The Continuing Process

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The Continuing Process I

A 'The Princess of the Countryof Porcelain' (1 864) by JamesWhistler The influence ofJapanese art is strong in thispicture. Most importantly, thegirl's stance echoes a print byUtamora, one of the greatest ofthe Japanese print makers.

Print by Japanese artistKatsushika Hokusai (1 760-1849). It shows figures gazingat Mount Fuji in the distance.This element of perspectivewas a western idea that wasnew to Japanese art. In turn,Hokusai's prints greatlyinfluenced the works of theEuropean Impressionists.

chapter sevenThe Continuing Process

A New ImpetusIt was the vast expansion of European trading links that led to theincreasing impact of eastern arts and crafts on western styles. Thisexpansionwas given new impetus by the Industrial Revolution of theEighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. The newly industrializednations of Europe looked to Asia not only as a source of luxuries andrawmaterials, but, perhapsmore importantly, as a lucrativemarket fortheir goods. The newly-formed United States of America now alsojoined the arena of international trade.By the middle of the Nineteenth Century, theWest's domination ofworld trade was no longer in question. Britain's defeat of China inthe first Opium War (1839-42) had forced the reluctant Chinese toopenmore of their ports and cities towestern traders and, in 1853, thegunboats of the United States forced Japan to do the same. The oldpatterns of trade and cultural exchange embodied in the Silk and SpiceRoutes were completely submerged in the wholesale export ofwestern goods and, with them, western culture.

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The Continuing Process

Western ideas on economics, education, administration and politicshad a dramatic impact on the ancient cultures ofAsia. Britain's controlof India, which had begun as a result of trade, led to the imposition ofits systems of administration and education. However, resistance tothis process also produced an increased awareness of Indiannationality and culture. The new social and political movements thatemerged in Indiawere based onwesternmodels but also incorporatedlarge elements of their own traditions.In China, newwestern ideas, combinedwith the pressure tocompete commercially, undermined the ancient systems ofadministration and Empire. The ruling Qing Dynasty (1644-1912)resisted reform, leading to revolution in 1911. The Japanese, bycontrast, once they had opened their doors fully to western trade,embraced many elements ofwestern culture, too. Under the Meijiemperor (1867-1912), the old feudal system was abolished andadministrationwas based around Europeanmodels rather than the old Chinese onesthat had been in operation since the SeventhCentury ce. Adopting western technologyand its capitalism, Japanese industry rapidlyexpanded and, by the end of the NineteenthCentury, its economy had long outstrippedthat of China.In both East andWest, these changeswerereflected in art styles and images. Japaneseartists were eager to learn aboutwestern artand, at exhibitions held in Tokyo and Kyotoin the 1870s, any western-style piecesexhibited quickly sold. In theWest, Japaneseart, in particular thewoodblock print, beganto have a great effect. American artistJamesWhistier (1834-1903) borrowed ideas fromthe Japanese, and their use of light andcolour influenced thework of the EuropeanImpressionists. In architecture, too, theexcesses of chinoiserie and other such styleswere replaced by elements closer to thereality of eastern style. The straight lines anduncluttered spaces of the interior designsand buildings of the Scottish architectCharles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928)echo the houses of Japan and SoutheastAsiaand reveal the assimilation of ideas that wastaking place.

T Faade of the GlasgowSchoolofArt designed 1907-9by Charles RennieMackintosh. He was inspiredpartly by the architecture ofJapan andSoutheastAsia. Thedesign contrasts spectacularlywith the fanciful shapes of theBrighton Pavilion (seepage 39).


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The Continuing Process 1All Channels Open

A 'Falllngwater', a housedesigned by Americanarchitect Frank Lloyd Wright(1867-1959). Hecontinuedtodevelop ideas inspired by thearchitecture of Japan andSoutheast Asia, closelyrelating buildings to theirsurroundings.

The process of cultural exchange and assimilation by the peoples oftheworld continues, of course, to the present day. But the picture hasbecome ever more complicatedwith the dramatic improvement incommunications that has taken place. Aeroplanes and cars,telephones and televisions have made our world very different fromthat of a hundred years ago. Today, people have access to so manydifferent cultures through so many differentmediums that, at times, itis almost impossible to separate the various influences atwork. BothEast andWest can share in the rich heritage and continuinginnovations of their many different cultures.

