The Dialectic of Classicism in Early Imperial China

Abstract

This group of essays treats as a general art-historical problem a matter that might have been thought appropriate to Europe alone. It places “classicism” on a theoretical par with issues like “representation,” “abstraction,” or “the evolution of style.” The justification for doing so is the hope that the concept of classicism might gain in analytical power by taking the issue beyond the confines of the European tradition. Of course, the “existence” of classicism in China is not something that can be determined like the existence of neutron stars or gravity waves. The use of “classicism” in this group of essays is more closely analogous to the historian's use of terms like “feudalism” for Japan or “bureaucracy” for China. Such terms are heuristic devices; they are meaningful only insofar as they are useful. And they are useful only when applied rigorously as an aid to understanding more fundamental patterns of human experience. The question is, was there an experience in China that usefully can be termed “...