Geo-Narratives of a Filial Son: The Paintings and Travel Diaries of Huang Xiangjian (16091673) (Harvard East Asian Monographs)

Huang Xiangjian, a mid-seventeenth-century member of the Suzhou local elite, journeyed on foot to southwest China and recorded its sublime scenery in site-specific paintings. Elizabeth Kindall's innovative analysis of the visual experiences and social functions Huang conveyed through his oeuvre reveals an unrecognized tradition of site paintings, here labeled geo-narratives, that recount specific journeys and create meaning in the paintings. Kindall shows how Huang created these geo-narratives by drawing upon the Suzhou place-painting tradition, as well as the encoded experiences of southwestern sites discussed in historical gazetteers and personal travel records, and the geography of the sites themselves. Ultimately these works were intended to create personas and fulfill specific social purposes among the educated class during the Ming-Qing transition. Some of Huang's paintings of the southwest, together with his travel records, became part of a campaign to attain the socially generated title of Filial Son, whereas others served private functions. This definitive study elucidates the context for Huang Xiangjian's painting and identifies geo-narrative as a distinct landscape-painting tradition lauded for its naturalistic immediacy, experiential topography, and dramatic narratives of moral persuasion, class identification, and biographical commemoration. GEO-NARRATIVES OF A FILIAL SON: The Paintings and Travel Diaries of Huang Xiangjian (1609–1673) Contents List of Maps and Figures Acknowledgments Abbreviations and Conventions Introduction 1. Suzhou Place Painting Traditions 2. Paintings of the Southwest for Suzhou Audiences 3. Filial Geo-Narratives 4. Attaining a Grand View from Mount Jizu 5. Topographies of Yunnan 6. Picturing the Quest toward Sagehood Epilogue Appendix 1: Editions and Transmission of Huang Xiangjian’s Texts A Record of the Journey in Search of My Parents Diary of the Return from Yunnan Appendix 2: Finding Lists for Huang Xiangjian’s Paintings List of Extant and Recorded Paintings by Huang Xiangjian Cited in the Text Chronological List of Extant and Recorded Paintings by Huang Xiangjian Notes Bibliography Glossary-Index Harvard East Asian Monographs Elizabeth Kindall's definitive study elucidates the context for the paintings of Huang Xiangjian (1609-1673) and identifies geo-narrative as a distinct landscape-painting tradition lauded for its naturalistic immediacy, experiential topography, and dramatic narratives of moral persuasion, class identification, and biographical commemoration. "This definitive study of Huang Xiangjian's paintings identifies geo-narrative as a distinct landscape-painting tradition lauded for its naturalistic immediacy, experiential topography, and dramatic narratives of moral persuasion, class identification, and biographical commemoration"-- Provided by publisher