Three Representational Modes For Text/Image Relationship in Early Chinese Pictorial Art

Abstract

本文主要標示中國繪畫中以圖像表現文字的三種模式：每種模式因所表現的文體不同而自成一格。就其發展順序而言，這三種模式可歸納為：1)漢代的散文插圖；2)六朝的詩賦畫；和3)唐宋時期的詩、書、畫「三絕」。作者在文中並以實例說明在各種模式中，圖像如何運用各種技法去表現文字的表面資訊、內在意涵、和美學精神:包括使用直譯、比喻、隱喻、和象徵等方法去圖化文字的意思，並且在筆墨和構圖上結合書法技巧去表現詩文的美學趣味等等。這三種模式先後成立後，並為後代畫家所沿用，而成為中國繪畫中表現圖像與文字互動關係約三種祖型。

This paper focuses on the representational development of relationships between text and image prior to the Sung 宋 (960-1279) period. The author points out that the early evolution included three stages, each characterized by a representational mode for a specific literary style. In chronological sequence, they are: 1) the Han 漢 mode for illustrating prose, 2) the Six Dynasties 六朝 mode for illustrating prose-poems, and 3) the T'ang-Sung 唐宋 mode for representing poetry. These three modes served as archetypes throughout the later development of text/image relationships in Chinese art. In the Han period, text and images both serve as signifier and signified in mutual reference to each other. This mode was appropriate for illustrating prose, as seen in the Ancient Emperors and the didactic narratives in the Wu Liang Shrine of the Eastern Han period. Artists of the Six Dynasties tried to represent the musicality of a prose-poem and structured text and images harmoniously in a rhythmic layout. This mode is best represented in The Goddess of the Lo River. However, their artistic pursuit changed. Trying to convert poetry into painting, T'ang and Sung artists experimented with poetic paintings, with an emphasis on the representation of the aesthetic quality of the poem into the painting. Furthermore, they created works of "three-perfections": a combination of poetry, painting, and calligraphy. It is the "three-perfection" mode, which became the leading aesthetic principle for literati painting of later periods.