Anti-Japanese war in the fine arts of China of the XX – beginning of the XXI century

Van Shue Postgraduate student, Department of Art History and Pedagogy of Art, A.I. Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University 191186, Russia, g. Saint Petersburg, nab. Moiki, 48, kab. 51 63855694@qq.com Other publications by this author

The history of the study of the theme of war in Chinese art is represented by a number of works that consider various aspects of the existence of this artistic phenomenon. They analyze the influence of "painting ideas" on works based on Chinese military themes in the context of Chinese aesthetic, ethical, philosophical, cultural and artistic traditions, and compare the artistic systems of Chinese and European fine arts. The anti-Japanese theme in the art of the Middle Kingdom is studied by Wei Qianru, Wu Houxin and Wang Liping. The role of the battle genre is considered in the works of Guo Rui, Guo Wenfang, Ren Mengzhang, Wang Qiwei, Xing Junqin, etc. The influence of Soviet art on Chinese oil painting, including on the military theme, is analyzed by Yang Linlin and Li Gongmin. Russian Russian-language corpus of works devoted to the works of Russian and Soviet batalists who influenced Chinese authors should also be taken into account, in particular M.B. Grekov, N.P. Tolkunov, P.A. Krivonogov, A.A. Deineki, P.T. Maltsev, N.S. Prisekin, A.A. Mylnikov, E.E. Moiseenko, F.P. Usypenko , etc . In 2021, Wang Miao presented an article "The theme of war in Chinese and Belarusian painting of the second half of the twentieth century: genre-style aspect", in which he notes that at the turn of the century in the battle genre in China there was a "transition from socialist realist writing to new forms of artistic expression" ^{[1, p. 105]}.

In Russian science, largely due to the scientific activities of Chinese graduate students of art universities and universities, as well as scientists interested in the art and history of China, attention is growing, including to the formation and development of certain types and genres of artistic creativity, as well as themes and image systems, including under the influence of the art school of Russia. Moreover, the strengthening of political and cultural ties between the two countries makes such studies even more relevant and in demand in the light of the need to identify what is common and unifying and what gives originality to the work of artists of each of the two friendly states.

The object of this research is the processes that influenced the origin and development of the theme of the "War of Resistance" in the art of the country from the 1930s to the beginning of the XXI century. The subject is works on the theme of the anti–Japanese war created by Chinese artists on this topic, as well as the principle of choosing subjects and an arsenal of means of artistic expression. In this light, the purpose of the publication is to study the artistic, stylistic and iconographic features of the expression of images in the works of Chinese artists.

The origins of the studied topic in Chinese art date back to the 1930s, when the invasion of Japanese troops into China began. This tragic event for the country has led to the fact that the artistic life in it has changed dramatically. Martial law also played a role here. Many authors joined the ranks of the army or began working in propaganda teams. In addition, the masters began to abandon those artistic trends that had previously penetrated into the Celestial Empire through Japan. We are talking, first of all, about Western modernism, which Chinese artists got acquainted with mainly through Japanese colleagues ^[2]. Moreover, art education in those days was based on a model borrowed from a neighboring country that became an aggressor. Art, changed by the war, began to gravitate towards a realistic form, which determined the vector of its development for a century to come.

In wartime conditions, the overwhelming number of Chinese artists abandoned any other themes in their work, focusing on the flagellation of the enemy and the glorification of the defenders of the motherland. The beginning was laid in the art of graphics, or rather in printed engraving. For example, in woodcut, Lu Xin began to offer a completely new approach to the formation of images in comparison with the former academic art and the work of writers. The lyricism and harmony of the latter were in no way suitable for the implementation of new ideas ^{[3, p. 19]}. For this reason, he energetically, generically and often conditionally carved figures full of passion and tension on wood. Moreover, his heroes were not refined intellectuals or "beauties", but ordinary people: peasants, workers, soldiers, all those who took up arms to save the country. Such works were created quickly, almost with lightning speed as a reaction to tragic or, conversely, joyful events. So, after the occupation of Northeast China by the Japanese, another graphic artist Li Hua created the engraving "Roar!" (1930s, the Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts), in which he depicted a captured, but not surrendered warrior. His image is expressive, born on dark and light contrasts, a combination of broken lines.

