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Modernity and Tradition in the
Art of Twentieth-Century China
Julia F. Andrews and Kuiyi Shen
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 Modernity and Tradition in the
Art of Twentieth-Century China

tury
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Julia F. Andrews and Kuiyi Shen
With essays by Jonathan Spence, Shan Guolin.
Christina Chu, Xue Yongnian, and Mayching Kao

GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM
c 1998 Tho Solonnm K Ouffgonhelm Foundation, Now York. A Century in Crisis
All rights reserved. Curated by Julia F. Andrews and Kuiyl Shen

Catalogue Qumbera 1-3, 5-H. 16-21. 23-25. 27. 30-53. 36. 11.
Guggenheim Museum SoHo
19.51.52.54-59.61,62,64,66-112.126 15 147-51,

154-58. 160-63. 165-67. 169. 171. 172. 176. 181-81. 188. 190. 191.
February 6-May 24. 1998
196-200. 202. 203: c CIEA (China International Exhibition
1922 Huang Btnhong. 16: C 1933 Liu Nulling; Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
M0FoOtrZlknl;53: C 1948 Zheng Wuchang; 60: 1960 <
July 17-October 15. 1998
Shen Ylnmo:63: C 1930s Chang Ya (Sanyu); 65: C 1998 Pong
Jtun; 113-18. 120 25: I Picker Ml Gallery. Colgate University;
I >59HeTianjlan: 159: «'
1974 Shen JIawel: nil 1976

Ch.in Danqlng; 168. C 1979 Chen Yifol: 170: ."

MaoLlzl; China; 5.000 Years has been organized by the
973 Zhao Woji; 17!: * 1986 Lu Yanshao; 175: C 1986 LI Guggenheim Museum in collaboration with the
Reran; 177: 1938 Wans JiqlaniC.C. Wang); 179: C 1996 Zhang Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of
Hong (Arnold ChangUSO: C 1991 LI Huayl; 186: C 1983 Wu China and the National Administration for Cultural
Guanzhong; 193: C 1966 Liu Guosong; 195: C 1985 Liu Guosong:
Heritage of the People's Republic of China.
984 Zhao Chunxiang (Chao Chung Hsiang);

201: C 1987 Wang Dongllng.

China International Exhibition Agency and Art
Exhibitions China.

Guggenheim Museum Publications Major sponsors of this exhibition are

1071 Fifth Avenue
New York. New York 10128

Hardcover editions distributed by

Hurry N. Abrams. Inc.
) Lufthansa nokia
100 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10011

SbrfJJgee/tfw/atn y, "7%c GwfeSi (empaay

ISBN (hardcover) 0-8109-6909-2
ISBN (softcover) 0-89207-211-3

Significant additional support has been provided by

Cover: Sun Zlxi (b. 1929). In Front of Tiananmen, 1964. The Starr Foundation
Oil on canvas: 155 x 285 cm. Chinese National Art The W.L.S. Spencer Foundation
Gallery. Beijing. and
Mori Building Company. Limited

Consulting editor: Naomi Noble Richard

This exhibition has also been made possible In part
by a major grant from the National Endowment for
Design by Tsang Seymour Design, inc.. New York
the Humanities, expanding America's understanding of
who we were, who we are. and who we will be.
Tom Suchan
This catalogue is supported by a grant from The Li-Ching
Printed in Italy by Mariogros
Cultural and Educational Foundation. Additional funding
was provided by Mrs. May Lau and the Esquel Group of
Companies.
 Contents

INTRODUCTION
2 A Century in Crisis: Tradition and Modernity in the
Art of Twentieth-Century China
Julia F. Andrews
10 China 's Modern Worlds
Jonathan Spence

INNOVATIONS IN CHINESE PAINTING, 1850-1950

20 Painting of China's New Metropolis: The Shanghai School, 1850-1900
Shan Guolin
64 The Lingnan School and Its Followers: Radical Innovation in Southern China
Christina Chu
80 Traditional Painting in a Transitional Era, 1900-1950
Kuiyi Shen
132 Chinese Calligraphy in the Modern Era
Xue Yongnian

THE MODERNIST GENERATIONS, 1920-1950

146 Reforms in Education and the Beginning of the Western-Style
Painting Movement in China
Mayching Kao
172 The Lure of the West: Modern Chinese Oil Painting
Kuiyi Shen
181 Commercial Art and China's Modernization
Julia F. Andrews
213 The Modern Woodcut Movement
Julia F. Andrews and Kuiyi Shen

ART FOR NEW CHINA. 1950-1980

228 The Victory of Socialist Realism: Oil Painting and the New Guohua
Julia F. Andrews

TRANSFORMATIONS OF TRADITION, 1980 TO THE PRESENT

278 Chinese Painting in the Post-Mao Era
Julia F. Andrews and Kuiyi Shen

324 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

328 INDEX OF CATALOGUE REPRODUCTIONS

 Honorary Chair
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton

Honorary Committee
Guggenheim Museum

Mrs. Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson Vice Chairman, National Committee on United States-China Relations
Professor and Mrs. A. Doak Barnett Professor of Chinese Studies, School of International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Senator Joseph R. Biden. Jr. Ranking Minority Member, United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Ambassador Julia Chung Bloch Preside7it, United States/Japan Foundation
Dr. James Cahill Professor Emeritus, History of Art, University of California, Berkeley
Dr. and Mrs. David C. Chang President, Polytechnic University

Jeannette Chang Vice President and Publisher, Harper's Bazaar Magazine

Dr. Kwang-chih Chang Professor. Department of Anthropology, Harvard University
Joan Chen Actress
Jerome A. and Joan Lebold Cohen Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton and Garrison
Douglas Dillon Former United States Secretary of the Treasury: Former President and
Chairman of the Board, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Joseph Duffey Director, United States Information Agency
Robert H. Ellsworth Dealer in Chinese Art
Dr. Wen and Constance T. Fong Consultative Chairman. Douglas Dillon Curatorship of Chinese Painting and -

Calligraphy, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mr. and Mrs. Victor Fung Chairman, Li and Fung Ltd.
Leslie H. Gelb President. Council on Foreign Relations
Maurice R. Greenberg Chairman, American International Group
Robert A. Hefner HI Chairman, GHK Companies
David D. Ho. M.D. Director, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center
Mr. Waikam and Dr. Waiching Ho Former Curator, Cleveland Museum of Art, and Former Curator, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Honorable Richard Holbrooke Vice Chairman, Credit Suisse First Boston
Eric Hotung Hotung Institute for International Studies; Chairman, Hotung Group, Hong Kong
Sir Joseph E. Hotung Trustee, British Museum
Ambassador Arthur Hummel Former Ambassador of the United States to the People 's Republic of China
Mr. and Mrs. David Henry Hwang Playwright
Dr. Simon X. Jiang Deputy Chief, United Nations Pension Fund Investments
Robert A. Kapp President, United States-China Business Council
Dr. David N. Keightley Department of History, University of California, Berkeley
Alice King Alisan Fine Arts, Limited
Dr. Henry A. Kissinger Former United States Secretary of State
Geraldine S. Kunstadter Chair, Albert Kunstadter Family Foundation
David M. Lampton President, National Committee on United States-China Relations
Mon Ling Yu Landegger Vice President, Sotheby's International Real Estate
Dr. John D. Langlois Managing Director, J. P. Morgan and Company, Incorporated
Dr. Sherman Lee Director (retired), Cleveland Museum of Art
Dr. Chu-tsing and Yao-wen Li J. H. Murphy Professor Emeritus, University of Kansas
Ambassador Li Daoyu Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United States
Mee Seen Loong Fine Arts Consultant Specializing in Chinese Antiquities
H. Christopher Luce Director, Henry Luce Foundation
Henry Luce III Chairman and CEO, Henry Luce Foundation
Cargill MacMillan Board of Directors, Cargill, Inc.

Ambassador Donald F. McHenry Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, Georgetown University
Clare Tweedy McMorris Chairman of the Board, The China Institute

Robert S. MoNamara Former United States Secretary of Defense

Minoru Mori President, Mori Building Company, Limited
The Reverend Leo O'Donovan, S.J. President, Georgetown University

Ronald O. Perelman Chairman and CEO, MacAndrews & Forbes

The Honorable Nicholas Piatt President, The Asia Society
The Honorable and Mrs. Leon Polsky Board of Directors, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Philip J. Purcell Chairman and CEO, Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter, Discover & Co.
Frederick W. Re id President and COO, Lufthansa German Airlines

Ambassador John Ritch Ambassador of the United States to Austria

David Rockefeller Chairman Emeritus, Chase Manhattan Bank
Courtney Sale Ross Collector

Mrs. Arthur M. Sackler Board of Directors, The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Mortimer D. Sackler, M.D. Collector
Ambassador James R. Sasser Ambassador of the United States to the People's Republic of China
The Honorable James R. Schlesinger Lehman Brothers
General Brent Soowcroft The Forum for International Policy
The Honorable Ambassador Qiu Shengyun Consul General of the People 's Republic of China in New York
Patrick T Siewert Chairman and President, Greater China Region, Eastman Kodak
John F. Smith, Jr. President and CEO, General Motors
David Tang President, Shanghai Tang
Chang-Lin Tien Chancellor, University of California, Berkeley
Alex Trotman Chairman, President, and CEO, Ford Motor Company
The Honorable Cyrus R. Vance Former United States Secretary of State
John S. Wadsworth, Jr. Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd.
C. C. Wang Painter; collector
Mr. and Mrs.Wan-go H. C. Weng Author; collector
Anne Wexler Department of Commerce
Andrew Whist Senior Vice President, Philip Morris Companies Inc.
Torrey L. Whitman President, China Institute of America
Gary L. Wilson Chairman, Northwest Airlines
The Honorable Leonard Woodcock Former Ambassador of the United States to the People's Republic of China
Dr. John Young Executive Director, Committee of 100
Sponsor's Statement

Of all cultures that have existed for thousands of years, China's is one
of the oldest. Since the travels of Marco Polo, it has intrigued the
Western imagination and has had an immense influence on European
art and culture. This fascination with China has thrived right up until
the present clay, and a journey to "the Middle Kingdom" remains an
extraordinarily rich and captivating experience. Since the earliest
contacts between China and the West, transportation technology has
made considerable contributions to cultural interchange, first
through maritime trade and later, on a more extensive scale, through
air traffic as well. Lufthansa, which has participated in the realiza-
tion of this exhibition, undertook its first test flights to China during
the 1920s, and in 1927 and 1928, the famous Asian expert Sven Hedin
explored the Gobi desert and its climate with Lufthansa's assistance.

These initial adventures developed into commercial flights, when, in

1930, Lufthansa and the Chinese Ministry of Transport signed an
agreement for the operation of a European- Asian air-mail company,
Eurasia. The company flew its Shanghai-Nanjing-Beijing-Manzhouli
route once a week, and, although this scheme soon had to be given up,
its pioneering flights represented a further step in China's relation-
ship with Europe and the rest of the world.

Today, air connections to China are both comfortable and plentiful. As

in the early days of aviation, however, Lufthansa's commitment in
China is greater than the transportation of passengers and cargo.
Together with Air China, Lufthansa operates a maintenance center
for Chinese aviation, cooperates in the training of aviation personnel,
and runs air-catering kitchens.

China: 5,000 Years is an expression of the ties between the West and
China as it reemerges as an economic and political superpower.
We are pleased to offer our support for this exhibition as a Global
Partner of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, with the convic-
tion that works of art build the longest-lasting bridges to mutual
understanding.

Frederick W Reid
President and Chief Operating Officer
Lufthansa German Airlines

Lufthansa
Sponsor's Statement

As we begin our association with the Guggenheim Museum, Nokia is

especially pleased to play a role in bringing this rich story of five

thousand years of Chinese art and culture to people of the Western
world. In our contemporary global society, where the written and spo-
ken word may disjoin, art unifies. It projects the essence of a people,
their values, and their inspiration.

For Nokia, art embodies the principles of openness, creativity, and

lasting value to whichwe as an institution are committed. For that
reason,we are proud not only to sponsor China: 5,000 Years but also to
support the Finnish Museum for Modern Arts in Helsinki and the
Chinese Year of Fine Arts 1998 in Beijing. The thinking that underlies
these sponsorships is reflected in our products, which are designed for
aesthetic appeal as well as technological achievement.

Because of this, our association with the Guggenheim is a natural

step in the continuing evolution of Nokia's corporate culture. We
share a common vision of connecting people and enriching lives
through technology, art. and design. From its original location in New
York to the new museum in Bilbao, the Guggenheim is synonymous
with the development and preservation of art, and thus with further-
ing knowledge and social achievement.

China: 5,000 Years is the culmination of the efforts of a distinguished

international team of experts. As the largest exhibition of such art
ever to be seen outside China, it presents an extremely broad and
unprecedented view of Chinese cultural development in which we all

can find inspiration. We hope that you enjoy the exhibition and the
great wealth it offers.

Jorma Ollila
President and Chief Executive Officer
Sponsor's Statement

On behalf of the thousands of Ford Motor Company employees around

the world, I am pleased to salute all of those involved in presenting
China: 3.000 Years. Their unique collaboration offers the people of the
United States and Spain this extraordinary exhibition, which demon-
strates the full scope of Chinese artistic development over the last
five thousand years.

Our thanks go to the Guggenheim Museum; Qian Qichen, Vice

Premier and Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China; Li
Daoyu. Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United
States; the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China; the
National Administration for Cultural Heritage of the People's
Republic of China; China International Exhibition Agency; and Art
Exhibitions China for organizing this major cultural exchange
between the United States and the People's Republic of China.

We at Ford Motor Company believe deeply in shared understanding

between nations, and especially in strengthening the relationship
between the governments, businesses, and people of the United States
and China. We are particularly pleased to serve as a partner in bring-
ing the rich cultural heritage of China to the people of the United
States and Spain, and look forward to introducing the people of China
toAmerican art when the exchange exhibition America: 300 Years is
presented in Beijing and Shanghai in late 1998 and 1999.

Alex Trotman
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

55n//ffe/y'r {%&m/ianUj
Sponsor's Statement

China: 5,000 Years offers Americans the opportunity to appreciate the

beauty created over five millennia by one of the world's oldest civi-

lizations. From early Neolithic jade carvings to twentieth-century

pieces, the exhibition allows the world its first view of many magnifi-
cent works.

The Coca-Cola Company commends the Guggenheim Museum for

bringing an extraordinary collection of Chinese artistic treasures to
the United States, and for its leadership in fostering mutual under-
standing between cultures. We welcome the opportunity to demon-
strate our commitment to education through the arts, from the global
exchange of ideas and information to the promotion of human under-
standing and diversity.

As a partner of the Guggenheim Museum, we are pleased to help spot-

and to encourage a deeper under-
light China's rich cultural heritage,
standing of the profound achievements of generations of Chinese
artists.

M. Douglas Ivester
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

ffit &&'^& fiempaiy-

Lenders to the Exhibition

Tin- Ait Institute of Chicago

Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Cemac Ltd.
Mr. Chen Beixin. Xi'an
Mr. Chen Danqing. New York
China International Exhibition Agency. Beijing
Museum of the Chinese Revolution. Beijing
Chinese National Art Gallery. Beijing
d.p.Fong Galleries. San Jose
Duoyunxuan. Shanghai
Guangzhou Art Museum
Hong Kong Museum of Art. Provisional Urban Council
Jiangsu Provincial Art Gallery. Nanjing
Jingguanlou. Hong Kong
Mrs. Alice King. Hong Kong
M.K. Lau Collection, Ltd.. Hong Kong
Mr. Martin Lee, Taipei
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Liu,Hong Kong
Lu Xun Memorial. Shanghai
Mr. Lui Kwok Man. Hong Kong
Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Nanjing Museum
Palace Museum, Beijing
Pang Xunqin Memorial Museum, Changshu, Jiangsu
Pan Tianshou Memorial. Hangzhou
Mr. Pang Jiun. Taipei
Picker Art Gallery. Colgate University
Shanghai Institute of Chinese Painting
Shanghai Museum
Mr. Shen Jiawei, New South Wales. Australia
Mr. Michael Y. W. Shih, Tainan
SpencerMuseum of Art. University of Kansas
Wang Family Collection
C. C.

Lawrence Wu. New York

Xu Beihong Memorial. Beijing
Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Hangzhou
The Solomon R. Guggenheim
Foundation

Honorary Trustees in Perpetuity Trustees

Solomon R. Guggenheim Giovanni Agnelli
Justin K. Thannhauser Jon Imanol Azua
Peggy Guggenheim Peter M. Brant
Mary Sharp Cronson
Chairman Elizabeth T. Dingman
Peter Lawson-Johnston Gail May Engelberg
Daniel Filipacchi
President Barbara Jonas
Ronald O. Perelman David H. Koch
Thomas Krens
Vice-Presidents Barbara Lane
Wendy L- J. McNeil Peter Lawson-Johnston
John S. Wadsworth, Jr. Samuel J. LeFrak
Peter B. Lewis
Vice-President and Treasurer Peter Littmann
Stephen C. Swid Wendy L-J. McNeil
Edward H. Meyer
Director Ronald0. Perelman

Thomas Krens Frederick W. Reid

Richard A. Rifkind
Secretary Denise Saul
Edward F. Rover Rudolph B. Schulhof
Terry Semel
Honorary Trustee James B. Sherwood
Claude Pompidou Raja W Sidawi
Seymour Slive
Trustee Ex Officio Stephen C. Swid
Luigi Moscheri John S. Wadsworth, Jr.

Cornel West
Director Emeritus Michael F. Wettach
Thomas M. Messer John Wilmerding
William T. Ylvisaker
Preface
The Guggenheim Museum has committed
it self over the past decade to breaking
Mm ml iii I he exhibition of interna-
tional art. The art works in this catalogue
.lie a part of China: 5.000 Years, the first
exhibition by a major Western museum
juxtapose the art of modern China with
its traditional counterpart. This modern
volume documents the significant contri-
bution to our understanding of world art
and its history achieved by the exhibition.
A Century in Crisis: Modernity and Tradi-
tion in the Art of Twentieth-Century China,
the modern section of China: 5,000 Years, is
the first exhibition held outside China's
own borders to tell a comprehensive story
of China's modern art. Loans for the mod-
ern section of the exhibition, which have
made it possible for the first time to
develop such a narrative, are drawn from
collections on four continents. Organized
in four parts, the exhibition recounts the
challenges, struggles, and successes of
Chinese artists of the late nineteenth and
twentieth centuries as they have faced the
radically changing cultural, social, eco-
nomic, and political landscapes of the
past century and a half.
The exhibition was selected and orga-
nized by curators JuliaF. Andrews and
Kuiyi Shen. Both curators are scholars of
modern Chinese art who are trained in.
and remain involved with, the art of
China's past. Andrews, a leading scholar
of twentieth-century Chinese art. was
trained in Ming painting at Berkeley.
After working as a curator at the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art, she
assumed a teaching position at The Ohio
State University in 1987. Since that time
she has co-curated a number of exhibi-
tions there, most notably Fragmented
Memory: The Chinese Avant-Garde in Exile,
Wexner Center for the Arts (1993).
for the
She was awarded the 1996 Levenson Book
Prize for Twentieth-Century China for her
monumental study. Painters and Politics
the People 's Republic of China, 1949-1979.
Kuiyi Shen. a scholar of both modern and
ancient Chinese art. served as Deputy Edi-
tor-in-Chief at the Shanghai People's Art
Publishing House before moving to the
United States in the summer of 1989.
was Editor-in-Chief and project director
for the most ambitious encyclopedia of
ancient Chinese art yet published. The
Great Treasury of Chinese Fine Arts, and
supervising editor and project director for
a number of joint publications with major
Chinese museums. He has continued to
write and teach Chinese art history, and
most recently co-curated an innovative
to exhibition. Literature in Line: Lianhuan-
hua of China (1997) at The Ohio State Uni-
versity, where he has served as a Presiden-
tial Fellow.
The artistic products of cross-cultur-
al communication in twentieth-century
China have been remarkably varied, and
should serve as a larger lesson in the com-
plexity of Asian interactions with the
Western world. In the late nineteenth cen-
tury, some innovations in Chinese art,
particularly in the treaty-port city of
Shanghai, were stimulated by Western
arts and technologies, but Chinese pictor-
ial art retained a powerful integrity.By
the 1920s, many cosmopolitan Chinese
artists worked in Western mediums, and
created compelling images in a fully
international manner. The woodcut move-
ment, which developed rapidly in the 1930s
and 1940s, is the product of a particularly
fruitful episode of contact among artists
of Europe, China, and Japan.
It is important to recognize, as this
exhibition does, that despite cosmopoli-
tan trends, rejection of Western artistic
forms has been and continues to be a
strong force within the Chinese cultural
world. Multi-lingual Western-educated
Chinese intellectuals argued as early as
the 1920s that the West, with its nascent
modernism, was only beginning to demon-
strate the aesthetic sophistication that
had been fundamental to Chinese paint-
ing for the previous millennium. They
recognized, as few in the West were then
prepared to do, that China had already
worked through many of the visual and
theoretical issues that then concerned
Western modernists, and that ancient Chi-
nese landscape painting possessed boldly
in modern elements.
The Guggenheim's intention in initi-
ating this exhibition was to tell the whole
story, which includes a third element,
bringing China's unjustifiably neglected
Socialist Realist art, which comprised the
He mainstream for more than three decades,
together with art more closely related to
both Western modernism and traditional-
ism. We are fortunate that Chinese insti-
tutional lenders have provided for this
first American exhibition of such work cer, Ford Motor Company, for his leader-
the most important extant examples of ship and commitment to this project. We
Socialist Realist painting to this exhibi- also wish to thank Wayne M. Booker. Vice
tion. The era of Socialist Realism passed Chairman, Ford Motor Company: Peter J.
with the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, and Pestillo. Executive Vice President. Corpo-
the final section of the exhibition, devot- rate Relations, Ford Motor Company;
ed to recent paintings in the native medi- Gary L. Nielsen, Vice President. Ford
um of ink and water-based pigment on Motor Company Fund; Mabel H. Cabot,
Chinese paper or silk, documents the Director, Corporate Programming. Ford
growing self-confidence of contemporary Motor Company, for their creativity and
China in the international world. dedication in support of this landmark
We are particularly grateful to Hao exhibition.
Zhan, director of the China International Finally, we would
like to thank M.
Exhibition Agency in Beijing, and his Douglas Chairman and Chief
Ivester,

staff, for coordinating the loan proce- Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Compa-
dures, photography, packing, and shipping ny, for his leadership in this important
of exhibits from the many Chinese collec- collaborative project. The collaboration of
tions represented in the exhibition. Douglas Middle and
N. Daft, President,

We would like to thank, as well, the Far East Group, The Coca-Cola Company,
leading scholars of modern China who was also vital to its realization.
contributed their essays to this volume. Significant additional support was
Working in New York, China Project provided by The Starr Foundation and the
Director Jane DeBevoise indefatigably W.L.S. Spencer Foundation. The generous
developed and managed the network hold- support of the Li-Ching Cultural and Edu-
ing together a multitude of crucial mat- cational Foundation has assisted in publi-
ters, large and small, required to produce cation of the two-volume catalogue
an international exhibition of such a com- accompanying the exhibition. Funding
plicated nature. We were fortunate to Shanghai School galleries was pro-
for the
attract a team leader of such unique qual- vided by the Esquel Group of Companies.
ifications: a graduate degree in Chinese Support for the Lingnan School galleries
art history from Berkeley, and fifteen came from Mrs. May Lau. Mori Building
years private sector experience, much of it Company. Ltd. has assisted substantially
in Asia, as a banker. in realizing this exhibition. I would like to
An exhibition of this scale could thank Minoru Mori. President, for his
never take place without the generous inspired support. This exhibition has also
support of our sponsors. been made possible in part by a major
First of all, I would like to thank grant from the National Endowment of
Lufthansa German Airlines for its ongo- the Humanities, expanding America's
ing commitment to the museum and for understanding of who we were, who we are
its leadership support as a Global Partner. and who we will be.
In particular. I would like acknowledge An exhibition of this scope could not
the support of Frederick Reid, President have been achieved without the support of
and Chief Operating Officer, and Josef many individuals at private, institutional
Grendel, Vice President. Corporate Com- and governmental levels. That so many
munications, for their enlightened gen- people gave so selflessly of their time and
erosity. We are also very fortunate to have expertise is a sign of their courage to ven-
had the opportunity to work with the ture beyond traditional boundaries in the
Nokia Corporation, and I am particularly interests of international cooperation. We
indebted to the support of Jorma Ollila. are pleased that the exhibition has provid-
President and CEO; Lauri Kivinen. Senior ed an expanded awareness of the cultures
Vice President. Corporate Communica- thatmake up our increasingly global civi-
tions; Jim Bowman, Vice President. Cor- and a new look at the nature of
lization,
porate Communications, Nokia Americas; modern art and the modern world.
and Micaela Tucker-Kinney, Manager,
Corporate Communications, Nokia Amer- Thomas Krens
icas. We are most grateful to Alex Trot- Director,
man, Chairman and Chief Executive Offi- The Solomon R. Guggenheim FoundatioJi
Acknowledgments
When first approached by director
Thomas Krens to develop an exhibition of
modern Chinese art for the Guggenheim
Museum, our reaction was a mixture of
delight and dismay. We had complained for
a decade that twentieth-century Chinese
art was almost never exhibited in the
major museums of modern art in the
United States, but instead only in exhibi-
tion spaces devoted to the arts of Asia,
where the exhibits were seen by a relative-
ly limited and somewhat specialized seg-
ment of the potential viewing public.
We immediately recognized that the
Guggenheim's exhibition proposal was
ground-breaking in both its venue and its
subject matter. By virtue of pairing the
modern Chinese exhibition with a major
exhibition of premodern masterpieces, it
was intended to provide the historical
link between China's past and its present.
We realized with excitement that the
museum had not asked us to imitate the
European, Asian, or Australian museums
that had recently exhibited contemporary
Chinese art. but to do something that had
never been done before, to make the histo-
ry of modern Chinese art visible. Our
mandate was both creative and ambitious,
but we knew, based on the exhibition's
scope and schedule, that success in locat-
ing and negotiating the necessary loans
was barely within the realm of possibility.
That this possibility became reality
is due in no small measure to the generous
assistance offered to this unprecedented
project by our colleagues in the field. Over
the course of eleven strenuous journeys to
research, select, and negotiate the work to
be exhibited, we have incurred debts to
many people. First, we are very grateful
for the confidence in our vision demon-
strated by Thomas Krens and by project
director Jane DeBevoise. No less signifi-
cant has been the support of the private
and institutional collections in Asia.
North America. Australia, and Europe
who have so generously lent works to the
exhibition. We are also extremely grateful
to our guest essayists. Jonathan Spence of
Yale University. Shan Guolin of The
Shanghai Museum. Christina Chu of the
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Xue Yongnian
of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and
Mayching Kao of The Chinese University
of Hong Kong for contributing their
expertise to this catalogue.
We would particularly like to thank
the China International Exhibition
Agency and its director, Hao Zhan, for
managing the loan procedures, photogra-
phy, and shipping of the works we selected
from public and private lenders in China.
Mr. Hao was ably assisted by Wan Jiyuan,
Assistant to the Director; Tian Fuhui.
Head of the Exhibitions Department; Li
Li. You Shu, and Qi Chunxiao of the Exhi-
bitions Department; and Yang Yan, of the
Conservation Department.
We also are indebted to Zhang Wen-
bin, Director, and Wang Limei, Deputy
Director of the Foreign Affairs Office,
National Administration for Cultural
Heritage, who approved our proposal to
include important Qing period and mod-
ern paintings from major Chinese muse-
um collections in the exhibition.
A crucial element in making this
exhibition possible has been the unfailing
support of our colleagues in Chinese
museums and local institutions. They
include the staff of the Shanghai Muse-
um, including Ma Chengyuan. Director;
Wang Qingzheng, Vice-Director; Shan
Guolin, Chief Curator and Director of the
Painting and Calligraphy Department;
Zhong Yinglan, Vice-Director, Painting
and Calligraphy Department; Wang
Fukang, Director of the Conservation
Department; and Shen Xiufang and Chen
Jing. Department of Conservation. Spe-
cialists at the Palace Museum, Beijing,
particularlyYang Xin, Vice-Director;
Shan Guoqiang, Director of the Exhibi-
tions Department; Hu Chui, Photograph-
er: and Li Shi. Exhibitions Department,
deserve particular thanks. The coopera-
tion of these two major museums, China's
most important collections of painting,
have made possible an unparalleled show-
ing of Shanghai School painting.
At the China National Art Gallery in
Yang Lizhou. Acting Director;
Beijing.
Zheng Zuoliang, Director of Collections
Managment; and Wang Shuling, photog-
rapher, made extraordinary arrangements
for our viewings and catalogue prepara-
tions. We are indebted to Huang Gaoqian,
Director of the Museum of the Chinese
Revolution; Li Rencai, Art Department
Director; Yang Yan. Deputy Director of
the Foreign Affairs Department; and Qiu
Feng, of the Conservation Department,
for lending works from their extraordi-
nary collection. Liao Jingwen. Director of lenders outside mainland China who o
t he \h HcilmiiL' M'iimji i;i I in lii'i jinji wa: generously supplemented our loans from
similarly generous. China with important work from their
At the Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial, collections.They are listed on a separate
Wang Xlrong. Acting Director; Ling Xue- but we would like to
list of lenders,

ling, Vice-Director; and Qin Haiqi. Direc- express our particular thanks to them for
tor of the Conservation Department, gen- making the exhibition complete.
erously shared their expertise and their We would like to mention in particu-
collections with us. In Nanjing, we are lar the assistance given to us in our study
indebted to the expertise and assistance ofHong Kong collections by the staff of
of Ma Hongzeng, Vice-Director of the the Hong Kong Museum of Art, especially
Jiangsu Provincial Art Gallery. Shi Gerard Tsang, Chief Curator. We are very
Dawei, Acting Director, Shanghai Paint- grateful to Dr. Christina Chu. Curator, Xu
ing Institute, helped with important Baizhai Collection, who has provided
loans. invaluable support of many kinds at suc-
In Hangzhou, Zha Yongling, Director cessive stages of the project, aided by
of the Painting and Calligraphy Depart- Assistant Curators Szeto Yuen-kit and
ment of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Tang Hing-sun. Also essential to the exhi-
was extremely helpful in our research. We Mayching Kao,
bition was the help of Dr.
are grateful as well for the help of Pan Director, the ArtMuseum. The Chinese
Gongkai, Director of China National University of Hong Kong.
Academy of Arts, and Lu Xin. Vice-Direc- In the United States, we are particu-
tor of Pan Tianshou Memorial. larly grateful for the support of Eleanor
Faculty members of the Central Pearlstein, of the Art Institute of Chica-
Academy of Fine Arts have provided help go. The kind efforts of Dr. Dewey Mosby,
and advice. Among them must be men- Director, and Jennifer Olson-Rudenko.
tioned Jin Shangyi. Director; Lu Chen. Registrar, of the Picker Art Gallery. Col-
Professor, Chinese Painting Department; gate University, have been absolutely
Zhan Jianjun, Professor, Oil Painting invaluable to the exhibition's success.
Department; and Xue Yongnian, Professor For thoughtful advice or practical
of Art History. assistance we are grateful to many indi-
We would like to thank the staff of viduals, including the artist and graphic
the Guangzhou Municipal Art Gallery, Lu designer Qian Juntao, Shanghai; Chang
Yanguang, Director, and in particular Tsong-zung, of Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong
Chen Ying, Assistant to the Director and Kong; Fan Jingzhong. Director of China
Director of the Exhibitions Department, National Academy of Arts Press.
and Li Huanzhen, Director, Department of Hangzhou; Huang Zhuan. Associate Pro-
Collections Management. The staffs of fessor. Art History Department,
the Guangzhou Provincial Museum and Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts; Xu Lei.
the Nanjing Museum have provided painter, Jiangsu Provincial Art Institute,
important assistance. Nanjing; Ren Yi, Vice-President of Shang-
We are extremely grateful to those hai Art Academy; Qiu Ling. Professor.
individual artists and artists' family Central Academy of Arts and Crafts. Bei-
members in China who lent paintings in jing; Gu Sen, Director, Center for Compar-
their collections through cooperation ative Studies. China Academy of Arts.
with the China International Exhibition Beijing: art historian Ding Xiyuan.
Agency and who are not identified in the Shanghai; New York author Joan Lebold
catalogue captions. They include Lu Chen. Cohen: Robert Hefner, Hefner Galleries;
Lin Yong, Shu Chuanxi. Chang Jin. Xu Lo Ch'ing, Professor, Taiwan Normal Uni-
Lele,Xu Lei, Liao Lu, Xiao Haichun, Shi versity; Michael Y.W Shin, collector, Tai-
Dawei, Wang Mengqi. and Zhou wan: Li Xianwen. President. Lion Art
Changjiang. Publishers. Taipei: Rita Wong, formerly of
For various reasons, certain periods Sotheby's Taipei: and Mrs. Alice King, of
of modern Chinese art history are not Alisan Fine Arts. Hong Kong. Our
fully represented in Chinese institutional research was kindly assisted by Chen
collections. We are thus extremely grate- Xianxing. Vice-Director. Rare Book Divi-
ful to the private and institutional sion. Shanghai Library. We are. as well.
 i
ateftil to Ellen Johnston Laing for her for truly extraordinary efforts. In the
comments on the catalogue manuscript. design department. Marcia Fardella.
We cannot adequately express our Susan Lee, and Jessica Ludwig produced
gratitude to Jane DeBevoise. China Pro- beautiful exhibition signage.
ject Director in New York, whose love of In Columbus, we would especially like

Chinese art is combined with intelligence,
tenacity, superb organization, remarkable
mediation skills, and an ability to get
things done. The two exhibitions compris-
ing China: 5.000 Years would not have taken
place without her backstage work. Jane
kept the monumental project moving
ward with the invaluable support of Pro-
ject Assistant Curator Manon Slome and a
remarkable team of curatorial and
research assistants: Xiaoming Zhang,
Emily Wei. Nichole Lin. and Katherine
Cheng. Deputy Director and General Coun-
sel Judith Cox has played a key role at
important junctures in the complex orga-
nization of the project.
A special thanks goes to Adegboyega
Adefope and Arata Isozaki for their exhibi-
tion design and to Patrick Seymour for
design of this catalogue and the exhibition
We thank consulting editor
signage.
Naomi Noble Richard, who has earned our
profound gratitude for her extraordinary
work on this catalogue, and editor Stephen
Robert Frankel.
The exemplary project team in New
York further consistedof Head Registrar
Suzanne Quigley. Project Registrar Meryl
Cohen, and Associate Registrar Joan Hen-
dricks; Project Conservator Ellen Pratt
and Senior Conservator Carol Stringari;
to thank Jan Glowski, of the Huntington
Photographic Archive in the Department
of the History of Art at Ohio State, whose
initiative, creativity and good sense have
produced an exemplary Web-site for A Cen-
tury in Crisis. Tom Suchan, also of the
for- Department of the History of Art.
designed the maps for this catalogue. Su-
hsing Lin, Zhou Yan, Marian Mazzone, and
Anne Salisbury, all of The Ohio State Uni-
versity, assisted in research and adminis-
tration for this complicated project. Semi-
nar students Ying Chua. Wen-mei Kang,
Wendy Kaiser, and Su-hsing Lin made help-
ful factual and interpretive suggestions.
Jan Haran has patiently provided the nec-
essary financial administration. At The
Ohio State University, Christine Verzar
and Mark Fullerton. past and present
chairs of the Department of History of
Art, along with Donald Harris and Judith
Koroscik, past and present Deans of the
College of the Arts, and Susan L. Hunting-
ton, Dean of the Graduate School, have
provided the logistical advice and collegial
support that allowed Julia Andrews to
devote the 1996-1997 academic year exclu-
sively to this project, as well as to arrange
complicated schedules that permitted her
to see the exhibition through to its open-
ing in 1998.

Director of Exhibition and Collection We are grateful, as well, for support in

Management Karen Meyerhoff. Manager of the initial stages of the project from Jay
Exhibition Fabrication and Design Peter A. Levenson, former Deputy Director for
Read, and Exhbition Design Coordinator Program Administration at the Guggen-
Jocelyn Groom; preparators Liz Jaffe and heim, now at the Museum of Modern Art,
Jocelyn Brayshaw; Lighting Designer New York, and Wu Chao-ying, of the Taipei
Mary Ann Hoag. assisted by Daniel Gille- Municipal Museum, who was a Fulbright
spie; as well as the museum's talented fellow at the Guggenheim in 1995.
installation and construction teams for This complex research and adminis-
the project, headed by Dennis Vermeulen trative endeavor has only come to fruition
and Tony Villamena. which included Barry with the cooperation of many colleagues
Hylton, Paul Bridge, Bob Seng. Francesco in China, in New York, and around the
Simeti, Brian St. Cyr. Elaine Tin Nyn. world. We are extremely grateful for
Larry Mantello, Donna Kessinger, and the support they have so generously
Patrick Burns, who worked long into the given during all stages of the exhibition
night to hang the show beautifully and on preparation.
schedule. In the publications department,
Anthony Calnek, Director of Publications, Julia F. Andrews and Kuiyi Shen
Elizabeth Levy. Managing Editor/Manager Curators
of Foreign Editions, and Melissa Secondi-
no. Production Assistant, deserve thanks
Notes to Readers

Romanizalion. Chinese is here transcribed

according to the pinyin system of roman-
ization adopted by the People's Republic
of China and now in general use.

Personal names. All Chinese persons are

cited in the text in traditional Asian fash-
ion,surname followed by personal name.
The bibliography employs the same order,
even if the work cited was published in a
Western language.

Now. as throughout history, Chinese (par-

ticularly the educated) are usually known
by a variety of pseudonyms in addition to
their birth name. In this volume artists
are referred to by the name or names by
which they are most characteristically
known.

Place names. Place names have changed

frequently in Chinese history, usually
reflecting political changes. Present-
day Beijing ("Northern Capital"), for
example, has borne many names; during
those years of the twentieth century in
which it was not China's capital, it was
called Beiping ("Northern Peace"). Many
places retain their historical names in
customary or literary use; for these, the

text provides the present-day name in

parentheses.

Translations. Within parentheses, direct

translations are enclosed in quotation
marks, to distinguish them from paren-
thetic explanations or paraphrases.
Map 1. Map of China

Map 2. The Jiangsu, Zhejiang. and Shanghai areas

 Beijing
O

Shijiazhuang

Map 3. China's coastal cities

iKW
Introduction
A Century in Crisis:
Tradition and Modernity
in the Art of
Twentieth-Century China
Julia F. Andrews. The Ohio State University

Between 1850 and the present, China's 150 years. The exhibition thus falls

venerable civilization has undergone, in into four interconnected sections'.

i In- name of modernity, a series of shocks "Innovations in Chinese Painting,
and transformations that may be un- 1850-1950": "The Modernist Generations,
precedented in its history. This exhibition 1920-1950": "Art for New China, 1950-1980";
explores the ways that Chinese artists of and "Transformations of Tradition,
the period have defined modernity and a 1980 to the Present."

Chinese tradition against the complex The first section, "Innovations in

background of China's recent history, a Chinese Painting, 1850-1950," consists of
history that, in the nineteenth century, work in the traditional scroll or album
included domestic rebellions, foreign format, painted by artists active primari-
invasions and the establishment of treaty ly in treaty-port cities. Unquestionably,
ports and, in the twentieth century, over- these artists made remarkable transfor-
throw of the imperial system, urban mations in the techniques, use of color,

industrialization, conquest by Japan, and subject matter of Chinese painting,

civil war. the Communist revolution, the creating images that are sometimes daz-
Cultural Revolution, and finally the zling in their surface beauty and compo-
recent openings of China's economy and sitional power. We begin with works by
culture to the international community. traditionally trained painters of the sec-
A key issue for modern Chinese art is ond half of the nineteenth century, who
the degree to which Chinese artists have are usually referred to collectively as the
chosen to adopt or reject Western conven- Shanghai school. Hailing from all parts
tions. Many Western observers view this of the Yangzi River delta, they took the
issue through divers distorting precon- burgeoning commercial city of Shanghai
ceptions. Aficionados of China's fascinat- as their artistic hub, painting for both
ing history and its great cultural tradi- traditional patrons of the scholarly elite
tion may demand that contemporary and the nouveau riche merchant elite of

Chinese artists —to be authentic — should the modern metropolis.

paint only the hallowed subjects in the Several kinds of impetus impelled
hallowed manners: scroll paintings in ink the artistic breakthroughs that one finds
of a poet alone in a thatched cottage. This in Shanghai school painting. The most
romantic view of China, though undeni- essential was individual brilliance,
ably appealing, has no contemporary real- embodied especially in Ren Xiong (whose
ity. A creative twentieth-century Chinese remarkable self-portrait [cat. 1] begins
painter in Beijing or Shanghai can no the exhibition). Ren Yi (cats. 8-13). and
more express the ethos of the fourteenth Wu Changshi (cats. 23-25, 56), all of whom
century than could his American coun- found in the disorders of their age the
terpart in New York or Los Angeles. conditions for creative freedom. Social
Equally misrepresentative is to admit factors — including the taste of the new
quality only in Chinese art that resembles commercial elite for novel imagery — are

contemporary American art. with per- generally believed to have spurred some
haps the admixture of a few quaint native of the more successful experiments that
touches.Work that compares favorably became a hallmark of the Shanghai
with American art may easily be found, school (fig 1). Whereas most merchant
and merits serious attention, but art princes of earlier eras had aspired to join
selected by this criterion alone leaves the land-owning, governing, intellectual
out much of the reality of twentieth- gentry-elite, and had therefore patronized
century Asia. the kinds of art favored by that elite, it

We have selected as our organization- has been convincingly suggested (though

alstructure what we believe to be the further documentation is necessary) that
most compelling of the multiple realities the new entrepreneurial elite of

that modern Chinese artists have con-
structed for themselves in this period. It
will be evident that we do not take
Chinese painting and Western painting as
polar opposites but as part of a continu-
um that comprises Chinese art of the past
Shanghai, whose wealth derived from
commerce with Western firms established
in that treaty port, were quite different in
character and ambition and hence also
different in their patronage of art.
As China's imperial regime declined
 and this new locus of wealth and power transparent water-color pigment called
assumed sufficient importance to chal- "Western red" in Shanghai: employed
lenge — or, more accurately, ignore — the within traditional artistic practice, it

social position of the Confucian scholar- provided novel and brilliant color, but it

official, the social need for newly rich was. in effect, only a minor enlargement
merchants to take on the cultural trap- of the technical equipment of Chinese
pings of the literati was weakened. As a painting. The influence of foreign tech-
result, elements from popular or Western nology (specifically photography) on
art, considered vulgar by the classically Chinese portraiture of the 1870s and 1880s
educated scholar-gentry class, were is unmistakable (see cat. 8). and it is prob-
enthusiastically adopted by many late able that Ren Yi sought to incorporate
nineteenth-century artists, who had the virtues of photography while retain-
matured in this changed environment and ing the excellence of Chinese painting.
Figure 1-a. Ren Yi (1840-1895). Album of worked for the new patrons. The spread of lithographic printing in

Female Figures. 1888. Album, ink and color As Shan Guolin observes in his essay late nineteenth-century Shanghai led to
on paper. Palace Museum, Beijing. in the present volume, elements from transformations in illustration, as
popular and foreign culture led to major painters, still wielding a Chinese brush,
artistic breakthroughs in compositional incorporated certain Western spatial
structure, use of color, figural rendering, devices into their Chinese ink drawings
and spatial conception. Shanghai school (see cat. 22).
artists also broke other taboos in their The two early examples of printing in
quest for technical innovations. They this exhibition, Ren Xiong's Drinking
mingled two previously distinct tech- Cards with Illustrations of the 48 Immortals
niques commonly used for flower-and-bird (Liexian jiupai) of 1854 (cat. 4) and Wu
(huaniao) subjects, the loose-brush xieyi, Jiayou's illustrations for his 1891 issue of
or expressionist manner with precisely Fleeting Shadow Pavilion Pictorial
detailed, fine-line (gongbi) rendering. (Feiyingge huabao) (cat. 22). may represent
Artists such as Ren Yi (1840-1895), even the shift in style and technology from
more notably, began using techniques innovation within Chinese tradition to a
developed for rendering leaves and flowers new, hybrid form of illustration that
to paint human figures or large animals. became typical of treaty-port Shanghai.
Although perhaps not intended as a uni- The former, a brilliantly conceived wood-
fiedwork of art, his Album of Figures, cut series in a traditional format, was
Birds,and Flowers, of 1881-1882, a some- novel in imagery and iconography,

Figure 1-b. what unusual assemblage of six leaves of undoubtedly serving as a source for many
figures and six of the genre traditionally later Shanghai school painters. In its

called "flowers-and-birds," makes the suc- original design the piece appears to have
cess of this technical experiment explicit been intended for use in drinking games,
(cat. 9). In 1888, in his ironic portrait of with each card indicating which player
his friend Wu Changshi, he went so far as should drink how much wine. The figures
to render Wu's uniform in the xieyi flower are exaggerated or otherwise manipulated
manner (cat. 12). for expressive purposes, but most of the
Patrons of this new art were Chinese, settings—the least important part of
and the artists did not generally associ- each composition— are quite simple. In
ate with foreigners: though inhabiting the later Fleeting Shadow Pavilion
the same urban centers, the two groups Pictorial, however, printed lithographical-
seem to have remained separate, as ly from line drawings made with brush
though existing in parallel universes. and ink, some of the illustrations empha-
Thus, the incremental and largely unself- size the settings as strongly as the fig-

conscious adoption of foreign elements ures. The illustration for "Thief in the
into Shanghai school painting took place Flower Garden," a tabloid-style current-
in ways that generally had more to do affairs feature story, depicts a jealous
with practices of the past than with client mutilating the famous Jiangsu
Westernizing trends of the twentieth cen- courtesan Wang Sibao by cutting off her
tury. Many of these adoptions were tech- hair.The interior of the courtesan's
nical novelties rather than fundamental chamber is rendered in remarkable detail.
shifts in practice. One example was a with elegant period furniture and the
 A CENTURY IN CRISIS

standard implements of her trade on the per was completely absorbed into Chinese
»V -4fc wall, such as small portraits (probably cuisine as an addition to, but not a
photographs) of herself and her "sisters," replacement for, the subtle Chinese hua-
her lute, decorative hanging scrolls and jiao pepper, so might the pigment known
calligraphy, a mirror, a pipe, and so on. as "Western red" join Chinese pigments in

mil] Such details, rendered within the repre-

sentation of a three-dimensional interior,
the mixing pots on the desk of the
Chinese painter. Chinese people had. of
lent a feeling of truth to the quasi-jour- course, learned a good deal about the

1 IfTfl
nalistic tale presented. Innovative in its
technology and modern subject matter,
world from early times, both by land trav-
el across the Silk Route and by ocean

1 this magazine appealed to

ership with current events (sometimes
its

shocking), images of female beauty, exot-

urban read- voyages. For example, at the beginning of
the Ming dynasty
earlier than the
(1368-1644)— slightly
European age of explo-
ic technology, and violence. ration — the Chinese court had sponsored
Motifs or practices closely related to maritime expeditions which brought
those found in Japanese art of the period back exotic flora, fauna, and goods from
also made their way into Shanghai school Africa and elsewhere. From about 1895.

painting. Some compositions in Ren however, educated Chinese underwent a

Xiong's (1823-1857) extremely varied fundamental conceptual reorientation,
120-leaf Album After the Poems of Yao Xie becoming increasingly aware that their
(cat. 3). painted in 1850-1851, closely cultural position was no longer central
resemble pages from Hiroshige's slightly and that China, the self-named "Central
later Views of Edo, and the sharp color Kingdom." "had been pushed to an asym-
contrasts in the album similarly suggest metrical position as merely one nation
exposure to Japanese prints. Whether and among many more than they had previ-
1

how Ren Xiong might have seen such ously known.

images is still unknown, but this early This shift, a response to domestic and
album provides testimony to the richness international weakness and crises, was
of the visual environment in which enormously significant: China's self-

Shanghai school artists worked and to image was transformed. By the turn of
the innovations it made possible. The the century changes in the educational
breakthroughs of Ren Xiong and Ren Yi system and civil-service examinations, as
have had resonances in every subsequent well as the departure of many talented
period. students for study abroad, had made clear
The tastes of a new class of patrons, to everyone that the Chinese no longer
a new urban environment, and the adop- considered themselves to constitute the
tion of foreign elements underlie the dominant culture of the world. From this
innovations in nineteenth-century paint- point on. painting in ink rather than oil
ing. These innovations, however, do not became a conscious choice, one that
signify a fundamental break in the nature might have been motivated by personal,
of Chinese art. They may be more accu- ideological, or commercial considera-
rately seen as intuitive or unself-conscious tions, but one that would never again be
responses to an overall modernizing assumed in China as the "natural" way for

Figure 2. ffe Tianjian (1891-1977). Viewing most clearly visible in China's

trend, a Chinese artist to paint. A new Chinese
the Waterfall at Mt. Yandang. 1935. economy and diplomacy. It could be term became necessary to label this art,

Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper. argued that a decisive shift in the mentali- as the old word for painting was no longer
Collection of Michael Y.W. Shih. ty of the Chinese artist took place at sufficiently clear. Modern painting with
the end of the nineteenth century, one ink and/or water-soluble pigments on
that paralleled intellectual changes in Chinese paper or silk is usually called
Chinese culture as a whole. guohua ("national painting").
Until roughly 1895 Chinese — artists The first section of the exhibition
included — still believed in the age-old goes on to explore the various directions
notion of China's centrality in the world. that Chinese painting took between the
Foreign elements made clever and appeal- fall of the last dynasty in 1911 and the
ing additions to the repertoire but were establishment of the Communist govern-
in no way fundamental to the nature of ment in 1949. As Kuiyi Shen and Christina
art. Just as the North American chili pep- Chu observe in their essays in the present

Figure 3. Qian Juntao (b. 1906).
Famous European Love Letters
Past Two Hundred Years. 1930s.
Lithographs. Collection of the
A CENTURY IN CRISIS
volume, this period was characterized by guohua artists taught in academic
remarkable stylistic pluralism and by a departments where oil painting and life
unifying ideology. To put it simply, all drawing dominated the curriculum. They
artists of this group believed in the neces- were self-conscious in their pursuit of
sity of preserving and developing Chinese innovation within the Chinese tradition,
painting, even as they differed about its and often took the preservation of
definition and its future direction. A Chinese painting as a mission. Chinese
strong majority of these artists repudiat- modernity, for them, required Chinese
ed the stylistic "coercion" associated cultural forms.
with the most orthodox interpretations of Artists represented in the exhibi-
Cover of the literati (scholar-elite) painting theo- tion's second section, "The Modernist
of the ry that had dominated Chinese art during Generations, 1920-1950." believed, on the
the preceding three centuries. The Gao contrary, that modern (usually Western;
artist. brothers of Canton, who were strongly forms were necessary for Chinese art to
influenced by the naturalism of the Kyoto function in modern society. As Mayching
school, believed that Chinese painting Kao notes in her essay in the present vol-
needed to be reformed. Their admirer Xu ume, Western art was imported into
Beihong (1895-1953) returned from study China at the turn of the twentieth centu-
in Europe to teach that Chinese painting ry with little debate, as an integral part
required a foundation in Western drawing of the new academic curriculum. Western
(see cats. 47, 61) rather than in traditional art forms were believed to be essential for
techniques. Others, more sympathetic to the development of Chinese science and
tradition, protested that any decline in industry, and many of the earliest
the quality of modern Chinese painting Chinese artists who studied abroad had
was a correctable lapse; that innovation this practical function as one of their
within the tradition was still possible; motives. For example. Chen Zhifo
and that lack of moral fiber, strength of (1895-1962). who was the first Chinese stu-
will, and education were the essence of dent to take a foreign degree in commer-
the problem (see fig. 2). cial art, spent the remainder of his life
Perhaps the most conspicuous promoting excellence of industrial design
painter of this last group was Zhang (see cat. 81). The growth of printing and
Daqian (Chang Dai-chlen; 1899-1983). who textile manufacture into major indus-
proved by his practice that traditional tries indeed created a need for artistic
painting was still vital, but that it might talent of this type and was an important
require technical mastery, a wide-ranging impetus to modern artistic developments.
artistic education, and a certain willing- Graphic designers mastered the latest
ness to take risks (see cats. 44, 45, 178). international styles from Europe, the
The most active theorists of this group, Americas, and Japan, and began to give
including Huang Binhong (1864-1955), He the radically Westernized new literature
Tianjian (1891-1977), and Zheng Yong of the time dramatically new packaging
(1894-1952) (see cats. 40, 43, 53), developed (see fig. 3).
somewhat more slowly as artists, but dur- With the iconoclastically pro-
ing their lifetimes achieved the creative Western May Fourth movement of the
freedom, technical skill, and artistic dis- 1920s, however. Western art began to move
tinction that they believed necessary to from a position of pure functionality to
the modern Chinese artist. Even Wu one of fundamental cultural value, thus
Hufan (1894-1968)— the grandson of a acquiring important ideological implica-
famous Qing dynasty literatus and a self- tions. As Xue Yongnian points out in his
conscious inheritor of the tradition of essay in the present volume, even the tra-
the Suzhou literati — organized his paint- ditional practice of calligraphy was polit-
ings in a slightly new way. His landscape ically charged during this period. Oil
paintings, while related to traditional painting continued to be supported by the
modes of composition, occasionally dis- educational establishment, as it is today,
play contrasts in focus that suggest not and claims for its superiority and its
only painting of the Song period, but also modernity were widely accepted. In a
the newly popular genre of landscape pho- preface to the national exhibition cata-
tography (see cat. 42). By the 1930s many logue of 1929. Cai Yuanpei (1867-1940),
 —

\ CENTURY IN CRISIS

whose l.i u -Hi i

t Weilian (1904-1940) was a l lie printed page may be regarded as
talented modernist oil painter (see fig. 1). another significant feature of China's
lamented the failure of oil painting to modern age.
reach the quantity and quality of the guo- A third type of Western art, the
h ua selections, a goal that he hoped woodblock print, became a link between
might be realized in the near .future. With the radical iconoclasts of the May Fourth
regard to Western art created by Chinese movement and the subsequent
artists, as with traditional Chinese paint- Communist regime. At the instigation of
ing, the styles considered most modern or leftist writer Lu Xun (1881-1936), young

most suitable to China's modern condi- Chinese artists adopted the styles of
tion were a subject of sometimes bitter European avant-garde prints to express
debate, but oil painters were generally their alarm and anger over China's dete-
united in their belief that Western medi- riorating political, social, and diplomatic
ums were superior to or more progressive situation in the 1930s and 1940s. Of partic-
then indigenous ones. Pang Xunqin ular interest in this body of material is

(1906-1985) made determined and idealis- Lu Xun's attempt to synthesize what he

tic attempts to transplant his newly considered worthwhile in European and
acquired modernist vocabulary from Japanese culture with positive aspects of
Paris to Shanghai in the 1930s (see cat. China's past. The woodblock print was
64). When war broke out in 1937, these invented in China some thousand years
efforts were aborted, and the important ago, and it was a recognition of the
Figure 4. Cai Weilian (1904-1940). Figure. work of his subsequent career involved modernity of China's ancient traditions,
Oil on canvas. promotion of the decorative arts rather combined with shame at its recent fail-

than further development of the painting ures, that motivated Lu Xun and young
style in which he may have produced his artists who understood the complexity of
most interesting work. Xu Beihong. in his thinking (see fig. 5).

contrast, fought to develop European aca- The brutal occupation of China by

demic realism, a regressive mission that Japan between 1937 and 1945 focused the
bore fruit in the context of the attention of most Western-style artists
Communist art world (see cat. 61). on the anti-Japanese war. Their work, in
Throughout most of the twentieth both oil painting and woodcut, overtly
century, oil painters have occupied a exhorts their fellow citizens to resist the
slightly different position from other invaders, or poignantly expresses their
kinds of artists in China, in that few of own distress at the suffering of China's
them have relied on the art market for people (see cats. 69-73, 109-115. 117-127).
their livelihood. Unlike more traditional Their increasingly critical attitude
Chinese paintings, or works of the most toward the government also helped lay
successful oil painters in Europe, oil the groundwork for the Communist victo-
painting in China appears to have had ry in 1949.

almost no market. It flourished as an aca- The third section of the exhibition,

Figure 5. Liu Xian (b. 1915). Peace demic rather than a commercial endeav- Art for New China. 1950-1980. is devoted to
Messengers Above the Great Wall. 79.32. or, similar to the publishing of scholarly Socialist Realism, the Western art form
Woodcut. Lu Xun Memorial. Shanghai. books and articles by college professors practiced throughout China between 1950
today. and 1980. Russia replaced Paris as the
This is not to say that oil painting in source of up-to-date styles in the 1950s, as

China was unimportant. On the contrary, enthusiastic young artists were sent to
by the 1930s some oil painters were Leningrad for advanced training. Social
national celebrities, and the debates over utility was believed to be a key compo-
modern painting styles attracted wide- nent of this new art, a virtue that, along
spread attention. Moreover, oil paintings with its novelty, gave it immense appeal
were frequently reproduced by the com- to idealistic young artists as they strove
mercial publishing industry, appearing in to rebuild their nation after the war.
everything from movie magazines to Styles that were condemned in the
women's periodicals, and there is no ques- U.S.S.R. or that were considered formalis-
tion that oil painting was considered a tic or ideologically inappropriate

crucial part of China's culture. That especially modernist oil painting and
China's citizenry knew it primarily from traditional ink painting — were all but
 A CENTURY IN CRISIS

eradicated, and new modes replaced persona] history and the national past
them. One may observehow closely (see cats. 167-172).
Chinese figure painting — the now- The concluding section of the exhibi-
dominant trend — came to resemble oil tion. "Transformations, 1980 to

painting during this period (see cats. 137. Present," consists of work, most of it

143).At the same time, however, counter- recent, that was created outside the
currents emerged, most notably attempts bounds of Maoist ideology. Socially and
to monumentalize traditionalist Chinese economically, this has been a period of
ink painting in order to bring works in rebuilding and opening to the interna-
that medium out of the scholar's studio tional world. One might expect the result-
and into public spaces. Clearing After ing exposure to contemporary Western
Rain, Pan Tianshou's (1898-1971) guohua ideas and practices to have led to cultural
masterpiece of 1962 (cat. 151), which is homogeneity in China, but it is surpris-
almost unprecedented in scale and for- ing to observe that these two decades of
mat, was designed to be framed and hung intense contact with the outside world
in a large public space, and thus takes on have been characterized by a remarkable
many of the functions of monumental oil pluralism and by extraordinary transfor-
painting, but without adopting Western mations within the tradition of Chinese
subject matter or styles. painting. This section focuses on three
By the end of the first decade of the major trends in guohua of the post-Mao
Socialist Realist era, or about 1960, mere period, including a small number of
emulation of Soviet styles was replaced works from the Chinese diaspora that
Figure 6. Li Reran (1907-1989). Ten by a state-sponsored art that was undeni- have influence or resonances in present-
Thousand Crimson Hills. 1973. Hanging ably Chinese (see fig. 6). One aspect of this day China.
scroll, ink and color on paper. Chinese Sinicizing trend, the incorporation of Artists in the first group may be
National Art Gallery, Beijing. folk-art aesthetics into Chinese figure described as Literati-Expressionists.
painting, reached its most bombastic Generally born around the turn of the
level during the Cultural Revolution century, they are products of a uniquely
(1966-1976). Much of the art of the well-educated generation, versed in both
Cultural Revolution was produced by pas- classical Chinese and Western culture. Of
sionately patriotic young artists, and it particular importance to their artistic
sometimes emanates a sincerity that is achievement is their thorough mastery of
possible only when the icon maker is a the techniques of traditional painting,
true believer. One such example is Lin and the best of their painting is executed
Yong's "Great Job!: Mao Zedong with the subtlety, restraint, and technical
Investigating the Peasant Movement in beauty to be expected in masterpieces of
Hunan" monumental image
(cat. 155), a of China's classical heritage. The most char-
a kindly Communist organizer visiting acteristic works of this traditionalist
his people, painted in 1969 and 1970. Other group are those by Lu Yanshao 1909-1993 (

examples, including Liu Wenxi's New and Song Wenzhi (b. 1918). who reemerged
Figure 7. Wu Guanzhong (b. 1919). Spring Spring in Yan'an (cat. 157), look almost after the Cultural Revolution, in old age.

Snow. 1983. Ink and color on paper. Chinese like parodies, although very little subse- to demonstrate the continued possibility

National Art Gallery, Beijing. quent painting can compare in sheer of creating striking compositions with
power to these huge, heartfelt images. the exquisitely controlled brushwork of
This section concludes with work pro- the literati tradition (see cats. 174. 176).

duced just after the death of Mao in 1976, A slightly more international trend
when it was revealed to all who adored may be seen in the works of Wang Jiqian
him that the intensity of their faith may (C. C. Wang: b. 1907) and Zhang Daqian.
have been misguided. For a brief moment both of whom lived abroad for many years
Socialist Realism became a protest art. (see cats. 177. 178). Able to reflect upon the
as the senseless battles among revolu- tradition of Chinese painting from a
tionary factions were recorded in all their knowledge of its alternatives, these two
ironically painful detail (see cat. 167). At classically trained masters, in quite dif-
the same time new heroes were sought, in ferent ways, modernized the look of their
the canon of early Communist leaders Chinese paintings by gracefully trans-
and among the laboring masses (see cats. forming accidental traces of pigment or
163 and 169), as people questioned their ink into imaginary landscapes. Wang's
 i 'I'KY IN CRISIS

use of crumpled paper dabbings to sug- that evoke the late Ming master Wu Bin
gest the structures of his mountain land- (see cat. 180). Shu Chuanxi (b. 1932) emu-
scapes and Zhang's luscious splashes of lates the exquisite paleness of the literati

ink and color evoke the immediacy of plum painters of the Song and Yuan peri-

Abstract Expressionism. However, both ods (see cat. 182), while Liao Lu (b. 1944) is

artists might, with equal legitimacy, point inspired by the ironies to be found in the
to sources in China's classical past, where tradition of Zhu Da (see cat. 181). Finally,

similar practices were well recorded. one of the most aggressive pieces of
Less classically oriented artists, such recent traditionalist painting is Xiao
as Li Keran (1907-1989), made break- Haichun's huge landscape triptych (cat.

throughs in the 1970s by emphasizing a 183). Modeled stylistically and composi-

rarely seen phenomenon in Chinese paint- tionally on landscape masterpieces of the
ing: the rendering of light and its reflec- tenth or eleventh century, the work
tions (see cat. 175). Such dramatic tonal assaults the viewer by its scale. One may
contrasts were of concern to only a few associate the classical technical and com-
artists of China's past (including the positional references in this painting
early Qing individualist Gong Xian), but with the tradition of Dong Yuan and
Li made it his artistic focus. He sought a Juran in the tenth century, but it over-
timeless quality that might evoke the whelms the viewer with the power of
grandeur of ancient Chinese landscape painting, not with the landscape image
painting, but without emulating the or even with evocations of art-historical
brushwork or compositions of antique tradition.
masterpieces. One feature shared by all these works
The inherently modern values of the is superb mastery of traditional brush-
tradition from which these artists work. Some of the painters, such as
emerged make it pointless to try to dis- Zhang Hong and Liao Lu. sought out tra-
tinguish between aspects of their work ditional masters to instruct them in its
that might be "modern and Western" and subtleties, but others have learned
aspects that might be "literati style." through study of museum exhibitions and
Indeed, all of them would claim to be reproductions. Xiao Haichun, for exam-
modern and Chinese. ple, incessantly copies reproduction
A second, younger cohort of artists scrolls from the National Palace Museum
may be called the Neo-Traditionalists. to better understand the brushwork of
All were born at mid-century, into a world the Song masters (see cat. 183).

in which the Chinese writing brush was While compositional interest is

no longer in daily use and the master-dis- important to these artists, of equal con-

ciple relationships in painting education cern is the beauty of brushwork. Able to

had been almost entirely supplanted by study a wider range of paintings than
modern schools. Perhaps most important, most artists of China's pre-modern age,
classical painting was no longer to be the very personal choices they have made
understood solely through the private in expressive style indicates their ability
collections to which one might gain to take full advantage of their position
access, but could be seen reproduced in in history.
books and magazines, exhibited in muse- The final section of the exhibition
ums, and taught in art-history classes. presents artists we call the Post-
Each of the artists represented in this Traditionalists. A feature common to
section pursues the virtues of a different most artists of this group is that they
part of China's artistic history. Zhang came to the practice of guohua with little
Hong (Arnold Chang; b. 1954) seeks the concern for or training in classical brush-
subtlety and cool restraint of Yuan work (see fig. 7). Many of the artists,
literati painting, particularly the tradi- including Wu Guanzhong (b. 1919), Wang
tion of Ni Zan and Huang Gongwang, Wuxle (Wucius Wong; b. 1936), and Liu
while incorporating some traces of the Guosong (b. 1932). were trained In Western
monumentality of even earlier painting painting (see cats. 186, 187, 193, 195).

(see cat. 179). Li Huayi (b. 1948) trans- Others, such as Zhou Sicong (1939-1995),
forms the dramatic manner of the Song Shi Dawei (b. 1950), Jia Youfu (b. 1942). Lu
masters to create fantastic compositions Fusheng (b. 1949), Xu Lele (b. 1955). and
A CENTURY IN CRISIS

Wang Mengqi (b. 1947) (see cats. 199, 200, as seals, rubbings, and calligraphy, for
188, 201, 202, 203), were educated during purely formal purposes.
the Socialist Realist period, when tradi- The border between what we might
tional brushwork was under attack. What describe asmodern and post-modern in
these artists have chosen to do with ink the use of antique motifs, between for-
and paper is extraordinarily varied and malism and irony, between emulation and
original, but marks a clear break with the appropriation, is not at all clear in

art of pre-modern China. The aggressive Chinese art of this period. The actuality
expressionism of Liu Guosong, the deco- of China's twentieth-century cultural
rative abstraction of Wu Guanzhong, and history is that in the second half of the
the monumental intensity of Jia Youfu, twentieth century, and particularly in the
speak to an audience that is quite differ- People's Republic in the post-Mao period,
ent from that of the past. Much of this modernism, Socialist Realism, post-mod-
work is expected to be confronted in a ernism, and various forms of traditional-
public art space, not in the scholar's stu- ism coexist, competing and interacting in
dio, and to be reproduced in magazines ways that may bear little relationship to

and catalogues. It tends to be explicitly the history of Western art. The pluralism
aware of its inescapably complicated rela- of Chinese art today, in which the com-
tionship with cultural constructions of peting trends of the first half of the
China's past, the realities of China's mod- twentieth century have met the fragmen-
ern history, and as yet unfulfilled hopes tation of the contemporary art world,
for its future. make it injudicious to predict the appear-
Artists who have come to maturity ance of any unifying trend. China's
after the death of Mao generally find artists will continue to construct their
themselves in a very self-conscious rela- culture at the juncture of their own par-
tionship to their history, and often use ticular history and the trends of the con-
the medium of guohua, with its many temporary world of which they are a part.
possible ambiguities, to question them-
selves and their tradition. One group
within the Post-Traditionalists, labeled
by critics in China as "the new literati

painters," seem to be making exactly the

opposite point — the impossibility of con-
temporary people ever approaching the
literati ideal.The most notable examples
of this may among artists who
be found
emerged in Nanjing in the late 1980s and
early 1990s and were trained in. but reject.
Socialist Realism. Wang Mengqi. for

example, paints mildly distorted images

of ancient sages at leisure (cat. 203). His
lofty hermits all look a bit dissatisfied,
or worse, ridiculous, as though intended
as parodies of the glorious tradition of
Chinese sagehood. His work thus seems
to question the possibility of modern
men attaining a state of classical virtue.
Viewed in the context of China's current
economic, social, and cultural change,
and in relationship to the moralizing
function of much of China's Confucian
and Communist figure painting, the
sense of anomie conveyed here becomes
a powerful statement. Others, like the
German-trained Shu Chuanxi in his
album Rhythm of the Orient (cat. 196),
use signs of China's artistic culture, such
 —

China's Modern Worlds

Jonathan Spence, Yale Univi • it 5

The Incredible complexity and durability many points on China's coast, as well as
of Chinese culture pose a challenge to the an international legation quarter in
historianwho is seeking elements of the Beijing itself. Militarily, the new tech-
new The record of China's past can. if nologies of exploding shells, smokeless
read with partial eyes, yield evidence of powder, repeating rifles, and steam-pow-
virtually any kind of social phenomenon. ered ships had presented the once-proud
Thus. Chinese scholars of different peri- Manchu founders of the Qing dynasty
ods have found in China's own early with inescapable proof of their own weak-
records traces of primitive democracy, ness on the field of battle.
sexual egalitarianism. socialism, feudal- In the religious sphere. Protestant
ism, extreme individualism, totalitarian- and Catholic missionaries had strength-
ism, full-fledged industrial revolutions, ened their hold on China through treaty-
tenacious manorial structures, utopi- imposed rights to build churches and to
anism. theocracy, the principles of scien- preach their faiths openly; themselves
tific method, and sprouts of capitalism. protected by the laws of their own
Among the first things sixteenth- nations, they could extend the same pro-
and early seventeenth-century tection to their converts; and they had
Westerners found in China — because they begun to spread networks of schools and
wanted to — were proofs that the earliest hospitals that changed the shape of
Chinese classical texts yielded clear evi- knowledge and the parameters of public
dence that Chinese had once worshiped health. The nation's economy was trans-
the same one true God as the monotheis- formed by the sale of opium and the open-
tic Jews and the Christians. Late seven- ing of China's inland waterways to for-
teenth- and early eighteenth-century eign goods and potential export trade,
Westerners found in the structures of which made China — unwittingly at first
Chinese language a key to all other world a partner in the developing nexus of world
languages. Late in the eighteenth centu- trade and price patterns, with all the
ry Chinese garden design offered a cosmic potential for enormous profits and for
solution to problems of spatial arrange- disastrous failure that this brought to
ment within time. By the late nineteenth China's farmers and merchants. In sci-
century the Yijing ("Book of Changes") ence, teams of Chinese and foreign schol-
promised to solve the riddles of the mean- ars were changing the dimensions of the
ing of life. And closer to our own time Chinese language by constructing the
Daoism's early texts brought Westerners new vocabularies essential to translating
the solace of disengagement from an terminology in chemistry, physics, geolo-
impossible present. gy, and mechanics into accessible and
With such a wealth of potential consistent Chinese forms, while special
crosscurrents, whether real or imagined, reading rooms, lectures, and newsletters
the historian seeking to pinpoint China's widely disseminated the new forms to the
moments most profound change has a
of public, including many non-school audi-
multitude of choices. But of these, the ences. And Chinese culture was profound-
period with the strongest claim would ly affected by Western architecture and
seem to be the 1850s and 1860s. By that urban planning, styles of dress, meals,
time, several world-historical phenomena relations between the sexes, treatment of
were inexorably flowing together. In the children, forms of public association, and
diplomatic spheres, battles over freedom notions of public space and privacy, all of

of trade, international law. and ambas- which challenged accepted Chinese norms.
sadorial representation had culminated The impact of Western forms on
in the post^Opium War agreements. Chinese aesthetic activities during this
Those agreements ended the tributary period, though harder to trace, is
and Canton systems (under which nonetheless real. Previous inflows of for-
Western merchants were restricted to eign visual elements had on the whole
Canton, to prescribed trading periods, been absorbed without causing massive
and to commerce with state-designated change. Central Asian designs in textiles.
and state-supervised merchants). They Middle Eastern coloring agents in porce-
also brought foreign powers access to spe- lain. Buddhist and Indian elements in
cially privileged treaty-port zones at sculpture, European etchings of Christian
and landscape subjects, copper engrav- ly mobile refugee population included a
ings, and certain aspects of the Western phenomenal number of talented crafts-
techniques of perspective and chiaroscuro men, scientists, and artists from all

through watercolor and oil had all made across central China, and along with
their ways into the Chinese tradition, and these were adventurous and often highly
often enriched it. But the mid-nine- skilled foreigners, as well as those
teenth-century innovations impinged Chinese with the wit or the government
upon Chinese tradition that was itself contacts to grow rich in the uncertain
now under siege. It was seen as having but open times. Military contractors,
lost much of its dynamism and creativity; grain dealers, gunrunners, and dock
and the various late Ming and early Qing workers coexisted comfortably with arti-
individualist schools — along with the cult sans, craftsmen, and shopkeepers.
of calculated and deliberately exaggerat- It is not surprising that the first

ed eccentricity during the Qianlong peri- major "Shanghai school" of Chinese art
od (ca. 1735-1799) —had not brought about a should emerge in such a rich milieu for
profound revival. Painting could be seen patrons and creators. The foreign conces-
to be feeding too directly on the past, just sion areas, where each group of foreign
as most of the "evidential research" nationals lived under its own jurisdic-
schools of mid-Qing scholarship had tion— the French just down the river from
turned inward and away from pressing the British — were dramatically new in
social concerns. visual terms, laid out, paved, and lighted
Political and military realities in ways not seen before in China.
heightened the dislocation. Between 1853 Networks of new roads fanned out into
and 1864 the Taiping rebels, originating in the countryside, around the walled
the southern provinces of Guangxi and Chinese city, spreading ribbons of
Guangdong, had founded their self-pro- Western architecture. The race course
claimed "heavenly capital" in Nanjing. In was a new form of social space for specta-
pursuing their ideal society based on tors and participants alike. Photographic
pseudo-Christian principles, they had studios became a feature of the town, and
aroused the implacable enmity of the the idea of the group or individual por-
Confucian elite and of the Qing govern- trait made from life was rapidly accepted
ment, and the accompanying years of by Chinese town-dwellers. Though what
murderous warfare had ravaged much of exactly did "from life" mean, in those
central China — a huge swath of land that clean and spuriously domestic studio
extended from Wuchang across much of environments, with a worn rug on the
Anhui to Jiangxi. Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. floor and a clock or a vase of flowers on
In this seesaw warfare many cities the table, confronting the foreigner
changed hands a dozen times, and count- behind his bellows camera, head hidden
less art collections and libraries were by a black-velvet covering?
lost. One of the few havens for the fleeing With the suppression of the Taiping
elite was Shanghai, which though taken in 1864, the Qing dynasty's problems were
over in part by secret society armies in not over, but at least a corner had been
the early 1850s, was reconsolidated as a turned. China turned to a period of recon-
safe bastion by the joint efforts of the struction, which included the economic
Qing authorities and the foreign commu- restoring of the Yangzi River region, the
nity. From 1856 onward, although the city resettling of ravaged lands, and the
was threatened at times by the Taiping's rebuilding of ruined cities. These process-
eastward expansion, its defenses held es also brought a steady accretion of for-

firm. Its economy also grew rapidly, as eign power. Part of the Chinese attempt
the opportunities created by the war at rebuilding included an ideological
made the city the focus for both the component, an attempt to redefine and
Chinese coastal and riverine trade and rearticulate the meaning of Confucian
the growing investments of the foreign- values, and to establish education in the
ers. Before the 1850s Shanghai had been a Classics once again on a morally sound
prosperous enough market town, but not footing. But inevitably, for many influen-
a major cultural or administrative center. tial Chinese officials and scholars, it

By the 1860s it was transformed: its high- entailed the grafting of elements of for-
CHINA'S MODERN won OS I,

into the substructure of The Qing dynasty formally came to an

n.it ivist. values, as If somehow the pain of end early in L912 — forced into dissolution
hange could thus be lessened. by a combination of constitutional and
The i ale of this process and its ulti- revolutionary opposition forces — and
mate unsuccess is central to the last henceforth China was (in name at least) a
of the nineteenth century in China. republic, even if controlled much of the

The impact of the new came in too
areas at once to be coordinated, let alone
controlled. Foreign-style arsenals
be built by the Chinese to manufacture
foreign-looking weapons or machinery,
but how could one supervise all
along with such change — the schooling,
the railways, the coal and iron mines, the
technical handbooks, the concentrations
of urban laborers, the problems of distrib-
ution and diffusion? The Qing court itself
began to flounder again, losing territory
in its north to Russia and Germany,
ing Taiwan to Japan in 1895 and other
areas to Britain and to France. In 1900 the
Boxer uprising, with its alleged goal of
exterminating foreigners and shoring up
the dynasty, failed ignominiously. and the
reparations exacted by the Western pow-
ers left the state with huge debts.
The economic center farthest from
Beijing' and from the fatally weakened
court was Canton, which in conjunction
with the British-controlled enclave of
Hong Kong had become a vibrant center
for international and domestic
From Canton, countless emigrants had
traveled to the United States, and hun-
dreds of students had ventured to Japan
in quest of advanced education and the
secret of Japan's economic and political
success. They returned imbued with a
new sense of nationalism and purpose,
which the need to shore up the dynasty
had been replaced by a new desire to sup-
plant it altogether, in the name
al strength, with a republic or constitu-
tional monarchy. Sun Yat-sen typified
this new He was born near
outlook.
Canton, educated in Hawaii and Hong
Kong, at home in Japan and London, and
many time by independent militarists. Up until
1912 Chinese nationalists could claim that
might it was the Manchus (the warriors from
the north who had conquered the country
in 1644) who were to blame for China's
that went weakness. After 1912 they had only them-
selves to answer to, although the forces of
foreign imperialism were still ominously
present and the power of Japan was
becoming steadily more threatening.
Even before the dynasty's fall, young
Chinese men and women had begun a new
yield- series of odysseys to other lands besides
Japan, most especially to the United
States and to France. In a general way,
they were still traveling to seek a cure for
China's ailments, to find elements of
other cultures that could replace those
they found most wanting in their own
society. But in particular, they criticized
Confucian doctrine for being so constrict-
ing and outdated that even its virtues
were hard to espouse in public anymore.
Confucianism was also branded as the
dominant ideology of the now defunct
trade. imperial state, and hence all the more in-
applicable to its successor. Those Chinese
traveling to the United States were espe-
cially drawn to the study of the natural
and social sciences, and to such obviously
practical fields as engineering and agron-
omy. Once having mastered these new
in skills, they felt, they could return to
China and begin the complex task of
rebuilding China's economy and educa-
of nation- tional system from the ground up. It was
obvious that the United States, although
such a relatively new society, had
achieved prosperity through encouraging
capitalism, and social cohesion by guar-
anteeing democratic rights to all citizens

his revolutionary organization of disaf- (however flawed the electoral process

fected Chinese played a crucial role in the might appear on occasion). At the same
overthrow of the dynasty. As in Shanghai, time, the weakness and lack of cohesion
art followed politics, and a Canton (or among the Chinese immigrants to the
Lingnan) school of artists drew on both United States, who were often restricted
Japanese and Western elements to make to their "Chinatown" enclaves by discrim-
their mark. Nationalism had changed inatory legislation, and who seemed inca-
direction: it was the modern and the con- pable of functioning as fully active mem-
tested that was to imbue the tradition bers of American society, were chasten-
and the country with new life. ing. They suggested a deeper cultural
CHINA'S lnriDKUN W<IJ(I,J)K

malaise in the race as a whole, one that closest friends from Hunan who were in
might have to be addressed through radi- France in 1919 and and Zhou Enlai
1920;

cal or even revolutionary transformation. and Deng Xiaoping were among the
The very idea of "race" in this sense was Chinese in Paris at this same time. But in
itself a foreign concept, one that had to the context of aesthetics, the equally
be grafted onto earlier Chinese ideas of important impact of France on China
the folk, the lineage, or the community. came through painting and poetry, as the
But clearly that foreign concept was a Chinese reared at home on translations of
part of the world in which China must French Realist and Romantic literature
henceforth live. Those returning from the and poetry, or on reproductions of French
United States with their new skills were Classical and Impressionist painting,
well prepared to tackle specific problem encountered in a mind-enchanting whirl
areas in industry, scientific development, the new vistas of Cubism, Surrealism,
or finance, but less certain of how to and Symbolism.
reform the deeper levels of society as To come back home to China with
a whole. such knowledge was at once uplifting and
Chinese students traveling to France, disheartening. For how were the new
though few in number, seemed to find in insights to be incorporated in a world as
the French intellectual tradition a sharp- fragmented as China had grown by the
er sense of guidance. Perhaps this mid-1920s? Much of the country was still

stemmed in part from the profound and
passionate debates over social organiza-
tion that had preceded and accompanied
the French Revolution. Perhaps it
stemmed also from the fact that France
had become the haven— even before the
Qing fall —for a small group of Chinese
drawn to the ideas of anarchism, with its
emphasis on mutual aid and the erasing
of distinctions between clans, that had
been preached by Kropotkin and Bakunin.
The anarchists' message was especially
attractive to those seeking fundamental
solutions for China, and in the absence of
either a strong Chinese socialist party or
any widespread knowledge of Marxism,
anarchist publications and communities
found a considerable following. These
early Chinese drawn to anarchism were
followed by well over a thousand Chinese
students who came to France after the
end of World War I in 1918. many of
on government-sponsored work-study
programs. The context was now radically
different from that of a few years before,
since not only had the horrors of World
War I seemed to expose a fundamental
weakness in the West's vaunted human-
ism, but also the 1917 Bolshevik revolu-
tion in Russia inspired a new interest in
Marxist theories and their Leninist orga-
nizational implementation.
Fatefully.many future leaders of
Chinese Communism shared in the post-
war contact with France: Mao Zedong
was led to Marxism-Leninism in large
controlled by warlords, the republican
government structure was in disarray,
and the Nationalist Party founded by Sun
Yat-sen —and taken over after Sun's death
by Chiang Kai-shek —was first in uneasy
alliance and then, after 1927. in deadly
conflict with the Chinese Communist
party, which had been formally founded in
1921. In such a world, to be too imbued
with foreign ideas made one an obvious
outsider: only in the specially privileged
purlieus of the few big cities that had
taken on the veneer of modernism had
the concepts of public exhibitions, deal-
ers, and salons established a precarious
foothold. But to be untouched by foreign
ideas and influences threatened to tie one
to a sterile traditionalism, for the great
mainstream pageant of Chinese painting
was now excoriated by many as one more
hated remnant of a "feudal" past.
them Some creative Chinese artists could
still find their home in rigid adherence
either to the realist genre of Western oil
painting or to classical brush techniques,
and they taught in academies devoted to
one or the other. But many chose a com-
promise solution, as can be seen in the
crowded pages of the many new illustrat-
ed weekly or monthly magazines that
became such a feature of Chinese life in
the late 1920s and the 1930s. Here, repro-
duced in miniature, one could experience
at regular intervals the whole swirl of
doubt and accomplishment in the art
world of the time. The viewing contex: is

part by corresponding with some of his also revealing of social and intellectual
CHINA'S MODEB N WORLDS

modes: for the paint ings now seen so reg-
ularly by the casual viewer were tucked
neatly between photos of Chinese athletes
(both men and women), of pinups
stars (both Chinese and foreign), of the
popular generals and politicians of the
day. and of vigorously direct, often sexu-
ally loaded advertisements for everything
from milk products and cigarettes to bed-
room suites and luxury liners.
The nature of the advertising and
easily absorbed impact provide a good
index of the changing pressures within
had their own impact on the art world.
Much art had taken on the dimension of
propaganda, and the cheaper forms of
and film mass-produced graphics were especially
well structured to make maximum use of
these opportunities. In newspapers and
magazines, the cartoon swiftly drawn
using conventional brush-and-ink tech-
niques could have an immediate approv-
ing or satiric impact, or deflate political
its pomposity with an irreverence that the
official censors might be slow to catch.
Simple captions could enhance the effect,

