Staging Everyday Life and the Pleasures of Leisure: Images of Women in Qing Dynasty Chinese Painting

Abstract

Generally known as shinü hua (gentlewomen paintings) or meiren hua (beautiful women paintings), paintings of women were a favourite theme in Chinese art from the eighth century onwards. This paper focuses on the depictions of objects, clothing, and architectural spaces as narrative modes in the pictures of women’s everyday lives in relation to their social roles. By looking at images of women in Qing dynasty paintings, this talk emphasizes the everyday and cultural lives of women in inner chambers and gardens. It argues that everyday life, in particular women’s leisure activities and hobbies, could be a significant aspect of gender analysis. Indeed, women were possibly both the audience for these images, as well as subjects of the male gaze, and positions their daily life within the literati culture of the Ming and Qing periods.