This Ph.D dissertation can be divided into “introduction and research methodology” and “text study.” First, the introduction includes the motivation and purpose of the study, contents, main points, and research necessity. Meanwhile, it also explains the orientation, cause and effect of this dissertation. Second, I construct the research methodology of Taiwanese calligraphy and drawing before the period of Japanese rule. At the same time, I explain themethodology and the point of view of interpretation, namely, the historical view of earlier Taiwanese calligraphy and drawing and various kinds of analytical methods of the study of artistic histories. The third chapter to the last chapter serves as the main study contents of the text and conclusion. In the third chapter, according to the biography of Lin Cao-yin and his family tree, I analyze the Lins’ family relation concerning Taiwan and Fujan, and then I gradually explicate the life study concerning how he valued tradition and respected culture. In the fourth chapter, according to two self-portrayed standing image and figure paintings of Buddhism, I analyze Lin Cao-yin’s view of literary men and secular world. And the fifth and sixth chapter are the artistic study of Lin Cao-yin’s four -gentlemen flower and bird, and his calligraphy. In this way, I explore the relation between the arts of Taiwan and Fujan, namely, the Min-Xi artistic view which was interpreted by Lin Cao-yin. In theseventh chapter, through the artistic study of his contemporary artists, Zhuang Jing-fu and Lin Jue, I find that the relations between the drawings and images of Taiwan and Fujan could infer how Min-Xi pen and ink was transferred to Taiwan. In addition, I explain how Lin Cao-yin interpreted the secularization of Min-Xi literary men. And based on Taiwanese “Min-Xi three families” literary men and secular calligraphy and drawing, I explain the “Min-Xi” art and how it developed into the artistic phenomenon of “Taiwanese Min-Xi.” Each of the chapters can be explained as follows.
The first chapter includes research motivation, purpose, contents, necessities, and expected results. It mainly explains the reasons for and origin of my dissertation. By explaining my motivation and purposes, the necessity for me to engage in this study is thus clearly shown. At the same time, it explains why this study is necessary for the art history, and especially importantly for the history of Taiwanese calligraphy and drawing. And the expected results are listed to show the urgency of this study, providing references for the future related studies. In addition, my vision and goal of writing this dissertation are also explained.
The second chapter is the discussion of the research methodology. It clearly explains the relation between the art of calligraphy and drawing and historical data and historical perspective. In terms of art, image, society, ideology and psychology, the works are researched and interpreted. Through types, style, image analysis, comparison and criticism, I take a look at the production of the artistic phenomenon and engage in an ontological study. Therefore, the research methodology is based on image analysis, combines the examination of historical data and documents analysis, adds the collected data of field study, designs pictures and lists to assist in explanation and chronology, and finally clearly explains the faced limitations, and then looks back over methods and references to resolve problems. And this chapter constructs the research methodology of the arts of calligraphy and drawings of Taiwan in earlier periods. This is my historical perspective of art, which can be used as a basis of interpreting historical and artistic phenomena especially for the consulting and citing for the future related studies.
In the third chapter based on the Lin Cao-yin’s biography and family tree, I explore how Lin’s family was related to Taiwan and Fujan. After he settled in Taiwan, his business boomed for he served both as a literary man and a merchant. He valued the tradition and respected culture, carrying out a mission of loving people and the world and elevating theintrinsic and extrinsic world of art and life, and then became the top man in the history of Taiwanese calligraphy and drawing.
In the fourth chapter, in terms of Lin Cao-yin’s self-portrayed standing image, I discuss his world of self-reflection and his feelings and thoughts. That is, via his self-portrayed image, he unveiled to the world himself and non-self, illustrating the socially moral level from the angle of psychology. And then via his secular figure painting which has never been exhibited before (the painting of Buddha’s teaching truths in a dream, which appears to the earliest and biggest painting in the history of Taiwanese calligraphy and drawing), I analyze the process through the images, exploring the pen-ink relations between the painting of literary men and secular arts. This can serve as a basis for studying his flower-bird paintings and calligraphy.
In the fifth chapter, via the study of Lin Cao-yin’s flower-bird paintings, I try to reach an understanding of the calligraphy and painting of literary men when Taiwan’s arts had been in the stage of cultivation during the years of Qian and Ji. At that time, the Min-Xi style had been clearly paid attention to, becoming the mainstream of the paintings at that age. According to the comparison of water-ink materials and images, I discussed how Xu-wie, Chen Chun, Zhu Rong, three artists in Ming dynasty, and Hung Shen of Qing dynasty was related to and influenced Lin Cao-yin’s and Taiwanese art. Furthermore, I consulted with the affluent style of Min-Xi water-ink paintings to analyze the artistic phenomenon of the secularization of the paintings of literary men.
In the sixth chapter, compared to the water-ink works, Lin Cao-yin’s calligraphy works are in a great number. As he was a local celebrity and somewhat influential at that time, he was invited to write some memorial plaques and characters in the arch in certain temples. Judging from this, we can see that he had a high social position. In this chapter, I engaged in the study of his style of the characters in the arch as well as his “bamboo-leaf” style of calligraphy. And then, I pointed out the relation between the writing style of Lin Cao-yin and the “shape” of Chang Rui-tu, a calligrapher in Fujan. In addition, I pointed out how the atmosphere of that age influenced the quality of his writing, cultivating his style of writing.
In theseventh chapter, via some fragmentary documents and image data of Zhuang Jing-fu and Lin Jue, judging from the essence of Min-Xi pen-ink and Zhuang Jing-fu’s practice, and in comparison with pictures and images, I find that Zhuang Jing-fu’s drawing of deer originated from Yang Zhou, a painter in Fujan. This is an important finding in thishistory of Taiwanese calligraphy and drawing. In addition, I pointed out that Lin Jue’s drawing of flowers and birds was influenced by Huang Shen-Zi. Finally, I discussed the theory of Min-Xi calligraphy and painting, analyzingthe phenomenon of the immersion of painter and literary men with the secular world.
The last chapter is a conclusion of the research results and analyses in this Ph.D dissertation. It theorizes and arranges a certain issues and findings in this dissertation. And in the appendix we can see the data collection and field studyinformation during the research process. This can serve as references for the future studies.