Qiu Ying Copy painting

Copy of Qiu Ying’s Elegant Gathering at the Western Garden (摹仇英西园雅集图) | Qing Dynasty / Ding Guanpeng(丁观鹏)

Mastery of the Literati Ideal: Ding Guanpeng’s "Copy of Qiu Ying’s West Garden Gathering"

This article explores Ding Guanpeng’s "Copy of Qiu Ying’s West Garden Gathering," a masterpiece of the Qing imperial court. It examines how Ding Guanpeng reinterpreted the legendary gathering of Northern Song intellectuals through the lens of 18th-century courtly aesthetics, blending meticulous traditional brushwork with subtle Western-influenced techniques to celebrate the pinnacle of Chinese cultural history.