Chinese Cultural Elements And The Formation Of British Modernism

The early 20^th century is a significant period in the history of Sino-Britain literary-cultural intercourse.At that time,Modernism movement reached its climax;meanwhile the West once again turned its eye to China with admiration,regarding it as a model in the fields of literature,art,morality,and aesthetics.Therefore,after the“Chinoiserie”in European countries in the 17^th and 18^th centuries,China and the West collided with each other with profound meaning.In this complex and changing historical-cultural background,Chinese cultural elements entered into the vision of western modernists,becoming important resources for those who wanted to reflect on enlightenment modernity and construct aesthetic modernity.Many Cambridge intellectuals,including sinologist Arthur Waley,philosophers G.L.Dickinson and Bertrand Russell,aesthetic theorists Roger Fry and Clive Bell,began consciously to accept,interpret,borrow and use Chinese elements in their works.Through re-excavating and re-referencing to Chinese culture,these modernists'imagination and elaboration of Chinese culture reflected unique characteristics at the beginning of 20^th century.Waley's sinological translation and research became a bridge joining Chinese elements to British Modernism.As one of the most brilliant sinologists in 20^th century Britain,Waley made bold innovations on translation strategy,text selection and research perspective in Chinese literature-culture,which led British traditional Sinology to the modern road.Meanwhile,he also maintained close relationship with important members of both Bloomsbury Set and Vorticism.His fruitful sinological translation and research works spread through the intricate communication network,and profoundly influenced other Cambridge intellectuals,offering important resources of Chinese cultural elements to other British and American modernists.Dickinson and Russell's idealized image of“moral China”established a model of morality and ethics for the West in the early 20^th century,serving as an important reference for reflection on enlightenment modernity and industrial civilization.Dickinson and Russell visited China successively in the early 20^th century,and wrote Letters from John Chinaman and The Problem of China respectively,showing a similar attitude to Chinese civilization.They regarded China as a“moral utopia”that had not been spoiled by modernization.By extolling and admiring the peace-loving feature,natural humanity and morality in Chinese civilization,they sharply criticized the western civilization,which was constrained by mechanical materialism and enlightenment modernity.However,their admiration of Chinese cultural tradition conflicted with Chinese mainstream ideology,and their image of“moral China”also did not conform to the social reality there.Thus,the idealized view of Chinese civilization was still confined by the western scholars'subjective identity and objective needs,which couldn't completely get rid of the influence of Western Centralism.A typical example of the inspiration of Chinese cultural elements to British modernity is Fry and Bell's view of Chinese art and its influence on their formal aesthetics.Fry and Bell,the most famous British aesthetic critics,theorists and connoisseurs in the early 20^th century,published many articles to introduce Chinese art in numerous art review magazines,and they wrote several monographs about Chinese art to express their concern and love for Chinese culture.In addition,they also discovered the affinity between Chinese art and their modernist aesthetics.Consequently,they consciously took Chinese art as an example or a model to explain their own aesthetic ideas.From then on,Chinese art elements gradually entered the western modernist aesthetics and became one of the significant forces to promote the generation of British modernism.Throughout the long history of Sino-Britain literary-cultural intercourse,China,as one of the most important“cultural others”to the West,has served undoubtedly as a coordinating system for the West to examine and locate itself,a vital reference to“look into others'mirrors for self-reflection”.By comparing and contrasting with China,the West conducted its own exploration of modernity and gradually established its modern spirit.In the 20^th century,Chinese culture has brought numerous enlightenments to British modernists on both moral ethics and aesthetical ideas.From the“antique”Chinese culture,modernists found the type of“modernity”to innovate western cultural tradition,attaching a distinctive Chinese label to its modernism.Therefore,Chinese cultural elements played an active role in the generation and development of the Western Modernism movement in Britain,and its significant historical value should never be neglected.