■Our reporter Xu Yang

  There has been a Chinese wind in the publishing industry - recently, "Chinese wind: the influence of China on European art from the 13th century to the 19th century", "Chinese Art History (New Revised Edition)", "Chinese Patterns (Chinese Collection Edition)" and other batches The introduction and publication of art books.

They are respectively written by Italian scholar Francesco Morena, emeritus professor of Oxford University Michael Sullivan, and pioneer of modern design and color theory Owen Jones. They explore Chinese style from the perspective of overseas sinologists from the perspective of the "other". The influence of the beauty on European, American and even global art has aroused the attention of the industry.

Ma Ling, a professor at Fudan University, pointed out that "Chinese style" is a breeze that has lasted for 700 years. It crosses cultural barriers and blows different flowers; "Chinese style" is also a bridge connecting different countries between the East and the West. Image, technology and imagination.

"Each beauty has its own beauty, and the beauty is shared. Although misunderstandings and differences are inevitable, the power of beauty lies in sharing and blending."

  Oriental utensil patterns are very popular, injecting inspiration into European design

  As a phenomenon, "Chinese style" appeared in Europe as early as the late 13th century, however, "Chinese style" as an academic term was not established until the 19th century, and was used to describe the cultural influence of China or the wider Far East European art trends.

In particular, the oriental elements and patterns of silk, porcelain, lacquer and other utensils have caused a sensation in Europe and inspired overseas designs.

  "Chinese Style: The Influence of China on European Art from the 13th Century to the 19th Century" mentioned a cultural phenomenon - in the eyes of Westerners, China is the country of porcelain. Since other countries have not yet mastered the technology of porcelain making, rare is precious. .

Marco Polo went to Yuan Dadu (Beijing), was received by Kublai Khan, and brought back some Chinese utensils. He spent 4 silver coins to buy 3 small blue-and-white porcelain bowls, which were highly sought after by the locals.

A large number of Dutch still life paintings painted with porcelain are a powerful proof of the impact of Chinese export porcelain on European visual culture.

In the 17th-century Dutch still life paintings, Chinese porcelain appeared most frequently among the objects in the Far East. Porcelain plates, vases, cups and ornaments were often drawn meticulously to form a refreshing picture with other objects.

  In addition to the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy are also "fans" of Chinese style.

In 1700 at the Palace of Versailles, Louis XIV held a ball called "The Emperor of China". According to research by the author of "Chinese Style: The Influence of China on European Art from the 13th to the 19th Century", the stage arrangement was probably based on the Dutch diplomat Yitai It was composed of Chinese operas described by Esther, who visited China from 1692 to 1694 as a Russian diplomatic ambassador.

Since then, France has imported a large number of goods such as ceramics, textiles and lacquerware from China, and even hired designers to make new furniture to match these exotic treasures.

At the end of the 17th century, Louis XIV established a furniture factory in the Goblin area and began to produce Chinese-style furniture in France.

In the 18th century, England created what is known as the "Chinese-English mixed garden".

In stark contrast to the refined and delicate Renaissance and Baroque Italian gardens, English gardens often feature the irregular placement of plants and buildings that are characteristic of Chinese gardens.

  In the long history, our ancestors' pursuit of beauty has never stopped.

They looked at the flying birds, got close to the splendid flowers, and looked up at the ever-changing wind and thunder and lightning, and then turned them into complex and elegant patterns.

One flower and one leaf become curled grass and tangled branches, "wrapped" on the algae head on the beam or a few blue and white flowers on the table; the falling flowers and flowing water patterns derived from the "curved water flowing spring", laid out on the brocade of the ancients, are fresh and elegant; the bat is a homonym for "bat" "Fu" gives birth to auspicious meanings, and is decorated with blue and white vases; gluttonous food and animal faces are engraved on bronze ware, showing the beauty of fierceness.

The pattern embodies the wisdom, artistic aesthetics and craftsmanship of the ancients, and embodies the nation's yearning and pursuit for a better life, which also deeply moved the Western people.

  In 1867, "Chinese Patterns" was published in London, causing a shock in the European art world.

Owen Jones draws 100 representative Chinese patterns in the book, most of which are from Ming and Qing ceramics and enamels. The perfect decoration of the whole body”, the author’s words are full of high appreciation for Chinese art and design, and try to find design inspiration from it to “feed back” to the local.

In Portugal and other places, potters used white tin glaze as the base and painted blue enamel to imitate the patterns of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, and the patterns used traditional Chinese flower and bird feathers.

With the arrival of more and more Chinese silk textiles, Europe has set off an unprecedented new wave of design - the use of non-rigid patterns, no longer using internal parallel hems, and gradually abandoning symmetrical and geometric designs in favor of flora and fauna And so on closer to the nature of the pattern design.

For example, the patterns used in Italy are mixed with typical oriental elements, including lotus, pomegranate, peonies, small flowers with zigzag branches, and even phoenixes and dragons.

  "Chinese style" does not equal "ancient style", misunderstanding is also another bridge in cultural exchanges

  Some scholars have pointed out: Compared with the "ancient style" and "national style" understood by the domestic public, the "Chinese style" that fascinated European royal families and aristocrats is a unique cultural phenomenon in the West.

In Ma Ling's view, it is what China or the East looks like in the eyes of Westerners.

"At that time, because of the distance, Europeans had a lot of misunderstandings about China. But from another perspective, it has also developed a certain style of its own, which is the so-called 'creative misreading'."

  For example, we rarely see maids holding an umbrella in ancient Chinese paintings, they usually hold a fan.

But if you look at Western "Chinese style" works, whether it is wallpaper, porcelain, or paintings on furniture, the maids in the garden often carry a small umbrella.

In the minds of Westerners at that time, this umbrella was a symbol of "Chinese style".

  Ma Ling believes that when we understand the "Chinese style", we should be clear that this may be the China that foreigners imagine, even if it seems a little nondescript, but at least it shows that they want to understand China, and the "Chinese style" is through their creative mistakes. The series of images processed by reading are a bridge between Chinese and Western aesthetics.

"When we talk about cultural understanding, there are misunderstandings between each other. Only with the continuous exchange and communication between countries and nations, can we gradually find out what the other party likes and what their styles are like. to promote mutual understanding.”

  In addition, the profit-seeking motive of businessmen also contributed to the spread of "Chinese style".

For example, many Americans came to China to do business in the 19th century, and brought many Chinese utensils when they returned to the United States. In the early days, ordinary Americans could only construct a Chinese image by using blue and white porcelain or tea packaging boxes for daily use. "Chinese style" was simplified as blue and white porcelain plates. The mountains and rivers, birds, trees, fishermen, bridges, pagodas, islands, houses, etc., are more idyllic and idyllic in Rococo style.

  For another example, the British invented a "willow tree pattern" based on the works of Chinese painters, and they sold British porcelain with a willow tree pattern that imitated Chinese porcelain to Americans.

Interestingly, because Americans like this kind of counterfeit Chinese porcelain so much, out of profit motives, Chinese businessmen let craftsmen imitate the British willow pattern to make more export porcelain for export.

This "blue willow pattern" has entered thousands of American families, and the locals even made up a story of "Zhang Sheng and Kong Qian" in Nanjing.

"We Chinese don't know this story, but it is widely known in the United States. From a certain point of view, the charming Chinese style is also under the joint efforts of various forces to complete the collective imagination of the Americans on China in the early 19th century." Ma Ling Say.