Today, the so-called “three perfections”, that is, a coherent composition of poetry, calligraphy and painting, is regarded as an important expression of Chinese literati paintings. However, if one traces the historical development of the “three perfections” mode, one finds its first appearance in the court paintings of Northern Song Dynasty rather than the literati paintings. Although Su Shi（蘇軾）, a famous scholar and leader in the literary circles of the time, was the first to espouse the idea of “poems in paintings, paintings in poems”（詩中有畫，畫中有詩）, poems in literati paintings were always inscribed “beside” rather than “inside” the paintings. In “Withered Tree and a Queer Rock” （《枯木怪石圖》）attributed to Su Shi, for instance, the poems by Su Shi’s friends Liu Liang Zuo（劉良佐）and Mi Fu（米 芾）were...[ Read more ]

Today, the so-called “three perfections”, that is, a coherent composition of poetry, calligraphy and painting, is regarded as an important expression of Chinese literati paintings. However, if one traces the historical development of the “three perfections” mode, one finds its first appearance in the court paintings of Northern Song Dynasty rather than the literati paintings. Although Su Shi（蘇軾）, a famous scholar and leader in the literary circles of the time, was the first to espouse the idea of “poems in paintings, paintings in poems”（詩中有畫，畫中有詩）, poems in literati paintings were always inscribed “beside” rather than “inside” the paintings. In “Withered Tree and a Queer Rock” （《枯木怪石圖》）attributed to Su Shi, for instance, the poems by Su Shi’s friends Liu Liang Zuo（劉良佐）and Mi Fu（米 芾）were inscribed on a piece of paper attached to the painting. Poems on the literati paintings of the Northern Song period, in other words, have not yet entered the paintings themselves. On the other hand, the matching of poetry and painting is quite common in the court paintings of Northern Song Dynasty. Painted in a realistic style, the Northern Song court paintings often feature compositions and images evoking poetic associations, with inscribed poems sometimes an integral part of the pictorial compositions. In “Birds in the Branches of a Wax Plum”（臘梅山禽圖）by Song Huizong, for instance, the four-line poem is included as an important compositional element in the painting. While the idea of “poems in paintings, paintings in poems” originated with the literati, it found concrete expression in the “realistic” court paintings, rather than the freehand brush style of the literati paintings.

With the above observations, I intend to carry out a study on the relationship between poetry and painting as shown in the court paintings of the Northern Song Dynasty, investigating how the infusion of poetry and painting took place and how it transformed art in that era. While this study is focused on the evolvement of poetic resemblance in Chinese court paintings as well as literati paintings of the Northern Song Dynasty, I also explore the transformation of court paintings as well as the establishment of the literati painting paradigms in the following Southern Song and Yuan periods.

This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One is an introduction of the theme and research methods as well as literature review. Chapter Two traces the historical development of the interrelationship of poetry and painting from the perspectives of literature and art. Chapter Three discusses the artistic thoughts and activities among the literati circles as well as the royal family members of the Northern Song Dynasty, with an emphasis on how Su Shi’s ideas affected court paintings and literati paintings of his time. The examination and education of court artists in the Imperial Painting Academy under the reign of Song Huizong will also be discussed as they helped to enrich court paintings with literary flavours and shape poetic aesthetics in a realistic style. Chapter Four is a close reading of the court paintings of Northern Song Dynasty, focusing on the interrelationship between Poetry and Painting. The conclusion in Chapter Five places the discussion of Chapter Four against the historical background sketched in Chapter Two, so as to highlight the significance and influence of the Northern Song court painting in the development of poetry and painting interrelationship in Chinese history.