Recombination And Illumination

This essay studies the representation of the decoration elements of Chinese porcelains in European art, and discusses the correlations between the decoration style of Chinese exported porcelains in the 18th century and the rising Rococo style in Europe.As a great invention embodying Chinese wisdom, the Chinese porcelain has exerted no less influence on Europe than China's four great inventions. In spite of the advanced technical basis they have provided for the development of European civilization, China's four great inventions failed to become as common a core as the Chinese porcelain did that triggered upsurges in many fields---chased after by the high society, it brought Europe fundamental changes in terms of manufacturing crafts, life styles, and aesthetic convictions. The Rococo art was resulted from these upsurges.Every artistic style forms in particular historical and geographical conditions. Although the decoration style of the Chinese porcelain constitutes a collection of Chinese local cultural elements, there still exists a possibility that it absorbed foreign elements. But it has grown up in typical Chinese soil. Elements from both Europe itself and China have contributed to the formation of the Rococo style, as a result of the collision between the eastern and the western cultures.In Chapter 1, this article states in brief the development and evolution of the decoration style of the Chinese porcelain at home, and the steps it took to be acknowledged by the outside world. Although this is a one-by-one statement of Chinese kilns' history, the author focuses on the analysis of the coinfluences between the decoration styles from different kilns. Based on the analysis of the material basis and ideology of Europe in the 18th century, the following chapter expounds on the objective historical conditions for the creation of the Rococo style. Then, the article analyses the reasons why Chinese culture, especially chinese culture in the 18th century, was recognized by the west. Finally, it expounds on the significant influence of Chinese style on the European art.After the brief introduction of the above three aspects comes the focus of this article---a enumeration of the artistic styles appearing in the Rococo style related to the decoration styles in Chinese porcelains. This article tries to make a comparative analysis by finding out break-throughs from the artistic styles of two different cultural and historical conditions, in order to analyze the specific relevant elements in the decoration elements of the Chinese porcelains and the Rococo art. Besides, the typology principles in art stylistics put forward by Wolfflin serve as another criterion for distinguishing the artistic styles in various times.What's more, in the overall situation of overwhelming cultural values with a Eurocentric bias, the author studies the exported Chinese porcelains in the 18th century, and enumerates a carrier of Chinese culture that once made great contributions to the European civilization, with an attempt to construct an objective China image with more truth, and to reconstruct Chinese culture, especially its neglected history and culture of significance.Based on the above analysis, this article concludes with the summarization of the specific influences of the decoration style of the Chinese porcelains on the Rococo art. The primary conclusion is that the soft and smooth color in the Rococo art imitates the powder enamel, while the curly, abstract, and unfolded patterns are resulted from the floral scrolls and the lotus pattern.