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Manifesting the Uniqueness:the Textual and Graphic Narrative Principles in A Study of Zhuangyuan:Stories and Illustrations

Abstract: A Study of Zhuangyua: Stories and Illustrations is a biographies which describes the champions of Imperial Examinations in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in China. Its artistic illustrations for each subject have been appreciated by art researchers and distinguished it from all other biographies. This article intends to analyze both the graphic art people appreciate most and the text people pay little attention to,thus bringing them together to reveal the narrative principles in the book,and then explores the cultural and artistic backgrounds. I will adopt the comparative approach, with which I compare A Study of Zhuangyuan: Stories and Illustrations with other biographies on examinees of Imperial Examinations and other figure woodcuts over the same period. The comparison focuses on the structure of the text,major points of the narration, and the contents of the woodcuts. The purpose is to bring out the unique principle of composition and representation.


Key words: Imperial Examinations; Hui style of woodcut; Family Huang in County She; A Study of Zhuangyuan: Stories and Illustrations


Liu Yunfei is a Ph.D. candidate at the Art Academy at Zhejiang University. His research interest is Art History and Iconography Study. He is the author of “A New Insight into the Form-Content Relationship in the Painting Theory in the Six Dynasties in China” (2015) and “The Genesis: The Rise of the Wei and Jin Dynasties Landscape Painting in Ancient China” (2014).