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high or upside down, and neglecting epigraphic inscriptions on steles,” Zhuang also

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praised their determination to conduct original research. Concluding that such

persistence in academic research was respectable, Zhuang suggested that the Chinese

reform their attitudes toward studying their own art history and begin limiting the export

of Chinese artifacts. If such action were not taken, Zhuang warned ominously, a day

would come when Chinese scholars would have to go to foreign countries to study their

own artifacts.

Writers and artists such as Teng Gu, Ye Gongchuo, and Wu Hufan lauded the

effect of museums and exhibitions such as the Shanghai pre-exhibition in furthering art

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historical scholarship in China. After he viewed the Shanghai exhibition, Teng

commented, “our government and academic organizations should promote this kind of

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work more often.” Realizing their own country’s methods of display lacked a
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systematic approach further fanned the flames of interest to build the discipline. Wu

Hufan urged: “This type of activity should be encouraged by the government… so that

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our country’s art can bring its honor to the world’s arts.” According to such artists and

scholars, only with proper institutions such as museums and exhibitions devoted to

expanding, safekeeping, categorizing, and displaying of material collections could

Chinese scholars conduct adequate scientific research in art history. Furthermore, as Wu

Hufan and Ye Gongchuo envisioned, art-historical knowledge and the establishment of

proper cultural preservation organizations such as museums and exhibitions were

integrally intertwined because the “spirit of the nation is always connected to its

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historical cultural artifacts (wenwu˖ي).”