Western Collections, Exhibitions And Studies Of Chinese Calligraphy In The 20^th Century

It was in the 13th century, Chinese calligraphy first began to enter the western world. With the introduction and discussions of western scholars in the hundreds of years, especially with the hard work of western missionaries, the west has by and by realized the significance of Chinese calligraphy to the Chinese people and the whole world as well. Therefore, by the beginning of the 20th century, western sinologists began to introduce Chinese calligraphy to the western sphere, through introduction, and translation of calligraphy history and literatures, initializing the western studies of Chinese calligraphy. Meanwhile, with the increase of knowledge and bettering understanding of Chinese calligraphy, Chinese calligraphy was published at various western exhibitions. Besides, western collectors, both private and public, began to collect Chinese calligraphy. By the 1970s, western collections, exhibitions and studies of Chinese calligraphy reached a high point.However, not much attention has been paid to western collections, exhibitions and studies of Chinese calligraphy studies up to now. This thesis aims to explore the above-mentioned subject, hoping to arouse more interest in the field and provide some helpful research methods for the future studies.The thesis has four parts. In the first part, chapter one, it explores how western missionaries helped to introduce Chinese calligraphy before the 20th century; part two, chapter two, reviews the history of calligraphy exhibitions, with some special attention paid to calligraphy exhibition and studies; part three, chapter three, focuses on western collections of Chinese calligraphy; and finally, part four, chapter four, chapter five, and chapter six, being the highlighted part of the thesis, explores western studies of Chinese calligraphy. Chapter four shows how it initiated in the west; chapter five is mainly about western studies of Chinese calligraphy. And in part six, the thesis deals with the high point of western studies of Chinese calligraphy, emphasizing the stylistic methods applied to studies of Chinese calligraphy.Through the four parts discussion, the thesis aims to show an overall picture of western collections, exhibitions and studies of Chinese calligraphy in the 20th century, emphasizing the relation between exhibition and studies, as well as that between collecting and studies. Due to the fact that this subject has never been touched in the past, the thesis is most probably to provide some useful information and methodology concerning studies of Chinese calligraphy. And, the other high light of the thesis is that it provides a huge collection of western literatures of Chinese calligraphy, which can be of great significance to Chinese scholars of calligraphy.