Enlightening by Education, Upholding Social Relations: The Confucianist View of Painting's Primary Role
The 9th century art historian Zhang Yanyuan emphasized that the most important function of painting was to "enlighten through education and uphold social relations." The exhibition objects in this section reflect how these ideas were historically put into practice. Narrative paintings such as The Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety and Yuan An Lying Down in a Snowstorm were used to instill views on ethics and proper social relationships in the general public. Meanwhile, works such as The Mirror of Emperorship Illustrated Handbook and Wei Bin Fishing were intended to inspire rulers to learn from others and follow their example. The continued depiction of stories of loyalty, filial piety, integrity, and righteousness by artists across different time periods reflects such Confucian cultural ideals filtered through time and passed down through generations.
Four Paragons of Filial Piety- Anonymous, Yuan dynasty
- Silk
This handscroll presents four stories of filial piety structured as images followed by text: "Wu's Wife Injures Her Thigh," "Lu Ji Hides Oranges for His Mother," "Wang Xiang Lies on the Ice," and "Cao E Leaps into the River." At the end of the scroll, Li Jujing (fl. 14th century) wrote a colophon emphasizing the importance of filial piety and fraternal duty in Confucianism, noting that this scroll serves a didactic purpose as "a resource for self-cultivation and a method for instructing one's children." Based on the markings from replacing the title slip and textual analysis, it is likely a surviving fragment of a Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety scroll.
The entire work is meticulously rendered, its figures done in fine, fluid, yet energetic lines, and characterized by its distinctive nailhead and rats' tail brushwork. This style may be connected to the lineage of the 13th century figure painter Liu Guandao.
