Research on the History of Chinese Quilt Art

Author: Jiang Boqin
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-04-01
Features: This book employs the method of "image-based historical evidence" to study artistic remains related to Zoroastrianism found in China's new archaeological discoveries, such as stone reliefs, murals, and silk textiles, awakening the millennia-old artistic spirits sleeping in burial sites and recreating the interaction between Zoroastrian art and the ritual music civilization of Huaxia. Nearly a century ago, when traditional culture faced severe challenges, Wang Guowei, in his postscript to "The Draft Regulations for the Literature Department of the Imperial University," passionately declared: "In the future, the scholars who will discover and glorify our country's academic achievements must be those who are proficient in world academia, not narrow-minded scholars confined to a single viewpoint. This is certain." The subsequent facts increasingly prove that drawing wisdom from foreign lands and exploiting local resources is indeed a path to discovering and glorifying China's academia. Mr. Jiang Boqin is a modern scholar who continuously advances along this path. Topics he proposes, such as "The History of Zoroastrian Art," are fundamentally inaccessible without "proficiency in world academia." Zoroastrianism was one of the three "foreign religions" that entered China during the Middle Ages. Its differences from Nestorianism and Manichaeism, apart from the absence of translated scriptures, are particularly notable in regional variations. From the perspective of historical religious culture, Zoroastrianism can be said to have gone through four versions during its spread: the original Persian version of Zoroastrianism, the Indian version of Bauddhaism, the Central Asian version of Mazdakism, and the Chinese version, which is Zoroastrianism. Since both the authentic and variant forms coexist, anyone engaging in the study of Zoroastrianism in China must broaden their horizons, understand similarities and differences, or risk becoming a "narrow-minded scholar confined to a single viewpoint." To be fair, for individuals to go global is relatively easy, as is for commodities to be exported. But for scholarship to go global is far more difficult. Because it must not only "align with international standards" but also "accelerate," otherwise it will fall behind the ever-evolving progress of world academia. The Study of the History of Zoroastrian Art in China is a monograph that examines Chinese Zoroastrianism through artistic remains, a culmination of Mr. Jiang Boqin's years of dedicated research, with high originality. He extensively referenced relevant works from Russia, Japan, and the West over the past century, exhaustively collected documents, manuscripts, and artifacts, and, lacking translated Zoroastrian scriptures for textual analysis, ingeniously synthesized and connected the dots, finally identifying the faint shadows of Zoroastrian deities in the images of medieval remains and the folk customs of the Tang and Song dynasties. He discovered traces of the "Persian-style celestial palace system" in East Asia, including the great gods and goddesses of Zoroastrianism—achievements of great value. According to Engels' brilliant comparative religious insights, "To become a religion, monotheism must make concessions to polytheism from ancient times, as Zand-Avesta already began this trend. The Jews gradually turned to the specific gods of paganism, a process that continued until, after their exile, the Persian-style celestial palace system emerged, making the religion more adaptable to people's imagination." (On the History of Primitive Christianity) Mr. Jiang Boqin's vivid description of the grandeur of Zoroastrianism in Dunhuang's "Sai Zoroastrian" ceremonies is a living picture of "making the religion more adaptable to people's imagination," reflecting the fusion of Persian and Chinese cultures in Zoroastrian rituals. It is truly refreshing. Art history is a virgin field yet to be tilled in Chinese academia. As early as the early 1930s, Mr. Chen Yinque lamented, "If the art history of our country is to develop, it will be an impossibly distant prospect." (The Current State of Our Country's Academia and the Responsibilities of Tsinghua) Back then, Mr. Xu Zhongshu's lengthy essay On the Examination of Ancient Hunting Images sought to apply the principles of iconology to study the evolution of bronze vessel forms and patterns during the Shang and Zhou dynasties and their foreign influences, which he submitted to Mr. Chen Yinque for review (Selected Historical Essays of Xu Zhongshu, Volume 1). After decades of storms and trials, Mr. Jiang Boqin consciously carried forward the legacy of the predecessors, dedicating himself to the study of art history on a broader scale and with greater depth. He deeply researched the works of Aby Warburg on iconology and art history, compared and interpreted a vast number of artifacts unearthed in Central Asia and the Central Plains, and sought new evidence, innovative interpretations, and original theories for Zoroastrian art. His achievements, boiled down to one point, can be said to have made the "Chinese version" of Persian Zoroastrianism unprecedentedly clear through new materials and methods. I have known Mr. Jiang Boqin since we were classmates and colleagues, engaging in academic discussions, exchanging insights, and resolving doubts for decades. In the weathered campus of Kanglue Garden, we were deeply inspired by Mr. Chen Yinque's method of using literature to verify history and Mr. Cen Zhongmian's method of using inscriptions to verify history. Now, Mr. Jiang Boqin has uniquely employed the method of "image-based historical evidence" to discover and glorify the studies of these two great scholars, and I am not only deeply moved but also greatly inspired. Remembering Belinsky's high praise for Turgenev's works in a letter: "To find one's own path and recognize one's own position—this is everything for a person, which means he has fulfilled his nature." Mr. Jiang Boqin, with both academic expertise and artistic cultivation, was able to discover what predecessors had not in the history of Chinese Zoroastrian art precisely because he found a path that aligned with his nature. Mr. Jiang Boqin's diligent writing is not a sweet endeavor on a comfortable armchair. Over the years, due to the illness of his family members, he has been faced with difficulties on several occasions. Amid the tensions of scholarship, livelihood, and healthcare, he bravely moved forward, dedicating himself to his family, exhausting his efforts for academia, and resolutely responding to the challenges of fate. Fortunately, his family members have now recovered, and his new book is about to be completed—truly a cause for joy and celebration. The great artist Rodin, in his masterpiece The Great Churches of France, said the following: "The spirit must endure suffering to release thought." I would like to dedicate these golden words to Mr. Jiang Boqin in memory of our long-standing friendship and as a motto for our future joint spiritual production.