Fig. 1. Tan Ihe. July 7. Canvas, oil. 1941. National Art Museum of China. Source: http://www.namoc.org/zsjs/gczp/cpjxs/201306/t20130619_252616.htm

Gradually, painters began to join the process of developing a new theme in Chinese art. One of the first to portray images related to the anti-Japanese war was Tan Ihe. In the oil sketch "July 7", the author shows young people going to the front line. They are shown by the master extremely realistically, in detail, despite the incompleteness of the work. At the same time, Tan Yihe paints his heroes with the attributes of their professions, and not with the ammunition with which, as a rule, they go to war. This shows the artist's desire to show the unity of this part of the people in the face of the threat through the images of workers and intellectuals, to signal to them about the need for this (Fig. 1). It is obvious that this work, like the engravings of other Chinese authors, served propaganda purposes, a means of raising patriotic spirit.

Fig. 2. Jiang Zhaohe. Refugees. Paper, ink. 1943. Beijing National Art Museum of China. Source: https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B5%81%E6%B0%91%E5%9B%BE_ (%E8%92%8B%E5%85%86%E5%92%8C)#/media/File:%E6%B5%81%E6%B0%91%E5%9B%BE%EF%BC%88%E8%92%8B%E5%85%86%E5%92%8C%EF%BC%89_Refugees_by_Chiang_Chao-ho_01.jpg

A work created in the ink painting technique called "Refugees" has a different character (Fig. 2). Its author Jiang Zhaohe witnessed the flight of people from the occupied regions. Their appearance and heavy share struck the artist. In 1942, he began working on sketches, then combined the most successful scenes into a three-part composition. He shows in it representatives of different strata of Chinese society at a time when they are connected together by the tragedy that happened. At the same time, each of his characters experiences personal grief, reacting very differently, but expressively to what is happening. This work is considered to be the first work in the history of Chinese painting in which the artist expressed negative feelings using the language of realistic modeling of the form and psychologism in the depiction of heroes. His memory was fixed in him, and the images full of sorrow were supposed to inspire him to fight.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the country's fine arts focused on the theme of glorifying a new life and praising the builders of the state. A special place in this process was given to painting related to the events of the liberation and anti-Japanese war. The artistic form of such canvases was reduced to realism, but with a certain degree of idealization of historical figures and images of heroes of the people. This was influenced by politics and ideology, the course and recommendations of which guided the artists. Cultural contacts with the Soviet Union also played an important role here, in particular, the Chinese familiarity with the historical painting and battle genres in the works of Russian and Soviet authors. Many Chinese batalists were trained either in the USSR, or studied under the programs of the Soviet art school, which were integrated into the restored system of specialized vocational education of the republic ^{[4, p. 61]}.

At that time, the events of the anti-Japanese War were gradually becoming history for Chinese artists. They were no longer faced with the task of reacting with lightning speed to the actions of the enemy and their troops, as well as calling for the ranks of the liberation army or to help it. At the same time, the country's leadership considered the images associated with the resistance of the people of Japan as one of the key themes of the art of the New China. At the same time, it was necessary to create them in a complex synthesis of revolutionary realism and romanticism, approved as a trend in literature and art by Mao Zedong. Moreover, cinema has also joined in this process. In the second half of the 1950s, two landmark films for China were released: "A letter with a chicken pen" and "Railway partisans". The hero of the first one is a shepherd boy who warned the villagers about the approach of the enemy. The second one tells about the partisans. The images presented in them reflected the romantic halo that the heroes of those years had acquired, and also set a certain fashion for how the heroes of that war should be portrayed.

