Cultural practice of painting by Chinese literati: issues of inheritance in the digital age

The phenomenon of painting by Chinese literati is examined in the contextual aspect of the possibilities for its inheritance in the era of digital technology. The main problem of the research is related to the necessity of finding modern means of preserving, reproducing, and developing the heritage of Chinese literati painting as an established cultural practice. A characteristic feature of traditional cultural practice is the complexity of linking the content of the object of inheritance with the tools of its reproduction. This feature is considered as a cultural-anthropological problem. Traditions related to the unique phenomenon of Chinese culture, which combines poetry, calligraphy, and painting with a special way of demonstrating works in scrolls, represent a complex of ritual actions, features of material carriers, and visual culture, united by the concept of "passive journey in contemplation," based on the ethical-aesthetic ideas of Daoist philosophy. In order to find modern ways to convey the practice of connecting the content of the artifact and the tools of its reproduction as a cultural-anthropological problem, a methodology is employed that includes a general scientific method of empirical description of the historical features of the phenomenon, a method of axiological analysis of the artistic imagery of Chinese literati painting, and related problems of inheritance. For the first time, the issue of inheritance of Chinese literati painting as a cultural practice is structured in a cultural-anthropological aspect, including a complex of rituals, characteristics of the material carrier, and visual-aesthetic features of the synthesis of painting, poetry, and calligraphy. In the search for approaches to the preservation, reproduction, and development of the heritage of Chinese literary painting, the main areas of vulnerability of modern means and the environment of the digital age are indicated. As a forecast, necessary measures for preserving traditional forms of art as a cultural practice are proposed to coordinate the range of parameters of the visual appearance of its objects, such as: color range, tone range, and graphic range, in close connection with the development of a multimodal approach to preserving heritage based on the analysis of ethical-aesthetic ideas of Daoist spiritual teachings. As a result, it is concluded that the justification of the ethical-aesthetic principle in the cultural-theoretical conceptualization of the phenomenon of literary painting in China is essential for preserving its heritage.