The Spread and New Creation of the Nine Songs in the Republic of China

In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, Chinese painting gradually declined under the impact of “art revolution”. For the future development of Chinese painting, some painters and scholars advocated to look for insights in the traditional calligraphy and paintings. The subject of Nine Songs (《九歌》) has always been favored by painters. During the period of the Republic of China, pictures of Nine Songs showed a diversified features in its publication, dissemination and creation: a group of painters and scholars popularized and disseminated the masterpieces of the Nine Songs of the past dynasties with the publication of newspapers and albums. What’s more, there are also a group of painters who combined the western and Chinese painting techniques together, providing a new aesthetic perspective and artistic positioning for the re-creation of Nine Songs. In all, the publication, dissemination and re-creation of Nine Songs of previous historical periods in the Republic of China, as a typical case, is the epitome of the entire modern Chinese painting reform movement.