The Exchanges And Impacts In Interior Design Between China And The Western World During The Ming And Qing Dynasty

During the late years of Qing Dynasty, the cultural infiltration and exchange between the East and West formed the major stream in architecture style and interior design around the globe. With the increasing number of European migrants in China and Chinese scholars going abroad, Chinese cultural convention was challenged and impacted by the Western, which was especially expressed in architecture and interior design. Chinese traditional building style was more and more influenced by the European architectural design and this effect has been inherited until today. At the same time, China brought the Western a Sinomania because of its extensive knowledge and profound scholarship. The employment of Chinese characteristics in decoration satisfied Western people's fantasy of exotic complex of the forbidden kingdom for seeking differences and this started the completely new era in which Western civilisation was surpassed by the Eastern civilisation during the historical background of Rococo. Consequently, prevalent Chinoiserie emerged in modern history.The Ming and Qing's style of overelaborated magnificence seamlessly matched Rococo's unsymmetric style and this was mainly reflected on the aesthetic standards between East and West despite these similar styles were derived from thoroughly different culture and history. Nowadays, the influences of Western over interior design certainly remain existent in China as different European interior styles are still observed numerously. However, the effects of Chinese interior design in the Western world are steadily faded. This article studies the way how cultural exchange in respect of interior design between China and the Western world were performed and the consequences of this exchange. By this study, we aim to look into the history and pursue a prudential judgment towards the impact of exotic style.