Convergence at the Market: Vernacular Artisans and Literati in Late Imperial China

by Danielle Zhang

When working as a curatorial research fellow at The Preservation Society of Newport County, I encountered intriguing Chinese vernacular crafts made in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Known for their vibrant colors and attractive imagery, Chinese vernacular art is imbued with wishes for a good life. In contrast to vernacular artisans, Chinese literati were long considered to have a more sophisticated taste in art. Rather than depicting realistic subjects in detail, literati employed xie yi 写意 as their artistic style, borrowing physical subjects, such as landscapes, to emphasize their inner spiritual manifestations. It was considered a higher level of art creation and more in accord with the traditional Chinese mainstream taste. Although the literati painters were called artists, the vernacular painters were often referred to as hua jiang 畫牻≥, literally “picture craftspeople,” reflecting the pejorative attitude that their work lacked artistic value.

However, the boundary between vernacular and literati art seemed to change in Late Imperial China (1368–1912). Instead of concentrating on imagery and motifs, some creative and talented vernacular craftspeople started to incorporate themes that belonged to literati. For instance, craftspeople painted symbols of antique connoisseurship (bogu qinggong tu 博古清供圖) on porcelain plates, embroidered inscriptions and seals on standing screens, and decorated the tops of lacquer nesting tables created for export with images of handscroll paintings, elements more typical of literati.

An interesting example of this phenomenon is a 19th-century embroidered screen (figure 1) made by a vernacular artisan whose style suggests she may have lived in Guangzhou. The inscription reads Nüshi Li Ailian 女史黎愛蓮, meaning female master Li Ailian. It was uncommon for vernacular artisans to include their names to their work, and Li also added an honorary title and seal, as literati would do to their paintings. The title indicates she was a locally famous and well-established artisan.¹ Renowned vernacular artisans with exquisite skills were regarded almost as literati. An inscription added much demand and value to their work.

With this serendipitous discovery, I continued my research at other museums in the United States that collect and showcase Chinese vernacular art and export objects, such as the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), assisted by a Decorative Arts Trust Research Grant sponsored by the Decorative Arts Society of Orange County. A vase in the PEM collection (figure 2) is decorated with scenes of tilling and weaving, and inscribed with poems written by Emperor Kangxi (1654–1722) that promote agriculture. In 1696, the emperor ordered Jiao Bingzhen, a scholar-official who served as a court artist, to create 23 paintings on the topic of tilling and weaving. After Jiao finished, Emperor Kangxi wrote a poem about each piece. The imagery on the vase, possibly made by vernacular artisans in Jingdezhen, is based on Bingzhen’s paintings and includes the Emperor’s poems. Although pictures of tilling and weaving have a long history in China, Jiao’s version was widely used on porcelains, likely first made under the imperial order. The vernacular artisans keenly sensed the business opportunity, however, and started to mass-produce them. Indeed, porcelains with such illustrations remained popular throughout the Qing dynasty.

In Late Imperial China, the high level of education in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces produced a great number of scholars, but a large group of lower-class literati were disillusioned by the requisite imperial examinations. They made a living by writing, engraving, printing, and selling novels and organizing other relevant commercial and cultural activities. Jiangsu and Zhejiang emerged as important areas where novelists gathered and book publishing flourished. Leaves from a multi-color woodblock printed hua pu 畫譜 (painting manual) called The Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual was made by Wang Gai (active 1677–1705), a scholar and painter from Zhejiang. The painting manual was meant to showcase classic work and teach readers how to paint, explaining common techniques in detail, from human figures to facial features and garden scenes to architectural designs. A leaf inscribed “folding fan style” is followed by copies of famous paintings on fans. Another leaf depicts plum blossoms—a plant that symbolizes the literati (figure 3). With his influential publications, Wang successfully shared and commercialized his knowledge with vernacular artisans. 

As the gap between literati and creative artisans started to close, the hierarchy of art also began to fall apart. Vernacular artisans in Late Imperial China might not have intended to emulate literati art as a means of challenging tradition, but their aim to produce elegant and commercially successful art broke down artistic categories. This intriguing phenomenon brought a more vivid and colorful cultural life to Late Imperial China.

1. Heather Hodge, Nicole Williams, and Danielle Zhang, “Feathers and Fibers: A Remarkable Chinese Embroidery in the Newport Mansions,” PieceWork 31, no. 4 (Winter 2023): 48-51.

Danielle Zhang is a PhD student in History at the University of California, Los Angeles.

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