This article examines the conceptions underlying the designation of certain pictures as "Chinese narrative illustration" and proposes to define a more consistent body of visual material about which meaningful generalizations can be made. Although there is no such category in traditional Chinese writings about pictorial art, the term is frequently encountered in modern scholarship, as demonstrated here by a review of typical examples of its varied uses. Arguing against such diverse conceptions of the term, the author proposes to limit it to pictures relating to a "story" in which something "happens," and she discusses its functions and modes of representation.
目次
Literary Definitions of Narrative 605 Narrative in Painting 608 Paintings That Are Not "Narrative" 611 Appendix 613 Frequently Cited Sources 613 Notes 613