Chinese society. By 1928. the Nationalists but were not always necessary. If the
of Chiang Kai-shek appeared in the ascen- audience were illiterate, the captions
dant, and China was by its governments' would in any case be useless, and this was
avowal embarked on a process of commer- doubly true for inflammatory political
cial and economic growth and adminis- messages, whether directed against the
trative renewal. The Nationalists accept- Japanese or against the Nationalists,
ed foreign models and foreign advisory where the effectiveness of the message lay
personnel in their military reorganiza- in its starkness and simplicity. Here.
tion, their police forces, their banking Chinese graphic artists soon saw the
systems, and their rail and domestic air- effectiveness of the monochrome wood-
lines networks. Yet much of the country- block print, for the woodblock allowed
side — especially the border areas between swift and cheap duplication, and the indi-
two provincial jurisdictions, or isolated vidual tear sheets could be easily handed
mountain regions — was controlled by out at meetings or rallies, or even scat-
insurgent Communist forces of varying tered randomly into the streets from
levels of strength. Having failed to take neighboring buildings; police found it dif-

over the labor movement and the major ficult to anticipate such maneuvers, to
industrial cities along lines laid out for apprehend the distributors, or to track
them by their Leninist (and, later, down the locations where the simple
Stalinist) political advisers, the Chinese prints were being made.
Communists had pragmatically developed By the time that full-scale war with
theories of land reform, rural social orga- Japan erupted in 1937. the idea of art-as-
nization, and mass peasant mobilization propaganda was fully embraced by both
backed by guerrilla strategies of warfare. Nationalists and Communists, the former
This combination made it both militarily in their wartime base at Chongqing, far
difficult and financially ruinous for up the Yangzi River, and the latter in the
Chiang Kai-shek to eradicate them com- barren northern area of China within the
pletely.To compound China's problems, curve of the Yellow River, centered on
Japan's aggression was now flagrant. Yan'an. For both these regimes — commit-
Japan had, between 1931 and 1934, taken ted to fighting Japan together, yet equal-
over most of Manchuria and established a ly anticipating renewed internal conflict
puppet state there, and was also enforcing once Japan was defeated — the war did not
a so-called "demilitarized zone" across allow aesthetic ambiguity. Thus, those
much of north China. In 1932 their troops who were the most strongly drawn to
also invaded Shanghai. Chiang Kai-shek, Western artistic forms, along with those
anxious to buy time to destroy the who clung most tenaciously to tradition-
Communists, had to give in to the ongo- al Chinese genres, often found their most
ing Japanese demands until he could natural home in the limbo-world of the
ready his own forces. There was perhaps Japanese occupied areas, which covered
logic to this procedure, but it was violent- most of north China, the Yangzi region
ly opposed among his own people, espe- from Shanghai and Nanjing to Wuchang,
cially the more nationalistic students and a large area around Canton, including
and intellectuals. (after 1941) Hong Kong. Here their
These social and military pressures commitment to one or the other of the
CHINA'S MODKIIN WOIU.IJS
aesthetic schools was less likely to be
misinterpreted as a political statement
and could be seen for what it was—as the
personal expression of an inner vision.
During the war years between 1937
1945. although the Nationalists in
Chongqing were zealous in spreading
their own ideology, they lacked the
to do so effectively. This was not true
the Communists, who, from their Yan'an
base across the guerrilla areas that they
controlled, imposed a tight ideological
version of cultural correctness. In the
most famous formulation of this,
expressed at the 1942 Yan'an forum on
erature and arts, Mao Zedong and
Communist leaders harped on the theme
that, when dealing with class warfare or
foreign imperialism, ambiguities in the
field of aesthetics were impermissible.
Shaded characterizations were unaccept-
able in such settings — the good landlord
or the compassionate Japanese officer
were contradictions in terms. Similarly,
poor peasants and Red Army soldiers
must be portrayed as noble and good.
Moreover, inherent virtue and wis-
dom could be discerned within the cultur-
al products of such untutored masses:
their styles of representation might seem
naive to city-bred intellectuals, but in
essence they were pure and honest. It was
in this sense that artists of true revolu-
tionary potential could constantly "learn
from the masses." When some Chinese
intellectuals protested these characteri-
zations, they were vigorously confronted
in group meetings, to which the name
"struggle session" was aptly given. Those
reluctant to change their ways, or
continued to ask awkward questions,
could be dismissed from the party and
sent to learn from the people, or given
harsher punishments.
Yan'an was indeed a base for military
and political organization against the
Japanese occupation in north China, and
many Red Army units and their peasant
supporters fought with great courage and
often suffered hideously from Japanese
reprisals. Yet at the same time Yan'an
was the focus for Mao Zedong's concen-
trations of power within the party into
his own hands, and the scene of his calcu-
lated and skillful construction of his per-
sona as close-to-omnipotent revolution-
ary leader. Under the careful monitoring
of Mao's close disciples, the checkered
history of the Communist party in China
since 1921 became a paean to Mao's politi-
cal acuity. A party history was construct-
and ed that presented all key moments of
doubt or controversy as struggles between
"two lines"; when "correctly" interpreted,
means it could be seen that Mao's decisions on
for the direction the party should take,
whether in the darkest year of 1927, in the
peasant mobilizations and rural soviet-
building that followed, in the Long March
to the north during 1934-1935. and within
Yan'an itself, had been the ones that led
lit- to success.
other Mao's role as cultural arbiter was an
important part of this restructuring of
the past; for instance, at the Yan'an
forum, Mao praised the writer Lu Xun for
being one of the party's most important
backers and intellectual standard-bearers
until his death in 1936. a man who had
always been willing to "serve the people."
In this analysis, although Lu Xun had
never joined the Communist party, and
indeed protested vigorously against the
cultural restrictions placed on free liter-
ary expression by the League of Left
Wing Writers in the 1930s, what mattered
was that he intuitively saw the value of
art produced by the masses, and thus
had become a major collector, publisher,
and sponsor of the woodblock art for the
time. Conversely, a roster of cultural
opponents — initially mainly writers, but
later to include musicians, film makers,
dramatists, and painters —was drawn up.
to be used for heuristic or polemical pur-
poses as the need might arise.
who Notwithstanding the long agony that
China had experienced since 1937, the
Nationalists and the Communists
resumed their hostilities soon after the
Japanese surrendered in September 1945.
With only short periods of negotiation
some under the proddings of President
Truman's emissary George Marshall
the civil war was fought with increasing
bitterness and intensity until the
Communist victory in the fall of 1949. The
Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek
retreated to Taiwan, which became the
base of their government in exile. For sev-
eral years the Nationalists under Chiang
had claimed to be the protectors of the
true legacy of China's past, and thus tra-
CHINA'S MODKKN WORLDS

ditional calligraphy and painting — like pensation — to have fallen short of the
classical scholarship — were publicly party's commands. This retroactive criti-

encouraged. Some Chinese artists found cism hit film makers, writers, and artists
Taiwan a good place to work; at least especially hard. Many who had made no
there they were free from the constant critical statements, aesthetic or other-
instability that had been their lot on the wise, during the Hundred Flowers cam-
mainland. Others found little to attract paign, found themselves forced out of the
them either in Taiwan or under the new comfortable niches they had created for
Communist mainland regime, but were themselves in revolutionary China, and
unwilling to give up a Chinese environ- were sent into long periods of exile in the

ment altogether for a home in the West. countryside, with no clear statement of
For them. Hong Kong became home, even when forgiveness might come, or even how
if still under the colonial rule of the atonement could be made. The muting of
British, who (against the odds) had courage and initiative that followed was
reestablished their claim to the island patent: and during the excited and ulti-
and the new territories in late 1945. Hong mately disastrous years of the Great Leap
Kong, free intellectually and artistically, Forward (1958-1962), and the even more
became a good base not only for those culturally intrusive years of the Cultural
who wished to pursue traditional art Revolution (1966-1976). only circum-
forms, but for those who wished to explore scribed forms of artistic expression were
the many currents of art inherited from allowed at all. During the Cultural
the West or the new trends coming to the Revolution especially, the smallest mis-
fore in Europe and the United States. take in the rendering of an image, such as
In China between 1949 and the mid- an imagined slight to Chairman Mao or
1950s the Communists focused mainly on Lin Biao — for example, the color black
reestablishing political control, confirm- where red "should" have been used, or the
ing the borders, and rebuilding the econo- absence of an icon of socialist industrial-
my, but nevertheless cultural control was ization in a landscape — could mean disas-
tight. Especially once the Korean War ter for the artist. Even painting or writ-
broke out in 1950, the Yan'an message of ing in secret was almost impossible,
1942 was reaffirmed, and the strong influ- because Red Guard units might invade
ence of the Soviet Union on China meant one's home or studio at any time of the
that Yan'an theories were now wedded to day or night. Aesthetic accomplishments
Stalinist ideas on the permissible forms were still possible —to a few exceptionally
of Socialist-Realist art and that both talented and courageous individuals —but
were reinforced through the realities of they put the creator at risk.
mass campaigns. In China this could lead
either to straightforward imitation of One paradox of the Cultural Revolution
Soviet styles and content, or to an admix- was that long before it was officially over,

ture of traditional Chinese aesthetic major shifts in culture had begun. These
forms with "correct" interpretative tech- proceeded directly from the visit of
niques in representing Mao, the party, or President Nixon to Chairman Mao in 1972.
the masses. and the cautious yet insistent pattern of
A temporary relaxation of party Ide- cultural contacts that flowed from that
ological controlcame to China in 1957. meeting. Ambiguous though the
during the Hundred Flowers campaign, Shanghai Communique might have been
when intellectuals were encouraged to in geopolitical terms, the mere fact that
speak out against perceived abuses in the it became safe to correspond with persons
party and the bureaucracy. But the ensu- in the West, that Western tourist groups
ing harsh crackdown known as the "anti- were encouraged to visit China, that

rightist" campaign was directed not only Western scholars could not only visit

^against those who had been overzealous in China but in some cases stay for long

responding to the party's requests for periods, and that selected Chinese schol-
frank criticism. was aimed also at
It ars could now visit the West all meant
those in the cultural world whose own that the flow of ideas and images recom-
—
earlier works could be seen under the menced. Like the visits of Chinese intel-

stern scrutiny of the new political dis- lectuals to France from the late Qing to
CHINA'S MODKRN worlds

the early 1920s, the lowering of barriers This pattern continued through the
worked to end a pattern of constriction 1980s, still on a zigzag course, as govern-
and to unleash of the potential for pro- ment warnings against license or official
found cultural transformation. In the censure of extremist vices took the form
1970s the impact of the written word was of renewed campaigns, the names of
fairly muted, since Western fiction and in which showed their general purpose. The
some ways even poetry were (apart from campaigns against "bourgeois liberaliza-
the permitted range of sexually explicit tion" or against "spiritual pollution"
subject matter) recognizably what they revived the ideas that art was a function
had been in the 1950s. But in theater, cine- of class and that some inner core of
ma, dance, and the visual arts, the Marxism-Leninism-Maoism was essen-
changes were overwhelming. And just like tially pure and eternally valid. At the
their predecessors sixty years before, the same time, these assertions were never
Chinese of the mid-1970s encountered this specific. Clearly there was some room for

torrent of novelty all at once, without negotiation — which had not been true
warning, and without any clear guide- during the Great Leap or the Cultural
lines as to levels of significance or the Revolution and had been very difficult
making of fine distinctions. even in Yan'an. And these campaigns
The consolidation of this period of were usually inaugurated after some par-
renewed openness is often dated to the ticular events had sharpened the levels of
celebrated Third Plenum of the Eleventh confrontation — as with the publication of
Central Committee, which took place in certain poems of shadowy but undeniable
late 1978. During this Plenum, where hostility to the regime, the showing of
Deng Xiaoping was clearly in control, fol- films full of overt sensuality that roused
lowing the brief political eclipse into disquieting echoes of past excesses, and
which he had fallen just before Mao's installation of performance art that
death in 1976, the leadership firmly con- forced social and emotional confronta-
fronted the need to transform the collec- tions with the political status quo. Such
tive structures of the Chinese economy, to campaigns could also swing, as they had
pay more attention to education, to pro- in the past, against hair or clothing
ceed to full diplomatic recognition of the styles, advertisements and magazine cov-
United States, to introduce legal reform, ers, dances and rock music. When linked
and to allow a certain amount of cultural to charges of "hooliganism." they could
"opening." One result of this latter deci- be directed against overt examples of
sion, which soon gave the government democratic protest or demonstration, as
pause, was the explosion of criticism and had occurred in 1976 and 1978. and were to
commentary that appeared on the cele- occur again in the winter of 1986-1987 and.
brated Democracy Wall in Beijing far more dramatically (under the gaze of
between late 1978 and early 1979. and the the whole world) in the spring of 1989.
accompanying mass of underground or Today, in the late 1990s, the brakes
informal magazines, pamphlets, and have been applied sparingly, and China
prints. In the spring of 1979 the govern- seems poised to be a member of the world
ment decided to halt this flood of infor- aesthetic scene in all the complex ramifi-
mation and opinion by forbidding the cations of such a term. The formal return
posting of writings on that stretch of the of Hong Kong to Chinese control in July
wall, and by arresting some outspoken 1997made this all the more probable,
critics of Deng Xiaoping and the party. since Hong Kong's currents were already
These actions may have dampened enthu- so global that they would be hard to still.

siasms, but could not suppress the princi- And although the full implications of
ple of renewed expression. New kinds of what a modern China will mean to the
poems continued to be written and circu- world are not yet clear, we can already see
lated; the visual images that passed from in myriad ways how individual Chinese
hand to hand had culminative impact: partake with enthusiasm and sophistica-
small groups met to read innovative tion of all the current options they are
works aloud or to show paintings and now allowed.
sculptures that explored the farthest
edges of the permissible.
 h
ntBm
 «Jn

Innovations in s
Chinese Painting,
1850-1950

*&

.
 Painting of China's
New Metropolis:
The Shanghai School
1850-1900
Shan Guolin. The Slums; liai Museum

During- the second half of the nineteenth duties themselves. Foreign business
century a group of particularly creative enterprises opened banks; built factories,
painters — known to modern art histori- bridges, and roads; and installed gas, elec-
ans as the Shanghai school — transcended tricity, and running water. By the begin-
the boundaries of traditional Chinese art. ning of the twentieth century Shanghai
Although their painting styles were not had been transformed from a small town
strictly similar, they had in common cer- into an international financial and com-
tain artistic concepts, types of subject mercial metropolis, and had become the
matter, and formal experiments that largest city in China. And by 1914
defined a new artistic trend. The Shanghai had expanded to almost thirty
Shanghai school may be viewed as one times its 1843 area, while its population
response by the Chinese art world to the had more than doubled, from 540.000 peo-
culture of modern urbanism. ple in 1852 to 1.2 million in 1910.
Shanghai, surrounded by a fertile In 1889 Wang Xieyun wrote in his
plain, is located at the mouth of the Songnan mengyinglu: "Shanghai was origi-
Yangzi River, with access to both the nally a rustic, undeveloped place, but
Pacific Ocean and the Grand Canal. When when so many wealthy merchants gath-
the Qing dynasty rulers opened China to ered there, they made frivolity the fash-
international trade in 1684. the city ion and ostentation their achievement.
became a very prosperous port. It With money as king, poetry and friend-
remained so until 1757, when the govern- ship fell away."' The uneven development
ment completely closed the coasts to for- of the economy and the exceptional
eigners, leaving Shanghai with only its growth of industry and commerce
domestic trade, and thus severely cur- spurred urban consumption. Opium dens,
tailed Shanghai's commerce and general casinos, brothels, and dance halls could
development. It remained closed to for- be found throughout the city; bars, night-
eign trade for more than eighty years; in clubs, and racetracks proliferated. These
1843. following the Opium War. it was establishments made Shanghai a metrop-
reopened as one of five treaty ports. luxury and dissipation. At the
olis of

Between 1845 and 1849 the British, same time Shanghai became a huge art
Americans, and French successively market, in which the great range of social
established permanent control over large classes showed an equally wide range of
areas of Shanghai, which were referred to tastes in art and culture. Zhang Mingke
as foreign concessions, and then rapidly noted in Hansongge tanyi suolu: "After the
expanded the city's ocean and river ship- treaty port was opened to trade,
ping. By the 1850s a visitor to the city Shanghai became the most important
would have seen both banks of the commercial city [in China]. Those who

Huangpu River crowded with foreign ships made their livings by selling paintings all

moored to unload their cargos of opium, came to Shanghai.'" According to

fabric, and cotton thread and to take on Songnan mengyinglu. during the reign of
silver, silk, and tea for export. the Guangxu emperor (1875-1908).

In 1853 the army of the Taiping rebels
occupied Nanjing and Yangzhou. In
September of that year the Small Sword
Society of Shanghai, echoing the larger
rebellion, took control of sections of the
Chinese city. The chaos of civil war
throughout the lower Yangzi region led
many wealthy Chinese merchants, land-
lords, and commoners to take refuge in
the concession territories of Shanghai,
. swelling their population. In the same
period the foreign powers expanded the
concession territories, gradually estab-
lished an extraterritorial administration
with military, commercial, and legal
structures, and even collected customs
"painters and calligraphers who migrated
to Shanghai from other provinces num-
bered more than a hundred. The land-
scapists Hu Gongshou [Hu Yuan] and
Yang Nanhu [Yang Borun]; figure
Ren
painters Qian Jisheng [Qian Hui'an],
Fuchang [Ren Xun], Ren Bonian [Ren Yi],
and Zhang Zhiyin: flower-and-bird
painters Zhang Zixiang [Zhang Xiong]
and Wei Zhijun; and the portrait painter
Li Xiangeng all became very famous.
People in Shanghai were proud to obtain
their works."
As early as the Daoguang era
(1821-1850).painting and calligraphy soci-
eties were set up in Shanghai. Gao Yong
wrote in his preface to Haishang molin,"ln ings. In other words, this group began to
1839 Jiang Baoling of Yushan came to take on the character of a professional
Shanghai to spend the summer. He invit- organization.
ed many famous people to Xiaopenglai After about 1850 many painting and
where they painted and wrote calligraphy calligraphy societies established in
every day. This might be considered the Shanghai served as gathering places
prototype for later painting and calligra- where artists could share and improve
phy societies." 3 The Xiaopenglai Painting painting techniques, coordinate painting
Society, organized by Jiang Baoling. was prices, and market their paintings. In
indeed different from traditional literati addition, many painting-and-calligraphy
or artists' gatherings, which had been, in and antique shops were established. They
effect, affinity groups devoted to socializ- included the Deyuelou Fan Shop at the Yu
ing and recreation; Xiaopenglai func- Garden and the fan and stationery pur-
tioned to bring together painters and cal- veyors Scent of Antiquity Studio
ligraphers for mutual financial support (Guxiangshi) and Nine Blossoms Hall
(i.e., exchange of information about how (Jiuhuatang) on Guangdong Road.
and where to sell their work).' Painters such as Ren Xun. Xugu. Hu
The second half of the century saw Yuan, and Ren Yi all sold their works at
the founding of a spate of artists' soci- these fan shops.
eties, testifying to the ferment of artistic The opening of Shanghai as a treaty
activity in Shanghai. In 1862 Wu Zonglin port resulted in the rapid development of
of Qiantang (present-day Hangzhou) finance, industry, and commerce; a rela-
came to Shanghai and established the tively stable and peaceful environment in
Duckweed Blossom Society for Painting the foreign concessions: and rapid expan-
and Calligraphy {Pinghuashe shuhuahui), sion of material and cultural consump-
which was located at the Temple of Lord tion by its urban residents. Such condi-
Guan on the west side of the old Chinese tions created an environment conducive
city. The twenty-four founding members to the development of painting. The grow-
included Wu Dazheng, Gu Yun, Hu Yuan, ing number of painting societies served
Ni Tian, Qian Hui'an, Wu Qingyun, Tao as professional organizations for a grow-
Shaoyuan, Qin Bingwen. Wang Li, Zhou ingnumber of artists, and the increasing
Xian, Bao Dong, and Zhu Cheng. During number of art shops both signified and
the second half of the nineteenth century advanced the expanding art market. In
the Feidan Pavilion Painting and this social setting the Shanghai school of
Calligraphy Society (Feidange shuhuahui) painting emerged and developed.
met at the Deyuelou Restaurant in the Shanghai school painting may be
Chinese city's Yu Garden. Many famous regarded as evolving in three phases: the
Shanghai painters joined this society, formative period, during the 1840s and
including Wang Li, Wu Qingyun, Hu 1850s. when the most representative
Yuan, Yang Borun, Ren Yu. Zhang Xiong, artists were Zhu Xiong. Zhang Xiong. Ren
Pu Hua, Wu Changshi, and Wu Jiayou. Xiong. and Wang Li: the mature period,
The Feidan Pavilion Painting and from 1860 to 1900. with Hu Yuan. Xugu.
Calligraphy Society was not only an Zhu Cheng. Zhao Zhiqian. Pu Hua. Qian
artists' association but also served as a Hui' an.Ren Xun, and Ren Yi being its
shop for selling painting and calligraphy most important artists: and the late peri-
and as a hotel. In the mid-Guangxu era od, the first three decades of the twenti-
the Shanghai Tijinguan Epigraphy, eth century, during which Wu Changshi.
Calligraphy, and Painting Society Wu Qingyun, Gao Yong, Ni Tian. Ren Yu.
(Haishang tijinguan jinshi shuhuahui) was and Wang Zhen were active.
established, with Wang Xun as director With the opening of the treaty ports
and Wu Changshi as deputy director. It to foreign settlement and trade. Western
had a wide membership of professional culture gradually flowed into China.
painters, calligraphers, and seal carvers, Western artistic forms, such as drawings,
and its activities included sharing paint- watercolors. prints, religious paintings,
ing techniques, judging the art works, and commercial art (.including printed
setting prices for member-artists, and matter) became widespread in the big
promoting sales of its members' paint- cities. Some artists learned Western tech-
 —

1'AlNTlNi: OF CHINA'S NKW MKTIUll'OI.IS

V niques in order to create new types of art. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN

for example, Wu Jiayou (also known as Wu URBAN PAINTING IN CHINA
Youth), who created the lithographs It was inevitable that the urbanization of
reproduced in Dianshizhai Pictorial. Shanghai's cultural, social, economic,

J *y
Western-style art. however, was not yet a
powerful trend. Indeed, traditional ink
painting still dominated the main cur-
rents of Chinese art during the second
and

ment
political

in the city.
environment would
ence the direction of painting's develop-
A group of artists who
responded to the needs of this new soci-
influ-

half of the nineteenth century. ety began to transcend the boundaries of

In its formative and mature periods traditional painting by seeking new
Figure 1-a. Zhang Xiong (1803-1886). Shanghai school painting built on tradi- meanings, content, and expressive forms.
Leaf from Album of Flowers and Birds. tion but also incorporated elements of Zhang Xiong. Zhu Xiong, and Ren Xiong
Undated. Ink and color on paper. urban culture, was nourished by epigra- (referred to collectively as the "Three

Shanghai Museum. phy, calligraphy, and folk art. and adopted Xiongs") were pioneers of this new paint-
some technical features of Western-style ing style.
painting. The Shanghai school thus Zhang Xiong (1803-1886), also known
brought about innovation and reform, by his by-name (zi) Zixiang. was a native
establishing novel artistic styles and of Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province. 5 He
bringing fresh vigor to traditional paint- gained his reputation as an artist for his
ing. By the beginning of the twentieth flower paintings and based his style on
century the art world, in step with intel- those of the Ming artist Zhou Zhimian
lectual currents advocating "science and and the Qing painters Yun Shouping,
democracy," rallied to the slogan "Reform Wang Wu. and Jiang Tingxi, combining
Chinese painting." Study of Western the techniques of these masters. His
artistic techniques and styles quickly accomplished brushwork was stable but
Figure 1-b. Zhang Xiong (1803-1886). proliferated, and it was fashionable for free, his compositions were orderly and
Leaf from Album of Flowers and Birds. painters to study in Europe and Japan. As well balanced, and his palette was daz-
Undated. Ink and color on paper. new mediums — such as oil painting, zling (figs. la-Id). Thus, while retaining
Shanghai Museum. prints, watercolors, and cartoons the elegance of literati painting, his work
appeared in China, the domination of the achieved a new and seductive charm. He
aa »» i Chinese art world by traditional ink moved to Shanghai relatively early and
< " l
-
painting was broken. During its late peri- established a significant reputation in
i

>r -
od, although the Shanghai school was
esteemed in the art world
tions, it could not
for its innova-
claim to represent the
thecity. As one commentator noted, "One

Zhang Xiong fan was worth [a unit of sil-

ver], and his high prices astonished and
main trend of Chinese painting. In this impressed his contemporaries,"" making
century, as the art world entered a new him the leader of the emigre artists
phase of multidirectional and pluralistic in Shanghai.

% 1\> exploration, Chinese painting underwent

a rapid transformation from the classical
In Shanghai. Zhang Xiong became
the teacher of his fellow townsmen, the
Figure 1-c. Zhang Xiong (1803-1886). tradition to modern art. One must con- brothers Zhu Xiong and Zhu
(1801-1864) 7

Leaf from Album of Flowers and Birds. clude that Shanghai school painting Cheng (1826-1900). ZhuXiong's flower
Undated. Ink and color on paper. made its greatest contribution in its for- painting was fresh, bright, and technical-
Shanghai Museum. mative and mature periods. ly controlled but more spontaneous in
Among Shanghai school painters of style than that of Zhang Xiong (figs.
the formative and mature phases, Ren 2a-2b). Zhu Cheng's painting style incor-
Xiong, Xugu, Zhao Zhiqian. Ren Xun. and porated the elegance of Zhang Xiong and
Ren Yi were undoubtedly the most cre- the power of his subsequent teacher Wang
ative. The present exhibition, which Li and won him a great following in
includes major works by these masters, Shanghai.
thus gives viewers a clear idea of the Wang Li (1813-1879) was a native of
dominant artistic trend during the sec- Wujiang in Jiangsu Province. 8 On first

ond half of the nineteenth century. By arriving in Shanghai, he was unknown,

examining transformations of artistic but Zhang Xiong's commendations
concepts, forms, and styles, we may con- brought him almost instant fame. His
sider Shanghai school painting under sev- painting style was elegant, powerful, and
eral important aspects. free (fig. 3). Zhang Xiong, Zhu Xiong,
 PAINTING OK CHINA'S NKW METIinl'UI.IS

Wang Li, and Zhu Cheng, all emigre

artists in Shanghai, based their flower
styles on the conventions of the Ming
dynasty Wu school and the Qing dynasty
Yun Shouping school, with resemblances
also to such masters as Xi Gang and Zhu
Angzhi. These early masters of the
5 A It
Shanghai school surpassed their models
in the vitality of their flower-and-bird
'
II

images, as well as in the power and free-

Figure 1-d. Zhang Xiong (1803-1886). dom of their brushwork. Their color, in

Leaf from Album of Flowers and Birds. particular, was much brighter and fresher
Undated. Ink and color on paper. than that in earlier painting. Such differ-

Shanghai Museum. ences indicate that these artists aimed Figure 2-b. Zhu Xiong (1801-1864). Album
more at immediate visual impact and of Flowers. Undated. Ink and color on
were less interested in the symbolism and paper. Shanghai Museum.
the poetic qualities to be found in stan-
dard literati painting. Although these
changes in creative attitude and aesthetic Xian's studio, known as the Fanhu
taste were largely intuitive, they reflect- Thatched Cottage Fanhu caotang). where
(

ed a shift in artistic fashion that he made numerous copies of Tang and

undoubtedly prepared the ground for the Song paintings. Surviving examples of
formation of the Shanghai school of these include copies of the Tang period
painting. Court Ladies Tuning a Lute and Playing the
The brothers Ren Xiong (1823-1857) Lute, and the Song period Landscape After
and Ren Xun (1835-1893) are representative an Academy Master." His painting style
1
is

of early Shanghai school artists who ver- thus based on that of Chen Hongshou and
nacularized and popularized painting. on his studies of Tang and Song paint-
Ren Xiong. often known by hisby-name ings. He may also have been influenced by
Weichang, was born to a family of modest woodcuts of his native Zhejiang area, as
means in Xiaoshan, Zhejiang Province. 9
suggested by his emphasis on line and his
From a very early age he loved art. A simple, strange, archaic-looking images.
schoolmaster with whom he studied poet- His styles differed strikingly from the
ry and the Classics gave him his first early Qing orthodox manner.

Figure 2-a. Zhu Xiong (1801-1864). Album lessons in portraiture. He also liked Ren Xiong's style of figure painting,

of Flowers. Undated. Ink
paper. Shanghai Museum.
and color on horseback riding, archery, and wrestling. though strongly influenced by that of
During the chaotic years of the late Qing Chen Hongshou. is less bizarre than that
dynasty it was considered necessary to of his seventeenth-century predecessor.
know both the Classics and martial arts His lines are strong and forceful, like iron
in order to serve society. When he was wire, and his forms are exaggerated to
thirty-three, he went to Nanjing at the emphasize the character and emotion of
recommendation of his good friend Zhou the subject. This style is apparent in his
Xian. for what proved to be a brief stint as portrait paintings, including Self-Portrait
a military strategist with the Qing army. (cat. 1). Here he has rejected the
From an early age he painted in the Ming-Qing genre of '"literati amuse-
style of the Ming dynasty artist Chen ments" as a setting for his portrait. He
Hongshou. and sold his paintings to sup- has eliminated the customary garden or
port his mother and siblings. In 1846 he studio background, giving the entire pic-
copied rubbings taken from the famous torial space to his figure, and far from
relief carvings of the Sixteen Arhats in portraying himself in a mood and pose of
Hangzhou, which were believed to be relaxation, appears both taut and stern.
based on Buddhist paintings by the ninth- In other words, in this self-portrait he has
century artist Guanxiu. The process of presented himself as a nonconformist.
copying taught him to understand the Ren Xiong was short and unprepossess-
antique simplicity of their brushwork. In ing, but he intentionally exaggerated the
1848 he met the Jiaxing painter Zhou power and muscularity of his physique
Xian and lived for three years in Zhou and his icily serious expression in order
 I'AINTINU OK CHINA'S N V, w METROPOLIS

to express a determined, direct personali- rendered as though in close-up, and the

ty—a depiction that fits Ren Xiong's
forthright and resolute character.
lines that describe the drapery folds in
this painting are firm and powerful, and
reinforce the monumental solemnity of
the portrait. Ren Xiong 's artistic tech-
niques are straightforward and simple,
creating a visual immediacy very close to
compositions are strikingly uncomplicat-
The ed.For example, "Myriad Valleys with
Competing Streams" (cat. 2-j) depicts
only a detail of a single valley, but there,
among the sharply jutting rocks, rivulets
burst from the mountain and then merge
to form a mighty stream. The scene as
rendered may be limited in scope, but it

that of the folk prints that his figural leaves in the viewer's imagination a
images sometimes resemble. His new vision of many rivers and waterfalls
manner of portrait painting strongly simultaneously pouring down mountain
influenced the later Shanghai school ravines.
artist Ren Yi (also called Ren Bonian; Other innovative characteristics of
1840-1895). who adopted similar composi- this album are its strongly decorative
tional conventions in his Hengyun quality and its emphasis on abstract for-
Shanmin (Hu Yuan) as a Beggar of 1868, mal beauty. The rainy clouds, stylized
The Shabby Official (cat. 12), and his 1883 wave patterns, and layers of soaring
portrait of Wu Changshi entitled Master peaks in "Myriad Bamboo in Misty Rain"
of the Wujing Pavilion. (cat. 2-a) and "Myriad Scepters
Ren Xiong's body work includes
of Worshiping Heaven" (cat. 2-d) do not
many images from ancient legends and appear in the natural world. They are a
historical tales. In all of them the setting language of signs constructed by the
is concrete and detailed, the composition artist, who created an imaginary world
is clear, and the personalities of the char- through the rhythmic harmonies of his
acters are readable and vivid. Ren Xiong parallel structures of lines and forms.
also painted designs for several series of Ren Xiong brushed the crisp images
prints, including Liexian jiupai ("Drinking and dazzling chromatic tones of The Ten
Cards with Illustrations of the 48 Myriads onto a gold-leafed ground. To this
Figure 3. Wang Peony and
Li (1813-1879). Immortals"; cat. 4), Gaoshi zhuan he applied strong lines of ink and bright
Magpies. 1877. Hanging scroll, ink and color ("Stories of Eminent Scholars"), Yuyue mineral pigments, including azurite.
on paper. Shanghai Museum. xianxian xiangzan ("Portraits of Ancient malachite, red ocher. cinnabar, mineral
Sages"), and Jianxia xiangzhuan blue, and white lead. The painting surface
("Portraits of Knights Errant"), thus par- itself reflects a taste for wealth and abun-
ticipating directly in the creation of pop- dance. His bold use of brilliant colors
ular printed art. flouted the literati canons of blandness
Ren Xiong's unique landscape paint- and subtlety. In exploiting the brightness
ings also broke the bounds of convention. and sensual quality of color, Ren was, to
The handscroll The Fanhu Cottage Estate some degree, reflecting the craving of
(Fanhu caotang tu) that he painted for his rich Shanghai merchants for conspicuous
friend, the painter Zhou Xian, is a good consumption —a craving that partly
example. By selecting and emphasizing shaped the aesthetic trends of newly
certain elements of the actual scene, he urbanized Shanghai. It is not an accident
created a monumental image that still that when Ren Xiong was in Shanghai
has a strong rustic flavor. The colors are many merchants bought his paintings at
brilliant yet dense, strikingly juxtaposed high prices.
yet still harmonious. Though strongly Ren Xiong was a professional painter
decorative, the painting conveys a feeling with a classical education. Some of his
of immediacy, as of a realm one could work therefore contains literati symbol-
physically enter. This masterpiece rejects ism or poetic meanings; but the pursuit
the conventions of early Qing orthodoxy, of lively, plebeian, and easily comprehen-
.utilizing new kinds of composition and sible artistic effects was always the pri-
form to provide a fresh visual experi- mary motive of his style. In the album
ence. 11
After thePoems of Yao Xie (cat. 3) Ren
The grandly titled Ten Myriads album combined these two elements in his char-
(cat. 2-j) is another work without prece- acteristic manner. That extraordinary
dent. Many of the landscape leaves are album was painted in the winter of 1850.
PAINTING OP CHINA'S NEW METROPOLIS

when the painter lived for about two the rocky hills, spindly trees, and rising
months in the home of the famous poet sun of "Woman Under a Sapling in Dawn
and calligrapher Yao Xie. During that Light" (cat. 3-4aj. Ren Xiong painted the
time Yao Xie composed poetry for the 120- album After the Poems of Yao Xie when he
leaf work, while Ren Xiong painted the was in his late twenties. It reveals his
images. The album's subject matter artistic influences, especially thework of
includes figures, ghosts, divinities, land- Chen Hongshou, as well as the very
scapes, auspicious creatures, flowers-and- refined painting techniques of Tang and
birds, fish and insects, and architectural Song painters, and the free, loose brush-
scenes. Every composition was carefully work of the eighteenth-century Yangzhou
conceived, with unconventional and origi- master Hua Yan. Most notable, however,
nal results. is his adaptation of the manner of folk
Some of the leaves are poetically prints in his compositions and in his fig-
allusive or charged with literary connota- ural images. As a result, the themes of
tions. For example, the leaf entitled this album tend to be more clearly read-
"Birds in Mist" depicts a hummingbird able and easily understood than they are
and reeds as seen through a bamboo in the restrained painting of the literati.
screen (cat. 3-2b). It perfectly conveys the Ren Xiong's brush work is simple and
poetic meaning of Yao Xie's accompany- plain, descriptive rather than calligraph-
ing couplet: "Small birds fly in smoky ic. In fact. Ren Xiong is important for his
mist. Fine weeds are dense like rabbit departure from the elitist ink play of the
fur." At the same time, it suggests the literati in favor of a style that could be

subtle implications beyond the actual appreciated by popular taste. Although

meaning's of the words. Throughout the his brief lifespan —he died aged thirty-
album scenic atmosphere has been used in four years — prevented him from establish-
this way to convey poetic resonance. ing a new style for his own generation, his
In contrast, most of the leaves, espe- influence on later members of the
cially those depicting figures and deities, Shanghai school is undeniable.
are stylistically simple, direct, and easy Ren Xiong taught painting to his
to understand. Some leaves obviously younger brother Ren Xun. known often by
adopt artistic forms from popular iconog- his by-name Fuchang. Ren Xun's early
12

raphy or folk prints. "Heavenly Troops work, which followed the style of Chen
Search the Mountains for Hidden Hongshou. was highly decorative, partic-
Demons" (cat. 3-41) is a good example. The ularly his outline flower-and-bird paint-
subject is common in painting of the ings and his exaggerated figural images.
Yuan and Ming periods, but in "Heavenly His brushwork was more elegant and less
Troops" the battles between axe-wielding powerful than that of his brother. In the
heavenly warriors and fierce demons take latter half of his life he lived in Suzhou,
place in midair, amid tumbling clouds and center of Wu school painting, and
crashing lightning, while the defeated absorbed influences of that school. He
demons attempt to flee below. The paint- created his own style of flower-and-bird
ing is filled with intense action and res- painting, combining a harmonious
onates with suspense and a powerful palette with ever finer and more elegant
mythological flavor. Other examples, such brushwork that mingles elements of
as "Bao Cilong Presenting the Text at the expressionistic free brush (xieyi) painting
Lingxiao Palace" and "The Twelve with finely detailed (gongbi) painting. He
Deities of Thunder Gate" (cats. 3-4f and 3- shared Ren Xiong's pursuit of vivid sub-
4e), are similar to the illustrations and ject matter and clear characterization.
imaginary group portraits often seen in His twelve-leaf illustration to the drama
prints. Romance of the Western Chamber (cat. 5) is

The painting's in this album are also a typical example.

highly decorative. The effect of the "Five- In the late Ming dynasty Chen
Colored Butterfly" (cat. 3-2a). in which a Hongshou had designed illustrations for a
huge butterfly contrasts with small flow- printed version of Romance of the Western
ers on the cliff, is simple and clear, like a Chamber that has been recognized as a
traditional Chinese cut-paper design. A masterpiece of woodblock illustration. It
similarly decorative quality is present in was not easy for Ren Xun to surpass his
I'AINTINi: OF CHINA'S NKW MKTROPOl.IS

predecessor, but with careful thought he
was able to make an original interpreta-
tion of the literary classic. In Chen
Hongshou's illustration to Romance
Western Chamber, emotions are depicted
with restraint. His "Receiving a Letter"
depicts Cui Yingying carefully reading a
poem from her lover Zhang Sheng. Her
expression betrays a delicate hint of
embarrassment. Hongniang, her servant,
peeks at her from behind a four-panel
flower-and-bird screen. This composition-
al arrangement subtly represents the
psychological state of the two figures,
while at the same time creating a very
decorative effect.
In contrast, Ren Xun's "Waiting"
(cat. 5c) depicts Zhang Sheng sitting in a
melancholic state at his desk, resting his
chin in his hand. Hongniang. hesitant to
approach him, holds Yingying's letter and
a round fan. She does not understand the
real meaning of Yingying's response,
cannot bear bringing what she believes to
be bad news. Zhang Sheng's lovesickness
and Hongniang's mistaken pity are
depicted in great detail, and combine
with the elegant setting of Zhang
Sheng's studio to make the story
extremely clear and readable. Although
Ren Xun's interpretation of the classic is
more easily comprehensible than that of
Chen Hongshou. it is by no means superfi-
cial. By means of his skillful and elegant
outline technique Ren brought the per-
sonalities and the emotions of the char-
acters vividly to life.
year he is believed to have been drafted
into the Taiping rebel army as a flag
bearer, but he remained with the rebels
of the only briefly. Many tales have been record-
ed about his youth and about how he
learned to paint. The most colorful of
these anecdotes has him copying Ren
Xiong's paintings and successfully pass-
ing them off as originals to buyers on the
streets of Shanghai; on discovering this.
Ren Xiong recognized Ren Yi's talent and
accepted him as a disciple. This story,
however, cannot be true, because Ren
Xiong died in 1857, when Ren Yi was only
seventeen. Historical records reveal no
evidence of a relationship between the
two men.
Ren Yi's teacher when he was young
was Ren Xun; their association, contrary
to common belief, began not when Ren Yi
moved to Ningbo in 1865. but at least one
year earlier. This writer has discovered
and that a fan painting of flowers, now in the
Shanghai Museum, was executed collabo-
ratively by Ren Xun, Ren Yi, Zhu Xiong,
Yuan Qichao, Wei Zijun, and Zou
Zongyao. On this work Ren Yi signed his
name as Ren Xiaolou. Since Zhu Xiong
died in 1864. the painting cannot have
been executed later than that year. Yuan
Qichao and Wei Zijun lived in Suzhou,
where Zhu Xiong and Ren Xun were also
very active. On this evidence, we may
assume that the fan painting was made in
Suzhou and that Ren Yi already knew Ren
Xun and Zhu Xiong before he was twenty-
four. He may also have begun studying

Famous throughout the Zhejiang and painting with Ren Xun at that time.
Jiangsu regions. Ren Xun taught or In 1865 Ren Yi traveled to Ningbo and
inspired both Ren Yi and Ren Yu and Zhenhai (in Zhejiang Province) to sell his
many other disciples in Ningbo and paintings. We know that Ren Xun was
Suzhou. The most creative was his direct also active in the Ningbo-Zhenhai area at
student Ren Yi, who later became the about the same time. Ren Xun may have
leader of the Shanghai school. Thus, Ren suggested the trip to Ren Yi or, even more
Xun was instrumental in disseminating directly, the two men may have made the
his brother's contributions and infusing trip together. In March 1868 Ren Yi and
them into the developing urban, plebeian Ren Xun — pupil and teacher— left Ningbo
painting style. and returned to Suzhou together. In the
Ren Yi (1840-1895), who is most often winter of the same year Ren Yi moved to
known by his by-name of Bonian. was a Shanghai, where he remained and lived by
native of Shanyin (present-day Shaoxing) selling his paintings.
in Zhejiang Province." The family was A statement published in a miscel-
poor. His father. Ren Hesheng. was a folk lany of 1875," extolling the paintings of
portrait painter who taught his son the both Ren Xiong and Ren Yi, makes clear

outline technique of portrait drawing. that Ren Yi had earned a reputation in

Ren Yi began painting for his living in Shanghai by the time he was in his thir-

the Shaoxing area in 1860. The following ties. In his late years, "his reputation was
PArNTTNG OF CHINA'S NEW M JOT UO I'O I, I K

equal to Hu Gong'sl'iou's." 1
'
1

He and Hu very popular, as his many surviving por-

Yuan (Hu Gongshou; 1823-1886) were con- traits dating to the 1870.-; and 1880

sidered the leading' Shanghai painters. Also characteristic of Ren Yi's por-
Ren Yi was extremely intelligent and trait painting was its acute rendering of
hard-working, so that his artistic develop- the psychological state of the sitter. In

ment was very rapid. He specialized in 1888 he painted a portrait of the scholar
figure painting, portraits, flowers-and- Wu Changshi. In the Cool Shade of the
birds, insects, and landscapes, but his por- Banana Tree (cat. 13), in which Wu
trait painting was particularly appreciat- Changshi. seated obliquely on a bamboo
ed by his contemporaries. Zhang Mingke bench and naked from the waist up. waves
states: "Ren Bonian was a specialist in a palm-leaf fan. This kind of portrait
portraits in the baimiao (ink outline, defies the traditions of Chinese portrai-
without color or wash) style. At that time ture, in which the subject is rendered
many people asked him to paint por- frontally, fully clothed, and in an unnatu-
traits, and all were close likenesses of the rally formal posture. Ren painted the real
sitters." In his early years his portraits Wu Changshi, indifferent to appearances,
followed his father's folk technique. Later concerned only with cooling off at the

he was influenced by Ren Xun's style and height of the summer heat.
adopted his outline technique. In Another excellent portrait of Wu
Shanghai he came to understand some of Changshi. The Shabby Official (cat. 12).

the strengths of Western art. He studied painted in the same year, is a profound
at the Painting Studio of the Xujiahui depiction of the sitter's psychological
Catholic church at Tushanwan; there, it is state. Not long before the portrait was
said, his studies included life drawing. In painted. Wu Changshi had served as a low-
his portrait painting of the Shanghai level government clerk in Suzhou.
period (post-1868) one can see a new man- Although Ren Yi has painted Wu
ner that combines Chinese and Western Changshi in his official uniform, there is

techniques. A typical example is his nothing dignified about his appearance.

Portrait ofGao Yong (cat. 8), a good friend, On the contrary. Wu appears awkward and
painted in 1877. He used a firm line to out- unsure of himself. The portraitist has
line the figure's facial features, including here satirized his old friend, albeit good-
the prominent contours of Gao's brow, naturedly. In this regard Wu Changshi
nose, and jawbone. Washes of light ink himself wrote: "I knew my pathetic
and tan pigment define the eye socket, demeanor, and feared I would provoke the
cheek muscles, cheekbone, and neck ten- anger of my superiors." Compared with
don. Without training in drawing and Ren's earlier portraits. In the Cool Shade
anatomy, it is unlikely that Ren Yi could of The Banana Tree and The Shabby Official
have rendered the facial structure so pre- show a simplified outline technique:
cisely and conveyed such a strong impres- nonetheless, a few sketchy strokes have
sion of volume and likeness. At the same accurately rendered facial features,
time, he has fully expressed the magnani- anatomical structure, and. most effective-
mous and self-possessed character of ly. Wu Changshi's frame of mind. The
his friend. voluminous robes of The Shabby Official,

Thus we see that, while preserving painted with a loose brush, are thick,
the traditional outline technique of evoking the heavy heart of the sitter.

Chinese painting. Ren Yi also adopted Chinese figure painting went through
Western anatomical conventions. His syn- a two-hundred-year period of decline in
thesis of Chinese and Western techniques the early and middle Qing periods (rough-
was far more harmonious than those of ly 1650-1850), but its prestige and quality
such predecessors as the Jesuit Giuseppe were restored by Ren Yi. He expanded and
Castiglione and his Chinese followers in developed its subject matter by depicting
the mid-Qing period. Ren Yi. then, simul- historical figures, myths and legends,
taneously breached the boundaries of tra- contemporary customs. Buddhist and
dition and preserved the unique formal Daoist deities, demons, and other themes.
beauty of Chinese painting. In the period He illustrated anecdotes admired by the
before photography was widespread, his literati, such as Xie An Playhig the Qin at

realistic portrait technique naturally was East Mountain. Ji Dao Composing a Poem
 PAINTING "i CHINA'S NEW METROPOLIS

on Donkeyback . Wang Xi.thi Trading His slender and elegant female figures exe-
Calligraphy for a Goose. Mi Fu Bowing to a cuted with fine, soft brushwork. These
Rock. Jiang Baishi Playing Pan-Pipes to the qualities appear in Ren Yi's work done in
Tune of a Poem, and Ni Zan Washing the his twenties. From about the age of twen-
Paulownia Trees. He also illustrated sto- ty-four, when Ren Yi began to study
ries about popularly known historical fig- painting with Ren Xun, exaggerated
ures and events, including Su Wu Herding forms and sharp, straight brush strokes
Sheep. Lady Wang Zhaojun Passing the gradually dominated his style. The sharp
Frontier. Bo Le Evaluating Horseflesh, Hua lines of the draperies in Five Successful
Mulan Joining the Army, and The Three Sons continue the style of Ren Xun, but
Knights Errant (cat. 11). The myths, leg- curve much more freely and fluidly. After
ends, and Buddhist and Daoist figures migrating to Shanghai, Ren Yi had the
that he painted often had congratulatory, opportunity to expand his technical
auspicious, or apotropaic connotations, repertoire by viewing paintings by
and were suited to the beliefs and aspira- ancient masters. The loose and simple
tions of the common people. They include style ofHua Yan and the bold and severe
deities of good fortune, wealth and manner of Zhu Da particularly attracted
longevity; the Daoist goddess Magu him. From the exercise of copying their
Granting Longevity; the Eight work, he realized that "making a painting
Immortals: The Immortals Granting should be similar to composing one's spir-
Longevity; Nil Wa Patching the Heavens; it, and no different from writing calligra-
Liu Hai Playing with the Toad; Zhongkui phy." 18 In his late thirties his painting
the Demon Queller; the Buddha style gradually moved beyond the compli-
Amitayus: the Bodhisattva Guanyin; and cated compositions and firm, angular
Bodhidharma. These themes appealed to outlines of his early work and toward a
all classes of metropolitan society — to style characterized by simple composi-
people of elite culture and to those of tions and free and fluid brushwork. By
more popular taste. Ren Yi. with his about 1881 he had created his own typical
superlative talent for artistic conceptual- style, which combined broad, loose,

ization, carefully designed every composi- expressionistic brushwork (xieyi) with

tion, making each scene simple and vivid. fine-line detail (gongbi) in a free but
The character of each figure is clear and instinctively controlled manner. Then
emphatic, and the compositions are began a decade of experimentation. His
appealing and unconventional. The Five hanging scroll depicting the Three
Successful Sons (cat. 10). painted in 1877. is Knights Errant (cat. 11) is a good example
based on the story of Dou Yujun, of the of his mature style. The composition is

Five Dynasties state of Later Zhou particularly ingenious. Curly Beard, on

(951-960), whose five sons all passed the donkeyback. turns back to look at the
imperial civil-service examinations. In hero Li Jing and his paramour Hongfu,
ancient times passing the imperial exam- who are partly concealed behind the
ination was called "bending the cassia branches of a tree. The partially hidden
branch," which is why the Chinese title of figures lend the painting an atmosphere
this painting may be literally translated of mystery and secrecy appropriate to
as "Five Red Cassias in Fragrant Bloom." their story.
In the painting. Dou Yujun sits at a stone Ren Yi was also extremely accom-
table. His oldest son, beside the table, plished as a flower painter. His early
holds an open book. His second son teach- flower-and-bird paintings, constructed of
es his little brother calligraphy, while the ink outlines and rich colors, follow the
third eldest holds his youngest brother up style of Ren Xun but also incorporate

Figure 4. Zhu Cheng (1926-1900). beside his father. Ren Yi has taken a seri- techniques from Chen Hongshou and the
Peach Blossom and Birds. Undated. ous theme — the road to success through is Song masters. When Ren Yi first arrived

Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper. . study —and rendered with great artistic
it in Shanghai, the flower-and-bird paint-

Shanghai Museum. charm, thereby imbuing it with the mood ings of Zhang Xiong, Wang Li. Zhu
of a happy family, natural and warm. Cheng, and Zhou Xian. who had come to
Ren Yi based his earliest figure- Shanghai earlier, were already famous in
painting technique on that of Fei Danxu, the city. After Ren Yi got to know the
a nineteenth-century master known for artists, he absorbed the strengths of their
 PAINTING OF CHINA'S NEW METROPOLIS

techniques, including Zhang Xiong's too, that these artists had created a new
orderly and well-balanced compositions, style of painting, quite different from the
Zhou Xian's richness and elegance, and styles of their mid-Qing predecessors. In
Wang Li's powerful brushwork, as well as Chen's literary comparison, the painters
the appealing and clear color of all three. of theTongguang generation might be
He adopted all of these, selecting and compared with the poets of the late Tang
synthesizing, and thereby amending the dynasty, who differed utterly from those
ftt overly decorative compositions and some- of mid-Tang. These artists of the
what stiff lines of his earliest flower-and- Tongguang school, later called the
bird painting's. Other important artistic Shanghai school, were unique and not to
influences were the free, elegant brush- be confused with their mid-Qing prede-
work Yangzhou
of the eighteenth-century cessors.
painter Hua Yan and the bold xieyi man- Like Yangzhou school painters of the
I -ft
•
' I i - -"V,*
ner of the seventeenth-century individu- eighteenth century. Shanghai painters
•^ alist Zhu Da. combined with his own moved to extricate painting from the pre-
rM study of drawing techniques and painting scriptive canons of the literati "ama-
from life. By the 1880s Ren had estab- teurs" 17 and shift it toward the tastes of
lished a unique style of flower-and-bird merchants and common people. They
painting, far surpassing his contempo- deemphasized the symbolism and didacti-
•; 1V raries, and created a new prototype (see cism that were so conspicuous in tradi-
cat. 9) that suited the tenor of his times. tional literati painting, brought subject
-
:
Ren Yi's mature style of flower-and- matter closer to nature and the real
bird painting reveals the following char- world, and worked for visual immediacy
acteristics: diverse and lively subject and popular appeal. They also harmon-
matter, including flowers, birds, animals, iously combined techniques and conven-
insects, vegetables, and fruits; novel, tions that were traditionally employed
ingenious, and varied compositions; pre- separately: outline with "boneless"
cise and accurate but also animated (mogu) painting and. most notably, the
'&ISK
,/vfc forms: richly varied and masterfully exe- fine-line, detailed manner (gongbi) with
cuted painting techniques, including fine the impressionistic free-brush manner
"...
outlines, dots, washes, splashed ink. and (.xieyi). Ren Yi. in addition, employed
mogu ("boneless" ink or color, applied Western-style drawing to strengthen the
without outlines), employed singly or in accuracy and vitality of his images. In
*^ harmonious combination; bright, clean their use of color. Shanghai painters
colors in mingled transparent and opaque departed from the coolness of literati
applications. Ren Yi's rich and expressive painting, the opacity of court painting,
artistic language evokes bird calls and and the delicacy of the Yun Shouping
floral scents; it enabled him to paint into school, instead employing clear, bright
';."'->>.
being a vital and poetic world, pervaded tones that evoked immediate aesthetic
by sensory experience. pleasure. The Tongguang school of paint-
In 1925 Chen Xiaodie (Dingshan). ing, which reached its maturity with Ren
author of Jindai liushi mingjia huazhuan Yi. represented an urbanized artistic
("Biographies of Sixty Modern trend that indeed occupies a leading posi-
Painters"), pointed out that a new school tion in the history of Chinese art.
of painting appeared in the Shanghai
area during the Tongzhi and Guangxu THE TRANSFORMATION OF
reigns (1862-1908), which was established LITERATI PAINTING
by Zhang Xiong. reached maturity with One of the better-educated artists of the
Ren Yi, and included artists such as Zhu Shanghai school was Xugu (1823-1896). His
Xiong.Wang Li. Zhu Cheng (see fig. 4). personal name was Zhu Huairen. and he
Ren Xiong, Ren Xun. and Hu Yuan (see was a native of Shexian in Anh ni
fig. 5). In particular, Chen recognized the Province. 18 When young, he joined the
transforming roles of Ren Xiong and Ren Qing army as a low-ranking officer. In
Yi in this school of painting, which he about when the Taiping army
1853.
Figure 5. //u yuan (1823-1886). Viewing
called the "Tongguang" school (abbreviat- attacked Zhenjiang and the Yangzhou
the Waterfall. 1861. Hanging scroll, ink
names of the Tongzhi and
ing the area, he left the army to become a
and color on paper. Shanghai Museum.
Guangxu reign periods). Chen recognized. Buddhist monk. taking the monastic
15
 PAINTING OF CHINA'S NKW METROPOLIS

name Xugu, which may be translated plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum,

"Empty Ravine." He then traveled around narcissus, and lotus blossoms. Poems or
the Yangzhou. Suzhou, Shanghai, and inscriptions accompany these subjects,
Hangzhou coming to know many
areas, such as: "Autumn colors faintly tint the
poets and painters. He painted and prac- emptiness, its final fragrance linger-
ticed calligraphy primarily for his own ing"! chrysanthemum); "Its nature is pure
enjoyment, but sometimes he sold paint- and modest, its character strong and
ings to support himself. direct" (bamboo): "Touched by its far-
There are many common interpreta- reaching fragrance, purity appears natu-
tions of Xugu's reasons for taking the rally" (lotus); and "They can bring spring-

tonsure. After becoming a monk, he took to the world" (plum blossoms). These
the additional name Juanhe ("Tired phrases express the lofty personal charac-
Crane"), perhaps suggesting exhaustion ter aspired to by literati and also corre-
from the warfare and turmoil of the secu- spond to the pale, untrammeled purity of
lar world and a hope for spiritual freedom Xugu's brushwork.
as a Buddhist monk. He still loved life, Thus, Xugu was not a monk in com-
however, and retained an idealistic desire plete reclusion from the secular world. He
for a peaceful world. Thus, even after loved painting and calligraphy, and he
becoming a monk, he did not follow painted not only for his own pleasure but
orthodox Buddhist practices, such as veg- to make a living. He came to know many
etarianism and ritual worship, but scholars, painters, and calligraphers. and
instead devoted himself to painting as a Hu Yuan. Zhang
his friends included
means of self-cultivation, seeking the Xiong. Ren Gao Yong. Zhu Cheng. Qian
Yi,

value of life in art. Xugu's outlook on life, Hui'an, and Cheng Zhang. He also had
to which we can attribute the complexity contact with Zhu Jingtang. the owner of
of his painting, was based on two broad the Jiuhuatang fan shop, and the official
principles: to avoid politics, and to pursue Shen Lingyuan, who was the subject of
artistic achievement. A poem reveals his Mount Feng. His
his painting Fisherman at
contradictory state of mind: "With color wide acquaintanceship and passionate
and sensuality, the [blossoms] are even love of nature, as well his closeness to
more alive; a single plum branch can fill everyday life and the aspirations of the
the world with spring. From outside the common people, gave rise to the secular
worldly realm. I look at secular life; [but I or worldly aspects of his art. Xugu's
wonder] how can there be no humans works contain an abundance of images
amid the quiet mountain streams?'" from everyday life, especially vegetables
Xugu's approach to becoming a monk and fruits (such as bamboo shoots, string
and escaping the secular world greatly beans, gourds, cabbage, lichees, loquats,
resembles that of many recluses and frus- grapes, lotus seeds) and various small
trated literati of ancient times. Because creatures (including squirrels, fish, cats,
he was born in Shexian (Anhui Province), mynah birds, and paradise flycatchers).
and lived in Yangzhou (Jiangsu Province), These images are simple, appealing, and
his painting very naturally followed the full of vitality.

manner of the early Qing Shexian Like other Shanghai school painters,
painters Hongren and Cheng Sui, as well Xugu also painted many subjects with
as that of the mid-Qing Yangzhou auspicious symbolism. The most frequent
eccentrics. Peace and solitude are strong- are goldfish and wisteria (= attainment of
ly evoked in his landscapes, such as An high office); crane and pine (= longevity),
Endless Day in the Tranquil Mountains peaches of immortality (= longevity),
(cat. 14). The brushwork is dry but strong, peonies (= wealth), lingzhi fungus (=
and conveys well the mood of the poetic longevity), and Buddha's hand citron (=

phrase "an endless day, like a year; moun- wisdom and longevity), all of which
, tains as tranquil as the cosmos." which is reflect a popularizing tendency directed
inscribed on the painting. The mood and to the concerns and tastes of merchants
the brushwork here recall Hongren and and common people. Xugu, however, lent
Cheng Sui. these themes the qualities of literati
Following the conventions of literati painting. For example, his goldfish swim-
painting. Xugu's paintings often feature ming placidly in clear, shallow water have
PAINTING OF CHINA'S NKW METROPOLIS

none of the ostentatiousness often associ- meaning and avoids the emotional dis-

ated with this popular subject matter. tance of traditional literati painting. At
The simple and slightly awkward gold- thesame time, he strengthened the for-
fish, outlined with angular strokes, mal beauty and visual immediacy of his
reflect Xugu's strong, direct personality. work by greater use of abstraction and
Most of his cranes are portrayed standing emphasis on the rhythm and harmony of
on one leg, with their heads tucked, reti- the lines. These significant innovations
cent rather than flamboyant. For all simultaneously exemplified and advanced
Xugu's sympathy with common aspira- the modern transformation of painting
tions, his art was not showy; on the con- from an instrument of uplift (as most
trary, he maintained his aesthetic purity earlier painting was) to an art of purely
and simplicity. sensual enjoyment. In this respect Xugu
Xugu's brushwork carried on the was a pioneer in moving Chinese painting
cool, pure, fresh quality of the literati from the classical literati tradition
tradition. He especially emulated the toward modernity.
styles of Cheng Sui, Hongren. Hua Yan,
and Jin Nong, synthesizing them into his THE RISE OF THE EPIGRAPHIC
own artistic language. For his flower-and- SCHOOL OF PAINTING
bird paintings he cleverly adapted the dry, Beginning in the late eighteenth century
vigorous brushwork that Cheng Sui and a "Stele school" of calligraphy came into
Hongren used in their landscape paint- being, which took as its models the callig-
ings. Standard techniques, such as trem- raphy styles on carved steles of the Six
bling brush (zhanbi), segmented brush- Dynasties period (317-589). Such steles
work (duanbi), and reversed brush were being unearthed in significant num-
(nifeng), were transformed in his hands, bers at about that time, leading to a new
producing new kinds of rhythms. He also awareness and appreciation of their cal-
adopted Hua Yan's loose, free brush and ligraphy. Similarly, seal carvers came to
Jin Nong's old-style naivete, thus differ- admire the antique calligraphy found on
entiating his work completely from the carved seals of the Qin and Han periods.
orthodox flower-and-bird painting of the By the first half of the nineteenth centu-
Qing period as characterized by the ry three schools of seal carving had come
school of Yun Shouping. into existence: the "[AnjHui school." the
The forms of Xugu's images reveal an "Zhe[jiang] school." and the "Wan school"
avant-garde consciousness. He distorted (Deng Shiru and his followers). These all

some images in order to create geometric reflect a major transformation in aes-

forms and certain other formalistic ele- thetic tastes of the period, away from
ments. In one leaf of his Album of Various refinement, skill, and elegance and
Subjects, painted in 1895, "Fresh Bamboo toward simplicity and vigor.

Shoots and Plump Puffers" (cat. 16-a), the Painting and calligraphy are closely
oval shapes of the fish are juxtaposed related in their uses of brush and ink. The
with the elongated cones of the vegeta- innovations in calligraphy and seal-carv-
bles. Here, descriptive accuracy is subor- ing circles strongly influenced painters.
dinated to the contrast between shapes, Artists attempting to reinvigorate tradi-
rounded and angular, and between ink tional painting, especially those who
textures, dry and wet. The emotional simultaneously excelled in calligraphy
effect is a counterpoint of calm and and seal carving, worked to adapt the
excitement. This strongly formalistic brush techniques and carving skills of
quality is also seen in "Swimming Fish those arts for painting, in order to
Under Willow Leaves" and "Goldfish strengthen the epigraphic quality of
Playing in the Stream" (cats. 16-b. 16-d). painting for expressive purposes. Several
Xugu's career, education, personality, generations of effort resulted in a new
and self-cultivation imbued his art with style, which came to be known as the
the cool, restrained quality of literati "Epigraphic school of painting.
painting but never obliterated his con- Instrumental in establishing this school
cern with the realities of daily life and was Zhao Zhiqian (1829-1884). A native of
with the natural world. As a result, his Guiji in Zhejiang. he spent most of his
work always contains multiple layers of working life in Zhejiang. Fujian. and
 PAINTING OF CHINA'S NEW METROPOLIS

Jiangxi provinces and in Beijing. His restraint of most Ming-Qing literati

activity in Shanghai and his relation- painting and the aristocratic extrava-
ships with Shanghai painters are not well gance of court flower-and-bird painting.
documented, but according to the early In his painting, as in his calligraphy and
twentieth-century Haishang molin, he seal carving, he arranged space and com-
"sometimes traveled to Shanghai, and his positional elements so as to create strong
calligraphy was very popular. Everyone contrasts between void and substance,
coveted it."- 1
Because his painting strong- sparseness and denseness. The structures
ly influenced the later Shanghai master and compositions of his paintings
Wu Changshi, art historians usually embody Deng Shim's theory: "The sparse
include Zhao Zhiqian in the Shanghai places in calligraphy and painting should
school. be wide enough for a horse to run
Zhao Zhiqian was a profoundly through, and the dense places should be
accomplished calligrapher and seal carv- tight enough to keep out the wind. You
er. His early calligraphy followed the should treat white space as though it

standard-script style of Yan Zhenqing of were painted."

the Tang dynasty. Later, he turned to the Adapting specific antique styles of
stele styles of the Six Dynasties period calligraphy and seal carving to the pur-
and to Deng Shim's version of clerical poses of painting was Zhao Zhiqian's
script, merging and transforming these most important contribution. He empha-
two models into his own semicursive sized that painting is founded on calli-
script style. graphic skills: "The principle of painting
In seal carving, he began by following originates from calligraphy. If you are not
the Zhe school and was particularly good good at calligraphy, but pursue painting,
at deep-stroke carving, a style that was it is just like feeding a baby rice before he
simple and vigorous. Later he followed is weaned. ... If the painter cannot do
the Wan school of Deng Shiru, and also calligraphy, his work will be vulgar."- The
adapted calligraphic scripts found on Han common origin of painting and calligra-
seals and on Qin weights, steles, tiles, and phy was an ancient truism in China, but
coins, creating out of these influences a Zhao Zhiqian's statements quoted here
brilliant, powerful, and individual style are not mere cliches. The calligraphy that
that expressed his unique artistic sensi- he esteemed was specifically the new
bility. Compositionally. he explored the "stele style" of his own era. He stated,
interplay of void and substance, sparse- "Because I began studying seal script. I

ness and denseness. His carving technique can write clerical script. Because I know
combined boldness and directness with how to write clerical script, I can write
elegance and fluidity and initiated a new standard script." 3 Zhao's touchstone was
seal-carving trend. the bold simplicity of clerical script.
Adapting his skills at calligraphy and Introducing this trait into painting cre-
seal carving for use in painting, Zhao ated a naive, almost awkward quality, of
Zhiqian created a new manner of expres- which he wrote: "The painter's awkward-
sionistic, free-brush (xieyi) flower-and- ness is different from wildness. So-called
bird painting. He based his paintings on awkwardness here is the supreme rhythm
traditional ink painting in the xieyi man- Ming dynasty Chen
of brushwork. In the
ner, followingChen Chun and Xu Wei of Chun was awkward: Zhang Lu was wild.
the Ming period. Zhu Da and Shitao of In the early Qing dynasty Shitao and oth-
the early Qing period, and Li Fangying ers were wild. In the wildness of Fang
and Zhang Cining of the mid-Qing. Yizhi and Zhu Da you can see awkward-
Applying to this foundation his adapta- ness, so their brushwork is bold. In the
tions of the principles of calligraphy and awkwardness of Li Shan you can see wild-
seal carving, he achieved innovative com- ness, so his brushwork is monumental. M
, positions, brushwork, and mood. The Discussing seal carving, Zhao Zhiqian
compositions of Zhao Zhiqian's flower declared that "the marvelous thing about
paintings are full, rich, and arresting. Han bronze seals is not their rustic quali-
Even in a depiction of a single branch, the ty, but their straightforward strength."
painting surface is extremely dynamic, From these comments we can see that
completely different from both the cool Zhao Zhiqian applied essentially the
TAINTING OP CHINA'S NEW M HTI40 I' n I , I :-,

same aesthetic to calligraphy, painting, reflects consciousness of popular artistic

and seal carving. He strongly favored taste. He often painted peonies, wisteria,
awkwardness, simplicity, and boldness, lotus, and peaches (which symbolize,
and consciously "brought the qualities of respectively, wealth and beauty: good for-

seal script and clerical script calligraphy tune; harmony, fecundity, and purity: and
into his painting."'' 1 His brush work was longevity), enhancing their optimistic
vigorous and solid, similar to the clerical connotations with simple but auspicious
script of the Han dynasty or stele style of inscriptions (see cat. 6). His simultaneous
the Six Dynasties, with a very rhythmic appeal to elite and popular tastes echoed
quality. In his 1859 album Flowers (cat. 6), the general trend among other Shanghai
Zhao Zhiqian clearly took pains to apply painters.
his brush strokes awkwardly but not wild- During the second half of the nine-
ly. His ink is very dark but not murky, and teenth century other painters took up
his brushwork possesses Chen Chun's Zhao Zhiqian's emphasis on calligraphic
ease, Shitao's boldness, and Li Shan's and epigraphic elements in painting. His
freedom, as well as an unprecedented contemporaries Zhou Xian and Pu Hua.
plain, somewhat awkward, epigraphic whose bold, forceful brushwork was influ-

quality. These traits, fused, created his enced by the stele style of calligraphy,
unique style. also worked to revitalize painting by the
The new emphasis on color among introduction of calligraphic and epi-
Shanghai and Zhejiang artists of the late graphic styles and techniques. With his
Qing period permeated Zhao Zhiqian's strength in seal carving and calligraphy.
painting. In contrast to the quiet ele- however, Zhao Zhiqian was better able to
gance of Yun Shouping. these later artists synthesize the common artistic language
used color to completely different pur- of the three arts of calligraphy, seal carv-
pose and effect. Zhao followed Zhang ing, and painting in order to create a
Xlong in using Western red for flowers. In bold, simple, powerful painting style.
some pictures he used red, green, and blue Zhao Zhiqian's innovative ideas and
together, to create a bright, vividly chro- acute artistic sensibility may have influ-

matic effect. He also combined heavy enced his successors even more than his
color and gradations of black ink, all painting did. Building on Zhao's experi-
applied with powerful brush strokes, to ments in combining epigraphic. calli-

avoid superficial charm or vulgarity. graphic, and painterly skills. Wu

Highly as Zhao Zhiqian valued the Changshi (1844-1927) and his followers cre-
formal beauty of calligraphic and epi- ated a brilliant new free-brush (xieyi)
graphic brushwork. he did not slight the flower-and-bird style.
descriptive function of painting. He often
made paintings from life, such as his 1861 Translated and adapted by Kuiyi Shen
handscroll Native Products of Ou (present- and Julia F. Andrews
day Wenzhou, Zhejiang). in which he
painted characteristic flowers and plants
of the locale very realistically. The Book
— one of his few
Collecting Cliff (cat. 7)
landscape paintings — depicts a mountain
peak at Fangshan in Hebei Province. The
striated rock surfaces of the caves in this
mountain suggested cabinets piled with
books, hence the name. The appearance of
monumental altitude, the complex com-
position, and the naturalistic detailing of
the cave interiors lend the painting a
highly realistic aspect. Unconventional
texture strokes describe the surface of
the mountain, including curved lines to
depict the rounded boulders, creating a
strongly textural feeling.
Zhao Zhiqian's flower painting too
PAINTING OF CHINA'S NKW MKTKOI'OI.IS

NOTES
i. Wang Xleyun, Songnan mengyinglu 1889). 1

Reprinted in Lidui xiaoshuo biji .num. Qinu 3

("Selected Ancient Novels and Essays, Qing
Dynasty, pt. 3") (Shanghai, 1983).

2. Zhang Mingke, Hansongge tanyi sunlit (1908).

Reprint (Shanghai. 1988). p. 150.

3. Yang Yi. Haishang molin, 1918. Reprint

(Shanghai. 1989). preface.
4. See Wan Qingli. "Bing fei shuairuo de bain-
ian" ("It was not the century of decline").
Xiongshi meishu. vol. 259.
5. His sobriquet (hao) was Yuanhu waishi.
6. Tongyin fuzhi.
7. Zhang Xiong's by-name (zi) was Jifu and his
sobriquet (hao) was Mengquan.
8. He was also called Qiuyan.

9. His sobriquet was Xiangpu.

10. Translator's note: For a discussion in

English of various compositions related to
Court Ladies, see the entry on a handscroll
painting attributed to the Tang artist Zhou
Fang, Palace Ladies Tuning the Lute, in Eight
Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of
the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City,
and The Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland:
Cleveland Museum of Art. 1980). pi. 1, pp.8-10.

11. Translator's note: Reproductions of this

painting can be found in Masterioorks of
Shanghai School Painters from the Shanghai
Museum Collection (Hong Kong: Tai Yip Co.,
1991). no. 14, and in ClaudiaBrown and Ju-hsi
Chou, Transcending Turmoil: Painting at the
's Empire (Phoenix. Ariz.: Phoenix
Close of China
Art Museum, 1992), no. 61.
12. His sobriquet was Shunqing.

13. His given name was Run. his by-names (zi)

were Ciyuan and Bonian. and his sobriquets

(hao) included Xiaolou and Shanyin daoren.
14. WangTao. in Yingruan zazhi (1875).
15. Zhang Mingke. Hansongge tanyi suole, is the
source for this and the following quotation.
16. Yang Yi. Haishang molin, vol. 3, p. 18.
17. The Chinese term for this attitude, zile (lit-

erally, "self-enjoyment"), refers to the practice

of lofty cultural pursuits as a pastime: the
term often carries the negative connotation of
elitism.
18. His by-name (si) was Xubai and his sobriquet
(hao) was Ziyang shanmin.
19. Yang Yi. Haishang molin, vol. 4, p. 2.

20. Inscription on a four-panel set of paintings,

The Four Gentlemen, in the collection of the
Xiling yinshe in Hangzhou.
21. Yang Yi. Haishang molin. vol. 3. p. 10.

22. Zhao Zhiqian. Zhang'an zashuo (Shanghai:

Shanghai People's Art Publishing House, 1989).

23. Zhao Zhiqian. Yumeng xingshu, as quoted in

Qian Juntao, "Zhao Zhiqian de yishu chengjiu."

in Zhao Zhiqian.
24. Zhao Zhiqian. Zhang'an zashuo.

25. Y'ang Yi. Haishang molin, vol. 3, p. 10.

1. Ren Xiong (1823-1857;
Sell portrait

Undated
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
177.4x78.5 cm
Palace Museum, Beijing

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1823-1857)

The Ten Myriads

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Allium of ten leaves, ink and color on prold

paper: each leaf 26.3 x 20.5 cm

Palace Museum, Beijing
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Album After the Poems o) Yao Xie

1850-1851
Twenty-four leaves from an album
of 120 leaves, ink and color on silk;

each leaf 27.5 x 32.5 cm

I'alai e Museum. IVi liny

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Drinking Cards with Illustrations oj the

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1854

Woodblock-printed book; 29.8 x 13.2 cm

Private collection
5. Ren Xun (1835-1893)

The Romance of the Western Chamber

Undated
Four leaves from an album of
twelve leaves, ink and color on paper;
each leaf 34 x 35.5 cm
Palace Museum, Beijing

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6. Zhao Zhiqian (1829- 1881)

Flowers
1859
Six leaves from an album of
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each leaf 22.4x31.5 cm
Shanghai Museum
V. Zhao Zhiqian (1829 1881)

The Book Collecting Clif)

Undated
Hanging .scroll, ink and color on paper;
cm
69.5 x 39

Shanghai Museum

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8. Ren Yi (Ron Bonlan; L840 L895) and
Hu Yuan (Hu Gongshou; 1823 L886)

Portrait ofGao Yong

1877

Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;

cm
139 x 48.5

Shanghai Museum
9. Ren Vi (Km Bonian: 18-10-1895)

Albion o) Figures, Flowers, and Birds

1881-1882
Eight leaves from an allium of
i welve leaves, ink and color on paper;
each leaf 31.5 x 36 cm
I' i
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Five Successful Sons Three Knights Errant

1877 1882

Hanging' scroll, ink and color on paper; Hanging scroll, ink ai i

a paper;
181.5x95.1 cm 182.1 x 18.2 cm
Palace Museum, Beijing Palace Museum, Beijing

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V2. Kin Yi ilini Iloinan; 11)10 1895)

The Shabby Official (Portrait of

Wu Changshi)
1888
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
164.2 x 74.6 cm
Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Hangzhou

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13, Ren Yi (Ren Bonian; 1810-1895)
In the Cool Shade oj the Banana Tree
Datable to 1888
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
129 x 58.9 cm
Zhejiang Provincial Museum. Hangzhou

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1 ! \u.mu 1823-1896) 15. XiiKin 1823-1896)

An Endless Day in the Tranquil Mountains Three Friends

i in I ited 1894

Hanging scroll, Ink and color on paper; HamlsiToll. ink and color on paper;

l itcm x 10 29 x 152 cm
Shanghai Museum Private collection

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Album <>/'
Various Subjects
1895
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and color on paper; each leaf 34.7 x <10.6cm

i
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\
The Lingnan School and
Its Followers: Radical
Innovation in Southern
China
Christ ina C'hu. Hong Kong Museum of Art

The .-in . .in 1

1 it I id wi-i'ii Chin. .mil
i I ho Gao Jianfu < 1879-1951 > sailed to Japan
West that began in the late eighteenth to study art in 1906.' Xu Beihong
century erupted during' the nineteenth in (1895-1953) went to Paris in 1919 to acquire
violent confrontations, and it engendered the techniques of Western realism in the
turmoil in modern China. The humilia- French Academic style. Lin Fengmian
tions inflicted upon the ancient "Central (1900-1991) arrived in Paris in 1920 and
Kingdom" inspired a close and painful took up the styles of the Post-
reappraisal of traditional ethics, cus- Impressionists. They became the most
toms, literature, history, philosophy, reli- prominent reformers of Chinese art in the
gion, and social and political institu- twentieth century. Of the three. Gao
As the West seemed magnificently
tions. Jianfu — who went to Japan more than a
immune to the very vicissitudes it had decade before cultural and political
evoked in China, the Chinese looked to nationalism coalesced in the nationwide
the West for remedies. A series of "self- "May Fourth movement" in 1919 — must be
strengthening movements" — drives for credited as the earliest visionary of artis-
Westernization and modernization — was tic reform, with the most politically radi-
launched, aimed at making China similar cal career intertwining with his artistic
and equal to the West. Leading reformers endeavors. Gao Jianfu. his brother Gao
included Kang Youwei (1858-1927)' and his Qifeng (1889-1933), and Chen Shuren
student Liang Qichao (1873-1929).= who (1884-1948) founded the Lingnan school
advocated constitutional monarchy, and of painting, which still today has the
the increasingly radical Chen Duxiu largest following of any traditional
who moved from socialism to
(1879-1942). school of painting.
Communism. All advocated Western sci-
ence and political institutions, soon codi- HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL
fied in the slogan "science and democra- BACKGROUND
cy," as remedies for China's ills. From the fifteenth century the centers of
For its inability to serve the goals of culture in China have been Beijing and its
reform and reconstruction, the long and environs along the Yellow River basin in
venerated tradition of Chinese painting the north and Shanghai and its environs
was sadly discredited. Reformers were along the Yangzi River basin in central
particularly derisive of the practice of China. Gao Jianfu came from Guangdong,
transmitting traditional styles through the southernmost province in China. The
repetitive copying of earlier orthodox formidable mountain ranges (ling) that
masters. Both the style and the content lay between Guangdong and the provinces
of traditional Chinese art were closely to its north gave Guangdong its ancient
scrutinized and challenged, impugned as name of Lingnan ("South of the
props and expressions of a corrupt regime Ranges"). 5 Until recently these moun-
and a decayed society. A new China tains also isolated Guangdong from the
required a new art, one in which science mainstream of cultural and artistic
was translated as naturalism and realism development. The influence of Gao
and democracy was transposed into liber- Jianfu's theories of artistic reform was
alism, pragmatism, and utilitarianism. such that, for the first time in Chinese
Much influenced by the welter of new history, ideas flowed northward from the
and competing doctrines and programs far south.
for reform, artists took onto themselves a Although Guangdong lagged behind
new sense of mission and initiated a revo- northern China in cultural development,
lution in art. Searching for new inspira- Guangzhou, the largest city in
tions and new dynamics to revitalize Guangdong, was the earliest maritime
Chinese painting, they began a stream of trading port in China. 6 In 1757 the
artistic pilgrimages to the West. Japan, Qianlong emperor closed all the ports of
far easier of access and. following the Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu provinces,
Meiji Restoration of 1868, an exemplar of leaving Guangzhou as the exclusive mar-
rapid and successful modernization, itime trade outlet. About that time
became an equally desirable destination Europe was discovering its urgent need of
for Chinese painters looking to study new markets to absorb the overabundance
abroad. 3 of manufactures created by the Industrial
Revolution. From 1757 until the opening originality and freshness. These personal
of the treaty ports beginning in the mid- idiosyncrasies, which might be consid-
nineteenth century, Guangzhou enjoyed ered marks of a provincialism engendered
its status as the sole trading port in China. by prolonged geographical isolation, are
From the late nineteenth century, at the same time among the defining
when recognition of its own weakness was characteristics of a distinctive
thrust upon China, Guangdong Province Guangdong tradition. Whether the com-
produced some of China's most illustrious mon characteristics of Guangdong cul-
reformers. Kang Youwei and his student ture qualify simply as regionalism (a pos-
Liang Qichao, proponents of a constitu- sible impediment to artistic greatness) or
tional monarchy, were ardent supporters as artistic independence (a necessary
of westernization. The more radical Sun condition of aesthetic distinction) is not
Yat-sen (1866-1921) advocated and briefly easily resolved.
succeeded in replacing the Manchu
monarchy with a democratic republic. THE KESHAN SCHOOL: JU CHAO
Gao Jianfu, a follower of Sun, not only AND JU LIAN
participated in the political and military Artists such as Li Jian and Xie Lansheng
struggle but also led a revolution in art. (1760-1831) dominated the development
of landscape painting in Guangdong, but
DEVELOPMENT OP PAINTING IN the flower-and-bird painters Ju Chao
GUANGDONG (ca. 1824-1889) and Ju Lian (1828-1904) ini-

Until the Ming dynasty, we have little or tiated another important chapter in that
no painting of distinction by painters province's painting history.
from Guangdong.' Among the earliest to Ju Chao and Ju Lian, first cousins
survive are a small number of flower-and- from a family of scholars and officials,

bird paintings in the style of the court were both natives of Keshan village,
academy by Lin Liang (1465-1505), a court Panyu district. Guangdong Province. In 10

painter from Guangdong. 8 his youth Ju Lian studied painting with

Guangdong painting did not acquire Ju Chao. When Ju Chao took up a minor
a mature artistic identity until the official appointment as personal adviser
Qianlong period (1736-1795), when materi- to Zhang Jingxiu (1823-1864)" in Guangxi
al affluence stemming from maritime Province, he took his young cousin with
trade gave rise to a prosperous entrepre- him. In Guangxi they made the acquain-
neurial class and an associated literati tance of two flower-and-bird painters
culture. Painters, collectors, connois- from Jiangsu Province. Song Guangbao
seurs, and patrons of that period nurtured (act. mid-nineteenth c. )
u and Meng Jinyi
a cultural milieu that aspired to rival the (act. mid-nineteenth c.). 13 Their exposure
cultural centers farther north. In the to these painters improved their expres-
works of Li Jian (1747-1799) we see the sionistic, free-brush (xieyi) renditions of

beginning of a tradition of literati flower-and-bird subjects in the "boneless"

landscape painting, somewhat distinct (mogu, i.e.. without outline) st3"le of Chen
from the mainstream development in Chun (1483-1544) and Yun Shouping
the north. 9 (1633-1690).

