In the perception of Chinese people, "Chinese style" was a cultural trend that was popular in Europe from the end of the 17th century to the end of the 18th century. At that time, Europe's enthusiastic pursuit of Chinoiserie was once a fashion in European society at that time. Maritime trade brought large quantities of Chinese goods to Europe. Commodities such as tea, silk, porcelain, fans, etc. made Europeans very interested in the distant and mysterious East. On the other hand, missionaries who came to China in the second half of the seventeenth century brought the results of their investigations back to Europe in the form of notes, illustrations, etc., which also elevated the exchanges between China and the West from the material level to the spiritual level.
Artist Li Yousong has long-term research and unique understanding of "Chinese style", and has created a series of creations with Chinese style themes. Recently, Art China Reporter conducted an exclusive interview with Li Yousong. Li Yousong explained the origin and spread of "Chinese style" and the "Chinese style" shape of various utensils. In his opinion, Chinese style is Westerners' view of China. It represents a kind of fantastic imagination and innovation of Eastern culture. Its time span and influence far exceed the original understanding of the Chinese people, and it still has a profound impact on modern and contemporary Western culture.
Art in China: Talking about the issue of "Chinese style", in the 17th and 18th centuries, a very strong "Chinese style" emerged in Europe. There are many interesting topics on the topic of Chinese style. When did you become interested in "Chinese style"?
Li Yousong: My love for the theme of East-West exchanges is based on my family background and visual experience formed since childhood. In 1972, my father participated in Sino-US acrobatic diplomacy. When I was four or five years old, I was exposed to Western design through the product packaging and printed matter that my father brought back from abroad. Therefore, there has always been an exchange between the East and the West in my cultural formation. theme. As my artistic expression ability improves, I like to use painting techniques to express the theme of Eastern and Western exchanges. At the same time, I am also willing to read history and images, continue to discuss the theme of East-West exchanges, and further clarify my own understanding in the process of discussion.
Pagoda in Kew Gardens, England
In cultural exchanges, information from the original culture is spread to the receiver, and the receiver adds his or her own understanding and imagination to convert it into a new message. Therefore, misreading itself is particularly beautiful, and every misreading brings a new message. This kind of richness, so such a misreading can be reflected in the Chinese style, and the misreading is very beautiful.
"Chinese style" should be a worldwide concept, mainly with China as the theme. This theme spread to Europe, and the European courts and cultural classes responded to this theme and called this art form Chinese style. "Chinese style" may not necessarily be Chinese style, but may be some more associations based on Chinese style. This China also refers to the East, including some parts of India and Japan, so the Chinese style here is actually a general term, that is, an art movement guided by the "Chinese style" style, and it is indistinguishable from the Rococo art of that period. Inextricably linked. These two concepts are partly overlapping and partly separate. The concept of "Chinese style" is generally understood in the country today at the end of the 17th century, the entire 18th century, and the beginning of the 19th century. However, it has its origins in the past and continuation in the past.
Art in China: The earliest and most familiar communicator of Chinese culture in Europe is Marco Polo. Please tell us about the spread of "Chinese style".
Li Yousong: There are several important figures related to the theme of Chinese style in Western culture. The first one is Marco Polo. During the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolian power included Central Asia, Russia, Persia and Han Dynasty into his empire. Within the jurisdiction, the grassland will become very smooth.
maritime trade
Marco Polo came to China to do business and brought back Chinese culture, and then the imagination of China spread in Europe. The dream of wealth in China began. Later, with the rise of Ottoman Türkiye, land trade routes were closed, and Europeans took the sea route. The opening of the Age of Discovery is also related to this theme, that is, the need to go to the East.
Medici porcelain
The first generation of maritime traders were the Portuguese and Spanish. During the reign of Manuel I of Portugal, Portugal turned Portugal into a maritime trading empire in the East. They established a colony in Macau. Immediately following the Renaissance, the Medici family, art patrons, were also fans of Chinese porcelain. They promoted the spread of Chinese porcelain in the West, and Medici became a participant in the early stage of "Chinese style".
