РЕПРЕЗЕНТАЦІЯ ЖІНОЧОГО ОБРАЗУ В ТРАДИЦІЙНОМУ КИТАЙСЬКОМУ ЖИВОПИСІ: ЕТАПИ ФОРМУВАННЯ ТРАДИЦІЇ

The contemporary art of China, in a globalized world, is trying to find ways to reflect its own artistic tradition, as evidenced also by the genre of female portraiture. The latter reflects not only the rapid changes in the traditional status of a Chinese woman, but also demonstrates that female images have become a means of expressing broad ideas that are considered by modern humankind. The social status and aesthetics of representation of the Chinese woman image were influenced by the regulation of the Chinese society, where the woman obeyed the man, embodied beauty and strength in weakness and magic charm. For centuries, the standards of beauty and certain visual traditions have been developed, which are fixed in Chinese painting. Studying them allows better understanding the Chinese heritage and feeling its “new lease of life” in contemporary art. Analysis of studies and publications. The issues of women’s social status, iconography and typology of female images in Chinese painting art and schools were considered by both Chinese scholars (Zhang Guanyin, Hei Yangping, Lee Yuan, Lin Mu, Xu Huipin), and scholars from Europe and the United States. Many works were devoted to the position of a woman in traditional Chinese society (M. Kravtsov, V. Maliavin, Yu. Mylnikov, R. van Gulik, Ye. Stryzhakova, A. Okun, Yu. Seliviorstova, S. Tsypilova). Female images and portraits were discussed only in the context of the development of the entire Chinese painting and portrait genre (Anzhi Zhang, R. M. Barnhart, J. Cahill, Wu Hung, Ci Lin, Hao Xiao Hua). There are many works on the tradition and modern recovery of Chinese painting of guohua(N. Yakovleva, Van Wei, M. Neglynska). These studies have created the basis for a targeted research of the evolution of the female image in artistic representations, which for the first time reveals the stages of the formation of female portrait as a separate genre back during the “classical” forms of Chinese painting before the beginning of European influence of modern era. The objective of the work is to analyze the development of female portrait in traditional Chinese painting as an artistic form of representation of the social-and-cultural status of women: the identification of women’s typological and iconographic features, the definition of aesthetic characteristics in the works of outstanding artists who actually form the history of Chinese painting. Basic material presentation. The embodiment of the flawless image of female beauty, its symbol and synonym was the Four great beauties of antiquity, the images of which are embodied in the genre of female portraiture, where a particular artistic canon was formed during each period of ruling dynasties. The oldest images of women are dated from the 5th century BC and belong to the period of the Warring States. Subsequently, during the period of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and Han dynasty (206 BC 220), the plot repertoire of painting included images and specifi c portraits of gorgeous court ladies. The works of recognized painters of early Middle Ages, such as Gu Kaizhi, Zhang Xuan, Zhou Fang, Jan Liben, Wu Daoji, Qiu Yīng, and others, who mostly worked on multimeter scrolls, reflected the role of women in traditional Chinese society, and their actually canonized images have been consolidated in Chinese art for many centuries. For example, classical becomes the image of a delicate young woman in a long loose dress with wide sleeves that seems to be moving above the ground along with the wind. Throughout the time, the image of a wealthy educated lady was subject to change. Thus, in the period of Tang (618–907), the time of blossoming of Chinese painting, when free customs were dominant and women had more freedom, the women of a large physique with expression of rest on their faces prevail in pictures. Meanwhile, the artists refute the myth of the palace well-being, showing the hidden under it, real sad existence of imperial concubines, and thereby expressing their deepest sympathy for their fate. All female characters are depicted full-blooded, physically healthy, with developed bodily forms, with the face similar to “full moon”. During the time of Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1280–1368) dynasties, changes in the interpretation of female images can be traced, where purely portrait images dominate, which shows a more attentive attitude to a model, an attempt to reveal the world of her internal experiences. The appeal to the experience of the past and the decorative nature of its interpretation corresponded to the Ming dynasty’s (1368–1644) aesthetic priorities in art. The women’s theme is revealed in the form of an illustrative narrative of the usual way of life of concubines, court ladies, which are shown in simple, but sophisticated garments, gentle, graceful, their doings are refined, leisurely, bring intellectual and spiritual pleasure. They read, play musical instruments, dance, play. In general, before the fall of the Ming dynasty, the typology and iconography of female images, which in the following centuries totally reigned in Chinese painting, are finally formed, and they change only with the onset of European influence. Conclusion. In ancient China, the status of a woman and the code of her piety, subordination to husband and family, the image of female charm, and later the standard of beauty, which values fragility and feebleness, a pale-matte face, luxurious clothes and hairstyle, are formed. The images of female beauty are mythologized and put the idea of sequence in female portraits of the Middle Ages, the paintings depicting educated women of higher society prevail. The stages of the tradition formation are associated with the evolution of the female beauty standard which varies from the image of a benevolent woman (Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties) to her high position and wealth (Tang), the truthfulness of the reflection of beauty (Song) and painful weakness (Ming and Qing). The works of medieval artists form the artistic canon: the iconography and stylistics consolidated for centuries are part of the practice of Chinese artists and today serve as a model for contemporary artists who are looking for a new expression of their identity. Prospects for further research: influence of Christian missionary painters of the 17th –18th centuries in China on the development of Chinese female portrait; creativity of modern painters who appeal to national traditions; decorative language of female ceremonial portrait; artistic features of women’s portraiture in the traditions of wenrenhua (the painting of intellectuals)