Fig. 3. Luo Gongliu. Tunnel war. Canvas, oil. 1951. Collection of the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution. Source: https://www.krzzjn.com/show-2100-125052.html

In a similar spirit, the first completed painting on the theme of the anti–Japanese war was created - "Tunnel War", created by Luo Gunliu in 1951 (Fig. 3). It is noteworthy that the author depicted events in which he himself was a direct participant. The canvas expressed the general fascination of Chinese artists with multi-figure plot compositions with an emphasis on the main characters. Luo Gongliu has a female militia placed in the center of the picture, and the characters standing at the observation post. They all froze, ready for the arrival of the enemy. The tension of the atmosphere is emphasized by powerful contrasts of heavily darkened areas and bright spots of the characters' faces and their costumes. The author wrote about his idea as follows: "I want to show that our people can defeat the enemy in the most difficult time, and show the steadfast fighting spirit of the Chinese nation, its wisdom."^[5]

A similar message is felt in such canvases as "Five Heroes of Mount Lanya", "Transition", "House" or "Little Heroic Sisters" of the 1960s. In them, the painters depict real events and specific people, giving them a heroic character, partly idealizing both features and actions. So, in such a dramatic picture as "Eight Girls throwing themselves into the River" (1989, National Art Museum of China) Wang Shengli heroic pathos prevails over the horror of what is happening. This work, which has become a "classic of revolutionary historical painting" ^{[6, p. 101]}, basically has a real story about female soldiers covering the retreat of troops. Courageous and strong heroines rush into the boiling waters, and dark clouds float above them as symbols of imminent death.

Fig. 4. Xing Qingren. Memories of roses. Canvas, oil. 1989. National Art Museum of China. Source: https://baike .baidu.com/item/%E7%8E%AB%E7%91%B0%E8%89%B2%E5%9B%9E%E5%BF%86/23602280

Since the late 1970s, a period began in the country when fine art began to explore the theme of "scars", that is, problems, disasters, traumatic events that have become part of the history of the Chinese people. This direction was mainly revealed in the mainstream of realism and thematic painting. They asserted the idea that revolutionary art should still be true to history, but it should now avoid excessive narrative, focusing on the artistry and expressiveness of images ^{[7, p. 103]}.

The execution of characters in the works of such artists has changed. If earlier heroes were chosen, whose images were typed and idealized, then at that time the masters focused on the study of how a simple person can exist in conditions of war. Moreover, the once dominant realism began to be complemented by elements of the artistic language of modern art, especially symbolism. For example, in the painting "Memories of Roses" by Xing Qingren, female warriors are depicted on the banks of the Yanhe River. They silently admire the pink-purple waters. Their images are translucent, subtle and elegant and not at all like the extremely material, strong and fierce heroines of the art of the past (Fig. 4). The author seeks to replace the "typical" and "ideal" with the simplicity of everyday life. He writes the following about his plan: "I have always longed and envied the simplicity and idealism of that era. That's how this job was born. I have her feeling" ^{[8, p. 215]}.

Fig. 5. Wang Yingchun and Yang Lizhou. Taihang Iron Wall. Paper, ink. 1984. National Art Museum of China. Source: https://baike .baidu.com/item/%E7%8E%AB%E7%91%B0%E8%89%B2%E5%9B%9E%E5%BF%86/23602280

Works on the theme of the anti-Japanese war in Chinese art were often created at the junction of realistic art and current trends. For example, the "Taihang Iron Wall" by Wang Yingchun and Yang Lizhou is no longer an image of specific events, but the visualization by the authors of their vision of those events, their attitude to them, the development of a symbol. To do this, they use colored images of personalities familiar to every Chinese, in particular Zhu De, Peng Dehuai and other revolutionaries. At the same time, they do not distinguish them in any way from the general mass of heroes petrified in eternity. In the painting "Spark" by Feng Yuan, the "torch" in the hand of a soldier is a symbol of the upcoming struggle and at the same time serves as an element supporting the decorative structure of the work. Many works of this period use the symbolism of images to one degree or another. They not only endow the image inherent in the image with additional connotations for the semantic deepening of the theme, but these symbols themselves often become an artistic language.

