This concept addresses the transformation of literati painting—originally an outsider mode of individual, expressive art—into an "academicism" (adherence to established conventions and traditions) once adopted by the imperial court, alongside the parallel emergence of "individualist painting" as a renewed outsider, experimental countertradition. It belongs to Chinese art history (Qing dynasty painting theory) and relates to its parent discipline through concepts such as antiquarianism, the fusion of poetry and brushwork, and Daoist/Buddhist metaphysical ideas (e.g., "yihua"/primordial line, the unity of humans and nature) that ground formal artistic style in philosophical worldview.
This concept addresses the transformation of literati painting—originally an outsider mode of individual, expressive art—into an "academicism" (adherence to established conventions and traditions) on…