwelling by a Stream I had so long been troubled by official hat and robe. That I am glad to be an exile here in this wild southland. Downloaded from Brill.com10/04/2021 11:22:02AM I am a neighbour now of planters and reapers. via free access Fig. i I am a guest of the mountains and woods. Large jar, decorated I plough in the morning, tuming dewy grasses, with scenes of literati And in the evening tie my fishing boat, breaking the quiet stream. enjoying freedom in Back and forth I go, scarcely meeting anyone, nature Cizhou stone- ware, second panel, And sing a long poem and gaze at the blue sky. h. 30.3 cm., d. 33.0 cm., Yuan or early Ming Retuming to live in the country dynasty, 14* century. In youth I could not do what everyone else did; Keramiekmuseum It was my nature to love the mountains and hills. Princessehof, Leeuwarden By mistake I got caught in the dusty snare, lnv.no. NO 1867 I went away and stayed for thirteen years. Fig. 2 A large jar of the Cizhou type, made during the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), Other side of the large jar offig. 1, third panel. or early Ming reflects the motifs of scholars looking for freedom in nature (fig. I).1 One of the three panels is filled with peonies. The second panel shows a scholar sitting in a boat, which is in the shape of a lotus petal; he is reading a book in a relaxed posture. On the third panel is a scholar, dressed in a wide, loose gown, his long hair hanging down in strands. He seems to be in deep conversation with a bamboo tree in front of him. To his right is a bare tree painted with awkward brushstrokes (fig. 2). The Chinese elite under the Mongol Yuan dynasty, when this jar was made, had developed a special affinity with bamboo, which bends in the storms of life, but does not break. Bamboo, therefore, became for many Chinese scholars a symbol of refusal to collaborate with the ethnic non-Chinese Mongolian miers. It is therefore not surprising that the genre of bamboo painting flourished particularly under the Yuan dynasty. The style of the decoration on this jar is free and spontaneous and has the energy of brushstrokes found in paintings. The JThree Visits to the Thatched Hut' A number of impressive 15th-century jars are decorated with historical scenes, some of them with stories from the Sanguo yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), a classical Chinese novel, probablyDownloaded written by from Luo Brill.com10/04/2021 Guanzhong 11:22:02AM (c. 1330 - c. 1400), which is still very popular in China. The stories in thisvia free access Fig.j novel are centred around the year 200, during the last years of the Han Large jar, decorated dynasty (206BC - 220AD). One of the stories concerns Zhuge Liang (181- with scenes from the 243), also named Zhuge Kong Ming or the Sleeping Dragon, who was a Romance of the Three famous scholar and strategist. A member of the royal family of the Han, Liu Kingdoms, Bei (162-223) forms an alliance with Guan Yu (162-219), a member of the Jingdezhen porcelain with underglaze blue, literati, and Zhang Fei (167-221), an ex-pork butcher. They try to reunite the h. 38.0 cm., d. 38.0 cm., country by fighting the armies of the North under Cao Cao (155-220) of the Ming dynasty, Tianshun Wei kingdom. Liu Bei and his ‘swom brothers’ ask for political and military period (1457-1464). advice from the famous scholar Zhuge Liang. They pay him three visits, the Keramiekmuseum Three Visits to the Thatched Hut’; only on their last visit does Zhuge Liang Princessehof, Leeuwarden agree to help them. lnv.no. NO 674 Figure 3 illustrates a huge jar, painted with the scene of Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei visiting Zhuge Liang in order to persuadeDownloaded him from toBrill.com10/04/2021 return to politics 11:22:02AM from his country retirement.2 Zhuge Liang is depicted sitting in his woodenvia free access pavilion, accompanied by a servant. The three men approach on horseback, dressed not as military men, but in the traditional gown and hat of a scholar official, made of black gauze with two flaps. Long life and happiness in retirement The motif of retirement is reflected in a very different way on the vase in figure 4, an impressive example of overglaze decoration in the Shunzhi period (1644-1661). The colour palette is dominated by bright iron red, strong green, and yellow, with outlines in black. The design is of flowers beside a dramatically displayed garden rock. The painting on this vase is of high artistic quality, as can be seen in the detail of the chrysanthemum and birds (fig. 5). At the same time it has complex symbolic associations: primarily Fig. 4 (below left) wishes for longevity and allusions to the poet Tao Yuanming. Vase, decorated with The flowers depicted on this vase are chrysanthemums and a hibiscus. Hibiscus, rocks, chrysanthemums furong, is a Symbol of happiness, which can also be pronounced fu. The hibiscus and hibiscus, is combined with the osmanthus, with its small red berries. It is calledgu/ or Jingdezhen porcelain wan nian qing, gives the wish for ‘ 10.000 years honour and happiness!' with overglaze enamels, h. 35.5 cm., d. 15.0 cm., The Chinese word for chrysanthemum, ju, is phonetically close to jiu, to Qing dynasty, Shunzhi remain, and jiu, the number nine, together providing a meaning of ‘a long period (1644-1661). time'. Chrysanthemums therefore are symbols for long life and endurance. Keramiekmuseum The chrysanthemum was appreciated because on cold autumn days, when Princessehof, all other flowers were fading away, the chrysanthemum alone would continue Leeuwarden lnv.no. N01781 to flourish. This combination of beauty and strength of character led many scholars and poets to sing the praise of the chrysanthemum. For most Fig. 5 Chinese people, a chrysanthemum flower, depicted on a painting or Detail of fig. 4 mentioned in a poem, conveys the association of a life spent in quiet Downloaded from Brill.com10/04/2021 11:22:02AM via free access 16 retirement. This goes back to a famous poem by the celebrated Chinese poet Tao Yuanming or Tao Qian. After only 80 days in office, he retired from all official duties and instead cultivated poetry, drinking wine, and enjoying chrysanthemums at the east gate of his garden, a kind of Chinese Tusculum. The reference is to his poem Homecoming. Homecoming I built my hut within where others live, But there is no noise of carriages and horses. You ask how this is possible: When the heart is distant, solitude comes, I pluck the chrysanthemums by the eastern fence, And see the distant Southern mountains. And the mountain air is fresh at dusk. Flying birds return in flocks. In these things there lies a great truth, But when I try to express it, I cannot find the words. The second main motif on this vase is a garden- or Taihu rock, with its characteristic bizarre holes, painted here like an abstract object in yellow and green. Taihu rocks take their name from Lake Tai in the Yangtze River delta, where rocks with holes have been collected for over 1,000 years.