Readers familiar with Chinese traditional civilization and China’s modern history will know that ‘art’ or ‘fine arts’ (meishu, lit. ‘the skills of beauty’), as a neologism of the late-Qing period in which the Chinese people suffered invasion and humiliation, is a word that cannot be taken lightly. The ancient Chinese from a very early date used the term ‘mei’ (‘beauty’) to refer also to the virtuous quality of objects, but the term was only used in relation to today’s concept of ‘art’ for the past one hundred years. Therefore, when we want to understand 20th-century painting, sculpture, and the other cultural productions and activities that later came to be described as ‘art’, we inevitably link earlier civilization with later issues.
People have for a long period of time regarded ‘art’ as a medium for beautification, decoration, and propaganda. At the same time, in the eyes of many university-educated people, art is also related to aesthetics or aesthetic education, because they have been taught that ‘fine art’ can serve to cultivate a refined temperament and elevated taste, or provide profound educational training. Of course, for most people ‘art’ generally refers to painting or to sculpture created with a sense of form and taste. These interpretations of the concept of ‘art’ are all correct because, at different times, ‘art’ has served for beautification and propaganda and for molding a person’s temperament, as well as being an achievement of those who are gifted in painting and sculpture.
The task of this book is neither to provide an aesthetic view of the theory behind the issues mentioned above nor to provide intellectual explanations of the issues addressed by fine arts today. As I see it, the best way to understand a civilization or a phenomenon of knowledge is not to seek definitions or explanations from an ontological perspective, but to first understand the history of its origins, development, and growth. If we assert that ‘aesthetic ability’ is a quality that a person of education and of refinement should possess, then the basis for training in such a quality should first be provided by historical judgment. History enables us to understand and make judgments about knowledge. Furthermore, there has never been an esteemed aesthetic judgment that has not resulted from spiritual activity pursued in the wake of a historical judgment, because the nature and value of knowledge are always associated with knowledge’s causes and effects, and the latter are always understood in the light of history.
This book is written for the general reader with a general knowledge of world civilization, for whom I can relate the story of art over more than a century against a simple backdrop, rather than recounting the sort of history that scholars and researchers require. The aim of this book is very simple: to provide readers with a feel for the story and stimulate their knowledge of what happened to art in China from the time of the Opium War to the present day. Through this story the reader can acquire a fresh understanding of the meaning of art and discover the relationship between the modern Chinese concept of ‘art’ and what earlier people regarded as ‘calligraphy and painting’. The reader will appreciate the complex reasons for the inertia and inclusivity of China’s ancient civilization and realize why people had different criteria for the art of different periods, different regions, and different people. The reader will realize why art was a political and propaganda tool for such a long period, and be able to better appreciate the value of the art works of celebrated painters, sculptors and other artists. The reader will realize why the Chinese word for ‘art’ has created so many problems, and been the core of investigation for so many artists and historians for such a long period of time. Speaking theoretically, when we understand the road that ‘art’ has traveled, we realize why art is so connected to politics, economics, religion, and the other cultural phenomena of human civilization, and even at times why ‘art’ serves as the touchstone for a re-examination of political positions and worldviews.
In general, this book attempts to prompt a reconsideration of art and a revision of knowledge about art. In learning more about art, we become simultaneously more vigilant in our own understanding of art, and a reorganization of our structures of analysis, judgment and critique enables us to synchronize our knowledge systems together with contemporary society.
This book is based on the revised version of A History of Art in 20th-Century China, and the ongoing revisions included in its third edition. Further amendments are included in this volume. In narrating the course of the ‘fine arts’, I have followed the basic structure of the original book and preserved the documentation and views expressed in that work. For the convenience of readers, many footnotes have been removed and only the most essential Chinese romanization has been left in the body of the book. The reader who wishes to examine the history covered in this book in greater depth is referred to the third edition of A History of Art in 20th-Century China and its references.
In conclusion, I would like to add that after reading this volume the reader may develop his or her own view of ‘art’ and want to tell his or her own story or history of art. Indeed, everyone is empowered to tell the story of humankind and the history of human civilization is continually being written and rewritten.
Monday 25 August 2008, Beijing
Wednesday 15 January 2014, Rome