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本科课程论文
《》The brightness of Chinese cultural relic --
Overview of the International Exhibition of Chinese
Art in London from 1935 to 1936 and analysis of its
political and cultural significance
课程名称 东亚国际关系
姓 名 颜小姗
学 号 2235111029
专 业 国际事务与国际关系
任课教师 杜晓军
开课时间 2023 年 9 月 教师评阅意见：
论文成绩 评阅日期 2023 年 12 月 26 日
课程论文提交时间： 2023 年 12 月 25 日 Abstract
This paper mainly introduces the origin, the preparatory process
and the cultural and political significance of the "China International Art Exhibition" held in London from 1935 to 1936. This exhibition is a product of the transformation of Chinese cultural works from private collections to public displays in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. The exhibition plays an important role in the cultural and artistic exchanges between China and the West, it has a profound impact on the Sino-British friendship, Sino-Western cultural exchanges and the study of Chinese art history, and also promotes the status of Chinese art in the world. This exhibition is regarded as a major event in the cultural exchange between China and Britain in the 20th century, which is of pioneering and milestone significance. The success of the exhibition not only changed the traditional impression of Chinese art in the West, but also had symbolic significance in the beginning of China's international art exhibition activities. The political impact of the exhibition was also significant in the tense domestic and foreign situation at the time, winning China sympathy and good will in the West. The Chinese cultural relics displayed in the exhibition represent the essence of Chinese history, expressing a profound and sublime beauty, whose influence is still inspiring the mainstream of the entire Chinese civilization today, and spreading around the world to captivate the world. Content
I. Exhibition overview II. Origin and preparation of the exhibition 1.1 First proponent: Percival David 1.2 Exhibit selection 1.3 Shanghai pre-exhibition 1.4 Driving factor 1.4.1 China's driving force 1.4.2 The driving force of Britain and the West III. Cultural and political significance of exhibition I. Exhibition overview
At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, cultural works of art began to change from private possession to public, from private property to the symbol of the state and the nation. Various art exhibitions of modern significance emerged. Westerners were the first to send Chinese cultural works of art to participate in the World Expo, and held many art exhibitions about China, making Chinese art gradually known to the world. Exhibition is an important means and way of cultural and artistic exchange between China and the West. However, for a long time, even after the establishment of the Palace Museum in 1925, the exhibitions about Chinese art at home and abroad were relatively small in scale and focused on one aspect of the thematic art exhibition, especially the fine art exhibition, whose influence was far less than that of the art exhibitions about Europe, America and Japan, and it was even more difficult to reflect the overall picture of Chinese art. "For the first time in world history, such a concentrated display of Chinese art...As one of the countries with the most artistic temperament, China has produced the most exquisite works. The British public is incredibly enviable because they have this unique opportunity to see these works first-hand." The above text is taken from a report about the International Exhibition of Chinese Art in London in 1935-1936. From November 28, 1935 to March 7, 1936, the "International Exhibition of Chinese Art" was held at the Royal Academy of Arts Burlington House in London, England. This is the first comprehensive art exhibition with the theme of Chinese art, which has aroused great response. There are 3080 pieces of Chinese cultural relics in the exhibition, including porcelains, jade wares, fabrics, embroideries and so on. Among them, 1022 pieces were provided by Chinese Kuomintang Government. The exhibition lasted 14 weeks and attracted more than 400,000 visitors from Europe and the United States.