Li Jian's contribution to the develop- In 1858. when Zhang Jingxiu finished

ment Guangdong painting lay in his
of his tour of duty in Guangxi. he returned
incorporation of new subjects into his to Boxiacun, his native village in
paintings. He also replaced inscriptions Dongguan prefecture. Guangdong, and
in classical Chinese with Cantonese ver- there built a villa that he named
nacular poems on his paintings. Li Jian is Keyuan." The Ju cousins remained in
perhaps the earliest painter to paint Zhang's residence to give painting lessons
kapok, a native plant of Guangdong that to his nephew Zhang Jiamo (1829-1887).

became a unique emblem in Guangdong After Zhang Jingxiu died in 1864. the Ju
painting. Himself of humble background, cousins returned to Keshan and set up
chronically ill, and poor, Li Jian imbued their own studio. Xiaoyueqin Guan ("Hall

his paintings with general compassion of the Lute of the Whispering Moon"), to
and particular sympathy for the under- teach painting.
privileged, which lent his art a certain The Ju cousins soon acquired great
 THE l.INONAN SCHOOL AND ITS I'D I, LOW KRS

fame in Guangdong as flower-and-bird inscriptions that he wrote on many of his

painters in the boneless style, which they paintings: "Yue ou" song lyrics in the
embellished using the zhuangsliui ("water Cantonese vernacular, often humorous or
infusion") and zhuangfen ("powder infu- satirical, and popular among the common
,,

^ sion") techniques (see

puddling techniques, in which clear water
fig. 1). IS These are people. Zhao Ziyong. a Guangdong schol-
ar and painter active in the late eigh-
or mineral pigments mixed in water, teenth-early nineteenth century, was
respectively, are dropped onto a still-wet credited with popularizing this vernacu-
painting surface to create interesting- lar literary form in Guangdong by pub-
spontaneous effects. The techniques
11
'
lishing an anthology of his own composi-
were not original with the Ju cousins, but tions in 1828. "' Usually these ballads take
they greatly refined and controlled as their theme poverty, class oppression,
them." As the fame of the Ju cousins and social injustice. 2"

spread, their style of painting came to be Ju Lian's compassion for the circum-
referred to as the Keshan school of paint- stances of the unprivileged influenced the
Figure 1. Ju Lian (1828-1904). Flower. Dated ing. Among the students they took on. future development of Gao Jianfu's art.

to 1876. Album leaf, ink and color on silk: Gao Jianfu and Chen Shuren eventually The goals of rectifying injustice and
34.5 x 35 cm. Hong Kong Museum of Art. achieved success with a revolutionary restoring human dignity eventually
style of painting that influenced the sub- became the basis of the humanistic con-
sequent course of Chinese painting. In tent of the Lingnan school of painting.
recognition of their Guangdong origins, While studying in Keshan, Gao
and to distinguish their painting style Jianfu met Chen Shuren. also a student of
from those of their contemporaries, it is Ju Lian. and a lifelong friendship began.
referred to as the Lingnan school. From 1892 on, Gao and Chen assiduously
refined their skill in Ju Lian's style of
GAO JIANFU AND THE LINGNAN painting. In 1899 Gao became acquainted
SCHOOL OF PAINTING with one of Ju's senior students, Wu Deyi
Gao Jianfu (whose formal name was Lun, (1864-1928), whose family collection in
and by-name Jueting) was born in 1879, Jingxiang Ciguan ("Hall of the Pool of the
the fourth of six sons in an impoverished Fragrant Mirror") was rich in the paint-
family in Yuangang village, Panyu dis- ings and calligraphies of traditional mas-
trict, Guangdong. At age fourteen Gao ters.Through his acquaintance with Wu,
Jianfu became a painting student of Ju Gao was able to view that collection as
Lian in nearby Keshan. Out of sympathy well as the collections of Wu's many
for Jianfu's straitened circumstances, Ju prominent friends. These opportunities
Lian invited the youth to live as well as greatly expanded Gao's artistic horizon
study at the Xiaoyueqin Guan. There he and gave him a deeper understanding of
learned from Ju Lian to paint birds, flow- the Chinese artistic tradition.
ers, and insects. This traditionally deco- In 1903 Gao Jianfu left Keshan for

rative genre was usually executed in a Macao and enrolled at the Gechi College.
realistic, descriptive style (xie sheng. lit- There he learned charcoal sketching from
erally, "grasp the life"), but Ju Lian car- a French painter known by his Chinese
ried this approach further than usual by name. Maila. For the first time Gao
growing flowers and plants in his garden applied himself to Western realism.
so as to study them in their natural set- Beginning in 1905, he taught art at the
ting, and by observing live insects in bot- Public School of Guangdong, the Shimin
tles. From his teacher's emphasis on close School, the Shushan School, and the
observation of nature. Gao Jianfu gained Guangdong Higher College of Education.
an early appreciation for naturalism. Meeting the Japanese art teacher
Besides flower-and-bird subjects, Ju Yamamoto Baigai at the Shushan School
Figure 2. Ju Lian (1828-1904). New Year Lian painted figures and landscapes. He marked a turning point in Gao's life.

Greetings. Undated. Hanging scroll, ink also liked to depict mundane details of Yamamoto admired Gao's paintings. He
and color on paper; 82 x 47 cm. Art Museum. everyday life among the poor, and sub- taught Gao Japanese and encouraged him
Chinese University of Hong Kong. jects traditionally considered too "vul- to study in Japan.
gar" for painting, such as a preserved Yamamoto was impressed by the
duck (see fig. 2). 1B Ju Lian's sympathy for style of painting practiced by Gao at that
poor people is further expressed in the time, which reflected the delicacy and
THE LINGNAN .SCHOOL AND ITS FO 1, 1,0 W KKH

refinement of Ju Han's style of painting, style artists worked in a plein-air, realist

as is evident in an early work in four pan- style, painting in natural light and using
els by Gao, Flowers, Melon, Fish, and luminous colors. These Western concepts
The paintings, dated to
Insects (cat. 34). 2I were also adopted by such Nihonga
1905, are in the boneless style and utilize painters as Yokoyama Taikan (1868-1958,1.

the zhuangfen and zhuangshui techniques, Hashimoto Gate (1835-1908), and Takeuchi
showing Gao's indebtedness to his Keshan Seiho (1864-1942). Gao Jianfu was attract-
teacher during this period of this career. ed to Nihonga painting, to which he
In Macao, with its prominent brought asofter, more gentle touch that

Portuguese presence, Gao became combined Chinese, Japanese, and Western

increasingly aware of the need for politi- elements.
cal reform in China in the face of foreign The Gao brothers applied themselves
intrusion, internal instability, and wide- to the study of perspective, light, shad-
spread poverty and illiteracy. As an artist ing, and other elements of Western art.

by training, he evolved the idea of reform- They focused on various manifestations

ing Chinese painting as a way to
illiteracy and to propagate the idea
reform in all levels of society. In 1906 he
organized the Chinese Painting Research
Society to promote changes in art.
To better equip himself in both theo-
ry and practice, Gao Jianfu resolved to go
toJapan in 1906. He studied art at the
Tokyo Institute of Pine Arts in 1907.
Soon, through the introduction of two
friends from Guangdong, Liao Zhongkai
and He Xiangning (1878-1972),
(1878-1925)
Gao joined the Tongmeng hui ("Alliance
Society"), a radical political society
founded by Sun Yat-sen in Tokyo in 1905
to advocate the overthrow of the reigning
Qing dynasty in China. In Japan in
the paths of Gao Jianfu and Chen Shuren
again converged. Chen, who had joined
tlie Alliance Society a year earlier, had
also gone to Japan to study art.
In the next year Gao Jianfu returned
to Guangzhou and took his younger
brother Gao Qifeng with him back to
Tokyo to study art. Gao Qifeng soon
joined the Alliance Society and embraced
its revolutionary mission, but he did not
attend any established art institution.
Before going to Japan, he had undertaken
an apprenticeship in glass painting in
Guangzhou: in Japan he took painting
lessons from Tanaka Raisho (1868-1940), a
combat of naturalism, ranging from French acad-
of emicism to Post-Impressionism and
Fauvism, brought home from Europe by
Japanese artists. Gao Jianfu became a
member of the Hakuba-kai ("White Horse
Society") in Tokyo, which was established
by plein-air painters as a forum for Meiji
period Western-style painting; at about
the same time he also became a member
of the Taiheiyo Gakai ("Pacific Art
Society"), founded by artists who had
22
studied neoclassicism under Jean Paul
Laurens in Europe and who were eager to
break with the dominant plein-air school.
The fact that Gao Jianfu joined two soci-
eties representing opposing approaches to
1906 painting indicates that he was anxious to
absorb the latest developments in art.
especially the interpretations of Western
ideas by Japanese artists. The Nihonga
style of rendering Japanese subjects in a
manner that combined Western realism
with Asian lyricism struck a sympathetic
chord in Gao Jianfu. who was searching
for a style appropriate to the needs and
taste of his own particular milieu.
Gao Qifeng later explained why he
considered the study of Western art to
be a positive component of his artistic
development:
/ took up the study of Western art.
paying particular attention to portrait

skillful painter of the Nihonga ("modern painting, geometric drawing, light and
Japanese style painting") school. His shade, perspective, etc. I then picked
paintings, incorporating Japanese out the finest points of Western art such
themes and Western techniques, show an as the masterful strokes of the pen, com-
intensely romantic and poetic lyricism. position, inking, coloring, inspiring

The first decade of the 1900s marked background, poetic romance, etc. and
the height of controversy in the Japanese applied them to my Chinese techniques.
art world between traditional and In short, I tried to retain what was
Western-style painters. The first genera- exquisite in the Chinese art of painting,

tion of Meiji period (1868-1912) Western- and at the same time to adopt the best
THE MNGNAN SC'IIOOI. AND ITS FOI.I.IUVUBS

methods of composition which the This "New National Painting" com

world's art schools had to offer, thereby bined traditional Chinese ink and brush
blending the East and the West into a techniques with realistic treatment of
harmonious whole." light and shade and perspective. It also

By choosing and adapting: aspects of differed in content from traditional

Western painting — content, style, tech- Chinese painting, embracing contempo-
niques — into their native Chinese prac- rary themes and subject matter from
tice, the Gao brothers created a synthesis everyday life in the new era. The creation
in which the influence of Chinese tradi- of a new pictorial language, comprehensi-
tional painting was decreased. They con- ble to the masses, was essential for the
tinued to experiment with various com- propagation of the new art. Gao Jianfu
minglings of old and new. East and West. thought that for the common people,
The Gao brothers were also looking at classical painting is "like forc-

impressed by the artistic ambience of ing uninitiates to read a 'book of heaven';

Meiji Japan, with its abundance of exhi- unable to comprehend, they are unable to
bitions, art publications and printing, a appreciate. M
formal system of art schools and acade- The point was communion with the
mies, artist associations, and industrial masses. For Gao Jianfu, traditional
and applied arts. These institutions and Chinese painting had failed in all its

practices were later introduced into
China in order to extend the social basis
of art.-'
Gao Jianfu's studies were terminated
in 1908 when he was sent back to
Guangzhou to assume leadership of that
city's branch of the Alliance Society. Gao
Qifeng also returned to China to assist
his brother in the revolutionary struggle.
In China,Gao Jianfu organized the Zhina
Ansha Tuan ("China Assassination
Group") to assassinate senior Manchu
officials, and also oversaw the manufac-
social functions except serving the elite
few in society. He was concerned that his
paintings communicate his messages.
Their subject matter, style, and execution
should be equivalent to the content,
articulation, and delivery of a spoken
statement. They should "speak to" view-
ers. Even viewers with no previous train-
ing in art appreciation would be able to
respond immediately and directly to
painted images that related to their own
sensory and mental experiences.
Gao Jianfu's vision of xin guohua is

ture of bombs supplied to the revolution- best understood within the context of the
aries. In September, during the last (and intellectual movement of his time, in
successful) uprising of Sun Yat-sen's rev- particular, the advocacy by Hu Shi
olutionary army. Gao Jianfu commanded (1891-1962) and Chen Duxiu of the
the local militia of the Dongxinjun vernacular as a "national language"
("Eastern New Army") in its take-over of {guoyu), 2,i
replacing classical Chinese in
Guangzhou. literature. The aim was emancipation: to
Once Guangzhou was taken by the free written language from class biases
revolutionaries, Gao Jianfu immediately and popular superstitions, from nonscien-
resigned all political and military obliga- tific inexactness, from literary affecta-
tions, and refused the offered post of gov- tion and obscurantism —and to use this
ernor of Guangzhou. His mission was a emancipated language to liberate the
revolution in art. and the success of the people and the nation. The term guoyu
political revolution allowed him to had been used by students returning from
resume that mission. Japan in 1906, the year of Gao Jianfu's
Gao Jianfu and Gao Qifeng
In 1912 first sojourn there.
went to Shanghai to disseminate their Parallels can also be drawn between
new ideas about art. With a special sub- Hu Shi's criticism of traditional Chinese
sidy from the Nationalist Government, literature and the criticism of traditional
they founded the Shenmei Shuguan Chinese painting. In proclaiming the
("Aesthetics Book Company") at Shanghai death of classical literature, Hu Shi
and published Zhenxiang huabao ("True declared that "Chinese literature pro-
Record Illustrated Magazine"), a publica- duced by the literary men during the last
tion devoted to the promotion of xin guo- two thousand years is a dead literature,
hua ("New National Painting"). written in a dead language. A dead Ian-
THE LINCNAN SCHOOL ANIJ ITS I'UM.OWHIIS

guage cannot produce a living vation of the nation. He al o advo'

literature. '"" And he asked, rhetorically, "saving the nation with art" ("meiyu
"If the writing does not mean anything or jiuguo")."
does not reflect reality, what is the use of The following statement by Gao
having a literary style?" " According to
2
Qifeng elaborates on that sense of
Chen Duxiu, "If we want to reform mission:
Chinese painting, we have to revolution- The student of art must try to adopt a
ize the paintings of the [Four] Wangs much loftier viewpoint and imagine
[four seventeenth-century Orthodox mas- himself charged with altruistic mr-i'm
ters]. In order to transform Chinese which requires him to consider his fel-
painting, we have to grasp the spirit of loios' miseries and afflictions as his own.
realism in Western painting." 2 -'1

He will then work hard on the produc-

Just as use of the vernacular would tion of only such pictures as will effect

make literature accessible and meaning- the betterment of man 's nature in par-
ful to the common people, so realism ticular and bring about an improvement
would bring art closer to people's every- of society in general, thereby presenting
day lives. Therefore, in order to achieve the new spirit of the art in all its glory
an effective visual style, Gao Jianfu set and grandeur. 31
out to reconstitute his pictorial form and Encouraged by this national policy on
content with a "vernacular" graphic aesthetic education, the Gao brothers
vocabulary and syntax based on realism. vigorously promoted their new ideas
For a largely illiterate population, visual through their publications and won mans'
art would be a more effective tool of com- converts.
munication than literature. A more The young Xu Beihong. destitute and
accessible style and content would enable struggling in Shanghai at the time, was
viewers to recognize forms and compre- discovered by the Gao brothers. wTho com-
hend their meanings. The names given to missioned him to create illustrations in a
the new vernacular literature and to the realistic style for their True Record
Lingnan school's syncretic style of paint- Illustrated Magazine. Although it would be
ing make plain the public goals they were difficult to establish a direct relation

meant to serve: "National Language" between the revolutionary ideas of the

(guoyu) and "New National Painting" (xin Gao brothers and Xu Beihong. whose style
guohua). is distinctly different from theirs, they
For a picture to put across a message, clearly had a significant impact on him.
it must first engage the viewers' atten- About 1912 Gao Jianfu also founded
was
tion. Therefore visual attractiveness the Chinese Ceramics Company at
an important requirement of Lingnan Jingdezhen in Jiangxi. The moderniza-
school paintings; sometimes the element tion of a traditional industry was a part
of shock was also Gao Jianfu had
utilized. of Gao Jianfu's program of saving the
once shocked his countrymen by painting country through art and industry. But the
an airplane and a tank in a traditional enterprise failed for lack of support from
landscape. the unstable, inexperienced, and disunit-
Gao Jianfu's ideas of popularizing ed government.
art were also enthusiastically embraced Chen Shuren. who had returned from
by the then minister of education, Cai Japan after finishing his course of stud-
Yuanpei (1867-1940). For Cai, aesthetic ies at the Kyoto Art Academy in 1912.

education was a mission; it was one way joined the Gao brothers in Shanghai in
to reform, at every level of society, the their new publishing and ceramics ven-
thought patterns that were choking tures. Their collaboration was brief,
China and its people. To promote art edu- because Chen Tokyo the next year
left for

cation, he proposed founding art acade- to study literature at Rikkyo University.

mies, establishing art classes in school
curriculums, and forming art research
societies. Cai proposed "replacing reli-
gion with aesthetic education" ("meiyu
dai zongjiao shuo") in order to cultivate a
sense of mission ("shiming") about the sal-
After graduating in 1916. Chen held a suc-
cession of administrative posts in the
Nationalist government. 32
Unfortunately, government funding
of the True Record ran out. and the Gao
brothers had to leave Shanghai and
 THE I.INCNAN SCHOOL AND ITS FOLLOWERS

return to Guangzhou, where they contin- fading dusk." Built in 1380. the five-
ued to disseminate their new theories storied tower atop Yuexiu Mountain in
Jfl-
about Chinese art. Gao Qifeng established Guangzhou was originally known as
a studio called Tianfeng Lou ("Pavilion of Wanghai Lou ("Tower Overlooking the
Heavenly Wind") to teach painting. Gao Seas"), then as Zhenghai Lou ("Sea-
Jianfu became head of the Handicraft Subduing Tower"). It functioned as an
Bureau of Guangdong and at the same observation tower — an early-warning sys-
time the headmaster of the Provincial tem against the Japanese pirates then
Technical School. In 1921 he organized the pillaging the coastal villages of China.
First Provincial Art Exhibition in Repeatedly destroyed in episodes of mili-
Guangdong. Through publication, the tary and civil unrest, the tower was used
promotion of fine and applied arts, and as a stable and an army kitchen during
the organization of exhibitions. Gao the civil wars following the 1911 revolu-
Jianfu created an artistic program simi- tion. In 1928 it was reinforced with steel
lar to what he had found in Japan. and concrete. It is now home of the
the
In 1923 he founded the Chunshui Huayuan Guangdong Provincial Museum and one
("Spring Slumber Painting Studio") in of the Eight Scenic Spots in Guangzhou.
Guangzhou. As his work gained attention To this image of endurance and pub-
and momentum, his "New National lic service, Yu Youren (1878-1964), a friend

Painting" was fiercely rebuked by tradi- and admirer of Gao Jianfu, added the
tionalists in Guangzhou, whose organiza- inscription "gaizao guohun " ("Rebuild the
tional base was the Guihai Painting national spirit"), aptly summarizing Gao
Cooperative. 3 " The studio became the base Jianfu's revolutionary ideal. The same
of the Lingnan school of painting and a necessity of a fundamental change in
center from which to counter these thinking is also expressed in the writing
assaults. of Lu Xun (1881-1936), who stressed "gai-
Gao's struggle for artistic reform was bian jingshen" ("changing the essence and
made more difficult by China's political the spirit"). 35
instability. For Gao. the "spirit of the In his efforts to renew Chinese paint-
Figure 3. Gao Jianfu (1879-1951). Five- nation" resided in the ideals of his spiri- ing.Gao Jianfu was concerned less about
Storied Tower. Dated to 1926. Hanging tual and revolutionary mentor. Sun Yat- appearances than about a new way of
scroll, ink and color on paper; 80 x 42 cm. sen, who died in 1925. But the political thinking:
Hong Kong Museum of Art. turmoil that followed the success of the The major difference between modern
1911 Revolution showed him a turbulent painting and ancient painting ought
reality that seemed quite resistant to not to be just about form but about
revolutionary zeal. The struggle between thinking. Thinking is primary to the

the Nationalists and the Communists, subject; representational technique is

warlordism, and the threats of foreign secondary. If primary and secondary

invasion spelled multiplying turmoil. are reversed, the resulting painting, no
After all the time and energy that Gao matter how new and shocking, cannot
Jianfu spent in trying to bring harmony be counted as modern painting. 31

and progress to his country, he was dis- Gao Jianfu's Five-Storied Tower may sym-
heartened to see the country slipping bolize guohua —the essential "Chinese-
into greater chaos. Even if foreign aggres- ness" of modern Chinese painting, which
sions could be checked, the complexity persisted despite the incorporation of
and intensity of the domestic power new techniques and hence new visual
struggle stood in the way of achieving the effects. Erosion of the national spirit,

youthful revolutionaries' idealistic vision. like repeated destruction of the tower,

In 1926 Gao Jianfu completed one of would lead to a radical loss of this essen-

his masterpieces, the Five-Storied Tower tial Chinese-ness in life as well as in art.
(fig. 3). an image of a Chinese landmark After Zhongshan Memorial Hall was
refracted through characteristic Meiji built in 1926 to honor Sun Yat-sen as the
period romanticism. 11 His inscription "Father of the Nation." the Guangdong
reads: "All that remains of the perilous government bought Gao Qifeng's Eagles,
high tower after myriad destructive White Horse, and Lion and put them on
calamities are creeping grass and empty display there. None of these paintings has
mist, pale [vision of distant] crows and survived. But judging from extant paint-
THE L1NCNAN SCHOOL AND ITS FOLLOWERS

ings of these subjects by Gao Qifeng, they The eagle, a symbol of strength, was fre-

would have shown the stylistic influence quently depicted with great immediacy
of his Japanese models — influence that is and directness by the Gao brothers. Here.
clearly visible in Monkeys and Snowy Pine however, the eagle on a sea-lashed rock,
(cat. 37F and Spring Rain by Willow Pond its wings folded, symbolizes the hero
(cat. 36),™ the two paintings by him that (ying) —most likely Gao Jianfu himself,
are included in the current exhibition. briefly resting from struggle and ponder-
After returning from Japan to China ing the future. The not very subtle poetic
after less than two years of study, Gao inscription conveys Gao Jianfu's own
Qifeng continued to refine the techniques preference for painting over fighting a
learned by studying the Japanese artists battle. In this work the image of the eagle
who had impressed him most. Much of the retains vestiges of decorative realism, but
appeal of Gao Qifeng's paintings comes the sketchily brushed rocks and waves
from the great beauty and sympathy of tend toward abstraction, signaling Gao
his images, as well as from the lyrical Jianfu's increasing interest in the
quality he achieved through skillful por- abstract qualities of Chinese ink paint-
trayal of light and atmosphere. Indeed, ing. A strong diagonal orientation domi-
his best-known paintings are his attrac- nates the composition, creating a dynam-
tive, discerning portrayals of large birds ic asymmetry that seems to suggest the
and animals. His works never carry any turbulence of the times as well as Gao
overt political message. If any symbol- Jianfu's personal perturbation.
ism — of human heroism, ferocity, or polit- The year that Gao Jianfu painted
ical radicalism — was intended, was it Eagle, Gao's fellow Cantonese reformer
most discreetly conveyed. Liang Qichao died. Kang Youwei had died
By and large, Gao Qifeng followed two years earlier, soon after the death of
Gao Jianfu very closely, both stylistically Sun Yat-sen. Not long after Liang died.
and ideologically, and learned the Keshan Gao Qifeng came down with pneumonia
style of painting from him. Gao Jianfu. so severe that it forced him to retire: he
however, had greater exposure to tradi- died in 1933 at the relatively early age of
tional Chinese painting and in general a forty-four.
more curious and experimental nature, as Although China's chaotic political
is demonstrated by the variety of his situation was a constant source of dis-
styles and subjects. Despite Qifeng's tress for Gao Jianfu. he continued to
statement (quoted above) of the value of attempt remedies. With Chen Shuren.
introducing Western elements into Ding Yanyong (1902-1978), and Chen Zhifo
Chinese art, he, unlike his brother, did (1896-1962), he founded the Aesthetics
not experiment to any great extent with Institute in Guangzhou, devoted to
either traditional or Western styles. Even reforming Chinese art. Ding. Chen
the smaller-scale paintings of his last Shuren. and Chen Zhifo. having studied in
years give no indication of conscious Japan, were familiar with the concept of
experimentation. integrating Western elements into Asian
The more or less parallel develop- art, and supported Gao Jianfu's purpose.
ment in the Gao brothers' styles contin- Again, their efforts were fiercely opposed
ued until the late 1920s, when Gao Jianfu's by the traditionalists of the Guihai
paintings underwent certain changes. In Painting Cooperative, now reorganized
1929 Gao Jianfu painted Eagle (cat. 39). into the Chinese Painting Research
which bears an inscription that reads: Society. 40 The conservatives contended
/ still remember the unsurper's shrilling that traditional Chinese painting was
sounds, inherently able to renew itself, and that
We drunkenly summoned the eagle the introduction of Western elements cre-
north of Xinfeng. ated an eccentric, if not monstrous,
Now all my heroism has dissipated, hybrid, whereas Gao saw the infusion of
hi leisure I look at my new painting and elements of Western realism —"the paint-
trim [the wick of] the solitary lamp. ing of compromise" —as the best way to
[Painted] winter, eighteenth year revitalize Chinese painting. In a brief

[of the Republic of China, i.e., 1929], account of his life's work, Gao recalled
Jianfu. 31 those heated exchanges:
Till': MNGNAN SCHOOL AND ITS FOLLOWERS

After my brother and I followed Premier inscription reads. "Painted four days
[Sun I in political revolt, I felt that there before the Double Ten Festival in the
was an urgent need to renew the art of twenty-third year [of the Republic of
our nation. . . . In the last thirty years, China, i.e., 1934]." The Double Ten
the trumpets were blown; flags were Festival is National Day, 10 October (i.e.,

waved, revolution in art was shouted the tenth day of the tenth month), the
. . . out of the desire to inaugurate a day when Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary
type of contemporary art for the army overthrew the Manchu dynasty and
Republic of China, hi the past decade. founded the Republic. The melancholy
II have been) subjected to various kinds mood of the painting undoubtedly
of attacks, oppressions, insults. It ivas reflects grief over Gao Qifeng's death the
because the traditional concepts of the preceding year and over the Japanese
conservative painters are more poison- seizure of Manchuria in 1931-1932.
ous than the poison of emperors." Compared with Five-Storied Tower,
painted eight years earlier, the Burmese
His reaction to the attacks was to scene, also set at dusk, is even more deso-
expand his search for revivifying' ele- late. Except for the homing birds disap-

ments with which
in the etiolated Chinese tradition.
Perhaps he also began to question the
notion of looking only to the West for a
social or cultural solution to the stagna-
tion of Chinese art.
To understand modern Chinese paint-
to stimulate creativity pearing into the horizon beyond the
pagoda, nothing moves. The animals
guarding the four cardinal points of the
stupa — a structure containing Buddhist
sacred relics — being carved in stone,
only heighten the stillness of the aban-
doned site.

ing, one must first understand the ori- On 21 October 1934 the army of the
gin and development of ancient Chinese Chinese Communist party started the six-
painting, its philosophy and styles, thousand-mile journey on foot from
because modern Chinese painting is Jiangxi Province to Yan'an in Shaanxi,
derived from ancient Chinese painting. now known as the Long March. Its aim
A contemporary painter should first was to avoid annihilation by the
understand what he is doing, and for Nationalists, whose military capabilities
what and for whom he is doing it. To were being employed less to resist the
promote contemporary Chinese paint- escalating Japanese aggression than to
ing, ideally a painter should show con- crush their Communist rivals for eventual
siderable proficiency in both Chinese control of the country.
and Western painting, [and be able] to In the spring of 1935 Gao Jianfu visit-

bridge the gap between the East and the ed Chen Shuren in Nanjing. In one of four
West. I think we should not only take in poems that Chen Shuren dedicated to
elements of Western painting. If there Gao. Chen's mood seems somber:
are good points in Indian painting, Dedicating to you four poems written in

Egyptian painting, Persian painting, or the rain.

the masterpieces of other countries, we Scrutinizing them and finding them not
should embrace all of them, too, as so wonderful;

nourishment for our Chinese painting. 42 A personality like mine, detached and
In 1931 he traveled to India to see the indifferent.

ancient Buddhist sculptures in the Who would have understood me besides

Ajanta cave-monasteries and to trek in Jianfu?1*

the Himalayas. He also visited Burma. One year earlier, his eldest and favorite
Also about this time he turned for solace son — Russian-educated Chen Fu
to Buddhism. Gao's revolutionary fervor (1907-1934) —had been assassinated by
subsided after his trip to India, perhaps as right-wing members of the Nationalist
a result of the quietist teachings of Party in Nanjing. Additionally, he found
Buddhism. the increasingly totalitarian tendencies
Late in 1934 Gao Jianfu painted Stupa within the Nationalist party (Guomin-
Ruins in Burma (cat. 38), u a work stylisti- dang) discouraging, making him strongly
and
cally close to his Five-Storied Tower ambivalent about his lifelong commit-
equally evocative of melancholy. The brief ment to the party.' 5
 THE LINONAN SCHOOL A N L> ITS FOLLOWERS

Chen's political career — from 1911 Shanghai, and had it under their control
until his death he served the Nationalist by November; that same month they
government almost continuously in captured Nanjing, and punished the city
domestic and foreign affairs —gave him for its resistance by slaughtering some
the opportunity to travel extensively in one hundred and fifty thousand resi-
China. His earlier paintings still show the dents — a massacre that became known as
influence of Ju Lian and the Nihonga "the rape of Nanjing." Gao hurriedly left

style, but the prodigious amount of Nanjing for Guangzhou.

sketching that he did during his travels Fury against the Japanese aggres-
shows him simplifying his style, abandon- sion swept the nation's intellectuals, and
ing complex compositions and meticulous may have helped rekindle Gao Jianfu's
Figure 4. Chen Shuren (1884-1948). Autumn technique. The linearity of those pencil combative spirit.'" In 1936-1937 he deliv-

in Guimen. Dated to 1943. Hanging scroll, and ink sketches soon made its way into ered a series of lectures at the National
ink and color on paper. Hong Kong Museum his ink painting. In his landscape paint- Central University in which he systemati-

of Art. ings he minimized the use of traditional cally presented his views on the reform of
texture strokes (fig. 4).' 16 By freeing him- Chinese painting. These lectures were
self from the conventions of traditional published asMy Views on Modern National
painting, he developed striking graphic Painting Wo de xiandai guohua guan). It is
(

compositions of great simplicity. His perhaps one of the most coherently artic-
painting of the red kapok tree — a symbol ulated arguments by an early twentieth-
of the heroes of the revolution —was par- century artist on the reform of Chinese
ticularly popular among his admirers (see painting. Running through these pub-
fig. 5)," and the kapok blossom became an lished lectures is a streak of nationalist
emblem of Lingnan school painting. sentiment, with Japan as the immediate
Because Chen, unlike Gao Jianfu and Gao antagonist. Ultimately, though, the con-
Qifeng. did not teach art, his highly per- cept of self-strengthening and the advo-
sonalized style of painting was passed on cacy of a national language and a nation-
only to members of his immediate al form of painting were continuous reac-
family.™ tions to foreign provocation dating from
In Paris in September 1935 the the mid-nineteenth century. Moreover,
Prussian Institute of Fine Arts of Berlin the ideal of revolution was bound up with
organized an exhibition of Chinese paint- China's liberation from monarchical as
ing that included work by Gao Jianfu. well as foreign oppression. All of these
The satisfaction that Gao would naturally various aspects of nationalism informed
Figure 5. Chen Shuren (1884-1948). Kapok have felt was marred by a large-scale stu- Gao Jianfu's political ideology and his

and Partridge. Dated to 1947. Hanging dent demonstration on 9 September, orga- ideas on reforming Chinese art.

scroll, ink and color on paper. Hong Kong nized by the Communist Party to protest Revolution in Chinese painting, accord-
Museum of Art. the Nationalist government's failure to ing to Gao. thus inaugurated the "New
effectively resist the Japanese invasion of National Painting." Ironically. Japan had
north China. been the nurturing ground for his concept
In 1936 Gao Jianfu was appointed a of the "New National Painting." to which
professor of fine arts of the National he was to devote the rest of his life.

Central University in Nanjing, the As the Japanese army advanced

nation's capital. Japanese aggression toward Guangzhou late in 1938. Gao
became ever bolder and more successful. Jianfu moved his family to Macao, stay-
That spring Gao Jianfu painted Pine Tree ing in the Puji Monastery, where he soon
(cat. 35),™ using bold, forceful calligraphic reestablished the Spring Slumber
brush strokes. The accompanying enig- Painting Studio. In Macao, more tragedy
matic inscription reads, "The ghostly struck: the death of his son In 1939. fol-
lamp shining [darkly] like varnish on the lowed soon after by that of his wife. As a
pine blossoms." Whatever Gao's precise diversion from his sorrow, he immersed
meaning, it is clear that this pine is not himself in painting and in organizing the
an auspicious symbol of vigorous long "Exhibition of Works by the Ten Artists
life. A wave of pessimism had swept over of the Spring Slumber Painting Studio."
Gao, a sense of doom which the events of sponsored by the Macao Chamber of
1937 showed to have been justified. In July Commerce.
of that year the Japanese invaded That summer, physically and emo-
 I'll V I. INC N AN si'llci.i], \ Nil I I'S KOI, LOW I'l; s

tionally spent. Gao painted Mollis Diving that plagued Gao. He was attracted to the
into the Flame (fig. 6), sl adding as inscrip- intellectual content of literati painting,
«t J J. it
tion an original Yue ou composition by but he had spent his entire life struggling
Zhao Ziyong: to eradicate the distance between the
"Do not say that fire is not feared. Try to intelligentsia and the commoners. The
look at that moth fluttering to and fro choice of a verse by Zhao Ziyong, an
over the fire. It just has to touch the deep accomplished Confucian scholar equally
bottom of the lamp. Hoiv could it have adept at writing popular ballads, may
known that an inch or so is like a ten- have eased the contradictions. The issue
thousand-foot-deep abyss? No matter of ya ("refined") versus shu ("vulgar" or
how [hard] it flies, it could not escape. It "unrefined") has been a point of great
is not known how many have perished in contention in modern Chinese painting,
chasing the torrents and following the especially as regards the aesthetic
waves. How can you imitate the butterfly achievement of the Lingnan masters and
waking from the dream? Had you compre- the New National Painting. That unre-
hended [the riddle of] the flower, you finement could be valuable in disseminat-
would have been spared delusion as of a ing culture throughout Chinese society
mind spellbound by the flying demon". 1 was first posited by the modernizers.
have borrowed this Yue ou ballad by Advocates of the New Chinese Painting
Zhao Ziyong for my inscription, [hoping struggled to determine the definitions,
by its] profundity to comprehend society, balance, and uses of ya and shu that
[using it as a vessel in which] to lodge my would be serviceable to China's modern
grief. Autumn of the twenty-eighth year situation.
[of the Republic of China, i.e., 1939], Both the painting and the inscription
Jianfu of Gao's Moths Diving into the Flame are
Reiterating and augmenting the despon- reminders to the Japanese of their folly

dency of the image and the inscription is and their inevitable death. At the same
the text of the seal that Gao impressed at time, Gao may also have pitied them, as
the lower right: "Man has not achieved automatons blindly reenacting an age-old
fame and the body has died" (nan'er bu script of human error and doom. To

Figure 6. Gao Jianfu (1879-1951). Moths cheng ming shen yi si). underscore his ironic treatment of the
Diving into the Flame. Dated to 1939. The imagery of Zhao's verse is subject, and hence his pessimism, Gao
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper; 96.5 Buddhist and Daoist. The dream and the abandoned his usual consummate drafts-
x 47 cm. Hong Kong Museum of Art. butterfly epitomize the Daoist parable manship. At the same time. Gao's love of
regarding illusion and reality: having nature and absorption in its minutest
dreamed he was a butterfly, the sage details invested his subjects with emo-
Zhuangzi could not be sure, on waking, tional resonances far beyond their simple,
whether he was a man who had dreamed overt meanings. This intensity of emo-
he was a butterfly or a butterfly now tion in his art suffused it with penetrat-
dreaming that he was a man who had ing poignancy, and that is what moved
dreamed he was a butterfly. The implica- people.
tion is that all experience is at bottom When the war ended in 1945 with the
illusory, and that one who understands Japanese surrender, Gao moved back to
that suffering is illusory thereby does not Guangzhou and continued teaching at the
suffer. "Comprehending the riddle of the Spring Slumber Painting Studio. In 1949.
flower" refers to the famous moment when the Nationalist party retreated to
when the Buddha paused in his teaching Taiwan, leaving mainland China in the
and silently held up a flower. All were puz- hands of the Communist party, he fled to
zled except one disciple, who smiled. To Macao. It was his ultimate farewell to his
that one, whose smiling showed his under- beloved native land. Taking leave of his
standing, the Buddha entrusted the trans- country also meant abandoning a mission
mission of his Teaching. Not coinciden- that had lost much of its purpose. He
tally, Chen Shuren had called himself became more introverted. The paintings
"man holding a flower and smiling." of his final years are intimate and expres-
The inscription shows fascination sive. He spent his remaining years teach-
with metaphysical questions and also ing and painting, and he died in Macao in
reveals the tensions and contradictions May 1951.
 TUB LINGNAN SCI-lnoj, AND ITS l'ii|,|,r,WKI(,s

FOLLOWERS OF THE LINGNAN death at the age of forty-one cut short a

SCHOOL promising career.
Gao Jianfu and Gao Qifeng taught art in Zhao Shaoang, who settled in Hong
several institutions, but many of their Kong after 1949, has since then taught lit-
most notable followers were trained in erally thousands of students in his
just two of them: Gao Jianfu's Spring Lingnan Painting Studio. His own paint-
Slumber Painting Studio and Gao ings deal mostly with pleasant, nonpoliti-
Qifeng's Pavilion of Heavenly Wind. (Chen cal subjects such as flowers-and-birds,
Shuren had no formal students. fish, and animals, done in a detailed style
Gao Jianfu had many students, whose with considerable popular appeal. By
impact on painting in Guangdong was virtue of his success as a painter and an
considerable and longlasting. The pic- 52
art educator in Hong Kong, the Lingnan
tures by Li Xiongcai (b. 1910; see fig. 7) 53 style of painting has dominated the art
and Guan Shanyue (b. 1912), who have scene there for the last forty years and
worked in Guangzhou, display the has influenced a third generation of tal-
Lingnan school's picturesque style. These ented painters. Many of these emigrated
works, with their incorporation of from Hong Kong, including Ou Haonian
Western naturalism into Chinese ink (b. 1935), a student of Zhao Shaoang. who
painting and their nationalistic flavor, is highly proficient in the execution of
set the tone for the Socialist Realist art the Lingnan style and currently teaches
that predominated in the People's art at the conservative College of Chinese
Republic of China, and ensured their Culture in Taiwan.
makers' importance in the official art In discussions of the followers of the
world of the new order. The beautiful Lingnan school, most of the attention
motherland, the power and grandeur of has been focused on those who have emu-
the dams, bridges, and factories built by lated Zhao Shaoang perhaps too faithful-
the new regime, and the labor of workers, ly. Three non-Cantonese painters who
farmers, and soldiers were all immortal- studied with Zhao made successful
ized in glorious mural -size paintings. careers without becoming exponents of
Yang Shanshen (b. 1913). though not a stu- the Lingnan school: Fang Zhaolin (b.
Figure 7. Li Xiongcai (b. 1910). Landscape dent but an acquaintance of Gao's, is 1914) (see cat. 189), Zhou Luyun (b. 1924),
After Mi Fu. Dated to 1986. Hanging scroll, associated with a less political side of the and Gu Mei (b. went on to develop
1934)

ink and color on paper; 134.7 x 67.5 cm. Lingnan school and now a major propo-
is their own styles, becoming important fig-
Collection of Lai Sek-nang. nent of the Hong Kong "flavor" of the ures in a distinctive new wave of Hong
Lingnan style. Many second-generation Kong painting. 55
Lingnan school painters have left China After their tutelage under Zhao
forMacao or Hong Kong and thence for Shaoang. both Zhou Luyun and Gu Mei
North America. Most of them have con- became students of Lu Shoukun
tinued to paint but have lost much of the (1919-1976). Lu. founder of the New Ink
passion that made the Lingnan school so Movement in Hong Kong, undertook his
vital in the time of their masters. own renewal of Chinese painting by
Tianfeng qizi ("Seven Disciples of the exploring new possibilities based on the
Tianfeng Studio") is the collective name intrinsic qualities of Chinese brush and
for Gao Qifeng's most famous students. ink, and by creating abstract images to
The group includes Zhao Shaoang express Zen and Daoist concepts. Both
(b. 1905). Zhang Kunyi (1895-19691, Ye Zhou Luyun (see fig. 9) 55 and Gu Mei have
Shaobing (1897-1959). Huang Shaoqiang adopted a nontraditional abstract ink
(1900-1942), He Qiyuan (1899-1970), Zhou style. Fang Zhaolin. born and raised In
Yifeng (1890-1942), and Rong Shoushi China, is a native of Wuxi. Jiangsu. She
(1907-?). Except for Huang Shaoqiang. who studied landscape painting with Qian
died before the Communist take-over, all Songyan and
(1898-1985) (see cat. 154)

of them left China for Macao or Hong
Kong after 1949. Huang Shaoqiang
expressed in his art his intense sympathy
with the hardships of the common
He is admired for his stark portrayals of
manual laborers (see fig. 8).- His early
51
flower-and-bird painting with Chen
Jiucun. In 1937 Fang went to England to
study modern European history at the
people. University of Manchester. In 1950 she
went to Hong Kong and resumed her
painting studies under Zhao Shaoang,
 Till! LINGNAN SCHOOL AND ITS FO 1, 1.O W 10 US

and in 1953 she studied under another experience. This she does in the form of
painting master, Zhang Daqian (see cats. forceful pictorial commentaries on the
44, 45. 178). She took a degree program in significant events that come crowding in
Chinese literature and philosophy in 1954 on her.

at the University of Hong Kong, followed In perpetuating the spirit of revolu-

by two years' study of Chinese literature tion of the Lingnan school, its followers
at Oxford University. are its greatest strength and its greatest
Fang's works have a strikingly vivid weakness. The sheer number of painters
I quality. In many of them, such as her practicing the style has propagated
painting of the cave-dwelling inhabitants Lingnan school painting over a large geo-
of the rugged yellow-earth highland in graphical area, particularly with the
northeastern China (cat. 189)." or one massive emigration from Hong Kong

/> depicting Vietnamese refugees in rickety

rafts battered by an angry sea (fig. 10), 58
(mainly to North America) that has taken
place in recent years. A large number of
her direct and larger-than-life expression these followers, however, are mere imita-
of the struggle for survival is enormously tors, who copy the style of their masters
moving. At Oxford Fang wrote her thesis without individuality or originality. That
on the Chu ci ("Songs of Chu"), a collec- is one of the reasons some critics have
tion of poems attributed to China's first considered the survival of the Lingnan

*f.
;
poet to be known by name and dated to style to be anachronistic. If the Lingnan
about the fourth-third century bce. Those style is indeed an anachronism in modern
.•^ poems are one of the sources of the society, it will be just as well when it

strength and power of expression evident takes its place in history and is succeeded
in her pictorial commentaries on the by a changed sensibility, a changed aes-
heavy social and political burdens of the thetics, and a changed politics.

less fortunate.

Intellectual responses such as those CONCLUSION

to society and politics hark back to the The compromise that Gao Jianfu believed
sentiments that gave rise to the ideals of necessary for the revitalization of
the Lingnan school. Fang and others like Chinese art, and which he attempted to
her bridge the ideological gap between achieve in his own art, can be seen as a
the first-generation Lingnan masters and strategy of expediency. Inherent in this
Figure 8. Huang Shaoqiang (1900-1942). those who have come after them in mod- expediency is the adaptability to change.
Stonecutter. Undated. Hanging scroll, ink ern society. Fang has painted large narra- Gao once declared that "modern painting
and color on paper; 72.5 x 32 an. Hong Kong tive works inspired by events such as the cannot be separated from the revolution-
Museum of Art. signing of the Sino-British Joint ary need of modern China. Artists have
Declaration (finalizing the return of to . . . try hard to improve their personal
Hong Kong to China), the Tiananmen cultivation for the future development of
Square incident, and the death of Mao's revolution, in coordination with the vari-
successor Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997). ous needs of the present." 60 Thus the man-
Nationalist sentiments, which loom large date of the new painting evolves with
in her pictorial persona, are the ideologi- time and adapts to the changing political
cal common ground between Fang and environment. He went on to say that his
the originators of the Lingnan school and proposals regarding the revival of the
the "New National Painting." Ralph national spirit in order to renew art were
Croizier has pointed out the paradox valid only
inherent in the Lingnan school having in relation to the present circumstances
flourished in the British colony of Hong of [his] nation. In other words, [his ideas!
Kong. But among the Chinese in Hong only claim a territory in the modern era.
Kong, colonialism has continued to fuel In the history of evolution each era has
the forces of nationalism. 59 Fang Zhaolin, the unique spirit of that era. Painting
who has lived through more than eight has to represent the era. It has to move
decades of this turbulent century and forward with time, otherwise it will be

experienced the history of modern China left behind by time. . . . Today I reform,

from the rise of Sun Yat-sen to the create. Soon [my creation] gets old. There
demise of colonialism, is perhaps among will be new methods, new theories,

the most qualified to comment on that requiring reform, re-creation. Actually

 TIIH IJNCNAN SCHOOI, AND ITS FOLLOWERS

lone has to be] perpetually rebelling, per- Throughout Gao Jianfu's artistic career,
petually creating, then perpetually pro- he kept searching for answers to his ideo-
gressing." logical questions and aesthetic problems.
Politics, thus inextricably linked to the The greatest contribution of the
mandate of the new painting, became Lingnan school to the development of
central to the content of Lingnan school Chinese painting in the twentieth centu-
painting. For Gao Jianfu, the spirit of ry is way each of its founders grap-
the
modernity was the spirit of revolution, pled with the new sensibilities in their
and to keep up with the times one must pursuit of a new art, one in which
continue the revolution. Depictions of expanded formal and iconographic
subjects of daily life by artists of the content would be allied with truth of
Lingnan school — even by Gao himself— artistic expression.
became ritualized; they were no longer
immediate observations of particular NOTES
1. Kang Youwei, by-name (zi) Guangxia. sobri-
realities, but edifying instruments in a
quets (haoj Changsu. Gengxin. Native of Nanhai
campaign for artistic reform. prefecture, Guangdong Province. Leader of the
Perhaps, within this context, it can modernization movement in the late nineteenth
be said that the Lingnan school was a and early twentieth century. See Yi Xingguo,
ed. Shiyong Zhongguo mingren cidian ("Practical
product of the post-literati era. spawned
Dictionary of Famous Chinese Personalities"),
by forces of political and cultural imperi- pp. 745-46.
alism. The art that it produced was jour- 2.Liang Qichao. by-name Zhuoru. sobriquets
nalistic, in that its value was based on its Rengong. Yinpingshi juren. Native of Xinhui
prefecture,Guangdong Province. He studied
relevance to current social and political
with Kang Youwei in Guangzhou and was much
sensibilities. Therefore, understandably, influenced by reformist thoughts. See ibid., pp.
Figure 9. Zhou Luyun (b. 1924). Infinity nationalism was at its emotional center. 752-53.

This explains why its impact on the 3. Li Shutong (1880-1942). who went to Japan in
Landscape III. Undated. Hanging scroll, ink
1905 to study Western painting and music, was
and color on paper; 179 x 97 cm. Hong Kong nation was most widely felt when China
the first Chinese student to study art in Japan.
Museum of Art. was in upheaval. Such political messages Li Shutong made his mark on the pioneering
cease to function when the need to galva- stages of Western art education in China.

nize national efforts dissipates. 4. Jian Youwen's chronological biography

records that Gao Jianfu went to Japan toward
The value of the art of the Lingnan
the end of 1906. Li Weiming has proposed a 1903
school, or of other reformers of that gen- date. See Jian Youwen (Jen Yu-wen). "Geming
eration such as Xu Beihong and Lin hua jia Gao Jianfu: Gailun ji nianbiao
Fengmian, lies in their deviation from ("Revolutionary Painter Gao Jianfu: General
Discussion and Chronological Biography"),
traditional sensibilities; yet there must
part 2. Zhuanji wenxue ("Biographical litera-
be a sensibility that is shared by artists ture"), vol. 22, no. 2 (February 1973). p. 88. See
and their viewers in order for aesthetic also Li Weiming, "Gao Jianfu 'liuxue' Riben
and ideological values to be perceived and kao" ("Examination of Gao Jianfu's 'study" in
Japan"), in Shui Tianzhong. Liu Longting. et
shared. As a follower of Sun Yat-sen, Gao
al.. Jin Bainian Zhongguo hua yanjiu ("Study of
Jianfu subscribed to the tenets of democ- Chinese Painting over the past Hundred
racy. Democracy bestows on the public a Years"), pp. 221-37.

right of participation; the artist and his 5. In the year 627 the Tang court divided China
geographically into ten administrative regions
art are part and parcel of society, and
of which Lingnan. covering mainly present-day
only with the people's participation can Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, was one.
art and its newly perceived ethics be cre- During the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279)
ated. periods these southern provinces were consid-
ered underdeveloped territories, to which unde-
Figure 10. Fang Zhaolin (b. 1914). Adrift in In retrospect, it is perhaps rather too
sirableand criminal elements were banished.
the Angry Sea. Dated to 1981. Ink and color easy to recount the specifics of the art or 6.Located at the mouth of the Pearl River, it
on paper; 68.5 x 138 cm. Hong Kong Museum the motivation of the Lingnan school had been the center of foreign trade since the
masters. But the sum of their expressions Han (202 bce-220 ce) dynasty. During the Tang
of Art.
and Song dynasties. Maritime Customs ishibosi)
in visual form is not as significant as
were set up there to administer foreign trade.
their net ideological value. During the Southern Song (1127-1279) and early
Unfortunately, as history has taught us. Ming (1368-1644) period. Guangzhou was eclipsed

great works of art do not result from a by Quanzhou. Fujian Province. Although the
port of Guangzhou remained open throughout
well-thought-out ideological agenda of
the Ming dynasty, it suffered an inconsistent
any kind if it is not accompanied by a official policy on and intermittent bans of for-
pure passion for the expression of beauty. eign maritime trade. Its economy surged again
THE I.1NCNAN SCHOOL AND ITS FOLLOWERS
in the Qing dynasty (164'!-1911). when in 1685 the
Kangxi emperor reopened the the coastal ports
to trade and established the Guangzhou Custom
House. See Zeng Zhaoxuan, Guangdong lishi dili
("History and Geography of Guangdong")
(Guangzhou. 1991). pp. 219-344.
7. The most comprehensive catalogue of
painters from Guangdong Province is Wang
Zhaoyong, Lingnanhua zhenglue ("Brief Enquiry
into Lingnan Painting") (Hong Kong, 1972).
8. Born in Guangdong Province, Lin Liang is
recorded as having served in the Provincial
Administrations Office in Guangzhou while
learning to paint. Success as a painter overtook
his administrative career; during the
reign-period (1488-1505) he served as a court
painter in Beijing, where he attained the hon-
orary rank of commander in the Embroidered
Uniform Guard (Jin yi wei; the Ming emperors'
honorary bodyguard, in which artists might
receive sinecure appointments).
9.Acknowledged as the first major landscape
painter from Guangdong. See Christina Chu,
"An Overview of Li Jian's Painting." in Chinese
Painting Under the Qianlong Emperor, Phoebus
no. 2. vol. 2, pp. 295-315.
10.Ju Chao. by-name Meisheng. sobriquets
Meichao, Jinshan zhu. Ju Lian, by-name
Guquan, sobriquet Keshan laoren. See Hong
Kong Museum of Art. Early Masters of the
Lingnan School (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Urban
Council. 1983), p. 7.
11.Zhang Jingxiu, native of Boxiacun,
Dongguan prefecture, Guangdong. He partici-
pated in putting down the Taiping Rebellion.
He was an accomplished poet, calligrapher, and
painter who specialized in birds, flowers, insects
and fish. Guangdong fengwuzhi ("Gazette of
Customs and Products of Guangdong")
(Guangzhou, 1985), pp. 159-60.
12. Song Guangbao. by-name Outang. Native of
Wuxian district of Jiangsu Province. In
Guangxi. he and Meng Jinyi resided with their
patron Li Pingshou. He was skilled at expres-
sionistic. free-brush (xieyi) renditions of flower-
and-bird subjects in the "boneless" (mogu,
without outline) manner. His painting shows
strong influence from the Qing dynasty ortho-
dox master Yuri Shouping (1633-1690). Hong
Kong Museum of Art. Early Masters of the
Lingnan School, p. 7.
Meng Jinyi. by-name Litang. Native of
13.
Yanghu (present-day Changzhou). Jiangsu
Province. Meng painted flower-and-bird sub-
jects in the manner of Chen Chun (1483-1544), an
artist of the Ming dynasty noted for his bold
and powerful brushwork. Ibid.
14. Guangdong fengwuzhi, pp. 159-60.
15. Reproduced in Hong Kong Museum of Art,
Early Masters of the Lingnan School, pi. 57(viii).
16. The technique was described by Gao Jianfu.
"Ju Guquan xiansheng de huafa" ("The painting
methods of Ju Guquan [Ju Lian]"). Guangdong
wenwu ("Guangdong Culture and
Archaeology"), vol. 8 (1933). pp. 46-49.
17. In these infusion techniques clear water or
mineral pigments dissolved in water, respective-
ly, are dropped onto a still-wet area of a flower-
—
and-bird painting often a very small area such
as a single leaf or petal. Sometimes small clips
or splints are used to confine the dropped liquid
within the desired area. As the area dries, water
tension causes a watermark to form around its
edge, outlining it. Tonal gradations can be cre-
ated by tilting the paper so that the pigment
flows toward the lower edge. As only one area at
a time can be treated this way, these techniques
are exceptionally painstaking and time-con-
suming.
18. Reproduced in Hong Kong Museum of Art,
Early Masters of the Lingnan School, pi. 70.
19. Zhao Ziyong (1793-1846). given name
Mingshan, was a native of Nanhai. His orchid
and bamboo paintings reflect the style of Zheng
Xie (1693-1765). In Guangdong he was best
Hongzhi known as a painter of crabs. See City Museum
and Art Gallery. Kwangtung Painting (Hong
Kong, 1973), p.74.
20. It is said that Yue ou appeared as early as the
second century. See Guangdong fengwu zhi,
pp.233-34.
21.Reproduced in Christina Chu. "Tradition
Transformed: The Painting of Gao Jianfu,"
Artention, no. 21 (November-December 1991),
p. 52.
6, 22.The young couple had lived next door to the
Xiaoyueqin Guan when Gao was living and
studying there, and Gao had taught painting to
He Xiangning. The couple went to study in
Japan in 1902. They met Sun Yat-sen in Tokyo
in 1903 and soon joined the Tongmeng hui. See
Zhou Xingliang. Liao Zhongkai he He Xiangning
("Liao Zhongkai and He Xiangning")(Henan,
1989), pp. 18-23.
23. Part of the lecture given by Gao Qifeng at
Lingnan University. Guangzhou. See Gao Qifeng
xiansheng yi hua ji ("Collected Paintings by the
Late Gao Qifeng"), unpaginated.
24. After the 1911 revolution Gao Jianfu,Gao
Qifeng and Chen Shuren published in Hong
Kong, Guangzhou, and Shanghai various news-
papers and journals such as Shishi huabao
("News Pictorial") and Zhongguo bao ("China
Journal").
25. Gao Jianfu, "My views on modern painting"
("Wo de xiandai huihuaguan"). in Lingnan hua-
i.e. pai yanjiu, vol. 1. p. 19. A "book of heaven" (tian
shu) is a text, usually illegible, communicated
to earth by a deity via a medium and needing
interpretation, usually by a Daoist priest.
26. The term guoyu was brought to China in
1906. by Chinese students returning en masse
from study in Japan, in protest against Japan's
territorial ambitions in Shandong following
the Russo-Japanese War. Chow. Tse-tsung, The
May Fourth Movement (Stanford: Stanford
University Press. 1960), p. 277.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid., p. 276.
29. Cited in Liu Xilin, "Jin bainian shanshui
hua de liuxiang he xiaxiang" ("Trends in
Chinese Landscape Painting in the Past
Hundred Years"), in Shui Tianzhong, Liu
Longting, et al., Jin Bainian Zhongguo hua yan-
jiu ("Study of Chinese Painting in the Hundred
Years") (Beijing, 1996). p. 71.
30.See Nie Zhenbin, Cai Yuanpei ji qi meixue si-
xiang ("Cai Yuanpei and His Thoughts on
Art")(Tianjin, 1984), pp. 357-66.
31.Part of the lecture given by Gao Qifeng at
Lingnan University, Guangzhou. See Gao Qifeng
xiansheng yi hua ji ("Collected Paintings by the
THE LINONAN SCHOOL AND ITS l'OI,l,DWERK 73

Late Gao Qifeng"), unpaginated. Huilan's son Chen Dingzhong (b. 1946) learned
32. Chen Shuren occupied various important to paint from Zhao Shaoang.
posts in the government, including that of 49. Reproduced in Hong Kong Museum of Art.

Minister of Civil Affairs in Guangdong, Acting The Art of Gao Jianfu, pi. 31.
Governor of Guangdong, Minister of the Labor 50. Xiao Qian (b. 1911). in a paroxysm of frustra-

Department, Member of the Central tion, asked, "what would those who cannot han-
Committee of Central Affairs, Adviser to the dle guns do?" and answered, "There is a lot we
Government, and Personal Adviser to the can do. Even holding a pen, it is no longer
President. enough just to 'write articles'." Ba Jin (b. 1904)
33. Their opponents in the conservative school cried out that writers can not only "express our
included Deng Fen (1892-1963), Li Yanshan anger in ink; maybe one day I will use my blood
(1898-1961), and Huang Boye (1901-1968), among to cleanse this shame. Ba Jin, "Yidian kan-
others. xiang" ("A Bit of Thought"), Na han. 1937 (inau-
34.Reproduced in Hong Kong Museum of Art. gural issue). See also Liu Cengjia, Chanhuo
The Art of Gao Jlanfu (Hong Kong, 1978), pi. 13; zhong de Mousi ("Muse at War"), p.5.
also reproduced in Hong Kong Museum of Art, 51. Collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art.
Twentieth Century Chinese Painting (Hong Kong. Reproduced in Hong Kong Museum of Art. The
1978), pi. 13. Art of Gao Jianfu, pi. 39. There is another ver-
35. Cited in Tang Tao, Zhongguo xiandai wenxue sion of the same painting, painted in Macao in
shi ("History of Modern Chinese the summer of the year, reproduced in the col-
Literature")(Beijing, 1979), vol. 1, p. 101. lection of Art Museum, The Chinese University
36. This passage was omitted in Gao Jianfu, "Wo of Hong Kong. The Art of the Gao Brothers of the
de xiandai guohua guan," in the Lingnan hua Lingnan School (Hong Kong, 1995), pi. 52. In the
yanjiu edition, but appears in a Taipei edition Chinese University version, the Buddhist seal is
of 1975, p. 23. not present.
37. Detail reproduced in Lingnan huapai yanjiu, 52. Hong Kong Museum of Art. Tradition and
no. 1 (1987), p. 127. Innovation: Twentieth Century Chinese Painting
38.Reproduced in Hong Kong Museum of Art, (Hong Kong, 1995), pi. 82.
The Art of Gao Qifeng (Hong Kong, 1980), pi. 18; 53. Other students of Gao Jianfu are Fang

Hong Kong Museum of Art, Twentieth Century Rending (1901-1975), Rong Dakuai (b.1900). Li
Chinese Painting, pi. 21. Fuhong (1904-1990), Situ Qi (b. 1906). Zhao
39. Reproduced in Art Museum. The Chinese Chongzheng (1910-1968), and Li Gemin
University of Hong Kong, The Art of the Gao (1894-1977), etc.
Brothers of the Lingnan School, pi. 22. 54. Hong Kong Museum of Art. Tradition and
40. Membership included Huang Banruo Innovation: Twentieth Century Chinese Painting,
(1901-1968), Pan Dawei (1881-1929). Deng Erya pi. 59.

(1883-1955). Deng Fen (1892-1964), Li Fenggong
(1884-1967), Zhang Guchu (1891-1968), Zhao
Haogong (1881-1946), Pan He (1873-1929), Huang
Junbi (1898-1991), Yao Lixiu (1878-1939). Wen
Qiqiu (1862-1941). Zhang Xiangning (1911-1958),
Li Yanshan (1898-1961), Li Yaoping (1882-1937).
55. Zhou Luyun, a native of Shanghai, graduat-
ed from St. John's University. Shanghai, in 1945
with a B.A. in journalism. Zhou settled in Hong
Kong in 1949. where she studied under Zhao
Shaoang and then under Lu Shoukun.
56. Reproduced in Hong Kong Museum of Art,

Lu Zhenhuan (1889-1979), Shen Zhongqiang Ink Painting by Hong Kong Artists, pi. 26.
(1893-1974), Lu Zishu (1900-1979). 57.Reproduced in Hong Kong Museum of Art.
41. Gao Jianfu. "Wo de xiandai guohua guan," Tradition and Innovation: Twentieth Century
Lingnan huapai yanjiu, vol. 1, p. 9. See also the Chinese Painting, pi. 135.

1975 Taipei edition, p. 29. 58. Reproduced in Hong Kong Museum of Art,
42. Ibid., p. 33. The Passionate Realm: A Restrospective of Fang
43. Reproduced in Art Musuem, The Chinese Zhaoling (Hong Kong, 1994). pi. 32.
University of Hong Kong. The Art of the Gao 59. See Croizier. Ralph. Art and Revolution in

Brothers of the Lingnan School, pi. 32. Modern China: The Lingnan (Cantonese) School of
44. Chen Zhenhun, Chen Shuren xiansheng nian- Painting, 1906-1951 (Berkeley. Los Angeles, and
pu ("Chronology of Chen Shuren")( Guangzhou. London: University of California Press. 1988).
1993). p. 55. p. 183.

45. Chen Shuren and his son Chen Fu supported 60.Gao Jianfu, "My views on modern painting"
the leftist wing of the Nationalist government, {"Wo de xiandai huihuaguan") in 1975 Taipei edi-
which urged an alliance with the Communist tion, p. 26.
party to fight against the Japanese. That 61. Ibid., p. 52.

alliance was at all times uneasy and for the

most part existed only as rhetoric.
46. Reproduced in Hong Kong Museum of Art.

The Art of Chen Shuren (Hong Kong, 1981). pi. 34.

47. Reproduced in Hong Kong Museum of Art,

The Art of Chen Shuren, pi. 52.

48. Chen Shuren's daughter-in-law. Xiao Huilan

(1919-1996). learned painting from him. Xiao

Traditional Painting in a -

Transitional Era, 1900-1950

Kuiyi Shell, The Ohio State University

No period of Chinese history has chal- "literati painter" among Shanghai artists
lenged Chinese painting as greatly as the of the late nineteenth and early twenti-
twentieth century. The overthrow of the eth centuries.
Qing dynasty by the Republican revolu- Although Wu rose to prominence in
tion of 1911 changed China's political Shanghai only after the Qing dynasty's
structures and also accelerated and fall, he had lived for most of his life under
sharpened debates over "traditional" cul- Manchu imperial rule, had received the
ture, which was the object of both vehe- classical education of a scholar-official of
ment critique and robust defense in the that last imperial era, and had experi-
early Republican decades. "This period is enced to the full the social chaos that
characterized by economic strife and attended the last phase of the dynasty. 2
political upheavals. The psychological He was born into a scholarly family in
burden carried by the people of China, straitened circumstances in a village
including her artists, has been enormous. near Anji, Zhejiang. In 1860. when he was
To an extent greater than ever before in seventeen, Taiping rebel forces captured
Chinese history, intellectuals of the nine- his village, which left him homeless and
teenth and twentieth centuries have come wandering with his father in northern
to question every aspect of Chinese civi- Zhejiang and along the Anhui border. 3 In
lization, including her traditional philo- 1864 the father and son returned to Anji
sophical, political, social, and economic and started a new life in the town. Within
system. All of these systems have under- two years Wu Changshi passed the local
gone dramatic reforms in the twentieth civil-service examination and received
century." Artists of this period,
1
most of the xiucai degree (the lowest of the three
whom had been born and educated in degrees afforded by the Qing examination
imperial China, faced fundamental ques- system). Later he studied Classics and lit-

tions regarding their own positions and erature under the well-known scholars Yu
the survival of traditional Chinese paint- Yue (1821-1907) and Yang Yan (1819-1896),

ing. Like most aspects of Chinese cultur- at the same time pursuing seal carving
al life, what it meant to be an artist in and calligraphy. Over the years he trav-
China was radically transformed by the eled between Suzhou and Shanghai and
collapse of the Qing dynasty and the clas- took occasional trips to Hangzhou,
sical norms of education and especially Nanjing, and Tianjin. Only the 1894-1895
by the rapidity of economic change in Sino-Japanese War took him farther
urban China between 1900 and 1937. north. After a series of lowly clerical
Shanghai, as the economic and cul- jobs, he finally received an appointment
tural center of China, the largest city in in 1899 as magistrate of Andong (present-
East Asia, and the home of the most day Lianshui) in Jiangsu Province, but
important school of painting of the nine- resigned after one month. Through
teenth century, attracted many artists, friends and patrons, however, he got to
who came from all parts of China to seek know Wu Yun (1811-1883), a Suzhou
instruction, careers, and patrons. By the painter, calligrapher, and connoisseur,
beginning of the twentieth century, how- and the learned and famous antiquarian
ever, after the deaths in rapid succession Wu Dacheng (1835-1902), who broadened
of such major artists of the Shanghai his knowledge of antiquities and opened
school as Zhao Zhiqian (1829-1884), Ren Yi his eyes to new stylistic possibilities in
(1840-1895), and Xugu (1823-1896), the only calligraphy and seal carving.
surviving senior master was Wu Changshi As with Zhao Zhiqian, who had prac-
(1844-1927). He. undoubtedly, was one of ticed calligraphy and seal carving before
the most innovative of early twentieth- painting, Wu Changshi did not become a
century painters, and his career best rep- serious painter until long after he had
resents the process of evolution from taken up seal carving and calligraphy. In
artistic patterns of late imperial China to painting as in calligraphy, jinshiqi ("anti-
those of the modern era. The ultimate quarian epigrapher's taste," i.e., a deliber-
ideal of literati painting — to unite poetry, ately naive, slightly awkward manner
calligraphy, and painting in each work of derived ultimately from calligraphy on
art —was realized in his pursuits. Wu Han [206 bce-220 ce] and Wei [386-535]

Changshi may be considered the last dynasty steles unearthed during the late
 Qing) was a very important aspect of the new metropolis of China, it was the fast-

style developed by Shanghai school rising merchants who were becoming the
artists. It was well known that Yangzhou major patrons of art. To these new
school painter Jin Nong (1687-1763) and patrons, colorful, decorative subjects such
others derived their script styles from as flowers-and-birds were more attractive
ancient calligraphies carved into stone and more usable markers of status than
steles and from rubbings taken from the landscape painting which had been
these. Since the arts of calligraphy and favored by scholar-officials for centuries
paintings share the same mediums, and (see fig. 1).

since the same artist often practiced By 1911 Wu had established his unique
both, it was only natural that elements of style of shiguwen calligraphy (see cat. 56)
antique calligraphic style, transmitted in and had achieved an equal mastery of cal-

the form of carvings on stone steles, ligraphy and painting. Among his favorite
should have entered Wu's painting. In subjects were flowers and rocks, which
each of his works, the strong, fine design probably reflect what patrons of the time
is made up of lines that seem to have been wanted (see fig. 2). Finding that painting
painted slowly and deliberately, as if chis- paid better than seal carving or calligra-
eled in stone. Wu's seal carving and cal- phy, he jokingly referred to it as some-
ligraphy were also strongly influenced by thing that he only did for "[a bowl of] rice

the styles of Deng Shim (1743-1805) and with meat." 8

Zhao Zhiqian. Four Seasons (cats. 23a-23d), a set of
As a painter, Wu Changshi was basi- four hanging scrolls painted in 1911. when
cally self-taught, except for some initial he was sixty-seven, is representative of
instruction from Pan Zhiqi. a specialist his art of that period. According to his
in plum blossoms. His early paintings inscription on the scroll of plum blos-
show the influences of early Qing masters soms, the four seasonal flowers were done
such as Zhu Da (1626-1705), Shitao in the styles of the Qing individualists Li
(1642-1707?). and Jin Nong. and of his own Shan (1686-1762), Shitao, and Zheng Xie
Figure 1. Wu Changshi (1844-1927). contemporaries, especially Zhao Zhiqian. (1693-1765), but the bolder brush work,
Antiquities. 1902. Hanging scroll, rubbing, His desire to paint must have been inten- brighter color, and more superficial com-
ink, and color on paper. Zhejiang Provincial sified by his sojourns in Shanghai, where position put the style of these paintings,
Museum, Hangzhou. he was surrounded by a widening circle as he himself wrote, somewhere "between
of painters, including Zhang Xiong resemblance and non-resemblance" to the
(1803-1886), Hu Yuan (1823-1886), Yang essentials of those masters." His paint-
Borun (1837-1911). and above all Ren Yi. It ings generally are to be seen not as
was Ren Yi who brought out Wu images from nature but as arrangements
Changshi's latent talent.' Wu's early of flowers, plants, and rocks in an
painting's are largely of blossomingplum abstract space.
branches, in a drawing style that empha- Later paintings show Wu emphasiz-
sized strong gestural brush work similar ing the epigraphical and calligraphic ele-
to his early shiguwen ("Stone Drum ments, making the pictures seem old-
script") calligraphy. fashioned, awkward, and simply rendered.
From the late 1890s to the mid-1910s— The heavy, emphatic ink lines and the
from his mid-fifties to his early seven- strong color make a refreshing contrast
ties —Wu Changshi's art reached its matu- to the timid good manners of most late
rity, but in his pursuit of a political Qing painting. Bravura brushwork and
career he was unsuccessful. 5 Wu was bold colors characterize Wild Roses and
versed in the Classics, and as a former Loquats (cat. 24), which he painted in
minor official he held some claim to autumn of 1920. This painting pulsates
literati-gentry status, but after he moved with power and energy, although in his
to Shanghai as a professional painter shaping of the rockery as a series of
about 1913, he had to live on the money he interlocking planes he has not yet
made selling his paintings and to chart a achieved his greatest simplicity. Still,

career for which there was no prototype. this work points toward the marvelously
As a professional painter, he had to satis- free and uninhibited personal statements
fy the tastes of new patrons in a rapidly that distinguish Wu's work from 1915 on.
modernizing society. In Shanghai, the Pomegranates and Plum Blossoms
 A

TRADITIONAL TAINTING IN A TRANSITIONAL 10 11

(cat. 25), painted in 1912. is representative ter of the time, Wu possessed a certainty

if of his late work. Here, a purist taste is

manifested in a further simplification of
regarding his own course that later
artists could no longer muster." His 1

Pi the composition (reducing: the zigzag

composition of Wild Roses and Loquats to
career is representative of the artistic
milieu of the important transitional
three strong verticals placed at different period.
heights so as to form a diagonal); in a Wu Changshi's influence was great,
stark contrast among pictorial elements; and his pupils were many. They include
and in the attention to a pictorial axis, some most renowned artists of the
of the
primarily to lend stability and also to twentieth century: Wang Zhen (1867-1938),
coordinate the characteristic diagonal Chen Hengque (1876-1923). Wang Geyi
cross-movements. In a hanging scroll the (1897-1987), Qi Baishi (1864-1957), and Pan

pictorial axis tends to be vertical and Tianshou (1898-1971), through whom his
sometimes can be supplied by integrating art and ideas were given new dimensions.
calligraphy into the composition (see Wang Zhen (by-name Yiting) may be
fig. 3). the most famous of Wu's disciples. He
In 1909 Wu Changshi entered actively first studied under Ren Yi and later under
into the Shanghai art world. That year he Wu, combining the inspired calligraphic
became a founding member of the Yuyuan hand of the former and the solidity of the
shuhua shanhui ("Yu Garden Charitable latter to form his own style. Born in
Association of Calligraphers and Wuxing, Zhejiang Province, Wang was
Painters"), whose dual goal was to serve first employed as an apprentice in a pic-
artists' economic needs while also aiding ture-mounting shop. Later he studied for-

victims of famines and floods." In 1913 he eign languages in the Guang fangyan guan
became the director of the Xiling yinshe, (a foreign-language training and transla-
the first society of seal carvers, which tion institute established by the Qing
had been founded in Hangzhou in 1904. government), which helped him to become
After settling in Shanghai about 1913, Wu comprador for a Japanese trading compa-
joined the Haishang tijinguan jinshi ny in China in 1900, and subsequently to
Figure2. Wu Changshi (1844-1927). Red shuhuahui, a society of artists and seal hold a lucrative post at another major
Plum Blossom. 1916. Hanging scroll, ink carvers in Shanghai. Younger artists Japanese trading company from 1907 to
and color on paper. The Shanghai Museum. gravitated toward this sympathetic fig- 1931. He became a very successful busi-

ure, and a number of them became his nessman in Shanghai, eventually serving
disciples. By the 1920s his students and as chairman of the Shanghai Chamber of
friends had made Wu's work well known Commerce. He was a generous supporter
in Japan, especially among seal carvers of Shanghai artists, and extremely active
and calligraphers. 9
in Shanghai art circles. Like Wu
During the last stage of his career, Changshi, he was a founding member of
with the foundations of traditional art the Yu Garden Charitable Association of
under attack, challenged by Western cul- Calligraphers and Painters in 1909, and
ture and education and criticized by the was an important member of the
Western-influenced New Culture Shanghai Tijinguan Epigraphy,
Movement (Xin wenhua yundong), the Calligraphy, and Painting Society. As a
continued practice of Chinese painting painter, he was proficient at figures, flow-
took on a larger communal or even ers-and-birds (see cat. 26), landscapes, and
national significance. At that time an animals, and particularly renowned for
intensified consciousness of the West his Buddhist figures and his dragons (see

marked all artistic pursuits in China, cat. 28) and cranes (see fig. 4). His brush-
regardless of an artist's approach. The work was fluent and calligraphic. In some
work of Wu Changshi, however, recalled of his works the influence of Ren Yi is
the literati tradition, for he drew his paramount; in others, that of Wu
strength from his epigraphical and calli- Changshi, whose old age he cared for and
graphic heritage and from the art of whose burial he arranged. In the pair of
seal carving. The epigraphic quality in paintings entitled Fate (cat. 26), dated to
Wu's paintings could thus be considered 1922, the figures are depicted with quick,
a last effort to save the so-called tradi- free, spontaneous lines that are charac-
tion of literati painting. As a major mas- teristic of Wang's figure style. The pie-
 TRADITIONAL PAINTING IN A TRANSITIONAL KUA

beian subjects are not new; the theme of collector, calligrapher, and amateur
street characters portrayed without painter. 1
" The two men campaigned
background or context is found in the together during the Sino-Japanese War of
works of the Qing period Yangzhou 1894-1895 — a campaign that introduced Lu
painters and most famously in an album to the scenery of north China, When Wu
by the Ming painter Zhou Chen. Similar was promoted, Lu became acquainted
subjects were painted by Wang Zhen's with some prominent officials and
contemporaries, such as Chen Hengque's patrons of the time, such as Weng Tonghe
album Beijing Customs. But the admonish- (1830-1904)" and Zhang Zhidong
ing inscriptions, by himself and Wu recommended by
(1837-1909)" In 1896,
1
.

