Flowering Links Between Canton And The West------ A Study On Export Paintings Of Cantonese Social Life And Handicraft Industry During The Qing Dynasty

The export paintings of Cantonese social life and handicraft industry by local Chinese artists were born of the cultural exchanges between China and the West from the end of the 17th century to the 19th century. Those paintings, in a sense, amount to an encyclopedia, faithfully reflecting the realities in Chinese society. At that time, many Westerners had visions of China being the most civilized country on earth, and the Emperor of China being the most open-minded ruler. Europeans in every stratum of society yearned for a detailed picture of China from various channels. It was against this historical background that the export paintings came into being.With the Ming Dynasty changing into the Qing Dynasty, China came into contact with the West in the fields of commerce and culture. And in the wake of the contacts, the exchanges of iconography across the ocean gradually flourished. Historical traces were left of how these paintings exported from Canton took approximately one hundred years to evolve. By analyzing the limited iconographic resources that are available, the author decides to focus on two major topics for his research:Cantonese social life and handicraft industry, and then he sorts them further into four complete sets:the export paintings of home life of Cantonese traders and their recreations in leisure time, the export paintings and the volumes that depict the trade in teas, the oil paintings and the watercolor volumes that portray the trade in porcelain, and the export paintings of Cantonese country life and town life. The author intends to carry out in-depth research into the export paintings of the then social life and production from four perspectives:the historical background, the spread of originals, the evolution of styles, and the changes of pigments.During the Qing Dynasty, Canton was not only distant from the political center in the north but also far away from the region south of the Yangtze River, which features the poetic scenery in the misty rain and attracts quite a lot of orthodox artists. Therefore, the export paintings created in Canton did not come to people’s notice. Recently, however, thanks to more exposure to international cultural exchanges, many Chinese scholars who keep pace with their Western counterparts have turned their attention to this groundbreaking research and published a number of academic articles and books. In the author’s humble opinion, the right spirit of art history study lies in exploring the significant historical episodes that have faded from people’s minds and restructuring meticulously the evolving processes of art in the context of the particular times and places. Although some treasures handed down from ancient times have been scattered and lost abroad, and the aesthetic interest and charm of these works of art may not appeal to all individuals, their uniqueness and dramatic moments in art history should not suffer from neglect.The emergence of the export paintings during the Qing Dynasty undoubtedly bridged one of the gaps between China and the West in iconographic terms, covering politics, economy and culture. Guided by the theories of iconography and sociology, the author of this thesis attempts to gain a better insight into the evolution of the export paintings as well as the ways of making cultural contacts between China and the Western countries.