II. Origin and preparation of the exhibition
1.1 First proponent: Percival David
The original proposal for the exhibition was made by Percival David, an Englishman. He is a well-known collector and scholar of Chinese porcelain, and has been in China many times since 1974, assisting and sponsoring the establishment of the Palace Museum and the display of its exhibits, and serving as a consultant to the Palace Museum. In 1932, when he was invited to help the Palace Museum select items to participate in the 1913 Chicago World Expo, he wanted to transport the precious collection of the Palace Museum to London for exhibition. After returning home, his idea was supported by the British Oriental Ceramics Society and the Royal College of Art. Previously, the UK has held many international art exhibitions with a theme, such as Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Iran and so on. The Oriental Ceramic Association and the Royal Academy of Arts decided not only to exhibit the Imperial Palace collection, but also to collect Chinese cultural relics and works of art from all over the world, and to hold an international exhibition with the theme of Chinese art. The year 1935 marked the 25th anniversary of King George V's accession to the throne, so the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, Guo Taiqi, was invited to petition the Chinese government to produce the Forbidden City. The China Art International Exhibition was held in 1935 to "promote international appreciation of Chinese artworks, praise Chinese culture and enhance the relationship between China and Britain". Upon hearing this, the Executive Yuan of the National Government consulted the Palace Museum, and the Palace Museum immediately discussed it at the first board meeting, believing that it was an important measure for the international promotion of Chinese culture. To ensure the safety of the product for the first mention, with the intention to participate in the exhibition. At the same time, British organizers actively planned the exhibition, and on November 1, 1934, a board of directors was formed to organize the exhibition. 1.2 Exhibit selection With regard to the exhibits, the Council on the one hand wrote to the embassies of various countries in the UK to collect Chinese artworks in the UK for exhibition, and on the other hand sent staff to the countries to search for and select the works. In the selection of cultural relics for exhibition, the joint expert group of China and the UK repeatedly negotiated and established the two basic principles of "no selection of non-fine products" and "no selection of rare products with only one piece", taking into account the needs of the British side to select fine products and the Chinese side to ensure the safety of rare cultural relics, and finally selected 1,022 cultural relics as we mentioned before. Among the 1022 pieces produced by China, 857 pieces were selected for display, a total of 786 items, and 165 pieces were not selected, including 19 paintings and calligraphy, 93 archaeological examples, 27 ancient books, 6 embroidery pieces, and 1 porcelain piece. And 19 pieces of jade selected by Zhang Naiji. These productions were rejected mainly because they were deemed "less relevant to art" by the British. But among the 857 pieces, there was only one piece of china. It can be seen that the special position of porcelain in this art exhibition can be seen.The main reason for this is the British society's love and familiarity with Chinese porcelain. As we all know, China and porcelain are the same as "China" in English, which shows the Westerners' cognition of Chinese art. This British preference for china is a reflection of the theory of selective acceptance in cultural transmission. In the process of cultural transmission, it is often the exporter of culture that occupies the dominant position. However, at the China International Art Exhibition in London, the opposite situation was shown. Britain, as the recipient, controlled the dominant power of discourse, selected cultural relics according to its own preferences, and exhibited Oriental civilization in its vision. This is also the embodiment of the international status of the Chinese government in artistic activities at that time. 1.3 Shanghai pre-exhibition The executive branch of the Kuomintang government established the Chinese Preparatory Committee for the International Exhibition of Chinese Art in London in October 1934, and actively prepared for the exhibition in London. In the second preparatory meeting held on December 6, 1934, the Preparatory Committee decided that "before the selection of goods shipped to the UK exhibition, a preview meeting should be held in Shanghai"; For items of special importance, we must "reserve the right not to go abroad for exhibition." The reason why we want to hold the Shanghai preview meeting is to facilitate the selection of products to participate in London, and make it open, so that the public can understand the London exhibition in advance, which can reduce the criticism of public opinion; Second, it can give the people the opportunity to visit and study in advance. That reflected the state's attention to the protection of cultural relics and the concern of public opinion. 1.4 Driving factor In a complex global environment, the promotion of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art in London is two-sided. On the one hand, the negative impact of the consolidation of bourgeois power brought about by the Industrial Revolution makes Westerners question the value system of modernism civilization established by themselves. Therefore, Western artists and scholars attempt to seek aesthetic and moral enlightenment from the Eastern civilization represented by ancient Chinese artworks to a certain extent. On the other hand, the National Government of Nanjing was at a disadvantage in terms of international status and influence at that time. Based on the authorities' psychological dependence on international diplomacy, it was prompted to make a comprehensive consideration of the exhibition from the perspectives of culture, politics and diplomacy. 1.4.1 China's driving force For the reason of exhibition, from the perspective of domestic social environment, the China International Art Exhibition in 1935- 1936 originated from the great progress that had taken place in China in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, with the development and progress of the society, China started public undertakings and public exhibitions and museums appeared. Not only foreigners opened many exhibitions and museums in China, but also Chinese people started museums and held industry promotion meetings. The Xinhai Revolution also opened the "world for the public", and later the "imperial palace" became the "Forbidden City", and antique works of art from the royal nobility and other upper class society's private collection only changed into the public collection of social society, and became the symbol of the public and common culture of social society. The socialization and publicity of artworks have become the consensus of Chinese society, hoping to promote national culture and strengthen social and cultural education through artworks. But along with the revolution of society culture and customs, our traditional culture has been severely criticized, and the self- confidence of national culture is seriously insufficient. In addition, the performance of the Nanjing National Government at home and abroad also made its public credibility decline. Holding a major exhibition of Chinese art overseas at this time is not only good for building national confidence, but also good for the government's own public image. For the perspective of diplomacy status, at that time, China had been passive in international diplomacy. Chinese People from all domains are trying to increase their international public opinion weight through international cooperation in related fields. 1.4.2 The driving force of Britain and the West Since the Opium War, the chaotic situation in China, plunder, smuggling, trading and other factors have caused the frequent loss of ancient Chinese artworks overseas, which makes Westerners who can only get Chinese items through overseas trade to understand and collect more exquisite ancient Chinese artworks. It is worth mentioning that in the 19th century, the West began to be in turmoil, and the victory of industrial civilization at the cost of the displacement of the vast number of farmers made people begin to doubt the human basis of modern civilization, and they wanted to seek salvation from the ancient East outside Western civilization and before modern civilization. Since the beginning of the 20th century, European countries have held exhibitions of Asian art or Chinese art. The scale of these overseas exhibitions has gradually expanded, and the organization has become more and more professional, which indicates that in the early 20th century, Western collectors and researchers of the East had a desire to understand the Oriental and even ancient Chinese artworks.
