Let us examine the “nature and nurture” of the Chinese scholar, whose accoutrements, made of stone and wood and other natural materials, are the subject of this exhibition. The wenren (cultured, or lettered person; “literatus”) had two distinct aspects to his personality: an outward, public image and a private, inner self. In developing his public persona, he was brought up from childhood to venerate antiquity and embody filial piety. Emanating downward from civilization’s great father figure, the Emperor, the Son of Heaven, these values and virtues were imparted to the other strata of society. Those groomed for officialdom to serve as the administrators of the Empire were encouraged to excel, and trained to vie for a limited number of leadership positions in what was, ideally, a meritocracy. Officials, or Mandarins, were chosen by competitive examination.

Even emperors longed to belong to this elite group, and depicted themselves as wenren. An aspiring man of letters, the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736-96), for instance, wrote countless poems, many of which were copied onto works of art. Thus, he included himself among those with the highest level of cultural attainment, not just as a connoisseur, but also as one who actually enhanced the artistic productions.

The... read more