Page 17 - Catalog Of Chinese Applied Art

INTRODUCTION

THE eyes of all civilized peoples are turned on China at the present moment with the
utmost sympathy and respect. An ancient civilization, the younger sister of old Egypt

and Babylon, and one of the most extensive empires that the world has ever seen, has suddenly

thrown off its patriarchal form of government, the heritage of ideals originated long before

the Christian era, and is determined, apparently, to walk in a new path more closely parallel
with those of the Western civilizations that are of comparatively modern growth. On this

ground alone it might seem appropriate, at this time, to gather together an illustrative display

of Chinese accomplishments, especially in those artistic crafts such as bronze founding, pottery

making, silk weaving and embroidery, which enter so largely into the ceremonial as well

as the private life of a people ; but it is the object of this Exhibition to demonstrate the distin-

guished position which the doings of the Chinese have won for them in the field of applied art.

Within little more than an ordinary life-time the ideas of Western nations with regard to the

Chinese peoples have undergone a profound change for the better. The very ignorance which

allowed us to look down with something like pity and contempt on a race which had numbered

amongst its sons some of the greatest philosophers, sages and painters of all time ; that allowed

us to contemplate the marvellous craftsmanship doifsmCihsisntehseembraosnz"egs,rotpeosrcqeuleaibnasu,bleensa,m"ehlsa,s
lacquers, carved stones and embroidered silks, and

been replaced, in the mind of every educated person, by feelings of intense admiration, not

merely for the patient ingenuity and boundless skill of the craftsmen, but for the pervading

sense of beauty and artistic purpose that, broadly speaking, distinguishes their works from the

similar doings of Europeans. One faculty seems to be inherent in the Chinese above any other
people in the world and that is the extent of their appreciation of what an artist calls ' ' quality."

Whether it be in the chasing of a bronze ; the glazing of a piece of porcelain ; the carving of

jade, rock crystal, carnelian, agate or other fine stone ; the treatment of an embroidered silk

or of a carpet, so that the play of light among the fibres of the material shall reveal its utmost

beauty, there is always the same distinguished feeling for the quality of the material which is
the mark of artistic, as opposed to inartistic craftsmanship.

In making such a high claim, which is abundantly justified by fact, it must not be forgotten
that we are dealing with the doings of a race rather than a nation ; a race inhabiting a district

larger than Europe, yet content to live and work under ancient ideals that have changed so

slowly as to seem incapable of change. Opposition to change is one constant element of

human nature ail the world over, and in China the influence of the philosophy, the mode of
government and the religious beliefs of the people have, hitherto, tended to make the change

so slow that, to a superficial Western observer (our direct knowledge only goes back a few
centuries) they seem not changes, indeed, but the absence of any desire for change.

From the geographical situation of the Chinese lands and the fact that a great barrier of
desert and steppe is interposed between them and the West, singularly little knowledge can be
derived, from outside, of the early history of this far-off people. Their own historical records

have, fortunately, been preserved for many, many centuries with devout and almost holy care ;