What is "Chinese Narrative Illustration"?

Author(s): Julia K. Murray

Source: The Art Bulletin , Dec., 1998, Vol. 80, No. 4 (Dec., 1998), pp. 602-615
Published by: CAA

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3051315

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 What Is "Chinese Narrative Illustration"?

Julia K. Murray

In modern writings on Chinese pictorial art, the term narra- hua-a single scene that epitomizes the story, as in Li Song's
tive illustration is loosely applied to a diverse array of works.
allusion to Su Shi's Rhapsody on the Red Cliff (Chi bifu, Fig. 2),
Although there seems to be an implicit consensus thatrather
the than a detailed depiction. Nonetheless, gu shi hua and
designation is appropriate to pictures that illustrate a story,
xu shi hua are used interchangeably, despite their apparent
the limits of this territory are unclear: Is it necessary for the
potential for specifying single-scene and multiple-scene illus-
pictures to expound the story visually, as in depictions oftrations,
the respectively.
life of the Buddha (Fig. 1), or may they simply evoke or refer In traditional histories and criticism of Chinese painting,
to it, however cryptically, as in assorted pictures of a boatsubject
near matter served as the major classifier.6 Accordingly, the
a bluff that are taken to illustrate Su Shi's 1082 account of his
pictures now grouped together in the modern category of
visit to the Red Cliff (Fig. 2)? Should the term narrative
narrative illustration were not necessarily considered similar
illustration apply to any image that has a textual basis of anyin earlier periods. Narrative illustrations are found under
kind, even if it is a lyric poem or a catalogue record? Is it
headings such as Figures (ren wu), Buddhist and Daoist
appropriate to extend the designation, as many scholars do, Subjects (variouslyfo dao, dao shi, and xianfo), and Ghosts and
to generic scenes, such as depictions of livelihood and
Spirits (gui shen). The Figures genre was sometimes subdi-
amusement (Fig. 3), even passages of landscape? On thevided into more specific types, such as Beautiful Women (shi
premise that an overly inclusive understanding of narrativenii), Peasants (tian jia), and Barbarian Tribes (fan zu). An
illustration is not very useful for the purpose of analysis orimportant consequence of this focus on subject matter is that
theory, I will propose here a more limited and rigorous the traditional categories that contain narrative illustrations
definition for the category.
also include paintings that do not refer to a story, such as
A significant portion of Chinese pictorial art consists of
depictions of social roles (Fig. 3).
representations of stories and texts.1 Such pictures not only
An analogous situation exists in the field of Chinese
embody and express cultural ideals and values, as traditional
literature. According to the si bu (four-part) system of biblio-
and modern writers have repeatedly observed, pictures also
graphic classification, which has been in use since the seventh
played a part in forming and disseminating social norms and
century, the major genres of writing are classics (jing), history
political authority, functions explored in more recent scholar-
(shi), philosophical discourse (zi), and belles lettres (ji). All
ship. However, narrative illustration was not conceived as a
four categories contain many works that recent Western
separate genre of painting (hua)2 in premodern histories or
literary criticism would identify as narratives, and narrative
criticism. Instead, it has become an entity in the study of
technique is found across a broad spectrum of writings.
Chinese art largely because of conventions adopted from
Nonetheless, there is no traditional term or separate genre
Western art historical writing and has now become so natural-
for narrative in Chinese literature, as literature specialists
ized that art historians have tended to forget that there is no
have long recognized.7
traditional Chinese term for or concept of such a genre or
Unlike scholars of Chinese literature, however, art histori-
critical category.
In modern Chinese, the combinations xu shi hua and gu shi ans have not given much consideration to the problem of
hua have been formulated as terms meaning "narrativedefining narrative in an artistic tradition whose significant
categories were formulated differently from those of the
painting" by analogy with the terms xu shi shi and gu shi shi for
European tradition. The issue was obliquely raised by John
"narrative poetry" (see App. below).3 The compound xu shi
(literally, "to tell the matter") is found in traditional ChineseHay in an article largely devoted to Zhao Gan's tenth-century
literary criticism, but with the limited meaning of recounting handscroll Along the River during Winter's First Snow (Jiang xing
an action in prose, as opposed to verse or song;4 it is not usedchu xue tu).8 Discussing the diverse associations of the theme
to characterize an entire piece or to name a category of piecesof the fisherman in literature, Hay proposed three categories-
in which events are narrated. Xu shi hua might thus be moral narrative, literary narrative, and genre narrative-
translated as "to tell the matter in pictures" and might which he considered to have "approximate equivalents in
painting."9
potentially be used to imply full-blown pictorial storytelling, However, Hay did not explain this tantalizing
such as a detailed pictorial exposition of the life of theformulation further, leaving readers to infer definitions from
his examples. My own reading leads me to think that Hay's
Buddha (Fig. 1). The term gu shi, which is used by Sima Qian
(145-86 B.C.E.) to mean "old matters" or "events of antiq- categories are defined by varying criteria, rather than by a
consistent standard that would make the groups mutually
uity," has been adapted in modern literary criticism to denote
the fictional "story."5 Accordingly, gu shi hua would seem toexclusive. "Moral narrative" seems to refer to pictorial
mean "picture of an ancient event" or "story-picture," and representations with a didactic purpose, "literary narrative"
it might suggest a more concise representation than xu shi
to pictures that embody poetic symbolism,1? and "genre

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 WHAT IS "CHINESE NARRATIVE ILLUSTRATION"? 603

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1 Scenes from the Life of the Buddha, detail of one side of sloping ceiling, Dunhuang cave 290, mid-6th century (from Zhongguo meishu
quanji, Huihua bian, vol. 14 [Shanghai: Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, 1988], 128)

3 Li Song, The Knickknack Peddlei; fan mounted as an album leaf

2 Li Song, The Red Cliff fan mounted as a hanging scroll, early 1212. Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden
13th century. Kansas City, Mo., Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Jennings Fund (1963.582)
Purchase: Nelson Trust

poem
narrative" to subject matter drawn from everyday life. Inare depicted (flying birds, trees with gourds) or implied
other words, the first category is defined by purpose, the and the picture shows two humbly dressed men who
(fish);
second by expressive technique, and the third by theme.
are fishing with a basket and a net. If the picture is a narrativ
illustration at all, surely it fits all three of Hay's categories:
Accordingly, the groupings can easily overlap, and a single
painting may well fit in more than one. A case in point ismoral,
the literary, and genre narrative.
illustration to the poem "In the South There Are Fine Fish" Moreover, Hay's categories are indefinite enough that
virtually
(Nan you jia yu) from the Book of Odes (Shi jing), which Hay any pictorial representation of human action could
offers as an example of moral narrative (Fig. 4).11 The arguably be admitted somewhere. Subsequent writings by
painting is based on a canonical Confucian text that was scholars have invoked his terms in analyzing an im
other
mense
believed to express moral intent; the rhetorical images of the range of pictorial works. For example, in Beyond

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604 ART BIIETIN DEcIEMBER 1998 VOI.UME IXXX NT MBER 1

4 Attributed to Ma Hezhi,
illustration of the poem "In the
South There Are Fine Fish" (Nan
you jia yu), section of a
handscroll, 12th century. Boston,
Museum of Fine Arts, Marshall
H. Gould Fund

subjective ("lyric") modes posited by literary theorists.'"

