Chinese Traditional Painting : Re-Invention of Tradition in the Context of China’s Economic Reform

Abstract

Chinese traditional painting before the 20th century was generally called ancient painting, and it formed its own system in the field of world art. The main form of creation is to paint on silk or rice paper with a brush dipped in traditional Chinese traditional painting colors and ink. In terms of content and artistic creation, Chinese traditional painting reflects the ancient Chinese people's understanding of nature, society and the politics, philosophy, religion, morality, literature and art associated with it.

After the implementation of the policy of reform and opening up, China's economic development and social structure have changed to varying degrees. With the deepening of Chinese society's opening to the outside world, western art education model, art management mode, western art form and art history have been introduced into China. At the same time, based on the development of China's economy, these reasons jointly contributed to the re-invention of Tradition of Chinese traditional painting after the reform and opening up. In this study, researchers analyzed the Re-invention of tradition of Chinese traditional painting from two aspects of social process and art product. The research objective of this research is 1.To study history of Chinese traditional painting that before context of China’s economic reform (202 BC-1978AD).2. To study the re-invention of tradition of Chinese traditional painting in the context of China’s economic reform (1978AD-2019AD). 3. To analyze the case study of artist Yang Taiyang a Chinses artist and Chinese traditional painting. This research takes Chinese traditional painting as the research text and analyzes the re-invention of tradition of Chinese traditional painting through the development history of Chinese traditional painting. The informants inclubs key, general, casual information. They were selected using purposive sampling method. The instruments used were basic survey, observations, interviews, focus-group disccusions and documentary search. The research results are as follows:Unit of Analysis Result. This research takes the artist Yang Taiyang's art career and works as a unit of analysis. Artist Yang Taiyang was born in 1909 and died in 2009. In his artistic career, Yang Taiyang has experienced many periods of Chinese history, such as the second Sino-Japanese War, The Chinese Civil War, the founding of New China, the Cultural Revolution, and the reform and opening up. His personal identity has also undergone many changes, such as students, artists, teachers, and representative roles of culture. Yang Taiyang is one of the representative Chinese painting artists. Through the research of Yang Taiyang's artistic career and works, we can find the re-invention of Tradition that Chinese painting carried out after the reform and opening up. The earliest extant Chinese traditional paintings were created around the 2nd century BC, and Chinese traditional painting has developed into the 21st century with a history of 2,000 years. In the process of development, based on China's economic development, scientific and technological progress, the support of the rulers and other reasons, the scope of dissemination has become more and more extensive, and has been widely recognized by the Chinese people, and finally became one of the Chinese traditions.After China's reform and opening up, re-invention of tradition occurred under the new social background. As a result of the new cultural development policy of the Chinese government and artists' attempts at new art forms, Chinese traditional paintings have re-invented of tradition to varying degrees in both social process and art product.

In conclusion, the re-invention of tradition of Chinese traditional painting after the reform and opening up was based on ancient Chinese traditional paintings. Chinese painting has not changed the core of culture and art, it's still representing the aesthetic appreciation and spiritual pursuit of Chinese people, which is the same as the core of ancient Chinese traditional painting.

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