Discourse on Painting 1667

Fa Ruozhen wrote this 'Discourse on Painting' scroll in ink on paper sometime in the 17th century. The artwork consists of columns of black ink calligraphic text on a long rectangular field. Calligraphy had a long history in China as an elite art form closely associated with governance and philosophical thought. Fa Ruozhen lived through the collapse of the Ming dynasty and the establishment of the Qing, an event that dramatically altered the institutions that supported artistic production. The text is, in part, a reflection on these events. The author seems to address painting as a kind of cultural practice whose effects extend beyond the aesthetic. He appears concerned with painting’s ability to either shore up or undermine established hierarchies of power. To fully understand this scroll, the historian needs to look at the changing social role of painting during this period by researching artists’ biographies and studying political and economic factors. Examining texts on aesthetics can help to further illuminate the meaning of this work.