Appropriating Antiquity for Mo

The pursuit of antiquity was important for scholarly artists in constructing their knowledge of history and cultural identity in late imperial China. By examining versatile trends within paintings in modern China, this book asks to what extent historical relics have been used to represent the ethnic identity for modern Chinese art? Did the antiquarian movements ultimately serve...

The pursuit of antiquity was important for scholarly artists in constructing their knowledge of history and cultural identity in late imperial China. By examining versatile trends within paintings in modern China, this book asks to what extent historical relics have been used to represent the ethnic identity for modern Chinese art? Did the antiquarian movements ultimately serve as a tool for re-writing art historiography in modern China on purpose?

In searching for the public meaning of inventively reinforced private collecting activity, this book draws on modes of artistic creation to speak of an apposite use of antiquities through their imaginative links between ancient civilization and modern lives. It also addresses artistic exchanges between China, Japan and the West and how modernity was translated and appropriated at the turn of the twentieth century.

Chia-Ling Yang is Professor of History of Art and Personal Chair of Chinese Art at The University of Edinburgh, UK. She received her PhD in Chinese Art from SOAS, University of London, UK. She has worked with the V&A and the British Museum on a range of exhibition projects.