Experience in analysing traditional Chinese painting in the context of the theories of Bao Gansheng and Pierre Bourdieu (Part 2)

Abstract

The second part of this article focuses on the analysis of traditional Chinese painting through the lens of state and law philosophy. It delves into a detailed exploration of the cultural and artistic field in Chinese art, using P. Bourdieu's terminology. While P. Bourdieu emphasizes the internal struggle of strategies, Bao Gansheng focuses on the structure of normative limits. He demonstrates how three ideological registers — Confucianism, Legalism, and Daoism — define the boundaries of permissibility in the realms of morality, law, and faith. By comparing Bao Gansheng’s and P. Bourdieu’s approaches, a deeper understanding of the dual nature of Chinese painting is achieved. It is deeply rooted in ideology, but not limited to it. The stability of Chinese painting is not solely due to pressure from above, but also influenced by dynamics from below. In this perspective, the canon is not a rigid norm, but rather a result of constant renegotiation between the state, aesthetes, and artists. Therefore, Chinese painting is not just an instrument of power, but also a form of cultural self-regulation. A synthesis of P. Bourdieu’s and Bao Gansheng’s approaches reveals Chinese art as a complex mechanism of adaptation, symbolic play, and historical transformation, rather than a mere contradiction between coercion and freedom.