Changshi, show his Buddhist beliefs. Late Zhang Zhidong, Lu headed a team of
in life Wang became a devout Buddhist painters in the court-sponsored project of
and even served a term as the president of illustrating Wang Yun's Chenghua shilue,
the Chinese Buddhist Association." His a Yuan dynasty text dealing with prince-
enthusiasm for Chan painting, acquired ly education. With free access to Wu
during visits to Japan, shows in his many Dacheng's own collection, and enabled by
paintings of Bodhidharma and other Wu's prestige and contacts to view other
Buddhist subjects (see fig. 5). In 1931 he collections in the Jiangnan region, Lu
headed (and very probably paid for) a gained firsthand knowledge of old paint-
party of more than twenty guohua ings. This exposure sharpened his eyes
artists, including Zhang Daqian, Wang and gave him confidence in his connois-
Geyi, and Qian Shoutie (1896-1967), on a seurship. Well-known collectors such as
month-long tour of Japan. 12
Sheng Xuanhuai (1849-1916) and Pang
In the 1910s a group of painters most- Yuanji (1864-1949) requested his advice
ly active in Suzhou, such as Lu Hui and counsel: with the latter he kept up a
(1851-1920) and Gu Linshi (1865-1930), who close relationship that lasted almost
advocated adherence to early models, held twenty years and included giving lessons
sway there as "revivalists," although they in painting technique."
kept up very close relationships with Liberal exposure to major works of
Shanghai painters, especially the circle ancient times, such as those of Dong
of Wu Changshi. Lu, a native of Wujiang, Yuan (ca. 900-962), Mi Fu (1052-1107), Zhao
Jiangsu Province, was known for his cal- Mengfu (1254-1322), Huang Gongwang
ligraphy, painting, and connoisseurship. (1269-1354), Wang Meng (1308-1385). and Ni
He started his career as a flower-and-bird Zan (1306[?]-1374). also affected Lu's own
painter, learning from a local master, Liu painting. He also appreciated the style of
Deliu (1806-1875 or 1805-1876 ).' 3 A twelve- the orthodox masters of early Qing. par-
Figure 3. Wu Changshi (1844-1927). Ink leafalbum of miscellaneous subjects ticularly the work of Wang Yuanqi
Plum Blossom. 1927. Hanging scroll, ink on from 1891 (cat. 17) is unquestionably one (1642-1715). In landscape painting. Lu pre-
paper. Collection of Xiling Yinshe, of Lu Hui's major early works, painted ferred ample and detailed compositions.
Hang zhou. when he was forty. The flowers, fruit, fish, A landscape in the hanging-scroll format
and animals have a rich, substantial (cat. 18), painted in 1911, when he was
appearance, with the elegance and refine- sixty-one, is one of the best examples of
ment of Liu Deliu, the lyricism and soft his mature period. Its robust brushwork
palette of Yun Shouping, and the drag- and powerful composition show Lu Hui's
ging and halting brush movement charac- mastery of ancient masters' techniques.
teristic of Hua Yan." In this album, to More than the other "revivalists." Lu Hui
create variety, he broadened and expand- gained a reputation in Shanghai and
ed the range of subject matter. In the Suzhou as a classic literati artist. He also
1890s Lu Hui started to study landscape made painting theory a prime topic of his
painting with another Wujiang compatri- inscriptions on paintings.
Tao Tao, whose landscapes were
ot, Another revivalist and a fellow
known for bold and vigorous brushwork townsman of Lu Hui, Gu Yun (1835-1896).
and compelling composition. 15
enjoyed equal popularity at the time in
Lu's talent, however, was not recog- Suzhou and Shanghai. He was also a close
nized until he met Wu Dacheng in Wu Dacheng and an important
friend of
Shanghai. Wu was a rising political figure member of the Yiyuan huaji, a painting

at the time, in addition to being a scholar. society organized by Wu and Gu Linshi at

 TRADITIONAL TAINTING IN A TRANSITIONAL KUA

Gu's Yi Garden in 1891. In 1888 Gu Yun raries, the bamboo painter Wang Fu
traveled to Japan. While in Nagoya. he (1362-1416). 21 Xu Ben died a political pris-
was invited to teach ink painting, and oner, and few of his paintings survive.
later some of his works were published as Landscape After Xu Ben is inscribed with
a painting manual for Japanese literati colophons by Wu Changshi, Lu Hui, and
painting. He specialized in landscapes in Jin Erzhen (sobriquet Su'an; 1840-1917),
the style of the early Qing orthodox mas- all added the year it was painted, and one
ters. A representative example of his by Wu Dacheng's grandson, Wu Hufan,
early work is Landscape in the Style of from 1950. In its soft, loose texture
Wang Meng (cat. 19). which he painted in strokes and subtle ink tones Gu's paint-
when he was only twenty-three.
1857, ing is very similar to Xu Ben's Autumn
According to Gu's inscription, it is a copy Grove and Thatched Pavilion, but its dense
of a Wang Meng landscape entitled A composition is more dramatic, with diag-
Gathering by the Grove and Waterfall, dated onals zigzagging into the distance, inter-
to 1367. Like numerous paintings "after rupted by vertical trees. Prolonged study
Wang Meng" by later artists, Gu empha- of such works from his grandfather's
sized textural variety and dynamic com- extensive collection enabled Gu Linshi to
position, while retaining the Yuan mas- master the various styles of early mas-
ter's sense of monumentality. The combi- ters, as Lu Hui explained in his colophon,
nation of rich brushwork, undulating con- but many of Gu's paintings seem conven-
tours, grand scale, and complexity are all tional and unimaginative. In this work,
closely based on earlier prototypes in the however, his brushwork is extremely sub-
Wang Meng tradition. tle and beautiful.
Gu Linshi (by-name Heyi), a native of The "revival" of the literati tradition
Suzhou, chose the same path but had even among this group of artists did not great-
easier access than Lu Hui to early mas- ly influence the later development of
terpieces.The Yuan, Ming, and Qing Chinese painting. After the founding of
paintings owned by his grandfather Gu thenew Republic in 1911, a growing move-
Wenbin (1811-1889) formed one of the most ment for social and intellectual reform
important collections in Suzhou at the was led by students returning from
time. The young Gu Linshi often studied abroad and by the new intelligentsia
these masterpieces in his grandfather's emerging from China's Western-style edu-
studio, Guoyunlou ("Tower of Passing cational system. In the decade of the
Clouds"). Gu inherited the collection and 1910s these new intellectuals initiated a
created a beautiful garden, Yiyuan, which flurry of social and political activities,
was celebrated for its arrangement of under such rubrics as the "new thought
fantastic rocks and as a gathering place tide," the literary revolution, and the
for his friends, 3 including
'
such famous anti- Japanese boycott (to thwart
artists, scholars, and collectors as Wu Japanese encroachments in Shandong).
Dacheng, Lu Hui. Yang Borun. Ni Tian In all these movements the new intel-
(185,5-1919), Wu Guxiang (1848-1908). Gu lectuals marshalled Western ideas in a
Yun. Yang Yan, and Wu Changshi. Gu "total" attack on Chinese cultural tradi-
Linshi excelled at landscape painting, in tion, which they felt was an absolute
which he followed the styles of the obstacle to China's modernization.- As
ancient masters, especially the Yuan and intellectual historian Hao Chang has
Ming literati landscapists, but differed noted, "The scope of their moral icono-
from them particularly in the organiza- clasm is perhaps unique in the modern
tion of space. A hanging scroll of 1910. world; no other historical civilization
Landscape After Xu Ben (cat. 20), is a good outside the West undergoing modern
example from his mature period. Xu Ben transformation has witnessed such a
(by-name Youwen: 1335-1380) was a gov- phoenix-like impulse to see its own cul-
ernment official and scholar-painter of tural tradition so completely negated." 23
Figure. 4. Wang Zhen (1867-1938). Crane. the early Ming. He was famous as a land- To achieve modernization, the new intel-
1933. Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper. scape painter in the styles of Dong Yuan lectuals believed. China must be
Collection of Duoyunxuan. Shanghai. (ca. 900-962) and Juran (act. ca. 960-985) of Westernized, and the old ideas, ethics,
the Five Dynasties, and enjoyed equal and culture from its feudal past must be
popularity with one of his contempo- replaced in toto with the new ideas.
 TRADITIONAL PAINTING IN A Til A N S IT I UN A I, UKA 85

ethics, and culture of Western democra- National Essence ideology, however, was
cies. One of these new intellectuals. Chen already acquiring a conservative aura
Duxiu. wrote. "To build a Westernized when the first rumblings of the New
new country and a Westernized new soci- Culture Movement were felt in 1915. After
ety so that we can survive in this compet- the 1911 revolution National Essence
itive world, we must solve the basic prob- advocates were still part of the larger
lem of importing from the West the very movement for cultural change; but with
foundation of the new society. . . . We the founding of the radical journal
must get rid of the old to achieve the Xinqingnian ("New Youth") in 1915, advo-
new."-' He also declared, "If you want to cates of cultural revolution forced them
reform Chinese painting, you should revo- into defensive and untenable positions.
lutionize the Four Wangs' paintings first, Although the National Essence group did
and . . . apply the realism of Western art not deeply involve itself in arguments
to reform Chinese painting." 25 about art in the 1910s, its attitudes

Amid this great upheaval in cultural toward the Chinese cultural heritage sig-
values, the Western-influenced aesthetic nificantly influenced thought in the art
views of Cai Yuanpei (1867-1940) played a circles of the 1920s and 1930s.

very important role in the early develop- Since the beginning of this century
ment of modern Chinese art. Cai Yuanpei, voices for reform were heard among the
a classically educated scholar who had loyalists of traditional painting.
imbibed Western ideas as a student in Simultaneously with the importation of
Germany and France, and who had served Western goods and culture, rich mer-
the Republic as Minister of Education chants displaced the scholar-gentry from
and (from 1917) as chancellor of Peking the pinnacle of the social structure. In
National University, ranked aesthetic tandem with this social upheaval and also
education equally with universal military in consequence of it. popular art chal-
education, practical education, moral lenged orthodox literati painting as a
education, and "education for a world badge of the elite. The emergence of the
view" (i.e., a cosmopolitan understanding Shanghai school in the late nineteenth
of the world and China's place in it). He century reflected the general mood of
was convinced that art as traditionally society. Some of its painters tried to
defined in China — a kind of ink-play for inject a fresh spirit into traditional
literati self-expression — could not fulfill literati painting by expanding its subject
the needs of modern society in general matter and absorbing popular tastes,
and of modern artists in particular. In his such as bright colors and novel composi-
article "Replacing Religion with tions, but they only hastened the decline
Aesthetic Education," he stated that "the of traditional painting into vulgar super-
art educator should apply the theory of ficiality. 3 Almost all artists of the time
aesthetics in education, with molding a were conscious of the necessity of
person's emotions as aims." 26 He believed reforming traditional painting.
that art should become an important In the art world, the major concerns
force in the creation of an ideal society. 27 were: how should the thousand-year-old
This attitude inspired Chinese artists heritage of traditional Chinese painting
with a sense of mission and social respon- be evaluated in the light of Western art's
sibility in the years to come. With the powerful new influence? how might tradi-
rise of the New Culture Movement, which tional Chinese painting best respond to
reached its peak in the May Fourth modernity? should Chinese artists partic-
Movement of 1919. and with the influen- ipate in a "total" attack on tradition and
tial Cai Yuanpei as its eloquent champi- adopt "wholesale Westernization." or
on, art education began to flourish in the instead entrench themselves in tradition
second decade of this century- to resist any Western influence? what
In diametric contrast to the kind of reform of traditional painting, if

Westemizers of the New Culture Move- any. should Chinese artists attempt? In
Figure 5. Wang Zhen (1867-1938). A ment, the National Essence school (Guo answering these questions, the art world
Conversation Under Old Pine Trees. cui pai), another very important ideologi- was basically divided into two camps, the
1920. Hanging scroll, ink and color on cal movement active since the early 1900s. Reformists and the National Essence
paper. Private collection. urged the revitalization of native culture. advocates.
 a

TB VDITIONAL rAINTINr, IN A transition A I. BB V

The Reformists, most of whom had literati tradition and the Western acade-
received Western training in Europe or mic tradition — to the reform of tradition-
Japan and were impressed by the realis- al Chinese painting." A like idea had been
tic, or naturalistic appearance of objects propounded by one of the earliest vision-
in Western art. believed that the reform aries of wide-ranging reform. Zhang
of traditional Chinese painting required Zhidong (1837-1909): "[draw] utilitarian-

assimilation of the methods of Western ism (yong) from the West and [retain] the
art. On returning to China, many of them essence (ti) of Chinese culture." 33 Zhang
were given important positions in the new believed that Chinese artists should avail
system of art education based on French themselves of all good concepts and
models. methods, Western or Asian, ancient or
The name most closely associated modern, applying them eclectically and
today with the project of making a self- creatively to create a new Chinese paint-
consciously "new" Chinese art by blend- ing for a modern China. 3 '

ing East and West is that of Xu Beihong Other important Reformists included
(1895-1953). Xu was the first government- Lin Fengmian (1900-1991), who studied in
sponsored Chinese student to go to Paris and was interested in Post-
Europe to study art, which he did in Paris Impressionism; Wang Yachen (1894-1983),
and Berlin from 1919 to 1925. The prestige who discovered Impressionist-style paint-
accruing from this, coupled with his own ing when he was in Tokyo; and Liu Haisu
artistic and self-promotional skills, made (1896-1994). an admirer of Cezanne and
him very prominent in certain artistic Van Gogh. All three traveled in Europe
circles. After returning to China, he was for several years, and all became direc-
appointed director of the National tors of art academies or chairmen of uni-
Beiping Academy of Fine Arts by Cai versity art departments after they
Yuanpei, who was then Minister of returned to China, thus exerting consid-
Education. Later he was a teacher and erable influence nationwide.
administrator at several schools and uni- Cheng Zhang (1869-1938), a native of
versities. Xu strongly criticized tradi- Xiuning. Anhui Province, but mostly
tional Chinese painters for their slavish active in Shanghai, was definitely not an
Figure 6. Jin Cheng (1877-1926). Landscape. imitation of ancient masters and advo- advocate of a new, eclectically derived
1918. Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper. cated Western naturalistic techniques, Chinese painting, nor as conspicuous a
Private collection. urging Chinese artists to "adopt the Reformist as the artists mentioned above.
materials and techniques- invented to
1
But he followed these contemporaries in
depict real objects." 50 adapting Western perspective and use of
In the 1920s and early 1930s he became rational light-and-shade to traditional
an extreme proponent of Western repre- Chinese painting. He was primarily a
sentational techniques in Chinese art. He teacher of biology, first at Suzhou
even took up history painting — the heart Caoqiao Middle School, then at Shanghai
of the French academic tradition in Chinese Academy, finally as a professor at
which he had been trained (a tradition Qinghua (Tsinghua) University. Thus, he
effectively moribund in France itself by was basically an amateur painter.
the time he studied there). His huge 31
oil Cheng's early flower-and-bird paint-
paintings were never really successful, ings are meticulous works irr the mogu

either conceptually or technically, but his
ink paintings of horses, in which he
attempted to adapt the Western use of
light and shading to the traditional
Chinese medium (see cat. 47).
great reputation both in China and
abroad.
Gao Jianfu (1879-1951). the leader of
the Lingnan school, founded in the 1910s,
was also of the Reformist camp. His semi-
nal article "My View on Modern Chinese
Painting" urged an eclectic approach
("boneless") style. The dynamic brush-
work, bold color, and strongly contrasting
tones of ink in his 1926 hanging scroll
Cranes (cat. 29) show the clear influence of
won him a Shanghai painters Ren Yi and Wang
Zhen. In his middle years he began using
Western techniques of perspective and
shading in his paintings, and was espe-
cially good at painting from nature, an
ability perhaps due in part to his training
in biology. In Rustic Scene (cat. 30), a
— hanging scroll of 1930, he depicted a scene

purposeful combining of the Chinese of daily life in the countryside, a subject

 —

TRADITIONAL PAINTING IN A TRANSITIONAL ERA

uncommon in painting of that period. of State Affairs. '"'

and was charged with
The brushwork in this painting seems not establishing the first gallery to exhibit
very different from that of his Shanghai the cultural relics that had been collected
contemporaries, but the light and shadow by the imperial family. In 1920 Jin. along
on the architecture and foreground lends with others, established in Beijing the
a three-dimensional effect, which recalls Society for the Study of Chinese Painting
Ling-nan school paintings. (Zhongguo huaxue yanjiuhui), which
Like Cheng Zhang, Tianjin painter attracted many young students. From
Liu Kuiling (1885-1967) did not propound that forum, he vigorously advocated con-
theories but absorbed the methods of stant studying and copying of the Tang
Western painting into his Chinese prac- and Song masters as the basic approach
tice. From childhood, he had loved paint- to rejuvenating the outworn orthodoxy of
ing, and most part he taught him-
for the late Qing painting, and the perpetuation
self to paint by copying from manuals of of literati painting through mastery of
earlier painting. At the age of thirty Liu the "three supremacies" of poetry, paint-
became a professional painter. He gained ing, and calligraphy. Jin regarded the
a reputation for flowers, animals, and defense of traditional Chinese painting as
insects in a style strongly influenced by an ineluctable responsibility. In most of
Lang Shining (the Jesuit priest-painter his works he imitated the paintings of
Giuseppe Castiglione; 1688-1766), active at ancient masters (see fig. 6). His political,
the Qing court 1715-1766, who mingled social, and artistic eminence gave Jin
Western concepts of scale, space, light- great influence over other traditional
and-shadow, and shading with Chinese painters, and his point of view worked to
subject matter, mediums, and landscape counteract "wholesale Westernization."
conventions. The elegant color and metic- Chen Hengque. a native of Yining,
ulous details of Liu's Rooster and Hens Jiangxi Province, who was born into a
(cat. 43), dated to 1933, are typical of scholarly family, became an accomplished
his style. scholar himself, and excelled at poetry,
With traditional art and its cultural calligraphy, painting, and seal carving. He
foundations under attack, the adoption of began to study painting at the age of six,

a traditional painting manner was no and received his general education at the
longer automatic and involuntary but a South China Technical School in Nanjing,
matter of deliberate choice. Many graduating in 1898. Beginning in 1902 he
painters who made that choice were nev- spent seven years in Japan, where he
ertheless aware of the larger, more cos- studied Western art and had the opportu-
mopolitan world and the necessity of nity to see works by the Qing
modernizing Chinese They insisted,
art. Zhu Da and Shitao. which
Individualists
though, that modernization must be inspiredhim to break free from Qing aca-
based on Chinese art's own history, stan- demicism. On returning to China. Chen
dards, and internal dynamics. The entity taught Chinese painting in several
to be modernized was an unmistakably schools, including Peking National
traditional kind of Chinese painting and Normal College and Peking Girls' Normal
the direction of its modernization was School. 36 When the Institute for Research
likewise to be wholly Chinese. on Chinese Painting Practice (Beijing
Representative artists of this traditional- daxue huafa yanjiusuo) was established by
ist group — the National Essence school Cai Yuanpei at Peking University in 1918.
Figure 7. Zheng Yong (1894-1952). included Jin Cheng (1877-1926), Chen Chen was appointed teacher of Chinese
Landscape. 1944. Hanging scroll, ink and Hengque Huang Binhong
(1876-1923), painting. In his notable article "The
color on paper. Private collection. (1864-1955). Hu Peiheng (1891-1962), He Value of Literati Painting." published in
Tianjian (1891-1977). and Zheng Yong 1921. he urged his fellow artists to make
(Wuchang; 1894-1952). paintings that would express both joie de
Jin Cheng was born in Beijing. He vivre and literati sentiment, which would
studied law in London for several years elevate people's sentiments and develop
and then went to France and the United their taste for literati painting. 37 He did
States to study legal systems and art. not oppose the application of Western
After the Chinese republic was estab- methods, but he believed that "painting
lished in 1911, he was appointed Secretary should be based on the structure of tradi-
 ——

TRADITIONAL 1'AlNTINi; IN \ TH \NSlTIONAI. EKA

tional Chinese painting, but then [we centrated on the study of works by early
should] overfcome] our own shortcomings masters and on early writings about
by learning from others' strong points."™ painting.
According to Chen. "Western painting Zheng Yong began painting at the
stressed form-likeness (xingsi). especially age of seven. He was an enthusiastic advo-
since the nineteenth century, by using . . . cate of traditional Chinese painting.
scientific techniques to study . . . light During the 1930s, as art director of

and color. . . . But recently, the Post- Zhonghua Publishing Company, he

Impressionists have done diametrically became acquainted with many artists,
opposite. They attach importance not to including Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) and
objects but to subjective thinking." 35 Chen He Tianjian. He taught painting in sever-
considered this subjective approach in al art schools and was also active in many

modern Western art in certain ways simi- of the art circles of Shanghai. Besides the
lar to the subjective, expressive intention Chinese Painting Society, he was a found-
of Chinese literati painting. Although he ing member of the Bee Painting Society
was trained in Western art in Japan, his and the Nine Artists Society. In addition
own painting, vigorous, free, and sponta- to many articles for the Chinese Painting
neous, was fundamentally Chinese but Society's journal, Guohua yuekan:' he 2

with some of the simple, naive quality of wrote a number of books which con-
Japanese Zen art. His Album of tributed significantly to the formative
Miscellaneous Paintings in an Elongated period of Chinese art-historical study,
Format (cat. 31). painted in 1922, a year including The History of Chinese Art. The
before his premature death, features the History of Chinese Mural Painting, and
typical elements of his style — free, force- most important. The General History of
ful brushwork, strong, bright color, sim- Chinese Painting Theory, which was pub-
ple compositions, and a naive aspect lished in Shanghai in 1929. With a solid
which are also characteristic of Zhu Da, background in Song and Yuan painting,
Shitao. and Wu Changshi. The inscrip- Zheng was well known for peaceful, lyri-
tions on the paintings reveal literary tal- cal landscapes in various styles (see
ent as well. fig. 7). He occasionally painted figures
Some traditionalist artists, instead and flowers as well. Perhaps because writ-
of challenging the Reformists by cre- ing, teaching, and organizational work
atively transforming the traditional took up his time, there are few early
literati style, attempted to arouse popu- works. Viewing the Waterfall (cat. 53),

lar support for traditional Chinese paint- painted in 1948, may be one of his best
ing by promoting and popularizing the landscapes. The powerful composition,
idea of National Essence in the mass with its central peak, zigzagging water-
media.'" To accomplish this, they used fall, and dragon-shaped trees; the compli-

modern organizational structures cated brush strokes combined with vari-

exhibitions, public relations, advertising, ous kinds of dots and tones of washes; and
sales, and periodical distribution net- the emphatically varied ink tones all
works. A group of artists in Shanghai, reflect his effort to purge the insipidity
including many disciples and followers of which he believed had enfeebled painting
Wu Changshi — such as Ye Gongchuo since the late Qing, and to recapture the
(1881-1965). Zheng Yong, He Tianjian. Qian monumentality of Song and Yuan land-
Shoutie. Huang Binhong, Zhang Yuguang scapes.
(1885-1966), and Sun Xueni (1889-1965)— Another founding member of the
established the Chinese Painting Society Chinese Painting Society. He Tianjian, a
in 1931 to promote traditional Chinese native of Wuxi, Jiangsu, is relatively
painting, raise international esteem for unknown. Self-taught, he made a living
Chinese art, and prevent Western cultural during the 1920s and 1930s as a profession-
domination. In the first issue of their al painter and teacher at several art

journal, called Guohua yuekan ("Chinese schools in Shanghai and its environs. He
Figure 8. He Tianjian (1891-1977). Painting Monthly"), the editor stated also served as editor-in-chief of the
Scenery of Mt. Yandang. 1941. that one of the duties of the journal was painting society's journal, Guohua
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper. to popularize ancient and modern master- yuekan. beginning with its fourth issue.
Private collection. pieces to the public." These artists con- He was simultaneously very active in tra-
 TRADITIONAL PAINTING IN A TRANSITIONAL KKA

ditionalist theoretical circles. In 1920 he China. In 1907, when he was forty-four, two
t*iW\tt and Hu Dinglu (1883-1943) founded the leading scholars of the National Essence

mmm Mount Xi Calligraphy and Painting

Society in their native Wuxi, and extend-
ed membership to painters active in
movement, Huang Jie and Deng Shi,
invited him to Shanghai to assist in the
editing of Guocui xuebao ("National
Shanghai, such as Zhang Daqian. Wu Essence") and several other important
Hufan, and Xie Gongzhan (1885-1940). As publications. Huang felt that "if Chinese
editor, he published strongly traditional- scholars do not reexamine themselves but
ist articles in Guohua yuekan, and also only worry about others' strong points,
publicized his opinions in the pages of the they will limit their own progress; if they
popular magazine Meishu shenghuo ("Art do not study their own tradition earnest-
and Life"). His first solo exhibition was ly, they will not maintain the honor of
"a
held in Shanghai in 1936. He excelled at their tradition. Huang regarded study-
landscapes in the "blue-and-green" man- ing the National Essence and populariz-
ner of rich mineral hues applied within ing traditional Chinese culture as his
precise outlines — a manner originating absolute duty." With those goals in mind,
during the Tang dynasty (618-906) and Huang and others began publication of
afterward employed to connote antiquity. Shenzhou guoguang ji, adding Meishu con-
As a painter, he was considered one of the gshu ("Art Treatise Series") soon after.

traditionalists. Withal, as Conversation in Shenzhou guoguang ji was the first major

the Autumn Woods (cat. 43), a hanging publication in China to reproduce Chinese
scroll of 1939, makes clear, his composi- paintings and calligraphy for a general
tions display a certain boldness and dar- readership. Meishu congshu, in 120 vol-
ing,and his landscapes are constructed in umes, was a compilation of all the known
ways that most orthodox painters would treatises on the various arts, culled from
never have attempted. Like Zheng Yong, traditional Chinese sources; it proved to
he emulated the monumental style of be the most complete set of traditional
Song and Yuan landscapes. Conversation writings on art in modern China. Huang
Figure 9. Huang Binhong (1864-1955). Mt. in the Autumn Woods recalls Northern also published his own research on art in
Huang. 1931. Hanging scroll, ink and color Song compositions by the strong, thrust- a book entitled Gu hua wei ("On Early
on paper. The Shanghai Museum. ing vertical of its central, dominating Painting") in 1925.

mountain, but the twisted texture Huang was also a founder or impor-
strokes applied to the mountain's surface tant member of several other art soci-
create a disquieting sense of unrest. As eties in Shanghai, whose aim was "to pre-
unifying devices, he has used pine tree serve the national essence and promote
and grass motifs, with small brush marks art."' 5 Many other famous artists and con-
that follow a curving path up, around, and noisseurs of the time, including Wang
through the entire composition. A consid- Zhen (Yiting). Wu Daiqiu. Zhang Yishan,
erable degree of abstraction and the pur- Zhang Boying. Chen Hongfu. and Gu
poseful tension of contrasting directional Qingyao. were members of these groups.
flows and compositional movements (see In addition to his scholarly and orga-
make his work peculiarly modern.
fig. 8) nizational work. Huang was also one of
Huang Binhong was likewise a found- the greatest landscape painters of the
ing member of the Chinese Painting first half of the century in China. While
Society and a very important figure in studying the landscape painting of past
the art world of the early Republican masters, particularly the work of Kuncan
period. Descended of a prominent literati (1612-1673). Huang also traveled extensive-
family, Huang was a scholar, poet, callig- ly and enjoyed sketching the scenery of
rapher, painter, and connoisseur, a man China's great mountains, especially Mt.
totally dedicated to literary and artistic Huang in Anhui Province (fig. 9). His
pursuits. He edited several of the most landscapes drew on both his understand-
important Chinese art publications of the ing of painting and his direct experience
twentieth century, including Shenzhou of nature. The works by Huang in the cur-
guoguangji (1908-1918). Yiguan (1926-1928). rent exhibition demonstrate his typical
Guohua yuekan (1934-1935), and Meishu approaches to painting. The works of his
shenghuo (1934-1937), and he wrote the middle age are characterized by a
most extensive art treatises in modern labored, almost compulsive building of
IK iDITIONAL PAINTING IN A TRANSITIONAL ERA

forms and textures through successive Lofty Scholars in an Autumn Grove derives
layers of overlapping' brushwork, which its charm from a combination of formal
can be seen in a pair of landscapes paint- handling of brush and ink with specifici-
ed in 1922 in the narrow qintiao format ty of season and locale. Extremely profi-
(see cat. 40). In his later years his brush- cient in brushwork and familiar with the
work became much freer and more per- major traditions, Wu Hufan, together
sonal, as he moved beyond faithful emula- with Wu Zheng (1878-1949), Wu Zishen
tion of the old masters. In a landscape (1894-1972), and Feng Chaoran (1882-1954),

painted in 1952 (cat. 54), he broke up tradi- composed the group of leading and influ-
tional strokes and reconstituted them ential conservative landscape painters of
into new, totally unexpected forms. He the Shanghai and Suzhou area. Like his
seems to have visualized the overall com- grandfather. Wu Hufan was a great collec-
position in advance, so that the execu- tor and connoisseur, perhaps even better
tion, which is accomplished by loose known for his collecting than for his
sketchy brushwork, is almost an after- painting.
thought. Indeed, some of his works Among the painters who worked in
approach total abstraction."' northern China during the modern period
The professional artists who were there were also traditionalists. The pro-
most successful at finding a public during fessional painter Qi Baishi (1864-1957) is
the Republican decades were probably one of the best known. Qi was a native of
those who kept to what were then per- Xiangtan, Hunan Province, but his artis-
ceived as "traditional" styles and sub- tic career developed mostly in Beijing. Of
jects. These were not necessarily peasant origin, he began his artistic
unthinkingly conservative. The leading career as a craftsman, only later acquir-
traditionalist in Shanghai during the ing formal training in painting, calligra-
1930s and 1940s was Wu Hufan (1894-1968). phy, and seal carving. While earning his
Wu came from a prominent literati family living from painting and seal carving in
in Suzhou — his grandfather was Wu Beijing, he got to know Chen Hengque:
Dacheng (1835-1902). a famous scholar- inspired by Chen, his painting style
official, collector, and connoisseur — and underwent significant changes. In 1927. at

he received first-rate training in art. Lin Fengmian's invitation, he joined the

With access to his family's and other faculty of a new school, the National
Suzhou collections, Wu followed the path Beiping Academy of Art, to teach
of a traditional literati painter, showing Chinese painting. At the time, he was the
versatility by imitating the various oldest professor there. Unlike most
styles of many old masters. At the same painters of that period. Qi abjured profes-
time, however, he achieved the traditional sional debates and membership in all art
ideal of painting excellence — transforma- societies, and became a great master by
tion of the revered models into original pursuing his painting career in solitude.
works bearing the stamp of his own He became known for his paintings of

mind — producing some most of the shrimp, fish, crabs, birds, flowers, and
exquisite traditional works in the modern human figures. His rare landscapes are
period. Wu's landscapes were much among his most innovative works.
inspired by the styles of the Four Wangs Perhaps he painted relatively few land-
of the early Qing period as well as those scapes because he remembered the old
of Dong Yuan and Juran of the tenth cen- cautionary saying of Yangzhou artists,
tury, and Guo Xi of the eleventh. His "Ifyou want gold, paint figures. If you
Meiying Studio (cat. 41) of 1929. and Lofty want silver, paint flowers. If you want
Scholars in an Autumn Grove (cat. 42), a beggary, paint landscapes."" One of his
hanging scroll painted in 1943, are exquis- relatively few surviving landscapes is a
ite examples of works in the style of the hanging-scroll painting dated to 1924
Ming master Tang Yin (1470-1523). (cat. 32), a simple composition with free,
Meiying Studio offers his favorite subject, bold brushwork. Qi retains the expressive
mist- and cloud-enshrouded mountains, brushwork of late nineteenth-century
executed with elegant and refined brush- painting, adding to it a compositional
work. It is not a copy of a specific work is at once more primitive and
daring that
but an evocation of Tang Yin's style. more modern. Lotus Pond (cat. 33). paint-
TRADITIONAL. PAINTING IN A TRANSITIONAL ERA

ed the same year, shows that his style of freshness and graphic power that helped
flower painting at that time still owed Chinese painting truly enter the twenti-
much to Zhu Da. Shitao, and Wu eth century. During the Cultural
Changshi, but the directness and almost Revolution, when his paintings were crit-
childlike naturalness in his work are his icized for being too abstract and too indi-

own. This personal quality is credited to vidualistic, Pan was severely persecuted.
his humble beginnings. Like many Several other important painters
Chinese painters, he often rendered the from the first half of this century seem
same subjects over and over again; in so difficult to classify, but their unique indi-
doing, he achieved a distinctive style, cap- vidual styles and their influence on the
turing their vital essence. 18
As a major development of Chinese art of this centu-
master, he influenced many younger ry secure them a place in the history of
painters, including Li Kuchan (1898-1983) twentieth-century Chinese art. Zhang
and Cui Zifan (b. 1915). Daqian (given name Yuan: 1899-1983 > was
Among China's greatest modern one of the most important of these. A
innovators, Pan Tianshou (1898-1971) native of Neijiang. Sichuan Province.
stands with Qi Baishi as an antidote to Zhang became interested in painting at
overrefinement. Anwho reached
artist an early age under the influence of his
his creative height after 1949, Pan is family. At nineteen he was sent to join his
therefore not well known outside China. elder brother Zhang Shanzi. a well-known
Born in Ninghai. Zhejiang Province, he tiger painter, in Tokyo. After two years of
received his first art training under a studying painting, textile weaving, and
famous scholar, Li Shutong, at the dyeing, in 1919 he returned to Shanghai to
Zhejiang First Normal School in study painting and calligraphy with Zeng
Hangzhou. and then taught from 1923 to Xi (1861-1930) and Li Ruiqing (1876-1920: Li
1928 in Shanghai. Apart from a short visit established the first academic painting
to Japan in 1929, he spent his life as an art department in China, at the Liangjiang
teacher at various art schools, especially Normal School in Nanjing).' During this
9

the National Hangzhou Academy. In 1932 period Zhang lived briefly as a monk,
he, with others, founded the Baishe adopting the Buddhist name Daqian. The
Painting Society and published its jour- 1920s and 1930s saw him mainly in

nal, Baishe Pictorial. He was also one of Shanghai and Suzhou, but he traveled
the organizers of the 1937 National Art extensively in China as well. In Suzhou he
Exhibition in Nanjing. During World War and his brother lived in a villa with a
II he accompanied the Hangzhou famous garden, the Wangshiyuan, once
Academy in its wanderings throughout the home of the Qing official Song
western China. After 1949 he continued to Zongyuan. He was appointed an executive
teach in Hangzhou, and was appointed committee member for the first national
president of the Academy in 1958. Pan art exhibition in China, organized by the
painted flowers, birds, fish, and human Ministry of Education in 1929. and in 1933

figures, as well as landscapes, and like Qi he was invited by Xu Beihong to teach for
Baishi, his style is characterized by clear- a year at the National Central University
ly articulated forms and bold, energetic in Nanjing. During World War n he spent
lines influenced by the works of Zhu Da. nearly three years in Dunhuang. copying
Wu Changshi, and Huang Binhong. Black and studying the Buddhist murals there,
Chicken (cat. 52), painted in 1948. is con- which established his reputation as a
sidered his first painting to demonstrate scholarly artist. He left China for Hong
his unique personal style, which he pur- Kong in 1949. and since then has lived in
sued and developed for the rest of his life. many countries, including Brazil and the
The modernity of his painting, as evi- United States. Living abroad, he contin-
denced by this work, stems from his over- ued to paint in the traditional manner
riding concern with the formal organiza- but gradually moved toward abstraction
tion of the pictorial surface and his cor- by using splash techniques. Despite his
50

respondingly minimal interest in subject reputation among traditional connois-

matter. His simple use of color reinforces seurs as a forger. Zhang's knowledge of
these formalist qualities. His forceful tradition and his phenomenal painting
brush and daring composition impart a skills established his position as a master
n: EDITION \ I . PAINTING IN A T R A NSITUIN A I , EH \

of Chinese painting:. He excelled in mil establish his own landscape style

human figures. flowers-and-birds. land- until the 1940s. The two landscapes
scapes, and almost any subject he included in the current exhibition are
attempted. Self-Pity (cat. 44). painted in excellent examples of his unique style.
1934, features one of his typical subjects Shitao's Studio (cat. 48). painted in 1945.
of that period; the brushwork is elegant offers a typical landscape dominated by
and refined, but the painting is imma- towering mountains and huge trees that
ture. Red Lotus of 1947 (cat. 45), perhaps almost fill the picture space. It is formed
one of his greatest flower paintings, not of strong calligraphic lines but rather
shows his complete mastery of tradition- of a profusion of superimposed light
al skills. It is extremely colorful and dec- strokes, enriched into a complex texture
orative, with the red blossoms and green of broken ink and soft color washes. Fu
leaves outlined with fine, firm gold lines, Baoshi was an ardent admirer of Shitao.
giving the painting somewhat the effect He not only studied Shitao's painting,
ofmodern Japanese painting (Nihonga). style but also completed the first bio-
Zhang did not establish his own unique graphical chronicle of Shitao, which
style until the 1960s and 1970s. became one of the most important early
In the early decades of the twentieth resources for the study of that painter. He
century Japanese training was instru- painted several versions of Shitao's stu-
mental in the development of new schools dio. Dadicaotang ("Thatched Hall of
of Chinese painting. Artists such as Xu Dadizi" during the 1940s. Rain at Dusk
)

Beihong and Liu Haisu studied Western (cat. 49), another hanging scroll painted
art in Tokyo and subsequently taught oil in 1945. is quite different in technique
painting in China, while painters of the from any of Fu's earlier works. The free,

Cantonese school learned ways of mod- dry, rapid lines which define the surface of
ernizing traditional techniques from the the mountain, and the emphasis on
Nihonga style. Two other artists who watercolor effects have nothing to do with
received artistic training in Japan and traditional brushwork. The monumental
developed their own personal styles after scale recalls the Northern Song masters.
returning to China were Fu Baoshi Here, however, the most important thing
(1904-1965) and Feng Zikai (1898-1975). is that Fu's primary interest is not to
Fu Baoshi acquired enormous influ- convey the appearance of the landscape
ence and a unique place in modern itself but rather the human response to
Chinese painting. He was born into a poor landscape. All of his works are intended
family in Nanchang. Jiangxi Province. At to evoke atmosphere and mood, an inten-
age ten he was put to work in a ceramics tion largely absent from Chinese painting
shop, but he used his spare time to learn since the end of the Southern Song
calligraphy, seal carving, and painting. In dynasty (1127-1279). si

1933. Xu Beihong. he went

with the help of Feng Zikai. a native of Tongxiang.
to the Tokyo School of Fine Arts to study Zhejiang Province, was an influential
art history and sculpture. There he trans- writer, painter, and art educator. Like
lated works by Japanese art historians Pan Tianshou, Feng began his art educa-
such as Kanehara Shojo and Umezawa tion under Li Shutong. for whom he
Waken. As a painter, he absorbed the per- retained lifelong respect and friendship.
vasive influence of the famous Nihonga After graduating Zhejiang First Normal
painters Takeuchi Seiho, Yokoyama School, he became a middle-school art
Taikan. and Kosugi H5an. In 1934 Fu heldsl
teacher. In the spring of 1921 he went to
a solo exhibition in Tokyo — a great acco- Japan for about ten months to study art.

lade for one still a student. After he though he did not enroll in a school.
returned to China, he spent the rest of his During the 1920s he started to draw
life as a painter, historian of Chinese comics, whose naive style immediately
painting, and teacher at the National attracted the attention of Zheng
Central University in Nanjing (which Zhenduo. a famous scholar, who edited
maintained its existence in Chongqing the influential journal Wenxue zhoukan
during the war years). ("Literary Weekly") in Shanghai. His
Primarily a figure painter. Fu also comics, which began to appear in that
excelled at landscapes, although he did journal in 1926, mostly represented daily
 )

TRADITIONAL PAINTING IN A TRANSITIONAL ERA

life among the common people and traditional Chinese painting should take.
became very popular in Shanghai. In 1928 These discussions were considered vital
he began a lifelong series of albums. to the development of Chinese painting
Protecting Life, dedicated to his teacher Li and enjoyed ever-widening participation.
Shutong, who had become a Buddhist Partisans of the two polarized views drew
monk in 1918. The first volume of this up endless blueprints of their versions of
shown in the current
series (cat. 51) is Chinese painting and worked in many dif-

exhibition. Every ten years (except dur- ferent ways to make each version a reali-

ing the Cultural Revolution [1966-1976] ty. 53 The complexity of the pursuits and
Feng painted a new album under the the variety of practices in the field of
same title. The themes of this series are traditional painting are difficult to clas-
basically precepts for lay Buddhists, sify into the somewhat simplistic cate-
advocating vegetarianism, kindness to gories of "reformist" or "conservative."
animals, and other aspects of compas- "traditionalist" or "innovative." In this
sion. Until his death, Li Shutong unique transitional era, we see the meet-
inscribed the facing page of each paint- ing of East and West, of ancient and mod-
ing in each volume. The style of these ern. It was a time both bewildering and
paintings is very naive and appealing. challenging; it was also exhilarating and

The free, spontaneous brushwork and rich in opportunities. Even the most
simple compositions recall the paintings experimental pursuits of recent decades
of Wang Zhen and Chen Hengque, but also still echo that manifold and exciting
seem to reflect a taste for Japanese Zen time.
paintings that Feng may have acquired in
Japan or from his many Japan-oriented NOTES
friends. His later paintings, such as 1. Arnold Chang and Brad Davis,
Gazing at the Lake (cat. 50), painted in "Introduction," The Mountain Retreat —
1940, continue this naive style. Gazing at Landscape in Modern Chinese Painting (Aspen,
the Lake is, in fact, remarkably reminis- Colo.: The Aspen Art Museum. 1986). p. 5.

cent of Hiroshige's woodblock landscapes 2. The six chronicles of Wu Changshi's life

in composition and mood. (.nianpu), in order of publication, are: Kenshin

Shodo-kai. Go Shoseki no subete (Tokyo. 1979),

In the first half of the twentieth century pp. 222-24: Wu Changye, "Wu Changshi
China experienced cataclysmic political Xiansheng nianpu." Shupu. vol. 59 (1984).

and social changes — the collapse of the pp. 22-32, and an abbreviated version of it in

Qing dynasty, the May Fourth Cultural Xiling yicong, vol. 2 (July 1984). pp. 34-77; Wu
Movement, the Sino-Japanese War, and Changshi shuhuaji (Taipei, 1985). pp. 10-13.

constant civil war. The development of English version, pp. 122-118; Bunjinga suihen,
Chinese art reflects this complex and tur- vol. 10 (Tokyo. 1986). pp. 156-58: Chen Siming. Wu
bulent historical panorama. The diversi- Changshi fiuahui hua, pp. 195-236; Lin Shuzhong.
ty of modern Chinese painting is a mani- Wu Changshi nianpu (Shanghai. 1994). In addi-

festation of its particular time and place, tion. Ding Xiyuan has compiled combined
given shape by the many external pres- biographies of three artists, in Shanghai

sures brought to bear on traditional Meishuguan. Xugu, Ren Bonian Wu Changshi ;

Chinese painting by political, economic, huaji (Shanghai, n.d.). For biographical

and cultural forces. Chinese painting was accounts, see Wu Dongmai, Wu Changshi
in a state of acute tension, pulled in oppo- (Shanghai. 1962). and Wang Jiacheng. "Wu
site directions by its traditions and by Changshi zhuan." Gugong ivenwu yuekan ("The
the Western-influenced reform move- National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese

ment. The attack on Chinese painting by Art"), published in 17 installments. July

some intellectuals of the New Culture 1983-November 1984.

movement, the return of large numbers of 3. See Wu Dongmai. Wu Changshi. p. 4. Wu

painters from study overseas, the increas- Dongmai blamed all the atrocities in the native

ing accessibility of art training, the village of Zhangwu on the Qing army, even
establishment of art institutions —all though Wu Changshi attributed the massacre to
this generated debates over the merits the Taiping rebels. See Foulu ji. vol. 1. la-2a.

and demerits of Chinese painting versus 4. See Wu Dongmai. Wu Changshi, p. 8. The dat-

Western painting, and over the direction ing of this occurrence is still uncertain. Wu
TRADITIONAL TAINTING IN A TRANSITIONAL BB \

Dongmai places it in Wu Changshl's thirties, Century China: Bridge between East and West
though it could have been in his forties, as (Cambridge. 1970), p. 182.

Wang Jiacheng tends to argue; see his "Wu 12. See Wang Geyi, Wang Geyi suixianglu

Changshi zhuan," Gugong wcnwu yuankan, ("Recollections of Wang Geyi") (Shanghai.

vol. 1, no. 8 (1983). p. 37; Zheng Yimei, however, 1982), pp. 60-61.

places the event in Wu Changshi's fifties. See 13. Yang Yi, Haishang molin (Shanghai, 1920),

Ding Xiyuan, Ren Banian (Shanghai, 1989), vol. 3, p. 66.

p. 103. citing his Xiao Yangchun. In another 14. Chou Ju-hsi and Claudia Brown,
anecdote, cited in Ren Bonian, p. 81, when Hu Transcending Turmoil, p. 216.

Yuan observed that Wu Changshi started paint- 15. Zhang Mingke, Hansonggc tanyi suolu, vol. 3,

ing far too late, Ren Yi and Yang Xian both p. 97.

defended and encouraged him. Whether Ren Yi 16. Wu Dacheng's biography is included In
was Wu Changshi 's teacher has become a mat- Arthur W. Hummel, ed., Eyninent Chinese of the

ter of recent controversy. Gong Chanxing, "Ren Ch'ing Period (Washington, D.C.: Library of
Bonian yu Wu Changshi de youyi," Duoyun 1 Congress, 1943-1944). pp. 880-82. See also the
(May 1981), pp. 195-98, started the dispute by explanatory text accompanying Lu Hui's paint-
suggesting that Ren indeed was Wu's teacher. ing in Shih Yun-wen. Zhongguo jindai huihua:

Wu Minxian, a descendant of the master, coun- Qingmo bian (Taipei, 1991), no. 60. The author
tered that they were but friends who shared suggests that Lu Hui met Wu Dacheng in
interests and perhaps occasional instruction; Shanghai during the Tongzhi reign, probably
see Meishu sfiilun ("History and Theory of Fine about 1870-1874. when the artist reached
Arts"), no. 2 (1986). pp. 68-69. Both Wang Geyi adulthood.
and Liu Haisu agreed with Wu Minxian in their 17. See Jin Liang, Jinshi renwu zhi, in Jindai

respective accounts: "Wu Changshi xiansheng Zhongguo shiliao congkan, p. 120, citing Weng
shishi kaoding," pp. 8-9. and Huiyi Wu Changshi, Tonghe's diary entry for 1892/6/29. Weng referred

p. 223. Gong Chanxing reiterated his opinion to a painting by Lu Hui that Wu Dacheng had
that Ren had been Wu's teacher in "Shushi presented to him as a gift. For Weng Tonghe's
shufei," Meishu shilun, no. 3 (1988), pp. 108-9. biography, see Arthur W. Hummel, ed., Eminent
5. From his unsuccessful stint in the army to Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, pp. 860-61.
his resignation from the magistracy of Andong 18. For Zhang Zhidong's biography, see Arthur
county in 1889, his experiences in political and W Hummel, ed.. Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing
official circles were entirely negative. Period, pp. 27-32.

6. Quoted in Wu Minxian, "Foulu shiyi." in Huiyi 19. See the postscript Lu Hui wrote for Pang
Wu Changshi, p. 35. Wu Minxian explains that in Yuanji's record of his painting collection,

the nineteenth century calligraphers and seal Xuzhai minghua lu, which was completed in 1909.

carvers could afford only vegetarian meals, 20. Zhang Mingke, Hansongge tanyi suolu, vol. 6,

whereas painters were able to have meat. p. 151.

7. See Wu Changshi's inscription on pi. 23a. 21. See Wu Hufan's colophon on cat. 20, written
8. In 1919 Wang Zhen (1867-1938) and Wu in 1950.

Changshi cooperated on designs for a set of lith- 22. Kirk Denton, ed.. Modern Chinese Literary

ographs, Liumin tu ("The Homeless"), which Thought (Stanford: Stanford University Press,
were sold to raise funds for the victims of floods 1996), p. 9.

across Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, and 23. Hao Chang, "Neo-Confucianism and the
Zhejiang. See Wang Senran. "Wu Changshi Intellectual Crisis of Contemporary China," in
xiansheng pingzhuan," in his Jindai ershijia The Limits of Change: Essays on Conservative
pingzhuan, reissued in Jindai Zhongguo shiliao Alternatives in Republican China, ed. Charlotte

congkan, pt. 90, vol. 900. See pp. 18-19 for a Furth (Cambridge. Mass.: Harvard University
description of this set of paintings and the Press. 1976), p. 281.

accompanying inscriptions. 24. Chen Duxiu. "Xianzhen yu rujiao"

9. In 1979. Aoyama Sanyu published Go Shoseki ("Constitutionalism and Confucianism"), vol. 2.

no ga to San and Go Shoseki no Subete, the latter no. 3 (1916), pp. 1^.

being the catalogue of an exhibition sponsored 25. See Chen Duxiu's letter to Lu Cheng,
by the Kenshin Shodo-kai. Xinqingnian, vol. 6. no. 1 (1919), p. 86. The Four
10. Chou Ju-hsi and Claudia Brown, Wangs are the four early Qing orthodox

Transcending Turmoil (Phoenix: Phoenix Art painters, Wang Shimin (1592-1680). Wang Jian
Museum. 1992), p. 272. (1598-1677), Wang Hui (1632-1717), and Wang
11. See Yin-p'ing Hao, Comprador in Nineteenth Yuanqi (1642-1715), whose work was still emulat-
TRADITIONAL 1'AINTINO IN A TIlANSITIUNftl, ERA

ed by some traditionalists in the early twenti- 44. Ibid.

eth century. 45. These societies include: Zhenshe ("Zhen

26. Cai Yuanpei, "Yi meiyu dai zongjiao shuo" Society"; 1912-1942), with a branch later estab-

("Replacing Religion with Aesthetic lished in Guangzhou (see Xu Zhihao. Zhongguo

Education"), Xinqingnian, vol. 3. no. 6 (1917), meishu shetuan manlu. pp. 23-25); Zhongguo jinshi
pp. 509-13; English translation by Julia shuhua yiguan xuehui ("Chinese Seal-Carving.
Andrews, in Modern Chinese Literary Thought, Calligraphy, and Painting Appreciation

ed. Kirk Denton, pp. 182-89. Society"), founded 1925 and issuing the journal
27. Ibid. Yiguan beginning 20 February 1926. The latter

28. See Kuiyi Shen, "Shanghai Society of the society changed its name and the journal's pub-
Late Nineteenth Century and the Shanghai lication schedule, broadened the journal's focus

School of Painting," Studies in Art History, no. 1, to include Western arts, and finally ceased pub-
pp. 135-59. lication in August 1929 (see Xu Zhihao,
29. See Chu-tsing Li, Trends in Modern Chinese Zhongguo meishu gikan guoyanlu, pp. 34-35).

Painting, p. 93. 46. Chu-tsing Li, "Tradition and Innovation in

30. See Xu's "Zhongguohua gailiang lun" Twentieth Century Chinese Painting." 1995,

("About the Reform of Chinese Painting"), p. 26.

Huixue zazhi; reprinted in Jindai Zhongguo 47. Here I quote from Michael Sullivan, Art and
meishu lunji, ed. Ho Huaishuo (Taipei: Artists Artists of Twentieth Century China, p. 9.

Press, 1990), vol. 5, p. 54. 48. See Michael Sullivan, Art and Artists of

31. Michael Sullivan, Art and Artists of Twentieth Twentieth Century China, pp. 8-9.

Century China (Berkeley and Los Angeles: 49. See Zhongguo meishujia renmin lu ("Index of

University of California Press, 1996), pp. 69-70. Chinese Artists") (Shanghai: Shanghai People's
32. See Gao Jianfu, "Wo de xiandai guohua Fine Arts Publishing House. 1981). p. 393.

guan" ("My Views on Modern Chinese 50. Chu-tsing Li, "Tradition and Innovation in
Painting"), reprinted in Jindai Zhongguo meishu Twentieth Century Chinese Painting," p. 31.

lunji, vol. 5, pp. 69-92. 51. See Michael Sullivan. Art and Artists of

33. See Christina Chu, "Beyond Northern and Twentieth Century China, p. 22, in which he cites
Southern Landscape: Chinese Landscape James Cahill, Go Shoseki. Sai Hakuseki [Wu
Painting in the Twentieth Century," in Changshi and Qi Baishi] (Tokyo. 1977). English
Twentieth Century Chinese Painting: Tradition trans., p. 60.

and Innovation, p. 74. 52. Arnold Chang and Brad Davis, The Mountain
34. Ibid., p. 92. Retreat — Landscape in Modern Chinese Painting.
35. See Yang Yi, Haishang molin, supp. vol., p. 60.

pp. 7-8. 53. Lu Fusheng, "An Introduction to Twentieth

36. Ibid., pp. 4-5. Century Chinese Painting," in Twentieth

37. Chen Hengque, "The Value of Literati Century Chinese Painting: Tradition and
Painting," Huixue zazhi, vol. 2 (1921), pp. 1-6. Innovation, pp. 53-54.

38. Ibid., p. 4.

39. Ibid., pp. 5-6.

40. See Zheng Yong, "Xiandai Zhongguo huajia

ying fu zhi zeren" ("The Responsibility that
Today's Chinese Painters Should Assume"),
Guohua yuekan, vol. 1, no. 2 (1934), p. 17.

41. See "Editors' Words on the Inaugural Issue,"

Guohua yuekan, vol. 1, no. 1 (1934), p. 1.

42. Such as "Zhong xi shanshuihua sixiang

zhuankan zhanwang" ("About the Special Issue
on the Concepts of Chinese and Western
Landscape Painting"), vol. 1, no. 4 (1935), p. 1:

and "Zhongguo shanshuihua de shizi" ("About

Teachers of Chinese Landscape Painting"), vol.

1. no. 4 (1935). pp. 80-85.

43. Huang Binhong. "Zhi zhi yi wen shuo"

("About the Relationship between Culture and
Country"), Guohua yuekan, vol. 1. no. 1 (1934),

p. 6.
 r
17. Lil Hui ilH, )l 1920)

Album Of Miscellaneous Subject*

1891
Four U'.iws from an album of
i ivelve leaves, ink and color on silk;

cm
each leaf 21 x34. 5

Shanghai Museum

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% HS £ 4j
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18. Lu Hui (1851-1920)
Landscape
1911

Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;

cm
153.3 x 69.3

Shanghai Museum

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19. Gu Yum 1835-1896)
Landscape in the Style oj Wang Meng
1857

Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;

cm
135.7 x 52

Shanghai Museum
20. Gu Linshi (Gu Heyi; 1865-1930;
Landscape after Xu Ben
L910
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
57.4 x cm29.4

Shanghai Museum

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21. Wu Jiayou i
Wu Youru: d. 1893)

Women in the Twelve Months

1890
is from an allium of
I welve Leaves, ink and color on silk:
each leal 13.2cm
Shanghai Museum

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22-a. Wu Jiayou Wu Youru;
( d. 1893) 22-b. Wu Jiayou (Wu Youru; d. 1893)
Thief in the Flower Garden A Family Estate in Autumn
1891 189]

Printed illustration (offset lithography) Printed illustration (offset lithography)

for current-affairs section of Feiyingge for "Ladies in the Latest Fashions,"
huabao ("Fleeting Shadow Pavilion Frii/inrif/i- liimhiw f'Kli-rtt inp Sh.-ulov.
Pictorial") no. 17 [issue 2 of the second Pavilion Pictorial") no. 37 [issue 1 of the
lunar month] (1891); 25.5 x 12.8 cm ninth lunar month | (1891); 25.5 x 12.8 cm
Private collection Private collection

u»; Sfl *4 ^

saps
23. Wu Changshi (1844 1927)
Four Seasons
1911

Sot, of lour lianiiins' scrolls, ink and color

on paper; each 250.7 x 62.4 cm
Shanghai Museum

Mi
'-"/-
24. Wu Changshi (1844 1927)

Wild Roses and Loquats

1920
Huninns' scroll, ink and color on paper;
154.1 x 82.il cm
Shanghai Museum
25. Wu Changshi (1844-1927) 26. Wang Zhen (Wang Yiting; 1867-1938)
Pomegranates and Plum Blossoms Lotus and Birds
1912 1918

Hanging' scroll, ink and color on paper; Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
180.1 x 47.5 cm 178 x 82 cm
Palace Museum, Beijing Collection of Michael Y. W. Shin, Tainan

3
_
27 Wang Zhen (Wang Vit Ing; 1867-1938)

Fate
1922
scrolls, ink on paper;
each 120 x 61 cm
Duoyunxuan. Shanghai

*1 1"
*
Hi
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28. Wang Zhen (Wans Yiting; 1867-1938)
Dragon and Clouds
1920
Hanging scroll, ink on paper; 155 x 70 cm
Collection of Michael Y. W. Shih, Tainan
29. Cheng Zlianfi (1869-1938)

Cranes
1926
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
135 x 67 cm
Collection of Michael Y. W. Shin, Tainan
30. Chen),' Zhang (1869-1938)
Rustic Scene
1930
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
cm
133.6 x 50

Shanghai Museum

H
.MA

Iff
£#*

L^/
31. Chen Hengque (Chen Shizeng; 1876-1923)
Album oj Miscellaneous Paintings in an
ited Format

m an album of
twelve leaves, ink and color on papei
each leaf 35.9 x 9.8 cm
Shan eum

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32. Qi Baishi I L864-1957)
Landscape
1924
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
102.5 x 39 cm
Chinese National Art Gallery. Beijing

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33. Qi Baishi (1864-1957)
Lotus Pond
1924
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
cm
182 x 96

Shanghai Museum
::i Gao Jianfu (1879-1951)

\on, Fish, and Insects

1905
Set of four hanging scrolls, ink and color
onp.ip 98x28 cm
Kong Museum of Art, Provisional
Urban Council
35. Gao Jianfu (1879 1951)

Pine Tree
1936
Hanging scroll, ink and color OH paper;
133 x 69 cm
Hong Kong' Museum of Art. Provisional
Urban Council
36 Gao Qifeng 1889-1933)
1

Spring Hani by the Willow Pond

Undated
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper:
cm
100 x 100

Shanghai Museum

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37.Gao Qil'eng (]!!(«) 1933)
Monkeys and Snowy Pine
1916
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
177x91.5cm
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Provisional
Urban Council
38. Gao .Manful 1879-1951)
stupa Ruins iii Burma
1934
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
162 x 8'1 cm
Art Museum, The Chinese University of
Hong Kong

if

.
^
39. Gao Jianfu (1879-1951)
Eagle
1929
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
167 x 83 cm
Art Museum, The Chinese University of
Hong Kong
10. lliuinn Binhong 1864-1955)
(

.1 Pair of Landscapes
1922

Pair of hanging scrolls, ink and color on

paper; each 172 x 21 cm
Collection of Michael Y.W. Shih. Tainan

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,

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JSlli

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41. Wu Hufan (1894-1968)
Mp.iyi.ng Studio

1929
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
cm
73.5 x 36.9

Shanghai Museum
12. Nil Ilufan (1894-1968)
Lofty Scholars in an Autumn drove
1943
Ink .mil color on paper;
108.7 x 53.4 cm
M. K. l.au Collection. I. Id., lion:; Ivmi-

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43. He Tianjian (1891-1977)
Conversation in the Autumn Woods
1939
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
111 x 61 cm
Shanghai Institute of Chinese Painting

•A. Ik
II. Zhang l);i(|i;ni (Chang Dai chien; 45. Zhang Daqian (Chans Dai-chien;
1899- 1
1899-1983)

pity Bed Lotus

1947

ing scroll, ink and color on paper; ll.iu :iim .scroll, ink and color on paper;
19 cm cm
153 x 75

i- Museum, Beijing Shanghai Museum

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5
46. Liu Kuiling (1885-1967)
Rooster mill Hens
1933

Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk;

107.4 x 52.5 cm
Collection of Michael Y.W. Shin, Tainan
17. Xu llrihciii.i; <

Four Ho
1940

roll, ink and color on paper;

110.5 x 122 cm
\u Beihong Memorial, Bei

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48. Fu Baoshi (1904-1965) 49. Fu Baoshi (1904-1965)
Shitao 's Studio Rain at Dusk
1945 1945
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper; Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
cm
137 x 42.5 cm
103 x 59

Nanjing Museum Nanjing Museum

•i
50. Fens Zikai 1898-1975)
i

i .
ing at the Lake
1910

Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;

61.4 x 39.5 cm
Colic, i urn ni .
1 1 1
1
1 1 . 1 1 1 1
1 i i Hon i
Kon j
51. FcngZikai (1898-1975)
Protecting Life
1928
Four leaves from an album, ink on paper;
each leaf 23.7 x 16.7 cm
Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Hangzhou
52. Pan Tianshou (1898 1971)

Black Chicken
1948
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
ii8 x 136.5 cm
Pan Tianshou Memorial. Hangzhou

\
53. Zheng Yong (Zheng Wuchang-; 54. Huang Binhong '1864-1955;

1894-1952) Landscape
Gazing at the Waterfall 1952

1948 Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;

Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper; 96,3 x 44.4 cm
105 x 51 cm Zhejiang Provincial Museum. Han^zhou
Collection of Michael Y.W. Shih, Tainan

J2
 Chinese Calligraphy in the
Modern Era
Xue Yongnian, Central Academy of Fine Arts. Beijing-

Amid the transformations of Chinese

society and culture that began in the late
nineteenth century, an emerging new
spirit and new styles carried the ancient
tradition of Chinese calligraphy into the
modern era. Calligraphers who devoted
themselves to innovation in culture and
society selectively integrated new ideas
with selectively retained elements of tra-
ditional calligraphy. They reconceived
tradition, effectively advancing the devel-
opment of their art. and created condi-
tions for calligraphy to comprehend
modernity during the and 1990s.
1980s
A review of the evolution of modern
Chinese calligraphy reveals three ten-
sions that directly influenced the under-
standing and practice of calligraphy. The
first is the tension or interaction between
emulation of tie and of bei* To revitalize
calligraphy, one group of modern callig-

raphers looked to the script styles found

primarily in northern China, on stone
carvings of the Qin and Han periods and
on stone steles (bei) of the Northern Wei
With the same objective, other
period.
modern calligraphers looked to the styles
of Wang Xizhi (307-365) and Wang Xianzhi
(344-386) of the Jin dynasty in southern
China, as found in tie. The second source
of tension is self-consciousness about the
relationship between calligraphy's practi-
cal function as communication and textu-
al record and its aesthetic function as a
creative visual art. The third is the ten-
sion between self-expression and craft. If

the predominant value is self-expression,

the calligrapher may well be inspired to
breach convention for the sake of individ-
uality; if craft predominates, the callig-
rapher is more likely to innovate within
the traditional conventions. Every era
since the late Qing period has produced
artists whose work exemplifies the trans-
formations in modern calligraphy that
issue from these three nodes.
The period between the end of the
Figure 1. Zhao Zhiqian (1829-1884). Five- nineteenth century and the 1930s may be
Character Couplet. 1870. Pair of hanging described as the early period of modern
scrolls, ink on paper. The Shanghai Chinese calligraphy. From the beginning
Museum. of this period the emulation of tie (tie-

xue) —ink rubbings primarily of the works

of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi. which
had been paramount since the Song peri-
od (960-1279)— was already in decline. The
standard script (kaishu or zhenshu) had
lost its vitality, degenerating into the
 133

overly decorative, rote "examination- duced a standard script of monumental

hall" style (guan 'geti) that had become de power and refined fluency. His pursuit of
rigueur on the civil-service exams. From charm within power, as well as his trans-
the mid-eighteenth century stone epi- formation of the antique into the vernac-

.*. -&-
taphs — particularly stone steles of the ular, is seen as well in his seal script, cler-

^f Ml-
Wei period —had been excavated in consid- ical script, and semicursive script callig-

A 2^
* Xj
erable numbers, and the writing style of raphy. In a work of the preceding year.
?ll
their inscriptions provided an important Calligraphy in Various Scripts (cat. 55;. we
*F *. corrective to the lifeless examination- can see that his seal script (far right) and
*> Sf
¥* fc
hall style. This "stele style" was widely clerical script (light) originated in the
=^ © endorsed, in such critical and theoretical styles of Deng Shiru (1743-1805) and Wu
K s writings as Ruan Yuan's On the Northern Rangzhi (1799-1879), but to their solemn
%-
and Southern Schools of Calligraphy power and elegant tranquility he added
* (Nanbei shupai lun) and On Northern Steles charm and liveliness, making his callig-
and Southern Tie (Beibei nantie lun), 1849; raphy sweeter and more vivid. Although
Pi *•
^ -£- Bao Shichen's The Paired Oars of Art's the semicursive scrolls (left) are not the

Jj- Boat (Yizhou shuangji), 1855; and Liu best of the four, they still show his ten-

ift-
~5 Xizai's On Art (Yigai), 1783. Such writings, dency to seek a natural quality and avoid
together with the national self-strength- the appearance of purely mechanical
* ening ideology that arose in response to skill. Among calligraphers who followed
«• it Western pressure on China, generated a the Northern Wei stele style, it was Zhao
preference for virile power as the aesthet- Zhiqian who brought a popular flavor to

% ic ideal in calligraphy. literati taste.

4- Zhao Zhiqian (1829-1884), who had Kang Youwei (1858-1927) not only cre-
J-

ft dual status as a scholar-official and as a

professional calligrapher. painter, and
ated a unique semicursive script style
that embodies the principles of Northern
seal carver, excelled at many script styles Wei stele style, but also related stele-
Figure 2. Xansr Foutwez (1858-1927). Seven- but specialized in standard script.** His style calligraphy to his theories of histor-
Character Couplet in Semicursive Script . early work followed the structurally dis- ical evolution. A scholar who only passed
Undated. Pair of hanging scrolls, ink on ciplined but fluid style of Yan Zhenqing the imperial examinations after multiple
paper. The Art Museum, Chinese University (709-785), but later he accepted Bao attempts, he eventually became a leader
of Hong Kong. Shichen's beixue theories and his work of the constitutional reform and modern-
altered to the bolder style associated ization movement. In 1888. before the
with stele inscriptions of the Northern reform proposals were put into effect, he
Wei period. Many of his contemporaries wrote Guangyi zhoushuangji:- in which he
who studied northern steles emulated the clearly stated: "Control of the calligraphy
showy script styles found on Northern brush is like control of the country; the
Wei period Buddhist sculptures at shifts in power are the same," and
Longmen, but he instead followed the less "Creating the new is superior to preserv-
ostentatious strength of another much- ing the old.'" His early calligraphy had
admired Northern Wei inscription which been influenced by the examination-hall
had been carved on a cliff face in 511 ce style of the Song and Ming periods, and
and was known as the Zheng Wengong bei. he subsequently followed Tang styles, but
His standard-script calligraphy was a after studying the Wei stele style, espe-
powerful corrective to the weak, stiff, cially the well-known "Stone Gate
overcontrolled examination-hall style. Inscription" (Shimenming) of 509. he began
His structures combine irregularity with exploring styles of all periods from Qin
order, and his brushwork is skillful and and Han to contemporary. It is said that
fluid. His variegated calligraphy demon- his calligraphy benefited from his study
strates the integration of elite lya, "ele- of a text called "Record of the Thousand
gant") and popular (su, "common") ele- Autumns Pavilion" and of a famous cou-
ments, characteristic of the frustrated plet inscribed by Chen Tuan (ca. 910-989),
scholar-official forced to earn his liveli- who had lived as a hermit on Mt. Hua
hood as a professional artist. The expan- before being called to court. He brought
sive, lively structure and the combination the innovative spirit that characterized
of angular and rounded brushwork in his his constitutional reform to his calligra-
Five-Character Couplet of 1870 (fig. 1) pro- phy theory, in which he promoted the
 CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY IN THE Moiikrn ERA

rediscovered power of the vigorous dynasty, but he later studied the works of
Northern Wei styles and denigrated the the Eastern Han master Zhong You
courtly Tang styles practiced by most (151-230 ce) and Han and Wei period stele
imperial officials. Although his semiregu- inscriptions. At about age thirty he
lar (xingkai) and semicursive (xingshu) obtained a rubbing of Stone Drum script
calligraphy did not perfectly realize his (shiguwen) from a Suzhou friend. He liked
theories, they still formed a unique style, the powerful spirit of this ancient seal
with assertive structures and free brush- script, dating from some time during the
work. Kang Youwei's calligraphy, power- Eastern Zhou period (770-221 bce), and he
ful and unconstrained, is free of the studied it constantly over the following
showy exaggerations perpetrated by man- half century. Using this even more
nered imitators of Northern Wei steles, ancient script as a stepping-stone, he
escapes the slickness of Zhao Zhiqian's worked to surpass Jin (265-419) and
popularization of antique styles, and Northern Wei styles. He combined the
demonstrates this reformist politician's aesthetic of calligraphy with those of
open-mindedness and vigor. The Palace painting and seal carving and gradually
Museum's Calligraphy hanging scroll came to realize that "today so many con-
(cat. 57) may be taken to represent Kang temporary people are imitators of the
Youwei's general style, tightly structured ancients, but who did the ancients follow?
but free in its details, thus manifesting Poetry, prose, calligraphy, and painting
an expansive power. The brushwork does attain truth, and the important thing is

not follow the asymmetrical convention that you study hard to seek comprehen-
of the standard and cursive scripts of the sive understanding of all of them." From 1

Jin and Tang periods, in which the hori- the age of sixty Wu Changshi developed
zontal strokes slant markedly downward his own creative spirit or, in his own
toward the left; instead, Kang Youwei has words, "respected myself as an ancient." 5
adopted the manner of seal and clerical He studied the styles of the ancient mas-
script, in which the horizontal strokes are ters but also developed his own individual
slightly curved but slant minimally if at characteristics, merging elements of the
Figure 3. Wu Changshi (1884-1927). Letter all. The Seven-Character Couplet in former into the latter. He said, "The
to Shen Shiyou. Undated. Ink on paper. Semicursive Script in the Art Museum of ancients are the guests, and I am the
Rongbaozhai, Beijing. the Chinese University of Hong Kong has host." 6 The four-scroll set Stone Drum
a firm but relaxed structure and powerful Script (cat. 56), which he made when he
though seemingly naive brushwork was sixty-one, embodies such a fusion:
(fig. 2). In the accompanying inscription, the inspiration of his Stone Drum rub-
Kang Youwei further expresses his ambi- bing, refracted through his own creative
tion to create a great synthesis of the spirit, produced an original work at once
northern stele script, southern tie script, simple and monumental, well structured
Han clerical script. Qin lesser seal and irregular, unsophisticated and bold.
(xiaozhuan) script, and Zhou dynasty Every stroke is vibrant and strong, com-
greater seal (dazhuan) script, using the bining the cultivated aura of the literatus
Northern Wei stele style as the unifying and the primitive simplicity of the
principle. farmer. Wu Changshi excelled, as well, at
Wu Changshi (1844-1927) pioneered a semicursive script, into which he infused
different form of revivalism, in which he the simplicity, verve, strength, and
infused the northern stele style into seal astringency of the Stone Drum inscrip-
script calligraphy.He was from an educat- tions. His letters to Shen Shiyou (see

ed but poor rural family, and although he fig. 3), now in the Rongbaozhai collection,
once held office, serving as prefect in are a typical example.
Andong county (present-day Lianshui). The latest stage in the evolution of
Jiangsu Province, for one month, he even- modern Chinese calligraphy comprises
tually became a professional painter, cal- the 1930s to the 1980s. At the beginning of
ligrapher, and seal carver. The second half this period stele-style calligraphy contin-
Figure 4. Shen Yinmo (1883-1971). Poem by of his life he spent in Shanghai, but he ued popular, and powerful, individualistic
Du Fu on Round Fan. Ink on
a paper. From never forgot that "he was a farmer from writing styles predominated. Two tenden-
Shen Yinmo shufaji. the paddyfields." In his early calligraphy
3
cies, however, increasingly debased that
he emulated Yan Zhenqing of the Tang manner: an overemphasis on self-expres-
 fMIINUSK CAI.LIGKM'IIY IN THE MODIill!: ERA

sion at the expense of legibility, and an

overemphasis on individualism taking the
form of a mannered boldness. In response
to the first defect, a movement arose to
reform writing for the convenience of the
masses, and to create a model script that
would be beautiful, legible, and easy to
learn. Yu Youren (1878-1964), whose stan-
dard script in the stele style was remark-
able, answered these new demands by
reviving the study of tie and by working
to establish a standard cursive script
(caoshu). The pendulum of taste swung
back somewhat, from self-expression,
individualism, and naive vigor toward the
elegant and restrained styles of classical
calligraphy and the skillful brush tech-
niques that these required. The calligra-
phers who revived tiexue are noted for the
naturalness of their writing, whether
crisp, tranquil semicursive or restrained,
subtle cursive. Shen Yinmo (1883-1971)
and Lin Sanzhi (1898-1964) are representa- Figure 6. Shen Yinmo ( 1883-1 971). Poem by
tive of these tiexue calligraphers. Lu Xun. 196 3. Hanging scroll, ink on paper.
Born to a peasant family in north- From Shen Yinmo shufaji.
west China. Yu Youren, like associates in
the Lingnan school (see "The Lingnan
School" in this volume), was an adherent writing is both graceful and vigorous. His
of Sun Yat-sen. He participated in the calligraphy of this period seems to reveal
1911 revolution, and was subsequently a something of his character, combining
high official in the Nationalist govern- the vigor and boldness associated with
ment. His calligraphy he based on the natives of China's northwest with the

ft
ft A Northern Wei stele
that early in

steles (bei)
life,
style.

daily copied rubbings from sixth-century

He

— the "Stone Gate Inscription"

later wrote
while in the military, he
scholarly qualities he embodied through-
out his years as a high-ranking
military official.

In his middle years Yu Youren's

civil and

inter-

1 u (Shimenming) (which also served as a

model for Kang Youwei)
and the "Twenty Long-men Pieces"
in the morning
ests shifted
script,
from standard to cursive
but because he began with stan-
dard script in the stele style, his cursive-
(Longmen ershi pin) every evening. 7 He style brush work has a unique quality. The
wrote that he "cleansed [his mind] amidst Five-Character Couplet (cat. 58). probably
the caves and cliffs, and wandered among written in middle age. displays cursive
Figure 5. Lin Sanzhi (1898-1989). Poem by the Buddhist sculptures." 8 Wandering elements in his stele-style standard
Huaisu. 1979. Hanging scroll, ink on paper. thus, he found that the inscriptions on script. The expansive writing is powerful,
From Lin Sanzhi shufa xuanji. stone steles of the Wei period had been free, and spontaneous.
written in red pigment with a brush As an elder of the national revolution
before being incised. The brushed charac- in a nation of widespread illiteracy. Yu
ters were not angular and sharp like the Youren was very concerned with calligra-
carved characters. By incorporating some phy as an instrument of communication
of the quality of the brushed characters and record- keeping. At the beginning of
into his style, he added tiexue to beixue, the 1930s, in response to the movement to
elegance to forcefulness. His standard- reform China's writing system, he set
script calligraphy is irregular in struc- himself to devise national standards for a
ture but still well balanced. The composi- cursive script that would be "easy to read,
tion is somewhat open, even sparse, but easy to write, precise, and beautiful." The
the simple brush strokes are at once purpose was to strengthen the nation by
forceful and refined. In overall effect, his making the people literate. "Today, the
 CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY IN THE MODERN ER \

world is big. people's affairs are compli- incorporated the vigor and dynamism of
cated, building our nation is difficult, and "mad cursive" script (kuangcao) and draft
the struggle for survival is vicious. Time cursive script (zhangcao) into his elegant,
is precious, a thousand times more pre- tranquil semicursive style, thus gradual-
cious than in the past. That is why we ly transcending the Wang Xizhi style and

;;
m
, -It ft IP*3
should popularize cursive script through-
out the land, to make it easy to write and
thus vigorously develop the nation."' To
answer this need, Yu Youren devised a
"standard cursive script." to be written
reaching new artistic heights. His 1963
Poem by Lu Xun
of that fusion.
(fig. 6) is a good example

Lin Sanzhi's achievements in cur-

sive-script calligraphy after the tiexue
(as all scripts had been) with the brush. revival were considerable. He studied
But the shift to modern writing imple- poetry calligraphy, and painting in early
a ',
-t- ;.-<-— <t s
ments such as pens and pencils further life, concentrating on calligraphy after
separated calligraphy's linguistic and 1950: his art reached its maturity in the
aesthetic functions, negating the practi- 1970s and 1980s. He began his calligraphy
cal utility of his labors. Although stan- study with the Tang masters, then went
dard script rather than cursive was adopt- further back in time to Han and Wei mod-
ed as the national model. Yu Youren's els, and finally proceeded to masters of
Figure 7. Wang Dangling (b. 1945). Triptych research and innovations in cursive script the Song through Qing periods. Although
from the Three Teachings. 1987. Hanging were published in Shanghai in 1936. under he studied steles, he later shifted to the
scrolls, ink on paper. Private collection. the title Standard Cursive Script, and tiexue style. After the age of sixty he con-
remain an essential reference for students centrated on cursive calligraphy, "taking
and scholars of cursive-script calligraphy. Wang Xizhi as spiritual master, the monk
Shen Yinmo became the standard- Huaisu [737-after 798] as formal model,
bearer for the Wang Xizhi style of semi- Wang Duo (1592-1652) as intimate friend,
cursive tiexue script during the 1950s. and Dong Qichang [1555-1636] and Zhu
When young, he had published baihua Yunming [1460-1527] as fellows."" Inspired
("vernacular") poetry as part of the cul- by Huang Binhong (1864-1955). he deeply
turally iconoclastic May Fourth Move- understood the true essence of brushwork
ment and had edited the progressive jour- and the use of ink. His calligraphy has a
nal Xin qingnian ("New Youth"). His early painterly quality: gentle, powerful brush
calligraphy, however, was quite conven- strokes, controlled but free, fluid but syn-
tional. His semicursive script was strong- copated. His ink tonalities are abundant-
ly influenced by Ouyang Xun's (557-641) ly varied: the wet lines are very black and
classic Jiuchenggong as copied by the rich, while the dry strokes are pale and
nineteenth-century calligrapher Huang rubbed like texture strokes in painting.
Ziyuan. Because his writing style was He created an intensely spiritual manner
criticized by his friend Chen Duxiu. he that reflected one aspect of the rapidly
began to study stele styles and calligra- changing aesthetics of the time. The
phy theory, working very hard on his brushwork of his 1979 Poem by Huaisu
brushwork. " He emulated Chu Suiliang's
1
(fig. 5) is strong and lively: the ink is dry
(596-658) style as a starting point, but he but rich: and the execution is smooth and
also studied various masters of the Jin, energetic. The Five-Character Couplet,
Tang, Song, and Yuan (1279-1368) periods, written when he was ninety (cat. 59), is a
and worked to propagate the classic Wang good example of his semicursive calligra-
Xizhi style. With the decline of the stele phy, possessing the seemingly contradic-
style. Shen Yinmo became the central fig- tory qualities of naivete and skill.

ure in the revival of the Wang Xizhi style Through the explorations and
during the 1950s and 1960s. His emphasis achievements of the important calligra-
on technical skill was extremely influen- phers discussed above, we can see that the
tial. He excelled at standard and semi- interaction of tiexue and beixue. the con-
,
cursive script, but specialized in the lat- tradictions between calligraphy's practi-
ter. His Poem by Du Fu on a Round Fan cal and aesthetic functions, and the nec-
(fig. 4) is forceful, elegant, restrained, flu- essary balance between spontaneous
ent, and serene, reflecting his creative expression and learned skill posed several
accomplishments within the canon of the constant problems in the development of
Wang style. After the age of sixty he modern Chinese calligraphy. How best to
CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY IN THE MOUERN ERA

selectively adapt traditional elements, (2) clerical script (lishu). which developed in the

break old conventions, and express a new first and second centuries <k. whose chara*
spirit? How might the calligrapher break are squarish or even slightly horizontal

the fetters of the past, establish new oblongs, with angular corners and an emphasis

standards, and restructure tradition? on flaring horizontal strokes: (3) standard or

How should the calligrapher develop dif- regular script (kaishu or zhenshu), codified in
ferent techniques to create varied artistic the sixth and seventh centuries, which requires

styles? During the very period when these slightly vertical characters that are relatively

conundrums were being addressed, the art uniform in shape and size, with individual
of calligraphy gradually distanced itself strokes that are precise and complete and uti-

from its original practical function, per- lize both the curves and the angles of the earli-

haps because its utilitarian function of er scripts; and (4) semicursive or "running"
recording language was gradually taken script ixingshu), a more fluent version of stan-

over by pens, pencils, and even comput- dard script, in which the characters remain sep-
ers. Calligraphy as an art is no longer an arate but their strokes are somewhat abbreviat-
attainment of all educated people; it has ed and connected. A fifth style, cursive or draft

instead become more and more profes- script icaoshu), not only abbreviates and con-
sionalized. Particularly since the 1980s, nects strokes within a character but often con-
however, artists who excel at both paint- nects two or more characters as well.

ing and calligraphy are introducing

painterly qualities into calligraphy, thus NOTES
opening new directions for calligraphy's 1. See Kang Nanhai zibian nianpu
future (fig. 7). ("Autobiographical Chronology of Kang
Youwei") (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju. 1992).

Translated by Julia F. Andrews and Kuiyi 2. Kang Youwei, Guangyi zhoushuangji, in Yilin

Shen mingzhu congkan ("Famous Writings on Art

Series") (Beijing: Zhongguo shudian. 1983).

^Translators' note: 3. See Qian Juntao. "Luelun Wu Changshi ("On

Tie are examples of the writing styles of famous Wu Changshi")," in Huiyi Wu Changshi
early calligraphers, either original manuscripts ("Recollections of Wu Changshi") (Shanghai:
or ink rubbings taken from writings of master Shanghai People's Pine Arts Publishing House.
calligraphers that had been incised in stone for 1986).

purposes of preservation. Tie, sometimes trans- 4. Wu Changshi. Fouluji keyin (n.p.. n.d.). p. 148.

lated as "copybooks," most commonly preserve 5. Wu Changshi. Fouluji keyin.

classical works of the Jin (265-^19), Tang 6. Wu Changshi, Fouluji keyin, inscription for

(618-907), and Song (960-1279) dynasties. Wang Yiting.

Bei, which means "stone stele," refers in 7. From a poem by Yu Youren.

the calligraphic context to commemorative 8. From a poem by Yu Y'ouren.

inscriptions carved on steles by anonymous 9. Yu YTouren, Biaojun caoshu ("Standard Cursive
artisans, mostly of the Qin (221-207 bce), Han Script"), preface (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian.
(206 bce-220 ce), and Northern Wei (386-534) 1983).

dynasties. The unearthing of many of these ste- 10. Ma Guoquan, Shen Yinmo lunshu conggao
les in the eighteenth century increasingly stim- ("Essays on Calligraphy by Shen Yinmo")
ulated the study and appreciation of the writ- (N.p.: Shenghuo dushu xinzhi sanlian shudian,
ing styles found on them (beixue, literally, 1981).

