A Study of Chao Meng-Fu's Saddle Horse Painting from the Perspective of Ethnic Integration

Abstract

The Yuan Dynasty was a period of multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, mutual exchange and integration in Chinese history. As a Han official who served in the Yuan Dynasty, Chao Meng-Fu's artistic style not only inherited the orthodox Chinese culture but was also inevitably influenced by the culture of minority groups in the Yuan Dynasty due to his political identity. This paper attempts to start from an ethnic perspective, select the theme of saddle horse painting, which was more popular among ethnic minorities, and study the relationship between the evolution of Chao Meng-Fu's saddle horse painting style and the great ethnic integration of the Yuan Dynasty, to understand the relationship between the transformation of Chao Meng-Fu's artistic style and social development, and thus peep into the cultural and artistic development under the background of ethnic integration in ancient China. To the research results, Chao Meng-Fu's early artistic career mainly consisted of learning and inheriting the traditional culture of the Central Plains, but after joining the Yuan Dynasty, his saddle horse painting and artistic thoughts were influenced by the culture and arts of different ethnic groups, in the context of the integration of various ethnic groups in the Yuan Dynasty, eventually formed an artistic style of "simple brushwork and divine spirit with high intention," thus contributing to the development of ancient Chinese art from the perspective of artistic development. The author hopes that through this research, it can provide some contributions to scholars who study this field in the future.