The Generation and Flux of Qiyun: A Conceptual Historical Inquiry from Character Appraisal to Landscape Spirit

This study examines the evolution of qiyun shengdong from the Wei-Jin to the Ming-Qing dynasties from a conceptual historical perspective. Its meaning originated in character appraisal, denoting the spiritual demeanor of figures. During the Tang and Song, through theoretical transformation by scholars such as Jing Hao, it became a key category signifying landscape vitality and creative subjectivity. From the Yuan through the Ming and Qing, it was deeply integrated with brush-and-ink cultivation and the Northern and Southern Schools narrative, solidifying as the supreme aesthetic criterion of literati painting. Through this linear investigation, this study reveals the dynamic process of reinterpretation and reshaping of this core category in Chinese painting throughout history, as well as the active role of art-historical writing in the canonization of concepts.

Keywords: Qiyun; Conceptual History; Character Appraisal; Landscape Spirit; Art-historical Writing