TERMBASES
This term refers to
literary descriptions of characters which are accurate both in form and in
spirit. Chuanshen (传神), to “convey the spirit,” is to fully express the
spiritual world within the character, so that he comes to life; xiezhao (写照), to “capture the person,” is to create a vivid
physical depiction of him. These expressions were originally used in
discussions of art but were later introduced into literature. They represent an
artistic state which artists and writers try to achieve as they create images
of people as well as all artistic images.
The term has four meanings. First, it indicates a deity in a personified sense, possessing superhuman capabilities. Natural things, such as heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, sun and moon, and sta…
The term refers to vim and vigor found in a great work of art. It first emerged among comments on famed persons in the Wei and Jin period. Later, it was brought into the field of artistic criticism. Th…
This term refers to the subtle elegance of literary and artistic works. It was originally used to depict a person’s mien and manner. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the propriety inherent in a perso…
Freehand brushwork is one of the traditional methods of brushwork expression in Chinese painting. Using abbreviated and willful brushwork, the artist suggests graphically the meaning and character of t…
Have a Complete Image of the Bamboo Before Drawing It / Have a Fully Formed Picture in the Mind’ Eye
This term means to have animage of the art in one’s mind prior to artistic creation. It describes the useof mental imagery in the course of artistic creation, and also sets arequirement for both artis…
When describingsomething, literary writing should be able to go beyond external appearance tocapture the essence so as to reflect a high degree of reality. Zhuangzi (369?-286BC)considered that thees…
This term means a poet uses the techniques of analogy andstimulation to depict the form and the external appearance of things. He takesin internal connotations and the principles of things, thus linkin…
This refers to the process in which an artist creates his unique artistic representations of concrete objects, found in the natural world and social life, by mimicking, refining, and synthesizing their…
This concept means a paintershould be good at association in thinking in artistic conception and creation.He should give full rein to his imagination and connect and reconstruct avariety of source imag…
This term refers tothe act of depicting the outward features of an object to convey its innatecharacter in literary writing. It stresses the need not only to reproduce inwords whatever appears before o…
Painters depict physical appearances to reveal the essence.Gu Kaizhi(345?-409), a painter of the Eastern Jin dynasty, lays great emphasis on thecorrespondence between the essence and physical forms: H…
According to this precept, in pursuing artistic creation, one needs to draw inspiration from all things in nature and his innermost thoughts. Zaohua (造化) means nature. Xinyuan (心源) is a Buddhist te…