关键词: 《骷髅幻戏图》, 李嵩, 傀儡戏, 幻戏, 主旨

Abstract:

The Skeleton Fantasy Picture, a silk fan painting by Li Song of the Southern Song Dynasty, has inspired diverse interpretations including views as a peddler’s picture, Dragon Boat Festival exorcism, puppetry, or a metaphor for life and death. From an image-focused perspective, it depicts a performance scene blending illusion and puppetry in Southern Song secular society. The composition employs a standardized formula meeting commercial silk fan production needs, without extensive metaphorical elements. Huang Gongwang, who provided the inscription, experienced misfortune despite twice entering public service. His involvement with the Quanzhen Taoist sect, which used skeleton imagery to conceptualize life, combined with Tang and Song dynasty traditions of using skeletons and hanging puppets as metaphors for society’s ephemeral prosperity, created a layered interpretive framework. These elements converge around core emotional themes, facilitating the expression of life’s emptiness in Drunk in the Sky. Throughout this interpretive process, the image’s objective elements function as both triggers and resonant vessels for subjective emotional responses.

Key words: The Skeleton Fantasy Picture, LI Song, Puppetry, Illusion Play, Main Theme