However, it is difficult to study the methods and development
of narrative technique when using a definition that includes
such disparate works.
In similar fashion, Wu Hung uses a broad conception of
narrative in order to emphasize the newness of an "iconic"
mode of representation, which he finds emerging in Chinese
pictorial art during the second century C.E., under the
influence of Buddhist imagery.14 As Wu describes it, the
composition of an icon exhibits bilateral symmetry and the
image is presented from a frontal perspective, so that it
engages the viewer directly.'" Nothing is happening within
5 Zhang Zeduan, Going Upriver at Qingming, detail of a
the scene, and the image appears to be timeless. Indeed, it is
handscroll, ca. 1125. Beijing, Palace Museum (after Zhongguo
gudai huihua xuanji [Beijing: Renmin meishu chubanshe, not bound to a specific time or meaning, for its interaction
1963],
pl. 39) with the viewer (often a worshiper), causes its significance to
change with each encounter. By contrast with this foreign-
inspired mode of representation, Wu argues, the indigenous
Chinese tradition is based on the "episodic" mode, which is
Representation, under the heading "Narrative Representa-
characterized by self-contained, asymmetrical compositions,
tion," Wen Fong uses Hay's categories under the slightly
whose elements are rendered in profile or three-quarter view.
modified names of moral-symbolic, literary, and genre-
Anchored to a specific time and place, the figures relate to
descriptive narrative. Among the many works that Fong
one another or to objects in the scene, not to the viewer, who
discusses are a bronze vessel bearing repetitions of a generic
hunting scene; mass-produced tomb tiles with mix-and-match is "a witness, not a participant." Wu characterizes this mode
stamped motifs of trees, horses, and human figures; daily-life as narrative because the interactions take place within the
scenes of men farming or women tending children; and picture; elsewhere, he notes also that episodic compositions
are based on narrative literature.1"
portraits of human or animal subjects.'" The variety encom-
passed by his examples implies a formulation of narrative Another common practice in discussions of Chinese paint-
representation that includes any picture whose significance is ing is to use the term narrative to describe the compositions of
independent of the artist and whose mode of depiction is long handscrolls that take the viewer on a journey through
objective and descriptive. The diversity of the works that meet time and space as the scroll is unrolled. In the extreme case,
these criteria is not problematic for Fong's major purpose, even the individual motifs that constitute the landscape, such
which is to argue (in a later chapter) that literati artists from as trees and rocks, have been called narrative.17 The basis for
the late twelfth century onward created an altogether differ- such designations is the element of narration that involves
ent kind of visual art, one that was self-referential and "telling" or, more neutrally, "presenting,"'" a process that
self-expressive. Indeed, Fong's concept of narrative fits well implies the passage of time. In accordance with traditional
with the dichotomy between the objective ("narrative") and viewing practices (as opposed to modern museum display),

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 WHAT IS "CHINESE NARRATIVE ILLUSTRATION"? 605

only a portion of a handscroll is viewed at one time. As the narration from description. Another fundamental element of
scroll is unrolled, each section is revealed in turn, only to be narrative is time. Although time may also figure in description,
rolled out of sight when the viewer moves on to the next time in a description is continuous (Todorov's "duration-
portion.19 Thus, the composition is experienced sequentially; time"), while in a narrative, time is divided into discontinu-
moreover, lengthy works also would have been painted ous units ("event-time").25 Moreover, a narrative's discontinu-
section by section. A case in point is Zhang Zeduan's Qingming ous moments occur in a sequence, sometimes with causal
shanghe tu (variously translated as Going Upriver for the Qing- links between units of time. Although a nonnarrative "exposi-
ming Festival, Qingming Festival on the River, or even Peace Reigns tion" may also present its elements in a sequence, as in a list,26
on the River2), a twelfth-century tour de force that is often Nelson Goodman observes that exposition lacks the underly-
characterized as narrative. This handscroll depicts a parade of ing coherence of purpose that is characteristic of a narrative
human activity through a continuous terrain that extends sequence.27 Indeed, according to Hayden White, to "narrate"
from the countryside through a bustling suburb and on into a means to impose a structure and meaning on a sequence of
walled city (Fig. 5). Over seventeen feet in length, the events in a way that gives them moral coherence.28 They may
painting encompasses literally hundreds of figures and doz- be implicitly endorsed, censured, or presented neutrally,
ens of man-made structures. The profusion and clarity of the depending on the moral system that underlies the account.
unusually realistic details have led many writers to interpret This coherence distinguishes "history" from "annals" and
the painting as a narrative of life in the Northern Song "chronicles," neither of which situates the events within a
capital, Bianliang.21 comprehensive interpretive framework.
Concepts of narrative illustration that accommodate so Structuralist critics, including Goodman and Seymour
much diversity have the disadvantage of blurring the distinc- Chatman, stress a distinction between the time-sequence of
tions among early types of pictorial representation and events in a story and the time-sequence in the recounting of
obscuring their evolution. In order to say anything meaning-
the story, a distinction that is captured by the terms "story
ful about a category called Chinese narrative illustration, it
time" and "discourse time," respectively.29 Thus, the events
seems desirable to formulate a more restrictive definition that
may be recounted in a different order from that in which they
identifies a consistent body of material. Even though this
"actually" happened, as in a flashback; or they may occupy
category will be an artifact of modern Western scholarship
different amounts of time, as when a narrator elaborates a
rather than an indigenous ordering of knowledge, I would
fleeting occurrence into an extended account or collapses
argue that it is reasonable to discuss Chinese cultural phenom-
hundreds of years into a single sentence. Analogies with
ena in nonindigenous terms if the criteria and motivations
Chinese painting readily spring to mind, such as two contrast-
are made explicit. Indeed, in a certain sense, non-Chinese
ing approaches seen in handscrolls called Raising the Alms-bowl
scholars of the late twentieth century can write about Chinese
(Jie bo tu), which illustrate the Buddhist parable of the
culture of earlier periods only from an outsider's viewpoint,
conversion of Hariti, Mother of Demons (Guizimu).30 One
unless they work entirely within the discourse of traditional
type of composition focuses on the pivotal moment in which
connoisseurship.22 Otherwise, even if modern researchers
Hariti has exhausted her demonic forces in a vain attempt to
deliberately frame questions that respect the parameters of
rescue her youngest baby from imprisonment under the
traditional categories, it is hard to imagine that their conclu-
Buddha's begging bowl (Fig. 6); however, her subsequent
sions will not be somehow influenced by the premises of
repentance and conversion to Buddhism are foreshadowed by
modern scholarship. Recognizing this, I believe that it may be
the appearance of the Buddha and his beatific assembly at the
both valid and illuminating to group and analyze certain
beginning (right end) of the handscroll composition (Fig. 7).
pictures under the nonnative rubric of Chinese narrative
Another type of composition follows what appears to be the
illustration. However, I would agree with the literary theorist
Tzvetan Todorov that a category defined by outsiders should "natural" order of the story. Various special warriors within
not be characterized as a genre if traditional critical discourse demon army are individually introduced (Fig. 8), the
the
indicates that the culture did not perceive it as such.23 onslaught on the bowl is shown in detail, a despairing Hariti is
Moreover, a definition for narrative illustration cannot simplypresented in her final moment of resistance, and the Buddha
appears at the end of the scroll, waiting to receive her
be adopted from Western art history because, even there, the
submission.
existence of such a genre is typically assumed rather than
clearly defined.24 Accordingly, it seems necessary to consider Arguing against the structuralists' differentiation of story
some basic problems of definition. To set the stage for such a from discourse time, Barbara Herrnstein Smith points
time
discussion, I will briefly refer to some ideas from Western out that the distinction is premised on the unstated belief that
literary theory that I have found useful in thinking about it is possible for the two kinds of time to correspond exactly,
Chinese narrative illustration. which implies that all other relationships represent deviations
by discourse time.31 She contends instead that the ideal of a
one-to-one correspondence is a false premise. Moreover, she
Literary Definitions of Narrative proposes that the "story" itself is an ever-changing entity;
Narration exists in a variety of symbolic systems, but most of is no Platonic core underlying all the manifestations of a
there
the theoretical discussion and analysis has focused on its
narrative. Rather, she maintains that there are only versions,
or "retellings," which are constructed in relation to other
manifestations in literature and film. Scholars generally agree
that a fundamental marker of narrative is action, which versions for various specific purposes and within particular
produces change, the element that most clearly distinguishes social contexts. The features of each version are determined