An important organization is the Society of Jesus. A group of missionaries who came to serve the Qing Dynasty court were sent by the Society of Jesus. The Society of Jesus was a missionary group under the Pope. The Pope selected all very capable Europeans. He was a highly educated person and was sent to the East to preach. Matteo Ricci was a member of the Society of Jesus. Castiglione and Wang Zhicheng, as we know, were both members of the Society of Jesus. Voltaire also had a relatively good personal relationship with the Society of Jesus. Voltaire was very fond of the Society of Jesus. The understanding of Chinese information is also obtained from the Jesuit priests. The Jesuit group plays an important role in the entire cultural exchange between the East and the West and in the promotion of the entire "Chinese style". They not only introduce Chinese information to Europe, It also introduces European information to China.
Tapestry "The Travels of the (Chinese) Emperor" made in France from the late 17th to the early 18th century
The Jesuits entered the Chinese court and served the Chinese court, which satisfied the Chinese emperor's imagination of the West. At the same time, King Louis of France also yearned for the East and built some buildings in the Palace of Versailles in Chinese style, including the Trianon Palace ( Also known as the Porcelain Palace), the completion of the Porcelain Palace symbolized that the "Chinese style" began to spread widely. The French king invited European princes and ministers to come to Versailles to view it. European royal families imitated this Chinese-style architecture one after another. Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany began to develop this style. A trend.
Chambers works
Another force that promoted "Chinese style" was the British East India Company. There was an Englishman named William Chambers who was an employee of the East India Company. He played an important role in promoting Chinese style. effect. He arrived in Guangzhou in 1740 and lived in Guangzhou for a period of time. He used sketches to record some Guangzhou architectural styles. After returning to England, he published a book called "Architectural Design in China", which contained many copper engravings, including There are contents such as furniture, architecture, clothing, etc. The publication of this book played a certain role in the concretization of the entire "Chinese style". Chinese pavilions, pagodas, and furniture were all very concrete. Later, Europeans used this style to expand their imagination.
lacquer keyboard instrument
This is a lacquer keyboard instrument produced in Germany in 1710. The painted pattern on it is of a Chinese lady. The maker of this lacquer instrument is very imaginative and subverts our concept of a European palace item. The content of East and West is Cleverly combined, the sound is Western, the pattern is Chinese lady painting, and the materials are Chinese.
Purple sand collected by Europeans
This is a collection of nobles. The purple clay pots are completely arranged from small to large. Zisha is very influential in China. I originally thought that Europeans were not interested in Zisha because Zisha is used to drink green tea, and the concept of Europeans drinking tea is to combine black tea and milk, but this The series of purple sand collections is so complete, which proves that purple sand was popular to a certain extent in Europe at that time, and further proves that Europeans also drank green tea.
Wallpaper in the Lower India Room at Penrhyn Castle, hung in the early 1830s, contrasting with the Neo-Norman features and furniture
Wallpaper is also an important category that reflects "Chinese style". British rooms tend to resist the tide, so from a functional point of view, some wallpapers are needed. The British went to Guangzhou to customize them, and some of them were wall coverings that required silk weaving. Some may use wallpaper directly to reduce costs. Westerners like Chinese patterns. These wallpaper paintings are different from Western paintings with depth of field, which may have inspired the later British Arts and Crafts movement, such as the wallpapers designed by William Morris.
European wallpaper
I think the design and production of wallpapers should be booked first by the Europeans. They want a Chinese theme, but Chinese craftsmen have a certain degree of freedom in what patterns to draw. During the repeated exchanges between the two parties, there is debugging of market feedback information.
Sanssouci Palace in Germany
Nymphenburg Palace, Munich, Germany
At present, in China, there are more materials about "Chinese style" in the United Kingdom and France, but there is not much information on the German system. In fact, the German-speaking areas of Germany and Austria also have a high degree of response to this theme. For example, Sanssouci Palace in Germany, Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, and Schönbrunn Palace in Austria all have Chinese-style buildings. Because of the marriage system of European royal families, the Swedish royal family is also related to the Prussian royal family. There are Chinese-style buildings on Queens Island in Nordic Sweden. In Russia, Empress Catherine came from Germany and married to Russia. Her summer palace in St. Petersburg Chinese-style buildings have also been built, which shows that "Chinese style" is also spread in Northern and Eastern Europe.
Another interesting phenomenon is that "Chinese style" has entered Nanyang, that is, Southeast Asia. After overseas Chinese came into contact with this style, they brought it back to Guangdong and built many watchtowers in Kaiping, which also have some "Chinese style" characteristics. This is a When I heard back, I thought it was a Western thing, but the front part was related to "Chinese style".
