Amusing oneself by Art: Xu Wei's Artistic Taste

Xu Wei, a marginal figure of the Ming literary circles, embodies a new spirit of the Ming literature, that is, to play with literature to change the literary tradition of Yanzhi and Zaidao . Xu Wei's artistic works, neither originated from a sense of responsibility or a moral spirit, nor a mirror of the Ming society or a weapon to interfere with social life, only serve as a way to amuse himself in life. He defies the sublime and the deep, and makes fun of the sacred and the serious. All these are new to readers in the context of the Ming literature, which pioneers the late Ming school of self expression.