ISSN 1923-1555[Print] Studies in Literature and Language ISSN 1923-1563[Online] Vol. 8, No. 3, 2014, pp. 152-155 www.cscanada.net DOI:10.3968/5113 www.cscanada.org Establishment of Meaning of Ink Wash Painting in Modern Times: Evolution of Chinese Ink Wash Painting as a Formal Language of Oriental Figure Painting LI Xiaoguang[a], * [a]Shandong Normal University Academy of Fine Arts, Jinan, China. established the language of ink wash painting possessing *Corresponding author. unique national characters. There exists a positive Received 11 March 2014; accepted 20 May 2014 correspondence between its development and evolution Published online 25 June 2014 and continuous shift of the cultural background, which reflects overall penetration of philosophic concept into the artistic form. Confucianism and Taoism that built Abstract the foundation of thought and culture of ancient Chinese As an ancient oriental type of figure painting, Chinese society deeply affected artistic style and style evolution ink wash painting’s development and evolution is the of Chinese painting. In the 20th century as various western most prominent part that most reflects the characteristics philosophical thoughts and artistic concepts came into of contemporary era in Chinese artistic exploration sight of Chinese culture, they influenced the expression in the 20th century. Present Chinese ink wash figure style of Chinese modern art on another level. painting has already become one of the forms of creation among Chinese painting mainstream and the reform spirit it reflects has special aesthetic meaning to Chinese 1. CULTURE CONNOTATION OF contemporary art in the multicultural background. This paper analyzes the language form transformation that FORMAL LANGUAGE OF INK WASH Chinese ink wash figure painting has achieved by drawing PAINTING on western modern artistic concepts for reference and No art form can separately exist without its culture that other issues including artists’ individual and personalized serves as the soil with which art form develops. In other representation styles; it also discusses the artistic spirit words, culture provides context for the existence of art. and contemporary cultural significance reflected by Chinese painting that possesses character of showing deconstruction of classical ink wash painting language the traditional cultural depth and breadth is the complete and integration of modern works under the background of statement of philosophical theory that man is an integral globalization. part of nature in art. The Taoism’s praising of ink wash Chinese painting; Ink wash painting Key words: art has built basic frame of formal language of Chinese language; Multiculture; Formal language painting. Ink wash painting that formed during pursuit of harmonious coexistence of people and nature has greatly Li, X. G. (2014). Establishment of Meaning of Ink Wash Painting in enriched painting concepts and expression techniques. Modern Times: Evolution of Chinese Ink Wash Painting as a Formal Language of Oriental Figure Painting. Studies in Literature and Chinese painting has unique and profound qualities and Language, 8(3), 152-155. Available from: http//www.cscanada.net/index. essences of traditional culture, from which we can catch a php/ccc/article/view/5113 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/5113 glimpse of sense of national culture identity and cultural awareness. The language form and even artistic form of traditional Chinese paintings are uninterruptedly carried forward. INTRODUCTION Painting’s connotation is indicated by language of ink Chinese ink wash painting is a typical cultural symbol wash painting possessing cultural trait that is formed reflecting oriental aesthetic awareness. In the long- through reflections and insights on life and artistic value time development of classical art, Chinese painting has of images and colors has turned into the expression of Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture 152 LI Xiaoguang (2014). Studies in Literature and Language, 8(3), 152-155 life awareness from visual form. Artistic development 2. EVOLUTION OF INK WASH PAINTING cannot be separated from the progress of national aesthetic view and aesthetic ideal, nor can it be separated LANGUAGE IN TRADITIONAL CHINESE from acceptance of artists’ psychological makeup of FIGURE PAINTING CATEGORY personalized languages. Besides, the artists’ requirements As a subsystem of language system, ink wash figure on expression are satisfied by obtaining new languages. painting’s changes in styles during different periods Establishment of new visual forms based on existing formal reflect the influences of language environment on it. language of painting itself is of significance to cultural The first change of language system that developed in inheritance. closed environment occurred because of the intervention Ink wash language bears the aesthetic accumulation of western Buddhist paintings as different culture in Han by means of a special expression mode, with prominent dynasty; the second change happened to the noumenon of characteristics of abstraction and stylization. The painting. With development and maturity of calligraphy intervention of writing technique of oriental calligraphy during Jin, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, it got involved in the painting further strengthens the features of Chinese into the painting language in the form of abstract symbol, painting language including abstraction, virtuality, and initiating trend of literati painting in Yuan, Ming and planarity. Essentially different with common visual artistic Qing dynasties. Due to introduction of western learning form, “Chinese painters particularly emphasize on lines and into China in modern time, the third change occurred that regard lines as main tool of drawing and expression. Any western painting concept had clear and definite effects style campaign that tends to destroy the integrity of a line on Chinese painting. Whether in order to maintain the or treat the line as part of area usually would be considered traditional pureness, development is sought inside the as heresy isolated from the mainstream” (Cahill, 1987). original system or to achieve reconstruction of language The non-descriptive language form of ink wash painting form by introducing external different factors, Chinese has unique aesthetic meaning. Plato’s notion of absolute figure painting is developing towards two extremes formal beauty refers to research for objective rationality of in a paradoxical movement of synchronicity, and seek objects themselves according to the source and quality of breakthrough in surpassing traditional language with the beauty, and it should reflect the intuitive abstract beauty of spirit of ink keeps up with times. objects’ modeling rule. Compared with Chinese traditional Lines were adopted as the main modeling means painting’s modeling concept, such abstract beauty varies in Chinese early figure painting that particularly put a lot in oriental and occidental expression. Kandinsky, emphasis on constitution consciousness of the abstraction the Russian abstractionism master, regarded realism and and decoration of lines, which suggests that painters’ abstraction as two extreme methods for expressing the sense of beauty of ink wash painting’s expression form truth. In his opinion, the art’s function of expressing ideas has not reached the conscious state. This can be verified can be displayed by abstract forms, thereby showing the in classical works in history of painting. Among paintings invisible spirit of objects. Whereas the space and time of on silk in the coffin chambers of Han dynasty found in Chinese painting adopts the abstraction with limited images archaeological excavation, we can find plane modeling to experience the process of realizing the truth, and conveys of figures, exquisite outlines and accuracy contour. In the the life awareness of perfect harmony of subject and Period of Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern dynasties, objects with endless changes of ink wash language. the expression techniques of Indian Buddhist painting and Language of traditional ink wash painting is a broad Gupta Empire’s sculpturing were introduced into Yellow semantic concept. As a language form, it is the result that River Plains. Those techniques that express the limited has been proven to be effective by constant practice of thickness of colors and images on the plane provide a generations of painters and has become a set of unique supplement to the ink wash paining system. Since Tang symbol system and specific expression rules. When the dynasty, lines of calligraphy have intervened into the ink wash painting is analyzed from the perspective of painting language and ink wash painting gradually took function of knowing nature through the phenomenon, the lead, which proves such change of form conforms to seeking for images of painting cannot be opposed the change of aesthetic conception at that time. to reality, nor can it exist without the latter. Infinite As in Song dynasty ink wash figure painting in possibilities of color gradients can happen to water and freehand style first appeared, it was the first time that ink that are effectively expressive. The expression of form implication of language of ink wash painting had intrinsic characteristics of objects by means of the ink and lines’ change of intensity and wetting-drying renders the been fully showed in figure paintings. Simple lines and pure formal beauty of language independent of substance, ink change were used