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606 ART BUI.I.ETIN DECEMBER 1998 VOLUME I.XXX NUMBER 4

6 Raising the Alms-bowl,

middle section of a

handscroll, 17th century.

Washington, D.C., Freer
Gallery of Art (17.134)

7 Raising the Alms-bowl,

right section of a
handscroll, 17th century.
Washington, D.C., Freer
Gallery of Art (17.134)

8 Raising the Alms-bowl,

middle section of a
handscroll, 17th century.
Paris, Mus&e Guimet

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 WHAT IS CHINESE NARRATIVE II.1LUSTRATION"? 607

9 The birth of Confuicius, from

Kongzi Shengji zhi tu (Pictures of the
Sage Traces of Confucius),
woodblock printed illustrated
book, 16th century. Cambridge,
Mass., Harvard University Art
Museums (photo: author)

10 Scenes from the Life of Confucius,

incised stone tablet, 1989. Qufu,
Shandong, (photo: author)

by the interests, functions, and circumstances for which it was government-approved rendition (Fig. 10) shuns the consider-
created, and these depend in turn on the backgrounds, able body of supernatural lore about Confucius, a prominent
expectations, and motivations of narrator and audience. element in many premodern versions. The scene of his birth
Here, too, it is easy to think of analogies in Chinese pictorial from a sixteenth-century example (Fig. 9) shows the arrival of
art. For example, innumerable sets of pictures depicting the the sage not only being celebrated by a troupe of musicians
life of Confucius were made in China from the mid-fifteenth hovering in the clouds but also marked literally by words on
century onward (Figs. 9, 10).32 The various illustrated biogra- the newborn's chest, which proclaim him "created to stabilize
phies of Confucius differ, often radically, in the numberthe andworld [zhi zuo ding shi]." Auspicious portents of his birth
type of episodes that are included in the set, media employed, and the superhuman efficacy attributed to him served to
quantities made, degree of artistry attained, and intended characterize Confucius as a being who was created, sup-
viewers. The purposes and ideological content of each picto- ported, and endorsed by the impersonal forces of heaven.
rial "retelling" of Confucius's life story are also affected by
Such "superstitious" elements could not be part of a retelling
the sociopolitical situation of the sponsor(s) or patron(s). in which Confucius was to represent the model citizen in an
Among the many differences between the two examples atheistic communist utopia, particularly one whose Cultural
reproduced here, perhaps the most striking is that the 1989 Revolution had smashed the "four olds" (sijiu): old ideas, old

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608 ART BULLETIN DECEMBER 1998 VOLUME I.XXX NUMBER 4

A. r.~*~ ,
~ 6 nq ~i
11 "Yang Guifei cuts off
lock of hair to send to Ta
,N emperor Minghuang, " fr
Qiandaijunchen gushi t
(Illustrated Stories of For
Emperors and Their Sub
section of a handscroll,
17th century. Washing
D.C., Freer Gallery of
(70.37)

culture, old customs, and old habits.

impress
Though
his or her associates,
shorn and/or
ofcreate
hisan auspicious
environment; and so forth.
preternatural powers in the 1989 pictorial biography (Fig.
10), Confucius nonetheless dwarfs other figures
A third aspect to consider inin many
defining narrative illustration
is the mode
scenes, perhaps evoking the Great Leader of of post-1949
presentation: How isChina.
the story communicated
visually? The many possibilities here result from the interac-
Narrative in Painting tion of three variables: format, compositional structure, and
conceptual
In considering the implications of these approach. Major formats
discussions for the for the illustration of
narrativein
problem of defining narrative illustration subjects in China include
painting, walls, tablets, screens,
I think
scrolls,kind
it is necessary to specify a particular fans, albums, and books. On occasion,
of content as a even vessels
anddefinition:
fundamental element of any proposed furnishings maythe
be decorated
picture with narrative themes.
Each of these
must depict or refer to a story, where surfaces means
"story" presents a particular
the set of formal
possibilities
presentation of one or more events that occur and limitations related to the size, shape, material
in a sequence
of time and bring about a change properties,
in theand condition of aof the pictorial space.
general configuration
specific character. Even though theThe format in which
literary the pictureof
definition is executed
a thus may
influence
story requires that the account be overtly the treatment of(that
constructed the subject
is, in certain ways. In
addition,
it is not simply a statement of "fact"), the choice
it makes noof format may also affect the viewer's
difference
for present purposes whether the storyinterpretation
purports of theto
illustration
be true and its
or significance.35
The second variable, compositional
not, nor whether its narrator can be identified.33 Nor does structure,
it refers to the
spatialor
matter whether the story is written down arrangement
orally of the pictorial elements. Here, a modi-
transmitted.
In these respects, the purely literary fied version of Vidya
definitions Dehejia's terminology
diverge from for depictions of
those of the visual media. What does matter
narrative inisearly
that something
Indian art may be useful." The simplest
happens.-'" construction is a monoscenic composition, which depicts a
Another important element in the definition of narrative single moment within one structural frame. For example,
illustration is its function within the larger system of society: Figure 11 shows the beautiful consort Yang Guifei cutting off a
What does it do or aim to do? Having already limited my lock of hair to send Tang emperor Minghuang, by whom she
range of material to pictures that depict or refer to a story, I has been temporarily banished from the palace, and this
would further propose that narrative illustrations record, gesture induces him to restore her to favor. A single picture
affirm, inform, instruct, indoctrinate, proselytize, propagan- may also depict multiple moments in the story, resulting in a
dize, or even entertain the viewer; sometimes they may conflated composition if no characters are repeated within a
perform more than one of these functions simultaneously. unified pictorial space, or a synoptic one if repetition occurs
Comparing narrative illustrations with paintings that perform without an indication of temporal sequence. In practice, it is
other finctions may help to bring them into clearer focus. For very difficult to find any clear example of a conflated
example, cultic icons are primarily intended to be worshiped composition in Chinese pictorial art,37 but synoptic views are
or to provide a focus for the performance of rituals; portraits more common. The 1989 pictorial biography of Confucius
commemorate and solidify social relationships; decorative (Fig. 10) portrays him in each of several different episodes
paintings adorn surfaces in order to please the patron's eye, that are juxtaposed within a single frame.38 Another type of

