八大山人〈孔雀竹石圖〉釋疑

Abstract

八大山人（1626-1705），是明末清初畫家、書法家，清初畫壇四僧之一，原為明朝王孫，明滅亡後，一生以明朝遺民自居，「八大山人」命名的用意，是因八大山人在落款時將四字寫得像草寫的「哭之笑之」，有哭笑不得之意，以寄託國亡家破之痛。八大山人的花鳥畫往往有其特殊的隱喻象徵，其中作於康熙29年的〈孔雀竹石圖〉即是隱晦難解的一幅作品，各家對作品的詮釋甚為紛歧，值得進一步探討和研究。本文以文化符碼的角度探討畫作中物象的隱喻作用，另外，探討〈孔雀竹石圖〉創作的時空背景及畫作交涉相關的人、事、時、地、物等，得知八大山人的〈孔雀竹石圖〉是為數不多的具有政治諷刺意義的畫作，諷刺的對象眾多學者皆論定是與山人交惡的宋犖（1634-1714），然而，我們透過二人之間的相關史料可證，山人畫作並無諷刺宋犖的可能性。此外，透過解構畫作，我們得以窺見山人作畫時的心境和遺民情感，還原作者在創作〈孔雀竹石圖〉的創作核心意念與創作的動機意圖，對在距今三百多年前，特殊時空背景下的山人應能有更真實的認識。

Bada Shanren (1626-1705), was a painter and calligrapher of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and also one of the ＂Four Great Monk Painters＂ of the early Qing dynasty. He was an aristocrat of royal descent from the Ming dynasty, therefore remained a staunch Ming loyalist throughout his life after the fall of Ming. The styled cursive vertical writing of his pseudonym Bada Shanren looks like the characters for laugh (笑) and cry (哭). By signing his artworks with the pseudonym, he implied his sorrowful feelings for the fate of Ming imperial power and his home. Bada Shanren`s bird-and-flower paintings often served as symbolic metaphors. One of the paintings finished in the 29th year of Emperor Kangxi was his most obscure painting, ＂Peacock with Bamboo Stone Painting.＂ Researchers have vastly different interpretations of this painting, as such, it warrants further research. This paper intends to explore the meaning intended by the metaphors as implied by the painting`s imageries in terms of cultural symbols, as well as to probe into the spatio-temporal background (people, things, time, place and objects associated to the painting). ＂Peacock with Bamboo Stone Painting＂ is usually recognized as one of Bada Shanren`s few political satire paintings with an intention to ridicule Song Luo, who fell afoul of Bada Shanren. However, relevant historical documents about the relationship between Bada Shanren and Song Luo do not provide corroborating evidence to support this theory. Also, we can peer into his state of mind and the feelings as a Ming loyalist through deconstructing the painting. By reestablishing his central ideas and intentions in the creation of ＂Peacock with Bamboo Stone Painting,＂ we can have a more in-depth understanding of Bada Shanren who lived in a unique spatio-temporal environment three hundred years ago.