The Unity of the “Four Perfections” (si jue) in the Works of Wu Changshi (1844–1927)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the creativity of Wu Changshi (1844–1927), who played a key role in preserving the continuity of Chinese fine art at the crucial initial stage of the global modernization of China's traditional culture. The subject of the study is the aesthetics of the unity of the “four perfections” (si jue), which means poetry, calligraphy, painting and seals. The synthesis of the four arts seems to be a unique achievement of Chinese culture, which influenced the countries of the hieroglyphic area. Wu Changshi's creativity is considered the culmination of the embodiment of the principle of unity of the “four perfections”. Wu Changshi's calligraphic and pictorial works are accompanied by poems most often of his own composition. Before Wu Changshi's creative impulse gained visual realization, he was invariably subjected to deep poetic and philosophical reflection, which predetermined the content of calligraphic and pictorial works. Thanks to this, the meanings of visual forms went beyond their genre affiliation. Wu Changshi created a variety of spatial and force effects in a small format of seals. Wu Changshi's monumental and heroic style in calligraphy had no equal in its energy power and corresponded to the demands of the time. Wu Changshi reformed the pictorial tradition in the direction of epigraphic painting, combining elite intellectualism with the folk immediacy of color perception. The work is based on the latest publications of Chinese and Western art critics. The research combines the techniques of traditional Chinese art studies with the methods of Western interdisciplinary analysis.