Online Sinology Fortnightly: Negative Space and Transcendence in Landscape Paintings and Poetry: From Wang Wei to Zhao Mengfu

Dr. Ling Chao is an Assistant Professor at Department of Chinese and History, City University of Hong Kong. Dr. Ling Chao primarily researches classical Chinese poetry and art history, with a special focus on the medieval period. He is also interested in literary theory and philosophical investigations of the relationship between text and image. In his spare time, he enjoys practicing traditional Chinese calligraphy, landscape painting, and seal engraving. Before joining City University, he taught at Bates College and Colgate University.
Moderator: Dr. Chang Huilin (Postdoctoral Research Fellow of HKBU Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology)

Abstract: I read Wang Wei’s (王維 699–759) poetry and paintings about Wangchuan Villa to show how his landscape poetry, which was informed by his painting experience and Buddhist practice, has shaped the way negative space and the idea of “emptiness” are presented and understood. I will also study two of Zhao Mengfu’s (趙孟頫, 1254–1322) paintings to help illustrate the different modes of representing clouds and water and to argue that Chinese landscape painters learned from landscape poetry the way to achieve transcendental enlightenment in negative space.

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https://hkbu.zoom.us/j/95590069728?pwd=VzVjWWxkUndYL2FHaVZucml5bWpFdz09
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Password: 537362

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