Next Article in Journal
Beyond Chance? Herzl, Hechler, and Ideological Convergence in Early Political Zionism
Previous Article in Journal
Ecosufism in the Thought of Ibn ʿArabī and Rūmī: Unity, Nature and Ecological Ethics in Sufi Metaphysics
Previous Article in Special Issue
The Breakdown and Reconciliation of Ouyang Jingwu and Wang Enyang, 1940–1942: An Analysis Based on Newly Discovered Correspondence
 
 
Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
Journals
Religions
Volume 17
Issue 2
10.3390/rel17020238
religions-logo
Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Propose a Special Issue
► Article Menu

Article Menu

share Share announcement Help format_quote Cite question_answer Discuss in SciProfiles
first_page
settings
Order Article Reprints
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Article

Reconstruction and Concreteness: The Religious Background and Political Connotations of Gibbon-Themed Poetry and Painting in East Asian Elite Culture from the 12th to the 19th Centuries

by
Xuejun Liu
School of Liberal Arts, Jiangsu Second Normal University, Nanjing 211200, China
Religions 2026, 17(2), 238; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020238
Submission received: 31 October 2025 / Revised: 11 February 2026 / Accepted: 13 February 2026 / Published: 15 February 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Microcosm Holds Mountains and Seas: The Sinicization of Buddhism in ‘Multi-Layered Contextualization’ from Local to Global History)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

The gibbon was an often-mentioned animal in the elite literati world of China, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula during the twelfth to nineteenth centuries, with a large number of poems and paintings touching on the theme of gibbons. The image of the gibbon is often entangled with religion (Daoism and Zen Buddhism), and through the coding of art, it has become a tool for displaying one’s political position. There is also an intertextual phenomenon in the presentation of gibbons from poetry to painting which plays a crucial role in the generation of meaning. This article attempts to answer two questions: (1) why and how the image of a gibbon has become a tool for displaying religious affiliation and one’s political position through the art form of Sinitic poetry; (2) how does the intertextual relationship between poetry and painting affect the creation of meaning?
Keywords: gibbon; image shaping; religious; elite literati; political gesture gibbon; image shaping; religious; elite literati; political gesture

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Liu, X. Reconstruction and Concreteness: The Religious Background and Political Connotations of Gibbon-Themed Poetry and Painting in East Asian Elite Culture from the 12th to the 19th Centuries. Religions 2026, 17, 238. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020238

AMA Style

Liu X. Reconstruction and Concreteness: The Religious Background and Political Connotations of Gibbon-Themed Poetry and Painting in East Asian Elite Culture from the 12th to the 19th Centuries. Religions. 2026; 17(2):238. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020238

Chicago/Turabian Style

Liu, Xuejun. 2026. "Reconstruction and Concreteness: The Religious Background and Political Connotations of Gibbon-Themed Poetry and Painting in East Asian Elite Culture from the 12th to the 19th Centuries" Religions 17, no. 2: 238. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020238

APA Style

Liu, X. (2026). Reconstruction and Concreteness: The Religious Background and Political Connotations of Gibbon-Themed Poetry and Painting in East Asian Elite Culture from the 12th to the 19th Centuries. Religions, 17(2), 238. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020238

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop