In China, the Wei-Jin and the South-North Dynasty was the time when art and literature had been begun to follow its own way breaking off with the incipient aspect that form and substance were not free from the stereotyped subjects and conventionalizat...
In China, the Wei-Jin and the South-North Dynasty was the time when art and literature had been begun to follow its own way breaking off with the incipient aspect that form and substance were not free from the stereotyped subjects and conventionalization functioning as the subsidiaries of politics or education. Yuan Ji and Ji Kang' s music, Tao Yuanming and Xie Lingjun' s poetry, Cao Pi and Liu Suo' s literary theory, Wang Yizhi and Zhong Yao 's calligraphy and Xie Si' s portrayal vaulted into artistic reality. Likewise, it is no exaggeration to say that the foundation and spirit of Chinese artistic ideology was established concurrently with the advance of artistic theory.
The reason why art and literature were advanced so much in the Wei-Jin and the South-North Dynasty may be the influence of current ideology and social trend. Namely, Xuanxue (a Chinese philosophy based on Laozi' s ideology; hereinafter referred to as "metaphysics") and personal criticism, which were being prevalent in those days, potently influenced on art and literature. In particular, the prevalence of metaphysics made artists freely express their art instinct it conspicuously differed from those of two Han Dynasties. In addition, the prevalence of personal criticism inspired persons, including not only artist but also general public, with aesthetics. Thanks to such ideate and social currents, it has been recognized that Chinese art and literature could be maximally prospered in the Wei-Jin and South-North Dynasty in spite of turbulent national situation. The present paper was focused on ascertaining the influence of personal criticism on poetry and calligraphy in the Wei-Jin and South-North Dynasty. Firstly, the personal criticism was analyzed in two facets such as the prevalence of metaphysics and the transition of official appointment system. Lastly, the method of personal criticism was observed centering on Renwuzhi (a book written to criticize major persons, by Liu Shao in Wei Dynasty) and Shishuoxinyu (a book written to gather the anecdotes of celebrities, by Liu Yiqing in Song Dynasty) in order to consider correlation with poetry, calligraphy and portrayal. As a result, it was known that poetry, calligraphy and portrayal all quoted the method of personal criticism as those are, as well as such experiences and methods were absorbed into literary criticism. Particularly, the criticism based on Jin (muscle), Gu (bone), Rou (flesh), Ji (skin), Xie (blood), Xing (physique) and Shen (spirit) remarkably influenced on not merely Chinese critical literature but the concept of aesthetics.