"stele study"). 11. Lin Sanzhi, Lin Sanzhi shufa xuanji

("Selected Calligraphy of Lin Sanzhi"). artist's

**The styles that most interested Zhao are preface (Nanjing: Jiangsu meishu chubanshe.

these: (1) seal script (zhuanshu). an archaic 1985).

script form standardized in the third century

bce, characterized by elongated characters
written with curving strokes of even width; it

was originally carved on stone or cast in metal;

55. Zhao Zhiqian (1829 L884)

Calligraphy in Various Scripts

1869
Set of four hanging scrolls, ink on paper;
cm
each 143 x 37
Shanghai Museum
fiti. Wu Changshi (1844-1927)
Stone Drum Script

1915

Set of four hanging scrolls, ink on paper;

each 150 x 40 cm
Shanghai Institute of Chinese Painting
57. Kang Youwei(1858 1927) 58. Vu Youren 1 1878-1964)

Calligraphy Five ( 'haractei Couplet

i
-I'd Undated
Hanging scroll, ink on papei Pair of hanging scrolls, ink on paper:
152 x 11 om each 246 x 61 cm
Palace Museum, Beijing Shanghai Museum

A, -to 5 1
rs
-T
% 1 z
J.
* *
fy

vx 3-

At 2, Ov
J-

>v i

tefc 5^
:
<£
I ,1
59. Lin Sanzhil 1898-1964) fiO. Shell Yinmo (1883-1971)

Calligraphy Calligraphy on the Poetry of Bo Juyi

Undated 1960

Pair of hanging scrolls, ink on paper; Hanging scroll, ink on paper;

each 129.5 x 31. cm 170 x 70 cm
Jiangsu Provincial Art Gallery, Nanjing Collection of Chen Beixin, Xi'an

m **->

*<s~

ftKS
A ;: If!/

I
apW*

BS
The Modernist
Generations,
1920-1950
 —

Reforms in Education
and the Beginning of the
Western-Style Painting
Movement in China
Mayching Kao. The Chinese University of Hour Kong

The author has kind!)/ consented to The twentieth century saw a great many ing evolution from a Confucian empire
publication of tins revised version of Chinese artists turning away from the into a modern nation paved the way for
her seminal research on this field. venerable Chinese tradition to learn from the spread of Western art. Therefore the
Which first appeared in New Asia the West. They gave up silks and papers spread of Western art in modern China
Academic Bulletin (Hong Kong), for linen canvas: soft, pliable brushes for must be studied in the context of politi-
vol. IV. stiffEuropean-made brushes; stone- cal, economic, social, and cultural
ground Ink and water-based pigments for changes taking place in the past century.
thick oil pigments; and scrolls for framed It is common knowledge that the his-
pictures. As an art form transplanted tory of Western art in China may be
from the West, oil painting came to be traced to the sixteenth century, when
called xiyanghua, xihua, or yanghua Jesuit missionaries introduced Western
("Western-style painting"), in order to paintings and prints to further the propa-
differentiate it from painting of the tra- gation of their faith. In subsequent cen-
ditional schools, which was designated, by turies, largely through the activities of
contrast, guocuihua ("national essence missionary-artists in China, Western
painting") or guohua ("national paint- modes of shading and perspective became
ing"). Yanghua and guohua coexist in known to court painters, professional
modern China, and though their materi- portraitists, and popular genre painters.
als and techniques remain distinct, the Historians of Chinese art generally agree,
two borrow from each other so that their however, that this meeting of Chinese and
styles intermingle and at times become European art did not "produce any deeper
indistinguishable. or lasting effect on the native painters"
The concerted efforts to establish or "remove them very far from the main
Western-style painting in China have high-road of traditional Chinese paint-
been named the Western-Style Painting ing." Therefore these early contacts are
1

Movement (yanghua yundong). Its impact 1

largely unrelated to developments in the
on the development of modern Chinese early years of the twentieth century. The
art goes beyond the transplanting of eagerness to learn from the West signifies
schools of Western art into China. On the a momentous break with tradition that
contrary, the movement is intricately can best be explained by the Western
tied to the struggles of modern Chinese impact of the past century, unprecedent-
artists to revitalize a tradition consid- ed in its breadth of activity and depth of
ered in the early years of the present cen- significance.
tury to be conservative and stagnant, and In surveying the complex historical
to evolve a new art that is both modern background from which the Western-
and Chinese. In particular, pioneers of Style Painting Movement emerged, we
Western-style art saw this foreign art look for conditions that prepared a favor-
form as a strong remedy to rejuvenate able reception for Western art, or for ele-
i.e.. to modernize — the ailing tradition ments that shaped the character of the
and as a powerful tool to serve the needs movement. First of all, paintings in West-
of a new reality. Therefore their efforts ern mediums had been produced for
have been more appropriately called the export by professional craftsmen in
New Art Movement (xinyishu yundong),'1 Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Macao since
and later, when art came under the the late eighteenth century. Though
influence of proletarian ideology, the never integrated into the mainstream of
Burgeoning Art Movement txinxing Chinese painting, these China-trade
meishu yundong). 2 paintings certainly exposed a great many
The study and assimilation of West- Chinese to the techniques and methods of
ern art and theory on such a massive Western art, especially in realistic por-

scale could only have taken place at a traiture and scenes of the China coast. 5 In
time when China was experiencing trau- that sense China-trade paintings pre-
matic upheavals in literally all aspects of pared the ground for the spread of West-
traditional existence, the crises triggered ern art in China. In the early years of the
by the overwhelming intrusion of West- Western-Style Painting Movement no
ern civilization since the mid-nineteenth qualitative distinctions were made
century. Many of the reforms and subse- between different kinds of Western-style
quent changes in China's slow and waver- art. Yet the superficial grafting of seem-
ingly exotic Western elements onto Chi- who led in the discovery of the aesthetic
nese artistic traditions was at once and expressive elements in Western art.
rejected, by both artists and public, when At the same time Cai assigned important
masterpieces of Western art became bet- social functions to art and artists in mod-
ter known in China. ern China. These ideas, first enunciated
Secondly, Western-style commercial explicitly in 1912, would be taken up by
art produced by Chinese artists — calendar the adherents of the new art movement
paintings, cigarette picture cards, adver- and therefore their first utterance signi-
tisements, and backdrops for theaters and fies the beginning of this movement.'
photographic studios —had been appear-
ing in China, mostly in the treaty ports, WESTERN DRAWING IN CHINESE
in response to the penetration of foreign SCHOOLS BEFORE 1902
capital and merchandise. 6 These commer- Western art gained a foothold in China in
cial activities would normally have had the twentieth century through education-
no influence on the realm of fine art, but al reforms in the last decade of the
Western art, having been borrowed to Manchu monarchy. As a major effort
answer the needs of a rapidly changing toward the modernization of China, a
society, in the process trained the pio- comprehensive system of schools, mod-
neers of the Western-style art movement. eled on those of Japan and Western
Thirdly, the rapid expansion of book nations, was established by imperial edict
publishing and journalism provided a in 1902, following Zhang Zhidong's
ready outlet for portrayals of the novelty (1837-1909) perceptive observation that
of contemporary life and exposes of the "the strength of Western countries lies in
weaknesses of a disintegrating empire. the strength of their schools". 8 The cur-
For these new subjects, artists were ricula emphasized Western learning, espe-
inspired to explore new modes of expres- cially subjects related to science and
sion. Their illustrations and cartoons technology. Western art entered China by
were featured in newspapers and journals way of a subject called tuhua, "drawing
as well as in the newly popular magazines and painting," which by 1902-1903 was
of "mass literature." By comparison with incorporated into all levels of the cur-
the above-mentioned commercial art riculum, including primary schools, mid-
activities, the alliance between publish- dle schools, university preparatory
ers and artists had a more fruitful and schools, specialized colleges, and techni-
lasting influence; it not only inspired the Thus 1902 was the first
cal institutes. 9
publication of magazines exclusively benchmark in the study of Western art in
devoted to art but also provided income China. The next significant date was 1906.
for many of the early adherents of the when painting and handicraft sections
Western-style art movement. were established at the Liangjiang High
The fourth and the most important Normal School (Liangjiang youji shifan
foundation for the development of West- xuetang) in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province,
ern-style art in China can be found in and at Beiyang Normal School (Beiyang
education, which underwent drastic shifan xuetang) in Baoding, Hebei
reforms in the last years of the Qing Province, to train art teachers for the
dynasty. These educational reforms new educational system. 10

opened China to new knowledge and Even prior to 1902 drawing and paint-
planted the seeds of future change. It is ing had already been offered in the earli-
the purpose of this paper to study how est government schools, which had been
these reforms paved the way for the intro- established in the second half of the nine-
duction of Western art into China and to teenth century in recognition of the need
what extent they influenced the Western- to study Western languages, science, and
style art movement in the decades that technology. Western art was promoted in
followed. Events of 1912 were crucial in China as a branch of Western technology
the early development of that movement. called xiyi by Zhang Zhidong and his con-
In that year the new Republic was temporaries in the Self-Strengthening
declared, and further reforms in educa- Movement, a rubric that also included
tion were initiated by Cai Yuanpei mathematics, pneumatics, electricity,
(1867-1940), then Minister of Education. mineralogy, medicine, physics, chemistry.
REFOli MS IN KOUCATION

and other sciences." Particularly in the tion. Western art inevitably accompanied
military academies and engineering' Western drawing techniques into China,
schools, the utility of Western drawing even though its artistic significance was
technique for drafting, cartography, and as yet unknown to Chinese artists. Evi-
illustration was acknowledged. A case in dence can be found in John Fryer's Chi-
point is the language school established nese translation of A Primer of Western
in Shanghai in 1862, the Tongwen guan Painting (Xihua chuxue), which in six vol-
("School of Combined Learning"), which umes introduces the principles and tech-
became a college of Western studies, par- niques of Western painting. As far as we
ticularly foreign languages, science, and know, this is the first comprehensive and
technology, by the mid-1860s. The school systematic study of its kind ever avail-
not only included drawing in its curricu- able in the Chinese language. Writing in
lum, but stressed its importance to the 1902. Xu Weize described this primer as
study and practice of technical subjects. 11
having "detailed explanations in simple
Subsequently, drawing and design became language and therefore [it is] easily
and have remained required courses in understood by those who wish to learn." 15
the curricula of technical and specialized Another important publication was Lun-
schools. hua qianshuo ("First Lessons in Draw-
In order to facilitate the introduc- ing"), translated by Shanying Jushi,
tion of Western science and technology in which was published as a series in Xiaohai
the second half of the nineteenth century, yuebao ("Children Monthly") beginning
publications were translated into Chinese April 1875. The series propagated Western
under the auspices of the Chinese govern- theories and practices of perspective,
ment. A few books on the subject of draw- composition, color theory, drawing, and
ing were also published in translation, study from life. Under such circum-
with the illustrations faithfully copied, stances Western art reached China's edu-
for example. The Engineers' and Machin- cated class and gained a new respectabili-
ists' Drawing Book by V. Lebland and J. ty and significance that paved its way to
Armengaud," Aids to Model Drawing by F. the art world of China.
Richardson, and Drawing Instruments, all To the reformers of the Self-
three translated by the Englishman John Strengthening Movement of the late
Fryer (1839-1928), who during his twenty- nineteenth century, technical and profes-
eight years with the Jiangnan Arsenal in sional training based on the Western
Shanghai rendered one hundred and model was a means to halt foreign
forty-three publications into Chinese." encroachment and to strengthen the Con-
It is evident that Western painting fucian state. The philosophical justifica-
method became welcome in China pri- tion for its advocacy was formulated by
marily for its mathematically precise Zhang Zhidong in 1890 as "Chinese learn-
rendering of the objective world. Whereas ing for essential principles (ti) and West-
in previous centuries vanishing-point per- ern learning for methods of application
spective, volumetric shading, and single- (yong)."To Zhang and his contempo-
source light might have seemed merely raries, "therewas indeed a fundamental
exotic to the scholar-officials and court structure of Chinese moral and philo-
painters, at this time the same elements sophical values that gave continuity and
were seen to have practical and utilitari- meaning to the civilization. Holding on to
an value. As stated in the Chinese preface that belief, China could then afford to
to The Engineers' and Machinists' Drawing adopt quickly and dramatically all sorts

Book, written in 1872, "drawing is the of Western practices, and to hire Western
beginning and the foundation of making advisors." 16
machines." Western drawing techniques
were considered worthy of study and THE BEGINNING OF MODERN ART
application because they would ultimate- EDUCATION IN CHINA
ly contribute to the progress of China. The educational reforms of 1902 triggered
Even though at this time the Chinese sweeping changes — not only the abolition
hardly distinguished drawing from draft- of the civil-service examination system
ing or illustration, it was not totally dis- and the transformation of the aims and
sociated from the Western artistic tradi- methods of schooling in China, but also
REFORMS IN EDUCATION

the beginning of modern art education Normal School in Nanjing opened a

and the concomitant dissemination of painting and handicraft section in 1906,

Western art. The contents of the art edu- an innovation soon followed by the
cation at this time ranged from descrip- Beiyang Normal School in Baoding,
tive drawing of simple shapes and models Hebei. These two became the earliest
in primary schools to more complex geo- institutions to train art teachers for the
metric drawing, mechanical drawing, and fasf>growing number of schools through-
freehand drawing (zizai hua) in the middle out China. 23
schools. 17 In the specialized schools and The program at the Liangjiang High
technical institutes at the post-sec- Normal School was modeled after the art
ondary level, the tuhua requirements department of Tokyo High Normal
were much more demanding, including School. Students majored in painting and
additional training in foreshortening, handicrafts and minored in music. In
perspective, engineering drawing, addition, they were required to attend
etcetera. 18
The intention was to train the classes in the theory of education for a
students to observe reality, to record it, total of forty-two class hours per week.
and to make objects. By farsightedly including both Chinese
Since all of these curricula were for- and Western painting in the curriculum,
eign to the Chinese artistic tradition and Li initiated the coexistence of the two
were implemented on a scale without artistic traditions in the Chinese art
precedent in China's educational history, academies which would develop in the fol-

China had to import its first art teachers lowing decades. It is evident, however,
from Japan; the Japanese became the that instruction in the Western method of
first agents of Western art in China. representation predominated, and that
Mostly graduates of the Tokyo School of the emphasis on technical drawing or
Art, they were stationed in major cities drafting reflected the importance
throughout the empire, including Beijing. attached to the practical applications of
Tianjin, Taiyuan, Xi'an, Hangzhou, Nan- the Western method. The students took
jing, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, and Chengdu." courses in pencil and charcoal drawing,
In the letters they wrote home, describ- design, plane and three-dimensional
ing their life and work in China, we again mechanical drawing, perspective, and var-
note the emphasis on practical drawing ious forms of projective geometry. Even
and the surprisingly large number of though the students were also taught
courses being taught at this early period. painting in oils and watercolors. because
The Chinese students were receptive to of the restrictive, pragmatic appraisal of
these new techniques, and their work Western painting, few recognized Western
showed steady improvement. 20
painting as an emotionally expressive art
Many of the Japanese teachers form. The Western art courses employed
returned home after 1912. partly because several Japanese teachers, including
of the unstable political situation and Shiomi Kyo and Watari Hironosuke, while
partly because their places could be filled Chinese painting of landscapes and flow-
by returned students and by graduates of ers-and-birds required only a single
local normal schools. For example, the teacher, Xiao Junxian (1865-1949). a
Chinese art educator Jiang Danshu prominent artist of the traditional school
(1885-1962), a graduate of the painting and and the first traditional artist to be affil-

handicraft section at the Liangjiang High iated with a formal educational institu-
Normal School, was hired by the influen- tion. 21

tial Zhejiang Normal School in Hangzhou As a pioneer in the teaching of West-

at about the time of the revolution to ern art, the painting and handicraft sec-
replace Yoshikae Shuji. the Japanese tion at Liangjiang High Normal School
teacher of drawing. 21 was dependent on Japan not only for its
The person often credited with laying teachers but also for reference books and
the foundation for art education in China for art supplies and teaching equipment
was Li Ruiqing (1876-1920). who had visit- such as plaster casts, paints, and
ed Japan previously to study its educa- brushes. 2 Two classes totaling sixty-nine
tional development.- Under his enlight- students graduated after three-and-a-half
ened directorship the Liangjiang High years' training. As the first generation of
REFORMS IN EDUCATION 150

native-born and native-trained (though by sive plan for a nationwide educational

foreign teachers) professional art teach- system was initiated. They were replaced
ers in China, who began to teach about by examinations for the traditional titles
1910-1911. they collectively constituted of juren and jinshi that were open only to
the Western-style art movement in China, students returned from abroad and, later
and the onset of their teaching careers in on, to graduates of high normal schools.
1910-1911 signals the beginning of the That system was abolished at the fall of
movement. the Qing empire, but during the brief
Many of these graduates became period of its enforcement, art (yishu) was
prominent figures in the Chinese art among the subjects tested, and only grad-
world, notably Jiang Danshu, who pur- uates from the two normal schools with
sued a long teaching career in various art painting and handicraft sections were eli-

schools. His publications included pio- gible. Jiang Danshu was among the few
neering works on art history, artistic who participated in the examination, and
anatomy, and perspective. 2'
Shen Qiqiao, he has left an interesting account of his
another first-generation graduate of the experience. 51 He was tested in both Chi-
program, founded in 1922 the Nanjing Art nese and Western painting. Comparative-
Academy (Nanjing meishu zhuangmeng ly speaking, traditional painting was
xuexiao), the first comprehensive art quite easy, since Jiang was only asked to
school in Nanjing. Lii Fengzi (1885-1959) paint two branches of herbaceous
was the best known of the group, primari- peonies. Western painting was a different
ly because of his reforms in traditional matter. He was required to do a water-
painting. 27 Together with Jiang Danshu, color painting from the following descrip-
Lil founded in 1911 in Shanghai an obscure tion: "This is night scene in which a
atelier called Shenzhou Art Institute gigantic battleship is floating on the sea.
(Shenzhou meishu she) which preceded the The distant shore is foggy and misty, and
Shanghai Art Academy (often incorrectly buildings can vaguely be seen." In addi-
cited as China's first art school) by one tion, he was required to demonstrate skill

He subsequently returned to his

year. 28
birthplace, Danyang in Jiangsu Province,
where in 1912 he founded the Zhengze
Vocational School for Girls, whose art
department was expanded into the
Zhengze Art Academy in 1942.
The painting and handicraft section
of Liangjiang High Normal School was
terminated in the winter of 1910, and the
school stopped operating at the fall of
Qing dynasty. But in 23
1913 the school was
reorganized by the Republican govern-
ment into the National Nanjing High
Normal School (Guoli Nanjing gaodeng shi-
in geometry by drawing hyperbolic and
parabolic lines and explaining the princi-
ples behind them.
If these examination requirements
can be used to gauge the training of the
first generation of art teachers in China,
they show a clear bias in favor of Western
painting and drawing and an appreciation
of the mathematical foundation of West-
the ern drawing method. The very specific
instructions for the watercolor painting
highlight the descriptive power of the
Western medium; both the night scene
and the battleship are subjects that tradi-

fan xuexiao), and the painting and handi- tional artists of the late Qing period had
craft section was reinstituted about neither the inclination nor the training
1915. 3" In 1927, under the leadership of to depict.
Xu Beihong (1895-1953), the section devel- Since 1902, before the Chinese art
oped into the prestigious art department world was even aware of its potential
of the National Central University influence. Western art had already
(Guoli Zhongyang daxue). Since 1952 it attained a secure position in the modern
has been incorporated into the Nanjing educational system. At this point it may
Normal College Nanjing ( shifan xueyuan), be appropriate to define the precise func-
.which celebrated the eightieth anniver- tion assigned to the art curriculum in
sary of the founding of the art depart- order to comprehend its place in the edu-
ment in 1982. cational reforms of the nation. Due
The zest for reform brought to an end respect was given to developing practical
the venerable civil-service examinations skills with immediate vocational value
in 1905, three years after the comprehen- for the youths of the nation. 32 Moreover,

REFORMS IN EDUCATION
some practical skill in drawing was con-
sidered an indispensable adjunct to the
study of mathematics, biology, geography,
mechanics, woodwork, metalwork,
etcetera, all of which were considered
instrumental in turning China from a
—— — E*-«lg ,1
weak and backward empire into a strong
and wealthy nation. Those aims are our
key to understanding the emphasis on
realistic Western art in the school cur-
riculum from the establishment of
Figure 1. A Bridge in the Countryside. China's first modern schools through the
Reprinted from A New Edition of Model first half of the twentieth century.
Paintings for Middle Schools (Shanghai, In the proposed school regulations of
1907). 1903. however, we note emerging new
tudes to art education that would explain
why, in the subsequent decades, some
nese artists turned to Western art with
the hope of reviving China's stagnant
artistic tradition. That tradition, after
centuries of conventionalized expression-
istic (xieyi) representation, had lost its
ability to depict the real and to describe
a JLV-A-H precisely. Essential to exact description
is the discipline of the eye and the hand, 33
or "eye-and-hand co-ordination." 31 which
-* jt «• .* I
not only involves the act of recording
what is observed, but also cultivates keen
observation of objective reality and the
ability to grasp the concrete world of
appearances. 35 Such are the qualities
highly desirable in the future builders of
China that the educational reforms hoped
Figure 2. Summer Landscape. Reprinted to instill with the introduction of a sys-
from The Mustard-Seed Garden Painting tem modeled on Japan and the West.
Manual. Lithographic edition (Shanghai, The objectives of art education seem
1887-1888). a bit high-sounding compared with its
actual implementation. Because of the
rapid increase in students at all levels
by 1909 there were already 52.918 schools,
including 415 normal colleges. 254 techni-
cal schools, and 111 universities and spe-
cial training schools 36 — there were simply
not enough qualified art teachers to meet
the demand. Therefore the teaching of
drawing and painting in the early twenti-
eth century can only be described as
primitive. Students usually copied from
drawings done on blackboard or paper by
the teacher. 37 Many resorted to the model
books that since 1902 were published in
substantial numbers as textbooks.
Among the techniques illustrated were
pencil drawing, Chinese brush painting
and Western watercolor painting, and geo-
metric and mechanical drawing: some of
these copybooks had been translated and
—
adapted from Japanese. Xinzhuan 12
zhongxue huaxue linben ("A New Edition of
Model Paintings for Middle Schools"),
published in 1907. was one such popular
model book, from which students learned
by copying (fig. 1). This practice is in
essence no different from the centuries-
old traditional practice of copying old
master paintings or such woodblock-
printed model books as the Jiezi yuan
huazhuan ("The Mustard-Seed Garden
Painting Manual"), which was first pub-
lished in 1679 and reissued almost contin-
uously thereafter as an instructional aid
atti- to painters (fig. 2). But the models provid-
ed differ radically: the landscape type-
Chi- forms of the seventeenth-century book
have been replaced in the twentieth-cen-
tury manual by precisely rendered and
visually correct scenes constructed
according to the laws of perspective and
chiaroscuro, representing a new percep-
tion of the real world. To what extent stu-
dents and teachers of this time painted
directly from nature or actually under-
stood the principles of Western art. we
can not readily determine.
The works produced in schools prior
to 1911 have mostly not survived the rav-
ages of time. A few found their way into
periodicals such as Jiaoyu zazhi ("The Chi-
nese Educational Review"). Illustrated
here is a bouquet painted in watercolors
by Chen Caicui. a student from Hunan
Hanshou School for Girls (fig. 3). The
young student has painstakingly record-
ed her visual impression of the flowers,
paying special care to the details of the
petals and the coloristic effect of light
and shade. The expressiveness of calli-
graphic brush work, highly regarded in
traditional painting, is all but eliminat-
ed, and vestiges of her native tradition
can only be seen in traces of brushwork in
the daisies and in the colophon at top
right. This painting could have been
made directly from nature, but its hard-
ened naturalism and apparent combina-
tion of foreign and native elements sug-
gest that it was more likely copied from
one of the model books which boasted of
"using Western painting method to por-
tray the idea of Chinese painting."- 1
Since the launching of the new edu-
cational system in 1902, educational exhi-
bitions of student achievements in vari-
ous subjects were organized periodically.
 I: I
i
HUMS IN KIU'CATICIN

and in these painting and drawing were metric drawings. These works had been
invariably featured." Similar displays
1
produced by students of all levels from all

formed part of the industrial expositions over China. It is quite evident that the art
being held in large cities during the last educators hardly distinguished between
years of the Qing empire. These educa- the utilitarian and technical functions of
tional and industrial exhibitions are per- Western art and its aesthetic expression.
haps the forerunners of the modern art This understanding — or misunderstand-
exhibition in China, which would soon ing — of Western art was clearly exempli-
dominate all artistic activities and also fied by a confused critic who complained
develop into the most important channel about Western-style brush drawings being
of communication between artists and done by higher elementary-school stu-
their public. dents, because he considered them to be
Very little information can be found Chinese paintings in the detailed manner
concerning student or industrial exhibi- (gongbi) and thus useless and unsuitable
tions held prior to 1912. Yan Wenliang for the young students. 16

(1893-1988), one of the pioneers of the The realism of Western art was also
Western-Style Painting Movement, main- emphasized, particularly in connection
ly active in Suzhou, recalled visiting the with the portraits and drawings of flow-
Nanyang Industrial Exposition, held in ers, fruits, and plaster casts submitted by
Nanjing in the autumn of 1908, as a repre- the Tushan Wan Painting Workshop, an
sentative of his school. In this exposition affiliate of the Tushan Wan Arts and

he showed a colored-pencil drawing of Crafts Center in Shanghai. Founded by

Figure 3. Chen Caicui. Bouquet of Suzhou railroad station." The date of this French Catholic missionaries in 1849 and
Flowers. 1911-1912. memorable event needs to be verified, moved to Tushan Wan in 1867, the Center
because a more detailed and presumably was in fact an orphanage." Various kinds
reliable account of the Nanyang Industri- of crafts were made at the Center, with
al Exposition dates its opening in Nan- the Painting Workshop, consisting of
jing to the fourth month of the gengshu about forty apprentices, supplying what-
year (1910).'= According to Jiang Danshu, ever painting was needed. The products
who reminisced in 1928 about the artistic mainly served religious purposes, but
developments of the preceding twenty masterpieces of Western secular painting
T~ years, this exposition was the first of its were also copied and sold in China and
kind ever sponsored by the government.™ abroad. The workshop, in operation until
/
i. It had been preceded by a privately funded the 1940s, may be the earliest school
exposition held in Shanghai in 1908/9. in where extensive and systematic teaching
which art was one of the three main cate- of Western art by Europeans took place.
^j\_/v gories of exhibits, comprising contempo- The Center also published painting manu-
rary calligraphy and Chinese-style paint- als as teaching aids (fig. 4). Highly regard-
ing, carved lacquer, embroidery, and, ed by Xu Beihong (1895-1953) as "the cra-

^? sj interestingly, oil paintings from Guang- dle of Western-style painting in China,"

dong." the workshop trained the pioneers of the
The Nanyang Industrial Exposition Western-style art movement in Shanghai,
Figure 4. Pages from Manual for Learning included a hall of fine arts whose mam- including Zhou Xiang (1871-1934), Ding
Pencil Drawing (Shanghai, 1907). From moth scale was inspired by the interna- Song (1891-1972). Xu Yongqing (1880-1953),
Zhu Boxiang and Chen Ruilin, Zhongguo tional expositions in which China had Hang Chiying (1900-1947), and Zhang
xihua wushi nian —1898-1949 ("Fifty Years begun to participate about the beginning Chongren (1907-?).«

of Western-Style Painting
(Beijing: People's Art Press. 1989).
in China") of this century. In line with the commer- The arrangement of works at the
cial and industrial intent of this exposi- Nanyang Industrial Exposition aptly
tion, the fine arts display focused on summed up attitudes of the preceding
handicrafts, and Jiang Danshu recalled a decade. Western art was a skill — to be
haphazard mixture of traditional paint- taught in school because it was consid-
ing, embroidery, and antiques. > 5
Western ered useful in industry and commerce.
art was displayed in the hall of education, The Western art style adopted was basi-
where oil paintings; watercolors; pencil, cally realistic and academic. Few people
charcoal, and brush drawings; and lac- in traditional art circles were even aware
quer paintings were arranged alongside of its presence in China, and even fewer
maps, charts, and mechanical and geo- felt threatened by its intrusion.
REFORMS IN EDUCATION

CAI YUANPEI AND HIS PROPOSAL scenes, but when they appear in a paint-
OF AESTHETIC EDUCATION IN 1912 ing they turn out to be worth exhibiting
In retrospect it can easily be deduced that and appreciation .... When you feel
the expressive or aesthetic aspects of art related to actual phenomena neither by
education remained largely dormant dur- craving nor by loathing but are purely
ing this time, not unlike the situation in absorbed in artistic appreciation, then you
European schools during the same period. will become a friend of the Creator and
" The turning point came in China in 1912. will be close to the conception of the world

when Cai Yuanpei became the first Minis- of reality. Therefore, if an educator wishes
ter of Education of the newly founded to lead the people from the phenomenal
Republic. Cai Yuanpei, native of Shao- world to the conception of the world of
xing, Zhejiang, was an extraordinary fig- reality, he must adopt aesthetic
ure in the modernization of China. He education. K
devoted his life to education, convinced Without going into details of the
that it was the true path to the building philosophical and ethical framework of
of a new society and a better China." Cai's aesthetic philosophy 51 much of
Moreover, because of his advocacy of aes- which he acquired during the years spent
thetic education, he has been regarded as at the University of Leipzig (1908-1911).
the initiator as well as the key figure for we note in particular Cai's conception
the development of art and aesthetic edu- that art and its appreciation would con-
cation in China. A new percep-
'
tribute to the formation of a
In 1912 Cai published his now historic tion of reality —a perception that he con-
essay on the aims of education and their sidered key to the transformation of Chi-
philosophical basis, among which we find nese society. In Cai's thinking, love of
aesthetic education {meiga?i jiaoyu or beauty could help to eliminate greed and
meiyu), together with universal military prejudice, the obstacles to harmony in
education, utilitarian education, moral the material world. Therefore, according
education, and education for a world view. to Cai. art should ultimately replace reli-
With this, Cai began his lifelong promo- gion as the spiritual cultivation of the
tion of art and aesthetic education in individual and the unifying principle of
China, thereby liberating Western art society. 5
'
1

from the tenacious hold of utilitarianism Though it has been said that Cai's
to acquire new significance in the subse- emphasis on aesthetics merely reflects
quent years. Moreover, his admiration for the traditional Confucian characteriza-
the art and culture of foreign countries as tion of art and music as entities that help
well as his emphasis on internationalism mold the human personality. Cai's more 55

also inspired many young people to look immediate influence was Kantian philoso-
to the West for new stimulus in art. phy, which emphasized the universal
In view of its importance, we quote nature of the appreciation of beauty and
Cai's passage on aesthetic education: the capacity of such appreciation to
Meigan is a conception combining beauty maintain a feeling of detachment.* He 5

and solemnity and is a bridge between the might also have been aware of the wait-
phenomenal world and the world of reali- ings of Wang Guowei (1866-1927), a tower-
ty. This concept was originated by Kant. ing figure in classical studies and literary
. . . In the phenomenal world every per- criticism. Wang was also interested in
son feels the passions of love, hatred, fear, Western philosophy, and when he was with
surprise, happiness, anger, sadness, and the Ministry of Education in 1906. he dis-
pleasure, and these feelings vary accord- cussed aesthetic education for the devel-
ing to the phenomena of [parting], opment of feelings and emotions, along-
reunion, life, death, disaster, good fortune, side intellectual and moral education. 57
and catastrophe. As for the fine arts, such By this period in Chinese history, neither
phenomena are used as sources of inspira- art nor music was any longer an agent of
tion, and make those who look at repre- social uplift. Painting in particular had
sentations of them have no other feeling become an adjunct to the literati their —
than that of artistic appreciation. The status symbol and diversion— and its
blazing red volcano or a strong wind mode of expression, mostly ink-play, no
wrecking a boat are terrible and dreadful longer served the social functions
REFORMS IN Eni'CATION 164

required by Cai. In line with the spirit of
internationalism. Cai's concept of art had
no national boundaries. The examples he
cited (e.g., the erupting volcano or the
shipwreck) steered Chinese artists toward
themes and representations based on
human experience more familiar to West-
ern art. The publication of this essay in
1912 is another reason to consider that
year the jumping-off point for the West-
ern-style art movement. From this time
on not only did Western art begin to
acquire viability as a mode of artistic
expression, but Chinese artists derived
from Cai's thought a sense of social
responsibility and of the importance of
their work for China. Cai's influence
the Western-style art movement can
hardy be exaggerated, and his work after
1912 merits a separate study.
RESPONSES TO CAI'S PROPOSAL
OF AESTHETIC EDUCATION
Critics of Cai argued that aesthetic edu-
cation could hardly solve the urgent prob-
lems of a nation in crisis, particularly
ture the essence and the spirit of nature.
The writer also asserted that aesthetic
appreciation entails a feeling of detach-
ment from reality, that aesthetic experi-
ence affords spiritual repose in a realm of
the ideal. In the concluding paragraph of
this series the author drew a parallel
between art and religion, possibly inspir-
ing Cai Yuanpei's proposal of 1917 to
replace religion with aesthetic education.
In fact, Poluoxie's ideals — of a transcen-
dental realm of completeness and perfec-
tion attainable through art and of the
power of aesthetic education to harmo-
nize human energy and to cultivate per-
sonal character — show such an affinity
on with Cai's aesthetic thought as to make
it highly likely that Cai was familiar with
this publication.
Despite criticism of his idealistic
philosophy of education, Cai Yuanpei
made every effort to see his ideas real-
ized. His aims were reflected in the
revised course description for the sec-
ondary-school art curriculum, which
appeared in September 1912: "The essen-

one so poor and weak that even its sur- tial aims of the art courses are thorough
vival as a nation was uncertain. 58 More- observation of the subject to be repre-
over, the high ideals of aesthetic educa- sented and the ability to draw and paint
tion were beyond the comprehension of freely. Further aims are to train artistic
the majority of Chinese nationals at that conception and to cultivate aesthetic
time and therefore were not practical. feeling." 60 At the university level, archae-
In 1912. possibly inspired by Cai's pro- ology, art history, and aesthetics were
posal of aesthetic education, Jiaoyu zazhi introduced into the curriculum as elec-
("The Chinese Educational Review") pub- tive courses in 1913, inaugurating the sys-
lished, in three parts, the translation by tematic study of art as an academic disci-
Sunwu of The Principles of Art Education pline in modern China. 61

by a teacher of psychology identified only In 1912 Cai established the Social

as Poluoxie. 69 Further researches will be Education Office to promote cultural edu-
needed to identify the author of this cation in society. Its activities were divid-
book, which occupies the unique position ed between two sections. The responsibili-
of the first book-length work on art edu- ties of the first section included art, cul-
cation ever translated into Chinese. The ture, and science, specifically the over-
book articulates, in greater and more sight of museums, libraries, galleries,

elaborate detail, many of the ideas put exhibitions, literature, music, drama,
forth by Cai Yuanpei. survey of antiquities, etcetera. 62 To take
This three-part series introduced the charge of this section Cai appointed none
Chinese to many new ideas about art. other than Lu Xun (1881-1936), who had
especially the psychological study of joined the Ministry of Education in that
visual perception and artistic response. It year. Apart from his almost legendary
distinguished the aims of science from stature as writer, thinker, and revolution-
those of art. the latter being an aesthetic ary, Lu Xun was also destined to be a key
transformation of reality that would cap- figure in the artistic conflicts of modern
 REFORMS IN EDUCATION
m

China. His artistic activities, particular- had been established. " Cultural institu-
ly those connected with the modern tions multiplied even more rapidly after
woodcut movement, have been well docu- 1949 due to government support, and a
mented by a vast number of studies. 65
survey conducted in 1981 shows the prolif-
In Lu Xun, Cai found a sympathetic eration of such cultural establishments
colleague to carry out programs of social in every major city and county all over
education in which art figured promi- China. 69
nently/" 1
For example, in 1912 the Ministry
organized a summer lecture series on pol- RETURN OF ART STUDENTS FROM
itics, economics, culture, and art, to ABROAD
propagate new knowledge among educa- In 1872 the Qing government began send-
Lu Xun was more than willing to
tors. 65 ing students to the United States to
deliver a series of four lectures on art. He study Western learning; beginning in
had become deeply interested in art, and 1875, the study-abroad destinations
had
his student days in Japan (1902-1909) included Europe and, in 1896, Japan. In
brought him into contact with Western the first decade of the present century
art. 66 The contents of his lectures, called there were tens of thousands of Chinese
"Brief Discussions on Art" were not students in Japan, 12,909 in 1906 alone. 70
recorded, but their essence may be pre- Yet in the same period few Chinese were
served in a brief essay published the fol- looking to the West or Japan for fresh
lowing year. Entitled "Draft Opinions on artistic insights. The situation would
Figure 5. Photograph of Li Shutong (left) the Propagation of Art," this essay was change in the twenties and thirties, when

and Zeng Yannian (right) in

, costume after remarkable in that it reflected predomi- aspiring young artists flocked to Paris,
appearing in a play in Tokyo, 1907. nantly Western conceptions of the classi- Tokyo, and other artistic centers of the
fication, function, and social significance world to study Western art. and on their
of art. In fact, the very term for art in the return to their native land constituted a
essay, meishu, was a Chinese neologism direct impetus for the development of the
expressing a Western concept. 67 Recogniz- Western-style art movement.
ing the cultural, ethical, and economic An exception to the general indiffer-
functions of art in a society, Lu Xun pro- ence to Western art during this early
posed a program to disseminate art period was Li Shutong (1880-1942) who.
through a system of museums, concert together with Zeng Yannian (d. 1921) was
halls, theaters, exhibitions, and literary the earliest Japanese-trained artist in
gatherings, as well as through the preser- Western painting (fig. 5). Both were listed
vation of ancient sites and monuments as having graduated from the Tokyo
and the collection of folk literature. School of Fine Arts (Tokyo bijutsu gakko)
It is not the purpose of this essay to in 1911, 71 though they may have returned
chronicle or to analyze the artistic activi- to their homeland earlier, as Li Shutong
ties of Lu Xun, but to highlight his was recorded as teaching at the Tianjin
enthusiastic support for Cai's call for aes- Technical School (Tianjin gongye zhuan-
thetic education in 1912. His summer lec- men xuetang) in 1910. Upon his return to
72

tures, the first instance of public lectures China Zeng Yannian, also known as Zeng
devoted to art, initiated a channel of Xiaogu, soon left for the remote province
communication with the general public of Sichuan, his ancestral home, where
which members of the new art movement from 1915 he taught art at the Chengdu
would soon utilize in spreading their High Normal School (Chengdu gaodeng
gospel of Western art. Moreover, although shifan xuexiao). 13 Because Chengdu was so
his proposals might seem idealistic in remote from China's artistic centers and
light of the unstable political situation at also because he died young in 1921. 74 Zeng
that time, they pointed the directions had little impact on the Western-style art
that later generations would follow in movement, whereas Li Shutong was
their efforts to promote art and culture in renowned as the first Chinese student to
society. By 1937 146 museums and galleries have received thorough training in West-
 REFORMS IN HDUCATION

ern art in Japan. 75 Li devoted himself to Though Li Shutong supposedly

HflH&'^j art and art education for almost a decade returned to China and a teaching position

JSfc 9 k .
^B.s.tf> V •
and was tremendously influential in pro- in a technical school in 1910, his contribu-
- !^" moting Western art. music, and drama in tion to the Western-style art movement
jE* •4 'X-^y
' China. He became a monk in 1918. taking really began when he joined the
in 1912
• •T'R «& / iBi.'.l
the Buddhist name Hongyi. and there- Zhejiang First Normal School (Zhejiang
after devoted himself mainly to Buddhist diyi shifan xuexiao) in Hangzhou as

and philosophical studies. 7"

teacher of art and music in the school's
Li Shutong is a legendary figure in newly opened painting and handicraft
modern Chinese art history. Born in Tian- department. That department came
Figure 6. Li Shutong (1880-1942). Study of jin of a wealthy and scholarly family, he about through the efforts of the director
a Nude. Possibly before 1910. Oil. received a typical classical education, but of the school. Jing Hengyi (1877-1938).

he was also aware of the new ideas being who was a graduate of Tokyo High Nor-
broached by Kang Youwei (1858-1927). mal School and later enjoyed moderate
Liang Qichao (1873-1929), and Cai Yuan- success as a traditional painter.
He participated in the Hundred Days
pei. Brief as it was. Li's seven-year career
Reform of 1898. and when it was sup- as art instructor was to have lasting
pressed had to flee from Tianjin to Shang- impact on the spread of Western art in
hai. By the time he left for Japan in 1905, China. In contrast to the general practice
he had already made a name for himself in art education, which was to copy
as an accomplished poet, painter, callig- teachers' paintings or reproductions in
rapher. and seal engraver, i.e.. an artist textbooks published specifically for that
par excellence of the traditional school. purpose, 78 Li taught his students to draw
His interest in Western art may have been directly from plaster casts and still lifes,

nurtured during his years in Shanghai. just as he himself had been taught at the
Disheartened by the humiliating defeats Tokyo School of Fine Arts.™ He also took
of the Qing empire and by the sudden his students outdoors, to seek inspiration
death of his mother. Li left for Japan, in the scenic beauty of West Lake. Then
where some of his old reformist acquain- in 1913 he introduced painting from the
tances who had fled to Japan in 1898 were nude model as the basic training method
still living. in Western painting, and a photograph of
When Li enrolled at the Tokyo School this historic event shows the first life

of Fine Arts in 1906. Kuroda Seiki class of about thirty students (fig. 7)." At
(1866-1924) was its head. Returning from about the same time he also became the
Paris in 1893. Kuroda practiced a style of first Chinese artist to explore modern
Figure 7. Photograph of the first life oil painting that combined the detailed woodcut techniques, together with his
drawing class at Zhejiang First Normal naturalism of the academic school with students and colleagues at the Zhejiang
School. 1913. early Impressionism. 77 Li threw himself First Normal School. 82

into his studies, even employing his own In sum, by adopting the systematic
models so as to have more time for paint- and direct training methods that he had
ing. His canvases reveal that he learned learned while studying Western art in
his lessons well, and confirm Feng Zikai's Japan, Li taught his students to use their
(1898-1975) comment that his teacher's eyes and their minds. He thereby consoli-
style was realism tinged with Impression- dated the reforms initiated in 1906 at the
ist brushwork. He was one of the few Chi-
78
Liangjiang High Normal School under
nese artists who completely mastered the tutelage of Japanese art teachers. Li
this foreign idiom. Yet what elevated him possessed to a remarkable degree the abil-
over his fellow artists was not only his ity to communicate his enthusiasm for

technical competence but the quality of painting and other arts to his students,
spirituality and mystery in his paintings some of whom became leading figures in
(fig. 6). It was perhaps these aspects of his the art world in subsequent decades. A
nature that led him to become a Buddhist good example is Feng Zikai. whose choice
monk in 1918. of an artistic career resulted directly
REFORMS IN KUUCATION 157

from Li's recognition and encouragement ART EDUCATION AND THE

of his talents." 3 Li's contribution to early WESTERN-STYLE ART MOVEMENT:
art education in modern China is at least AN ANALYSIS
as significant as his achievement in West- In the foregoing pages we have seen the
ern-style art.Both those accomplish- close relationship between the beginning
ments were overshadowed by his fame as of the Western-style art movement and
an austere Buddhist monk and a calligra- reforms in education in the late Qing and
pher. early Republican periods. Indeed, the
Although programs to send students inclusion of art subjects in the school
to study in Europe and the United States curriculum since 1902 has had far-reach-
had been initiated in 1875 and 1872, respec- ing influence even to the present day —an
tively, these programs did not begin to influence that warrants further analysis.
affect the study of art until 1909. In 1909 First of all. by occupying a place in
we encounter the name of Li Zuhong the modernized educational system, art
(1886-1942), better known as Li Yishi. who acquired an importance not enjoyed in
was studying' science and fine arts, the traditional educational process. Tra-
respectively, at the University of Glasgow ditional education was narrowly focused
and the Glasgow Academy of Art. 84 About on training for the civil-service examina-
1912-1913 Wu Fading (1883-1924) and Li tions, in which the visual arts played no
Chaoshi (1893-1971) left for study at the part. 87 Furthermore, the premodern social
Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Li Tiefu tradition defined painting as a pastime of
(1869-1952) went to England in 1887. cultivated literati amateurs, along with
becoming the first Chinese student to poetry, music, chess, and calligraphy:
enroll in a formal program of fine arts in under the influence of this amateur ideal,
the Arlington School of Art. His subse- any sign of professionalism was taken as
quent experience in New York, at the a sign of commercialism and was there-
Academy of Fine Arts, the Art Students' fore disdained if not condemned. Wang
League, and the Academy of Design, gave Yachen (1894-1983). in surveying the devel-
him exposure to the Western academic opment of art education in modern
tradition unequaled by his contempo- China, went so far as to describe premod-
raries in China. 85 About 1905 the National ern education in village schools as anti-
Art Academy, Mexico City, an unlikely art. 88 He recalled his own childhood in
place to find a Chinese student, enrolled such a school, when he and his school-
Feng Gangbo (1884-1984). He later spent mates were whipped for drawing flowers
ten years at the Art Students' League of or animals and for making clas7 figurines.
New York, where Li Tiefu was a fellow Feng Zikai also gave a vivid account of
student. 86 learning to draw stealthily, behind the
All of these artists encountered the tutor's back. 89 The establishment of mod-
academic tradition of Western art and ern schools, with art as part of the cur-
acquired a firm technical foundation. By riculum, changed the situation complete-
returning to China after their studies ly, and therefore should be considered a
overseas, they became protagonists of the watershed in the history of art education
Western-style art movement as well as in China.
mainstays of the burgeoning art educa- Secondly, because the modern educa-
tion system in China. But since it was not tional system developed out of the whole-
until 1918 that the first of this group com- sale importation of Western learning.
pleted their studies, the innovative teach- Western modes of artistic representation
ing of Li Shutong at Zhejiang First Nor- prevailed in the schools and their utili-
mal School, beginning in 1912, was all the tarian aspects were emphasized; Only
more significant for the development of since 1912. when Cai Yuanpei proposed his
Western art in China. concepts of aesthetic education, has
Western art assumed aesthetic signifi-
cance in China's educational system. It
 IR MS in EDUCATION

was the creation of a comprehensive and
compulsory school system that helped to
spread Western drawing and painting:
methods throughout the empire within
the short span of a few years, reaching:
even to Gansu University on China's
remote Inner Asian Frontier.™ Formal
education exposed China's young people
to Western art at an early age.
became sympathetic to this
and elected to study it further in the art
schools and academies that began to
them above the ranks of plebeian folk
craftsmen. A new social status— modern
artist— was already in the making in the
early years of the twentieth century, and
the artists whom we have mentioned
might be considered forerunners of "the
modern Chinese artist."
The years before the founding of the
Many Republic have been described by some his-
new art form torians as a period of pre-emergent dark-
ness in the history of the Western-style
art movement in China.'™ Indeed, few peo-

flourish after the founding of the Repub- ple in China's traditional art world were
lic. For the Western-style art movement even aware of the movement's existence.
in China, this was certainly advanta- It was kept safely within the sphere of
geous. But advocates of Western art in education, where, as we have seen, it

the lower schools did not anticipate that struck roots for its future development.
the emphasis on Western art, especially The year 1912 proved to be a watershed for
its practical and vocational aspects, the movement: in that year Cai Yuanpei
would produce generations of Chinese published his theory of aesthetic educa-
youths with hardly any knowledge of tion; Lu Xun, at the Ministry of Educa-
their own artistic heritage or any capaci- tion, proclaimed the social function of
ty for its appreciation. Considered to be art; Li Shutong, returned from studying
superior to Western art and yet too far in Japan, began teaching Western art
detached from reality, traditional art according to Western methods in
came to be thought of as a subject for Hangzhou; and the first generation of art
advanced study, the proper domain of spe- teachers had begun to teach in various
cialists; Western art, realistic and there- schools the year before. Significant
fore easily comprehensible, was more events were also occurring outside the
appropriate for popular education." Such government educational system in 1912.
misconceived ideas deprived traditional notably the founding of the first academy
painting of its links with the people and of art in Shanghai (Shanghai tuhua
threatened its survival. By 1935 the domi- meishu yuan) by Liu Haisu (1896-1994) and
nation of the school curricula by Western- his friends. Their manifesto can be inter-
style art was being outspokenly opposed preted as launching the Western-style art
by traditional artists, who publicly pro- movement and giving it character and
posed to the Ministry of Education that direction:
Chinese painting should be taught in pri- Firstly, we must develop the
mary and secondary schools. 92 indigenous art of the East and
The third locus of influence is basi- study the mysteries of Western art;

cally financial: the school curriculum Secondly, we want to fulfill our

created a great demand for art teachers, responsibility of promoting art in a
which in turn provided direct impetus for society that is callous, apathetic,

the proliferation of art schools, whose desiccated, and decaying. We shall

graduates, mostly in Western painting, work for the rejuvenation of Chi-

found livelihood as art teachers and art nese art, because we believe art can
educators, and in that capacity attracted save present-day Chinese society
yet more adherents to the Western-style from confusion and arouse the gen-
art movement. In addition, art education eral public from their dreams;

afforded modern Chinese artists a new Thirdly, we are far from

dimension of professionalism that set knowledgeable, yet we are confi-
them apart from their traditional coun- dent of our sincerity to study and
terparts and at the same time raised promote [art]. 91
REFORMS IN EDUCATION
Liu Haisu was to become one of the most
influential artists and art educators of
twentieth-century China. Under his lead-
ership the Shanghai Art Academy
oped into a thriving center of modernist
trends in Western art and a symbol of
artistic freedom.
The year 1912 was also marked by the
publication of the first popular art peri-
odical, Zhenxiang huabao ("The True
Record Illustrated Magazine"), by the
brothers Gao Jianfu (1879-1951) and Gao
Qifeng (1889-1933), who, together with
Chen Shuren (1884-1948), were the
founders of the Lingnan school in Guang-
dong, whose purpose was to reform tradi-
tional Chinese painting. All these devel-
opments publicized Western art as an aes-
thetic and expressive medium as well as a
powerful tool to reform Chinese society.
Occurring together in 1912, they launched
the Western-style art movement, which
would ultimately change the course of
Chinese art in the twentieth century.
MS
NOTES
1. Chen Baoyi. "Yanghuazai Zhongguo Huchuan
de guocheng" ("The Spread of Western-Style
Painting in China"), Shanghai yishu yuekan
("Shanghai Art Monthly"), 1942; reprint Yishujia
devel-
("The Artist"), vol. 35 (April 1978), pp. 19-41.
2.Chang Shuhong. "Zhongguo xin yishu
yundong guoqu de cuowu yu jinhou de
zhanwang" ("The Past Mistakes of the Chinese
New Art Movement and Its Future Prospects").
Yifeng ("Art Wind"), vol. 2, no. 8 (1 August 1934).
pp. 33-44.
3.Xu Xinzhi. "Zhongguo meishu yundong de
zhanwang" ("Prospects of Art Movements in
China"), Shalun yuekan ("Siren Monthly"),
vol. l,no. 1(16 June 1930), pp. 22-23.
4. Osvald Siren. Chinese Painting: Leading
Masters and Principles, 7 vols. (New York: Ronald
Press, 1956-58), vol. 5,See also Michael
pp. 90, 226.
Sullivan, The Meeting of Easternand Western
Art (London: Thames and Hudson, 1973). p. 85.
For different viewpoints, see James Cahill.
The Compelling Image: Nature and Style in
Seventeenth-Century Chinese Painting
(Cambridge. Mass.: Harvard University Press,
1982)and Mayching Kao, "European Influences
in Chinese Art. Sixteenth to Eighteenth
Centuries," in China and Europe: Images and
Influences in Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries, ed.
Thomas H.C. Lee (Hong Kong: The Chinese
University Press, 1991). pp. 251-303.
5.See Carl L. Crossman, The Decorative Arts of
the China Trade (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique
Collectors' Club. 1991), chaps. 1-8.
6. See Zhang Yanfeng. Lao yuefenpai guanggao
hua ("Old Calendar Paintings for Advertising"),
3 vols. (Taibei: Hansheng Magazine. 1994 ).
7. Certain authors have dated the emergence of
the Western-style art movement as late as
1914-1915 (see Chen Baoyi, "The Spread of
Western-Style Painting in China." p. 20), but the
movement emerged with Cai's proclamation of
its principles.
8.Ssu-yu Teng and John K. Fairbank, China's
Response to the West: A Documentary Survey,
1839-1923 (Cambridge. Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1958), p. 166. For the educational reforms
initiated by Zhang Zhidong. see Tu Zuozhou.
"Jin bainianlai Zhongguo xin jiaoyu zhi fazhan"
("The Development of China's New Education in
the Last Hundred Years") in Tu et al.. Jin
Bainian laiZhongguo jiaoyu "Education in
zhi (
China in the Last Hundred Years") (Hong Kong:
Longmen Book Company. 1969); William Ayers,
Chang Chih-tung and Educational Reform in
China (Cambridge. Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1971), pp. 196-224.
9. Shu Xinching. Jindai Zhongguo jiaoyu shi ziliao
("Source Materials on the History of Modern
Chinese Education"). 3 vols. (Beijing: People's
Press, 1961), vol. 2. pp. 408-9. 498-500. 511-15.
540-43. 682. 762.
10.Jiang Danshu. "Woguo wushi nian lai yishu
jiaoyu shi zhi yiye" ("A Page in the History of
Art Education in China in the Past Fifty
Years"). Meishu yanjiu ("Journal of Studies in

Art"), vol. 1 (1959). pp. 30-31.
m Qil liiii. Jindai Zhongguo jiaoyu
"History of Education m Modern China"), rev.
ed. (Talbei:Taiwan China Book Company. 1969).
p. 89. Also consult Qu
Lilie. Qingmo xiyi iiaoyit
sichao "The Tide of Education in Western
i 26.Jiang Shukai. "Ji fuqing Jiang Danshu de
Science and Technology in the Late Qing
Period") (Taibel: Academic Writings Grants
Committee of China. 1971).
12. Knight Biggerstaff, The Earliest Modern
Government Schools in China (Ithica. N.Y.:
Cornell University Press. 1961). p. 171.
13.Translated into Qixiang xianzhen.ijuan of
text and ljttan of plates (Shanghai. 1872).
Huaxing tushuo (Shanghai. 1885?).
xuzhi (Shanghai. 1888?) respectively.
14. Adrian A. Bennett. John Fryer: The
Introduction of Western Science and Technology
into Nineteenth-century China. Harvard East
Asian Monographs, no. 24 (Cambridge. Mass.;
Harvard University Press. 1967).
15. Xu Weize. ed.. Dongxi xue shulu ("A
Bibliography for Study of East and West").
ijuan plus2suppl.;«o?i by GuXieguang(1902).
16. Jonathan Spence. The Search for Modern
China (New York: WW. Norton. 1990). p. 225.
17. Shu Xincheng. Source Materials, vol. 2. pp. 408,
498-99.
18. Ibid., pp. 540-42. 682, 762.
19. Tsuruta Takeyoshi. "Seimatsu Minkoku
shoki no bijutsu kyoiku" ("Art Education in the
late Qing and Early Republican Period"). Bijutsu
kenkyu ("Journal of Art Studies"), vol. 365.
pp. 1-38. See in particular the list of Japanese
art teachers in China, pp. 16-18.
20.See letters written by Iwataki Tamaro and
Maruno Yutaka. published in Koyukai geppo
("Monthly Newsletter of the Alumni
Association"), vol. 7, no. 1 (30 September 1908).
p. 19.and vol. 8. no. 1 (1909). respectively.
21. Pan Tianshou, "Yuwai huihua liuru zhongtu
kaolue" ("A Study of the Introduction of
Painting from Abroad"), appendix in Zhongguo
huihua shi ("History of Chinese Painting"). 2nd
ed. (Shanghai: Commercial Press. 1936). p. 246.
22. Wang Yachen. "Xiandai Zhongguo yishu
jiaoyu gaiguan" ("Survey of Art Education in
Modern China"). Xuelin ("Academia").
(December 1940), p. 147. Li Ruiqing. hao Mei'an.
Native of Linchuan, Jiangxi Province.
of Hanlin since 1895. In addition to his
contribution to modern education. Li was a
noted painter and calligrapher of the
traditional school. He moved to Shanghai at the
fall of the Qing dynasty. Adopting the
alternative name of Qing Daoren. he began to
earn his living by selling painting and
calligraphy.Zhang Daqian 1899-1983). the ( both compiled by Ding Baoshu. and Qianmaobi
celebrated master of modern Chinese painting,
became his pupil in 1919.
23. Jiang Danshu. "A Page in the History of Art
Education." pp. 30-31.
24. Ibid.
25.Pan Tianshou. "Introduction of Painting
from Abroad." p. 246. See also "Jiangsu ziyiju
diaocha Liangjiang shifan xuetang baogao"
i: l
FOB MS IN KIU'CATIUN
("A Report on the Investigation on Liangjiang
shi Normal School Conducted by Die Jiangsu
Consultative Bureau"). Jiaoyu zazhi ("The
Chinese Educational Review"), vol. 3. no. 3
(10 March 1911).
yishu jiaoyu shengya" ("Notes on My Father
Jiang Danshu's Career in Art Education").
Meishu ("Art"), vol. 1, pp. 44-46. 43 (20
1983). Jiang's publications include Meishu shi
("The History of Art") (Shanghai.
jiepou rue ("Anatomy for Art") (Shanghai.
Toushi xue ("Perspective") (Shanghai.
Yiyon jiepou xue sanshiba jiang ("Thirty-eight
and Huaqi Lectures on Artistic Anatomy") (Shanghai.
1958).
27. See Lii Fengzi. Zhongguo huafa yanjiu
("Studies in Chinese Painting Method")
(Shanghai: People's Art Press. 1961) and Lu
Fengzi huaji ("Collected Paintings of Lii
Fengzi") (Shanghai: People's Art Press, 1960).
28.Jiang Jianfei. "Zhongguo Renwu hua de
gailiang zhe —
Lii Fengzi" ("Lii Fengzi: Reformer
of Chinese Figure Painting"), in Zhongguo
minchu huajia (Chinese Painters of the Early
Republican Period") (Taibei: Artist Press,
[1978]).
29."Fu Liangjiang shifan jiandu da ziyiju han"
("Reply from the Director of the Liangjiang
Normal School to the Consultative Bureau").
Jiaoyu zazhi, vol. 3, no. 3 (10 March
30.Jiang Danshu. "A Page in the History of Art
Education." p. 31.
31. Ibid.
32. Shu Xinching. "Source Materials,"
33. Ibid., p. 421.
34. Herbert Read. Education Through
(London: Faber and Faber. 1964). p. 209.
35. Shu Xincheng. "Source Materials." vol.
pp. 421.436.
36. Chen Qitian. History of Education in
China, p. 49.
37.Wu Mengfei. "Wusi yundong qianhou de
meishu jiaoyu huiyi pianduan" ("Fragments of
Reminiscences on Art Education Before and
After the May Fourth Movement"). Meishu
yanjiu ("Art Research"), vol. 3 (1959). pp. 42-46.
vol. 2 38. "Jiaoke shu zhi fakan gaikuan" ("Survey of
the Publication of Textbooks"), originally
Member published in 1934. in Zhang Jinglu. Zhongguo
jindai chuban shiliao ("Historical Materials
the Publishing [Enterprises] in Modern China").
2 vols. (Beijing: China Book Company, 1957), vol.
1. pp. 219-53. Examples found in Zhang Jinglu's
study (pp. 117-18) include Xinxihuatie ("New
Model Paintings"), 5 vols., and Qianbixinxi
huatie ("New Model Drawings in Pencil"), 4 vols.,
xihuatie ("Model Drawings in Pencil and
Brush"), 8 vols. All three sets were published in
1902. In addition to works cited in Zhang
Jinglu's authoritative compendia, the
Commercial Press of Shanghai also published
many series of art textbooks, including the
popular Xinzhuan zhongxue huaxue linben ("A
New Edition of Model Paintings for Middle
Schools"). 8 vols., published in 1907 and in its
twelfth edition by 1923. Before 1902 Nanyang
University had published Tuhua fanben ("Model
Drawings and Paintings"), translated and
adapted from textbooks used in Japanese
primary schools. See Xu Weize. "Bibliography
for Study of East and West." vol. 4. p. 8b.
39. "Xuebu shending zhongxue jiaokeshu tiyao"
January, ("Abstracts of Textbooks for Middle Schools
Approved by the Ministry of Education"), Jiaoyu
19171. Yishu zazhi, vol. 1. no. 2 (25 February 1909), pp. 16-17.
1930). 40. Three such exhibition are recorded, two in
1933), and 1909 and one in 1910. See Diyici zhongguo jiaoyu
nianjian ("The First Chinese Education
Almanac"), reprinted in Zhongguo shiliao
congkan ("Collection of Historical Materials of
China"), ser. 1 (Taibei, 1971), vol. 5, p. 168.
41. Qian Bocheng, "Yan Wenliang xiansheng
nianpu" ("A Chronological Biography of Yan
Wenliang"), in Lin Wenxia. Yan Wenliang
(Shanghai: Xuelin Press. 1982). p. 158.
42. Beginning in 1909. when the Nanyang
Industrial Exposition was first proposed by
Duan Fang, then the governor of Liangjiang,
this major event received fairly detailed
reporting in Dongfang zazhi ("Eastern
Miscellany"); see vols. 6 and 7 (1909-1910).
43. Jiang Danshu, "Yishu niannian hua
liangtou" ("Art Now and Twenty Years Ago"),
Yaboluo ("Apollo"). (January 1929). pp. 528-30.
1911), p. 36. 44. Dongfang zazhi, vol. 5. no. 5 (25 May 1908).
pp. 38-41.
45.Jiang Danshu. "Art Now." pp. 528-30.
46.Wang Hangsheng. "Nanyang quanye hui
vol. 2. p. 436. jiaoyu guan" ("The Concept of Education in the
Nanyang Industrial Exposition"). Jiaoyu zazhi,
Art. reprint vol. 3, no. 1 (10 January 1911). pp. 5-12.
47. Li Chao, Shanghai youhua shi ("History of Oil
2. Painting in Shanghai) (Shanghai: People's Art
Press. 1995). pp. 5-8.
Modern 48. Xu Beihong. "Xin yishu yundong zhi huigu yu
qianzhan" ("Review of the New Art Movement
and Its Future Prospects"), originally published
in 1943. reprinted in Xu Beihong yishu wenji
("Collected Essays of Xu Beihong"), 2 vols.
(Taibei: Artist Press, 1987). vol. 1. p. 429.
49. Read, pp. 212-14.
50. See William J. Duiker. Ts'ai Yuan-p'ei:
Educator of Modern Chi7ia (University Park and
New York: The Pennsylvania State University
on Press, 1977). Also Douglas Spelman, Ts'ai Yuan-
(Ph.D. diss., Harvard University
p'ei: 1868-1923
and Nie Zhenbin. "Cai Yuanpei de
Press, 1973):
meiyu sixiang" ("Cai Yuanpei's Thought on
Aesthetic Education"), Meixue ("Aesthetics"),
vol. 3 (June 1981), pp. 61-78.
51. Shu Xincheng, Jindai Zhongguo jiaoyu sixiang
shi ("The History of Educational Thought in
Modern China") (Shanghai: China Book
Company. 1929) p. 155.
52. Cai Yuanpei, "Duiyu jiaoyu fangzhen de
yijian" ("My Views on the Aims of Education"),
first published in 1912 in Jiaoyu zazhi. reprinted
in Cai Yuanpei xiansheng quanji ("The Complete
Works of Cai Yuanpei") (Taibei: Taiwan
Commercial Press, 1968). pp. 452-59. Translation
 REFORMS IN EDUCATION

isquoted from Teng and Fairbank, p. 237. Shanghai Gazetteer Office"), vol. 1 (June 1933), dashi ji ("Major Events in Modern Chinese
53. William J. Duiker, "The Aesthetic Philosophy (September 1933), pp. 499-538.
pp. 165-90, vol. 2 Education") (Shanghai: Shanghai Education
of Ts'ai Yuan-p'ei," Philosophy East and West, vol. 4 (March 1934), pp. 109-1128. Part 3 contains Press, 1981), p. 134.

vol. 22, no. 4 (October 1972), pp. 386-401. important information on the introduction of 91. Consult, for example. Feng Zikai, "Wei
54. Cai Yuanpei, "Yi meiyu dai zongjiao shuo" Western art into China. zhongxuesheng tan yishu ke xuexi fa"
("Theory of Replacing- Religion with Aesthetic 73. Zeng Xiaogu, "Sichuan meiyu yuiban" ("On ("Learning Methods in Art for Middle-School
Education"), Xinqingnian ("La Jeunesse"), vol. Art Education in Sichuan"), Meiyu ("Aesthetic Students"), Yishu conghua ("Collected Essays on
3, no. 6 (August 1917), pp. 1-5. Education"), vol. 7 (April 1922), pp. 72-74. Art") (Shanghai. 1935). pp. 254-94.
55. Duiker, Ts'ai Yuan-p'ei: Educator, p. 47. 74. Sotsugyosha, "Directory of Graduates," p. 65 92.Yu Jianhua, "Zhongxiaoxue tuhua ke yishou
56. Ibid., p. 28. 75. Yuan Xilian, "Yu yu dashi zhi guanxi" ("My guohua yi" ("A Proposal to Teach Chinese
57. Shu Xingchen, Source materials, vol. 3, p. 1008. Relationship with the Master"), in Lin Ziqing, Painting in the Art Curricula of Primary and
58. Zhuang Yu. "Lun jiaoyu fangzhen" ("A ed., Hongyi dashi yimo ("Calligraphy by the Late Middle Schools"), Guohuayuekan ("Chinese
Discussion on the Aims of Education"), Jiaoyu Monk Hongyi"), reprint (Hong Kong, 1970), p. 356. Painting Monthly"), vol. 1. no. 5 (March 1935).
zazhi, vol. 4.1 (10 April 1912), pp. 1-11. 76. For his biography in English, see Howard L. pp. 10-14; vol. 1. no. 6 (April 1935). pp. 42-44: vol. 1,

59. "Yishu jiaoyu zhi yuanli" ("Principles of Art Boorman, Biographical Dictionary of Republican no. 7 (May 1935), pp. 60-62.
Education"), Jiaoyu zazhi, vol. 4.1 (10 April 1912). China, 4 vols. (New York: Columbia University 93. Wang Yachen, "Art Education in Modern
pp. 1-23; vol. 4.2 (10 June 1912), pp. 25-45; vol. 4.3 Press, 1967-71), vol. 2, pp. 323-28. For Chinese China," pp. 20-21.
(10 September 1912), pp. 57-84. sources, see Li Shutong-Hongyi fashi ("Li 94. Zhonghua renmin gongheguo wenhuabu
60. Shu Xincheng, "Source materials ," vol. 2, Shutong-Monk Hongyi") (Tianjin: Ancient Text jiaoyu kejisi,ed., Zhongguo gaodeng yishu

p. 528. Press, 1988). yuanxiao jianshi ji ("Collected Concise Histories

61. Ibid., pp. 653-54. 77.Minoru Harada, Meiji Western Painting, trans. of the Chinese Art Academies") (Hangzhou:
62. Sun Ying, Lu Xun zai jiaoyubu ("Lu Xun at the Akiko Murakata (New York and Tokyo, 1974 ). Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts Press. 1991 1.

Ministry of Education") (Tianjin: People's p. 62. p. 435.

Press, 1979), pp. 16-18. 78. Hongyi

Feng" Zikai, "Wei qingnian shuo
63.For example; Chen Yanqiao, Lu Xun yu muke Our Young People About
fashi" ("Talking to
("Lu Xun and Woodcuts") Shanghai: Kaiming
( Monk Hongyi"), Shuaizhenji ("A book of Sincere
Book Company, 1949); ed., Lu Xun
Zhang Wang, Words") (Shanghai: Wanye Book Company, 1946),
lun meishu ("Lu Xun on Art") (Beijing: People's p. 44.

Art Press, 1982); Wang Guanquan, Lu Xun yu 79.According to Wu Mengfei, Qianbi hua fanben
meishu ("Lu Xun and Art") (Shanghai: People's ("Model Book for Pencil Drawing") and Shuicai
Art Press, 1979): Huiyi Lu Xun de meishu huodong hua fanben ("Model Book for Watercolor
("Reminiscences of the Artistic Activities of Lu Painting"), published by the Commercial Press
Xun") (Beijing: People's Art Press, 1981); Zhang in Shanghai, were the most popular textbooks in
Guangfu, e.d., Lu Xun meishu lunji ("Collected the second decade of our century. See Wu
Writings on Art by Lu Xun") (Kunming: Yunnan Mengfei. "Reminiscences on Art Education."
People's Press, 1982). For an account in English, p. 42.

see Shirley Sun, "Lu Hsiin and the Chinese 80. Feng Zikai, "Talking to Our Young People,"
Woodcut Movement: 1929-1936" (Ph.D. diss., pp. 40^1.
Stanford University, 1974). 81. Wu Mengfei dated this photograph to 1914.
64. Gu Mingyan et al., Lu Xun de jiaoyu sixiang yu 82. Lin Shuzhong, " Jindai xiyang huihua de
Xun's Educational Thought and Its
shijian ("Lu shuru yu Zhongguo zaoqi de meishu
Implementation") (Beijing: People's Literature liuxuesheng" ("The Importation of Western Art
Press, 1980). pp. 128-35. into Modern China and the Early Art Students
65. Sun Ying, "Lu Xun at the Ministry of Abroad"), Nanyi xuebao ("Journal of the Nanjing
Education," p. 24. Academy of Art"), vol. 1 (March 1981), pp. 34-40.
66. Wang Guanquan, "Lu Xun and Art," p. 10. 83. Feng Zikai, "Talking to our Young People",
67. Zhang Wang. "Lu Xun on Art," pp. 1-5. pp. 40-41.
68. Ignatius T.P. Pao, A History of Chinese 84.Information from a table of students
Museums (Taibei, 1964), p. 31. studying abroad from the province of Jiangsu,
69. 1981 Zhongguo ivenyi nianjian ("The 1981 prepared in July 1913. Jiangsu sheng xingzheng
Almanac of Chinese Literature and Art") baogao ("Administrative Report of Jiangsu
(Beijing, 1982), pp. 849-1181. Province") (n.p., 1914), p. 98.
70. Su Guimin, "Xinhai geming qian Zhongguo 85. Li Tiefu (Guangzhou: Lingnan Art Press,
liuri xuesheng rensu kaozheng ("Investigation 1985).
of the Number of Chinese Students Studying in 86. Personal interview with Feng Gangbo in
Japan Before the 1911 Revolution"), Shehui kexue Guangzhou on 22 December 1981.
zhangxian ("Social Sciences Front"), vol. 4 87. Chen Qitian, "History of Education in

(1981), pp. 105-8. Modern China," pp. 25-26.

71. Sotsugyosha meibo henshu iinkai, ed., Tokyo 88. Wang Yachen, "Art Education in Modern

bijutsu gakkS Tokyo geijutsu daigaku bijutsu China," p. 146.

sotsugySsha meibo ("Directory of Graduates of
the Tokyo School of Fine Arts and Tokyo
University of Fine Arts") (Tokyo, 1965).
72. Hu Huaichen. "Shanghai xueyi gaiyao"
("A Survey of Arts and Letters in Shanghai"),
Shanghai shi tongzhi guan qikan ("Journal of the
89. Feng Zikai. "Xuehua huiyi" ("Memories of
My Study of Painting"), Feng Zikai wenji
("Collected Essays of Feng Zikai") (Beijing:
People's Literature Press, 1957). pp. 96-97. The
essay was written in 1934.
90. Chen Xuexun, ed., Zhongguo jindai jiaoyu
61. Xu Beihong (1895 1953)

s,ni mi ni the Flute

1926
Oil on canvas; 79 x 38 cm
Xu HoihoiiK Memorial. Beijing
62. Guan Zilan (Violet Kwan; 1903-1986)

Portrait of Miss L
1929
Oil on canvas; 90 x 75 cm
Chinese National Art Gallery. Beijing
li < hang Yu (Sanyu; 1901-1966)
ibat

930s]

Oil on paperboard. mounted on panel;

44.5x38 cm
Collection of Mr. Martin Lee. Taipei
64. Pang Xunqin (1906-1985) 65, Qiu Ti (1906-1958)
Son of the Earth Still Life

1934 Undated (1931-1933)

Watercolor study; 73 x 45 cm Oil on canvas; 44 x 53 cm

Pang Xunqin Memorial Museum, Collection of Pang Jiun. Taipei
Changshu
(it;. Zhao siioinK L912)

Let's Jump
1934
Oil on canvas; 78 x 9:< cm
Guangzhou Art Museum
67. Zhao Shou (b. 1912)

Color
1934
Oil on canvas; 92 x 78 cm
Guangzhou Art Museum
68. ShaQi (b. 191 li

Sel) portrait

Undated
oil on canvas; 59 x 49 cm
Chinese National Art Gallery. Beijing
69. Pan Yuliang (1902-1977)
Self-Portrait
1945
Oil on canvas; 73.5 x 60 cm
Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing
70. Chen Qiucao(1906 1988) 71. Chang Shuhong ( 1901 1994)

Flowers Above the Trenches Thunder Throughout the Land

19-10 1939
Oil on canvas; 45.5 x 61 cm Oil on canvas; 86 x 63 cm
Chinese National Art Gallery. Beijing Chinese National Art Gallery. Beijing

?\\-Si

_ i
72. Tang Yihe (1905-1944) 73. Yu Ben (b. 1905)

The Trumpet Call of July 7 The Unemployed

1940 1941

Oil on canvas; 32 x 61 cm Oil on canvas; 50.5 x 61 cm

Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing'
The Lure of the West:
Modern Chinese Oil
Painting
Km.vi Shcn. 'l'lir Ohio Stair University

During the 1920s and 1930s many Chinese Merle Goldman's words, "a literary flow-
students embraced the culture of the i in- i hat win "i I i he inn. i
creal ive

West as China's destiny. Born at the turn and brilliant episodes in modern Chinese
of the century, when China's imperial sys- history." Writers such as
1
Lu Xun
tem collapsed, they were educated at the (1881-1936), Yu Dafu Qu Qiubai
(1896-1945),

moment of transition from the old to the (1899-1935), Mao Dun (birth name Shen

new, a period of extraordinary hope and Yanbing; 1896-1981), Wen Yiduo (1899-1946),
enthusiasm To
for China's modernization. Ding Ling (1904-1986). and many others
many modern art and
of that generation, gathered in Shanghai, attracted and
Western art were synonymous; and they stimulated by the cosmopolitan culture
believed that, by adopting Western forms, and by the comparative literary freedom
China might create an art in keeping from censorship (or even arrest) that
with its new domestic and international obtained in the treaty port's foreign con-
situation. cessions. There a modern Chinese literary
Of the various literary movements movement flourished for almost two
that sprang from the reformist cultural decades (until the Japanese bombing of
convictions of the times, the literature of Shanghai in 1937), absorbing all the major
the May Fourth Movement has been rec- trends of Western culture, including
ognized as particularly important. The romanticism, realism, naturalism, and
May Fourth Movement took its name symbolism. In the process, writers formu-
from a demonstration held in Beijing on 4 lated new standards for use of the Chinese
May 1919, mainly by university students language and adapted from Western liter-

and professors, to oppose their govern- ature styles and genres that were previ-
ment's agreement to certain humiliating ously unknown in China.
provisions of the Treaty of Versailles A modern art blossomed at approxi-
which had ended World War I. Chief mately the same time, nourished by the
source of outrage were the clauses where- same sources that inspired the writers.
by prewar German powers in Shandong Its developments were at times parallel
Province were not returned to China but to, and thus separate from those in litera-

instead awarded to Japan. Patriotic fury ture, but its artists were on some occa-
at the weakness that prevented China's sions directly involved with May Fourth
new government from resisting Japanese writers, and may thus be considered part
imperialism fueled a cultural movement of the same cultural phenomenon. Our
whose twin goals were to throw off the understanding of that art, however, and
diplomatic legacy of China's feeble final in particular the oil paintings, necessari-
dynasty and to compete with Western ly differs from our understanding of the
societies on their own terms in all literature, because of basic differences in
aspects of life. the nature of the two arts. Whereas the
The fiction, poetry, and drama associ- survival of a single copy of a literary
ated with the May Fourth Movement were work may be enough to ensure its place in
part of a larger ferment of opposition to the body of world literature, destruction
foreign imperialism, social inequities, of an original oil painting effectively
and political despotism — and also to removes it from the history of art. Even if

much of China's classical culture, which it has been published and its importance
was perceived as intrinsic to China's in its time is well documented, the impos-
debility. "Science and democracy." consid- sibility of experiencing the painting at
ered the twin pillars of Western strength, first hand precludes the necessary imme-
became the Movement's rallying cry, diacy of experience that might have been
requiring as corollary the conversion of possible were the work extant. When
China's common masses into the paintings are lost, we find ourselves left

informed and engaged citizenry on which with only traces, as though a summary of
democracy is predicated. To make litera- a great novel had survived as evidence of
ture an instrument of this conversion, it its importance.
was to be no longer written in classical Massive destruction of art works
Chinese but in the vernacular. occurred numerous times in twentieth-
One of the best-known results of the century China, permanently restricting
May Fourth Movement was, in historian scholarly study of the modernist move-
 ment in Chinese art. Perhaps the greatest where Pang Xunqin headed the depart-
damage to China's artistic heritage was ment of applied arts at the National Arts
inflicted by the Japanese bombing of Academy, and then, in 1956, with Pang's
Shanghai and other cities in the 1930s and appointment as director of the new
by the wholesale destruction of cultural Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, to
artifacts during the first five years of Beijing. With the outbreak of the
China's domestically instigated disaster, Cultural Revolution in 1966, knowing that
the Great Proletarian Cultural the extremist factions of the Red Guard
Revolution (1966-1976). The comparatively would use his early paintings to convict
small number of oil paintings in the cur- him of ideological crimes. Pang destroyed
rent exhibition reflects the difficulties of his work with his own hands. 2

preserving such work in times of war or Notwithstanding such losses, enough

violent social upheaval. Canvases, partic- work survives to document the major
ularly large ones, are difficult to move trends in oil painting of the period.
quickly. Many paintings were destroyed Modern trends, such as Impressionism,
in the Japanese bombing of Shanghai in Post-Impressionism, Constructivism,
1932, which leveled the lovely suburban Cubism, Surrealism, Fauvism,
studio of Chen Baoyi, for example. In 1937 Expressionism, and Futurism, were
studios filled with a life's work were left adapted by Chinese artists for their own
Figure 1. Pang Xunqin (1906-1985). Such Is behind as China's artists, traveling on purposes. Modernist woodcuts and graph-
Paris. 1931. Oil painting. foot and sometimes carrying small chil- ic designs have survived in greater num-
dren, fled the invading Japanese. Some oil bers than oil paintings, because they
paintings were hastily unstretched and were produced in multiple editions and
rolled up for temporary storage or trans- some
are easier to carry, although are
port, but the opportunity to restretch known by only a single example.
and repair them came only decades later, The path by which Western styles
too late to prevent almost irreparable entered China naturally affected the ini-

cracking and other damage to the painted tial response of the Chinese art world to
surface. The greatest loss may have been them. In the early twentieth century
the destruction of work left behind at the Western art might be studied at art
National Hangzhou Arts Academy in 1937, schools in or near China's treaty ports,
whose faculty comprised China's most primarily Shanghai and Guangzhou. The
active proponents of modem art. Of the more adventurous aspiring artists would
work of artists whose paintings have been then go abroad for further study.
lost, we today can often learn little more Many painters learned modern
than what an assiduous urban reader of Western styles in Japan, the country
the 1930s might have gleaned from reading whose cognate writing system afforded
about art exhibitions in pictorial maga- Chinese students the easiest access to
zines of the time. modern culture and science. Beginning in
The fate of the work of Pang Xunqin the last decade of the Qing dynasty,
(1906-1985), a Paris-trained modernist, which fell in 1911. successive waves of
may be typical. In 1930 he returned from Chinese artists studied in Japan. One of
France to Shanghai, bringing his mod- the most influential was Li Shutong
ernist paintings and an almost mission- (1880-1942). who studied with Paris-
ary zeal for creating modern Chinese art. trained artist Kuroda Seiki at the Tokyo
Throughout the 1930s he continued to School of Fine Arts from 1905 to 1910. Li
paint in styles related to those of con- taught briefly in Shanghai upon his
temporary France and to exhibit his work return, then in 1912 moved to the
(see fig. 1). Escaping the invading Zhejiang First Normal School in
Japanese in 1937. he and his young family Hangzhou. where he established a
trekked south from Beijing, where he had Western-style art curriculum modeled on
assumed a teaching post shortly before, that of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. It
then west to Hankou, Guilin, and is likely that his oil-painting students,
Chongqing, taking with them his paint- whom he sent out to paint from nature,
ings of the 1920s and 1930s. learned from him the Impressionist style
At the war's end the Pang family and of Kuroda Seiki, but this is only conjec-
their paintings moved to Hangzhou. ture, since none of Li's own works have
Til E l.i' K E OF THE WEST

survived. Li also taught graphic design, work at the Ningbo Native Place Society,
woodcuts. Western drawing, and music, one of the most important private exhibi-
and some of his students went on to tion spaces in Shanghai, an event that
become extraordinarily influential in Chen Baoyi believed to have been quite
China's art and cultural worlds. After influential in Shanghai oil painting cir-

training several classes of students over a cles at the time.' The few surviving works
period of five years, he resigned, and in by these four painters reflect primarily
1918. after disposing of all his worldly their interest in Post-Impressionism and
goods, became a Buddhist monk and took Fauvism.
the name Hongyi. 3
The trends in Japanese Western-style
A second wave of influence entered painting of this period that appealed to
China from Japan about 1920. when a young Chinese artists were, at least in
group of young artists returned after five certain respects, the product of compli-
years of study there, some at the Tokyo cated crosscultural interactions.
School of Fine Arts, others at the Nineteenth-century Japanese ukiyo-e
Kawabata Academy of Painting in Tokyo. printmakers made dramatic composition-
Although Kuroda Seiki remained the al breakthroughs based in part on their
patriarch of Japanese oil painters, most experiments with Western-style perspec-
Chinese students of this generation fol- tive. Later. European artists such as Van
lowed such younger teachers as Fujishima Gogh and Matisse discovered these
Takeji (1867-1943) and went back to China Japanese prints and were influenced by
as practitioners of Fauvism. Of this gen- their bold use of color and (in Western
eration of Chinese oil-painting students terms) comparatively two-dimensional
in Japan, those who achieved greatest pictorial space. In turn, these European
prominence were Chen Baoyi (1893-1945). artists were important stylistic sources
Ni Yide (1901-1970), Guan Liang (1900-1986) for early Japanese and Chinese modernist
(see fig. 2), Zhu Jizhan (1892-1996), and Xu oil painters. Particularly instrumental in
Xingzhi (1904-1994).' creating a Japanese version of Post-
Guan Liang recalled that during the Impressionist style were Yasui Sotaro
time he and his colleagues were studying (1888-1955) and Umehara Ryuzaburo
in Tokyo, the Japanese art world was in (1888-1986)."

transition. Kuroda Seiki's manner was The second wave of Japanese influ-
considered fundamental training for stu- ence is exemplified in a painting done in
dents in Japan, but their teachers at the 1929 by Guan Zilan (Violet Kwan), an
Tokyo School most notably
of Fine Arts, artist of Cantonese descent who was
Nakamura Fusetsu (1866-1943) and active in Shanghai in the late 1920s and
Fujishima Takeji, urged them not to be early 1930s. A Portrait of Miss L (cat. 62)
bound by the representational con- clearly shows Guan's attraction to the
straints of pure academicism, but instead styles of Matisse and Yasui Sotaro.
to explore the various schools of modern Matisse's incorporation of such elements
art. Opportunities to see modernist as Oriental robes, furniture, and fans into
European paintings on exhibition in many of his compositions reflect his
Japan were commonplace at the time, and interest in Japonisme. These same ele-
students' eyes were opened and their cre- ments in a Chinese oil painting might be
ativity energized by seeing works of read quite differently by a Chinese viewer.
Impressionists. Post-Impressionists. The subject of Guan's Portrait of Miss L is

Cubists, Fauves. and others. 5 garbed in the latest Shanghai fashion,

While studying in Tokyo, four oil with a stylishly short haircut similar to
painters had organized themselves into a one the artist herself sported in 1928. She
group they called Yishushe ("Arts wears a vest, as did Guan at her exhibi-
Society"): Guan Liang and Hu Gentian tion opening in 1930. and a brightly col-
(1892-1986), both from Canton, Chen Baoyi ored qipao. the sheath dress with Manchu
from Shanghai, and Xu Dungu from collar that was popular in Shanghai
Taiwan. These four graduated from art throughout the first half of the twentieth
school and moved to Shanghai within a century. To the Japanese and Chinese oil

year or two of one another in 1920-1921. 6 In painters, these elements of Miss Ls cos-
1922 they organized a show of their own tume would have seemed everyday, per-
 THE JAIRIO OF THE WEST 175

haps high-style and modern but in any Satomi Katsuzo (1895-1981), who taught
case not exotic. The exotic element would some of the Chinese students, including
have been Miss L's Occidentalizing lapdog Zhao Shou.
(or stuffed animal?), since neither pets Like many of the adventurous early
nor toys were considered suitable attrib- artists. Zhao was Cantonese. After study-
utes for sitters in traditional Chinese ing at the Guangzhou Art School
portraits. (Guangzhou meishu xuexiao) in the late
Details of Guan Zilan's life and artis- 1920s, he moved to Shanghai in 1931, where
tic career have not been ascertained, and he met European-trained modernists
she is not included in most standard ref- such as Pang Xunqin. In 1933 he went to
erence books, but she is known to have Japan to study the new styles and soon
been a disciple of Japanese-trained artist became a founding member of the
Chen Baoyi, who painted her portrait in Chinese Independent Art Association,
Figure 2. Guan Liang (1900-1986). West 1930. She was a 1927 graduate of the
» established in Tokyo in 1934 to promote
Mountain. 1935. Oil painting. Western-style painting department of Surrealism. The Chinese Independent Art
Shanghai Chinese Arts University Association must have been inspired by
(Shanghai Zhonghua yishu daxue), where the earlier Japanese prototype. 1 '-
The
Chen was director in the late 1920s. In 1928 term "independent" in the title referred
she was photographed with Chen and the to the group's rejection of mimesis, or,

Japanese artist Arishima Ikuma according to one artist's account, to the

(1882-1974) in Shanghai, and she soon went freedom of not modeling art on real life. 15

to Japan to study at Tokyo Institute of Besides Zhao Shou. the Chinese group
Culture. 1
" She returned to China in 1930 to included the modernists Li Dongping.
take a teaching position at Xiyang Liang Xihong (1912-1982), Li Zhongsheng,
Academy of Fine Arts. Although she lived and Zeng Ming, as well as their Japanese
until 1986, little has been published about teacher, Satomi Katsuzo, and other
her later life." Japanese friends.
Guan Zilan held a large solo exhibi- All the Chinese members of the
tion in 1930 that was reported in a full- group returned to China in 1935 and began
page feature in the influential mass- actively exhibiting their work. In their
media pictorial magazine The Young first exhibition, held at the Guangzhou
Companion.' 2 A family photograph taken Education Center in March. Zhao Shou
at the same exhibition depicts the artist exhibited Color (cat. 67); and in their sec-
receiving congratulations from her ond exhibition, in Shanghai in October,
teacher's young daughter, as he and his he showed Let's Jump (cat. 66). The
Japanese wife stand to either side. Portrait Shanghai exhibition, in particular,

of Miss L is one of the paintings visible in received excellent media coverage, with
the background." It is a work typical of illustrated features appearing in the
the second wave of modern oil painters in Shanghai pictorial magazines "Young
China, who found in Post-Impressionism a Companion" and "Modern Miscellany." 17

congenial artistic language. Judging from these publications. Zhao's

Artists who studied in Japan during brightly colored work appears to be the
the 1930s, such as Zhao Shou (cats. 66, 67), most striking in the exhibition.
may represent a third wave of Western art His definition of Surrealism was
Figure 3. Ni Yide (1901-1970). Summer. that entered China from Japan; they recorded by a contemporary writer:
1932. Oil painting. exemplify a group with a radically differ- "Although so-called Surrealism is 'non-
ent view of modern art. Avant-garde realistic' it is not 'without reality.' It is
styles such as Dadaism, Constructivism, actually 'non-realistic reality'. This real-
and Surrealism poured into Japan during ity is not from visual experience but from
the decade between 1925 and 1935. A group the imagination. It is impossible to
in Tokyo calling itself The Independent understand this kind of 'non-realism', or
Art Association (Dokuritsu bijutsu kyokai) so-called 'non-realistic reality', from
held its first exhibition in early 1931. aim- visual experience. We therefore must
ing to provide alternatives to the styles understand it in our imaginations." 18
and administrative structures of the Zhao remained a practitioner of Surreal-
Japanese art world of the time. 11 A lead- ism for almost two decades. But when
ing figure in this Japanese movement was Socialist Realism prevailed in Chinese
 THE LURE (>K THE WEST

art. Zhao seems to have stopped painting. between the blank human faces and the
Although Japan may have been the paraphernalia of pleasure surrounding
closest repository of Western art educa- them. Indeed, Pang's daughter remem-
tion, Europe itself, and particularly bers that when her father came back from
France, was the most direct and respected Paris he was appalled at the overwhelm-
source of modernist styles for Chinese ing emphasis on money that pervaded
artists. Pang Xunqin was one of mod- Shanghai society.
ernism's most effective advocates (see The Storm Society's only exhibition
cat. 64). Pang had gone to Paris at the age prize was awarded to Qiu Ti (1906-1958) for
of nineteen and studied modernist styles her highly stylized still life with red
at the Academie Julien. After his return leaves and green flowers, which was shown
to China five years later, he established a in the second exhibition. The painting,
small modernist salon, and by 1931 had published in 1933, apparently drew enough
joined with Tokyo-trained artist Ni Yide criticism from the realist camp that Ni
to try to form a Shanghai-based avant- Yide felt compelled to defend it in an arti-

garde. Ni, who had studied at the Kawabata cle published the following year. 31 Qiu had
Academy in 1927-1928, was exposed to the graduated from the Shanghai Art
Japanese avant-garde of the late 1920s, Academy in 1928. then studied in Tokyo,
while Pang had brought back the latest in and returned to the Shanghai Art
Figure 4. Pang Xunqin (1906-1985). Parisian styles. The name the group took Academy as a graduate student in 1931.
Composition. 1934. Oil painting. for itself, Juelanshe, which they rendered She married Pang Xunqin in 1932. In 1934,
in English as Storm Society, in Chinese in the group's third exhibition, she

refers to a great wave. One member of the showed a crisply painted modern still life

group, Wang Jiyuan, wrote, "We want to (cat. 65), celebrating the formal beauty of
hit the rotten art of contemporary China everyday objects, many of which, like the
with a powerful wave." 19 percolator and thermos bottle, were prod-
Under the leadership of Pang Xunqin ucts of modern industrial manufacture. 21
and Ni Yide, the Storm Society assembled A cleanness of form similar to that of
like-minded young artists for a series of Qiu Ti is seen in Pang Xunqin's major
five exhibitions held in the first half of painting of 1934, Son of the Earth, which
the 1930s. Some works, including Ni Yide's was also shown in that same exhibition. It
earlier paintings, resembled the Post- is one of his rare ventures into direct
Impressionist style paintings of Guan social criticism, and the political hostili-
Liang and other slightly older Japan- ty it provoked, which surprised him, pre-
trained artists. Ni Yide was a transitional vented its publication in the popular
figure between the second and third wave press. As noted above. Pang destroyed the
of Western-style painters, and although painting in 1966; it survives only in the
he painted in the slightly older Post- form of a watercolor sketch (cat. 64).