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 WHAT IS "CHINESE NARRATIVE II.LUSTRATION ? 609

12 After Gu Kaizhi, Goddess of the Luo Rivet; section of a handscroll, 12th century. Beijing, Palace Museum (from Zhongguo mneishu quanji,
Huihua bian, vol. 7 [Shanghai: Renmin meishu chubanshe, 1986], 131)

poll, o

rxPW'
;r /""~9-J~lAL
13 Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute,
section of a handscroll, early 15th
century. New York, The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Gift of the Dillon Fund

ransom,
synoptic scene often appears when and return
the content of aof Cai Yan
dream or (L
thought is illustrated in the C.E.43
same Incomposition
depictions of with the
other subj
dreamer or thinker, as in Li Gonglin's well-known
scenes are more subtly depiction
conveyed b
for chapter seventeen of the Classic of Filial
landscape Piety architecture,
elements, (Xiao jing),
which shows a minister sittingThis
at home
way and
of structuring
thinking about
a long se
mid-sixth-century illustration of th
serving his ruler.-" In this type, however, the mental image is
enveloped by a cloud that emanates
which isfrom the
painted inhead
threeof the
narrow r
protagonist, somewhat separating the
pitched subscene
ceiling from
inside the
Dunhuang
main part of the picture. The two
the moments thus
segmentation mightwhether
device, seem
to coexist in different realms rather
create a
than
visual
to consistency
occupy a shared
that re
space on equal terms.4" coherence of the "whole story."
Sequential compositions present
One multiple episodes
last category in a
of composit
linear series, whether arranged inplanar
large a continuous flow or
compositions, such
segmented into more or less size
distinct
makes units, which
it possible to may be m
arrange
uniform or irregular in size.41 Successive
of ways that areevents may be
not limited to a
depicted one after another onon
a common background, For
relative chronology.44 with exa
the figures repeated as needed,the
as in some
same scrolls
location illustrating
but at different
the Rhapsody on the Goddess ofgrouped
the Luo together, as in fu,
River (Luoshen some late
Fig.
12).4 In the section reproduced the life
from of scroll
the the Buddha. A detail f
in the Beijing
Palace Museum, a landscape resembling stage
mural in the scenery
Yanshansi pro-
monastery
unrelated
vides a continuous setting for three scenes of
apparitions within a large
the lovely
goddess, who performs various alluring
depict actions
events decribedat
that occurred inva
the rhapsody. More typically, sequential scenes
for organizing are separated
a large rectangular
to some extent. In some illustrations, the that
ing events individual
involveepisodes
the same p
space
are marked off unambiguously to reflect opposing
by intervening passages force
of
arranging
text, as in most renditions of Eighteen elements
Songs to create
of a Nomad Flute a h
(Hujia shiba pai, Fig. 13), which
Sometimes
first recounts
the logicandunderlyin
then
portrays each successive stage of the abduction,
composition captivity,
is difficult to explain

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610 ART BUIIETIN DECEMBER 1998 VOlUME I.XX NUMBER 41

15 Panorama ofMt. Wutai, detail of the west wall, Dunhuang

cave 61, mid-10th century (from Chtigoku sekkutsu: Tonko bakuko
kutsu, vol. 5 [Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1982], pl. 59)

selected for illustrating any particular subject probably i

related in some way to the function intended for the picture,
or the nature of the space in which it is to be depicted. How
ever, these suggestions by no means exhaust all the possibilities
and further research should yield useful insights into the signif-
14 Scenes from the Life of the Buddha, detail of the west wall of the
Yanshansi, Fanzhi, Shanxi, ca. 1167 (from Yanshangsifindai icance of the conceptual approach chosen for various situations
bihua [Beijing: Wen wu chubanshe, 1983], pl. 2)
Having discussed format, compositional structure, and
conceptual approach separately, and recognizing that eac
encompasses a range of possibilities, I return to the interac-
gain further insights into spatial logic by broadening the tion of these three major variables in constituting the mode
scope of examination to include examples from relatedin which Chinese narrative illustration is presented. In theory
many combinations are possible, but in practice, a mor
cultures, such as the Ajanta cave murals in India and folding
screens in Japan.'" manageable number account for the great majority of narra
The third element of a mode of presentation is its concep- tive representations. The most frequently encountered mode
tual approach, a term I use to refer to the most general kind of presentation are: (1) monoscenic compositions that symbo
of relationship between a story and its pictorial treatment.ize or epitomize the story in the handscroll, hanging scroll,
Visual images may allude to or symbolize a story by represent- and fan formats (for example, Figs. 2, The Red Cliff and 11,
ing its main character or characters, its setting, significantYang Guifei cuts off a lock of hair); (2) sequential composition
props, and so forth, without suggesting any particular event that excerpt highlights from the story or narrate it pictoriall
within it. For example, in The Red Cliff (Fig. 2), the portrayalinofthe handscroll, album, and book formats (Figs. 12, Goddes
men in a boat near a cliff refers to Su Shi's entire narrative of the Luo Rive;, and 13, Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute); and (3
about visiting the Red Cliff with his friends. A depictionplanar
may compositions that excerpt the highlights of the story i
summarize or epitomize the story by presenting an episode or
the mural format (Fig. 14, the later Scenes from the Life of Buddha
Based
scene that serves to recall the whole, as "Yang Guifei cuts off a on my discussion in the entire preceding section, I
would
lock of hair" (Fig. 11) brings to mind Yang Guifei's life in the contend that the classification "narrative illustration"
palace before and after her dramatic offering of hair, the be limited to pictures whose content can be related t
should
action that caused the emperor to reverse her banishment.
an oral or written story in which something happens, a
These kinds of conceptual approaches evoke a story and its representation evokes that story to produce some kin
whose
conventional interpretation without actually recountingof it.transformative effect on viewers. They may variously b
If more than one event is represented in pictures, the persuaded, reassured, distressed, entertained, and so
taught,
on.For
scenes are likely to be highlights excerpted from the story. To "illustrate a narrative" might mean as little as adding
example, the several different versions of Goddess of the thematically
Luo appropriate picture to embellish a self-contain
River (Fig. 12) present varying numbers of scenes showing story-in-words,
the or as much as presenting the story throug
evolution of the poet's ill-fated romance with the goddess.47
pictures. If the picture itself does not portray specific action
The more detailed and complete the pictorial account-most its identification as a narrative illustration will depend on th
often seen in pictorial biographies such as that of the Buddha
viewer's ability to recognize the connection to a verbal stor
(Fig. 14)-the closer the approach to what is often called For example, a viewer must have some knowledge of Su Shi
pictorial narration. In the extreme case, which is rarely account of his outing to the Red Cliff in order to identify
encountered in Chinese art, the story develops literally Song's
scene work (Fig. 2) as its symbolic representation, rath
by scene in pictures (Fig. 1).48 The conceptual approach
than simply a generic picture of men taking a boat ride.49 B

