Parting the mists

About this book

"In Parting the Mists, Aida Yuen Wong makes a convincing argument that the forging of a national tradition in modern China was frequently pursued in association with rather than in rejection of Japan. The focus of her book is on Japan's integral role in the invention of "national-style painting," or guohua, in early-twentieth-century China. Guohua, referring to brush paintings on tradition formats, is often misconstrued as a residual conservatism from the dynastic age that barricaded itself within classical traditions. Wong places this art form at the forefront of cross-cultural exchange. Notable proponents of guohua (e.g., Chen Hengke, Jin Cheng, Fu Baoshi, and Gao Jianfu) are discussed in connection with Japan, where they discovered stylistic and ideological paradigms consonant with the empowering of "Asian/Oriental" cultural practices against the backdrop of encroaching westernization. Not just a "window on the West," Japan stood as an informant of China modernism in its own right." "This volume contains a broad range of materials from both Chinese and Japanese archives. It is one of the most impartial accounts of the Sino-Japanese relationship in recent years. In addition to analyzing artistic expressions and their ideological underpinnings, Parting the Mists, takes the reader into the artists' inner circles - their friendships, group affiliations, and social networks. A valuable contribution to the study of modern Chinese painting and trans-Asiatic modernism, it will be a reference for Sino-Japanese relations in art history for some time to come."--Jacket.