III. Cultural and political significance of exhibition
It is said that"This is a great event after China opened its door to
the outside world, and it is also a great event worth writing about in the history of Chinese culture." Firstly, for the influence of cultural aspect, it contributed to the friendship between China and the UK, set off a wave of Chinese culture in Europe, and promote cultural exchanges between China and the UK. It further deepen the western understanding of Chinese traditional art. The exhibition showcases more than 3,000 pieces of Chinese art from the Yin and Shang Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, allowing Westerners to intuitively understand the Chinese art system as a whole for the first time. The many speeches, various publicity materials, articles and books about China generated by the exhibition are also conducive to Western people's understanding of Chinese art. In December 1935, a poster for the exhibition on the front page of the Burlington Magazine proclaimed: "International Exhibition of Chinese Art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, London: the first fully representative collection of Chinese art ever seen in Europe, containing more than 800 national treasures loaned by the Chinese government, which have never before left China." It can be seen that this exhibition is special compared with previous Chinese art exhibitions held in the West. Therefore, it has attracted attention from all sides since The beginning of preparation, not only The Times and other mainstream media in China and Britain have set up special pages for the exhibition, Magazines such as the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts and Apollo also published articles during the exhibition. The participating art dealers took the opportunity to publish all kinds of derivative posters for self-promotion, so that the exhibition has caused a more sensational impact in academic, economic and social aspects than expected, making the United Kingdom and even the whole West blowing a strong "Chinese wind". It is also conducive to promoting the construction of modern art museums and promoting the gradual transformation of artworks from traditional Chinese society to modern times. On the other hand, the centralized display of ancient artworks to the society is conducive to promoting the socialization and popularization of traditional artworks, promoting the rise and development of public art appreciation and education, and forming a social atmosphere of advocating art. As a major cultural event in China and the West in the 20th century, London China International Art Fair overthrew the traditional stereotype of Chinese art in the West, aroused western attention to Chinese traditional culture, stimulated the outside world's interest in Chinese art research, and greatly changed the research status of Chinese art history. In terms of political impact, at that time, China's domestic and foreign situation was very tense. In the 1930s, Japanese militarism accelerated the pace of invasion of China. After the "September 18 Incident" in 1931, Japan occupied northeast China and gradually invaded North China, and Japan's full-scale invasion of China was on the verge of breaking out. In this situation, the nationalist government held large-scale art exhibitions overseas, carried out cultural relics diplomacy, presented cultural relics and artworks symbolizing Chinese culture to Western audiences, promoted the attention of the international mainstream and theory, won the sympathy and goodwill of the West for China, and further transformed them into practical national interests. Therefore, in addition to the significance of cultural and art exchanges between China and foreign countries, this large-scale overseas art exhibition also contains very important political significance. Above all, the London Art Exhibition was a major cultural event during the Anti-Japanese War, with far-reaching influence, and can be called the symbol of the start of modern Chinese international art exhibition activities, with pioneering and milestone significance. In addition, the Chinese cultural relics, as the essence of Chinese history, were bred by each cruel era and passed down to the present after elimination, showing a serious and lofty beauty flowing from the roots. This kind of beauty not only stirred up the mainstream backbone of the entire Chinese civilization, but also penetrated the whole world beyond The Times and regions, and its charm even made the looters succumb. Today, we are still faced with the important task of promoting foreign cultural communication. On the one hand, we should have the consciousness of promoting cultural communication, and on the other hand, we should also grasp the dominant power of overseas communication of Chinese culture, and better and more independently promote overseas communication of Chinese culture to make the whole world feel the brightness of Chinese cultural relics. Reference