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-k as?s -f- ~T
1f~& Mw a t
?c~r~ Jci? iti
& A4~bJ~irJ 1
?bi a ~F w)e
~3 7~B
~F *I SI8
16 Pictures of Foreign Tributaries, section of a handscroll, 18th or
19th century. Washington, D.C., Freer Gallery of Art (13.2)
contrast, a composition that conveys its story pictorially (such
as the detailed presentation of the Buddha's life in Dunhuang
cave 290 [Fig. 1]) is easily recognized as a narrative illustra-
tion even if the content of the story is unfamiliar to the viewer.
Paintings That Are Not "Narrative"
To make these proposed definitions clearer, I will briefly
discuss some categories of picture that are intentionally
excluded, although they have been called narrative illustra-
tions by other scholars. First of all, I would rule out any
pictorial exposition in which there is no action or reference to
action. On these grounds, landscape panoramas and topo-
graphical pictures clearly do not qualify, even though the sites
depicted may be provided with written identifications or
longer textual accounts (Fig. 15). Nor would I include the
many handscrolls and albums that purport to depict various
non-Chinese peoples and their customs (Fig. 16). Often given
titles like Pictures of Foreign Tributaries (Zhi gong tu), such
illustrations are embellishments of texts that use descriptive
generalizations to catalogue the exotic appearances and
livelihoods of these populations.50 Although specific character-
istics may differ from one regional group to another, these
differences are simply variations within the larger category of
"otherness" that underlies both the texts and pictures. At this
level, all of the non-Chinese peoples are the same and
completely interchangeable with one another. The generic
otherness of the non-Chinese peoples is invoked to under-
score the implicit superiority of the Chinese and their
customs. What distinguishes such pictures from narrative
illustrations on the same theme is the absence of a specific
story in which something happens.
Another group of pictures that I would not characterize as
full-fledged narrative illustration is the representation of
activities that have no protagonist, as in the paintings Going
Upriver at Qingming (Fig. 5) and Zhao Gan's Along the River
during Winter's First Snow, the scroll that promptedJohn Hay to
set out his three categories of narrative illustration.51 Al-
though these paintings show many individuals engaged in
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WHAT IS "(CHIIINESE NARRATIVE ILLUSTRATION"? 611
AtAb4 t:
-a
MEW"4' '
a ~ ~i~Pt iC~ ?tU;s~CI LTi~ii 91?~?~1
?121
/Q lal
17 Cheng Qi, Agriculture, section of a handscro
Washington, D.C., Freer Gallery of Art (54.21)
18 Funerary procession, rubbing of carved sto
at Cangshan, Shandong, 2nd century (fromJ. H
China [London: Reaktion Books, 1995], 95)
various activities, such as traveling, working,
these figures are generic, not characters in a
would exclude depictions of generalized or r
such as illustrations on the themes of Agricultu
(Geng zhi tu, Fig. 17), which have been prod
able numbers from the twelfth century
portray an idealized sequence of the sepa
involved in rice farming (in twenty-one
production (in twenty-four scenes), traditio
the archetypal occupations for men and wom
Each stage of activity is pictorialized and
accompanied by a eulogistic poem. Rather
the experiences of specific individuals in a pa
place, however, the illustrations present a tim
salized ideal of a harmoniously ordered livel
Likewise depicting generic activities, but m
date, are the representations of funerary rit
on Han tomb walls. These symbolize the d
from earth to a realm of eternal existenc
both a movement in space and a change in
Wu Hung has described such scenes as "tr
tives" because they come between static tabl
death and to the afterlife and, in his view, turn the entire
pictorial program into a grand narrative.53 This observation is
valid in a metaphorical sense, but the pictures themselves are
highly conventionalized scenes of cavalcades, sacrifices, and
feasts, and they seem not to represent particular events or
specific individuals. On these grounds, they do not fit a more
restrictive definition of narrative illustration.
Finally, I would also set apart the pictures made for
prescriptive texts in which action does not take place, such as
612 ART BUI.I.ETIN DECEMBER 1998 VOLUME I.XXX NUMBER 4

R " '?~ ?;
..... ~1

i'Ami --
II
i. Iu~y~?~;V :,?

.~?;?C~L''?.~t.: , ~ ? .? 4;1?..-
?r ???
.I? ). ),
I viCl , ???
?~1??
..

i ..
i,?? 1
11
c:C:
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i..

19 Attributed 20
to LadyGuQiang on the floo
Kaizhi, A
section of a Filial Piety, section of
handscroll, a ha
4th
Museum Washington, D.C., Freer G

others are monoscenes th

the Classic of Filial Piety, Ladies' Classic of Filial Piety (Nii xiao
jing), and Admonitions of the Court Instructress (Nii shi zhen).54 hand, this visual similarit
mode of presentation can
The first two offer a systematic exposition of norms and ideals
for deciding which pictu
for male and female conduct, respectively, with eighteen short
ture
chapters each; the last is a more impressionistic and randomly alone does not deter
organized collection of maxims and advice for ladies of because
the the content and
court. Such works teach the principles that underlie familial those defined as narrativ
and social relationships. If an illustrator depicted a social with which nonnarrativ
encounter in order to suggest its associated principle, the same modes of presentati
the two kinds of pictures
result might be visually indistinguishable from an illustration
of a story. In the Admonitions scroll, such a strategy is usedon
to the viewer. Idealized p
embody the pronouncement that a woman must gracefully as normative, such as Agr
accept the inevitability that her appeal will decline and Pictures
her of Foreign Trib
worldview that is based on a fundamental division between
husband will come to favor other women (Fig. 19); the picture
shows a man holding up his hand as if to repel the woman the civilized center, China (zhong), and a barbarian exterior
facing him, whose presumed distress is signaled by the (wai). To be Chinese, one must perform proper rituals (li) and
fluttering of her scarves. Although the image depictsobserve
an the norms of filial piety (xiao). Such propositions also
action involving individuals, it is not linked to a story, and underlie
thus the illustrations of many explicit stories, such as
is not a narrative illustration. On the other hand, some Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute (Fig. 13), which follows Lady
prescriptive texts incorporate narrative elements in the form Wenji of the Han from the time of her capture by northern
of parables or biographical anecdotes, which serve to eluci- nomads, through twelve years of her life as wife and mother in
date points of discussion. For example, in the Ladies' Classic the
of steppe grasslands, to her ransom and return to China, an
Filial Piety, the story of Wise Lady Fan is introduced tooutcome that required her to abandon her "barbarian"
demonstrate an appropriate way for women to use their family. In a sense, any purportedly objective pictorial assertion
wisdom,55 and the story of Lady Qiang is recounted toof "things that are" (such as Fig. 5, Going Upriver at Qingming)
emphasize that a reputation for unimpeachable chastityor is "things that should be" (such as Fig. 17, Agriculture) has the
even more important than life itself. As implied by the same import as an illustration of a story whose resolution re-
illustration of Lady Qiang on the flooded terrace (Fig. 20),
affirms the cosmic and social orders. Whether they depict generic
Lady Qiang chooses to drown rather than go to safety withthemes
a or illustrate particular stories, expository illustrations
man other than her husband.56 Pictorializations of these provide visible embodiments of core values in Chinese culture.
embedded narratives do accord with the criteria by which I I would also venture to suggest that traditional categoriza-
define narrative illustration. tions of painting demonstrate both the tacit acceptance of
social and political norms and a lack of interest in how they
It is important to note that pictures in the excluded groups
often exhibit exactly the same modes of presentation are as maintained. As discussed above, traditional texts on
narrative illustrations. Many are handscrolls containing painting
ex- divide their material into categories based on motif-
cerpted highlights in a sequential composition, and many level subject matter, such as Beautiful Women, Peasants, and