Impressionist style, in his essays he According to Pang's autobiography, the

Figure Pang Xunqin (1906-1985). Such Is
5.
Shanghai (Miming Life's Riddle). 1931. Oil
painting.
enthusiastically advocated the
ern modes. His enthusiasm for mod-
ernism eventually pushed his painting in
the direction of slightly greater abstrac-
tion (fig. 3). Others in this stylistically
diverse group pushed harder against the
barriers of representation. Pang Xunqin
experimented with work he called "deco-
rations," them fragmented
most of
images of urban life, and some including
elements of commentary on the modern
condition. One of his best-known works of
the period is a piece called Composition
most mod- work was inspired by the terrible
Jiangnan droughts of 1934. Its title is a
play on the imperial appellation "Son of
Heaven," while the composition, poses,
and expressions of the dead or dying peas-
ant child and his mutely anguished par-
ents evoke both the Descent from the
Cross and the Pieta of Christian art. Son
of the Earth was interpreted as a passion-
ate indictment of China's incompetent
government. Pang received a death threat
after the exhibition, accompanied by a
warning to leave Shanghai. Soon after,

(fig. 4). which depicts human figures as if his friend Zhang Xuan received a phone
imprisoned by industrial machinery. call informing him that Pang Xunqin
Others, including Such Is Paris (fig. 1) and would soon be arrested. Neither threat
Such Is Shanghai (fig. 5). depict moneyed was carried out, but political assassina-
leisure, accenting the disjunction tions, kidnappings, and arrests were fre-
 THE LURE OF THE WEST

quent enough in Shanghai to make the gious National Hangzhou Arts Academy,
threats alarming. 22 In an environment of established in 1929 and headed by French-
political strife, social disintegration, and trained Lin Fengmian (1900-1991) (see
endemic suffering, even lovers of pure art, fig. 6). A proponent of individual creativi-
such as Pang Xunqin and Ni Yide, who ty and modern styles, he assembled a
took as their mission the discovery of a like-minded faculty, including teachers
great Chinese modern master, could not from France and other countries, and cre-
remain politically disengaged. The purity ated a very lively, free-thinking academic
of the modernist vision, a detachment atmosphere. Lin's work from this period
from the practical troubles of everyday does not survive, but reproductions of his
life, was easier to maintain outside work and that of his faculty make their
China's borders. modernist aspirations clear (see fig. 7).

Less well known in China but greatly Maintaining the openness of discourse he
admired by his colleagues — including had experienced in France proved to be
Pang Xunqin and Chen Baoyi, who knew difficult after the Nationalist government
him in the 1920s — was Sichuanese painter began arresting leftists in the 1930s, but
Chang Yu (1901-1966), known in France as the general mood of the academy was rel-

Sanyu. Chang Yu, after training in

23
atively open-minded throughout its twen-
China as a fiower-and-bird painter, went ty-year history. Many significant artists
to Japan in his late teens, studying there of the next generation were trained there.
Figure 6. Lin Fengmian (1900-1991). for two years, at about the same time as The practitioners of the most mod-
Composition. 1934. Oil painting. "second-wave" painters Guan Liang and ern European styles in China were
Chen Baoyi. In 1921 he proceeded to Paris, undoubtedly the members of the Storm
studying at the Academie de la Grande Society and Chinese Independent Art
Chaumiere and exhibiting in 1925 at the Association. A rather different style, pro-
Salon d'Automne. He achieved some suc- moted by conservative academics, might
cess in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. A have fared less well under different politi-
great admirer of Picasso, with whom cal circumstances, but it gradually grew
(according to Pang Xunqin) he became in influence in China during the 1930s and
Chang sought a much sparer and
friends, 1940s, just as it began losing its hold on
more restrained tone in his own work, artists in Europe and the U.S. The origins
which French critics identified as partic- of this style in China can be traced to the
ularly Asian. The only painting by Chang late nineteenth century, when Cantonese
in the current exhibition is characteristic painter Li Tiefu (1869-1952) went to
of his work from the first half of the 1930s, England and the United States to study
and in its clean palette and its joie de As Michael Sullivan notes, Li spent
art.

vivre is typical of his style (see cat. 63). more than forty years in the West before
By the 1940s he had labeled his own work returning to China in 1930. s His business
"simplicism," while some critics referred card declared him a follower of William
to it as "essentialism." Pang, who met Chase and John Sargent, and his early
Chang in Paris (where Pang was studying works, which survive (though in very poor
from 1925 to 1929). was particularly struck condition), are indeed exquisite portraits
by Chang's drawings in pencil and in a somewhat romantic style. His influ-
Chinese ink, and writes that this aspect ence was not great, however, except in
of Chang's work strongly influenced both light of subsequent events.
him and his Storm Society colleague and The conservative artist who wielded
friend Zhang Xuan. Pang recalled the the greatest influence in China was Xu
extraordinary tidiness of Sanyu's studio, Beihong (1895-1953). He studied backdrop
which seemed to match the minimalist painting in Shanghai, and then traveled
restraint of his painting.-' Of particular briefly to Japan.He went to Europe on a
interest to Chinese modernists of the government scholarship in 1919. and stud-
1930s was Chang's successful combination ied in France and Germany from 1919 to
of Chinese brush and ink and Chinese aes- 1927, mastering an exquisitely detailed
thetics with the modern art styles of con- style of drawing and a highly romantic
temporary Europe. style of oil painting. His 1926 portrait of
One of the most influential centers of his young wife, Jiang Biwei, playing a
French modernist styles was the presti- bamboo flute is one of the most evocative
 U li IS OF THE WEST

from his European period (cat. 61). One Europe, a sojourn apparently arranged by
cannot fault his technique, and his small Xu. A self-portrait believed to date from
works from this period, especially his the 1930s (cat. 68) is in the same academic
drawings, are quite beautiful. style as that of his teacher.
Xu Beihong became embroiled in
what was to become a highly polarized THE WAR YEARS
debate about the nature of oil painting. A distinctive change in the character of
The National Exhibition of 1929, held in Chinese oil painting occurred after the
Shanghai and sponsored by the Ministry Japanese invasion of 1937. From that time
of Education, included a substantial sec- on. simple joyful celebrations of moderni-
tion of what were called "Western paint- ty like those of Guan Zilan or Chang Yu
ings" in a variety of different modern all but disappeared. Typical, in its world-
styles. Most of the work was figurative, weary flavor, is the painting of Pan
but the catalogue, which presents only a Yuliang (1902-1977). Hers may be one of
selection of the exhibited work, includes the more remarkable stories of the tran-
no paintings by Xu. Indeed, academic sition of an individual from the feudal era
realism is scarcely represented there, and to the modern world, but one suspects
the majority of the works reproduced that early wretchedness destroyed any
show the influence of modern European capacity for celebration. Born into a poor
styles. In response, Xu published an arti- family in Yangzhou, she was sold into a
cle entitled "Doubts," in which he casti- brothel after the death of her parents
gated fellow artists who worked in the and. as a teenage concubine, was married
styles of Cezanne or Matisse, and declared to a man named Pan. adopted his sur-
that academic realism was the only legit- name, and moved with him to Shanghai.
imate style of oil painting. The mod- In 1918 she began studying painting at the
ernists were defended by the romantic Shanghai Art Academy, and in 1921
poet Xu Zhimo. among others, with the received a government scholarship to
Figure 7. Fang Ganmin (1906-1984). Melody terms of the debate focused not on which study in Lyons. Eight years later, after

in Autumn. 1933, Oil painting. modern approaches were most successful receiving her degree, she returned to
but instead on whether modernism itself Shanghai and participated in the
was legitimate. 26 National Exhibition of 1929. She taught
The majority of oil painters, particu- for a time at the Shanghai Art Academy,
larly the sophisticates in Shanghai and and later under Xu Beihong at the
Hangzhou. with their close ties to France National Central University. It is often
and Japan, may not have taken Xu said that despite her successful artistic
Beihong's rather retrograde position very career she was unable, in China, to over-
seriously at first. But after the Communist come the social stigma attached to her
victory in 1949 various coincidences early life, and thus, in 1937. at the age of
including Xu's political activities and his thirty-five, she returned to France, where
friendship with Zhou Enlai — turned the she remained for the rest of her life. Still,

tables on the modernists by elevating she bequeathed her paintings to the

Xu's view of art to the national standard. provincial museum in Anhui, the home
Unlike Lin Fengmian and most other for- province of her husband.
eign-trained painters, who urged their Pan's paintings tended to focus on
students to develop their own styles. Xu the female body, often her own, as may be
seems (according to the stylistic evi- the case in her 1929 painting for the
dence) to have encouraged a manner very National Exhibition. By the mid-1940s she
close to his own. one in which whatever had developed a style, based on a synthe-
expressivity exists comes from the sitter sis of various Post-Impressionist styles
rather than from any painterly qualities but imbued with a psychological intensi-
in the work. He had a number of loyal stu- ty. This is evident in the Self-Portrait of
dents, including Wu Zuoren. Zhang 1945 (cat. 69). which, in contrast to the
Anzhi. and the lesser-known Sha Qi cheerful, almost naive use of the Matisse
(b. 1914). who painted very little after style in Guan Zilan's portrait of 1929, is
1949. Sha graduated from the art depart- stern and dour, its use of Gauguin-like
ment of National Central University, and dark skin tones more gloomy than exotic.
spent the nine years from 1937 to 1946 in The turn toward self-reflection may
THE LURE OF THE WEST

be seen in the pictures of many artists ment that could not care for its people.
working in China during the war years. Like some of the leftist woodcuts, which
Chang Shuhong, who returned to China in it resembles in theme, this work was part
1936 after a decade in France, had begun of a cultural movement that facilitated
teaching at the Beiping National Art the Communist victory of 1948 and 1949.
Academy immediately before the Many artists ceased painting in oils
Japanese attack. He was presumably a during the war years, sometimes for prac-
refugee, with his colleagues, students, tical material reasons. For others, howev-
and small daughter, in China's interior er, the grim realities of refugee life made
when he painted Thunder Throughout the a turning point to even greater changes.
Land (cat. 71) in 1939, two years after the For example, as Michael Sullivan wrote in
Japanese invasion. In bright colors, it 1959, the war turned Pang Xunqin away
depicts the small pleasures of daily life, from modernism and toward sympathetic
including blooming plants, cherries, a descriptions of the people of China's hin-
drink, a foreign-language newspaper, a terland, often rendered in ink. 27 His friend
doll, and, through the window, a view of Ni Yide joined the Communist party and
distant mountains. The cheerful domestic devoted his considerable energies to polit-
elements are made to seem fragile and ical and social work, only rarely return-
transitory by the temporary look of the ing to his easel.
simple brick room in which they are The outbreak of the war with Japan
placed and by the work's ominous title. in 1937marks a watershed in the develop-
A different approach was taken by ment of Chinese oil painting. The truly
another Paris-trained artist, Tang Yihe desperate situation of China and most of
(1905-1944), who had studied in France its artists after 1937 left little energy for
between 1930 and 1934. On returning to the luxury of pure self-expression. In
China, he took charge of the oil-painting flight from the Japanese, most art schools
department at the Wuchang Arts School were relocated farther inland, often to
in his native city of Hankou. During The
places with inadequate facilities.
World War II he devoted himself to propa- trauma and deracination experienced by
ganda work, including the unfinished the artists resulted in a varied group of
painting Trumpet Call of July 7 (cat. 72). In canvases on a wide range of subjects,
the title of this small painting he evoked including upbeat propaganda pictures,
the beginning of the war with Japan, an introspective domestic meditations, and
incident at Marco Polo Bridge outside desolate images of war. What they all
Beijing on 7 July 1937. The energetic fig- have in common is the connection made
ures in this work were intended to rally by the artist between the real conditions
China's youth to fight the enemy. of life and the painting. Other mediums
Shanghai painter Chen Qiucao reveal a similar shift, as artists strove to
(1906-1988). with his somber but hopeful save their nation.
and lyrical Flowers Above the Trenches
(cat. 70), exploited the techniques that he NOTES
had learned at the Shanghai Art Academy 1. Merle Goldman, ed., Modern Chinese
to particularly good effect. From the late Literature in the May Fourth Era (Cambridge.
1920s to the mid-1930s he was a founding Mass.: Harvard University Press. 1977). p. 1.

member of the White Goose Painting 2. Pang Xunqin, Jiushi zheyang zouguo laide

Club and later the White Goose Painting ("Just Went Along This Way") (Beijing: Joint

School in Shanghai; the latter became an Publishers. 1988), p. 215.

important organization for Shanghai's 3. Michael Sullivan. Art and Artists of Twentieth

modernist and activist artists. Century China (Berkeley: University of

Yu Ben (b. 1905), born in Guangzhou, California, 1996). p. 29: May-ching Kao. "The
studied painting in Canada from 1927 to Beginning of the Western-style Painting
1935. His painting of 1941, The Unemployed Movement in Relationship to Reform In
(cat. 73), typifies another, more pes- Education in Early Twentieth-Century China,"
simistic trend in art of that period, in Neu> Asia Academic Bulletin, vol. 4 (1983),

which distress at the human suffering pp. 386-87; also see Yuan Xilian, "Yu yu dashi zhi

caused by foreign invasion was gradually guajixi" ("My Relationship with the Master"), in
replaced by implied censure of a govern- Lin Ziqing, ed., Hongyi dashi yimo ("Calligraphy
 i II !'
1,1 H K OK THK VVKST

by the Late Monk Hongyi"): reprint (Hong Shanghai." p. 328.

Kong, 1970), p. 336. 12. Liangyou ("The Young Companion"), no. 50

4. Li Chao, Shanghai youhua shi ("A History of (September-October 1930). p. 27.

Oil Painting in Shanghai") (Shanghai: 13. See Chen Ruilin, "The Modern Artist Chen
Shanghai People's Art Publishing House, 1995). Baoyi." p. 57.

p. 66. 14. Kawakita Noriaki and Takashima Hideya,

5. Li Chao, "A History of Oil Painting in Kindai Nihon Kaigashi ("History of Modern
Shanghai," quoting from Guan Liang, Ouan Japanese Painting") (Tokyo: ChuO KBronsha,
Liang huiyila ("Reminiscences") (Shanghai: 1985). pp. 278-81.

Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Publishing 15. Kuiyi Shen. "Modernism in Pre- War China"
House. 1984). pp. 10-20. (paper presented at the annual meeting of the
6. Xu Dungu was from Tainan. Taiwan, then Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs,

under Japanese rule, but upon his graduation University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
from Tokyo Art School in 1920 went to 11 October 1996).

Shanghai (Li Chao, "A History of Oil Painting 16. Zhu Boxiong and Chen Ruilin. Zhongguo

in Shanghai," p. 349). Hu Gentian graduated xihua wushinian 1898-1949 ("Western-style

from Tokyo Art School in the same year (Li Painting in China, 1898-1949"), (Beijing: Renmin
Chao. p. 329). Chen Baoyi studied first at meishu chubanshe, 1989), p. 138.

Kawabata Academy of Painting in Tokyo, but 17. "The Young Companion" {Liangyou), no. Ill

completed his degree at Tokyo Art School in (November 1935). p. 20: and Shidai ("Modern
1921. See Chen Ruilin. Xiandai meishujia Chen Miscellany"), vol. 8, no. 10 (1935).

Baoyi ("The Modern Artist Chen Baoyi"), 18. Mu Tianfan. "An Introduction to the
(Beijing: People's Art Publishing House, 1988), Independent Painters." Yishu. vol. 3, no. 11.

p. 104. Guan Liang studied at Kawabata 19. This translation is from Ralph Croizier,
Academy of Painting and at Pacific Art School, "Post-Impressionists in Pre-War Shanghai: The
returning to China in 1922 (Li Chao. "A History Juelanshe (Storm Society) and the Fate of
of Oil Painting in Shanghai." p. 328). Modernism in Republican China." in John
7. He also believed it to have been the first oil- Clark, ed.. Modernity in Asian Art (Canberra:

painting exhibition in China to sell admission Wild Peony, 1993), p. 140.

tickets. Chen Baoyi. "Yanghua yundong 20. See Croizier. "Post-Impressionsts in Pre-War
guocheng liieji" ("Brief Records of the Foreign Shanghai," p. 140.

Painting Movement"), originally published in 21. For publication of this painting and other
Shanghai yishu yuekan ("Shanghai Arts work from the Storm Society's third exhibi-
Monthly"). 1942, nos. 5-12: reprinted in Chen tion, see "The Young Companion," no. Ill

Ruilin. Xiandai meishujia Chen Baoyi ("The (November 1935), p. 21.

Modern Artist Chen Baoyi") (Beijing: People's 22. Pang Xunqin. "Just Went Along This Way,"
Art Publishing House, 1988), pp. 104-5. Also men- p. 182.

tioned in Li Chao. "A History of Oil Painting in 23. Chen Baoyi recalls that Chang Yu returned
Shanghai," p. 66. from France in about 1926 or 1927, and that he
8. See the exhibition catalogue Paris in Japan: went by the name Chang Youshu: see Chen
the Japanese Encounter with European Painting Ruilin, "The Modern Artist Chen Baoyi,"
(St. Louis: Washington University. 1987). pp. 107-S. This would seem to correspond to a
9. Now in the China National Art Gallery. trip mentioned in Sanyu's 1932 biography writ-
Reproduced in Sullivan. Art and Artists of ten by his friend Johan Franco. See Sotheby's
Twentieth Century China, fig. 2.6, p. 31. auction catalogue. The Johan Franco Collection
10. In the picture one sees Guan Zilan. with of Works by Sanyu (Taipei. 15 October 1995), n.p.

Chen Baoyi. Mrs. Chen, and Arishima Ikuma, in 24. Pang Xunqin, "Just Went Along This Way,"
1928, in Shanghai. Chen Ruilin. "The Modern pp. 82-83.

Artist Chen Baoyi." p. 56. 25. Sullivan. Art and Artists of Twentieth Century
11. For a brief biography, see Tao Yongbai. China, p. 20.

Zhongguo youhua, 1700-1985 ("Oil Painting in 26. The notorious debate first appeared in the
China. 1700-1985") (Nanjing: Jiangsu Art special periodical published in conjunction

Publishers. 1988), p. 5; Chen Ruilin and Lin with the exhibition, Meizhan tekan, ("Special
Rixiong, eds. Dangdai Zhongguo youhua
. Issue on the National Art Exhibition").

("Contemporary Chinese Oil Painting") 27. Michael Sullivan. Chinese Art in the

(Shijiazhuang: Hebei Art Publishers, 1991), Twentieth Century (Berkeley and Los Angeles):

p. 149; and Li Chao, "A History of Oil Painting in University of California Press, 1959), pp. 53-57.
 —

Commercial Art and

China's Modernization
Julia F. Andrews, The Ohio State University

The impulse toward modernity in Daoist alchemist Tao Hongjing (456-536;

twentieth-century Chinese art was as lower right;, who was particularly fond
multifaceted as the society from which it of pines, is depicted walking beside a
sprang. Commercial art was an extremely pine, with his back to us, as he looks at
influential part of China's modern art an album of botanical paintings. He built
world, particularly in the financial and a multistory pavilion, so that he might
industrial center of Shanghai. Commer- stay high above the mundane world.
cial artists of this period, working main- The accompanying verse calls for those
ly in fields related to industry and who live in multistory pavilions to drink.
technology, were both idealistic and prag- The Tang era lady Lu Meiniang, who
matic, perhaps in equal measure. left the palace in the Yuanhe reign

(806-821) to become a Daoist nun, is

TRADITIONAL ILLUSTRATION depicted at her secular specialty, embroi-

One of the last masterpieces of tradition- dery. She was said to have embroidered
al Chinese illustrated printing is the the entire Lotus Sutra on a piece of one-
painter Ren Xiong's highly original foot-long silk, with characters the size
Drinking Cards with Illustrations of the of a grain of millet. The drinking inscrip-
48 Immortals (Liexian jiupai) (cat. 4), fea- tion on this leaf, however, concerns her
tured in the current exhibition. These appearance. The lady was known for
elegant and amusing illustrations, her eyebrows, and the inscription on this
designed in 1854 for a drinking game, were leaf calls on those with long eyebrows
carved on pear-wood blocks and hand- to drink.
printed by Ren Xiong's fellow townsman The piquancy of his series derives in
Cai Zhaochu. Originally given as gifts to
1
large part from its amusing conjunctions
guests at the one-month birthday cele- of text and imagery; its artistic excel-

bration for the artist's oldest son, Ren lence is owing to Ren Xiong's particular-
Yu, they were subsequently reprinted ly skillful contrasts of fine textures and
numerous times in book form. Each page large expanses of white paper. Dramatic
comprises a striking picture, a brief poet- sometimes unexpected —poses, rendered
ic or philosophical inscription, and final- in carefully exaggerated brushwork. make
ly, an instruction to drink wine that many of these images startlingly differ-

relates to the subject matter in a surpris- ent from the standard depictions of these
ing or humorous way. Among the images well-known characters. Although Ren
are scenes of dramatic action: Qin Gao, a and his printer were familiar with color
Daoist Immortal who had undergone a printing, including the Ten Bamboo
prolonged underwater submersion, bursts Studio letter papers, they chose instead
forth from the waters of the Tang River to exploit the effectiveness of finely
astride a red carp, thus assuring his wor- carved lines in monochrome.
ried followers of his well-being (lower Books in nineteenth-century China
left). The accompanying inscription were printed from wooden blocks, each
quotes Confucius, "There is no [benevo- carved with a double-page spread of text
lent ruler who follows] the Dao, so and/or pictures. The rather thin paper was
[I shall] drift over the sea," while the printed on one side only, then folded, with
drinking instruction, amusing in its com- the printing on the outside, to form a
paratively mundane tone, orders: "Those verso and a recto page. The folded edge
who are eating fish [must] drink a big was not cut. Front and back covers were
cup." In contrast, the Six Dynasties made of plain paper, usually somewhat
(222-589) Daoist master Ge Hong stiffer or thicker, with a handwritten title

(ca. 280-ca. 343; upper left), who rejected slip pasted onto the front cover. The spine
high rank in favor of a lowly official post was left unbound. Because the vertical

near a southern mountain famous for its columns of Chinese script are read from
elixirs of immortality, is rendered in a right to left, pages in traditionally for-

quiet, domestic pose. His extraordinary matted books would have been turned
character, however, is conveyed by the from left to right, i.e.. opposite to modern
highly exaggerated outlines of his robe: Western books. Enclosed in their plain
the verse on this card requires virtuous paper covers, the books were string-bound
officials to drink. The Six Dynasties on the right (i.e., the raw-edged) side, a
 COMMKIU'IAI. ART AND CHINA'S MiillKHNIZATION

convention that dates from the Ming illustrators worked in a variety of outline
dynasty (1368-1644). styles, some clearly emulating European
newspapers of the period, others more
The introduction of lithographic printing traditionally Chinese. The best figural
into Shanghai during the last quarter of compositions show excellent understand-
the nineteenth century began to change ing of both European drawing and tradi-
the nature of Chinese publishing. In 1872 tional Chinese illustration. The original
British entrepreneurs Frederick and drawings for this publication, many of
Ernest Major established Shen bao, a which survive in the collection of the
newspaper aimed at Chinese readers and Shanghai Municipal History Museum,
1-4" skillfully edited and run by a Chinese were painted with a Chinese brush and
The Major brothers subsequently
staff.-' signed by well-known artists.
acquired several Chinese book companies One of the most talented and ambi-
and undertook the photolithographic tious painters among these illustrators
printing of Chinese books. In 1884. at one was Wu Jiayou (better known by his alter-
Figure 1-a. Couer of Fleeting Shadow of these firms. Dianshizhai Studio, they nate name of Youru; d. 1893), who worked
Pavilion Pictorial (Feiyingge huabao). began to publish a lithographically print- for the Majors for five or six years before

1891. Private collection.
ed pictorial magazine called Dianshizhai
huabao ("Dianshizhai Pictorial"), gener-
ally consisting of eight leaves. It
appeared every ten days, wrapped in red
paper, and included illustrated news
items, travel accounts, and fiction. The
setting up a competing firm. His Fleeting
Shadow Pavilion, or Feiyingge, was locat-
ed at Gongdianli. off Shangyang shilu.
and published a magazine very similar to
Dianshizhai huabao called Feiyingge
huabao ("Fleeting Shadow Pavilion
Pictorial"). In format Wu's new publi-
cation remained very traditional, printed
in monochrome ink on Chinese paper and
bound in accordion folds, with the pages
glued together at the outer edges. For its

cover it had a brightly colored soft paper

wrapper (fig. 1-a) bearing the printed

title, date of publication, and an

announcement of special features.
Photolithography made reproduction of
the written text easy, and one finds long
passages of text of various kinds on every
page, including news, stories, and some-
times messages from the publisher. Each
issue usually consisted of ten pictorial
features, each independently numbered,
including seven pages of news, one sepa-
rate feature entitled "Ladies in the Latest
Fashions." and two special features: nat-
ural history and famous ladies. The lat-
ter, which concluded each issue, was
usually a historical tale. Wu's illustra-
tions were elegantly rendered but fairly
conservative compositions, usually plac-
ing figures in simple settings.
One such example, entitled "The
Palace Lady of the Kaiyuan Period." sets
Figure 1-b. Wu Jiayou (7-1893). "Palace a melancholy beauty against a mostly
Lady of the Kaiyuan Period." Fleeting empty background (fig. 1-b). A few pieces
Shadow Pavilion Pictorial (Feiyingge of furniture, including a painted folding
huabao). 1890-1891. Private collection. screen, serve to establish that the setting
is an interior. The story, we are told,

takes place in the eighth century, when

Tang court ladies sewed garments for sol-
 COMMERCIAL ART AND CHINA'S M O U BUN I V, ATION

recounted. A wealthy client who sought

to buy the devotion of the famous
Jiangsu courtesan Wang Sibao learned,
after incurring substantial expenses in
his misguided attempt, that she was in
love with someone else. Bitterly angry, he
engaged her services for the evening and
then, as she slept, cut off her beautiful
long hair. Wu has depicted him with Wang
Sibao's coiled tresses in his hand and his
surreptitious posture reflected in a mir-
ror. In a caption Wu comments sympa-
thetically that the career of the
courtesan depends on her attractiveness,
so that destroying her coiffure (particu-
larly in an era when healthy women never
wore their hair short) was akin to steal-
ing her livelihood. The courtesan's cham-
bers are appointed with a fascinating
combination of Chinese furniture,
Figure 3. Cover design by Chen Zhifo gaslight fixtures, Chinese lanterns, a
(1896-1962) for his book Design (Tu'an). European-style mirror, hanging scrolls
Figure 2. Lu Xun
Cower design by 1929. of painting and calligraphy, and framed
(1881-1936) for his Stories from Foreign photographs.
Lands (Yuwai xiaoshuo ji). 1909. Lu Xun The same pictorial conventions are
Museum, Shanghai. employed in an image that is completely
diers defending the frontier. One soldier, Chinese, or at least does not obviously
to his surprise, found a long poem tucked resonate with the hybrid culture of
into his new The seamstress-poet
clothes. Shanghai. "A Family Estate in Autumn."
wrote that she knew her handiwork would for the feature entitled "Ladies in the

be sent to a distant and desolate place but Latest Fashions," depicts women of the
had no way of knowing who would receive wealthy elite amusing themselves and
it. As a palace lady-in-waiting, she was their children in a beautiful country
not permitted to marry, but she hoped house (cat. 22-b). Elegantly garbed ladies
that in her next life she might be the surrounded by happy children carefully
recipient's wife. The soldier gave the let- tend crickets in a box on the table. More
ter to his commander, who forwarded it to crickets are stored on handsome Chinese-
the emperor. The emperor sent word to style shelves, whose interiors are shown
the rear palace, the residence of his carefully shaded in the Western manner.
harem, commanding the writer to identi- The refined realism of this image also
fy herself, with the assurance that she characterizes album-leaf paintings by
would not be punished. When the lady the artist.
admitted her mortal offense, the emperor The magazine's content and Wu
granted permission for her to marry the Jiayou's marketing strategy were clearly
soldier. Wu Jiayou has depicted the lonely, geared to the increasingly worldly and
yearning lady as she composes the illicit sophisticated Shanghai audience. He
poem to her imagined lover. tried to increase circulation by making
Illustrations of news items or of fea- his pictures collectible —the separate
ture stories about modern life, such as numbering of the discrete features within
"Thief in the Flower Garden," from an each issue was intended to encourage
1891 issue, employ modified Western readers to cut up the magazine and
architectural perspective and complex assemble the features into separate the-
interior scenes to enhance a sense of real- matic albums of images on natural histo-
ity (cat. 22-a). In this feature, of a type ry, famous ladies of the past, or
that has been described as a combination fashionable ladies of the present. For
of sensational journalism and reform cru- impulse buyers rather than collectors,
sading. 3 an ostensibly true story is the news items, whose selection and pre-
 COMMKRC'l AI. ART AND CHINA'S MODERNIZATION

sentation reflected certain traditions of like covers of this sort, although the lat-

European journalism, were enhanced ter was string-bound in the Chinese style.

with realistically detailed pictures in Dongfang zazhi ("Eastern Miscellany"),

order to achieve a modern verisimilitude. established in 1904, boasted a more stri-
Feiyingge huabao may be viewed as a typi- dent cover design to suit its more worldly
cal example of Shanghai's hybrid culture, contents. It exploited well the top-to-bot-
appealing to an urban Chinese audience tom right-to-left arrangement of Chinese
with its traditional format and its stories characters within an essentially Western
of love and other human relationships, format. During the subsequent decade,
but also filled with the most up-to-date covers became even more elaborate.
subjects and images. In particular, Wu Frequently cited examples are those
Jiayou's figures are rendered naturalisti- reproduced in Zhang Jinglu's compendia
cally. according to Western conventions, on the history of Chinese publishing,
in contrast to the expressive distortions including Science (1915) and the leftist
of his predecessor Ren Xiong. The change New Youth (1915).

from woodblock-printed illustrations to FunU zazhi ("Ladies Journal"), found-

photolithography, and transformations in ed in 1915. repeatedly revised its look. In

the nature of the publications in which its first year, it was decorated with color
:ji5.S *«& ^IB- they are found, are part of a more general lithographs of women engaged in arts and
development in late Qing dynasty crafts, in style rather similar to how-to
Figure 4. Cover design by Tao Yuanqing Shanghai, in which European industrial manuals of the period." By its fourth year

Lu Xun's translation.
(1893-1929) for techniques and (to some extent) publish- these had been replaced by black-and-

Symbol of Depression (Kumen de ing conventions were being used for the white reproductions of landscape paint-
xiangzheng). 1924. Lu Xun Museum, purpose of creating new forms of Chinese ings by Wu Shujuan (the most famous
Shanghai. printed matter. female painter in early twentieth-centu-
ry Shanghai), bordered by textile pat-
EARLY WESTERN BOOK terns in color. Presumably these were
COVER DESIGN intended to be more Chinese, thereby
The development of cover design as a asserting a new cultural claim for the
commercial practice and as an art grew journal's contents.
out of the shift from string-bound books
to stapled or glued bindings that accom- MODERN DESIGN
panied changes in printing technology The proliferation of artistically creative
and in the entire concept of the book. As cover designs is usually attributed to the
we have seen, early lithographically pro- May Fourth Movement, and particularly
duced or typeset books, even translations, to the circle around the writer Lu Xun
tended to bear on their front cover some (1881-1936).' Lu was himself a talented
variation of the traditional calligraphed amateur in the practice of design, and his
label. A frequently cited example is an part in the effort to promote good design
American pharmacology text. Wanguo was significant. Lu designed the cover for

yaofang(1886). which was printed litho- his Stories from Foreign Countries ( Yuwai
graphically from typeset characters. Wu xiaoshuoji). published by the Commercial
Jiayou's Feiyingge huabao continued this Press in 1909. with calligraphy commis-
practice, inherited from his former sioned from Chen Hengque (fig. 2).

employers at Dianshizhai huabao:' Although it looks rather old-fashioned

By the turn of the century. Western- compared with later developments, it tes-
style book covers with complex Victorian tifies to his close involvement with the
designs were common in China. visual aesthetics of the book and shows
Shanghai's Commercial Press and its his awareness of the power of under-state-
competitors began using such covers, ment. Lu's elegant 1923 design for a trans-

some of which show the influence of late lation of fairy tales entitled Taose de yun
nineteenth-century British artist Aubrey ("Peach-Colored Cloud") (cat. 75) plays
Beardsley. Li Boyuan's Wenming xiaoshi with the language of the title, printing a
("A Short History of Civilization"), motif of Han period (206 bce-220 ce) cloud

reprinted by the Commercial Press in scrolls in the rosy hues of the title.

1906. and the fiction magazine he edited. An anonymously designed cover of

Xiuxiang xiaoshuo. both had art nouveau- the same year (formerly in Lu's personal
COMMERCIAL ART AND CHINA'S MODERNIZATION 185

collection) employed some of the same Japan, and with partial support from his
principles (cat. 74) for the inaugural issue employer he entered the Tokyo Academy
of Guoxue jikan ("National Learning and of Arts in 1919 as the first foreign student
Culture"), a scholarly journal published of design. During his stay in Tokyo, which
at Beijing University. The university, the overlapped those of Chen Baoyi. Guan
journal title, and the issue appear in cal- Liang, and Ni Yide, he established friend-
ligraphy by Cai Yuanpei printed over a ships with fellow artists Peng Zikai
series of decoratively arranged archaistic (1898-1975) and Ding Yanyong (1902-1978).

motifs. In its allover background, this Chen Zhifo returned home in 1923 to
cover rather resembles the more garish resume his teaching post, but found that
paper wrapper used by Wu Jiayou for his the school's director had died and the
pictorial magazine; its use of archaistic design department was disbanded. He set-
motifs specifically echoes the less well tled in Shanghai, where he took a job
executed practices of the Commercial teaching design at the Shanghai Oriental
Press, as well as the conventions of Arts School (Shanghai dongfang yishu
Japanese journal design. zhuanmen xuexiao). At the same time he
Connections with Japan were even set up a commercial design company with
more crucial to commercial design than the intention of training fabric designers
to oil painting. Many of the art students for work in Shanghai's new enterprises.
who went to Japan were sent by their A broken contract caused him to
families for very practical reasons — to lose money at this business, but he suc-
master modern methods of fabric design ceeded in educating a number of young
and printing in order to update antiquat- designers.
ed Chinese textile production practices Chen received substantial design
that may have originated centuries earli- commissions himself during this period.
er. Among the artists who visited Japan His book design is usually informed by his
for this purpose were Li Shutong in 1905 interest in pattern (which more than one
and Zhang Daqian a generation later. commentator has sought to associate
Innovations in textile production were with traditional Chinese geometric archi-
closely related to those in the printing tectural ornament). His most interesting
industry: both had major aesthetic com- works of the 1920s are indeed the most
ponents, and both were attempts to mod- highly patterned examples. Beginning in
ernize enterprises of particular 1925, at editor Hu Yuzhi's invitation, he
importance to the traditional gentry of designed covers for Eastern Miscellany
Jiangnan. continuously for six years, from volume
22 through volume 27. He also designed
Chen Zhifo (1895-1962) is particularly covers for Xiaoshuo yuebao ("Short Story
important as China's first professional Monthly") in 1927 (volume 18). These are
graphic designer. His body of work well far from his most successful efforts, but
illustrates the stylistic changes that took they do succeed In differentiating the
place throughout the industry beginning focuses of the two magazines by showing
in the late 1920s, although its quality is (to cite just two examples) ancient
not as consistently high as that of his Egyptians on a cover of the former and a
younger colleague Qian Juntao. Chen was nude girl with butterflies on one issue of
born in 1895 to a once-prosperous gentry the latter. For the covers of Short Story
family in Xushanzhen, Zhejiang, near Monthly much of the effort seems to
Hangzhou Bay. His father invested
1
some have gone into the typography — actually
family capital to open first a drugstore, hand-drawn "modern"-style Chinese
then several fabric-dyeing shops. Chen, characters (meishuzi) —which is ambitious
after attending a variety of new- and old- in its variety. 9
style schools, entered Zhejiang Technical Interest in lettering reaches some-
School (Zhejiang gongye zhuaninen thing of an extreme in Chen's highly
xuexiao), where he learned English, abstract and patterned covers for Xiandai
mechanics, dyeing, and weaving. Upon xuesheng ("Modern Student") in 1931.
graduation in 1916 he was retained as an in which an evocation of feminine beauty,
instructor. Two years later, he passed a motifs of geometricized flora, and
provincial examination for study in abstract patterns of lines are combined
 COMMERCIAL AllT AND CHINA'S MODERNIZATION

with almost illegible lettering."
The times and the artist had clearly
changed in the eight years between 1927
and 1935. when he began doing modernist
designs for Wenxue yuekan ("Literary
Monthly"). Like most other graphic
design in this period, his work here seems
to converge around various kinds of
Cubist, mechanical, or Art Deco imagery.
Anonymous covers of the period, such as
the one for Bernard Shaw in Shanghai
84). share this quality.
In addition to his magazine covers,
Chen also designed many book jackets for
the Kaiming and Tianma book compa-
nies, work that shows his strength as a
designer. His own book of textile patterns
was published by Kaiming in 1929, with a
learned also from the antique paintings
and Japanese and Indian designs owned
by the Youzheng Book Company. Later, at
Shanghai Arts Normal School, he studied
Western painting under Feng Zikai. who
absorbed Japanese influence from Li
Shutong. and Chen Baoyi. who had
trained in Japan. He was thus considered
knowledgeable in Chinese painting,
Oriental patterns, and Western painting.
(cat. Tao seems to have begun designing
modern Western-style book covers in 1924.
with a commission from Lu Xun. and is
considered a formative figure in the
movement. His first cover was for Lu
Xun's Chinese translation of the
Japanese novel Symbol of Depression
(fig. 4), by Kuriyagawa Hakuson. Tao was l:

dramatic cover of his own design. He introduced toLu by the Chinese writer
wrote what is believed to be China's first Xu Qinwen. whom he had met at the
graphic design textbook, Tu'anfa ABC Shaoxing Native Place Association in

("ABC of Design Method"), published by Beijing. Lu was eminently satisfied with

Figure 5. Cover design by Tao Yuanqing World Book Company the following year Tao's design for Symbol of Depression,
(1893-1929) for Lu Xun 's Tomb (Fere). 1927. and reissued at least six times. while Xu considered it a seminal work for
Lu Xun Museum, Shanghai. Chuangzuo dejingyan ("Experience in the new literature." Tao went on to
Creation"), by Lu Xun. Mao Dun, Yu Dafu. design other covers for Weiming she and
and others, was published by Tianma in Beixin Book Company publications,
1933 with a cover featuring calligraphy by including one for Xu's story collection
Lu and an architectural pattern by Chen. Guxiang ("Hometown"), published in 1926

Also in 1933 Chen did the abstract cover (cat. 77). His style, in its simplicity, asym-
design and Lu the title calligraphy for metry, and sometimes casual quality, has
the latter's Zixuanji ("Self-Selected a strong Japanese flavor (see also cat. 76).

Collection"). This was a volume in the Lu wrote prefatory wall texts for Tao
Tianma authors series; in the same series Yuanqing's two Western-style exhibi-
books by Mao Dun and Guo Moruo also tions, held in 1925 and 1927. Tao. who died
bear covers by Chen." at the age of thirty-six, had only a five-

As a pioneer in the field of graphic year career as a designer, and has been
design. Chen may have produced a some- almost completely forgotten as a
what less coherent body of work than painter." His early death in 1929 coincided
some of his younger colleagues, but the with a general change in Chinese book
designs he created between about 1929 and design, and with a new stage in the work
1937 possess great calm and elegance and of his friend and colleague Qian Juntao.
show a strong affinity for contemporary Qian Juntao was largely responsible
Japanese aesthetics. He taught in for recording and analyzing his friend's
Shanghai and Guangzhou with his Tokyo contributions to Chinese design, begin-
friends Guan Liang and Ni Yide. but after ning with the 1924 commission for Lu
World War II he devoted himself primari- Xun. He divided Tao's work into two gen-
ls

ly to flower-and-bird painting. eral categories. One consists of covers

that are essentially decorative, such as
Chen's contemporary Tao Yuanqing those for Lu's translations of Kuriyagawa
( 1893-1929) was even more interested in Hakuson's Symbol of Depression and Out of
Figure 6. Cover design by Lu Xun Japanese design, although trained entire- the Ivory Tower (cat. 76) and for Lu's 1927
(1881-1936) for his Call to Arms (Nahan). ly in China. Tao worked at the Shanghai anthology A Collection of Tang and Song
1926. Lu Xun Museum, Shanghai. shibaoguan ("Shanghai Times"); through Tales." In the other group, also
1
designed
the good offices of his superior. Ge for Lu, the images are related to the con-
Gongzhen. he was able to study art in pri- tent of the books, or at least to their
vate collections. He is said to have titles. That group includes his covers for
 COMMERCIAL ART AND CHINA'S MODERNIZATION

for Peach-Colored Cloud borrows Han

motifs; his later design for Exploring the
Heart (cat. 79) reveals a more sophisticat-
ed use of the entire picture space, but is

similarly based upon rubbings of antique

motifs. 20 Lu Xun designed his own covers
for the two editions of his Nahan ("Call to
Arms") (fig. 6), including the lettering
e (meishuzi). 2 '
For Fen ("The Tomb"). Lu
designed the typography to use with Tao
Yuanqing's picture. Other designers with
whom Lu worked in the late 1920s include
Situ Qiao, for Mangyuan ("Wilderness"),
and Sun Fuxi, for his 1927 prose-poetry
collection Yecao ("Wild Grass"). 22
Lu frequently wrote the calligraphy
for the titles of his own and other
author's books, a common practice. He
was particularly interested in nontradi-
tional, modern-style characters
Figure 7. Cover design by Qian Juntao Figure 8. Cover design by Qian Juntao (b. (meishuzi) and designed a number of cov-
(b. 1906) for Xie Liuyi, Literary Arts and 1906) for Guo Moruo (lyrics) and Chen ers consisting of such characters alone.
Sex ( Wenyi yu xing'ai). 1928. Collection of Xiaokong (music). Mi sang suolopu zhi ye. He provided the calligraphy for the cover
the artist. 1929. Collection of the artist. of his Wild Grass, and he designed a simple
cover for his Sequel to Unlucky Star, using
just three Song-style characters and a
the story collections Wandering (1926) seal. He participated in the design of a
21

(cat. 78). The Tomb (1927) (fig. 5), and Dawn number of the publications he edited:
Blossoms Plucked at Dusk (1928)." In his Benliu ("Running Stream") of 1928,
letter of request to the artist, Lu speci- Mengya yuekan ("Sprouts") of 1930 (cat.
fied that the design for The Tomb not 82), the 1934 woodcut anthology Muke

The pattern of tomb

relate to a grave.
mounds that Tao created evidently
ignored this mandate, but the highly
abstract work satisfied Lu Xun.
Lu Xun (1881-1936), best known
scathing social and political criticism in
fictionalform that inspired many left-
wing activists, was a patron of design
artists, commissioning their work and on
occasion fighting for the integrity of
their designs. In a letter of 1926 to Li Jiye,
Lu complained that Tao Yuanqing's origi-
jicheng ("Woodcut Progress"), and the
anthology of Kaethe Kollwitz's prints
that he published in 1936. M He has recently
" been identified as the designer of the
cover of Sprouts in the current exhibition.
for
Perhaps even better that Chen Zhifo, his
younger colleague Qian Juntao exempli-
fies the emergence in the mid and late
1920s of the professional designer.
Although Qian was not among the first to
consider design a profession, he was per-
haps the first to devote his entire life,

nal color had been printed incorrectly in from teens to old age. to its practice.
the second edition of Wandering, leaving Based on the quality, quantity, and innov-
the author embarrassed to commission ativeness of his design, he might also be
new work from him. The designer whose considered the most important.
color values had been falsified, he said, Qian was unusual for his time in
must feel as badly as an author whose being trained entirely in China. He
text had been mangled. 19 emerged, however, from a talented cohort.
Later, according to Qian Juntao, Lu mostly Zhejiang natives, who shared an
Xun began advocating the use of native interest inmodern Japanese technology
imagery in some designs so as to create a and aesthetics. He was born in Tongxiang
particularly Chinese style. This is indeed county. Zhejiang, into a typical gentry
one of several different trends seen in his family of traditional education — the
work of the 1920s and 1930s. His 1923 design grandson of a physician. 25 In 1923. at the
 COMMERCIAL ART AND CHINAS MI1DK1IN1ZATH1N

* ® 2 —

ItlCtIO
Figure 9. Cover design by Qian Juntao (b. Figure 10. Cover design by Qian Juntao (b. Figure 11. Cover design by Qian Juntao (b.

1906) for Student (Xuesheng zazhi), vol. 18, 1906) for Great Love ( Weida de lian'ai). 1930. 1906) for Chen Xuezhao, Woman of the
no. 1 (1929). Collection of the artist. Collection of the artist. Times (Shidai funtt). 1930. Collection of the
artist.

age of seventeen, he enrolled at the similar to that established among guohua

Shanghai Arts Normal School Yishu ( shi- painters, his teacher Feng Zikai drafted a
fan xuexiao), where he studied design, price list for Qian's designs. It was pub-
music, and painting with disciples of Li lished in several journals — including
Shutong (1880-1942), especially Wu Dushu zazhi ("Reader's Magazine," vol. 2,
Mengfei, Liu Zhiping, and Feng Zikai. 28 no. 23), and Xin niixing ("New Woman") —
Feng was a particularly strong influence and separately as a flyer, under the names
on him. in music as well as in art (see of a number of his prominent supporters
cats. 50. 51), and Feng was on the board of in the literary and art worlds. The text 29

directors of Kaiming Book Company in reads, in part:

1925 when Qian was hired there for his
first job in publishing. Qian worked first
2'
as their music editor, but soon became a
dominant figure in the design of their
publications. He later ran the Wanye
The design of a book greatly influences
themood of those reading it. A fine book
design may symbolize the contents, and
can prepare people's mood and attitude
for the reading before they even open it.

("Myriad Leaves") Book Company, which Like the overture of an opera, it can
published many music and art titles. stimulate the feelings of the viewers,
Qian Juntao met Lu Xun in 1927, and get them in tune with the mood of
when Lu visited the director of Kaiming the drama. . . . A good designer can . . .

Book Company. When Lu admired one of transform the spirit of the contents into
Qian's cover designs, he was introduced to form and color, to stimulate a feeling of
the young artist. He subsequently invited beauty in the viewer and increase the
Qian and Tao Yuanqing to view his collec- interest of reading. Our friend Qian
tion of rubbings of Han pictorial reliefs, Juntao is good at painting and especial-
and also introduced them to the ly excellent in book design. His cover
Uchiyama Bookstore, which served as a designs are all the rage and are placed
kind of unofficial headquarters for his lit- in the display windows of every book-
erary and social activities. 28 shop. . . . Today, because more and more
By that time Qian was beginning to people come from all directions to seek
establish his reputation as a professional his designs, with our purpose of elevat-

designer. In September 1928. in a practice ing art and attracting readers, we have
 COMMERCIAL ART AND CHINA'S MODERNIZATION

Blood"). 1927; Zheng Zhenduo's Shanzhong

zaji ("Notes from the Mountains"). 1928;

and Xie Liuyi's Wenyi yu xing'ai

("Literary Arts and Sex"), 1928 (fig. 7). :a

The year 1929 marks a shift in Qian's

work and an expansion of his repertory.
He continued refining his use of vegetal
motifs, creating lyrical work that is never
sweet, as in the series of covers with sea-
sonal motifs for New Woman (ed. Zhang
Xichen). 11 Other work of that year self-
consciously adopts Chinese prototypes, as
in the rather plain cover for Chen Wanli's
photo album Minshisan zhi gugong ("The
Palace in the Thirteenth Year of the
Republic") and the flamboyant cover for
an anthology of Guo Moruo's poetry (set

to music by Chen Xiaokong), which has

folk paper-cut motifs as its pattern (see
fig.8). M A more significant trend was the
Figure 12. Cover design by Qian Juntao gradual shift away from organic imagery
(b. 1906) for Killing Beauty (Shay an). 1930 Figure 13. Cover design by Qian Juntao to more crisply defined abstract composi-
Collection of the artist. (b. 1906) for Literary Monthly (Wenxue tions, as in his cover for Rou Shi's Three
yuebao), vol. 1, no. 1, 1932. Collection of Sisters.'1* Some of this work is close to the
the artist. style of the contemporary Japanese
designer Sugiura Hisui. In the most
encouraged Mr. Qian to widely accept extreme experiments of this sort, he used
commissions from all fields, and thus we typography or lettering as design motifs,
set his price list. w as in the 1929 cover for Xuesheng zazhi
Qian Juntao is particularly impor- ("Student") (fig. ^."This trend, again,
tant for the quality of his graphic design was widespread in the design of the period
and his influence on younger designers. and parallels similar experiments in
Among those he influenced, the absence Japanese design. The elimination or dis-

of nineteenth-century European design tortion of the figure so as to preclude sen-

prototypes — the Beardsley manner— is timentality, a standard modernist
notable. Instead, they cultivated a sim- strategy, became prevalent in the art of

plicity associated with Japanese design this group, as did the steadily increasing
and later with European modernist interest in lettering as a motif of
design. Equally influential may have been abstract design. Qian's work of the 1930s
Qian's attitude toward the new metier of exemplifies this trend more and more
book design. Unlike many commercial strongly. The most notable examples are
artists, Qian has been proud of his reputa- his covers for Weida de lian 'ai ("Great
tion as a professional book designer and Love"), Chen Xuezhao's Shidai funil
has sought to promote the reputations of ("Woman of the Times"), and Shay an
designers whom he admired, such as Tao ("Killing Beauty") (figs. 10. 11. 12). The
Yuanqing. cover for Wenxue xuebao ("Literary
Qian's early style, especially in the Digest") of 1932, edited by Zhou Yang, and
1920s, had a somewhat Japanese flavor. 31 In for Ba Jin's Xinsheng ("New Life") of 1933
that period he employed primarily vege- play with abstract textures that maintain
tal motifs, or occasionally, like Tao a mechanical anonymity but still give an
Yuanqing, images from archaeology. organic or accidental feeling (see figs. 13,

Fellow designers consider Qian particu- 14). The artist rubbed his pigment over a
larly accomplished in printing technolo- stone surface to create the grainy tex-
gy, which enabled him to obtain the ture. 37 This kind of image remains fresh
images he conceived. Covers of this kind, even sixty years later. Qian continued to
all published by Kaiming, include Zhou plajf with lettering in his reworking of a
Zuoren's Liangtiao xuelang ("Two Trails of Russian cover in 1933 (cat. 83).
 COMMERCIAL ART AND CHINA'S M < > 1> K I! N 1 /, AT 1 1
1 N 190

work at the Kaiming Book Company

created some wonderful modern designs
in the 1930s, such as his cover for Ba Jin's
Jia ("Family") (fig. 16). Designer's for more
middlebrow, mass-market publishers sim-
ilarly gravitated toward modernist
imagery by the mid-1930s, but their work
remained a great deal more varied. Many
of them continued the art nouveau trends
of the late nineteenth century, a style
condemned by Lu Xun, but one that
seems to have enduring popular appeal. 31
Liangyou's movie magazine, Yingxing.
published both kinds of covers: in 1926 an
elegantly line-drawn lady with Japanese
floral draperies, and in 1927 a nude by Wan
Laiming, this one Cubistically fragment-
ed. Ladies Journal tended toward some-
what more sentimental renderings in the
Art Nouveau manner. Shanghai Sketch
featured a variety of covers, ranging from
pulp melodrama to modern design.
Figure 14. Coyer design by Qian Juntao Dianying yuebao ("Movie Monthly"), pub-
(b. 1906) for Ba Jin. New Life (Xinsheng). Figure 15. Cover design by Qian Juntao (b. lished in 1928 and 1929, offered a range of
1933. Collection of the artist. 1906) for The Heart of the Widow (Guafu de styles, all dramatic. The later Mingxing,
xin). 1934. Collection of the artist. another movie magazine, adapted the
geometries of the modernist idiom to its

own particular needs. 39

Russian Constructivism was a strong
influence on his work in this period, as CONCLUSION
the latter work testifies. Cubism soon As we have seen, the Chinese art world
assumed equal importance, as in a series during the 1920s and 1930s continually
of works of the mid-thirties, including debated its future direction, with advo-
the 1934 Guafu de xin ("Heart of the cates of innovative neo-traditionalism,
Widow") (fig. 15), and in a collection of academic realism, and modernism vying
harmonica tunes he edited in 1935. For Ba for social, economic, and institutional
Jin's Siqu de taiyang ("Dead Sun"), pub- recognition. Largely unburdened by the
lished by Kaiming in 1935, he employed a Chinese artist's long-term cultural mis-
geometric design filled with Chinese and sion, but instead responding more to the
Esperanto. Both the title and pen name needs of the present, and specifically to
appear in Esperanto: Mortanta Suno and the various requirements of the publish-
Baccio. ers, the authors, and the book-consuming
By the time of the Japanese invasion public, commercial artists produced
of 1937 Qian. like many of his colleagues, strikinglymodern visual images.
was strongly drawn to modernist design, Although some designers wrote about
a trend that had swept the Shanghai pub- their practice, they had little need to for-
lishing world, as one can see from the mulate theoretical justifications of their
work of other artists. work, for they were tested in the daily
production of their art. Unlike the
VARIOUS MIDDLEBROW MAGAZINE literati painters or the oil painters, a

COVER DESIGNS steady production of immediately appeal-

Certainly the artists discussed above did ing work was both their livelihood and
not have a monopoly on good design, rep- their gauge of success. The rapid and con-
utation, or prosperity, but can serve to tinuous evolution in the styles of their
represent the general trends of the peri- book-cover designs bespeaks an increas-
od. Mo Zhiheng — with Feng Zikai and ingly sophisticated and modern cohort of
Qian Juntao the third major designer to artists, publishers, and audience.
 COMMERCIAL ART AND CHINA'S MOIJHUNIZATION 191

The significance of modernist visual and Xiao Yun (reprint; Shanghai: Shanghai
art to twentieth-century China may not Book Co.. 1992), pp. 16-18.

be entirely clear if one limits one's gaze 8. His biography is taken from LI Youguang and
to oil painting, which was patronized pri- Chen Xiufan, Chen Zhifo yanjiu ("Chen Zhifo
marily by the academic establishment. 10 Researches") (Nanjing, 1990), pp. 1-33.

Ifwe expand our vision to include com- 9. Reproductions of these covers appear in Li
mercial design, however, we discover the and Chen, Chen Zhifo Researches, figs. 26-31.

existence of a fully cosmopolitan sector 10. See Scott Minick and Jiao Ping, Chinese
within the pluralistic visual culture of Graphic Design in the Twentieth Century (New
prewar China. Modern Chinese design, York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990).

publishing, and consumption had unique 11. Lu Xun's Self-Selected Collection (Zixuanji).

local characteristics, but we conclude with title calligraphy by Lu Xun (Shanghai:

that Chinese artists, particularly those in Tianma shudian, 1933).

Shanghai, were fully mature practition- 12. Kuriyagawa Hakuson, Symbol of Depression,
ers of an up-to-date international design trans. Lu Xun as Kumen de xiangzheng (Beijing:

vocabulary. They served not only a mod- Weiming she, 1924).

ern industry, but also China's increasing- 13. Qiu Ling, Chinese Book Design, p. 75. He does
ly modern urban cultural consumers. not cite his source.
14. A native of Shaoxing, he taught at National
NOTES Hangzhou Arts Academy. See Yu Jianhua,
1. Two slightly different recent reproductions of Zhongguo meishujia renming cidian (Shanghai:
the Liexian jiupai are presumed to be taken from Shanghai People's Art Publishing House, 1981).

Figure 16. Cover design by Mo Zhiheng for the original 1854 edition. Both differ in minor p. 960, which cites Jiang Danshu.
Ba Jin, Family (Jia). Reproduced in Qiu details from the exhibited example. The repro- 15. See Qian Juntao, "Preface," in Lu Xun and
Ling, Shuji zhuangzhen yishu jianshi ductions are Liexian jiupai (Beijing: People's Booh Design, p. 2. Tao and the much younger
(Harbin: Heilongjiang People's Publishing Art Publishing House, 1987). which bears com- Qian Juntao were classmates in Shanghai and
House, 1984), p. 26. ments on each page by Yao Xie, and Liexian jiu- both taught at Zhejiang Provincial No. 6 Middle
pai (Beijing: Wenwu chuban she, 1995). which School.

does not. 16. Kuriyagawa Hakuson, Out of the Ivory Tower,

2. Roswell S. Britton, The Chinese Periodical trans. Lu Xun as Chule xiangya zhi ta (Beijing:

Press, 1800-1912 (Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, Ltd.. Weiming she, 1925); Tang Song chuanqiji
1933), pp. 63-71. ("A Collection of Tang and Song Tales"), ed.

3. This perceptive comment is used by Roswell Lu Xun (Shanghai: Beixin shuju, 1927), vol. 1.

Britton, p. 70, to describe the Dianshizhai Reproduced in Lu Xun and Book Design,
huabao. pis. 38. 19.

4. See Qiu Ling, Shuji zhuangzhen yishu jianshi 17. Lu Xun, Chaohua xishi ("Dawn Blossoms
("A Short History of Chinese Book Design") Plucked at Dusk") (Beiping: Weiming she, 1928);

(Harbin: Heilongjiang People's Publishing Panghuang ("Wandering") (Beijing: Beixin

House, 1984). shuju, 1926): Fen ("The Tomb") (Beijing:

5. Zhang Jinglu, Zhongguo jindai chuban shiliao Weiming she, 1927). Reproduced in Lu Xun and
("Modern Chinese Publishing") (reprint: n.p., Book Design, pis. 15, 12, 13.

n.d.). 18. Lu Xun and Book Design, p. 2.

6. Lithographed books printed on high-acid 19. Qian Juntao, "Preface," Lu Xun and Book
Western-style paper were often still string- Design, p. 3.

bound in this period. A typical how-to book of 20. Qiu Ling, Chinese Book Design, p. 69.

the 1910s features a lithographed color drawing 21. Lu Xun, Nahan ("Call to Arms") (Beijing:
of a woman in an interior on the cover. The Xinchao chuban she. 1923; Beijing: Beixin shuju.
pages are printed on one side and folded, as in a 1926).

traditional woodblock-printed book. 22. Lu Xun. Yecao ("Wild Grass") (Beijing:

7. See Qian Juntao, "Preface." in Lu Xun yu Beixin Book Co.. 1927). According to Qian
shuji zhuangzhen ("Lu Xun and Book Design") Juntao, in Qian Juntao zhuangzhen yishu ("Qian
(Shanghai: Shanghai People's Art Publishing Juntao's Art of Design"), ed. Sima Loufu and
House, 1981), pp. 1-3; and "Zhongguo shuji Xiao Yun (reprint: Shanghai: Shanghai Book
zhuangzhen yishu fazhan huigu ("Retrospective Co., 1992). p. 17, other artists directly influenced
of the Development of the Chinese Art of Book by Lu Xun include Tao Yuanqing, Sun Fuxi,
Design"), in Qian Juntao zhuangzhen yishu Situ Qiao. Chen Zhifo. Qian Juntao. and later
("Qian Juntao 's Art of Design"), ed. Sima Loufu Chi Ning. Shen Zhenhuang. Mo Zhiheng. and
COMMERCIAL ART AND CHINA'S M () 1) KKN 1 Z AT o1 N

Zheng Chuangu. writes of a 1921 House and Garden cover orna-

23. Lu Xun. Huagaiji, xubian ("Unlucky star, a mented with a large white Manchurlan crane
Sequel") (Beijing: Belxin shuju. 1927). (and rather similar in feel to the peacock cover

24. Running Stream iBenliu), no. 1. 1928. ed. Lu of Xiuxiang xiaoshuol, "Early covers were obses-

Xun, monthly (Beijing: Belxin shuju); Muke sively ornamental in the manner of art nouveau

lulling, ed. Lu Xun (Tiemu yishushe. 1934); and and anticipated the excesses of art deco." p. 22.

Kaisui Kelehuizhi (Kaethe Kolhvitzl banhua xuanji 39. 1 am grateful to the Hong Kong critic and
(Sanxian shuwu. May 193G). film scholar Paul Fonoroff for permitting me to

25. Other towns in Tongxiang produced Mao Dun study part of his collection of Chinese cinema
and Feng Zikai. publications.

26. Qian Juntao de yishu shijie ("The World of 40. See Michael Sullivan, ,4r( and Artists of

Qian Juntao's Art")(Shanghai: Shanghai Book Twentieth Century China (Berkeley: University

Co., 1992). p. 1; and Luo Zhicang, "Qian Juntao of California Press, 1996). pp. 62-64. Despite his

shuji zhuangzhen fenge de fenqi ("Periodization friendship with a key modernist. Pang Xunqin,
of Qian Juntao's Book Design Style"), in The Sullivan expresses disappointment in the

World of Qian Juntao's Art, p. 43. results of the avant-garde Storm Society's
27. One source says that he started at Xin efforts.

mixing, which then became Kaiming. Kaiming

was not founded until 1927. according to Qiu
Ling.

28. Huang Ke. "Qian Juntao ji qi shuji

zhuangzhen," in The World of Qian Juntao's Art,

p. 32.

29. Text transcribed in The World of Qian

Juntao's Art , pp. 48-49. His supporters included

Feng Zikai, Tao Yuanqing. Qiu Wanxiang, Hu

Yuzhi, Chen Wangdao, Xia Mianzun. Chen
Baoyi. Zhang Xichen, Ye Shengtao, and Wang
Lixi.

30. Twenty years later, in the 1947 China Art

Yearbook. Qian is listed as a commercial artist,

one of 119 such professionals.

31. Qiu Ling. Chinese Book Design, p. 80. Luo
Zhicang. "Periodization of Qian Juntao's Book

Design Style." p. 42.

32. Images of the two covers not reproduced here

appear in Qian Juntao, Qian Juntao's Art of
Design, pp. 23, 28.

33. Reproduced in ibid., pp. 8-11.

34. Reproduced in ibid., p. 44.

35. Reproduced in ibid., p. 74.

36. Also Xiao shuo yue bao, vol. 22, (New Year's
issue) 1929. Zheng Zhenduo, ed. Commercial
Press.

37. Of the cover for Ba Jin's Xinsheng, Qian

wrote in Qian Juntao's Art of Design, p. 40, that

he painted the shadow of a small plant growing

from a crack, to symbolize the difficulty of
growing up, and that he avoided brush strokes
and photographic qualities. In regard to his use

of meishuzi, he wrote: "Use of famous writers'

calligraphy can be problematic to the overall
design, unless you instruct them properly."

38. This style is still condemned, perhaps testi-

mony to its ongoing popularity. See Steven

Heller. Cover Story: The Art of American Magazine

Covers. 1900-1950 (San Francisco. 1996). who
74. Anonymous designer, 75. Lu Xun (1881 1936) 76. Tao Yuanqing' (1893-1929) 77. Tao Yuanqing (1893 V.U'.ti

with title calligraphy by Cover design for Peach- Cover design for Out of the Cover design for Hometown
Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940) Color ed Cloud (Taose de yun) Ivory Tower (Chule xiangya (Gu tiang), stories by Xu
Cover design for National Translated by Lu Xun; zhi la), essays by Kuriyagawa Qinwen, edited by Lu Xun;
Learning and Culture published by Xinchao Hakuson, translated by Lu published by Beixin Book
(Guoxue jikan), vol. 1, no. 1 Publishers, Beijing Xun; published by Weiming Company, Beijing
(January 1923), published by 1923 she, Beijing 1926

Beijing University 19.1x13.2 cm 1925 20 x 14 cm

1923 Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai 19.4 x 13.5 cm Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai
25.7x18.5 cm Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai
Lu Xun Memorial. Shanghai

x-oo^ :-'''.

m 3 „3 ~M
m%mw

74

77
78. Tao Yuanqing (1893 L929) 79. Lu Xun i 1HII1 1936) 80. Anonymous designer 81. Chen Zhifo (1895-1962)
Cover design for Wand Cover design lor Exploring the Cover design lor On Art, Cover design for Lu Xun,
itang), short stones Heart, text by Chang Hong. essay by Anatoly Self-Selected Collection.

by l.u Xun: published bj edited by Lu Xun; published Lunaeharsky, translated by published by Tianma
Beixin Book Company. Beixin Book Company. Lu Xun; published by Bookstore. Shanghai
Bei nng Dajiang Bookstore, Shanghai 1933

1926 1926 1929 18.5 x 13 cm

19.5 x 13.7 cm 20.5 x 14 cm 19 x 13.2 cm Lu Xun Memorial. Shanghai
Lu Xun Memorial. Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial. Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial. Shanghai

..- - .
.- r / - -r , --.,•-. .
.
|

<©4 v:

4S 1 <T^

79

80 81
82. LuXun (1881-1936) 83. Qian Jfuntao (b, 1906) 84. Anonymous designer
Cover design for Sprouts Cover design adapted for Cover design for Bernard
(Mengya yuekan), edited October, translated by Shaw in Shanghai, text
by Lu Xun, vol. 1, no. 1 Lu Xun; published by compiled by I.m Xun and

(January 1930); published by Shenzhou Guoguang Press, Qu Qiubai; published by

Guanghua Book Company, Shanghai Wild Grasses Bookstore,
Shanghai 1933 Shanghai
1930 18.5 x 13.3 cm 1933
20.7x15.4 cm Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai 21 x 13.5 cm
Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai

mm
19
l 3

&%« 3%R&^mv)Z— & &.b •

1933 • ±% )H> ffl H ft tt % ff • 1933

32 <SJ

c-jjj.E^
P^O" » -'Vf -.IJ
,»v*n ff

Ve",,|^<^»
• :
;

j™ «th . UEL ph, SACE I

84
85. Tun.; Yingwei 86. Tang Yingwei(b. 1915)

Trailbla ing
Forward!
1936
1936
World, vol. 1 1 19
Cover of Wnodrul World, vol. 3 1 1936),

published by Modern Woodcut Society.

special Issue for the Nal Lonal Travi
lout Exhibition, published by Guangzhou
Modern Woodcul Society, Guangzhou 26 x 18.8 cm
26, 1 :- 19.3 cm Lu Xun Memorial. Shanghai
Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai

ft 9
87. Tang Yingwei (b. 1915) 88. Attributed to Huang Xinbo 89. Lai Shaoqi (b. 1915) 90. Li Hua (1907-1994)
Chrysanthemum (1915-1980) Breaking (Ml. Street Sweepers
1936 Title page of Selected Wood- 1936 1935
Cover of Modern Woodcut, cuts of the Weiming Society Cover of Modern Woodcut, Cover of Modern Woodcut,
vol. 15(1936) 1934 vol. 16(1936) vol. 3 (1935)

Woodcut; 28 x 24 cm 31 cm
X 23 Woodcut: 27.5 x 23.5 cm Woodcut; 25.7 x 19.2 cm
Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial. Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial. Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai

HOODENGRAVING

87

89 90
 ii.ui: Feng L910 L982) 93. WoZhailiHir. i!iTli
91. Chen riegeng (1908 1970) i

Glimpse oj the Esperm The Trial Flooding

1936
Exhibition
in Steel Horse Woodcuts, vol. 2 in Steel Horse Woodcuts, vol. 1

.
lir.i;
In VVoi Ints, vol. 1. (1936)

no. 1 l
L!
Woodcut; n. H.\ 13.4 om Woodcut; 7.6 x 13.1 cm
n x 1 1 om Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai I ill Xun .Mriniin.il. Sli.i ii" h.n

i,u Nun Memorial. Shanghai

91

92

93
94. Li Hua (1907-1994) 95. Chen Ticgeng (1908-1970) 96. Chen Yanqiao 97. Chen Yan<|iao
Drizzle, from the series Waiting (1911-1969/1970) (1911-1909/1970)

The Suburbs in Spring 1933 Security Tower Going to Work

1935 In Huilan Woodcuts, vol.1 1936 Undated 1 1930s]

Polychromatic woodcut; (1935) In Woodcut. Circle, vol. 1 (1936; Woodoul : 30 x 24.5 cm

15.9x12.4 cm 12.8x11 cm cm
12 x 12 Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai
Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai

95

96

97
98. Li Hun (1907 1994)

China, Roar!
1936
in Modem Woodcut, vol. 14(19 16

Woodcut; 3x 16.5 cm
i,n \un Memorial, Shanghai
99. Hu Yichuanlb. 1910)

To the Front!
1932
Woodcut; 23.2 x 30.5 cm
Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai
 101. Liu Xian 1915-1990)
( 102. Tang Yingwei (b. 1915)
I i lluu (lOTi
A Lady ,i Blue Memory
ding
1935 1935
1935
in Modern Woodcut, vol. 5 in Modern Woodcut, vol. 6
;,.'. vol. 7
(1935) Woodcut. 15 x 12.7 cm
I

Woodcul 1.5 x 13 cm I,u Xun Memorial. Shanghai

Polychromatic woodcut; ; 1

16 x 12 cm l,u Xun Memorial, Shanghai

l,u Xun Memorial, Sh i

101

102
103. Zhang Wang (1915-1992) 104. Tang Yingwci (b. 1915) 105. Zhang Hui 106. He Baitao (1913-1939)
Head Wound Devils (datesunknown) On the Streets
1934 Undated [1930s] The Beggar Has No Clnlhing 1933
Woodcut; 24.3 x 15.2 cm Woodcut; 15 x 20 cm Undated Woodcut; 27 x 21.2 cm
Jiangsu Provincial Art Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai Woodcut; 15.5 x 13 cm Lu Xun Memorial, Shanghai
Gallery. Nanjing Lu Xun Memorial. Shanghai

104

103

105

106
 109. Li Pingfan(b. 1922) 110. Tann Yingwei (b. 1915)
I in Xian(1915 1990) 108, Zhang Wang 1915-1992)
(

Starving People The Homeless

The Prisoner China's Dictator
1939 Ca. 1936
ed 1933
Woodcut; x 14.5 cm Woodcut; 22.5 x 34.2 cm
Woodcut; 27 x 19 cm Woodcut; 17 x 12.4 cm 21.5

Jlangsu Provincial Art l,u Xun Memorial, Shanghai

i.u Xun Memorial, Sh u 1,u Xun Memorial. Shanghai
Gallery, Nanjing

108

101

110

109
111. Liu Xian (1915-1990) 112. Huang Xinho (1915-1980)

Consolidate Our Unity, Fight He Hasn 't Really Gone

the Japanese Aggressors to the 1941

End Woodcut; 14 x 18 cm
1938 Chinese National Art
Woodcut; 11 x 12 cm Gallery. Beijing'
Jiangsu Provincial Art
Gallery, Nanjing

111

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 Van Han (b. 1916 ill. Zhao Yannian (b. 1924) Long Tingba(b.
115. 1916) 116. Gil Yuan (1919-1996)

Guardian: Bice Hie! Widow and Orphan Marriage Registration

.1 People's Fighi ation 19-17 1946 1944

Between the Army and the Woodcut; 27.8 x 25.6 cm Woodcut; 16.2 x9 cm Woodcut; 14.1 x 19.5 cm
GHfl of Professor and Gift of Professor and Gift of Professor and
1939-1910 Mrs. Theodore Herman, Mrs. Theodore Herman, Mrs. Theodore Herman.
Woodcut; 37 x 28.5 cm Picker Art Gallery, Colgate Picker Art Gallery, Colgate Picker Art Gallery, Colgate
c.ift of Professor and Mrs. University University University
Theodore Herman. Picker Art
Gallery, Colgate University

114

L
<«Saj£J

115

116

115
117. Li Iiua (1907-1994) 118. Li Hua (1907-1994)
When the Requisition Officers Leave Take Him In!
1946 1946
Woodcut; 23.5 x 33.5 cm Woodcut; 21.5 x 32.5 cm
Gift of Professor and Mrs. Theodore Gift of Professor and Mrs. Theodore
Herman, Picker Art Gallery, Colgate Herman, Picker Art Gallery. Colgate
University University
119. Ding < ong (b L916)

Images
1911

Gouache on paper; 1 19.3 x 28.6 cm

Spencer Museum of Art, University

of Kansas(Glfl of William P. Fenn)

 Yang Kowu (act. 1940s) 122. Yang Nawei (1912-1982) 123. Zhao Yannian (b. 1924)
120. Yang Keyang ib. 1914) 121.

