A Cultural Masterpiece Recording Both Art and History
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British Library Special Collection of Chinese Export Painting Essence of the Qing Dynasty, recently published by the Guangdong People’s Publishing House and with a number of media coverage, has aroused sensational reactions at home and abroad. It was widely welcomed by many cultural figures and warmly hailed by experts and scholars.
The publication of this book is a significant achievement in the publishing industry of Guangdong Province and even the whole country. With rich information in all walks of life contained in its eight volumes, the book manifests both art and history, serving as a proof of paintings to history and vice versa. As an important document in the study of Chinese export paintings of the Qing Dynasty, the book filled in an academic gap with its high value not only in the study of art history, but also in documentation, research and collection on the Qing Dynasty history, social history, folk history, architectural history, shipping history, and history of Sino-foreign cultural exchange.
This beautifully made mast-erpiece, with 748 pieces of Chinese paintings that were spread abroad and collected by the British Library, is of great significance in the study of every aspect of the Chinese society, especially Canton (today’s Guangzhou), from the 18th century to the 20th century. Subjects of the paintings cover various aspects such as economy, culture, military, politics, religion, art and customs of Canton in the Qing Dynasty. Cantonese could get from them a vivid picture of real life at that time, as well as the characteristics and development process of Lingnan culture.
Each piece of export paintings in this monumental book has with it detailed textual references in both Chinese and English, analyzing the historical background reflected by it, introducing relevant Chinese and foreign historical records, discovering the era of the painter and the value of each painting, so as to help readers understand the origin, content and value of each painting.
Canton was the production base for export paintings. The native Cantonese painters took an innovative approach by integrating the traditional form drawing with western painting techniques like perspective and projection, and eventually formed an export-oriented art industry, making the ‘grassroots’ paintings that combined indigenous and foreign methods the hot sales of Canton port during the sole port trading era (1757-1842). Currently there are about 10,000 pieces of export paintings of the Qing Dynasty existing in Europe and America, and the British Library in London is a famous collection center of them. Export paintings of the Qing Dynasty stemmed from the strong attraction of oriental culture to westerners. Many artists at that time seized this opportunity by depicting contemporary customs and life in Canton, Hong Kong and Macau in a realistic painting style combined with western techniques of perspective and shading, truly reflecting all aspects of the Chinese society in the 18th and 19th century.
Chinese export paintings of the Qing Dynasty in the book were classified into 15 categories including paintings of Canton port and Canton City, dress and accessories in history, street and marketplace occupations in Canton, Haitong Temple, and ships and river scenery in Canton. From the paintings we could see not only the traces of the Lingnan School of Painting but also the integration of Chinese and western painting concepts. With a realist stance, painters mixed traditional Chinese painting together with elements from the western painting to successfully create a new painting language that was a combination of Chinese and western styles. In particular, the content and language of the paintings are good manifestations of Lingnan people’s spirit and charm in accepting new things and new ideas. What’s more, the fact that Chinese painters at that time were already able to use the western painting technique of perspective is a proof of the early blending of Chinese and western cultures there and the tradition of Lingnan culture to open up to the outside world. This also indicates that, in as early as the 18th century, foreign people began to show great interest in Canton, believing it to be a showcase of China. From here we can also see the importance of Canton to modern China.
The book is a key cooperative project between Chinese and British scholars. It is the first time the British Library published its collection of Chinese export paintings and exclusively authorized the publication in China. Among them there are quite a few rare paintings and even only existing copies. Editors had spent six years in research on the paintings and another three years in compiling. For readers and researchers who are eager to get a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the development of Chinese export paintings of the Qing Dynasty in the past two centuries, this book serves as a gathering of the two hundred years’ results which is quite clear and suitable to be placed on desk for glancing over at any time. The pictures and texts in the eight volumes are so well arranged as to give a perfect and harmonious presentation in such various aspects as grounding, unified perspective and painting appreciation.
This set of export paintings is highly commendable as it is not only a painting catalog but with textual research. The deeply cultivated editors have given detailed interpretation of various forms of paintings with rich textual references, rendering paintings and history as proofs to each other. The realism embedded in those paintings, which makes the scenes come alive, gives them irreplaceable historical value. This color-printed volume set integrates fineness, genuineness and beauty all into one. Besides its beautiful craft in binding, layout and printing, it also possesses inner beauty in terms of a perfect structure: combination of paintings and textual references, bilingual interpretations, as well as highlighting of focuses through details. The ingenuity of editors leads to the enjoyment of readers, which makes this book a real masterpiece.