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 WHAT IS "CHINESE NARRATIVE ILLUSTRATION"? 613

Landscapes. There is no apparent concern for discriminating Julia K. Murray is professor of art history at the University of
among the various purposes of pictorial art or the forms of its Wisconsin, where she also chairs an interdisciplinary East Asian
presentation, which may help to explain why "narrative Studies Program. She received her Ph.D. in Chinese art and
illustration" was not constructed as a critical category in archaeology from Princeton University and is the author of books and
traditional texts on Chinese pictorial art. However, with a numerous articles on the arts in traditional China [Department of
more restrictive definition of Chinese narrative illustration Art History, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. 53706].
with which to identify a consistent body of examples, it should
be possible to analyze the evolution of subject matter and
illustrative strategies over the centuries, and to assess the
impact of diverse factors such as religious movements andFrequently Cited Sources
socioeconomic changes. A better grasp of the scope and
purposes of narrative illustration would also provide firmer Dehejia, Vidya, "On the Modes of Visual Narration in Early Buddhist Art," Art
Bulletin 122, no. 3 (Sept. 1990): 373-92.
grounding for studies of individual works, different types ofMurck, Alfreda J., and Wen C. Fong, eds. Words and Images: Chinese Poetry,
illustration, and iconological program. Finally, a clearer Calligraphy, and Painting (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991),
247-66.
understanding of the position of narrative illustration within
Mitchell, W.J.T., ed., On Narrative (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
Chinese visual culture as a whole would contribute toward a
1981).
revised and more balanced view of painting practice in late
imperial China. Although critical and scholarly attention has
been focused for nearly four centuries on the purportedly
Notes
self-referential, self-expressive paintings of the literati, recent
scholarship now amply demonstrates that other kinds of painting
A preliminary version of this paper was prepared for the Open Session on
were also important.57 Along with portraits, religious icons, deco-
Asian Art, organized by Susan Huntington, at the College Art Association
conference
rative paintings, and misty vistas, narrative illustrations were a in Boston, 1996. I wish to thank Gene Phillips and Robert Bagley
for their insightful comments and helpful suggestions on the revised versions.
significant component of Chinese pictorial art. They were made
I am also grateful to the Smithsonian Institution and American Council of
in great numbers and at every level of quality, and their social
Learned Societies for grants in support of my research on narrative illustration
in China.
functions are at least as interesting as those of literati painting.
1. Nonetheless, China is omitted from the ostensibly global discussion of
"Narrative Art" in The Dictionary of Art, ed. Jane Shoaf Turner, vol. 22
(London: Macmillan, 1996), 510-23. This omission is all the more surprising
given that The Dictionary of Art otherwise devotes a great deal of space to the
arts of China.

Appendix
2. The term hua refers not just to paintings done with a brush but also to
picture making in a range of media such as images carved or incised in stone,
molded in clay, or printed with woodblocks.
Characters for Chinese Terms 3. On the terms for narrative poetry, see DoreJ. Levy, Chinese Narrative Poetry
(Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1988), 2, 152 n. 3.
dao shi ili 4. Andrew Plaks, "Towards a Critical Theory of Chinese Narrative," in
fan zu # f
Chinese Narrative: Critical and Theoretical Essays, ed. Andrew Plaks (Princeton:
fo dao isa Princeton University Press, 1977), 310.
5. As indicated in the App., "Characters for Chinese Terms" (see above),
gu shi tt (or) ts two different characters for shi may be used in the compound gu shi. The
gu shi hua ti (or) t it second form of the compound, more often employed in modern writing to
gu shi shi tR mean "fiction," was used in the broader sense of "story" from the late Ming
gui shen Ito onward (for example, by Xie Zhaozhe in Wu za zu; see SewallJerome Oertling,
Guizi mu mq- Painting and Calligraphy in the Wu-tsa-tsu [Ann Arbor, Mich.: Center for Chinese
Studies, University of Michigan, 1997], 123, 194). Some modern art historians,
hua Ig such as Xu Bangda, use this form of shi in the further compound gu shi hua (as
iji dozu ~Iagj in "Song ren hua Ren wu gu shiyingji Ying luan tu kao" [The Anonymous Song
ii 4 Figural Narrative should really be Welcoming the Imperial Carriage: A Study], Wen
wu, 1972, no. 8, 61). Others, such as Shih Shou-chien, prefer the first shi in that
jing it compound (as in his book Fengge yu shibian: Zhongguo huihua shi lunji [Taipei:
li i Yunchen wenhua, 1996], 115).
renwu A~ 6. In charting the categories named in Chinese texts on painting from the
Period of Disunion through the Song period, Lothar Ledderose argued that
shi (history) differences in groupings imply changes in the conceptualization of painting
shi (matter) over time; see Ledderose, "Subject Matter in Early Chinese Painting Criti-
shi (event) ; cism," OrientalArt 19 (1973): 69-83.
7. For particularly useful discussions, see Levy (as in n. 3); various articles in
shi nfii ?k Plaks (as in n. 4); Sheldon Hsiao-peng Lu, From Historicity to Fictionality: The
sibu e Chinese Poetics of Narrative (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994); Patrick
Hanan, The Chinese Vernacular Story (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
sijiu [] Press, 1981); and Robert Hegel, "Traditional Chinese Fiction: The State of the
tianjia Field," Journal of Asian Studies 53, no. 2 (May 1994): 394-426.
wai
8. A. John Hay, "Along the River during Winter's First Snow: A Tenth-Century
xian fo i~di Handscroll and Early Chinese Narrative," Burlington Magazine 114, no. 830
xiao ,4 (May 1972): 292-303.
9. Ibid., 298.
xu shi hua a g 10. Other scholars have understood this type simply to include illustrations
xushi M t based on a literary source, but Hay's remarks suggest something less
xushishi Wt straightforward, more like pictures that display a poetic sensibility, such as the
Cleveland Museum's album leaf Watching Deer by a Pine-shaded Stream, attrib-
zhi zuo ding shi *u ?t
uted to Ma Yuan (active ca. 1190-ca. 1225); reproduced in James F. Cahill,
Chinese Painting (Geneva: Skira, 1960), 83 (under the title Scholar and Servant
zhong
zi 3 , on a Terrace).

