A Study on the Spiritual Interaction of Traditional Landscape Art Images from the Perspective of Neo Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties
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Abstract
Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism, as a systematic philosophical peak of Confucian thought from medieval to early modern China, deeply shaped traditional literati cosmology, mind-nature theory, moral cultivation, and aesthetic ideals through core categories such as heavenly principle, mind and nature, investigation of things, sincerity, tranquility, and selfcultivation. The maturation and transformation of traditional landscape art images from the Song to Qing dynasties can be understood as a process in which literati visualized, patterned, and conceptualized the spirit of Neo-Confucianism. Existing research on landscape art has tended to emphasize form, style, and technique, while lacking a systematic explanation of the deeper spiritual interaction mechanism between landscape imagery and Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism. From the perspectives of iconography, semiotics, and psychological interpretation, this study examines the trinity logic of “philosophical concept-visual schema-spiritual realm” and constructs an analytical framework for understanding how landscape images translate Neo-Confucian concepts into visual order, spatial structure, brushwork grammar, and artistic conception.
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