中國的文化環境在十七世紀的變化極大，不僅有著社會經濟的起伏，而且在政治 上也歷經了由解體到重建的過程。本文旨在剖析此時期中繪畫發展與文化環境互動的現象及 其所顯示的歷史意義。 本文首先討論明末時金陵「奇趣」品味的出現，並評估名勝奇景與西方藝術形象對之所起的 影響作用。次則嘗試描述國變與金陵懷舊畫風間的關係，以及金陵在清初文化重建過程中， 與地區傳統有著不同關係的復古風格的發展。在論述之中，本文對髡殘、龔賢等重要畫家， 以及整個金陵繪畫傳統的盛衰，試圖提出一些新的解釋。

　　　　　The aim of this paper is to put Nanking paintings in the context of political and socio-economic developments in seventeenth-century China and to explore their significance as a cultural phenomenon. The paper starts with a discussion of the emergence of a taste for the eccentric and its manifestation in Nanking paintings of the late Ming period. The interaction between artistic style and the chaotic world outside is also crucial to understanding Nanking's turn from nostalgic expressionism to archaism in the later half of the century. In this perspective, the stylistic development of such Nanking masters as Kung Hsien and Kun-ts'an can be reinterpreted, and the fall of the Nanking artistic tradition can also be related to the process of political and cultural reconstruction initiated by the newly founded Ch'ing government.