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614 ART BULLETIN DECEMBER 1998 VOLUME LXXX NUMBER 4

11. Hay (as in n. 8), 303, fig. 37. For more extended discussion of this 30. For illustrations and further discussion, see Julia K. Murray, "Represen-
painting, see alsoJulia K. Murray, Ma Hezhi and the Illustration of the Book of Odes tations of Hariti, the Mother of Demons, and the Theme of 'Raising the
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 63-65. Alms-bowl' in Chinese Painting," Artibus Asiae 43, no. 4 (1981-82): 253-84.
12. Wen C. Fong, Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 31. Barbara Herrnstein Smith, "Afterthoughts on Narrative," in Mitchell,
8th-14th Century (NewYork: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992), chap. 1, esp. 209-32.
21.
32. See Julia K. Murray, "The Temple of Confucius and Pictorial Biogra-
13. See Yu-kung Kao, "Chinese Lyric Aesthetics," in Murck and Fong, phies of the Sage," Journal of Asian Studies 55 (1996): 269-300; and idem,
47-90.
"Illustrations of the Life of Confucius: Their Evolution, Functions, and
14. Wu Hung, The Wu Liang Shrine (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Significance in Late Ming China," Artibus Asiae57, nos. 1-2 (1997): 73-134.
Press, 1989), esp. 132-40.
33. On the other hand, Richard Brilliant has suggested that a narrative
15. The term icon is used more broadly in art historical scholarship than
picture may have as many as three narrators: the artist who presents the story
Wu's characterization implies, and many compositions that are not frontal or
in pictures, the viewer who "reads" it, and (sometimes?) the protagonist
bilaterally symmetrical are so categorized. For relevant discussions, see Sixten
within it; see Brilliant, Visual Narratives: Storytelling in Etruscan and Roman Art
Ringbom, Icon to Narrative: The Rise of the Dramatic Close-Up in Fifteenth-Century
(Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press, 1984), 16-17. This point is further
Devotional Painting, rev. ed. (Doornspijk, the Neth.: Davaco, 1984); and Hans
developed by Peter Holliday in his introduction to Narrative and Event in
Belting, Likeness and Presence: A History of the Image before the Era of Art, trans.
Ancient Art, Cambridge Studies in New Art History and Criticism (New York:
Edmund Jephcott (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994). Wu's argu-
Cambridge University Press, 1993), 3-13.
ment is valid for a particular kind of icon, the cultic image, a sculptural or
painted image that serves as the focus of liturgical or devotional activities. 34. Drawing on scholarship in communication theory, Wolfgang Kemp
16. Wu (as in n. 14), 133, 360 n. 60. proposes that the transformation that occurs (that is, exactly what happens)
17. Maxwell K. Hearn, "The 'Kangxi Southern Inspection Tour': A Narra- must be significant to the narrator and/or audience; see Kemp, "Narrative,"
tive Program by Wang Hui," Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1990, 260. The in Critical Terms for Art History, ed. Robert S. Nelson and Richard Schiff
twelve-scroll set projects a highly constructed account of the Kangxi emperor's (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996), esp. 65-66.
1689 Southern Inspection Tour, and each segment is provided with an 35. Wu (as in n. 19) provides an illuminating discussion of some of the issues
explanatory text. The pictures may indeed be called narrative illustration raised by paintings on screens and in handscrolls.
according to criteria I discuss below; here I simply disagree that landscape 36. Dehejia. Another useful discussion, based on European art, appears in
elements in themselves may "narrate." Lew Andrews, Story and Space in Renaissance Art (Cambridge: Cambridge
18. For a visual medium such as painting or film, "showing" would be more University Press, 1995), 120-26. Dehejia's categories are criticized and
appropriate and specific. additional terms are defined forJapanese pictorial art in Quitman E. Phillips,
19. This procedure is nicely demonstrated and explained by Wu Hung "The Price Shuten D6ji Screens: A Study of Visual Narrative," Ars Orientalis 26
(partially following Jerome Silbergeld) in The Double Screen: Medium and (1996): 1-21.
Representation in Chinese Painting (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996), 37. Pao-chen Chen has argued that an incised stone slab at Wu Liang Shrine
57-61. In a continuous composition, there are no predefined sections as such; depicts five moments in the story ofJing Ke's attempt to assassinate the king of
rather, the viewer determines which portion of the painting to frame between
Qin in a single composition, without any repeated characters; see Pao-chen
the two rolls of the scroll.
Chen, "The Goddess of the Lo River: A Study of Early Chinese Narrative
20. This translation is proposed in Valerie Hansen, "The Mystery of the
Handscrolls," Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1987, 113-17. However, the
Qingming Scroll and Its Subject: The Case against Kaifeng," Journal of composition is more easily explained as depicting the moment thatJing Ke's
Sung-Yuan Studies 26 (1996): 196-97; she takes the substance of her argument
attempt has failed.
from Hsiao Ch'iung-jui, "A New Look at the Title of Ching-mingshang-ho t'u,"
38. Kohara Hironobu ("Narrative Illustration in the Handscroll Format," in
in Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Chinese Art History, 1991, vol. 1
Murck and Fong, 255) would call both conflated and synoptic compositions iji
(Taipei: National Palace Museum, 1992), 111-37.
21. For an introduction to the scroll, see Hansen (as in n. 20), 183-200; d6zu ("different moments, same picture"). As Dehejia notes (382 n. 18), the
Linda Cooke Johnson, "The Place of Qingming shanghe tu in the Historical terminology used by writers on Western art does not necessarily distinguish
Geography of Song Dynasty Dongjing," Journal of Sung-Yuan Studies 26 (1996): whether or not the protagonist is repeated. However, it seems useful to make
145-82; andJulia K. Murray, "Water under a Bridge: Further Thoughts on the such a distinction. Concerning the synoptic mode specifically, Dehejia
Qingming Scroll," Journal of Sung-Yuan Studies 27 (1997): 99-107. The classic emphasizes that the temporal sequence of the episodes is not indicated by
formal means.
detailed study remains Roderick Whitfield, "Chang Tse-tuan's Ch'ing Ming
Shang Ho T'u," Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1965. For a complete 39. The scene is reproduced and discussed in Richard M. Barnhart et al., Li
reproduction and extensive documentation of the scroll, see Zhongguo lidai Kung-lin's Classic ofFilial Piety (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993),
147-49.
huihua: Gugong bowuyuan cang hua ji, vol. 2 (Beijing: Wenwu Press, 1981),
60-83, app., 9-12. 40. An interesting discussion of Western conventions for representing
22. For this insight I thank one of the anonymous readers of the initial dreams appears in Sixten Ringbom, "Some Pictorial Conventions for the
version of this article for the Art Bulletin. This reader also reminded me of Recounting of Thoughts and Experiences in Late Medieval Art," in Medieval
Ernst Gombrich's useful and relevant observations on the problems of
Iconography and Narrative: A Symposium, ed. Flemming Anderson (Odense:
defining genres and interpreting earlier works even from one's own culture in University Press, 1980), 38-69.
Odense
41. Segmented compositions largely correspond to Dehejia's linear cat-
his essay "Aims and Limits of Iconology," repr. in Symbolic Images: Studies in the
Art of the Renaissance, 2d ed., vol. 2 (London: Phaidon, 1978), 1-25. egory, as well as to Kurt Weitzmann's cyclical narrative; see Weitzmann,
23. Tzvetan Todorov, Genres in Discourse, trans. Catherine Porter (Cam- Illustrations in Roll and Codex, rev. ed. (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 17. In considering the validity1970),
of 17-33.
this proposition for painting in general, Quitman E. Phillips has argued that42. Kohara (as in n. 38, 256-62) has argued that continuous narrative in
the categories meaningful to literary men (who produced the critical China appeared as the result of omitting texts between scenes, as seen in a
discourse) probably differed considerably from those of practicing painters,
comparison between the Beijing Luoshen scroll and the Liaoning version,
particularly when the two came from separate social groups (private communi-
which includes passages of text interspersed among the pictorial motifs.
cation, September 1996). Moreover, he points out that continuous narrative did not arouse much
24. A brief but explicit discussion of the lack of consensus on the definition
interest in China, whereas inJapan it developed to a cinematic sophistication
of "narrative" is given in Marilyn A. Lavin, The Place of Narrative: Mural
in the celebrated Shigisan engi emaki. The Beijing Luoshen scroll is fully
Decoration in Italian Churches, 431-1600 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
reproduced in Zhongguo lidai huihua: Gugong bowuyuan cang hua ji, vol. 1
1990), 1-3, 9. The meaning of "narrative" in writings on Western art also
(Beijing: Wenwu Press, 1978), 2-19. The Liaoning version appears in Liaoning
varies according to what is being set in opposition to it. In addition to icons,
sheng bowuguan cang huaji, vol. 1 (Beijing: Wenwu Press, 1962), 1-12.
the nonobjective representations of modern art have been characterized as
43. For a complete reproduction of this particular version, see Wen C. Fong
nonnarrative, their emergence even marking the "death" of the 19th-century
narrative. and Robert A. Rorex, Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute (New York: Metropolitan
25. Todorov (as in n. 23), 28. Museum of Art, 1974); others are discussed and reproduced in Robert A.
26. An analogy in painting might be the presentation of figures in Rorex,
a "Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute: The Story of Ts'ai Wen-chi," Ph.D.
procession. diss., Princeton University, 1974.
27. Nelson Goodman, "Twisted Tales; or, Story, Study, and Symphony," in 44. This group corresponds to Dehejia's "narrative networks" (388).
Mitchell, 99-115. 45. These different kinds of logic for the organization of large planar
28. Hayden White, "The Value of Narrativity in the Representation of pictorial surfaces are discussed in Wu Hung, "What Is Bianxiang?" Harvard
Reality," in Mitchell, 1-23, esp. 22-23. White developed his definitions inJournal of Asiatic Studies 52, no. 1 (June 1992): 111-92, esp. 159-69.
relation to European historiography; thus, their appropriateness for other 46. For a useful discussion of large planar compositions in the Ajanta
areas may be open to question. murals, see Dehejia, 388-92; forJapanese folding screens, see Phillips (as in n.
29. Goodman (as in n. 27); Seymour Chatman, "What Novels Can Do That 36).
Films Can't (and Vice Versa)," in Mitchell, 117-36. See also Lavin (as in n. 24), 47. The contents of several extant versions of the theme are analyzed in
9-10. great detail in Pao-chen Chen (as in n. 37).