Oppose Press Censorship Silence Is the Best Defense Spreadhw Civiltea tior>
The Professor
ed [1940s] 1947 1946-1947
1947 I

x cm Woodcut; 23.4 x 16.6 cm Woodcut; 20.5 x 29.1 cm Woodcut; 13.8 x 19 cm

Woodcut; 21.8 16.2

Glfl of Professor and Giil ni Professor and Gift of Professor and

ifessorand
Mrs. Theodore Herman. Mrs. Theodore Herman, Mrs. Theodore Herman,
Mrs. Theodore Herman,
Picker Art Gallery. Colgate Picker Art Gallery, Colgate Picker Art Gallery, Colgate
I'u-k.M- Art Gallery C
University University University
University

121

120

122 123
124. Cai Dizhi (b. 1918) 125. Li Hua (1907-1994)

Fleeing Guilin by the North Station Arise, Suffering Slaves

1944 1947

Woodcut; 14.6 x 21 cm Woodcut; 20 x 27.5 cm

Gift of Professor and Mrs. Theodore Gift of Professor and Mrs. Theodore
Herman, Picker Art Gallery, Colgate Herman, Picker Art Gallery, Colgate

University University
L26. (in Yuan 1 1919-1996) 127. Shi I.n (1919 1982)
Human Bridge Down with Feudalism
1948 1949
Woodcut; 22.2x39.3 cm Woodcut; ;il.2x22cm
JlongSU Provincial Art Gallery. Nanjing China International Exhibition Agency,
Beijing'
The Modern Woodcut
Movement
Julia F. Andrews and Kuiyi Shen, The Ohio State University

The woodcut movement, which by the late times. Whereas Ren Xiong in 1854 had
1940s had become the de facto "official turned over his paintings for Drinking
art" of the Communist party, may be the Cards with Illustrations of the Forty-eight
most thoroughly published of any seg- Immortals to a trusted and highly skilled
ment of twentieth-century Chinese art. friend for carving on pear-wood blocks.
The hagiographic nature of much of the the twentieth-century print makers
literature is due, in part, to the very real learned to carve and print their own
difficulties its idealistic young artists blocks. Although the often technically
faced. This canonization, however, crude results of these early printing
obscures its avant-garde origins, and efforts are arguably less "creative" than
tends to oversimplify the histories of its Ren Xiong's sophisticated collaboration
artists, of the art form, and of China with his printer, they do project feelings
itself in this extraordinarily complicated of immediacy that are certainly appropri-
period. ate to the styles andmeanings of the
Rather than viewing the modern works. Additionally, artists of the mod-
woodcut movement as the first chapter in ern woodcut generally printed with
the development of Communist art, we European oil-based printing inks rather
assert that its early history is best divid- than with traditional water-based inks,
ed into two phases that parallel develop- further differentiating their work from
ments in other imported Western medi- that of earlier times.
ums. 1
An important chronological divide The modern woodcut was thus a form
occurred at the Japanese invasion, which of art that, from its inception, fully syn-
was a critical episode in the development thesized the cosmopolitan aspirations of
of all Chinese artists. Although a certain its practitioners with the particularities
proportion of the prints produced before of their Chinese situation. In the develop-
1937 disclose leftist political inclinations, ment of this new movement the most
multifaceted modernism was by far their consequential figure, as mentor and as
prevailing and most pervasive character- patron, was writer, art collector, and
istic. Prints produced after the Japanese amateur designer Lu Xun (1881-1936).

invasion, although still somewhat varied Trained in applied sciences at the School
in style, tend toward a greater unity of of Mining and Railways in Nanjing begin-
purpose and a more urgently ideological ning in 1898. and in medical and literary
tone, and are often carved in styles that studies in Tokyo from 1902 to 1909, he
are more realistic or easily readable. became convinced that not only modern
Thus, while it is impossible to entire- science and medicine but also modern lit-
ly separate the subject matter or even life erature and art, which he believed could
stories of the artists from domestic polit- free the spirit, were crucial to the mod-
ical events, the work should also be ernization of China.
viewed in the context of international Appointed in 1912 by the Chinese
art. Although the woodcut was invented Republic's first Minister of Education,
in China, and was almost a thousand Cai Yuanpei. to head a section of the min-
years old by the time the modern woodcut istry's Social Education Office responsi-
movement was born, most of its young ble for art, culture,and science, he took
practitioners in China considered it as his mandate the development of muse-
Western and modern. Li Hua. writing ums, libraries, galleries, exhibitions, lit-

sixty years later, still maintained that erature, and drama, and the preservation
the "creative" woodcut was not born in of ancient sites and monuments. A series
China until the twentieth century. 2
of public lectures he gave in 1912, which
One might take issue with this for- proposed a program to disseminate art
mulation on a number of counts, but on throughout the population by means of
one essential underlying point it is cor- public cultural institutions such as muse-
rect. The artists of the modern woodcut ums, concert halls, theaters, and histori-
movement in China initiated significant cal monuments, was particularly far-
changes in the practice of making prints. sighted. 3

Artists of the 1930s did away with the As a collector of art, Lu Xun amassed
division of labor that had characterized objects that ranged from illustrated
Chinese printing since at least Ming books to antique rubbings, from Ming
THE MODERN WOODOUT MoYKMKNT

paintings to European woodcuts. This Kanae (1882-1946), began about 1915 and
broad view of material culture may have steadily grew throughout the twenties
been typical of scholar-collectors of the and thirties. 1

premodern era, but Lu Xun's practical The artist Li Shutong (1880-1942), one
training and. most importantly, his avid of the first Chinese to study art in Meiji
reading of European and Japanese litera- Japan, returned home enthusiastic about
ture expanded his horizons to include the making of woodblock prints, and by
objects from Russia. Germany, and Japan 1912 he and his students were carving
alongside his Chinese specimens. Among their own blocks for woodblock prints. He
his early enthusiasms as a collector and went on to exhibit prints by European
patron was the art of illustration, which artists in Shanghai in 1918. 5 Li's influence
included traditional Chinese illustrated on the development of Chinese graphic
books and European books. This com- design, particularly cover design and
pletely global view of the arts was fully illustration, is patent in the careers of
synthesized in his own fiction, which is his students and their students, including
extremely individualistic, very Chinese, Feng Zikai (1898-1975) and Qian Juntao (b.

and yet fully international. 1906). but woodcuts did not. apparently,
Lu Xun remained in Beijing until take hold as quickly in the Chinese artis-
1926. when a dispute with the Ministry of tic community. 6

Education led him to take teaching posts Among the young artists inspired by
first in Xiamen. Fujian Province, and Lu Xun and Li Shutong in the late twen-
then in Guangzhou. By the fall of 1927 the ties and early thirties, it was generally
Nationalist government's brutal suppres- oil who were attracted to the
painters
sion of Communist sympathizers, which woodcut medium, and they derived fervor
led to the death of one of Lu Xun's stu- from their belief that the woodcut move-
dents, impelled him to move to Shanghai. ment was wholly modern and Western in
During the last decade of his life he origin. Whereas Lu Xun and Li Shutong,
strove to encourage visual artists who classically educated in China and further
might realize in the visual arts the same trained in Japan, would have been thor-
cosmopolitan originality that he advocat- oughly aware of the connections between
ed in literature. Active throughout his modern woodcuts and the woodblock
career in publishing and editing, Lu Xun print tradition, both Chinese and
conveyed to his followers the importance Japanese. Both men might well have dis-
of disseminating art and knowledge covered the Japanese woodblock tradition
through printing. and its connection with the modernist
In the 1880s. while Chinese artists woodcuts of contemporary Japanese
were experimenting with lithography to artists while studying in Japan; Lu Xun
reproduce their monochromatic line- would certainly have encountered modern
drawn journalistic images, many Japanese woodcuts via his friendship with
Japanese newspapers continued to com- the Japanese bookstore owner Uchiyama
mission woodblock-printed pictures, per- Kanzo, whom he met in Shanghai. Among
haps because their color was superior to younger Chinese artists, it was only later
that of contemporary lithographs. that traditional Chinese woodblock
Slightly later, between about 1895 and prints, unmatched in techniques and
1915. the numerous Japanese oil painters materials, became a source of justifiable
who studied in Europe were returning, pride.
bringing not only mastery of modern During the twenties and thirties Lu
styles of oil painting but also full aware- Xun took as one of his missions the pro-
ness of the prestige of Japanese woodcuts motion of European art, particularly art

among modern Western painters. that seemed to deal with social and polit-
Woodcut art, which in the late nineteenth ical problems similar to those faced by
century was threatened by popular pub- China. He organized a number of events at
lishing in Western mediums, experienced which young artists had the opportunity
an artistic revival. This revival, spurred to see his collection of European wood-
in partby graduates of the Western cuts and to hear his views on the poten-
painting department of the Tokyo tial efficacy of this art form in improving
School of Fine Arts, such as Yamamoto China's art and society. And. although
THE MODERN WOODCUT MOVEMENT
increasingly sympathetic to the
Communist pa.rty, his taste in art was
broad. He and five friends, calling them-
selves the Morning Flower Society, pub-
lished between 1928 and 1930 five volumes
of foreign woodcuts, which ranged in
style from Aubrey Beardsley to Russian
Constructivism. In 1930, with the help of
his friend Uchiyama Kanzo. he held
al exhibitions of his woodcut collection
Shanghai. Equally influential were his
published translations, including Russian
Marxist art theory by Anatoly
Lunacharsky (cat. 80), Georgy Plekhanov.
and others.
The birth of the modern Chinese
woodcut movement is often dated by its
participants to the week of 17-22 August
1931, when Lu Xun organized a group of
young artists to study print making with
the younger brother of his friend
Uchiyama Kanzo. The same intellectual
ferment of the late 1920s that produced
artistic radicals such as the members
theStorm Society brought the woodcut
movement into being. Unlike the oil
painters, however, whose works tended to
be radical in form rather than theme,
some at least of the young converts to the
woodcut movement gave pictorial expres-
sion to the political activism and social
criticism expressed by Lu Xun (and most
other May Fourth writers).
The newly established National
Hangzhou Arts Academy, with the
encouragement of the school's French-
trained director, Lin Fengmian, had
spawned a student club that called itself
the Eighteen Arts Society, after the year
of its founding (1929, or the eighteenth
year of the Republic). Soon the Eighteen
had a branch in Shanghai. Some of its
members became involved with the
Communist Youth League when it was
formed the following year, and others
joined the League of Left- Wing Artists in
1931. To recruit students for the woodcut
class that he organized and sponsored and
for which he translated and lectured. Lu
Xun contacted the Eighteen Arts Society,
which enrolled six of its own members,
two students from Shanghai Arts College
(Shanghai yizhuan), two from Shanghai
Art Academy (Shanghai meizhuan), and
three from the White Goose Western
Painting Club, for a total of thirteen stu-
dents. Among the artists represented
here, Jiang Feng (see cat. 92) and Chen
Tiegeng (see cat. 91), representing the
White Goose Western Painting Club and
the Shanghai Arts College, respectively,
attended the class. The course included
practical training in carving and printing
by Uchiyama, as well as some introducto-
ry art history of prints, from ukiyo-e to
sever- German Expressionism, taught by Lu
in Xun and illustrated by original examples.
Lu Xun served as a mentor to many
more young print makers. After the head-
quarters of the Eighteen Society in
Shanghai was destroyed by the Japanese
bombing in 1932, this organization was
succeeded by a rapid succession of art
clubs, which sought to keep one step
ahead of the increasingly anti-leftist
measures of the Nationalist authorities.
Most of these groups were in touch with
Lu Xun. and some even obtained his
financial backing. Many of the early
woodcuts reproduced here were gifts from
of the young artists, either individually or
as a group, to their mentor.
Although the prints of the twenties
and thirties were not uniformly political
in content (as standard post-1949 histo-
ries would lead us to believe), many of
them were political, usually either
antigovernment or anti-Japanese, or
less often in this period — overtly social-
ist. Some of the earliest were direct
responses to perceived outrages commit-
ted by the Nationalist government.
During the year preceding Hu Yichuan's
making of To the Front! in 1932 (oat. 99).
Japan had invaded Manchuria and
bombed a section of Shanghai. The print
is a clear attack on the Nationalist gov-
ernment's failure to resist Japanese
aggression and a call for a popular resis-
tance movement.
Hu Yichuan was twenty-two years old
when he produced To the Front!. From a
Fujianese family but raised in Indonesia,
he returned to Xiamen for middle school
in 1925. He matriculated at the Hangzhou
West Lake National Arts Academy in
1929. where he studied with a French oil-
painting instructor. He became involved
in a number of student activities, includ-
ing organizing the influential Eighteen
Arts Society and the Communist Youth
League. In 1930 he joined the League of
Left- Wing Artists and by 1931 was closely
involved with Lu Xun and the woodcut
THE MODERN wnonrn' Mnv m k\t i:

mm He was expelled from lie

I'lni'iil . l cat. 106). organized themselves into the
Academy work in 1932,
for his political Wild Grain Woodcut Society in 1933. In

whereupon he moved to Shanghai to the same year they published two issues
teach print making and to engage in of the hand-printed Muban hua
labor activism. ("Woodblock Prints"), which were distrib-
To the Front! was exhibited in mid- uted by Shenzhou Guoguang Press: then
June of 1932 at an exhibition held by the itwas suppressed by the authorities."
Eighteen Arts Society's successor, the Chen Tiegeng's Glimpse of the Esperanto
Spring Earth Painting Research Center, Exhibition, signed with his pseudonym
at the Shanghai YMCA. That leftist Kebo. is one of ten prints published in the
group, then only a month old, proclaimed first issue (cat. 91). The exhibited copy of
in its manifesto: "Modern art must follow the magazine bears on its cover a dedica-
a new road, must serve a new society, tion to Lu Xun in pencil, dated to 15 June
must become a powerful tool for educat- 1933, by the Wild Grain Society.
ing the masses, informing the masses, Chen Tiegeng, whose original name
and organizing the masses. The new art was Chen Yaotang, like a remarkable
must accept this mission as it moves for- number of the progressive print makers,
ward." The exhibition included roughly a
7
was a native of Xingning. Guangdong
hundred oils, cartoons, gouaches, and Province. The number of politically pro-
woodcuts, as well as a collection of fifty gressive print makers from Guangdong is
or sixty German prints assembled by Lu striking: Li Hua, himself a Guangdong
Xun and a German friend. At the exhibi- native, attributes that concentration to
tion Lu Xun purchased ten prints, of the progressive Sun Yat-sen government
which this may have been one. established in Guangzhou in 1924, and to
A number of members of the Spring the freedoms offered by the treaty ports
Earth Society, including Jiang Feng and ofHong Kong and Macao. Chen entered '

the poet Ai Qing. were arrested in July of the National Hangzhou Arts Academy
1932. and the club's papers and prints were soon after its founding in 1928. He joined
seized as evidence of subversion. the Eighteen Arts Society, and worked
Members remaining free established a with Jiang Feng to establish its branch in
new club in September, the Wild Wind Shanghai. In 1932 he took part in the
Painting Association, at which Lu Xun summer woodcut class that Lu Xun had
lectured in October and December. organized in 1931. A co-founder, with Chen
Among those in attendance were Hu Yanqiao and other students at the
Yichuan. Ma Da. Xia Peng, and Chen Shanghai New China Art School, of the
Tiegeng (see cats. 91. 95). As one club suc- Wild Grain Woodcut Society in 1933, he
cumbed to political or financial pres- returned to his home town of Xingning to
sures, it was succeeded by another. Hu teach middle school in 1935.'"

Yichuan was arrested in 1933, and his Chen Yanqiao. who also published
friends Ma Da. Xia Peng. Chen Tiegeng, prints under the name Li Wucheng, was a
and Wo Zha (1905-1974) (see cat. 93) native of Dongwan in Guangdong
regrouped as the Empty Wave Painting Province. Sources differ on whether he
Club. Within a month the group's leaders, entered the National Hangzhou Arts
including his lover. Xia Peng, were arrest- Academy or the Guangzhou Art School's
ed. She died in jail the following year. Western painting department in 1928. but
Such events, which were tragically com- in 1931 he transferred to the Western
mon among the young activist artists, painting department of Shanghai's New
can only have turned their youthful China Art School. Lu Xun quickly
enthusiasm into grim resolve. The move- became his mentor in the woodcut move-
ment flowered despite, or perhaps because ment. A passionate activist. Chen co-
of. the Nationalist government's attempts founded both the Wild Grain Woodcut
to stamp out political dissent. Society and the Empty Wave Painting
A group of print makers, mostly stu- Society in 1933. and was arrested soon
dents and faculty of Shanghai Arts thereafter. By the fall of 1936 he had reap-
College and their friends, including Chen peared as a member of the Modern
Tiegeng (1908-1970). Chen Yanqiao Woodcut Society in Guangzhou, and he
(1911-1970), and He Baitao (1913-1939) (see helped Li Hua organize the second
THE MODERN WOODCUT MOVEMENT

National Traveling Woodcut Exhibition WoodcuL (see cat. 101). Of all his prints,

of 1936. Shortly before Lu Xun died, they the most striking may be the undated
were photographed together in Prisoner (cat. 107). '-
Shanghai." Huang Xinbo, who also published
Also in 1933, a group that called itself under the name Yigong, was a native of
the Nameless Woodcut Society (Weiming Taishan, Guangdong Province. In 1933 he
muke she) appeared on the scene, founded moved from Guangdong to Shanghai,
by Lu Xun's student Liu Xian (1915-1990) where he studied briefly at the New Asia
and the latter's friend Huang Xinbo Art Institute and associated with wood-
(1915-1980). In 1934 the group produced an cut artists such as Liu Xian. The mid-
anthology entitled Nameless Woodcut 1980s found him briefly in Japan, whence
Selection, whose frontispiece is reproduced he returned to help organize the Second
here The prints were mainly con-
(cat. 88). National Traveling Woodcut Exhibition
tributed by Liu Xian, Huang Xinbo, and of 1936. Several extremely interesting
Chen Yanqiao, and the uncredited fron- Surrealist oil paintings, done in the early
tispiece image closely resembles the work thirties, survive in poor condition in
of Huang Xinbo. According to the preface, Guangzhou.
dated to October 1934, the group had four Persecuted in Shanghai by the
founding members, was about a year old. Guomindang. many of the print makers
and had published two previous antholo- returned to their home towns in
gies, in which they called themselves first Guangdong, which became an important
"00" and then "Anonymous Society." In center for woodcut activity. A group of
July of 1934 they adopted the appellation art societies, closely related in member-
Nameless Woodcut Society. The preface ship and purpose to those that had been
notes with some distress the report that forced to disband in Shanghai, sprang up
the Nationalist government's Labor Guangzhou during the
in various parts of
Department had recently seized the mid by returnees
to late 1930s, organized
prints of the MK Society and arrested from Shanghai and Hangzhou. Even as
many of its members. "This makes us sus- calls for patriotic art were raised, and
picious and fearful. 'This woodcutting met, by many of the artists, more person-
cannot be studied? Why?' The Wooden al work continued to fill the pages of the
Bell Woodcut Society in Hangzhou, and woodcut journals.
the Wildfire Woodcut Research Society in After graduating in 1935. Zhang Wang
Beiping were both forced to close even (1915-1992) also left Shanghai to return to
earlier. The reasons for this need not be Shantou, Guangdong, and became active
gone over... We think, ourselves, that when in the various woodcut societies in the
we have an opportunity to carve and to region.Zhang Wang, who also published
print, we will continue construction and under the name Zhang Zhiping, had
struggle!" The album includes rural land- entered the Shanghai Arts College's
scapes, unhappy factory workers, strikes, Western painting department in 1931. The
and the somewhat chilling depiction of following year he joined the League of
urban industry in catalogue 88. The group Left- Wing Artists and organized the MK
also published solo collections by Liu Woodcut Society. His print Head Wound,
Xian and Huang Xinbo and a number of boy Injured
of 1934 (cat. 103). depicting a
print anthologies, some of which were dis- in a demonstration, was selected by Lu
tributed in Shanghai by the Uchiyama Xun for inclusion in his contemporary
Bookstore. woodcut anthology Muke jicheng
Liu Xian was a native of Lanfeng ("Woodcut Progress"). His equally strik-
13

(now Lankao) county. Henan Province. He ing anti- Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek)
began making woodcuts on his own in print. China's Dictator (cat. 108), was sent
Beijing, and in 1933 enrolled in the by Lu Xun in 1933 for exhibition in France
Shanghai Arts College, where he met and Russia under the name Zhang Ping.
Huang Xinbo. Between 1934 and 1937, he Zhang Wang edited Huilan muke ("Rising
studied at the Imperial Arts College in Tide Woodcuts'"), which in 1935 published
Tokyo. While in Japan he published wide- made by faculty and students of
prints
ly in China, both solo albums and in Shantou middle schools. In his preface,
woodcut periodicals such as Modern written in May of 1935. Zhang Wang
 Ill MODERN WOODCUT MOVKMKNT

traced the artistic lineage of the modern and it published eighteen issues of
hui),

woodcut movement through the small Modern Woodcut between 1934 and 1936 (see
societies we have described, beginning cats. 87, 89, 90, 98, 100-102).
wit li the Eighteen Arts Society, through In July of 1934 the group began corre-
theWooden Bell Society, the Wild Grain sponding with Lu Xun. to whom they sent
Woodcut Society, and the MK Woodcut a copy of each issue. The issues of Modern
Society. Woodcut reproduced here were given by Li
Chen Tiegeng. returning from Hua to Lu Xun. The first issue, run off on
Shanghai in 1935. continued to publish in machine presses and totaling five hun-
Guangdong, along with other woodcut dred copies, appeared in December 1934.

artists including Zhang Hui (cat. 105) and Its editorial introduction proclaimed the
Luo Qingzhen, and continued to corre- artists' fealty to Western prototypes by
spond with Lu Xun. One of Chen's best- beginning: "Printmaking has a very short
known prints was reproduced in Huilan history in China...." It concludes by stat-
muke. It is exhibited here under the title ing the editor's belief that prints, with
Waiting (cat. 95). but it exists in several their strong contrasts of light and dark,
different states, as well as in versions are the "art form best suited to express-
bearing different titles. The Paris exhibi- ing profound emotions and representing
tion list prepared by Lu Xun in late 1933 images of human life and society."
includes a print called Waiting for Papa. Acknowledging receipt of his copy,
Various other publications list it as Lu Xun commented that the glossy paper
Mother and Son. The image depicts a and oily ink diminished the effect of the
mother and son desperately awaiting the artwork, and he counseled that woodcuts
return of the boy's father. Has the absent should be printed by hand. Li Hua took
father gone to seek work? Has he been this advice to heart. Henceforth the mag-
arrested or killed? Less striking composi- azine was composed of original prints
tionally than Zhang Wang's work, it pasted onto its pages, and was usually
nonetheless is moving in its ambiguity. issued in a run of fifty copies. Li Hua's
The most influential group in Street Siveepers. of 1935 (cat. 90), is the

Guangzhou, the Society for Research on cover of the third issue. Issue four drew a
Modern Creative Prints, was established highly positive response from Lu Xun: it

in 1934 and continued to be extremely was printed and bound beautifully, it

active until the Japanese occupied the should be sent to artists and critics in
city in 1938. One of its key organizers was Japan and Russia, and his friend
Li Hua (1907-1994). Like many of the Uchiyama had expressed interest in sell-
Chinese modernists. Li Hua was born in ing issues two through four, if copies were
Guangzhou merchant family. He
to a still available." That issue was filled with
studied at the Guangzhou Municipal Art charming images taken from folk culture,
College, and recalls having been infatuat- but issue 5. which claims to carry on the
ed in his youth with art of the School of editorial intent to represent everyday life
Paris. By the late 1920s, with the publica- in Guangzhou, is far from pleasant. In his
tion of Lu Xun's woodcut collection, preface Li Hua wrote that the medium is
many young artists Guangzhou had
in well suited to representing common life,
begun studying prints. The young Li Hua because it is undecorative and even naive.
switched from oil painting to print mak- The images in issue five, in a variety of
ing in the early 1930s and went briefly to styles, all represent the underside of soci-
Shanghai, the fountainhead of the mod- ety: a lonely old man with his caged bird,
ern woodcut movement and of modern art female construction workers doing back-
generally. Returning to teach at his alma breaking labor, the dog market, blind
mater, Guangzhou Municipal Art College singers alone at night, pawnshops, gam-
in 1934, he took advantage of the political bling,opium addiction, ricksha pullers,
freedoms offered by nearby Macao and prostitution, cricket fights, and so forth.
Hong Kong to organize a society to pro- Liu Xian's ironically titled A Lady, in
mote print making. Calling itself the this issue (cat. 101), is clearly a lady of
Society for Research on Modern Creative the evening.
Woodcuts, it is usually referred to as the In the preface to the sixth issue Li
Modern Woodcut Society (Xiandai banhua Hua's student Lai Shaoqi (b. 1915). quot-
TUB MODERN WOODCUT MOVEMENT

ing a Japanese writer and Guo Moruo, appears amid Picassoesque still lifes in
wrote of woodcuts that they had appeared the subsequent issue. Li Hua's extraordi-
in a time of social unrest and should nary call to arms. China, Roar! (cat. 98,).

serve society's needs. He quoted the appearing in issue fourteen, signifies the
Japanese author as saying that one has increasingly political distress of the
no right to talk about literature or art, artists. Their aggravated patriotism is

and cannot possibly understand litera- increasingly evident in issue fifteen,

ture and art, unless one immerses oneself despite its ostensible theme of New Year's
The quotation
in the realities of society. cards and Tang Yingwei's beautiful floral
from Guo Moruo admonishes the artist image on the cover (cat. 87). Among the
not to be the grandson of nature nor the "cards" within is one bearing gruesome
son of nature but rather the father of images printed on red paper and entitled
nature. This Lai interpreted to mean that The Terrors of 1936..., presumably an ironic
the artist should express nature but celebration (premature, as it turned out)
should never imitate or represent nature. of better things to come in 1937. Lai
Continuing in his own voice, Lai asserted Shaoqi's Cubist jailbreak is typical of his
that the woodblock print is the good modernistic aspirations in style, and its

friend of the common people, an aid to subject is characteristic of the ever more
Chinese culture and preventive of the cor- political nature of the group's subject
ruption of the common people's con- matter (cat. 89). ,0 Long-haired civilians
sciousness. Thus, we should not only attempt to break out of a barbed-wire
understand how to appreciate and create, enclosure, watched by soldiers wearing
but also should understand the woodcut the steel helmets usually associated with
itself, that is to say, the needs of society. Japanese troops. The print would seem,
Although the phrasing of such pas- then, an exhortation to eject the invading
sages of introductory text is strongly col- Japanese oppressors.
ored by socialist rhetoric, the artistic Li Hua was fired from his teaching
work itself seems modeled on a broader post at Guangzhou Municipal Art College,
range of sources. Tang Yingwei's (b. 1915) in the fall of 1935 because of his involve-
Blue Memory, in the sixth issue, offers a ment in the left-wing woodcut movement.
very personal meditation on human life, During the mid-thirties, in addition to
presented in a European modernist for- his responsibilities in publishing Modern
mat; the distress it represents, individual Woodcut, he helped organize the First
and possibly alcohol-induced, is only National Traveling Woodcut Exhibition
vaguely attributable to societal malaise. and produced several solo albums, includ-
The whole work is intentionally naive in ing one consisting of polychromatic
execution, including the avant-garde woodcuts in the style of Picasso and
poem carved with deliberate clumsiness another, entitled The Suburbs in Spring, of
beneath the figural image (cat. 102). It lyrical landscapes (see cat. 94). The prints
reads: of Li and his colleagues from this period
That black bird, from a distant place, display a variety of styles, ranging from
Brings dreams and memories Cubism to Expressionism to Realism.
That are the blue taste of wine, aah. Like Pang Xunqin and his fellow artists
Those people at the mouth of the vol- in the Storm Society in Shanghai. Li and
cano, other Cantonese artists were attacked by
They do the skeleton dance, both the left and the right. To the dog-
Those people at the mouth of the vol- matic Communists of Shanghai, their
cano, varied and often rather personal work was
They sing the soul's dirge. petit bourgeois: to the Nationalist
Those pathetic people, ohhhh. authorities, much of their imagery was
What they remember. alarmingly left-wing.
What we remember, The First Nati onal Traveling
Everything, Woodcut Exhibition was held in Beijing
Is blue memory. during the first six months of 1935. then
A similar crisis of the spirit as rendered toured several other cities, including
by Li Hua. one of his several experiments Shanghai. It presented 280 contemporary
in multiblock printing (see cat. 100), woodcuts, many of them emphatically
T1IH MODKRN WOODCUT MOVKMKNT

political in subject matter. Although the Traveling Exhibition, which opened at

editor of the catalogue was arrested Guangzhou Central Library on 5 July
before it was published, the exhibition 1936, along with a map of its itinerary in
proceeded with relatively little interfer- each of the twelve planned venues. Tang's
ence, and stimulated new waves of wood- style in Forward! is quite different from
cut production. As if in response, a group the lyricism of his Chrysanthemum (cat.
of Shanghai artists, including Jiang Feng 87) of about the same time. Here, hero-
and Wo Zha, organized the Steel Horse ically rendered militia, male and female,
Print Society and published three issues advance under a banner proclaiming
of a handprinted periodical which they "Liberation." One of the last known
called Steel Horse Woodcuts. Wo Zha's photographs of Lu Xun was taken on
depiction of the tragic Yangzi River 8 October 1936. at the Shanghai YMCA
floods of 1931 appeared in the first issue showing of the Second National
(cat. 93). while Jiang Feng, recently Traveling Exhibition, eleven days before
released from prison, presumably ren- he died of tuberculosis.
dered a subject from his own experience. Several works in the present exhibi-
The Trial, for the second issue (cat. 92). tion were part of that 1936 national wood-
Li Hua and several other members of cut exhibition, including Tang Yingwei's
the Modern Woodcut Society in The Homeless (cat. 110), Li Hua's China,
Guangzhou were also instrumental in Roar! (cat. 98), and Wo Zha's Flooding (cat.

organizing the second National Traveling 93). Zhang Hui and Lai Shaoqi also figure
Print Exhibition, to be held the following in both exhibitions, though represented
year. And Modern
in April of 1936 the in each by different works (cats. 105, 89).

Woodcut Society started a new magazine, Tang Yingwei's Devils (cat. 104) did not
Mukejie ("Woodcut World"), edited by appear in the 1936 exhibition.
Tang Yingwei. In contrast to its predeces- The Modern Woodcut Society dis-

sor. Modern Woodcut, the new periodical banded in 1938 with the outbreak of the
was mechanically printed, and its format war, and the third national exhibition
of essays, short features, news items from took place under very difficult circum-
China and abroad, and reproductions of stances. Under the Japanese occupation
new woodcuts was designed to reach a the print makers scattered, some to Hong
wider audience. Subjects of particular Kong or abroad, others to Chongqing to
concern in its pages were the Second assist the war effort at the capital-in-
National Traveling Woodcut Exhibition, exile, and yet others to the Communist
which the Society was then in process of stronghold in Yan'an. The days of mod-
organizing, and the role of woodcuts in ernist experimentation were over, as the
China's resistance to Japan. woodcut movement dedicated itself with
Chen Yanqiao's grim Security Tower, newfound focus to communicating
1936 (cat. 96). was published in the first national needs and political goals.
issue of Woodcut World, which appeared on
15 April 1936. The current exhibition's THE WAR YEARS
copy of this issue was given to Lu Xun by As we have seen, the Japanese military
Tang Yingwei. according to the handwrit- made continuous incursions into China
ten inscription dedicating it to Lu. Tang throughout the 1930s. Several infamous
Yingwei's Trail Blazing (cat. 86) appeared milestones mark the steady path to war.
on the cover of the third issue, which fea- On 18 September 1931 Japanese troops in
tured articles about the artistic experi- Manchuria provoked skirmishes with the
ence as recounted by various print mak- Chinese army, as pretext for the invasion
ers in the group, along with an essay on of Manchuria by Japanese troops based in
art for national defense and another on Korea. By the end of the year Japan con-
questions of woodcuts and realism. The trolled the entire region. For reasons that
copy of this issue in the current exhibi- primarily had to do with domestic poli-
tion is also inscribed in ink by Tang tics, Jiang Jieshi ordered the Chinese
Yingwei to Lu Xun. The fourth (and final) army to retreat south of the Great Wall,
issue, with Tang Yingwei's dramatic thus effectively ceding Manchuria to
cover image Forward! (cat. 85), included a Japanese control. Then, on 29 January
checklist of the Second National 1932, the Japanese navy bombed Zhabei,
THE MODERN WOODCUT MOVEMENT

killing many civilians in this poor resi- with the Communists in a United Front
dential district of Shanghai and destroy- against the Japanese, but the two groups
ing, among other enterprises, the still maintained separate bases, the
Commercial Press. Nationalists in China's southwest, with
The government's failure to respond their wartime capital at Chongqing.
to these insults, while at the same time Sichuan Province. The neighboring
using its police and military to suppress province of Yunnan served as their trans-
domestic dissent, was extremely unpopu- portation corridor to the European
lar, and on 12 December 1936 Jiang Jieshi The
colonies in southeast Asia.
was kidnapped by an alliance of generals Communists had established their capital
and warlords who released him on his in Yan'an, in the north-central province
promise to stop persecuting his political of Shaanxi, and controlled a substantial
opposition and to reorganize his govern- amount of territory in this impoverished
ment to resist Japan. Thus, when Japan region. After the collapse of Wuhan,
attacked Chinese troops outside Beijing China's artists, like all Chinese, were left
on 7 July 1937— the Marco Polo Bridge with very unsatisfactory options. They
Incident — war followed. After occupying could remain in their Japanese-occupied
Beijing and Tianjin, the Japanese moved homes, as some did, or they could relocate
steadily south, and the army (as well as to the Nationalist territories, or they
its general) assigned by Jiang Jieshi to could join the Communists in Shaanxi. As
defend Nanjing deserted. After taking Li Hua has pointed out, the lack of com-
control of Nanjing on 12-13 December munication between the Nationalist and
1937, Japanese troops raped, massacred, Communist base areas, as well as the dif-
and looted for seven weeks — a rampage ferent life experiences, led woodcut
that their commanders abetted or con- artists to develop somewhat different
doned as fitting punishment for the city's styles and themes.
resistance. The "Rape of Nanjing" Some of the artists who headed
shocked the world; as historian Jonathan immediately for Yan'an. like Jiang Feng,
Spence has written, this "period of terror were already committed Communists, but
and destruction ...must rank among the many were liberal or leftist intellectuals
worst in the history of modern warfare." 16 impelled to join the Communists at
Artists and intellectuals rallied to Yan'an by Jiang Jieshi 's persecution of
the national crisis, briefly hopeful that political dissenters, and did not become
the civil war between the Nationalists party members until after their arrival.
and the Communists could be put aside Yan Han (b. 1916). for example, who with
for the sake of the nation's survival. classmates from the Hangzhou Arts
Woodcuts, recently viewed in Shanghai as Academy had fled the Japanese occupa-
instruments of social change, now tion for Nationalist-controlled inland
became weapons of national salvation. China, soon left school for Yan'an, but did
When a new capital was briefly estab- not join the Communist party until three
lished at Wuhan in central China, a months after his arrival. Among artists
department of the government was orga- who moved to Yan'an after Wuhan fell
nized under Guo Moruo to coordinate the were Jiang Feng. Hu Yichuan. Chen
activities of writers and artists in the Tiegeng. Wo Zha. and Luo Gongliu.
anti-Japanese effort. Throughout 1938 Younger artists, such as Gu Yuan (1919-
activists, including Ni Yide, Li Hua, Lai 1996) and Yan Han. soon followed. This

Shaoqi. Huang Xinbo, and Luo Gongliu, pattern of disillusionment with the
flocked to Wuhan from Guangzhou. Nationalists repeated itself many times:
Shanghai, Hangzhou, and elsewhere. But after the fall of Wuhan to the Japanese
Wuhan also fell by the end of 1938. by such artists as Chen Yanqiao and Zhang
which time the Japanese controlled most Wang first joined the anti-Japanese resis-
of China's eastern seaboard and its major tance at Chongqing, then (in 1939) moved
outlets to the sea. Only the international to the Communists at Yan'an. The Yan'an
concessions of Shanghai remained free, aiea was the base of activity for the
and those only until the bombing of Pearl Communist Eighth Route Army, and
Harbor on 7 December 1941. activities there aimed to support the
The Nationalists had agreed to work army's efforts.
 lonKKN wiinncrT movkmknt

In 1938 the Communist New Fourth prints, striving for naive effects that
Army was organized in the south, to oper- more closely resembled folk prints. Yan
ate mainly in Jiangxi, Jiangsu, and Han's 1944 print. New Year Door Guardian,
Anhui provinces. Liu Xian. who had gone People's Fighter (cat. 113), was originally
to Japan in 1934. returned home following one of a pair of woodcut posters intended
the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937. In to replace the traditional door guardian
1938, the year he carved the exquisite with a patriotic image. Its stylized sword,

woodcut Consolidate Our Unity (cat. 111). spear, horse, and decorated textiles do
he joined the New Fourth Army in his indeed recall the compositional and aes-
native Henan Province. thetic conventions of folk New Year's
A now-legendary school called the Lu prints of the region, but also present some
Xun Academy of Arts was established at significant iconographic modifications.
the Communist base of Yan'an to train In narrative woodcuts of the same
young artists in propaganda techniques. time and region figures tend to be
It was headed first by Hu Yichuan. then arranged in frieze-like compositions (see
by Jiang Feng, veterans of the Shanghai cat. 116). Particularly striking is the new
woodcut movement, who dominated pro- practice of cutting away most of the
paganda efforts. Other faculty members woodblock, leaving the images in outline.
were Wo Zha. who arrived in Chen 1937, This convention, based on antique
Yanqiao and Zhang Wang, who came from sources, was fundamental to the conserv-
Chongqing in 1939, and Liu Xian. who ative aesthetics of folk prints in the
moved there from the south in 1939. Liu region.
Xian first taught print making at the Lu Following Japan's surrender to the
Xun Academy, and later held various Allies in 1945, the never wholly discontin-
administrative positions, including head ued conflict between the Communists and
of the Art Committee of the Shaanxi- the Nationalists intensified. Most artists
Gansu-Ningxia Border Area Culture who had been active in Yan'an remained
Association. In 1942 he had a solo show in in the Communist-controlled territories
Yan'an. After the war he went to work for until the Communist victory in 1949. Gu
New China Daily in Chongqing. Yuan's Human Bridge of 1948 (cat. 126) was
Among the most notable students of produced after he had trekked with his
the academy was Yan Han. who had comrades on foot to the Communist-con-
already completed three years of art trolled part of Manchuria the previous
school in Hangzhou. He studied at the Lu year. Like many prints produced in what
Xun Academy for three months in 1938. were called the liberated zones, it was cel-

then was assigned to the academy's wood- ebratory in nature, commemorating the
cut team at the headquarters of the heroism of a glorious military victory.
Eighth Route Army in the Taihang A similarly positive print was made
Mountains. He worked in the field with the following year by the Sichuan native
Hu Yichuan and Luo Gongliu, often Shi Lu (1919-1982 who had left home for
),

behind enemy lines, producing woodcut the Communist base area in 1939. In the
posters to encourage the local peasants to mid-forties he, like Liu Xian, went to
resist the Japanese and help the work for the Culture Association of the

Communist army. Another noteworthy Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region.

student was Gu Yuan, who arrived in 1939 Shi's striking print of 1949, Down With
and became one of the instructors at the Feudalism (cat. 127). celebrates the
academy after completing the woodcut Communist victory in the mountainous
class. northwest.
A number of veteran Shanghai Work produced in the Nationalist
artists attended Mao Zedong's Yan'an areas was slightly different in style and
Talks on Art and Literature in 1942. fol- subject matter from the work of the
lowing which they were urged to discard Yan'an artists. Jiang Jieshi had agreed to
their urban attitudes, the better to satis- cease persecuting political dissenters as
fy the tastes of their peasant audience." part of the United Front, but his actions
In a striking stylistic shift, the woodcut continued to dismay many intellectuals.
artists largely abandoned shading and As we have seen, several print makers who
three-dimensional settings in their had originally settled in Nationalist
 I i; Mlllllilll-I U Mill CI!
I '| MUVK.M K.'.'T

Chongqing, including Zhang Wang and even more critical of the Nationalist gov-
Chen Yanqiao joined the Communists ernment than prints of previous years.
in 1939. Twelve of the prints in this section of the
Themes common in prewar Shanghai, current exhibition were given in 1948 by
such as the persecution of patriots by the LiHua and Wang Renfeng to Theodore
Nationalist government, remained lamen- Herman, an American then working as a
tably relevant during the war years. journalist in Shanghai, with the hope
Huang Xinbo, who had studied briefly in that they might be exhibited abroad. 18
Japan and had been active in Guangzhou For the most part, the prints of the
immediately before the war. joined Li Hua period 1945-1949 tend to be far more tech-
and Lai Shaoqi in Wuhan in 1938 to found nically refined than the work of the early
the All-China Woodcutters' Resist Japan thirties. Li Hua, for example, had worked
Association. Following the Japanese cap- for over a decade to improve his skills at
ture of Wuhan, the group re-established drawing and woodblock cutting. His post-
itself at Guilin. Guangxi Province. After war work shows no traces of his mod-
New Fourth Army troops were massacred ernist experiments of the 1930s, but tends
by their supposed allies, the Nationalist to be quite naturalistic and easily read-
army, in Huang carved He Hasn't
1941, able. Li's antigovernment print When the
Really Gone (cat. 112) to commemorate Requisition Officers Leave (cat. 117) depicts
the victims. He seems to have discovered the misery inflicted by Nationalist troops
the work of Rockwell Kent at about this as they confiscate the last food remaining
time, for all his later prints emulate the in the home of a poor family. Sharp con-
fine hatching and black backgrounds of trasts of black and white heighten the
that American artist's prints. The style effect of harshness on one side and
works with particular power in He Hasn't despair on the other. Take Him In! (also
Really Gone, where his formal precision called The Underground Press; cat. 118).
lends an unsettling elegance to the sub- probably somewhat autobiographical in
ject matter of an unburied corpse. After its imagery, features similar tonal con-
World War II ended, Huang Xinbo moved trasts between a dark but temporarily
toHong Kong, returning in 1949 to join safe interior and a brightly lit but threat-
theCommunist guerrillas in Guangzhou. ening world outside. It depicts an injured
The work of Shanghai cartoonist demonstrator staggering through the
Ding Cong (b. 1916) expresses even greater door of a small printing establishment;
disillusionment. During the war years outside, visible through the open door, is
Ding worked first in Hong Kong and then a man with a billy club upraised to strike
in the southwest. Images of Today (cat. again. Yang Keyang similarly villainized
119) of 1944 skewers the Nationalist gov- the Nationalist army in a 1947 print in
ernment's censorship and corruption. which soldiers and a character dressed
Among the barefoot soldiers, starving like a gangster forcibly conscript village
children, impoverished professors, and boys." Other postwar prints, such as Long
blindfolded artist move fat, corrupt offi- Tingba's (b. 1916) Widow and Orphan (cat.

cials, who are allowing needed food and 115), are no less heartfelt, if somewhat
fabric to deteriorate as they plot their less refined technically.

next financial moves. Although Images of A more generically revolutionary

Today is a gouache, not a woodcut, it is print, made by Hua as part of his 1947
Li
like contemporary woodcuts in theme "Tide of Anger" series,may have been
and purpose. inspired by one of Lu Xun's favorite
Following the Japanese surrender, artists. Kaethe Kollwitz. Arise, Suffering

artists in Yan'an tended to stay in the Slaves (cat. 125) shows the wretched of the
Communist-controlled areas, whereas earth, armed with a variety of weapons
most others returned to Shanghai. An including farm implements, raging for-
exhibition held in Shanghai in September ward against an unseen enemy.
of 1946 showed 916 woodcuts produced dur- A younger artist. Zhao Yannian
ing the war. and further exhibitions were (b. 1924). infused equal power into a scene
held frequently over the next few years, of hungry people rioting at a government
with aims both political andartistic. The rice depot (see cat. 114). making skilled
work produced after the war tended to be use of tonal contrasts and crosshatching
 — a

THE MIIDKKN WOODCUT MOYKMKNT

to convey the irresistible mass and for- fury at the failings of the Nationalist
ward momentum of the angry crowd. government and the resulting suffering
Yang Keyang (b. 1914), in The Professor among the people. This art, with its deso-
Sells His Books (cat. 120). condemns the late portrayals of the current social and
suffering and the waste of human talent political situation, prepared China's
caused (he implies) by incompetent and urban residents for the Communist victo-
corrupt government. Fleeing Guilin by the ry. Protest gave this art its power.
North Station (cat. 124) is a scene of des- Ironically, the Communist victory ended
peration as far as the eye can see; again, the woodcut's period of historical impor-
the implied cause is government incom-
petence and corruption.
Censorship was an issue of great
importance to the print makers. In
Spreading Civilization (cat. 123), a much
more upbeat print. Zhao Yannian created
a heroic image of young men delivering
newspapers or flyers, presumably propa-
gandizing against the government —
dangerous activity. Other prints actively
protest. Yang Nawei's (1912-1982) Silence is

the Best Defense (cat. 122), made in 1947,

depicts bookstore customers scowling
furiously at the police who are confiscat-
ing books. A woodcut broadsheet. Oppose
Press Censorship (cat. 121), by the uniden-
tifiedYang Kewu, shows us three cartoon
figures with theirmouths taped shut;
they are labeled with the names of three
Shanghai newspapers Lianhe, Wenhui,
and Xinmin — that were objects of govern-
ment censorship.
The modern woodcut movement, in
part by virtue of the portability of its

tools and materials, had a sustained and

continuous development from its birth in

the late 1920s through the Communist vic-

tory. It may thus summarize some of the
trends within the world of Western-style
Chinese art throughout this period. Like
the oil makers aimed
painters, the print
to achieve work that could compare qual-
itatively with that of print makers in the
West. In the medium's initial period of
development, the 1930s, woodcuts were
used to express a variety of personal and
political concerns, and were executed in a
variety of European styles ranging from
Cubism to Expressionism to Surrealism.
The war bifurcated the movement, as the
artists in the Communist territories
developed a new, somewhat naive style
based on northern peasant art. while the

artists in the Nationalist areas further

refined their techniques to create com-
plex, sophisticated images. Some of the
most powerful postwar images were made
in Shanghai, expressing an anguished
THE MODERN WOODCUT MOVEMENT

NOTES process particularly well. See her book The

1. The hagiographic view, which assesses the Winking Owl: Art in the People's Republic of
woodcut movement primarily in terms of its China (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of
contribution to the Communist revolution, is California Press, 1988), pp. 13-16.

well exemplified by Li Hua in his Chinese 18. Previous publication of parts of the Herman
Woodcuts, trans. Zuo Boyang (Beijing: Foreign collection may be found in Shirley Sun, Modern
Languages Press, 1995). Although our essay may Chinese Woodcuts (San Francisco: Chinese
differ substantially in its structure and point of Culture Foundation. 1979), and Lisa E. Rotondo.
view from Li Hua's many publications, we do Chinese Revolutionary Woodcuts, 1935-1948, from
not seek to minimize his enormous contribu- the Herman Collection, The Picker Art Gallery,

tion to the documentary study of Chinese Colgate University (Middletown, Conn, and
woodcuts. Indeed, most of the prints in this Hamilton. N.Y.: Davison Art Center, Wesleyan
exhibition owe their survival, either directly or University, and Picker Art Gallery, Colgate
indirectly, to Li Hua, who gave prints to schol- University, 1984).

ars he believed would value and preserve them. 19. Reproduced in Rotondo, Chinese
2. Li Hua, Chinese Woodcuts, p. 98. Revolutionary Woodcuts, p. 23, fig. 16.

3. Mayching Kao, New Asia Academic Bulletin,

vol. 4 (1983), p. 386.

4. Penelope Mason, History of Japanese Art (New

York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. & Prentice Hall,
1993), pp. 376-81.

5. Michael Sullivan, Art and Artists of Twentieth-

Century China (Berkeley: University of

California Press, 1996), pp. 29-30, 80.

6. For reproductions of Li Shutong's own

designs of about 1919, see Sullivan, Art and
Artists of Twentieth-Century China, fig. 2.4.

7. Wang Xinqi, Lu Xun meishu nianpu ("Lu Xun's

Art Timeline") (Guangzhou: Lingnan Art Press,
1986), p. 189.

8. Lu Di. Zhongguo xiandai banhua ("Modern

Chinese Prints") (Beijing: People's Art Press,
1987), p. 58.

9. Li Hua, "Wo de zhuanbian" ("My

Transformation") n.p., in Li Hua huaji

("Collected Pictures by Li Hua"), ed. Ma Ke

(Tianjin: Tianjin People's Art Publishing

House, 1987).

10. Banhua jicheng: Lu Xun cang zhongguo

xiandai muke quanji ("Woodcuts' Progress: The
Complete Modern Woodcut Collection of Lu
Xun"), ed. Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial and
Jiangsu Ancient Books Press (Nanjing: Jiangsu
Ancient Books Press, 1991), vol. 5, p. 26.

11. Biographies may be found in Zhongguo

meishu nianjian, 1949-1979, p. 306; Banhua jicheng
vol. 5, p. 25.

12. Biographies may be found in Zhongguo

meishu nianjian, 1949-1979, p. 339: Banhua jicheng
vol. 5. p. 28.

13. Reproduced and mentioned in Li Hua,

Chinese Woodcuts, p. 107.

14. Lu Di, Modern Chinese Prints, pp. 82-83.

15. Lu Di, Modern Chinese Prints, pp. 82-84.

16. Jonathan Spence, The Search for Modern

China (New York: Norton, 1990). p. 448.

17. Ellen Johnston Laing has summarized this

-v.v ^-.y*
ft

r^r
Art for New
China,
1950-1980
The Victory of Socialist
Realism: Oil Painting and
the New Guohua
Julia K Andrews. The Ohio State University

From Japan's invasion in 1937 until its art that would serve the masses. Within a
surrender to the Allies at the end of World decade government sponsorship and con-
War II, China was under foreign assault trol had yielded a distinctive "art for the
and occupation. Nor did the turmoil end people." Mistakes in implementation were
in 1945, for eight years of Japanese aggres- made in the first few years, and policy
sion was followed immediately by four sometimes changed direction, but in gen-
years of steadily intensifying civil war. eral the efforts of the new art-education
This prolonged period of strife and chaos system to remold Chinese art were sys-
finally concluded with the establishment tematic and effective. Some kinds of art
of the People's Republic of China in 1949. were no longer acceptable. Many styles
Although that time of upheaval saw the that had flourished in the 1930s were
creation of individual works of power and reformed or eradicated: modernist art,

beauty, it could not compare with the which was considered bourgeois; tradi-
1930s in artistic vitality. In the 1950s tionalist art, which was associated with
artists set themselves to establishing a feudalism and landlordism; religious art,
new art for the newly constituted nation. which was banned as superstitious; and
The outpouring of prints of political and some forms of commercial art, which were
social protest against a government per- deemed pornographic. Under the circum-
ceived as corrupt, incompetent, and indif- stances, any defense of nonrevolutionary
ferent, produced in Shanghai in the 1940s, art was as unacceptable as a defense of
subsided. Many artists were extremely foot^binding.
optimistic as they set about rebuilding In the new era style acquired strongly
their nation. political connotations. The patriotic
In 1949 European-trained realist Xu value of certain styles (as opposed to the
Beihong (1895-1953) (see cats. 47, 61), then perniciousness of others) was explicated,
director of the National Peking Academy based on principles of Stalinist and
of Fine Arts, accepted Zhou Enlai's invi- Maoist cultural ideology, so that artists
tation to head the national art academy might know exactly the political implica-
in Beijing that would absorb the former tions of their choices. Some older artists
institution; from new school was
1950 the tried, with varying degrees of sincerity, to

known as the Central Academy of Fine accommodate themselves to the new stan-
Arts. Modernist Ni Yide (1901-1970), who dards, but the new art of China was pri-
had joined the Communist party, directed marily an art of the young. Training a
the military committee that took over young mind, like writing on a clean slate,

the National Hangzhou Arts Academy, was most effective.

which was soon renamed the East China Artist-revolutionaries, veterans of

Campus of the Central Academy of Fine theLu Xun Academy at Yan'an, led the
Arts. These urban intellectuals, joined by way in defining what forms the new art
Yan'an veterans Hu Yichuan (b. 1910). Yan would take, although national policy
Han (b. 1916), Mo Pu (b. 1915). and Jiang made it clear that Soviet models would
Feng (1910-1982) set about establishing a take primacy.' Yan'an veteran Luo Gongliu
new art curriculum to meet the needs of (b. 1916), who had served with Hu Yichuan
China's new society. Over the course of on the an ti -Japanese woodcut team in

the next decade private business enter- northern China, was, like others of his
prises, private land, and private educa- background, responsible for implementing
tional and cultural institutions were fold- the new policies. Luo was one of the five
ed into the new state-run institutional Party members appointed to administer
structures. Personnel were assigned the Central Academy of Fine Arts; and he
according to the new institutional plans, and a colleague were appointed in 1951 to

in some cases deliberately dispersing obtain art work for a new Central Museum
well-established groups of artists in order of Revolutionary History, to be located in
to weaken possible foci of opposition to the western part of Beijing's Forbidden
new policies and practices. New central- City. Artists from all over the nation
ized art institutions became the laborato- received commissions for large historical
ry for a socialist art. oil paintings for the new museum.
The young government was acting on Luo's painting of 1951, Mao Zedong

the belief that China needed a new art. an Reporting on the Rectification in Yan'an
(cat. 128), is not only a successful example plays were not opened to the public, and a
of the new history painting, but by virtue second painting campaign, this one
of the artist's position it became some- directed by Luo Gongliu. was launched in

thing of a model. Commemorating Mao's 1961 (see cats. 131-133, 138, and fig. 1).

largely successful effort to impose a uni- The resulting oil paintings are his-
fied artistic ideology on China's cultural torical in subject matter and form part of
world, it refers to an intense period of a new revolutionary iconography that was
investigation and reindoctrination of the being enshrined in the galleries of the
Party's artists and writers that occurred Museum of the Chinese Revolution.
in 1942 and 1943. The ideology was subse- Although some of them closely follow
quently enshrined by the publication of Soviet patterns, their subjects are com-
lectures that Mao Zedong had delivered pletely Chinese. In The Torch Light Parade
during that campaign; the published ver- in Yan'an, 1959 (cat. 129). Cai Liang
sion was entitled "Talks at the Yan'an (b. 1932) depicted the idyllic society of
Conference on Literature and Art." Mao's Yan'an in the 1940s, where peasants, sol-

demand that artists selflessly serve the diers, and artists dwelt in legendary har-
people and abandon all other artistic mony. Liu Shaoqi and the Anyuan Coal
goals became doctrine. Luo's painting, by Miners, by Hou Yimin (b. 1930). may have
its very style and iconography, glorifies been one of the most politically charged
the doctrine whose articulation it depicts. works of the 1961 history painting cam-
The simple Yan'an prints of Yan Han and paign because it injected, into a seeming-
Gu Yuan had been attempts to instruct ly endless series of Mao portraits, a heroic
and motivate poor peasants in Shaanxi. depiction of his competitor in the making
Now, in Beijing, realistic oil paintings of China's revolution. Liu Shaoqi (1898-
might serve an analogous purpose. 1969). 2 Liu was appointed chairman of the
Trained under Lin Fengmian and his People's Republic of China in 1959 after
francophile faculty at the National Mao Zedong unwillingly retired in the
Hangzhou Arts Academy, Luo Gongliu was face of the disastrous famine caused by
better equipped intellectually and techni- the economic policies of his Great Leap
cally than many revolutionary print mak- Forward. Neither the painting nor its sub-
new task of producing
ers to take on the ject survived the revenge Mao and his
Chinese Communist oil paintings. And allies took against Liu Shaoqi during the
from 1955 to 1958 he received postgraduate first few years of the Cultural Revolution,
training at the Repin Institute of Arts in which they launched in 1966. Hou Yimin's
Leningrad, where some two dozen young subsequent reconstruction of the most
Chinese artists studied before the rupture famous work of his career, exhibited in
between the Soviet Union and China in the present exhibition, is fairly faithful to
1960. Also during the fifties, a Soviet por- the original (cat. 133). Military valor and
trait painter named Konstantin M. Maksi- heroic battles in China's struggle for free-
mov (b. 1913) was dispatched to Beijing to dom are commemorated in Zhan Jianjun's
teach oil painting to promising students Five Heroes of Mount Langya. 1959 (cat.
at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. 130). Quan Shanshi's Unyielding Heroism,
Thus, by the end of the decade a substan- 1961 (cat. 132), Yin Rongsheng's Battle of
tial cohort of young artists had been Hesheng Bridge.1961 (fig. 1), Luo Gongliu's
trained in the Soviet manner. Mao Zedong at Mount Jinggang. 1961
When it was decided, on rather short (cat. 134), and He Kongde's Before the
notice, to erect ten major architectural Attack, 1963 (cat. 136).
monuments in Beijing to commemorate Mount Langya, in Yi county. Hubei
the tenth anniversary of the People's Province, was the site of fierce resistance
Republic, artists were ready to provide by a group of five soldiers of the Shanxi-
the paintings for these and for the Great Chahaer-Hebei Military Region while cov-
Hall of the People. In 1959 a highly presti- ering the evacuation of the main Chinese
gious set of commissions went out to forces before the Japanese advance in 1941.
artists all over the nation (see cats. 129, Zhan Jianjun shows them just before they
130). For various reasons, including the ran out of bullets, after which they
political uncertainty generated by the smashed their rifles and leaped to their
Great Leap Forward, some of the new dis- deaths. In Unyielding Heroism. Quan Shan-
 TIIK VIl'TdHY (IF SOCIALIST KliALISM

and shadow or painterly technique to dra-

matize the subject — China's leadership of
the Third World, which would prove to be
an important political doctrine —but
instead employed a style associated with
what was called the "nationalization of oil

painting." This approach, which was

increasingly advocated by teachers and
artists of the sixties, including Dong
Xiwen, Jin Shangyi's mentor at the Cen-

:
tral Academy of Fine Arts, referred to
any means of imbuing oil painting with
recognizably Chinese aesthetics. Some of
the experiments in "nationalized" oil

painting involved outlining the figures, as

they might be in a New Year's woodcut,
Figure 1. Yin Rongsheng (b. 1929). The Bat- who was trained in Leningrad, com-
shi, and using flat patches of unmodulated
tle of Hesheng Bridge. 1961. Oil on memorates the courageous dedication of color rather than painterly textures (see
canvas; 145 x 300 cm. Museum of the Chinese rural fighters in peasant uprisings that also cat. 137). This simplification of color,
Revolution, Beijing. led to the establishment of the first Chi- perhaps intended to evoke woodcuts, was
nese Soviets. Battle of Hesheng Bridge dra- also considered by these young artists to
matizes the defeat of warlord Wu Peifu at be part of the Chinese tradition.
Wuchang as part of the Northern Expedi- In Mao Zedong at Mount Jinggang, a
tion that in 1926 briefly reunified the history painting that is quite atypical of
nation. Hesheng Bridge crossed a strate- the period, Luo Gongliu placed his hero in
gic pass in Xianning in Hubei Province. front of a mountain peak that looks as
Luo Gongliu, Mao Zedong at Mount
in though it were lifted from a well-known
Jinggang, portrays Mao in 1928, awaiting classical Chinese painting. The oddly
the arrival of troops under Zhu De and elongated brush strokes and the darker
Chen Yi to join his forces at Mount Jing- dabs and dots that he used for the distant
gang in Jiangxi Province. foliage strongly resemble the texture
All of these artists except Luo strokes and dots of traditional ink paint-
received their higher education in the ing, thus giving the oil painting a distinc-
post-1949 period, either in Leningrad or at tively "national" feeling. Other paintings
the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Bei- from this period seem to have composi-
jing. Several of Maksimov's students at tions taken directly from works by artists
the academy in Beijing employed the of the Yan'an generation — compare, for
technique, prevalent in Soviet Socialist example, The Battle at Hesheng Bridge with
Realist paintings, of lowering the view- Gu Yuan's 1948 woodcut Human Bridge
point of a composition in order to monu- (cat. 126) — although it should be noted
mentalize their subject. This can be seen that the artists of that earlier period were
in three of the commissioned paintings, emulating their own Soviet models.
by Maksimov students Zhan Jianjun The paintings commissioned for the
(b.1931), Jin Shangyi (b. 1934), and He Ten Great Buildings, as the new museums
Kongde (b. 1925) (cats. 130, 131, 136). In Jin's and government buildings were called,
painting Mao Zedong at the December Meet- strikingly reflect the expectation that
ing. 1961 (cat. 131), the monumentalizing guohua ("national painting") —modern
technique is applied to the image of the painting on Chinese paper or silk —might
Chinese leader; in He's Before the Attack serve the same public function as oil
and Zhan's Five Heroes it renders common painting. Of 244 paintings commissioned
soldiers suitably dauntless. in the 1959 campaign. 136 were guohua
Certain changes in style began to paintings. Perhaps the best known is Fu
appear after the Sino-Soviet rift of 1960. Baoshi (1904-1965) and Guan Shanyue's
Wu Biduan (b. 1926) and Jin Shangyi, in This Land So Rich in Beauty. 1959. painted
their Chairman Mao Standing with People for the newly built Great Hall of the Peo-
of Asian, Africa, and Latin America. 1961 ple. About five and a half by nine meters
(cat. 135), did not use vivid effects of light (18 x 29V2 feet), it has served as the back-
 THE VICTORY OF SOCIALIST RKALIKM

briefly with Gao Jianfu, Yang attended

the Central Academy of Fine Arts, gradu-
ating in 1953. As an art professor. Yang

pioneered the teaching of the guohua ver-

sion of the monumental style.

In 1959 Manchurian artist Wang

Shenglie, who during the Japanese occu-
pation of his home region was trained in a
polished style of painting called Nihonga.
transformed the appealing female figures
of traditional Japanese painting into the
fierce Eight Female Martyrs (cat. 142) of the
Women's Regiment of China's Anti-
Japanese Amalgamated Army. So com-
mitted were these eight women to their
cause that in October of 1938 they drowned
rather than surrender.
Due primarily to political and eco-
nomic mistakes in the late 1950s. China in
1959-1961 experienced severe food short-

ages, a widespread famine referred to as

the Three-Year Natural Disaster. The cri-

Figure 2. Fu Baoshi (1904-1965) and Guan ground for many diplomatic photographs, sis goaded the regime to engage all talent-

Shanyue (b. 1912). This Land So Rich in including published photographs of ed people in creative and constructive
Beauty. 1959. Ink and color on paper. Great Richard Nixon's visit to China (see fig. 2). solutions to China's problems. Artists
Hall of the People. China's landscape, in a radical change took advantage of this brief period of
in its significance, had begun to serve a political liberalization to produce quite
patriotic function as the subject of varied work.
nationalistic celebration. Among other In the wake of that difficult time a
artists who took up this challenge were new iconographic type appeared in Social-
the brilliant Shi Lu (1919-1982), who. in ist Realist art. Whereas a typical painting
Fighting in Northern Shaanxi. 1959 (cat. done in 1960, such as Li Qi's Portrait of Mao
141), depicted Mao Zedong in the midst of Zedong (cat. 139). glorifies China's leader,
an extraordinary landscape composition. oil paintings such as Sun Zixi's In Front of
Standing at the edge of an escarpment Tiananmen. 1964. and Wen Bao's Four Girls.

and contemplating his next military move 1962 (cats. 137. 138). have China's happy
in the difficult northern terrain. Mao people as their subject. By this time guo-
takes on the monumental persona of hua painters such as Liu Wenxi (b. 1933)
the vast, rugged ranges that stretch to and Fang Zengxian (b. 1931) demonstrated
the horizon. From this time on these a thorough mastery of Socialist Realism
very mountains, which had sheltered while still utilizing the blank back-
the Communist base at Yan'an, personi- grounds expected in a traditional Chinese
fied the heroic virtue of the Communist figure painting, as in the former's Four
troops. Generations. 1962 (cat. 143) and the latter's
Heroic figures were shown in a land- Telling a Red Tale. 1964 (cat. 144). They
scape setting in many works done in ink developed new types of brushwork that
on paper in the new Socialist Realist could vividly express the nature of their
style.Some artists, such as Cantonese subject, thus emphasizing their break
painter Yang Zhiguang (b. 1930), have con- from tradition without abandoning the
tinued to value the beauty of brush and importance of the outline in Chinese fig-

ink: Yang frequently employs particularly
rich strokes of ink in unexpected places,
as in drapery folds, foliage, and other
minor passages — the boldly brushed
plants in the lower-left corner of his
Zedong at the Peasants' Training School.
1959 (cat. 140). for example. After
ure painting. Liu used roughly drawn
black lines to emphasize the rustic
strength of the northwestern peasants in
Four Generations, while the southern-born
Mao Fang relied on a more lively line and a
somewhat more complex receding compo-
studying sition to animate the storyteller in Telling
THE VICTORY 01'' SOCIALIST KKAMSM

a Red Tale, who engages his neighbors throughout China. His Spring in Jiangnan,
with accounts of the Red Army's exploits. 1962 (cat. 149), attests to his growing inter-
Traditional artists and pure land- est in using effects of contrasting light
scapists had not fared well during the new and dark in Chinese painting.
Chinese nation's first decade. Zhou Enlai The equally innovative Shi Lu used
intervened on their behalf in 1956 to estab- colored texture strokes in a new way to
lish research institutes where traditional produce a dramatic vision of the perils of
artists might be permitted to preserve travel and work on China's second-longest
their craft. Others were encouraged to river, in The Banks of the Yellow River, 1959

travel, at government expense, for the pur- (cat. 148). His characteristic palette of
pose of developing a new landscape art reds and browns came to be associated
that might reflect the real appearance of particularly with the northwestern land-
China's beautiful land. They were a scape. This kind of painting exerted a
diverse group of older artists, and their strong influence on the younger genera-
work displays a variety of approaches. tion of painters, especially Yang Lizhou
Wu Hufan (1894-1968) was appointed to the (b. 1942) and Wang Yingchun (b. 1942), as
newly founded Shanghai Institute of Chi- can be seen in their The Yellow River Roars,
nese Painting. His exquisite Twin Pines 1980-1981 (cat. 166).
and Layered Green, 1959 (cat. 147), shows Pan Tianshou (1898-1971), who had
no traces of the historic political changes undertaken intensive drawing from nature
through which he had lived, and could as part of a mandatory reform program
have been painted a decade, or even two instituted at the academy in Hangzhou,
decades, earlier. Lin Fengmian (1900-1991) emerged in this highly nationalistic era a
was by no means a traditional artist, but powerful spokesman for the value of tradi-
a similar timelessness and repudiation of tional Chinese painting. He attained a
Socialist Realism pervaded the work of mature, and somewhat minimalist, per-
this former modernist and founding direc- sonal style in works such as Red Lotus,
tor of the National Hangzhou Arts Acade- 1963 (cat. 150), combining richly brushed
my. Lin's Wild Geese (cat. 152) and Autumn ink—an approach that he had been explor-
Colors (cat. 153). depictions of southern ing since the 1940s— with a new precision
China's landscape, have a melancholy air. founded in his careful nature studies. He
From 1949 to 1979 Lin painted in virtual also monumentalized the fruits of his
isolation, then moved to Hong Kong when studies in a series of large flower-and-bird
it became possible to do so. Such complete paintings, which proved by their combina-
resistance to Socialist Realism was. how- tion of compositional power and beauty of
ever, uncommon. He Tianjian (1891-1977), brushwork that Chinese painting could
who stoutly defended the potential for successfully compete with oil painting in
innovation within traditionalist guohua the sphere of public art. as in Clearing
in his writings of the 1930s, was appointed after Rain, 1964 (cat. 151). The xieyi (expres-

to the Shanghai Institute of Chinese sionistic, free-brush) style of painting has

Painting when it opened in 1956. Unlike rarely been employed on such a scale or
Wu Hufan, He attempted to integrate with such power.
modern subjects into his landscapes. He Throughout its history, but beginning
attempted to celebrate the achievements on a large scale with the 1942-1943 rectifi-

of the new government within traditional cation campaign in Yan'an, the Chinese
landscapes, as in Meishan Reservoir, 1959 Communist party has conducted political

(cat. 145), where a classical depiction of campaigns against its perceived or actual
towering mountains and a river also enemies. In the worst of these, such as the
includes, however inconspicuously, the Anti-Rightist Campaign, members of cer-
man-made reservoir. tain factions within the Party and anyone
Lin Fengmian's former student Li who criticized the Party's administrative
Keran who had exhibited mod-
(1907-1989), practices or policies were condemned, and
ernist oils in the 1930s, turned more and many of these were sent to labor camps or
more toward guohua during the war. He prisons in remote parts of the country.
was later appointed to the faculty of the This internecine conflict set the stage for
Central Academy of Fine Arts, and in the one of the great man-made calamities of
late 1950s he traveled and sketched modern Chinese history, the Great Prole-
THIS VICTORY OF SOCIALJKT REALISM

tarian Cultural Revolution. Early in 1966 iconography of Chairman Mao, setting a

Mao Zedong, Jiang Qing (his wife, a for- standard for those who came after. His
mer actress), and other allies of Mao mural-size Great Job! (Investigating the
began attacking their opponents in the Peasant Movement in Hunan), 1970 (cat.
party, most notably Deng Xiaoping and 155), builds on the earlier developments in
Liu Shaoqi, and in particular castigating guohua figure painting by Fang Zengxian
those who administered the cultural and and Yang Zhiguang, but adds to them not
propaganda fields. By that summer Mao only a larger scale, but also bold color,
had mobilized China's youth in a great dramatic gestures, and a spectacular set-
campaign of protest against party admin- ting. This work could attract viewers in a
istrators. Millions of teenagers were given way that few oil paintings of the period
free transportation to Beijing to watch might. Perhaps most notable is the work's
Chairman Mao's motorcade proceed down power to convey the young artist's belief
Chang'an Street in front of Tiananmen in the absolute benevolence of China's
Square, a sight that stirred many of them revolutionary leader.
into frenzies of devotion. A shift in the mysterious upper eche-
In the course of rooting out class ene- lons of China's government occurred after
mies, and with Mao's blessing, the Party the aircraft carrying Mao's heir apparent.
and the young people dismantled China's General Lin Biao, was shot down on 13

governmental and institutional struc- September 1971. The arts, under the super-
tures, precipitating chaos. Most educated vision of Jiang Qing. received greater sup-
people and Party officials who were mid- port and supervision from Beijing. The
dle-aged or older were imprisoned or sent unique style of painting that resulted has
to labor camps. Their homes were ran- been widely attributed to Jiang's particu-
sacked, their supposed crimes were posted lar tastes, and was supported by her
in large notices in their neighborhoods tyrannical administrative practices. This
and public buildings, and many of them particular form of figure painting, casti-
were beaten and paraded through the gated by artists in the Post-Mao period as
streets as targets of public ridicule. "hong-guang-liang" ("red. smooth, and
China's army was mobilized to maintain glowing"), emerged in 1971 and was widely
basic societal functions, effectively practiced for the next five years. Lin
administering the country for much of Yong's The Spirit of Yan'an Shines Forever,
the following decade. 1971 (cat. 156). is a pioneering example of
Particularly during the first five the new style. Iconographically. it builds

years of the Cultural Revolution, the per- on the growing emphasis on Yan'an. with
sonality cult of Mao Zedong was promot- its communal subsistence economy, as the
ed relentlessly. Young artists, caught up revolution's holy site; and it includes a
in the enthusiasm of a new revolution, pagoda (the traditional Chinese tower) in
made especially vivid contributions to the background. Its most striking stylis-

this effort. LinYong (b. 1942), a young tic characteristics are the ruddy, perfectly-

graduate of the Guangzhou Academy of smooth complexions of the figures, espe-

Art, where Yang Zhiguang taught guohua, cially Mao's, and the scene's theatrical
was assigned in 1968 to work in a local cul- illumination, as though the figures might
tural palace in Doumen county, Guang- be onstage. Some works from this period
dong Province. He was soon reassigned to are painted in such a way as to suggest
the history-painting team associated that the source of illumination for the
with the Guangzhou Peasants' Movement subsidiary figures might be Mao himself.
Training School, the locale depicted in Lin Yong's 1970 painting Great Job! is
Yang's 1959 painting of Mao and a group of a very successful individual effort to per-
peasant students (cat. 140). which com- fect the Socialist Realist guohua style,
memorated a training class for rural revo- which had been developing over the course
lutionaries taught by Mao in Guangzhou of the previous two decades. His 1971 Spirit
in 1926. The training school, like most of Yan'an, though, was probably prepared
sites in Mao's hagiography. was reorga- under new guidelines from Beijing, as part
nized as a museum-shrine to him. of a national stylistic movement. Liu
Lin Yong was one of the earliest and Wenxi (b. 1933). almost ten years older
most talented creators of the new guohua than Lin. became a master of this new
THE VICTORY OF SOCIALIST RKAI.1SM

style, as exemplified in a work of similar the style quite different from that of the
iconographic content. New Spring in Soviet-trained artists of a decade earlier.
Yav 'an, 1972 (cat. 157). goes even further in Shen Jiawei's Standing Guard for Our
the deification of Chairman Mao and his Great Motherland. 1974 (cat. 159), was in its

policies, by surrounding' him not only time an icon of the new art, although even
with smiling workers but also with well- this work was "improved" by Jiang Qing's
fed and even ruddier-cheeked children. art committee, who smoothed and rouged
Brightly colored works such as this, which the figures' faces. Shen Jiawei (b. 1948),

include such iconographic touches as rusticated from the eastern coastal

drums inscribed with simple slogans pro-
moting economic self-sufficiency, were
intended to evoke the aesthetics of
Year's folk prints of the Yan'an area, and
thus the revolutionary spirit of Yan'an
and its art.
Some older artists also tried to
the new iconographic requirements,
least to the best of their ability. Tradi-
tionalist painter Qian Songyan
(1899-1985), who had traveled around China
with Song Wenzhi (b. 1918) and other Nan-
province of Zhejiang to cultivate the
frigid soil of a military farm on the Sovi-
New et border with Heilongjiang. painted the
scene from his own experience in that
region. Border guards, rendered heroical-
ly, stand on a lookout tower in the freez-
meet ing wind to guard their nation against a
at Soviet attack.
This generation of artists, sent to
China's most impoverished areas, gained
an understanding of rural poverty and a
genuine appreciation for the lives of peo-

jing artists in the 1950s to develop new ple who worked in China's hinterlands and
ways of painting the landscape, turned his for the value of human labor. Most of
attention to the sacred source of the revo- those who were able to pursue painting
lution in Sunrise in Yan'an After Snow. 1972 during their period of rustication turned
(cat. 154). A pagoda dominates the picture for subject matter to the types of people
as it must have dominated the actual with whom they worked, a trend encour-
landscape, but it is skillfully balanced by aged by the authorities. For example, in
a highway bridge, a marker of post-1949 1974 Chen Yanning (b. 1945) painted a bare-
progress. The whole is illuminated by the foot doctor in Guangdong, his home
rosy glow of dawn, or perhaps — to those region (cat. 160). Tang Muli (b. 1947), a
who wish to read it so — of Communism. native of Shanghai who was interested in
Mao's mobilization of millions of science, depicted the effectiveness of the
teenagers to attack his enemies was a Chinese art of acupuncture in preventing
Pandora's box. Calls for revolution and pain, in Acupuncture Anesthesia. 1972 (cat.
the overthrow of authority begat much 161). And in Willows in Spring Wind, 1974
senseless violence, destruction, and cruel- (cat. 162), Zhou Shuqiao (b. 1938) painted a
ty. To deal with the social chaos this had happy group of youngsters preparing to
produced, which ranged from lawlessness depart for their new rural homes. Of par-
to unemployment, nearly all urban teen- ticular note in art of this period are the
agers were sent to work, beginning in 1968, many images of heroic young women.
in the distant countryside. The back- The deaths of both Zhou Enlai and
breaking labor, much of it administered Mao Zedong in 1976 brought the Cultural
by the same labor reform camps to which Revolution to an end. Leaders referred to
political offenders had been sent a decade as the "Gang of Four." including Mao's
earlier, may have been agonizing, but was wife, were arrested and, after Deng Xiaop-
also profoundly revelatory of the grinding ing had consolidated his power, put on
hardship of peasant life to many of these trial. Many of their most active support-
rusticated youths. ers were jailed, and some, including the
As the government was gradually woman who supervised the national art
reconstructed during the early 1970s, a exhibitions, soon committed suicide, as

system of national art exhibitions was did Madame Mao many years later.
put into place. Major national exhibitions The extraordinary range of experi-
were held in 1972 and 1974, and smaller ences undergone by the young artists of
ones took place all over the nation. The the period are reflected in a painting by
shows were the fulfillment of Jiang Qing's Shanghai native Chen Danqing, Tears
vision — Socialist Realist, but a version of Flooding the Autumnal Fields. 1976 (cat.
 THE VICTORY OF SOCIALIST REALISM

The Taking of the Presidential Palm e,

1977 (cat. 165), was commissioned from two

Shanghai artists, Chen Yifei (b. 1946) and
Wei Jingshan (b. 1943), by the Military
Museum in Beijing. This dramatic oil

painting displays an extraordinary level

of technical polish, which was character-
istic of several Shanghai oil painters of
this generation. Chen and Wei used West-
ern European sources in addition to Sovi-
et ones as technical and compositional
models. Their grand image epitomizes the
Red Army's victory over the Nationalist
troops in the ultimate gesture of triumph:
raising the red flag over the former presi-
dential palace. Here, too, the artificially
ruddy complexions of Cultural Revolution
heroes were avoided. This style of photo-
graphic realism strongly influenced some
Figure 3. Jiang Zhaohe (1904-1986). 164). which shows people weeping at the academic oil painters in China in subse-
Refugees. 1943. Ink and color on paper. news of Mao's death. Chen spent some quent decades.
time in Tibet toward the end of the Cul- A similar departure from both the
tural Revolution, and commemorated var- iconography and the style of the Cultural
ious events of 1976 as though through the Revolution can be seen in an influential
eyes of the Tibetans. In an era with no guohua painting by Zhou Sicong
official direction and thus no official art, (1939-1995), The People and the Prime Minis-
this powerful picture reiterated the hero- ter, memorial to Zhou
1979 (cat. 158). This
worship of the previous two decades, but Enlai, who died eight months before Mao
at the same time broke with the "red, in 1976 and was not given a state funeral
smooth, and glowing" painting conven- by the Maoist-controlled government,
tions of the era that had just ended. presents an iconographic and political
By 1979, the year Deng Xiaoping alternative to the Mao-centered imagery
returned to power, a rejection of the Cul- of the Cultural Revolution era. The mov-
tural Revolution was under way. a develop- ing inscription on the painting is a quota-
ment that is evident in both the style and tion from an earthquake victim in Xing-
the iconography of paintings from that tai in Hubei Province, recalling that Zhou
year.When the new administration Enlai. who was then extremely ill, visited
ordered the Museum of the Chinese Revo- his village to comfort the people who had
lution to reflect a less Mao-centered view lost their homes. He laments that Zhou
of history, new works were commissioned. will be unable to fulfill his promise to
The Soviet-trained Lin Gang (b. 1924) and return to see their reconstruction, but he
his wife, Pang Xunqin's daughter Pang vows to wait for the great man nonethe-
Tao (b. 1934), painted a heroic but some- less. Here, Zhou Sicong attempted to
what gloomy image of the Long March, restore a pre-Jiang Qing style of figure
Eventful Years. 1979 (cat. 163), in which painting, one that was not "red. smooth,
General Zhu De is shown leading his and glowing." and that might recall the
weary Communist troops on a perilous work of Yang Zhiguang or that of their
shortcut through grassy marshland. This common teacher. Jiang Zhaohe (see fig. 3).

episode in the Long March saved the Com- As an act of mourning. The People and the
munists from certain extirpation by the Prime Minister is suitably somber, primari-
Nationalists, but many soldiers died in ly relying on black and gray tonalities.
the treacherous bogs. Though still quite When the art schools were reestab-
theatrical, this painting is a first, signifi- lished in the late seventies, students
cant step away from the bright, artificial brought to their classes memories of cata-
style that was obligatory during the Cul- clysmic experiences that were perhaps
tural Revolution. Here, the real hardships exceeded only by those of the youth of the
entailed by heroism are emphasized. World War H generation. Some members
 THK VH'TIIUY OF SOCIALIST KHAI.1SM

ic and stylistic heresy. To them, the enor-

mous scale —8 '/a by 5 feet — recalled por-
traits of Chairman Mao. They could
Wr
,<«N», accept comparably heroic portraits of
other leaders, such as Zhou Enlai and Zhu
De, in place of Mao (who largely disap-
•

N5 peared from portraiture after 1979). but

that grandiose scale was horrifyingly
inappropriate to a picture of an ignorant,
wrinkled peasant. It was true that Mao
& had urged artists to follow the people, but
did that mean he advocated portraits of
such unvarnished realism? An even more
critical question, to some observers, was:
How could a peasant still look so poor and
downtrodden in the age of socialism? To
young viewers, especially those who had
recently returned from working in the
countryside, Luo's painting represented
the reality of what they saw there — wrin-
Figure 4. Du Jian (b. 1933). Advancing of this early post-Cultural Revolution kles, dirt, and all — and they welcomed it.

