THE NOTIONS OF XIE-SHI («WRITING REALITY»), XIE-YI («WRITING IDEA») AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO REALISM

Abstract

This article discusses terminological problems in the context of contemporary art practice and theory in China. Contemporary Chinese sculpture criticism has evolved in the context of certain influence of Western theories of art. Against the background of the integration of Western theories and terminology system of sculpture in the present stage, the Chinese sculpture community has perceived and internalized terms such as realism, depiction, figurative, abstract, and so on. This has greatly enriched the theory and practice of Chinese sculpture. At the same time, there are sculptural terms rooted in the Chinese national art practice, such as “xie-shi” and “xie-yi”. Unfortunately, limited by the cultural and linguistic contexts of China and the West, and by the fact that most Chinese sculptors still preserve the creative habit of relying on traditional experience and personal judgment, these terms lead to vagueness and speculation in defining the type of sculptural artwork. This situation can very easily lead to ambiguity and misinterpretation in interlingual translation, which becomes an obstacle to the understanding of Chinese sculptural art in other countries and limits the development of Chinese sculptural criticism. This is an important academic problem that requires long-term research. The author would like to express his gratitude to Prof. Maria Burganova for drawing his attention to this problem. According to the results of the author's search in the Chinese full-text database of periodicals, master's theses and doctoral dissertations CNKI, there are still no papers on Chinese art history specifically dealing with this relevant topic, which remains to be explored.