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Many westerners live in open-plan apartments andwork in open-plan offices, a concept that has developed partly from eastern ideas ofarchitecture and interior design. Theymay decorate these spaces withTurkish, Persian, Indian and Chinese rugs orwith ceramics by artistssuch as Bernard Leach and Lucie Rie, whoseworks have been inspiredby the body shapes and colours of antique Chinese and Koreanpottery. Ameal out might be at an Indian, Chinese or Japaneserestaurant or, by buying a book or watching a television programme,many learn.how to cook these various cuisines for themselves. A tripto the ballet might involvewatchingwork inspired by the Kabukidances ofJapan or nritta dances of India - or it could be to see one ofthe many eastern dance companies on tour. Even the more moderntrappings of awesterner's life, for example, the personal stereo or thecomputer, maywell have been designed inJapan andmanufactured inone of the manyJapanese-owned factories around the world.On the other hand, western influences in the East, particularly inJapan, are everywhere to be seen. Giant companies pay fortunes forEuropean paintings, and people everywhere wearwestern clothes,jewellery and hairstyles and listen to western music. Western dancesand films are extremely popular, and western literature, from thetragedies of Shakespeare to the comic strip, influence contemporarywriters, playwrights and film makers in Japan and other countries.

The role of trade and commerce in this process is as important asever, if notmore so. The global scale onwhich it is now practised hasbeen partly responsible for the development of an 'international'sense of culture. It has also led to spectacular advances in industryandtechnology inmanyAsian countries. Japan is themost notable of these,whilst oil has given greatwealth tomanyof the countries of theMiddleEast. Much of theworld'swealth may still be concentrated in Europeand the United States, but Asia is increasingly able to finance itself.

A Vasemade byEnglishpotterBernard Leach (1887-1979).Its design derives from oldereastern ceramics.< There are many orientalrestaurants in the West today.Even more authentically, thesepeople are eating in China.

mil %?J IIP \wf IlA Scene from the film Ran A/the Japanese film directorAkira Kurosawa (1910- ). Thefilm was inspired by King Lear,one of William Shakespeare 's(1564-1616) tragedies.

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ConnectingPastwith Present

At the end of the Twentieth Century, a nation's or people's culture isopen to so many different influences that, in some cases, it seems asaturation point has been reached.Modern arts, crafts anddesign haveabsorbed, adapted and blended ideas from all over the world to theextent that it is perhaps difficult to speak of any 'national' style. Butmany artists and craftsmen have consciously set out to maintain asense of national or cultural identity in theirwork. Theyhave been ableto do this by looking to the traditions of the past for inspiration.This process of linking past and present is not only apparent in theworld of the creative arts. As ever, these are a reflection of influences atwork in society as awhole. In aworld ofgreat change and uncertainty,people look to the past as ameans of understanding the present and togive them a sense of continuity as well as identity. In Mongolia,newly-emerged from the powerful influence of the Soviet Union, _people have turned again to Buddhism, whilst Ghengis Khan, thebuilder of their massive empire in the Thirteenth Century, is widelycelebrated. The national cultures of former old Soviet Central Asianstates, such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, are also emergingwithrenewed vigour - as well as old cultural and ethnic rivalries.To understand the history of a single civilization or people, it isnecessary to see the many different influences that have contributedto it. As the connections formed by the Silk and Spice Routes reveal,cultures and civilizations have not developed in isolation over thecenturies, and it is partlybecause of this that there has been a renewedinterest in the trade routes' history. One product of this interest is theUNESCO project entitled 'Integral Study of the Silk Roads: Roads ofDialogue', ofwhich this series of books is a part.

So far, this project has arranged four international expeditions.Teams of scholars have travelled different sections of the Silk Route inChina, Central Asia and Mongolia and along the Spice Routes fromIttly to Japan. They visited many historic sites andmuseums, workingalongside academics from the local area. These expeditions haveresulted in the setting up of international research programmes,seminars, exhibitions, publications and films. This project waslaunched not only to encourage a greater awareness of individualnations' pasts but also in the hope that, by revealing the heritage theyshare with others, it will be easier to maintain good internationalrelations in the future.

< A camel caravan carryingtourists in the Gansu region ofChina. It was through thisprovince of northwest Chinathat the Silk Route passed.Today, tourists travel there toexperience first hand the paththat was responsible for thedevelopmentof somuch of ourcommon cultural heritage.

A A group of Mongol youthswho have abandoned theirhorses, so much a part of theirculture, for the attractions of amore modern form of transport- the motorbike.

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The Continuing Process

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