Amid Swift Currents. 1963. Formerly generation of art students continued to Another trend of this period is associ-

collection of the Chinese Museum of Revolu- consider painting an act of patriotism. ated with the "Scar" or "Wounded" litera-

tionary History. Their rediscovery of art sometimes ture of the late 1970s. Descriptions of the
involved reviving the styles and subjects terrible and usually senseless suffering
of older revolutionaries who had been inflicted by the Cultural Revolution burst
unjustly condemned. A heroic history forth like a flood at this time. Among the
painting by Yang Lizhou and Wang most distressing were stories of violence
Yingchun, The Yellow River Roars. 1980-1981 between factions of young Red Guards,
(cat. 166) —their graduation painting— is who inflicted injury and even death in the
related to several earlier revolutionary name of a false revolution. Cheng Conglin
history pictures. These include a large oil (b. 1954). from Sichuan Province, where
by Du Jian (b. 1933). Advancing Amid Swift many of the bloodiest intramural battles
Currents (fig. 4). which was destroyed dur- were fought, turned his Socialist Realist
ing the Cultural Revolution, and small training in an unprecedented direction,
landscapes such as The Banks of the Yellow criticizing the history of his own socialist
River (cat. 148) by the talented northwest- era in A Snowy Day in 1968. 1979 (cat. 167).
ern master Shi Lu. a star of the late 1950s Chen Yifei, in Looking at History from
art establishment who had been hounded My Space. 1979 (cat. 168), shows a rear view
during the Cultural Revolution. For of himself quizzically regarding China's
artists of this group, the history of recent chaotic past. The Communist
China's war of liberation and post-libera- party was born of the iconoclastic May
tion reconstruction was a tale of triumph, Fourth student demonstrations in 1919,

in which the Cultural Revolution was a and inheritance of reformist principles

distressing aberration, deserving only to fundamental to the Party's legitimacy.
be ignored. The sixtieth anniversary of the 1919 event
Other paintings made after Deng corresponded with Deng Xiaoping's 1979
Xiaoping's rise to power in 1979 take a emergence as China's new leader. Deng
more questioning view of history. Luo rallied support for his new economic poli-
Zhongli's (b. 1948) painting Father, 1980 cies and against his opponents by reviving
(cat. 169), received an extraordinary recep- May Fourth reformist slogans, particular-
tion when it was first exhibited that year. ly a quartet that praised science and
It will not seem strange to Americans democracy and attacked imperialism and
familiar with the work of Chuck Close, feudalism. In this image the artist
some of which Luo knew from reproduc- appears to gaze at a photographic collage
tions. For Chinese viewers, however, it of events that took place during the 1910s
commited something akin to iconograph- and 1920s, at the height of the May Fourth
THE VICTORY OF SOCIALIST REALISM 237

Movement's revolutionary struggles. The anonymity of the portraits robs them of

self Chen has depicted may, like most legibility. The imaginary history is com-
urban intellectuals of the late 1970s, be in posed of fragments of many people's sto-
the process of reassessing' his nation's ries, put together in a way that means
progress in fulfilling these goals. Is he, in nothing to any single individual. Such
harmony with Deng Xiaoping's policies of ambiguity epitomizes the uncertainty felt

the time, implicitly criticizing Mao by many people in this time of rapid
Zedong's failures? Or is he expressing a change. Is this history the history of
more individualistic uncertainty regard- China as a whole? Has the history of
ing his own place in history? His appar- China effaced that of any individual? Is

ently introspective response to his this history as meaningless as a collec-

nation's revolutionary struggle is ambigu- tion of unrelated photographs? Or can a
ous, a quality that has given the work a Chinese artist simply pick a history, any
lasting psychological power, in part, at Chinese history, and claim it as his or her
least, because it permits viewers of differ- own? Painters at middle age are asking
ent cultural backgrounds and political themselves, each other, and their viewers
philosophies to interpret it in very differ- such questions. And contemporary art-
ent ways. ists have been defining their past by
Mao Lizi (Zhang Zhunli: b. 1950), at means of their present.
one time a set designer for the Chinese
Air Force, was a leading member of the NOTES
quasi-dissident Stars (Xingxing) group. 1. Two excellent studies of art in this period are

Like Scar artists, the Stars rejected the Ellen Johnston Laing, The Winking Owl: Art in

ideology of Cultural Revolution art, but the People 's Republic of China (Berkeley: Univer-

they also rejected the artistic forms and sity of California Press. 1988). and Jerome Sil-

even the institutional structure of the bergeld with Gong Jisui. Contradictions: Artistic

Chinese art world. Mao Lizi was unique Life, the Socialist State, and the Chinese Painter Li

among the Stars for painting in a realist Huasheng (Seattle: University of Washington
manner, but unlike Cheng Conglin or Press. 1993). A more detailed discussion of the

Chen Yifei, Mao Lizi often deployed his mechanisms by which the new art-education
skill for distinctly ironic purposes. His system was used to produce a Chinese socialist

subjects often comprise physical details art may be found in my own book Painters and
of the Beijing environment that he uses to Politics in the People's Republic of China.
suggest a psychological story. Many of his 1949-1979 (Berkeley: University of California

trompe l'oeil images represent in inti- Press, 1994).

mate detail the dilapidated and graffiti- 2. For previous discussions of this painting, see
marred old doors to Beijing housing com- Laing. Winking Owl. pp. 38-39. and Andrews.
pounds. Hesitating (cat. 170), the work in Painters and Politics, pp. 242-43.

the present exhibition, is a similar, 3. For other examples of his work, see Joan
almost voyeuristic examination of a Bei- Lebold Cohen. The New Chinese Painting,
jing' sidewalk that has been littered with 1949-1986 (New York: Abrams. 1987). pp. 61-62.

cigarette butts. The painting, as its title

indicates, represents the personal rem-

nants of an unknown individual's purpose-
less pacing. 1

Artists of this generation have con-

tinued, over the two decades since Mao's
death, to question their own experiences
and their personal and national histories.
In Family Tree. 1997 (cat. 172), Zhou
Changjiang (b. 1950) has constructed, from
miscellaneous photographic images, a
genealogy for a fictional family. Given the
traditional Chinese emphasis on history
and family, these photographs might rep-
resent all Chinese as an imaginary single
clan. At the same time, however, the
128. I.iio Gongliufb. 1916)
Man Zedong Reporting on the Rectification
in Yan'an
1951

Oil on canvas; 164 x ^:!6cm

Museum of I lie t'him'sr Revolution.

Beijing
129. Cai Liang (b. 1932)

The Torchlight Parade in Yan 'an

1959
Oil on canvas; 164 x 375 cm
Museum of the Chinese Revolution,
Beijing
130. Zhan Jianjun (b. 1931>

Five Heroes of Mount Lancii/a

1959
oil on canvas; 185 x203 cm
Museum of the Chinese Revolul ion,
Beljins
131. Jin Shangyi (b. 1934)

Mao Zedong al the December Meeting

1961

Oil on canvas; 158 x 134 cm

Museum of the Chinese Revolution,
Beijing
 Quail Shanshi (b. L930)

Unyielding Heroism

Oil on canvas; 233 x 217 cm

Museum oi i
he Chinese Revolul ton,
Ing
133. Hou Yimin (b. 1930)

Liu Shaoqi and the Anyuan Coal Miners

1961 (1979 version; original destroyed
oa. 1968)

Oil on canvas; 162 x 333 cm

Museum of the Chinese Revolution,
Beijing
134. I. no Gongliu(b. 1916)
Mao Zedong at Mount Jinggang
1961

Oil on canvas; 150 x 220 cm

Museum of the Chinese Revolution.
Beijing
135. Wu Biduan (b. 1926) and
Jin Shangyi (b. 1934)
Chairman Mao Standing with People of
and Latin America
Asia, Africa,
1961

Oil on canvas; 143 x 156 cm

Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing
136. He Kongde(b. 1925)

Before the Attack

1963
Oil on canvas; 1H<> x l id om
Chinese National AiM Gallery, Beijing
137. Sun Zixi (b. 1929) 138. Wen Buo (),. 1938)

In Front of Tiananmen Four Girls

1964 1962

Oil on canvas; 155 x 285 cm Oil on canvas; 110 x 202 cm

Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing
139. Li Qi (b. 1928)

Portrait oj Mao Zedong

1960

Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper:

197 x 117.5 cm
Chinese National Art Gallery. Beijing
140. Yang Zhiguang (b. 1930)

Mao Zedong at the Peasants' Movement

Training School
1959
Ink and color on paper; 141 x 205 cm
Museum of the Chinese Revolution,
Beijing'

1
- \ jF$i$:>
1
Ml..Shi Lu(1919 1982)
Fighting in Northern Shaanxi
1959
Ink and color on paper; 238 x 216 om
Museum of the Chinese Revolution.
Beijing
142. Wang Shenglie (b. 1923)
Eight Female Martyrs
1959
Ink and color on paper; 144 x 367 cm
Museum of the Chinese Revolution,
Beijing
143. Liu Wrnxi (b. 1933)

Four Generations
1962
ir [ng scroll, ink and color on paper:
118 x 98 cm
Chinese National Art Gallery. Beijing
144. Fang Zengxian (b. 1931)

Telling a Red Tale

1964
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
96 x 183 cm
Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing
145. He Tianjian (1891 1977) 146. He Tianjian (1891-1977)

:>itn Reservoir The Tenth Anniversary of the People's

1959 Republic hi China
oil, ink and color on paper; 1959

cm
105.5 x 68.3 Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
Shanghai Museum 133 x 68 cm
c.lli'i't ion nl Mi, 1 1. 1
. I
V \Y Sliili T. mil in

'
v. *
! " ; a.
f i
I it «
i I " » :>r
ft
' ' J. »l

' -
117. Wu Hufan (1894-1968)
Twin Pines and Layered Green
1959
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
160 x 100 cm
Shanghai Institute of Chinese Painting
l 18 Shi Lu (1919-1982)
The Hanks oj the Yellow River

1959
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
98 x 66 cm
China International Exhibition Agency,
Beijing
149. Li Reran (1907-1989)
Spring in Jiangnan
1962
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
69.2 x 49 cm
Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing
 1 1

150. Pan Tianshou 1 1898 1971 151. Tan TianshOU I 1H98-1971)

Red Lotus Clearing After Rain

1963 1962

Hanging scroll, Ink and color on paper; ink and color on paper;

161.5x99 Ml x 365.3 cm
Pan Tianshou Memoria I Hangzhou Pan Tianshou Memorial. Hangzhou
152. Lin Fengmian (1900-1991) 153. Lin Fengmian (1900-1991)
Wild Cfcsf Autumn Colors
i ini.it i'ii Undated
Ink and color on paper; Ink and color on paper;
71 x71 cm 71 x71 cm
M. K. Lau Collection, Ltd., M. K. Lau Collection. Ltd..
Hong Kong Hong Kong-
154. Qian Songyan (1899-1985)
Sunrise in Yan 'an After Snow
1972
Hanging scroll. Ink and color on paper;
113x67.5 cm
Jiangsu Provincial Art Gallery, Nanjing
155. Lin Yong(b. L942
itigating the Peasant
Movement in Hunan)
1970
Ink and color on paper; 213 x 260 cm
Private collection
156. Lin Yong (b. 1942)

The Spirit of Yan'an Shines Forever

1971

Ink and color on paper; 220 x 380 cm

Private collection
157. Liu \Von\i 1> liw:i>

faring in Yan'an
1972
Ink and color on papor: 243 x 178.5 cm
China International Exhibition Agency,
Beijing
158. Zhou Sicong (1939-1995)
The People and the Prime Minister
1979
Ink and color on paper; 148.5 x 213.5 cm
Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing'

&%'&$ \fh
'

it* *r*
 I
Shea Jiawei b 1948) 160. Chen Vanning (b. lfliS)

Standing G iitr Great Motherland New Doctor in the Fishing Village

197-1 1971

oil mi canvas; 189 x loH cm Oil on canvas; 138.2 x 98.3 cm

Private collection Mi nil. -r National Art Oallrry, Beijing
161. Tang Muli (b. 1947) 162. Zhou Shuqiao (b. 1938)

Acupuncture Anesthesia Willows in Spring Wind

1972 1974

Oil on canvas; 164 x 224 cm Oil on canvas; 122 x 190 cm

Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing Chinese National Art Gallery. Beijing
163. Lin Gang (b. 1921) and 161. (hen Danqing (D. 1953)

PangTao(b. L984) Tears Flooding the Autumnal Fields

Eventful Years 1976

1979 Oil on canvas; 164 x 235 cm

Oil on canvas; 166 x 296 cm Private collection
Museum of the Chinese Revolution,
Beijing
165. Chen Yifci (b. 1946) and Wei Jingshan
(b. 1943)

The Taking of the Presidential Palace

1977

Oil on canvas; 335 x 466 cm

Military Museum, Beijing
 16 Wang Yingchun (b. 1942) and
Jfang Lizhou (b. 1942)

the Yellow River Roars

1980-1981
Set of three panels, Ink and color on
paper; 218.5 x 520 em overall
Chinese National Ait Gallery, Beijing
167. Cheng Cmiylin ik 1954) 168. Chen Yifei (b. 1946)

.4 Snowy Day in 1968 Looking at History From My Space

1979 1979
Oil on canvas; 202 x 300 cm Oil on canvas: 185 x 353 cm
ii ional Art Gallery, Beijing Collection of Lawrence Wu, New York
169. Luo Zhongli (b. 1948)

Father
1980
Oil on canvas; 227 x 154 cm
Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing
170. Mao Lizi (Zhang Zhunli; b. 1950) 171. Wang lliiaii|inn (b. 1941)

Hesitating Night Revels

Ululated 1996

Oil on panel; 87 x 71.1 cm Two panels, oil on canvas; 197 x 346 cm

Collection of Lawrence Wu, New York Private collection

M
172. Zhou Changjiang (b. 1950)

Family Tree
1997

Mixed media; dimensions variable

Private collection

us
^m
Transformations
of Tradition,
1980 to the Present
Chinese Painting in the
Post-Mao Era
Julia K Andrews and Kuiyi Shen. The Ohio State University

As China reopened to the global commu- Important to all these artists, and to
nity in the 1980s. Chinese art entered a their audiences, is the belief that an art
renewed period of pluralistic develop- based on China's native traditions is vital

ment. A significant body of work in con- today, and will remain so in the twenty-
temporary Western formats and styles, first century.

including oil painting, installations, and

video art. has been shown in Europe and LITERATI-EXPRESSIONISTS
the United States in the 1990s. One might The Cultural Revolution caused unimag-
expect a shrinking globe to impose cul- inable suffering to educated urban people.
tural homogeneity, but on the contrary, Many older artists, unable to bear the
two decades of steady contact with the physical stress of repeated attacks by the
outside world have yielded an intense Red Guards, and cut off from access to
reconsideration of China's native artistic adequate medical care, died during the
traditions. Painters of the last fifteen or late 1960s and early 1970s. China, however,
twenty years have created remarkably has a tradition of artists achieving great-
varied work in guohua, China's tradition- ness only in very old age, and some of the
al medium of ink on paper. artists who survived emerged with a
In the 1850s. as we have seen, ink remarkable determination to fulfill their

painting was China's only serious paint- artistic potential.

ing. The twentieth century saw art in Lu Yanshao (1909-1993). for example,
Western formats, mediums, and styles had effectively wasted the first decade
come to dominate the Chinese art world. after the founding of the People's
Painting of the period between 1950 and Republic of China attempting without
1980 was created largely within the goals much success to master the techniques
and constraints of Socialist Realism. for painting lianhuanhua (serial illustra-
Artists who work in ink today are thus tions, or comic books, promoting new cul-
fully aware of alternatives to traditional tural, social, and political policies).

painting. Three major trends within guo- Despite his efforts, he was labeled a right-
hua; Literati-Expressionism. Neo- ist in 1957, whereupon he renewed his clas-
Traditionalism, and Post-Traditionalism, sical studies, focusing particularly on the
exemplify issues that remain crucial to style of the seventeenth-century master
the Chinese art world as a whole. Of par- Shitao. In 1962 Lu was hired to teach at
ticular importance to Chinese artists at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, and
this moment in history is the manner in that year he painted a beautiful album
which they negotiate the increasingly after the poems of Du Fu. showing a thor-
complex relationships between cultural ough mastery of the earlier artist's man-
or national identity and the global art fig. 1). This album was confiscat-
ner (see
world. ed from him during the Cultural
Artists today may use traditional Revolution, and part of it was lost. The
painting tools and formats for purposes government's return of the surviving
unimaginable a century ago; conversely, leaves, after the end of the Cultural
many artists have abandoned the tradi- Revolution, was deeply moving to the
tional scroll or album format for Western artist, who may have assumed that they

frames. Modernist ink painters may be had been destroyed. A renewed engage-
inspired by the drama of abstract oil ment with his own earlier, more classical

painting, work such as that of Zao Wouki style may have inspired his break-
(Zhao Wuji). Others rethink the unful- throughs of the 1980s.

filled possibilities of various modern and Traveling Through the Gorge of 1986 is

postmodern schools of Western art. Their a dramatic rendering of small boats as

innovations move Chinese painting in they pass through the Yangzi Gorges (cat.

new directions, and are clearly part of the 174). The broad bands of white mist, slash-
hybridization of contemporary global art. es of white river, repeating ranges of blue
A small but significant group of and orange hills, and shifting, sharply

painters oppose the mainstream with a tilted ground planes, still owe a debt to
singular purity, seeking to realize the Shitao. who painted similar subjects. Lu
highest aspirations of China's traditional Yanshao's painting combines these ele-

painting in the contemporary world. ments in a uniquely vertical composition.

 however, making effective use of his pale wash, and white paper. A light source
required studies in Western drawing to is suggested somewhere to the left of the
render water and depict small boats in a composition, but this is more of a memo-
convincing manner. Compared with his ry image than an accurate transcription
more conservative album of twenty years of anything seen. The brushwork has a
before, the outline strokes in this paint- certain roughness often seen in the hand
ing are much more casual, but the con- of an aged painter, but the composition is

trasts between charcoal black lines for bold and powerfully conceived.
the mountains and pale transparent lines C.C. Wang (Wang Jiqian: b. 1907 j

for the treacherous currents of the river returns to the classical handscroll format
are even more The power of the
effective. in his Landscape #880222 (A Thousand
painting is drama of its tonal and
in the Peaks Compete in Splendor), of 1988 (cat.
textural contrasts, however, making a 177). Scion of a Suzhou literati family
landscape that simultaneously satisfies that traces its history back to a promi-
traditional interest in brush and ink and nent Ming official and confidant of the

also looks strikingly new. artist Shen Zhou, Wang Jiqian first stud-
A second artist to create dazzling ied painting with the Suzhou literatus Gu
new effects within the traditional canon Linshi (1865-1930) (see cat. 20) before mov-
of Chinese painting is Song Wenzhi (b. ing to Shanghai to study law. In Shanghai
1918), a native of Taicang. Jiangsu. near he became a friend and painting student
Suzhou. A master painter at the Jiangsu of the collector and painter Wu Hufan
Painting Institute since its establish- (1894-1968) (see cats. 41. 42, 147). who was
ment in 1957, he worked with Qian also from a prominent Suzhou family.
Figure 1. Lu Yanshao (1909-1993). Songyan (see cat. 154) to develop a new From intensive practice and close study
Landscapes After the Poems of Du Fu. landscape style suitable to the require- of masterpieces in his own and friends'
1962. Album leaves, ink and color on paper. ments of the period. One of a dozen collections. Wang acquired a thorough
artists sent on a sketching trip in 1961 grounding in the brush techniques and
that took them to agricultural, industri- conceptions of the Yuan literati masters.
al, and scenic areas in six provinces, he In 1949 he moved to Hong Kong and then
recalls that the experience opened his to New York, where he began to develop
eyes.The new work produced upon their what he called his "Landscapes of the
return was appreciated both for its tech- Mind." two of which are Landscape #880222
nical innovations and for the comparative and Landscape #890222 (fig. 2). An impor-
naturalism with which it depicted the tant part of their compositional struc-
landscape. Rejecting this manner after ture consists of ink dabs made with crum-
the Cultural Revolution, he explored vari- pled paper, which Wang then supplement-
ous stylistic possibilities until arriving in ed with the outlines, washes, and rows of
the early 1990s at the manner represented trees from his traditionalist vocabulary.
here. Four album leaves painted on Although a master of texture strokes.
Japanese paper reflect his years of obser- Wang rigorously limits his use of them,
vation of the landscapes in different parts challenging himself to create both forms
of China as well as his technical mastery and surfaces out of the ink dabs. The
(cat. 176). Some leaves are titled accord- accidental wrinkles of ink thus become
ing to season, others according to locale, images of rocks and trees, according to
but all exhibit brilliant understanding of his wish. Although he has clearly been
atmosphere, light, and space. The gem- inspired by Abstract Expressionism, the
like quality of the color and surface and self-expressive potential of that
the delicate brushwork of the execution American form of painting is here tamed
are characteristic of his old age. The deli- by the literati aesthetic, which has
cacy of execution does not preclude dra- shaped deliberately un-controlled wrin-
matic variety. kles of ink into a carefully constructed
Li Keran 1907-1989)
( was the master in landscape vision. 1

his generation at depicting effects of The artistic development of Zhang

light. His Scenery of the Li River, of 1986, Daqian (Chang Dai-chien: 1899-1983). an
sums up a lifetime's work (cat. 175). In artist from Sichuan who made his artistic
depicting the famous river near Guilin. he career primarily in the Shanghai area
establishes strong contrasts of black ink. before 1949. was parallel to Wang's.
 CHINKSK PAINTING IN TIIK POST-MAO ERA

Intensely interested in even earlier paint- order during the first half of the twenti-
in- Ihat of the Tang (618-907) and Song eth century enabled knowledgeable peo-
(960-1279) periods. Zhang traveled in the ple to amass collections of fine old paint-
1940s to the famous Buddhist cave-tem- ings. Collecting particularly stimulated
ples in the area of Dunhuang in Gansu Zhang Daqian's early technical develop-
Province, in order to copy the Tang and ment. By whatever route, all these artists
Song murals there. His skill at copying achieved a style of landscape painting
archaic paintings led to a successful characterized by classical equilibrium
career as a forger. Zhang, too. left China and visual power, the intensity of which is

after 1949, settling for an extended period magnified by They have

its restraint.

in Brazil, then California, and finally depicted recognizable mountains as envi-

Taiwan. His time abroad corresponded sioned in their imaginations, but the
with the heyday of Abstract journey through those mountains
Expressionism, and he. like Wang, began remains ultimately the private experi-
experimenting with chance effects, ence of the viewer.
including splashing ink and color on the The quality called "loftiness" in
paper, as in An Invitation to Rusticate. 1966 literati painting theory refers to a per-
(fig. 3). Also like Wang, he never permit- fectly balanced emotional distance, an
ted therandom forms to remain purely art achieved through suggestion rather
abstract but turned them into landscapes. than domination, implication rather than
Peach Blossom Spring (cat. 178), painted in explication. The artist reveals himself
Taibei in 1983, the last year of his life, is a intuitively, but this self, however eccen-
typical example of Zhang's late style, in tric or individualistic, is rarely primal,

which he returned increasingly to recog- raw, or messy, but instead is the result of
nizable Chinese imagery. To the some- conscious cultivation of character and
what illegible puddled black ink and knowledge. The scholar-official's ability
color, he added narrative elements from to sail as if effortlessly through the
the famous poem by Tao Qian (365-427) administration of mundane though
Figure 2. Wang Jiqian (b. 1907). Landscape describing an ancient Utopia: the solitary important affairs, showing the world only
#890222. 1989. Ink and color on paper. fisherman in his skiff, the blossoming the cool surface of his personality, is a
C.C. Wang Family collection. peach trees that tempt him to venture up fundamental trait of the literati aesthet-

the small stream toward the arcadian vil- ic. The viewer of literati painting is
lage outside of time and space. 1
expected to bring to the work a similar
These artists grew up in an era of self-awareness, to engage in a dialogue
modern education. Lu Yanshao attended with the intellect and personality of the
one of China's early art schools, the Wuxi painting, as well as with its image. The
Art Academy in Jiangsu Province; Li varied styles of the landscapes in our first
Keran was originally a student of mod- section, ranging from the substantiality
ernist oil painting under Lin Fengmian of LiKeran to the orderliness of Wang
at the National Hangzhou Arts Academy: Jiqian and finally to the flamboyance of
and Wang Jiqian attended a Western- Zhang Daqian. create very different open-
style law school. All of them showed and ings for this dialogue, but all respect the
sold their work in modern-style exhibi- viewer's ability to engage in it.

tions. But members of the traditional

scholar-elite were still numerous in their NEC-TRADITIONALISTS
day. and traditionalist painting and cal- The works of a second generation of
ligraphy were still practiced. Learning painters, the Neo-Traditionalists. share
from older artists, in a traditional mas- similar qualities, but its artists are per-
ter-disciple relationship that might last haps more remarkable for having grown
for decades, was still an option. Even Li up in a later time, when the literati cul-

Keran, who began his public career in art ture and aesthetic was no longer to be
as a modernist oil painter, was strongly found in society. Nevertheless, their work,
influenced by an older colleague, tradi- which is even more varied than that of
tionalist Huang Binhong (1864-1955). in the older generation, succeeds in lifting
the course of developing his own land- viewers from their normal psychological
scape style. state into something akin to a Kantian
Furthermore, social and political dis- sense of the sublime.
 CHINESE PAINTING IN THE I'OHT-MAO Kit A 231

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art f at
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if ' •
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Figure 3. Zftamff Daqian (1899-1983). An The landscape imagery of Arnold home of Nanjing in order to develop beau-
Invitation to Rusticate. 1966. Ink and color Chang (b. 1954), in his Waterfalls in the tifully controlled, pale brushwork and
on paper. Mei Yun Tang collection. Valley (cat. 179), is not to be found on this tranquil imagery, as in his undated
earth, but the subtle beauty of his brush- Landscape/Clouds (cat. 184) and Landscape.
work leaves one longing to visit such a 1991 (fig. 4). His work is detached and cool,
place. Zhang Hong, inspired as a child by warmed only by earth tones, perhaps
the work of Zhang Daqian, grew up in employed in homage to the seventeenth-
New York, and his construction of an century Nanjing monk Kuncan or the
identity as a Chinese artist has been very twentieth-century Nanjing painter Fu
much an act of personal self-cultivation. Baoshi. Chang's landscapes are imbued
The way in which these artists seem to with an almost agonizing sense of dis-

have built so naturally upon the work of tance, but at the same time they artfully
their predecessors may not seem remark- lure the viewer into their perfectly dis-
able until one considers that they have tilled and peaceful worlds. In the orderly
worked essentially in isolation from a artistic universe of his pale, imaginary
living artistic community, engaging landscapes, Chang has in the past decade
almost entirely in dialogue with the art achieved a subtlety worthy of literati aes-
of the past. thetic aspirations.
Shanghai-born Li Huayi (b. 1948) has Nanjing native Shu Chuanxi (b. 1932)

developed a highly personal way of paint- entered the private Suzhou Art Academy
ing while living in California. Exposed to in the early 1950s and graduated from the
his family's collection of Shanghai school new school into which it was absorbed
paintings as a child, Li began his study of after the national educational restructur-
painting with Wang Jimei. the son of ing, the Huadong Arts Academy. He then
Wang Zhen (see cats. 26-28). He later con- studied print making in Leipzig, when the
centrated on Western painting, studying People's Republic of China began sending
in the private studio of Belgian-trained its art students to Europe's Eastern-bloc
Zhang Chongren. Only after completing countries. He graduated in 1961. and has
an M.F.A. degree at the San Francisco Art served on the faculty of the Zhejiang
Institute did he come to his own under- Academy of Fine Arts ever since. In
standing of the art of Chinese painting. recent years Shu has devoted himself to
Li combines techniques of Song and Ming giwhua painting of various types. The
painting with fragments of observed most successful are his albums, which
landscapes to create fantasy worlds, or possess a remarkable formal beauty. In
dream worlds, presented in an almost sur- his Album of Plum Blossoms. 1995 (cat. 182).
realistic fashion, as in Red Trees and recognizable images from nature are ren-
Wrinkled Cliff. 1994 (cat. 180). His work dered with a clean, cool, abstract beauty.
rewards close scrutiny by drawing one Shu's work demonstrates his deep knowl-
into this imaginary world. edge of the history of his chosen genre,
Chang Jin (b. 1951) has been engaged including the work of Song dynasty
over the past fifteen years in absorbing literati plum painters such as Yang
the artistic traditions of his adopted Buzhi. of Yuan painters such as Wang
 CHINESE PAINTING IN TIIK POST-MAO ERA

to nineteenth-century Shanghai school

painters, especially the Buddhist Xugu
(see cats. 14-16), but his imagery is very
much his own. Liao's most frequent sub-
ject is a fuzzy soybean called maodou, a
very simple but delicious food popular in
Shanghai, whose somewhat odd surface
texture he captures in different shades of
bright green wash.
Seasonal Vegetables. 1996 (cat. 181) typ-
ifies the complexity of his artistic vision
by its very format. After completing this
handscroll, he sent it to the Shanghai
Museum to be mounted in brocade, as

though it were an ancient masterpiece.

This very unassuming artist was motivat-
ed not by personal arrogance but by affec-
tionate regard for the dignity of his sub-
ject, the lowly soybean accompanied by
several other vegetables. Liao's Seasonal
Vegetables partly shares both the subject
and the sensibility of Nirvana of the
Radish, a humorous Buddhist painting by
the Japanese Ito Jakuchu(1716-1800).
The remarkable variety of work that
may be found in the city of Shanghai, to
say nothing of China as a whole, is imme-
diately apparent on comparing the paint-
Figure 4. Chang Jin (b. 1951). Landscape. Mian, and even of the eighteenth-century ings of the above mentioned Neo-
1991. Ink and color on paper. Collection of eccentric painter Jin Nong. But he Traditionalists with the traditionalism
the artist. achieves individuality through his dis- practiced by Xiao Haichun (b. 1944). A
tinctive hand, with a particularly angular native of Fengcheng in Jiangxi Province,
quality in his brush work eliminating all Xiao graduated from the Shanghai School
traces of sweetness from images that of Applied Arts in 1964. during the heyday
might otherwise be too pretty. Shu paints of Socialist Realism, and became an
in a variety of styles (see cat. 196). but award-winning designer of figural jade
although he is not a single-minded devo- carvings. In recent years, however, he has
tee of Neo-Traditionalism, his plum-blos- turned to landscape painting. Like that of
som paintings are best viewed in a Neo- the other painters in this group, Xiao's
Traditionalist context. work is strongly formalistic. But unlike
Liao Lu (originally named Ruan the more complex intellectual and emo-
Jinxing: who goes by his Buddhist
b. 1944). tional resonances established by other
name, is a native of Shanyu in Zhejiang artists of this group, whose work is more
Province but lives in Shanghai. He stud- in keeping with the restraint of the
ied painting informally with older artists literati aesthetic, Xiao's landscapes have
Zhang
in Shanghai, particularly a strongly physical quality. Indeed, his
Dazhuang, Tang Yun, and He Tianjian Landscape Triptych, 1997 (cat. 183), is one
(see cats. 43, 145, 146). and in the 1960s of the most aggressive pieces of tradi-
went to work at the Institute of Applied tionalist painting produced in recent
Arts, from which he has since resigned. years, perhaps bolder even than Jia
Liao is a lay practitioner of Chan Youfu's monumental Post-Traditionalist
Buddhism, and his images of the most The Taihang Mountains, 1984 (cat. 188).

mundane but essential articles of daily Xiao's huge triptych, which is mod-
life reflect Chan inspiration. Many of his eled stylistically and compositionally on
Figure 5. Wu Guanzhong (b. 1919). West subjects are traceable to the work of the landscape masterpieces of the tenth or
Peak at Mt. Hua. 1982. Sketch, ink on paper. eighteenth-century Buddhist eccentric eleventh century, overwhelms the viewer
Jin Nong. and his whimsy and rich colors by its sheer size. The classical technical
 CHINESE PAINTING IN THE POST-MAO ERA 283

and compositional references in this own time. In their hands. Chinese tradi-
painting may recall the tradition of Dong tion is transformed.
Yuan and Juran in the tenth century, but, One of the best-known artists of this
like the action paintings of the Abstract type is Wu Guanzhong fb. 1919). Trained
Expressionists, it is experienced first primarily in Western painting at the
physically, not intellectually, for Xiao National Hangzhou Arts Academy, Wu
uses the ancient techniques less for their traveled to Paris for further study in 1946.
spiritual or intellectual connotations where he became caught up in modernist
than for their formal qualities. Indeed, currents of the time. Unlike earlier stu-
intellectual analysis doesn't take one dents, who returned from Europe to
very far here. Landscape Triptych assaults almost instant fame, Wu's career did not
the eyes, not with the power of landscape flourish in the 1950s, for his formalist
but with the power of painting. The ideas were not welcome during the period
intent realized in this monumental work when Socialist Realism was predominant.
is to surpass the works of the ancient In the early 1960s he was permitted to
masters and the Socialist Realists, not by travel around China, which inspired a
innovative imagery or technique but by series of distinctive oil landscapes that
unparalleled scale and intensity. gained Wu a moderate degree of recogni-
Xiao's triptych is typical of an tion. It was not until after the Cultural
Figure 6. Zhao Wuji (b. 1921). 2.12.87. Oil on important trend in contemporary Revolution that Wu began to emerge as a
canvas. Collection of the artist. Chinese art. Whereas other Neo- force in the Chinese art world. In the late
Traditionalists explore their roles in 1970s he began publicly promoting the
Chinese culture, ancient or modern, on a virtues of abstraction and formalism,
personal and private level, this work does both of which were officially discouraged

not speak to the individual viewer but during the previous quarter-century. Chu-
instead addresses an anonymous but (by tsing Li has admirably summarized Wu
assumption) ideologically sympathetic Guanzhong's emergence at this time as a
public. Through its use of compositions spokesman for new approaches to art. 3 In
and brush techniques evocative of the particular, he published several essays on
golden age of Chinese landscape painting, the question of abstract beauty in the
it invokes the authority and antiquity of influential official art journal Meishu.
Chinese culture, thereby reinforcing its arguing that the Abstract school was an
massive scale and commanding composi- inevitable development in the West, and
tion in order to overawe the onlooker. One should not be condemned. Although he
might consider it an instrument of a new qualified his proposals by warning that
cultural nationalism, whose creators Chinese artists should not blindly follow
regard their audience not as individuals the West, he nevertheless believed that
but as a collective, anonymous, passive they should learn from the West, in order
target. to enrich China's own art. He wrote
enthusiastically of the abstract beauty
POST-TRADITIONALISTS manifest in many mediums in Chinese
The most obvious commonality linking art. from classical garden design to
this final group of artists in the exhibi- Shang and Zhou bronzes.
tion is that most were not trained in tra- Wu continued to work in oil but also
ditional Chinese painting, and most began working regularly in guohua, which
Figure 7. Zeng Mi (b. 1935). Snowy either reject or are oblivious to tradition- lent itself more to expressive spontaneity"
Landscape. 1996. Ink on paper. Collection of al techniques and standards. Many were He brings to his painting on Chinese
the artist. trained as oil painters; others received paper his training in line drawing and
their art education during the Socialist Western-style color, thus making quite
Realist period, and were indoctrinated in innovative and personal use of the medi-
the superiority of the new guohua over um. In the early 1980s he sometimes drew
the old and the dangers of adopting with a pen on Chinese paper, creating ele-
brushwork or subjects associated with the gant contrasts between his spidery lines
landlord class. Freed by this education and rich ink and color washes (see fig. 5).

from attachments to China's artistic The same travels that yielded his small
past, they have sought to construct a landscape oils inspired many of his guo-
Chinese tradition appropriate to their hua landscapes, such as the felt-tipped
 CHINESE I'M NT I NT. IN THE POST hah ERA

Shi Lu (1919-1982) produced his eccentric

vision of the peak in his hanging scroll
Mount Hua. 1972 (cat. 185). Irregular tex-
ture strokes, quite different from those of
the past, add to the drama of his breath-
taking scene. His image shows no path,
making the peak seem inaccessible.
Compared with Wu Guanzhong's some-
what more genial image, Shi's conveys
the forbidding aspect of this extraordi-
nary natural site. Shi is believed to have
developed mental illness during the
Cultural Revolution, and his art clearly
abandoned the Cultural Revolution aes-
thetic at least five years before it was offi-
cially permitted (or reasonably safe) to do
so. This work, while an immediately rec-
ognizable image of a famous place, is also
extremely self-expressive. It deserves a

privileged place as one of the headwaters

of post-Mao Chinese painting.
As early as the 1960s Shi's conception
of art comprehended formalist self-
expression. In an essay not published
until twenty years later, he wrote. "If a
painting has brush and ink, its ideas are
alive; without brush and ink, its thoughts
are dead. If a painting possesses my
Figure 8. Nie Ou (b. 1948). Peasants' pen drawing of Mount Hua (fig. 5). which thought, it has my brush and ink, if it

Happiness. 1995. Ink and color on paper. in turn became a study for his painting lacks my thought, it will be a slave of
China International Exhibition Corporation. Sunrise on Mt. Hua. 1983 (cat. 186). In ancient men's and nature's brushwork."'
transforming the scene from a monochro- From at least 1965 until the end of his life,

matic sketch to a polychromatic paint- as he battled with schizophrenia, his work

ing, he deleted the human figures who became increasingly eccentric. Harshly
crowd the stairway leading to the moun- criticized during the Cultural Revolution
tain peak, thus altering a popular tourist but widely published and studied immedi-
spot into an image of early morning soli- ately thereafter, it became particularly
tude and tranquility and repose. Perhaps influential in the early 1980s, just before
the artist even intended to evoke Mount he died.
Hua's traditional identity as a sacred A very different approach to the
peak, an axis mundi. In this painting Wu northern Chinese landscape and to
used fine lines to define the mountain, abstraction is evident in The Taihang
then applied color in quite abstract and Mountains. 1984 (cat. 188), by a younger
decorative ways, ornamenting the rocky artist. Jia Youfu (b. 1942). which treats an
gray cliff with dabs of pastel pink and almost identical subject. Jia. a 1965 grad-

green that can only remotely be justified uate of the Central Academy of Fine
as the effects of sunrise light. Only rarely Arts, reportedly vowed in 1978 to devote
working in a purely abstract mode. Wu the next fifteen years of his life to mak-
Guanzhong has continued to paint the ing art based on the Taihang Mountains.
Chinese landscape, creating bold con- The huge painting in this exhibition com-
trasts of line, blank paper, color, and wash memorates his fourteenth trip to the
that are particularly striking in the con- area. This dramatically beautiful moun-
1

text of his time. tain range on the Hebei-Shanxi border

The sheer peaks of Mount Hua have was also the area in which the Eighth
attracted artists throughout Chinese his- Route Army saw combat during the Sino-
tory. inspiring many remarkable works of Japanese war. and thus combines patriot-
art. Communist print maker and painter ic and historical interest with scenic
 CHINESE PAINTING IN THIS I'OST-MAO Hit A

VM grandeur. Jia's inscription itemizes the same year that Tang Muli painted
mountains' significance: he loves every Acupuncture Anaesthesia (cat. 161) in

peak, every stone, every blade of grass for Shanghai, Qian Songyan painted Sunrise
but above all he loves the Taihang
itself, in Yan'an after Snow (cat. 154) in Nanjing,
Mountains because every peak resembles and in Xi'an Liu Wenxi painted New
a memorial stele marking the site of the Spring in Yan'an (cat. 157) and Shi Lu
nation's struggle for survival. painted Mount Hua (cat. 185). The artist
Jia, who graduated and later began of En Memoire de May, Zhao Wuji (Zao
teaching at the same school as Li Keran, Wou-ki; b. 1921), was a classmate of Wu
clearly absorbed that older master's dra- Guanzhong at the National Hangzhou
^..L
matic use of light. He would undoubtedly Arts Academy. Born into a banker's fami-
have also been aware of the innovations of ly in Beijing but raised in Nantong. near
Shi Lu and his colleagues in Xi'an, and Shanghai. Zhao entered the Academy at
has gone far beyond them. In this paint- the age of fourteen, in 1935. Retreating
.'>//*A.l
ing his goal is a particular kind of compo- with the Academy from the Japanese
Figure 9. Shu Chuanxi (b. 1932). Rhythm of sitional drama, one in keeping with the invaders, he graduated in Chongqing in
the Orient. 1994. Ink and color on paper. monumental theme, which he has 1941 and joined the faculty. The following
Collection of the artist. achieved by covering the surface com- year he organized a modern oil-painting
pletely, using heavy ink and dark colors. exhibition, consisting of work by his
The Taihang Mountains may be the most teachers at the Academy and others,
important example of this approach, including Lin Fengmian. Wu Dayu, Guan
which was taken up by many northern Liang, and Ding Yanyong. After a solo
landscape painters. It is also typical of exhibition in Shanghai in 1947. he depart-
the work of many academically trained ed for Paris.
artists of this generation, who feel more Zhao was fortunate to arrive in Paris
comfortable with sweeping conceptual at the same time that many emigre
statements than with personal ones. artists from other parts of the world were
Furthermore, the uprooting of tradition- settling there. He was also blessed with
al painting and culture left Jia and other sympathetic colleagues who, years later,

academically trained artists inclined to would write of parallels between Zhao, as

look for inspiration in the sites of the Red a Chinese painter in Paris, and other
Army's patriotic deeds more than in the modern expatriates— Picasso in Paris.
art of the past. The results are unique in Klee (not precisely an expatriate) in
the history of Chinese painting, and Germany. Einstein in the United States,
indeed succeed in proving the power of and Freud in London — and who could
China's national art. appreciate the harmonizing of French and
An even younger artist, Chen Ping Chinese artistic ideas in his work. He
(b. 1960). creates gloomy images of north soon became part of the Parisian abstract
Chinese landscapes in a somewhat similar movement, and by 1952 was launched as a
manner. Like other northern Chinese gesture painter, painting canvases that
artists, Chen often relies on deliberately grew ever larger and more intense. En
rough brushwork to create powerful Memoire de May. painted in memory of his
effects. His work is disturbing in a unique late wife, May. may be one of his most
way, however: rustic village dwellings, powerful. He painted it shortly after
depicted in seemingly naive brushwork. returning from his first visit to China in
are virtually engulfed in bizarre, almost twenty-five years, and in the course of
surrealistic color combinations, as in The preparing a memorial exhibition of May's
Countryside, 1983 (cat. 190). Chen is consid- sculpture. He went back to China fre-
ered a representative of the new guohua. quently in the following years, exhibiting
and his painting is evidence of the degree there and in 1985 teaching at the academy
to which the aesthetics, techniques, and in Hangzhou.
purposes of guohua have been trans- Zhao's importance in the Chinese art
formed. world lies in the remarkable combination
At this point, we turn to a work that of his cosmopolitanism with his Chinese
may at first seem out of place. En essence, which can be seen in his oil
Memoire de May (cat. 173), a large oil painting 2.12.87. 1987 (fig. 6). Many
painting executed in Paris in 1972. the observers, who find little reason to link
CHINESE PAINTING IN Till-: POST MAO ERA

Zhao to contemporary China, have com- on the island. Trained in the recognizable
mented that as an artist Zhao is com- styles of Post-Impressionist oil painting
pletely French. It is true that his reputa- and literati ink painting taught at
tion and artistic career are part of the Taiwan Normal University, he plunged
history of modern French painting, but dramatically into abstraction during the
since the Cultural Revolution they have late 1950s. After exhibiting in May 1957
also been part of the history of Chinese with a group that called itself the Fifth
art. He has repeatedly exhibited in Hong Moon group, he began experimenting
Kong. Taiwan, and mainland China, and with mixed media, and by the 1960s he had
more importantly, he is considered a developed a dramatic, highly abstract
Chinese artist by the Chinese art commu- landscape vision. Most of his works from
nity. His work and thinking are unusually this period are paintings on paper in the
well integrated; as if bilingual, they can scroll format, in an Abstract
speak to French and Chinese audiences Expressionist style. The central role of
simultaneously. landscape in his abstractions is made

Zhao's gift has been his ability to clear by his titles, such as Mount Huang,
make his viewers, be they European or 1966 (cat. 193).
Chinese, understand that art can be In the early 1970s, inspired by the
abstract and Chinese at the same time. In Americans' manned lunar landing in 1969,

his work the theoretical connections so Liu's work underwent another transfor-
often made between modernism and mation. He began to paint circular geo-
Chinese painting come to life, gracefully. metric forms, combining these with land-
To the Chinese art world this has given scape elements rendered in expressionist
access to a potentially difficult form of brushwork, an approach that he refined in
painting, an art that was taboo and thus the following decade, leading to works
largely unknown throughout the Maoist such as the remarkable Midnight Sun, 1985
period. Particularly for fellow graduates (cat. 195). In this painting his experi-
of the National Hangzhou Arts Academy, ments of the 1970s are fully realized on an
he provides material to fill a gap in their enormous scale. Liu's combination of
development, enabling them to become expressionist brushwork and crisply
the modernists they might have been had defined geometric forms has appealed to
China been at peace when they graduated many younger artists in China, where he
from art school in the 1930s. Decades after is widely imitated.'
being forced to abandon French mod- Wang Wuxie (Wucius Wong: b. 1936).

ernism and adopt Socialist Realism, they working on a smaller scale, has made
are following their old instincts again as equally interesting juxtapositions of geo-
they try to become part of an alternative metric abstraction and the softness of
art history. A number of former traditional ink renderings. Wang moved
revolutionaries, including Yan Han and with his family to Hong Kong at the age
Luo Gongliu, have experimented with of ten, and received his formal artistic
Abstract Expressionism in their old age. training in the United States, but
going even further than fellow alumnus Chinese art is the thematic starting point
Wu Guanzhong in nonfigurative direc- of much of his painting. His Cloudy
tions. But it is Zhao's influence on young Harmony. 1978 (cat. 187), resembles a Song
Chinese artists, who never personally dynasty landscape that has been divided
experienced modernist art, that is of into quarters and recombined, or perhaps
greatest significance for the future. viewed through a kaleidoscopic lens, and
A second diaspora artist who has had thus fragmented into arbitrary rectan-
profound influence at home is of a gles of beautiful brushwork. The play
younger generation, and his influence has between the apparently representational
come to China primarily as a Hong Kong mountain forms and the composition's
phenomenon, even though he is no longer abstract structure offers a jolting visual
a resident of that city. Liu Kuo-sung experience.
(Guosong; b. 1932) was born in China, but Zhao Chunxiang (Chao Chung
taken to Taiwan as a teenager and edu- Hsiang; 1910-1991). like many other
cated at Taiwan Normal University, which Zhao Wuji, Wu
artists, including

at that time had the best art department Guanzhong, Luo Gongliu, Yan Han. and
CHINKS!') PAINTING IN TBI'! POST-MAO KKA

Hu Yichuan, studied at the National step further by adopting modern

Hang'zhou Arts Academy, from which he Japanese painting conventions for an
graduated in 1939. He taught Taiwan
in indictment of Japan's conscription of
from 1951 until 1955, after which he moved Chinese laborers to work in the
first to Europe and then to the United Manchurian coal mines. Here, a heavy
States. In the 1960s, like Liu Guosong, he network of fragmented lines overlays the
began to experiment with splashing huddled figures of men. women, and chil-
Chinese ink on paper to create Abstract dren to create a dizzying image of slow
Expressionist images, and also sometimes death in what may be one of the most
used acrylic paint along with ink. Withal, powerfully depressing history paintings
his work differs from Liu's in several of the period. This ambitious image is the
ways, perhaps most notably in that his last of Zhou's public statements. Her con-
choice of paper sometimes creates effects stantly evolving artistic vision turned
of rich ink similar to those in xieyi paint- next to expressing the small, intense
ing, but even more purely formal in their pleasures of life. Her Lotus Pool. 1989 (cat.

function. One of his most dramatic paint- 191 1. is so pale as to be almost ghostly.
ings. Calling You. 1984 (cat. 194), is com- The subtle variations in ink tone, so
pletely nonobjective, but a viewer accus- beautiful and profoundly moving, are dif-
tomed to Chinese painting can detect a ficult to capture in a photographic repro-
botanical image in the dynamic, densely duction.
layered brush work. Although Zhao was A younger figure painter. Shi Dawei
one of Lin Fengmian's most promising (b. 1950), is best known for history paint-
students, his retiring disposition led to ings that subtly transform the Socialist
his relative obscurity in the Chinese art Realist canon, as in Mao Zedong and an
scene until he was very old, when he Old Peasant, 1993 (cat. 200). Like Jia
returned to Asia. Youfu. he continues to focus on China's
Young Cantonese artist Liu Zijian revolutionary history as his subject mat-
(b. 1956) has been strongly affected by the ter, at a time when this is no longer
innovations of his elders. His Abstract Ink mandatory.
Painting, 1995 (cat. 197), exploits the con- A rather different approach to figure
trasts created by using puddled ink and painting, emerging among a group of
hard-edged geometric forms in the same painters in the south, especially in
composition. Shanghai and Nanjing, has by now
By contrast, Shu Chuanxi, who also become a nationwide trend. Lu Fusheng
works in a Neo-Traditionalist manner (b. 1949). who studied in the guohua

(see cat. 182). experiments in modernist or department of the Zhejiang Academy of

even postmodernist guohua painting Fine Arts, painted one of his best-known
related to the manner of Zhao Wuji, works. The Phoenix Hairpin. 1981 (cat. 201).

whose early oils and prints offer Klee- immediately after graduating. This
inspired experiments with primitivist album was commissioned by Shanghai
Chinese script. Shu's Rhythm of the People's Art Press as a set of seventy-two
Orient, 1990s (cat. 196 and fig. 9), which illustrations to a lianhuanhua version of
may be viewed on a table as a Chinese a kunqu opera then popular in Shanghai. 5
album, or in the gallery as a large instal- Lu. himself an enthusiast of traditional
lation piece, also shares Zhao's bicultural drama, worked with the lyricist to pre-
quality. pare texts to accompany the tragic tale,

so that the book would effectively recre-

POST-TRADITIONAL FIGURE ate the drama. Each picture is accompa-
PAINTERS nied by a brief narrative and followed by
The preceding essay, "The Victory of one or two of the lyrics that would be
Socialist Realism." ended with Zhou sung by the characters in that particular
Sicong (1939-1995) and the rest of the scene. Some songs not originally included
Chinese art world just beginning to reject in the dramatic performance were com-
the extremist version of Socialist posed for the published version.
Realism practiced during the Cultural The classical libretto revolves around
Revolution. In 1982, with her Coal Miners the lives of a patriot poet of the Southern
("Japan 's Paradise") (cat. 199). Zhou went a Song dynasty. Lu You (1125-1210) and his
CHINESE PAINTING IN THE POST-MAO EH I

wife (who was also his cousin) Tans Wan. Several other contemporary guohua
The couple loved each other profoundly painters make ambiguity a more insis-
but were forced to separate by Lu's moth- tent part of their work. In particular, a
er. For some time after their divorce, they group of painters who emerged in the
met secretly, and Lu intentionally failed 1980s in Nanjing as the New Literati
the civil-service examinations in order to Painters seem intent on pointing out how
avoid taking an official position in anoth- far modern Chinese society is from the
er city. Lu's mother was finally able to ideals of literati culture. Repeatedly in
break up the relationship, after which he China's history. Nanjing has served as a
served as an official in many locations capital and a site of cultural florescence,
throughout the nation. Tang later remar- but never for long. During the distant Six
ried Zhao Shicheng. a member of the Dynasties period (317-589) it was home to
imperial family, and Lu married a woman the father of cursive calligraphy, Wang
named Wang. A decade later the lovers Xizhi, and the patriarch of Chinese figure
encountered each other at the Shen painting, Gu Kaizhi. In the tenth century,
Garden in Shanyin, Zhejiang Province, as capital of the Southern Tang dynasty,
and were again grief-stricken. Lu then it was the site of an extraordinary court
composed a poem about their love in the painting atelier. As first capital of the
song-lyric (ci) format and inscribed it on Ming dynasty, its glory was temporarily
the garden wall. Tang responded with a restored, only to disappear soon after
poem of the same title. Eventually she when the capital was moved to Beijing. In
died of a broken heart. Lu kept her con- the twentieth century Nanjing was the
stantly in his thoughts. center of a brief renaissance after the
In the final scene we learn that Lu Nationalist government made that city
has retired to Shanyin after thirty-seven its capital in 1929. at the conclusion of the
years of government service. He returns military campaign to reunite China
to the Shen Garden where he last saw under a single government. Eight years
Tang, and finds everything changed. Only later came the Japanese invasion and the
the wall on which he wrote his poem to Rape of Nanjing', and never since then has
her remains untouched. Throughout the the city been China's capital. Overshad-
story runs the theme of conflict between owed by the economic and political cen-
the pacifist and the irredentist factions ters of the current era. Nanjing lives on
within the Southern Song government, its memories of ancient cultural glory.
which was ruling a diminished empire Thus, throughout the work of Nanjing
from Hangzhou. Lu was a passionate irre- painters, one finds a bitter tinge of nos-
dentist throughout his official career. The talgia. Though they know the past to be
story's primary theme, however, is the irretrievable, they avoid the present.
traditional one of conflict between the Xu Lei (b. 1956), trained as a gongbi
protagonist's Confucian duty and his per- (fine-line, detailed) flower-and-bird

sonal emotion. painter, now paints subjects from classi-

Lu Fusheng's style here, showing no cal Chinese material culture in a surreal-
trace of Socialist Realism, was notable in istic manner, as in Rocks and Chair, 1995
1981when this work was painted, and (cat. 198). which features antique garden
marks the beginning of a new trend in rocks, a white dove, painted screens, and
Chinese figure painting. It is an antiquar- an antique chair. Is this a formalist exer-
ian style, featuring the fine-line tech- cise or the strange subconscious imagery
nique and bittersweet distortion associat- of a modern traditionalist? Xu Lele
ed with seventeenth-century painter (b. 1955) paints rather naive, almost cute,
Chen Hongshou and carried on by images of characters from classical nov-
Shanghai school painter Ren Xiong els, as in The Characters from "Dream of the
(1823-1857), which Lu uses for expressive Red Chamber" 1996 (cat. 202), but all her
purposes and to create a feeling of myste- figures seem enervated. Several other
rious distance. Indeed, without consult- artists, including Shi Dawei and some fol-

ing the text of the story, his images are lowers of Zhou Sicong. have also adopted
strange and difficult to interpret, some- this naive imagery and style of painting,
what like those of Shanghai school although they often lack the irony that
painters of a century earlier. saves these examples from sweetness.
CHINESE PAINTING IN THE POST MAO ERA

Traces of the style appear in the paint- NOTES

ings of northern artist Chen Ping, and 1. There are many books and essays about this
also in the work of Zeng Mi (b. 1935). A artist. Two early books are Hsu Hslao-hu.
native of Fuzhou in Fujian Province, Mountains of the Mind: The Landscape Painting
Zeng graduated from the Zhejiang of Wang Chi-ch'ien (New York and Tokyo:
Academy of Fine Arts in 1962; his teach- Weatherhill. 1970), and Lois Katz and C. C. Wang.

ers there would have promoted the The Landscapes of C. C. Wang: Mountains of the
Socialist Realist style of Fang Zengxian Mind (New York: Arthur M. Sackler
and Liu Wenxi. Thirty-five years later, Foundation. 1977). Jerome Silbergeld's Mind
much of Zeng's work is in a variation of Landscapes: The Paintings ofC.C. Wang (Seattle

the naive style, skillfully painted to and London: University of Washington Press,
achieve an "innocent'" unskilled effect 1987) may be considered the definitive study up

(see cat. 192 and fig. 7). This intentionally to that point in the artist's career.

naive style, which inspired a host of 2. Two recent examples of the many English-

younger artists, was pioneered by Fang language writings on Chang Dai-chien include
Zhaolin (b. 1914), as in her Loess Plateau of Shen C. Y Fu and Jan Stuart. Challenging the
1985 (cat. 189). Zeng Mi's subtle use of Past: The Paintings of Chang Dai-chien
gray ink, however, closely evokes Zhou (Washington: Arthur M. Sacker Gallery in
Sicong's quiet self-expression in Lotus Association with the University of Washington
Pool (cat. 191). A similarly deliberate Press. 1991 ) and The Mei Yun Tang Collection of

naivete, also influenced by Fang Zhaolin, Paintings by Chang Dai-chien (Hong Kong: Art
is seen in the work of Nie Ou (see fig. 8). Gallery, Institute of Chinese Studies. The
Wang Mengqi (b. 194Y), who has Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993).

recently moved to Guangzhou, retains his 3. See the summary by Chu-tsing Li in Wu

sense of alienation and relies less on Guamhong. A Contemporary Chinese Artist, ed.

naivete than on obvious distortions for Lucy Lim (San Francisco: Chinese Culture
his effect. His Lofty Sages, 1996 (cat. 203), Center of San Francisco, 1989). pp. 35-36.

are rendered in a manner that indeed goes 4. Julia F. Andrews. Painters and Politics

back to the ancient conventions of figure (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994;.

painting developed in Nanjing, but the p. 294.

elongation of the human form in his work 5. The six leaves shown here were published as
has a highly ironic quality. Figure paint- pp. 8. 11. 26. 29. 33, and 55 of The Phoenix Hairpin.
ing, in most ancient periods and in the
Socialist Realist period, depicted exem-
plars of virtue, intended to inspire emula-
tion. The inebriated melancholy of
Wang's strange sages hardly fits this pat-

tern. One might relate his work stylisti-

cally to that of the seventeenth-century

master Chen Hongshou, or to that of Ren
Xiong and Ren Yi, but in its present con-
text its distortion might be seen less as a
classicizing gesture than as a quizzical
commentary upon the glorious national
tradition. For, like Yang Lizhou or Zhou
Sicong, Wang" was trained as a Socialist
Realist. His transformation of the nature
of figure painting can only be viewed as a
deliberate self-expressive strategy.
Perhaps it is fitting that we conclude our
story with this ambiguous image, in
which questioning the past may serve to
help Chinese artists approach the future.
173. Zhao Wuji (Zao Won ki; b. 1921

En Memoire de May
1972

Oil on canvas; 200 x 525 cm

Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre
i :,vir-:t'> Pompidou, Paris
174. Lu Yanshao (1909-1993)
ing through the Gorge
1986

Han Ing scroll, ink and color on paper;

175x68 cm
Collection of Jingguanlou, Hong Kong
175. Li Koran (1907-1989)
Scenery of the Li River
1986

Ink and color on paper; 69 x 116 cm

Collection of Mr. Lui Kwok Man,
Hong' Kong

miHM&w
176. Song Wenzhi (b. 1918)

Four Landscapes
i rndated
Four leaves from an album, ink
and color on sold paper;
leaf 38 x 45 cm
Private collection
 . .

.is
177. WangJiqian(C.C. Wang; b. 1907)

Landscape #880222 ("A Thousand

- in Splendor")
1988
roll, ink and color on paper;
15.7 x 198.3 om
C.C. W '
ly Collection

^l'
1
, i
(Wi ,

,
i

fr-r,' $# ft

m mi$ HP*
fr |*v^>^.- >,
V
VV.< >

1
I im
178. Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chisn;
1899-1983)
Peach-Blossom Spring
1983

Hanging scroll. Ink and color

on paper: 209.1 x 92.4 cm
Cemac. Ltd.

*M
 ,

179. Zhang Hong (Arnold Chang; b. 1954) 180. Li Huayi fb. 1948)
Waterfalls in the Valley Red Trees and Wrinkled Cliff
1996 1991
Ink on paper; 96 x 185.5 cm Ink and color on paper; 66.1 x 125.8 cm
M. K. Lau Collection, Ltd., Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Liu,
Hong Kong Hong Kong

"'•
-y '

.'

& '

111

w <
,

-*>
M-M-"- :

•
-

--^tfe. . ^^:;y

#^*sk
» >S? V;
fH»-
181. Liao Lu(b. l'.MIi

Seasonal Vegetables
1996
Handscroll, ink and color on paper;
33.5 x 267 cm
I'l iv.il v ciilli'i-l ion

1
V*»
1
182. Shu Chuanxi (b. 1932)

Album of Plum Blossoms

1995
Four leaves from an album of
twelve leaves, ink on paper;
each leaf 35 x 44 cm
Private collection

* m *« A «
fa* *f v^% i f 5 i % t% * * I* 4 s- * *
*5

fl ., ;J vi -f-
£ £ *%,-€ it •*
4.

S^jfeS^ -T «. 4.] A ^: -^ fi
^ -—
ft.
d. * * *"*
$ «. # j%
J-
i. -sr if jf i
':
i. t -A -^ * -*- -fr

o>j
-J* --•3 ?*
£ <0
/I -* fA;
.;- i 's-
'i-
v
Si*- 4 ' ?.**? i a
7- *5
Ik
h vg_ *, !i w » '
$- %?- *?

mi f
-
it
.1

Ij&iLil
183. Xiao Haichun(b. 1944)
Landscape Triptych
1997

Set or three hanging scrolls,

mk on paper; each 365 \ 1 10 om
Private collection

1H**i*rt
184, Chang Jill (b. 1951)
Landscape/Clouds
Undated
Ink and color on paper; 99 •/. 62 cm
Private collection
185. Shi I.UI1919-1982)
Mount Una
1972
1 1 in inp scroll, ink on paper; 147.5 x 87 cm
Cemac Ltd.

4- * »t £ J /& ft
186. Wu Guanzhong (b. 1919)
Sunrise on Mount Hua
1983
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
140 x 70 cm
Collection of Lawrence Wu, New York
187. Wang Wuxie(Wuoius Wong; b. 1936)

Cloudu Harmony
1978

Ink on paper; 136 x 67 em

Hong Kong Museum of Art. Provisional
Urban Council
188. Jia Youfu (b. 1942)

The Taihang Mountains

1984
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper;
200 cm x 170 cm
Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing
189. Fang Zhaolin (b. 1914) 190. Chin Pinglb. 1960)

Loess Plateau The Countryside

1985 1983

Ink and color on paper; 175.8 x 97 cm Ink and color on paper; 132 x 134 cm
Hong Kong Museum of Art. Provisional Chinese National Art Gallery. Beijing
Urban Couinil
191. Zhou Sicong (1939-1995) 192. Zeng Mi (b. 1935)

Lotus Pool Snowy Forest

1989 1996
Ink and acrylic on paper; Ink on paper; 68.5 x 61.5 cm
54 x 100 cm Private collection
Private collection

L ,
V
A

'
'
/•-

"
-

"

m
v..-
'

r
c.

i.i
193. Liu Guosong I "i Kuo ung; b, L932)

Mount Huang
1966
Pair of banging scrolls, Ink and color
with collage; Ml x 1 17.3cm
\i i In: i it vile of Chicago, Oriental
Purchase Fund
194. Zhao Chunxiang (Chao Chung Hsiang;
1910-1991)
Calling You
1984

Diptych, ink and acrylic on paper;

183 x 177 cm
Collection of Mrs. Alice King, Hong Kong

x v. \ \j.
195. Liu Gnosong (Liu Kuo-suiik;
b. 1932)

Midnight Sun
1985

Set of seven panels, ink and color

on paper; 184.5 x 632.5 cm
Private collection

«a*«f<.
196. Shu Chuanxi (b. 1932)

Rhythi trient

1990s

Foui ni .m album ol (

ink and color ob

27.5 X 28 om
ion

<^ ^r ;#$
197. Liu ZijiaiKb. 1956)
Abstract Ink Painting
1995
Set of four panels, ink on paper;
178 x 383.2 cm
China International Exhibition Agency,
Beijing
L98 \u Lei(b. 1956)
vnd i 'hair

1995
Ink and color on paper; 89 x 65 cm
Private collection
199. Zhou Sicong (1939-1995) 2(io. Shi Dawei (b. 1950)

Coal Miners ("Japan's Paradise") Mao Zedong and an Old Peasant

1982 1993
Ink and color on paper; 177 x 236 cm Ink and color on paper; 150 x 122 cm
Private collection Pi i villi' colli-nl ion

::M
 I ii Fusheng (b. L949)

The Phoenix Hairpin

1981

Four leaves from on album of seventy I wo

i

es, ink and color on silk:

i
leaf I8.2x 16.3 cm
Private collection

<s««S5*f

if.*?-*

«i i* i
a (fill
I
I
ft
*
19 IS i

-*/
202. Xu Lele (b. 1955)
Ten Characters from "Dream of the
Red Chamber"
1996
Four leaves from an album of
eight leaves, ink and color on paper;
each leaf 39.2 x 22 cm
Private collection

£ <
#
tt it ft 4-
(

:;
'A tk *
i
>
1 in

4 1 £ *. «*A
St %
4 -4
l
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203. Wang IMongqi (b. 1947)

Lofty Sages
1996
Set of six panels, ink and color on paper;
each 233 x 53 cm
Private collection

p&&>^^

•«^tS

«vf
xs
204. Wiui.u Donglin
iphy
1987
i
four banging scrolls, ink on paper;
each 320 x inn cm
rof d.p Pong Galleries. San -ins,-

I
,
 —

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Record of Major Events in Literature

Qian Juntao. Qian Juntao zhuangzhen yishu
— Mind. Landscape: The Paintings of
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Preparation Group for the Fourth Washington Press. 1987.
Hong Kong: Commercial Press. 1992.
Congress of Literary and Art Workers.
Spence. Jonathan D. The Search for Modern
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China. New York and London: W.W. Norton,
Center of the Ministry of Culture's (A Short History of Chinese Book Design).
1990.
Literature and Art Research Institute. Harbin: Heilongjiang People's Art
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Lu Peng and Yi Dan. Zhongguo xiandai yishushi, Quanguo guohua zhanlanhui zuopin mulu
Press. 1981.
1979-1989 (A History of Chinese Modern (List of Works in the National Guohua
Art). Changsha: Hunan Art Press, 1992. Exhibition). Beijing: Art Workers Sulian meishujia zuopin zhanlanhui —youhua,
Association, 1953. diaosu, banhua (Exhibition of Soviet
Marlborough Fine Art. "The Homecoming of
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Chen Tifei" Retrospective Exhibition. Reed. Christopher Alex. "Gutenberg in
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London: Marlborough Fine Art, 1996. Shanghai: Mechanical Printing. Modern
Committee, 1957.
Publishing and Their Effects on the City,
McDougall. Bonnie S.. ed. Popular Chinese
1876-1937," Ph.D. diss.. University of Sullivan. Michael. Art and Artists of Twentieth-
Literature and Performing Arts in the
California. Berkeley. 1996. Century China. Berkeley and Los Angeles:
People's Republic of China, 1949-1979.
University of California Press, 1996.
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of Rotondo, Lisa E. Chinese Revolutionary
California Press. 1984. Woodcuts. 1935-1948. from the Herman . "Chinese Art in the Twentieth Century"
Collection. The Picker Art Gallery, Colgate In Wu Guanzhong: A Twentieth-Century
Meishu (Art). Journal of the Chinese Artists'
University. Middletown. Conn, and Anne Farrer. London:
Chinese Painter, ed.
Association. Beijing. 1954-.
Hamilton. N.Y.: Davison Art Center. The British Museum. 1992.
Meishu congkan (Art). Shanghai: Shanghai Wesleyan University, and Picker Art
. The Meeting of Eastern and Western Art.
People's Art Press. 1979-1988. Gallery. Colgate University, 1984.
2nd ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles:
Meishu yanjiu (Art Research). Journal of the Schneider, Laurence A. "National Essence and University of California Press, 1989.

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 328

Index of Catalogue Reproductions

1. Ren Xlong (1823-1857). Self-portrait, Undated 42. Wu Hufan. Lofty Scholars in an Autumn Grove, 77. Tao Yuanqing. Cover design for Hometown
2. Ren Xiong. The Ten Myriads, Undated 1943 (Guxiang), stories by Xu Qlnwen. edited by
3. Ren Xlong, Album After the Poems o) Van Xie, 43. He Tianjian (1891-1977). Conversation in the Lu Xun: published by Beixin Book Company,
1850-1851 Autumn Woods. 1939 Beijing, 1926
1 Ren Xlong, Drinking Cards with Illustrations of 44. Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chien; 1899-1983). 78. Tao Yuanqing. Cover design for Wandering
the IS Immortals. 1854 Self-pity. 1934 tPanghuang). short stories by Lu Xun;
5. Ron Xun (1835-1893). The Romance of the 45. Zhang Daqian, Red Lotus, 1947 published by Beixin Book Company, Beijing,
Western Chamber, Undated 46. Liu Kuiling (1885-1967), Rooster and Hens, 1926

6. Zhao Zhiqian (1829-1884). Flowers, 1859 1933 79. Lu Xun (1881-1936), Cover design for
7.Zhao Zhiqian. The Book Collecting Cliff, 47. Xu Beihong (1895-1953). Four Horses, 1940 Exploring the Heart, text by Chang Hong, edited
Undated 48. Fu Baoshi (1904-1965). Shitao's Studio. 1945 by Lu Xun: published by Beixin Book Company.
8. Ren Yi (Ren Bonian; 1840-1895) and Hu Yuan 49. Fu Baoshi, Rain at Dusk. 1945 Beijing, 1926
(Hu Gongshou: 1823-1886). Portrait ofGao Yong, 50. Feng Zikai (1898-1975). Gazing at the Lake, 80. Anonymous designer, Cover design for On-
1877 1940 Art, essay by Anatoly Lunacharsky. translated
9. Ren Yi. Album of Figures, Flowers, and Birds, 51. Feng Zikai, Protecting Life, 1928 by Lu Xun; published by Dajiang Bookstore,
1881-1882 52. Pan Tianshou (1898-1971). Black Chicken, 1948 Shanghai, 1929
10. Ren Yi. Five Successful Sons, 1877 53. Zheng Yong (Zheng Wuchang: 1894-1952). 81.Chen Zhifo (1895-1962). Cover design for
11. Ren Yi. Three Knights Errant, 1882 Gazing at the Waterfall. 1948 Lu Xun, Self-Selected Collection, published by
12. Ren Yi. The Shabbij Official (Portrait of Wu 54. Huang Binhong (1864-1955). Landscape, 1952 Tianma Bookstore. Shanghai, 1933
Changshi). 1888 55. Zhao Zhiqian (1829-1884). Calligraphy in 82. Lu Xun (1881-1936). Cover design for Sprouts

13. Ren Yi. In the Cool Shade of the Banana Tree, Various Scripts. 1869 (Mengya yuekan), edited by Lu Xun. vol. 1, no. 1
Datable to 1888 56. Wu Changshi (1844-1927), Stone Drum Script, (January 1930); published by Guanghua Book
14. Xugu (1823-1896). An Endless Day in the 1915 Company, Shanghai, 1930
Tranquil Mountains. Undated 57. Kang Youwei (1858-1927), Calligraphy, 83. Qian Juntao (b. 1906), Cover design adapted
15. Xugu. 77iree Frieiids, 1894 Undated for October, translated by Lu Xun; published by
16. Xugu. Album of Various Subjects, 1895 58. Yu Youren (1878-1964). Five-Character Couplet, Shenzhou Guoguang Press, Shanghai, 1933
17. Lu Hui (1851-1920). Album of Miscellaneous Undated 84. Anonymous designer, Cover design for
Subjects. 1891 59. Lin Sanzhi (1898-1964), Calligraphy. Undated Bernard Sharv in Shanghai, text compiled by
18. Lu Hui. Landscape, 1911 60. Shen Yinmo (1883-1971), Calligraphy on the Lu Xun and Qu Qiubai; published by Wild
Gu Yun (1835-1896). Landscape
19. in the Style of Poetry of Bo Juyi, 1960 Grasses Bookstore, Shanghai. 1933
Wang Meng. 1857 61. Xu Beihong (1895-1953). Sound of the Flute, 85. Tang Yingwei (b. 1915). Forward!, 1936
20. Gu Linshi (Gu Heyi; 1865-1930), Landscape 1926 86. Tang Yingwei. Trailblazing 1936 ,

after Xu Ben. 1910 62. Guan Zilan (Violet Kwan; 1903-1986). Portrait 87. Tang Yingwei, Chrysanthemum, 1936
21. Wu Jiayou (Wu Youru; d. 1893). Women in the of Miss L, 1929 88. Attributed to Huang Xinbo (1915-1980). Title
Twelve Months. 1890 63. Chang Yu (Sanyu; 1901-1966). Acrobat, page of Selected Woodcuts of the Weiming Society,

22-a.Wu Jiayou, Thief in the Flower Garden, 1891 Undated [1930s] 1934
22-b.Wu Jiayou. .4 Family Estate in Autumn. 1891 64. PangXunqin (1906-1985). Son of the Earth, 89. Lai Shaoqi (b. 1915). Breaking Out. 1936
23. Wu Changshi (1844-1927), Four Seasons. 1911 1934 90. Li Hua (1907-1994). Street Sweepers, 1935

24. Wu Changshi. Wild Roses and Loquats. 1920 65. Qiu Ti (1906-1958). Still Life. Undated 91. Chen Tiegeng (1908-1970). Glimpse of the

25. Wu Changshi. Pomegranates and Plum (1931-1933) Esperanto Exhibition, 1933

Blossoms. 1912 66. Zhao Shou (b. 1912), Let's Jump, 1934 92. Jiang Feng (1910-1982), The Trial, 1936

26. Wang Zhen (Wang Yiting; 1867-1938). Lotus 67. Zhao Shou. Color, 1934 93. Wo Zha (1905-1974). Flooding. 1936
and Birds. 1918 68. Sha Qi (b. 1914). Self-portrait, Undated 94. Li Hua (1907-1994), Drizzle, from the series
27. Wang Zhen. Fate, 1922 69. Pan Yuliang (1902-1977), Self-Portrait, 1945 The Suburbs in Spring, 1935

28. Wang Zhen. Dragon and Clouds, 1920 70. Chen Qiucao (1906-1988). Flowers Above the 95. Chen Tiegeng (1908-1970). Waiting, 1933

29. Cheng Zhang (1869-1938), Cranes. 1926 Trenches, 1940 96. Chen Yanqiao (1911-1969/1970), Security Tower,

30. Cheng Zhang. Rustic Scene, 1930 71. Chang Shuhong (1904-1994). Thunder 1936
31. Chen Hengque (Chen Shizeng: 1876-1923). Throughout the Land, 1939 97. Chen Yanqiao. Going to Work, Undated [1930s]
Album of Miscellaneous Paintings in an Elongated 72. Tang Yihe (1905-1944), The Trumpet Call of 98. Li Hua (1907-1994). China, Roar!, 1936
Format, 1922 July 7, 1940 99. Hu Yichuan (b. 1910), To the Front!, 1932
32. Qi Baishi (1864-1957). Landscape, 1924 73. Yu Ben (b. 1905). The Unemployed, 1941 100. Li Hua (1907-1994). Brooding, 1935
33. Qi Baishi. Lotus Pond, 1924 74. Anonymous designer, with title calligraphy 101. Liu Xian (1915-1990), A Lady. 1935
34. Gao Jianfu (1879-1951), Flowers. Melon, Fish, by Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940). Cover design for 102. Tang Yingwei (b. 1915). A Blue Memory. 1935
and Insects, 1905 National Learning and Culture (Guoxue jikan), 103. Zhang Wang (1915-1992). Head Wound, 1934
35. Gao Jianfu. Pine Tree. 1936 vol. 1. no. 1 (January 1923). published by Beijing 104. Tang Yingwei (b. 1915). Devils, Undated
36. Gao Qifeng (1889-1933), Spring Rain by the University. 1923 [1930s]

Willow Pond, Undated 75. Lu Xun (1881-1936), Cover design for Peach- 105. Zhang Hui (dates unknown), The Beggar Has
37. Gao Qifeng. Monkeys and Snowy Pine, 1916 Colored Cloud ( Taose de yun). Translated by Lu No Clothing,Undated
38. Gao Jianfu (1879-1951). Stupa Ruins in Burma, Xun; published by Xinchao Publishers, Beijing, 106. He Baitao (1913-1939). On the Streets, 1933
1934 1923 107. Liu Xian (1915-1990). The Prisoner, Undated
39. Gao Jianfu. Eagle. 1929 76. Tao Yuanqing (1893-1929), Cover design for 108. Zhang Wang (1915-1992). China's Dictator.
40. Huang Binhong (1864-1955). A Pair of Out of the Ivory Tower {Chule xiangya zhi ta), 1933
Landscapes. 1922 essays by Kuriyagawa Hakuson, translated by 109. Li Pingfan (b. 1922). Starving People. 1939
41. Wu Hufan (1894-1968). Meiying Studio. 1929 Lu Xun: published by Weiming she. Beijing. 1925 110. Tang Yingwei (b. 1915). The Homeless. Ca.
1936
111. Liu Xian (1915-1990), Consolidate Our Unity, 146. He Tianjian. The Tenth Anniversary of the 181. Liao Lu (b. 1944). Seasonal Vegetable IW.
Fight the Japanese Aggressors to the End, 1938 People's Republic of China, 1959 182. Shu Chuanxi (b. 1932). Album of Plum
112. Huang Xinbo (1915-1980), He Hasn 't Really 147. Wu Hufan (1894-1968), Twin Pines and Blossoms. 1995
Gone, 1941 Layered Green, 1959 183. Xiao Haichun (b. 1944), Landscape Triptych,
113. Yan Han (b. 1916). New Year Door Guardian: 148. Shi Lu (1919-1982). The Banks of the Yellow 1997

A People's Fighter (Cooperation Between the Army River, 1959 184. Chang Jin (b. 1951), Landscape/Clouds,
and the People), 1939-1940 149. Li Keran (1907-1989), Spring in Jiangnan. 1962 Undated
114. Zhao Yannian (b. 1924), Rice Riot. 1947 150. Pan Tianshou (1898-1971). Red Lotus, 1963 185. Shi Lu (1919-1982). Mount Hua, 1972

115. Long Tingba (b. 1916), Widow and Orphan. 151. Pan Tianshou. Clearing After Rain, 1962 186. Wu Guanzhong (b. 1919). Sunrise on Mount
1946 152. Lin Fengmian (1900-1991). Wild Geese, Hua, 1983
116. Gu Yuan (1919-1996), Marriage Registration. Undated 187. Wang Wuxie (Wucius Wong; b. 1936). Cloudy
1944 153. Lin Fengmian, Autumn Colors, Undated Harmony. 1978

117. Li Hua (1907-1994), When the Requisition 154. Qian Songyan (1899-1985). Sunrise in Yan'an 188. Jia Youfu (b. 1942). The Taihang Mountains.
Officers Leave, 1946 After Snow, 1972 1984

118. Li Hua, Take Him In!, 1946 155. Lin Yong (b. 1942), Great Job! (Investigating 189. Fang Zhaolin (b. 1914). Loess Plateau, 1985
119. Ding Cong (b. 1916), Images of Today, 1944 the Peasant Movement in Hunan), 1970 190. Chen Ping (b. 1960). The Countryside. 1983
120. Yang Keyang (b. 1914). The Professor, 1947 156. Lin Yong, The Spirit of Yan'an Shines Forever, 191. Zhou Sicong (1939-1995). Lotus Pool, 1989
121. Yang Kewu (act. 1940s), Oppose Press 1971 192. Zeng Mi (b. 1935). Snowy Forest. 1996
Censorship, Undated [1940s] 157. Liu Wenxi (b. 1933), New Spring in Yan'an, 193. Liu Guosong (Liu Kuo-sung: b. 1932). Mount
122. Yang Nawei (1912-1982), Silence Js the Best 1972 Huang, 1966

Defense, 1947 158. Zhou Sicong (1939-1995), The People and the 194. Zhao Chunxiang (Chao Chung Hsiang:
123. Zhao Yannian (b. 1924), Spreading Prime Minister, 1979 1910-1991). Calling You, 1984

Civilization, 1946-1947 159. Shen Jiawei (b. 1948), Standing Guard for Our 195. Liu Guosong (Liu Kuo-sung; b. 1932).

124. Cai Dizhi (b. 1918), Fleeing Guilin by the Great Motherland, 1974 Midnight Sun, 1985
North Station, 1944 160. Chen Yanning (b. 1945), New Doctor in the 196. Shu Chuanxi (b. 1932). Rhythm of the Orient,
125. Li Hua (1907-1994). Arise, Suffering Slaves, Fishing Village, 1974 1990s
1947 161. Tang Muli (b. 1947), Acupuncture Anesthesia, 197. Liu Zijian (b. 1956). Abstract Ink Painting,
126. Gu Yuan (1919-1996). Human Bridge, 1948 1972 1995

127. Shi Lu (1919-1982), Down with Feudalism, 162. Zhou Shuqiao (b. 1938). Willows in Spring 198. Xu Lei (b. 1956), Rocks and Chair. 1995
1949 Wind, 1974 199. Zhou Sicong (1939-1995). Coal Miners
128. Luo Gongliu (b. 1916), Mao Zedong Reporting 163. Lin Gang (b. 1924) and Pang Tao (b. 1934). ("Japan's Paradise"). 1982
on the Rectification in Yan'an, 1951 Eventful Years, 1979 200. Shi Dawei (b. 1950). Mao Zedong and an Old
129. Cai Liang (b. 1932). The Torchlight Parade in Chen Danqing (b.
164. 1953), Tears Flooding the Peasant. 1993
Yan'an, 1959 Autumnal Fields, 1976 201. Lu Fusheng (b. 1949). The Phoenix Hairpin,
130. Zhan Jianjun (b. 1931), Five Heroes of Mount 165. Chen Yifei (b. 1946) and Wei Jingshan 1981
Langya. 1959 (b. 1943), The Taking of the Presidential Palace, 202. Xu Lele (b. 1955), Ten Characters from "Dream
131. Jin Shangyi (b. 1934), Mao Zedong at the 1977 of the Red Chamber", 1996
December Meeting, 1961 166. Wang Yingchun (b. 1942) and Y'ang Lizhou 203. Wang Mengqi (b. 1947), Lofty Sages. 1996
132. Quan Shanshi (b. 1930), Unyielding Heroism, (b. 1942). The Yellow River Roars. 1980-1981 204. Wang Dongling (b. 1945), Calligraphy. 1987
1961 167. Cheng Conglin (b. 1954), A Snowy Day in

Hou Yimin (b. 1930), Liu Shaoqi and the

133. 1968. 1979

Anyuan Coal Miners, 1961 (1979 version; original 168. Chen Yifei (b. 1946), Looking at History From
destroyed ca. 1968) My Space, 1979
134. Luo Gongliu (b. 1916), Mao Zedong at Mount 169. Luo Zhongli (b. 1948). Father, 1980
Jinggang. 1961 170. Mao Lizi (Zhang Zhunli; b. 1950), Hesitating,

135. Wu Biduan (b. 1926) and Jin Shangyi Undated

(b. 1934). Chairman Mao Standing with People of 171. Wang Huaiqing (b. 1944), Night Revels, 1996
Asia. Africa, and Latin America, 1961 172. Zhou Changjiang (b. 1950). Family Tree, 1997
136. He Kongde (b. 1925). Before the Attack, 1963 173. Zhao Wuji (Zao Wou-ki; b. 1921). En Memoire
137. Sun Zixi (b. 1929). In Front of Tiananmen, de May, 1972
1964 174. Lu Yanshao (1909-1993). Traveling through
138. Wen Bao (b. 1938), Four Girls, 1962 the Gorge. 1986
139. Li Qi (b. 1928), Portrait of Mao Zedong, 1960 175. Li Keran (1907-1989). Scenery of the Li River,
140. Yang Zhiguang (b. 1930), Mao Zedong at the 1986
Peasants' Movement Training School, 1959 176. Song Wenzhi (b. 1918). Four Landscapes.
141. Shi Lu (1919-1982), Fighting in Northern Undated
Shaanxi, 1959 177. Wang Jiqian (C.C. Wang; b. 1907). Landscape
142. Wang Shenglie (b. 1923), Eight Female #880222 ("A Thousand Peaks Compete in

Martyrs, 1959 Splendor"). 1988

143. Liu Wenxi (b. 1933), Four Generations, 1962 178. Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chien; 1899-1983),
144. Fang Zengxian (b. 1931). Telling a Red Tale, Peach-Blossom Spring, 1983
1964 179. Zhang Hong (Arnold Chang: b. 1954).

145. He Tianjian (1891-1977). Meishan Reservoir, Waterfalls in the Valley, 1996

1959 180. Li Huayi (b. 1948). Red Trees and Wrinkled
Cliff. 1994
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