The Investigation Of The Modern Sculpture During The Republic Of China

Traditional sculpture declined during the period of the Republic of China. In the tide of going abroad with the aim of "learning merits from foreign countries", many youngsters went to France, Italy, Belgium, Japan and America, etc. They learned Western sculpture. When they returned, they became the pioneers of modern Chinese sculpture, creating sculptures, establishing departments and schools of sculpture, and introducing Western sculpture into China by translation. With the realistic sculptural techniques learned from abroad, these young sculptors created monumental sculptures and portrait sculptures for famous persons. With their effort, sculpture gained the attention of the upper echelons and entered public spaces in cities. So the western academic sculpture, which had been not the mainstream of art at all became the matrix of modern Chinese sculpture. After the establishment of the Republic of China, social elites had many plans about the cities' development and the government's image. Though not all these plans were carried out, they provided many chances for the development of the public sculptures. After the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, sculptures that reflected the social reality came into being. Because the subject matter concerned the country's future, people showed more interests in them. During the China's War of Liberation, Kuomintang's decay and corruption aroused the people's indignation. Sculptures that reflected people's suffering and their thirst for freedom began to gain popularity. At the same time, left-wing cultural thoughts sprung up in the Kuomintang-governed districts, and literary and cultural policies were implemented in the emancipated districts. So sculptures which reflected the livelihood of "the worker" and "the peasant" emerged.This dissertation studies modern Chinese sculpture. By sorting out historical literature and analyzing the historical background, I will reveal the historic chances of the birth of modern sculpture. Discussing sculptors' motives of going abroad and the lucky chance they encountered, in the comparison frame of Eastern and Western Art I penetrate sculptors' study and creation experiences and their contemplation of the traditional and modern sculpture when they were abroad. Students abroad were the founders of modern Chinese sculpture. I investigate "Modern Sculpture's Emergence and Development" by studying the "the emergence of sculptors", "sculptor's multiple identities ", "sculpture's reflection of reality", "the nationalization of sculpture", and then move on to deal with the problem of "the relationship between sculpture, the public space, and the exhibition".