A Reaserch on the art of the interior decoration on the Ming Dynasty- via the discussion viewpoints of Wen Zhenheng and Li Yu

• Main Authors: LIN CHIN HSIEN, 林錦賢
• Other Authors: 林立韙
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/c4377q

碩士 === 中國科技大學 === 室內設計系 === 106 === A Reaserch on the art of the interior decoration on the Ming Dynasty - via the discussion viewpoints of Wen Zhenheng and Li Yu ABSTRACT During the middle-to-late period of Ming Dynasty, the economy system thrived and its people grew wealthier rapidly. With more wealth to spare, the aristocrats and scholars started pursuing high-end lifestyle and furnishings that called for simplicity and aesthetic display. This economical growth and the new material lifestyle strongly contradicted with the traditional frugal Chinese culture, which stirred up tremendous conflicts in the social atmosphere of Ming Dynasty. Because of the globalization of trade and the increasing interaction between East and West culture, the Court gradually liberated their artisans who were exclusively employed by the Emperor. This act encouraged a major shift toward a more creative and refined craftsmanship of that time, which can be fully observed in those unbelievably delicate Ming artworks and crafts. On the other hand, the notoriously corrupted bureaucracy caused many educated scholars to renounce their will of participation in politics and instead set themselves into seclusion. However, these under-achieving scholars quite often gathered and resided in the Jiang-Nan area which was in fact the cultural metropolis at the time. This kind of contradiction was attributed to the belief of Ming's people that “the greatest hermit will retreat in the noisiest fair.” Consequently, these scholars/artists created artificial landscape garden in their residence to echo with the Nature that is often related to a seclusive way of life. They expressed their artistry and spent spare time mainly on furnishings and crafts collected or handmade by themselves, which in turn elevated the art of interior design and decoration. This trend of arranging artistic furnishings and enhancing interior aesthetics was followed by walk of lives and especially rich merchants. The popularity and concentration of interior design urged the art of display and decoration into the highest level throughout the late Ming Dynasty. In view of the high artistic value of the renown Ming-style landscape garden, interior design, daily wares and furnitures, I seek to explore the difference and similarities in the display art among Ming scholars and artists. There are abundant scholarly resources that focus on the display art in Ming Dynasty, in which I choose two important writings of Suzhou scholars, Superfluous Things by Zhenheng Wen and Occasional Notes with Leisure Motions (Xian Qing Ou Ji) by Yu Li, as the primary focus of this research paper. These two books both put emphasis on the many details of interior design and decorations of their time. Nevertheless, the artistic beliefs and philosophies between the two authors are yet different from each other, which I will elaborate with clear comparison later in my essay. I organized my analysis and overall structure into four categories, including 1. Space partition, 2. Ming-style furniture, 3. Living appliance and 4. Furnishing artwork in order to thoroughly discuss the relationship between the philosophies of Zhenheng Wen and Yu Li and the overall decoration style of the Ming society and the fundamental difference between the treatise of two authors. keywords：Interior Design、Display Art、Space partition、Ming-style furniture、 Living appliances