RESEARCH ON THE STYLE OF SHE ETHNIC COSTUME PATTERNS BASED ON WÖLFFLIN'S FORMAL THEORY

Abstract

The five pairs of formal categories proposed by Heinrich Wölfflin, namely linear and painterly, plane and depth, closed and open, multiplicity and unity, and clarity and obscurity, constitute a systematic framework for style analysis in art history research. This paper takes Wölfflin's formal theory as the analytical perspective, and conducts structural and visual research on the patterns of She ethnic costumes, aiming to break thru the research path limited to pattern classification and cultural symbolism in the past, and explore its esthetic logic and visual mechanism from the perspective of formal ontology. The study found that the She ethnic patterns are not a single static style form, but present a continuous spectrum extending from "linear rationality" to "painterly sensibility". The formation of this spectrum is not only rooted in the totem belief, psychological structure and craft tradition of the She ethnic group, but also reflects its visual acculturation in the process of interaction with the Han culture. The research in this paper not only reveals the formal evolution logic of the She ethnic costume patterns, but also provides methodological inspiration for the reinterpretation of Wölfflin's theory in the context of oriental ethnic art.