北宋是士大夫阶层全面崛起的时代，宋初政治上的“偃武修文”以及人才选拔机制的变化，使得大量的平民有机会朝着社会结构的上层流动，依靠“才学”而非“门第”逐步确立了士大夫阶层在政治、思想文化领域的精英地位。本文从“士人画”的角度入手探讨“艺”对士大夫身份的建构问题。 “士人画”的发展经历了三个阶段，一是，士大夫开始在画坛崭露头角的时期，以文同为代表。他的“墨竹”创作是较早发展起来的士大夫绘画的经典样式之一。它的历史性意义在于，士大夫终于能够将长期以来为他们所歌咏的“竹君”形象以视觉的形象呈现出来，在画坛占据一席之地。二是“士人画”理论的构造时期，苏轼在元祐诸画家的启发之下，结合他自己的创作、鉴赏心得，提出了“士人画”的概念。在苏轼的绘画观念中，“士人画”是一个对画家和作品提出要求的评价系统，以绘画的美学品格来提醒士大夫身份。三是士大夫绘画理论发生新变的时期，主要围绕米芾父子展开。首先，他嗜书画如命，完全突破了苏轼士人画体系当中一个士大夫应该对绘画保持的适当距离。其次，与宫廷画家划清界限，将“翎毛仕女”题材的作品完全排除在士大夫的视野之外。从题材和风格在士大夫画家和宫廷画家之间划开界限。第三，以“平淡天真”对“理”及与“理”相关的审美观念和风格进行否定。“士人画”之中强调品格的维度，在米芾父子那里被弱化了。“士人画”朝着风格化的方向发展，并由此确立了士大夫在美学上的标记。 经研究论证，本文认为，士大夫逐渐在绘画中取得一席之地的过程，即“士人画”逐步厘定其美学边界的过程，实际上就是在绘画领域不断凸显和建构士大夫身份，与其他社会阶层区分开来的过程。从建构社会政治身份，再到建构各个领域的文化身份，士大夫阶层才逐渐完成了其政治社会精英身份的构建。绘画作为“艺”之一种，之所以能够对士大夫的身份产生积极的建构作用，则是通过儒家传统的“道艺”关系模式呈现出来的，进而由此进入思想史的命题之中，由此士大夫绘画观念的探讨就与思想史的核心命题密切关联起来。

The Song Dynasty saw the rise of the literati who played important roles in society. Under the policy that emphasized literary instead of military merits, and through the new mechanism of social promotion, literati from humble families could successfully ascend the social ladder by virtue of their scholarship. This dissertation studies literati painting as a way of constructing literati identity.Literati painting developed through three stages. Wen Tong represented the beginning period when literati started to participate in painting. Typical of early literati painting, Wen Tong’s ink-bamboo embodied the ideal of “bamboo-gentleman” long cherished by the literati. The second stage featured the formation of literati painting theories. Inspired by painters of the Yuanyou reign, Su Shi proposed the concept of “literati painting”(shiren hua), which was a standard both to evaluate a work and to identity a painter. The third stage was centered on Mi Fu’s family, who, on the one hand, broke away from the style Su Shi prescribed, and on the other hand, differentiated literati painters from professional painters, finally leading literati painting toward stylization. This dissertation holds that literati’s gradual participation in painting accompanied the construction of their literati identity, as well as the differentiation between the literati and other social groups. Painting played an important role in constructing literati identity against the dao-yi(the Way and the art) relation within the Confucian tradition. Thus, literati painting serves as a connection between literati’s political identity, cultural identity, and the intellectual history of traditional China.