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- �Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup�, and the 11th century poetical gathering in the Western Garden of the great Song scholars and artists: Li Gonglin, Mi Fu, Su Shi and the Chan (Zen) master Yuantong Dashi.
Ceramic drinking vessels, therefore, were indispensable daily utensils in the scholar�s studio. The style and type of ceramic vessels used by the literati for wine and tea drinking varied from dynasty to dynasty. During the Tang dynasty (618-907), greenwares from Yuezhou, Zhejiang province, were popular because they enhanced the colour of tea. During the Song dynasty (960-1279), heavy bowls of bluish black and dark brown glazes came to be preferred as tea bowls. Many of these shallow bowls came from Fujian province and some with a streaked glaze called �hare�s fur� were highly prized. These bowls came to be called temmoku ware (a Japanese term) for the location of Tianmu in China. They were admired by visiting Japanese Zen monks, who brought them to Japan, where they became popular for use in the tea ceremony, and would greatly influence Japanese ceramics. Song dynasty ceramics were admired for their sober colours, exquisite shapes and elegant simplicity. The Yue greenwares developed into the famous Longquan celadons. Other important Song ceramics include Jun ware and the misty blue qingbai ware. With the transition from the whipped tea of the Song dynasty to the steeped tea of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) came the need for a new ceramic utensil, the teapot. The brown Yixing stoneware teapots caught the fancy of many tea connoisseurs and they became the favourite tea ware for the Chinese literati of the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Small Yixing teapots were said to be the best for bringing out and retaining tea�s colour, flavour and aroma, and were perfect for an intimate gathering of two or three friends. Some scholars commissioned Yixing potters to make pots for them embellished with a calligraphic inscription or landscape scene. This close relationship between a type of ceramic ware and the literati class, whose social status was far removed from that of the potter, is a unique phenomenon in Chinese art history.
Japanese Literati Style
Chinese painting trends have long had an influence on Japanese art. The history of Japanese painting began in the middle of the sixth century with the introduction of Chinese Buddhism to Japan via Korea. After the arrival of Buddhism, its religious art came to dominate the arts of Japan. Chan or Zen Buddhist painting had originally come to Japan from China during the Kamakura era (1185-1334), and had been popular ever since, but later it reached a stage where it was becoming monotonous. Southern Song ink paintings also had an impact on Japanese painting. In the Edo period (1615-1868), a new wave of Zen monk-painters revitalized the art of Zen painting, which came to be called zenga. These monk painters often turned to painting in their old age to communicate the path to enlightenment through art rather than words. Zenga are deliberately humble, clumsy and rough in execution, and often display a sense of humour. The monk-artists painted for the sake of personal expression and tried to achieve a oneness with their work.
It was only in the 18th century, that the Southern School literati painting style of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) came to be studied on a regular basis in Japan. The works that resulted in Japan were called bunjinga (paintings in the literati style) or nanga (Southern paintings). These paintings were the art of the cultured amateur, who was well versed in Chinese poetry and calligraphy. During the isolationist Edo period
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