At the beginning of the new century, more precisely in 2005, a significant event occurred in the evolution of the theme "War of Resistance" in Chinese art. In honor of the 60th anniversary of the victory in World War II and over Japan in particular, an exhibition was held at the National Art Museum of China. It showed canvases that can be divided into two parts. The first category includes those that reflect the theme of the anti-Japanese war and created by Chinese artists during the war years. The second part consists of works created by modern Chinese artists on the theme of the anti-Japanese war. It is noteworthy that the works of the middle of the century and its last third are not represented in the project. For the developers of the exhibition, it was important to show the contrast between the artistic expression of direct impressions of horrific events by eyewitness artists and their descendants, who offer their own interpretation, including contemporary issues. Naturally, the works of the former are few and are mainly represented by leaflets and posters. Meanwhile, it was in them that the process of not only the origin of one of the main themes of Chinese art took place, but also the formation of the basic principles of realistic art. It was it that made it possible to acquaint people with what was happening by means of artistic creativity, inspire and support them.

Fig. 6. Quan Shanshi and Wen Danxiang. March of volunteers. Canvas, oil. 2009. National Art Museum of China. Source: https://www.sohu.com/a/487514343_120006290

It is this line that the authors of the beginning of the XXI century adhere to, as evidenced by the artistic material of other art exhibitions devoted to the military theme. So, Quan Shanshi and Wen Danxiang created the canvas "March of Volunteers". In the picture, they, like many of their contemporaries, used symbolic techniques (Fig. 6). Against the background of a building resembling the Great Wall of China and signal towers, drowning in a bloody glow, there are gray-blue rows of soldiers. It expresses the image of the unity of the Chinese people in front of the enemy. At the same time, many of them are seriously injured, their faces distorted by pain and fear. Someone is more determined, outraged. Among the warriors there are those who carefully peer into the audience, creating a high degree of emotional tension. The mass of people seemed to be numb, looking from the past at their descendants.

The oil painting "The Great Victory of Pingxingguan", created by Ren Mengzhang and Yang Weiming (2000s, National Art Museum of China), is completely different in concept and embodiment. It is written as if the author is looking up at what is happening. In front of him, a panorama of a mountain range, a ridge of rocks, on which Chinese soldiers were stationed, opens up. The latter directed the barrels of their guns into the misty depths of the gorge, in which the enemy was apparently hiding. The danger that threatens numerous heroes comes into contrast with the bright sun, the warm sandy color of autumn grasses. The writing style is expressive, the strokes are broad and full of passion.

Thus, the analysis of the process of formation and existence of the theme "War of Resistance" in Chinese art of the XX – early XXI century allows us to distinguish four stages:

– The artistic creativity of wartime masters (mainly graphic artists) was associated with the need to record events, disseminate information about them, as well as agitation, which determined the authors' appeal to the realistic form of the image.

– The theme of the "War of Resistance" in the art of the 1950s and 1960s, including oil painting, is becoming a key one, as it reflects the time of the unification of the Chinese people in the fight against the invader, the formation of heroes who created the New China, and retains a realistic orientation, but in the spirit of revolutionary romanticism.

– The images associated with the war with Japan in the art of the last third of the twentieth century were created by a new generation of authors who abandoned the previous heroization and looked at those events as a national tragedy, changing accordingly the general mood of artistic works from the sublime and epic to the prosaic and dramatic, focusing more on the lives of ordinary people in the conditions of war and saturating the artistic language with symbols and metaphors, elements of current art trends.

– At the beginning of the XXI century, the theme of the "War of Resistance" in Chinese art, and especially in painting, is still relevant, as it allows synthesizing the achievements of previous generations of masters, but at the same time offering its own interpretation of those events, mainly in the form of realistic monumental multi-figure compositions filled with symbolic meaning.

In conclusion, we also note that when embodying the images of the anti-Japanese war, Chinese artists followed the path from small scenes and individual characters in woodcuts to large-scale oil paintings. The latter also either reflected specific historical figures alone or in a group, depending on a particular event, or battle scenes, most often, their threshold or completion, less often – the height. The ideological content also underwent a transformation, which went from glorifying the exploits of the Chinese people to interpreting those events as a national catastrophe, the overcoming of which fell on the shoulders of contemporaries and partly their descendants.