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Social status and art collecting: the collections of Shen Zhou and Wang Zhen

Art Bulletin, The, March, 1996 by Kathlyn Maurean Liscomb

Unusual circumstances make it possible to compare two fifteenth-century Chinese collections of paintings, one belonging to Shen Zhou (1427-1509), a wealthy landowner of Suzhou renowned as a painter, poet, and calligrapher, and the other to Wang Zhen (1424-1495), a successful merchant of Huaian.(1) In the case of Shen, the word collection here refers to a subset of his entire collection, a group of album leaves mounted together as one handscroll that is now known only by a contemporary record of it. In Wang's case, it is unclear whether the paintings and one specimen of calligraphy interred in his coffin constitute his entire collection or merely a portion of it. My purpose here is to compare the two collections and related texts in order to explore the possible relevance of social status as a factor influencing collecting practices. There are, however, many reasons for exercising caution in doing so. First, a sample of paintings collected by only two men is extremely small and may not be representative. Second, much work remains to be done in studying the sociopolitical history of the fifteenth century.(2) Third, even though scholars have devoted much more effort to researching subsequent centuries, many questions remain regarding social stratification and mobility.

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Even given the current state of research, it is clear that the social positions of merchants, landowners, and officials were changing during the fifteenth century. Because contemporary sinologists are challenging important aspects of earlier analyses of the respective positions of different elite groups during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties, in the present comparison one is inevitably addressing a shifting social terrain from a vantage point that is itself undergoing transformation. This complicates our comparison, but makes the attempt to situate the two collectors in their respective social contexts all the more interesting. Most studies of merchants as collectors and patrons have focused on the periods during which they began to play important roles - the late sixteenth century and thereafter. Documentation of their activities in this cultural sphere for earlier periods is rare, so an intact collection of a merchant who died in 1495 provides important evidence. Before discussing Shen Zhou and Wang Zhen and the collections they formed, however, I propose to consider some of the issues and controversies related to the material that I shall be analyzing, while simultaneously offering some necessary background information.

Debates among historians of Ming China regarding the definition of elite status are relevant here primarily as a stimulus to formulate a nuanced characterization of the respective social positions of Wang Zhen and Shen Zhou. Because recent research has tended to focus attention on factors other than success in the examinations leading to a career in the bureaucracy, it is useful for a study of two men who never served as government officials yet who were, in different ways, part of a wealthy, educated elite.

Among art historians, the main controversy has concerned the significance of the paintings in Wang Zhen's collection. In five paintings the themes and styles of works by professionals are much like those associated with amateurs, thus belying a distinction made for centuries by many influential Chinese theoreticians and critics. Contemporary Chinese scholars have emphasized the contribution of this tomb find in broadening our understanding of the expressive range of professionals.(3) The body of criticism associating highly educated amateurs with artistic freedom of expression eventually fostered an appreciation for very sketchy styles produced by amateurs as well as by professionals. However, James Cahill has pointed out that demand for quickly produced paintings to be used in the exchange of social courtesies also encouraged artists to produce works that may be schematic and conventional rather than truly indicative of personal feelings or artistic originality. In his opinion, sketchy works in Wang's collection are so merely because they fulfill such demands. In another article I have argued that the paintings found in Wang's tomb vary in quality and in art-historical significance and should not be so easily dismissed.(4)

These debates are relevant to the present comparison in that they influence our evaluation of Wang Zhen as a collector. However, even a mediocre collection put together by a man who, like Wang Zhen, appears to have been a fairly ordinary merchant could be valuable as evidence for the diffusion of artistic practices that at this time were still dominated to a large extent by the nonmercantile educated elite.

The paintings found in Wang Zhen's tomb were mounted as two scroll sets. Works in the smaller set appear to have been obtained separately by Wang, while those in the larger one include many done for a man named Zheng Jun and were probably purchased as a group. Cahill has interpreted the paintings in the larger set as the collection of a minor official, proposing that their generally sketchy executions are best accounted for by classifying them as minor works of the type that painters or their patrons frequently gave officials as small presents. He argues that the paintings done for Zheng Jun have conventional connotations that he characterizes as political; in other words, the themes tend to flatter Zheng for being an upstanding Confucian in government service.(5) One problem with this interpretation is that there is no evidence that Zheng Jun was an official, nor does Cahill explain why he believes this to be true. None of the publications by Chinese scholars indicates Zheng's professional status. From evidence on some of the paintings done for him, we know that he resided in the capital; however, many educated people who were not officials lived there. Frequently officials, even minor ones, are recorded in local gazetteers, the collected writings of associates, and other texts, yet neither Yin Jinan nor I have been able to find any information about Zheng Jun in such sources despite extensive searching.(6) Although the lack of such information does not mean that Zheng Jun could not have been an official, it does argue for caution in assuming that he was one.

Social status and art collecting: the collections of Shen Zhou and Wang Zhen

Art Bulletin, The, March, 1996 by Kathlyn Maurean Liscomb

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