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 WHAT IS "CHINESE NARRATIVE ILLUSTRATION"? 615

48. Robert Bagley has suggested (personal communication, January 1997) the Ladies' Classic, see Julia K. Murray, "Didactic Art for Women: The Ladies'
that the extreme case is realized in Sergei Eisenstein's film notebooks, where Classic of Filial Piety," in Flowering in the Shadows: Women in the History of Chines
the composition of figures, costumes, and scenery is drawn for every scene and and Japanese Painting, ed. Marsha Weidner (Honolulu: University of Hawai
from each camera angle. In terms of scenes, one of Eisenstein's notebooks is as Press, 1990), 27-53. For the Admonitions, see Hsio-yen Shih, "Poetry Illustra-
complete as the corresponding portion of the finished film. tion and the Works of Ku K'ai-chih," Renditions 6 (Spring 1976): 6-29; an
49. Nonetheless, viewers with relatively superficial knowledge could identify Osvald Sir6n, Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles, vol. 3 (New York
the subjects of symbolic pictures that were ubiquitous in their visual culture. Ronald Press, 1956), pls. 11-15.
Depictions of the Red Cliff outing even appeared on decorative objects. For a 55. Lady Fan, a consort of King Zhuang of Chu, used her wisdom to enable
stimulating discussion of this point, see Craig Clunas, Pictures and Visuality in
the state to prosper by opening the king's eyes to the shortsighted and selfish
Early Modern China (London: Reaktion Press, 1997), esp. chap. 2. Gombrich
actions of his chief minister, Yu Qiuzi. As a result, the king began taking
(as in n. 22, 3) also comments on the importance of "the beholder's share,"
counsel with the sage Sun Shuao and soon was able to achieve hegemony over
that is, the knowledge and experience that the viewer brings to a work.
the other feudal princes; see Murray (as in n. 54), 41, fig. 11.
50. One group of Qing works within this genre has recently been studied by
a social historian; see Laura Hostetler, "Chinese Ethnography in the Eigh- 56. Ibid., 32. Lady Qiang became stranded on a terrace amid rising
teenth Century: Miao Albums of Guizhou Province," Ph.D. diss., University of floodwaters, and her husband, King Zhao of Chu, sent an envoy to rescue her
Pennsylvania, 1995. In his haste to reach her before the terrace was engulfed, the envoy forgot to
51. See above at n. 8. bring the official tally that verified his mission. Rather than commit an
52. A lucid introduction to this subject is given by Thomas Lawton, Chinese impropriety, Lady Qiang refused to accompany him-and drowned.
Figure Painting (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1973), cat. nos. 57.7,I am thinking particularly of studies such as Richard M. Barnhart,
8; also useful is the bibliography and discussion in Joseph Needham, Painters Science of the Great Ming: The Imperial Court and the Zhe School (Dallas: Kimbell
Museum of Art, 1993); James F. Cahill, The Painter's Practice: How Artists Live
and Civilisation in China, vol. 4, Physics and Physical Technology, p. 2, Mechanical
Engineering (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965), 166-69. and Worked in Traditional China (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994)
53. Wu Hung, "Beyond the 'Great Boundary': Funerary Narrative in the The LyricJourney, The Edwin O. Reischauer Lectures, 1993 (Cambridge,
idem,
Cangshan Tomb," in Boundaries in China, ed. A. John Hay (London: Reaktion Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1996); Clunas (as in n. 49); Richard Vinograd,
Books, 1994), 81-104, esp. 91.
BoundariesPress,
54. For an introduction to the Classic of Filial Piety and complete reproduc-
University of the Self.Marsha
1992); Chinese Portraits,
Weidner, ed., 1600-1900
LatterDays (New York:
of the Cambridg
Law (Honolulu:
tions of the earliest surviving illustrations, see Barnhart et al. (as in n. 39). For
University of Hawai'i Press, 1994); and Wu Hung (as in n. 19).

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