The Peircean order of signification and its encoding system in Chinese landscape painting
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Lian Duan
Abstract
Applying Peirce’s semiotics to the study of art history, this essay explores the order of signification in the Peircean theory and the visual order in Chinese landscape painting. Since the purpose of Chinese landscape painting is not simply to represent the beauty of scenery but to encode and manifest the philosophy of Tao, then, the author argues that the establishment of the encoding mechanism in Chinese landscape painting signifies the origination, development, and establishment of this genre in Chinese art history. In this essay, the Peircean order of signification is described as a T-shaped structure, consisting of a horizontal dimension of signs (icon, index, and symbol) while and a vertical dimension of the signification process (representamen, interpretant, and object). Correspondingly, the visual order in Chinese landscape painting is also described as a T-shaped structure as well: the horizontal dimension at the formal level consists of three signs (mountain path, flowing water, and floating air, the three constitute a compound sign), while the vertical dimension at the ideological level consists of three concepts (the way in nature, the metaphysical Way of nature, and the Tao). The significance of this order is found in re-interpreting the formation of landscape painting in Chinese art history.
References
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© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- The gap between instruction (plan) and situated action: A challenge to semiotics?
- “What makes a reasoning sound” is the proof of its truth: A reconstruction of Peirce’s semiotics as epistemic logic, and why he did not complete his realistic revolution
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- Peirce, evolutionary aesthetics, and literary meaning: Tension, index, symbol
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- The role of séméiotique in François Delsarte’s aesthetics
- The lens of firstness: Shamanic/Aboriginal culture as cosmos-sign
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- The gap between instruction (plan) and situated action: A challenge to semiotics?
- “What makes a reasoning sound” is the proof of its truth: A reconstruction of Peirce’s semiotics as epistemic logic, and why he did not complete his realistic revolution
- Can museums and luxury brands’ perceptions be compared? How a survey and semiotics help decipher the French collective psyche, relative to cultural and commercial identities
- Peirce, evolutionary aesthetics, and literary meaning: Tension, index, symbol
- On the concept of “sign” in the Hebrew Bible
- The role of séméiotique in François Delsarte’s aesthetics
- The lens of firstness: Shamanic/Aboriginal culture as cosmos-sign
- Translating like a conduit? A sociosemiotic analysis of modality in Chinese government press conference interpreting
- The Peircean order of signification and its encoding system in Chinese landscape painting
- Les valeurs culturelles des cafés contemporains Coréens : Analyse sémiotique des pratiques des consommateurs
- Iconic silence: A semiotic paradox or a semiotic paragon?
- Darth Vader in Ukraine: On the boundary between reality and mythology
- Stance markers in television news presentation: Expressivity of eyebrow flashes in the delivery of news
- Review article/Compte rendu
- La sémiotique des formes de vie, un nouveau tournant ?
