Title: The Collector, the Connoisseur, and Late-Ming Sensibility
Abstract: In the Record of Famous Through the Ages (Li-tai ming hua chi tet*e [847], hereafter LTMHC), the art historian and painter ChangYen-yuan W§2 (ca. 815-after 875) justifies his passion for collecting and restoring paintings: Yet if I dc) not do that which is useless, how can I take pleasure in this life which does have a limit?''1 phrase wu-i Q (useless, profitless) rings with echoes of the praise of non-action (wu-wei $$EA) and the uses of ( wuyung chih yung mS JM ) in Taoist writings. In the Chuang Tzu E f, uselessness represents disinterested self-containment and the condition conducive to the freedom of the spirit (hsiao-yao Affi ). Only the category of the useless can establish the individual's freedom to define a private realm of significance, which is in its turn a response to mortality. This reference to the idea of confronting mortality may seem ironic, since in an earlier version on The Fortunes of Paintings (Hsu hua chih hsing fei i£*2tM) Chang Yen-yuan describes how great imperial collections were assembled and destroyed. His own family's vast collection of calligraphy and paintings was appropriated by the emperor, and what remained was dispersed during his grandfather's exile, so that only a few scrolls were left behind (LTMHC, c.1.5-7). But if collections are perishable7 writings about collections are deemed less so. Chang Yen-an ex-
Publication Year: 1995
Publication Date: 1995-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 9
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