Art History of the War of Resistance Against Japan

Author: Huang Zongxian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: The Dignity of National Art Awakens Amidst the Smoke of War
Culture and art are a nation's concentrated embodiment of its national spirit. To protect one's homeland, one cannot neglect one's own culture and art; to defend national dignity, one must defend the dignity of national culture. A nation that loses confidence in and lacks respect for its own culture and art is inevitably a nation that has lost its dignity—a nation without the courage to survive and develop. The splendid civilization of the Chinese nation, spanning 5,000 years, has forged a tradition of loyalty to the nation. Proverbs like "As long as the Xiongnu are not (subjugated), how can we consider building a home?" and "When the nation rises or falls, it is the duty of every man" demonstrate that resisting national oppression and upholding national dignity are the natural and righteous obligations of every member of the nation. When the swords and spears of foreign invaders pierce the nation's flesh, they inevitably stir up the immense courage and incalculable resistance of the Chinese people to defend national dignity. This resistance, of course, is not merely about blood for blood or tooth for tooth; it also involves cultural resistance. This defense, naturally, is not merely about preserving the integrity of the land but also about upholding the dignity of national culture and art. During the War of Resistance, the criticism directed at Chinese painting for being detached from the times, detached from reality, and overly conservative was no less intense than during the May Fourth Movement. However, unlike the wave of "overthrowing Wang's painting," it lacked the component of "national nihilism" and instead more clearly expressed the desire and ideal of calling for and reactivating the vitality of traditional national art. While people criticized some Chinese painters for rigidly adhering to tradition and ignoring reality, they also condemned the widespread phenomenon in the treatment of traditional Chinese art since the May Fourth Movement—where many had forgotten their roots and blindly followed Western ways like "the tail of foreigners." The criticism of the current state of Chinese painting alongside the recognition of the value of traditional art, the call for the "modernization" of Chinese painting intertwined with the plea for the "nationalization" of Western painting, formed a meaningful phenomenon in the wartime art world. Many Chinese painters no longer adopted a unidirectional approach to inheriting painting traditions, meaning they were no longer confined to drawing nourishment from the works of masters from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. They also developed a great interest in the non-literati painting tradition. The "Dunhuang fever" became a major spectacle in the Chinese painting world. Following Zhang Daqian, painters like Xie Zhiliu, Guan Shanyue, Guan Liang, and Li Xiongcai, who had settled in the rear areas, successively ventured into the northwest and the Mogao Caves. This was an activity of re-examining tradition, a great return to tradition. In this return, painters broadened their horizons, gained a more comprehensive and profound understanding of the tradition and aesthetic spirit of Chinese art, and found new nourishment for their artistic life. Chinese painting did not decline amid the chaos of war, nor did it fully don the "armor of war" in the call to "art for the war." Many painters, such as Fu Baoshi, Lu Yanshao, and Dong Shousheng, driven by a strong sense of national sentiment and the desire to uphold the dignity of national art, achieved new transcendence in their return to tradition and nature. Together with those painters who "faced reality" or were enthusiastic about "Sino-Western integration," they demonstrated through their actions that in the sacred war, "the art of the Chinese nation still remains an eternal forward march." Amidst the flames of war, academic research on traditional Chinese art and discussions on art culture not only