元朝出現諸多漁父圖畫作品，成為一種特別的畫科。蕭散而漂泊的漁父生涯並非每個人心中所希冀的生活模式，尤其在文人社會中強調文以載道的訓練過程中，這種意味著消極面對時勢的心態，確實無法成為共性的狀態，也不會變成一種共有的價值標準，但是，當大環境不允許文人過多闡述自己意向，或是沒有足夠的空間讓其發展時，尋求引退的心態似乎有跡可循。宋朝皇室從北而南遷徙，文人士族的諸多豪氣逐漸消失，到了元朝，即便未要引退，但整個現實狀況就是朝廷所能提供的職務不足以提供舊有仕宦，返鄉就如同一種退離，此刻漂泊的心情，正如同漁父孤舟的狀況一樣。漁夫原在釣魚、補魚，以漁獲為生，與文人生活的狀況並不相同，但是繪畫中的漁父圖，卻是文人所樂見，是以畫史上出現這類畫題，或是說為何這些畫家對這樣的題材感到興趣應該有其脈絡。如果這是一個刻意被挑選出來的主題，這種題材是具有何種意義？我們所見到的漁隱圖，是不是也是這樣一個想法底下所孳生？而選擇繪製漁父圖這樣的傳統又是從何而來？本文希望從文學文本與繪畫文本兩方面進行認識。

Not everyone would prefer the life of a wandering fisherman, especially those trained in a academic circle which promoted scholars to the highest echelon of social hierarchy. Life of a fisherman involves a passive view of life and it certainly would not become a shared value and philosophy of life. However, when the external environment does not permit scholars to realize their ideals, it is understandable for them to pursue the life of a fisherman-recluse. When the Song imperial family fled from north to south, many scholar families in the process lost their original confidence in their own social status. In reality, the governmental posts were fewer, the new official class was on the rise, and the old scholars could only retire even though they did not want to do so. Returning became retiring; their mentality was just like that of a wandering fisherman. Fisherman has a different form of life from the literati-scholars. Why does fisherman's life become a subject in scholar's paintings? If it is a subject deliberately chosen by scholars, what significances do they have for the painters? Are the paintings of fisherman-recluse we can see today created under the same thought? Where does the tradition of fisherman painting come from? These are some issues this paper would like to explore through literary texts and relevant works of paintings.