American art historian sets the record straight on Western misinterpretations of China and its culture
Why would you examine Chinese society and government through art? What are the unique strengths of that approach?
Like most in my field, I think of myself as a historian who studies history using texts, but in addition, we make use of visual evidence. When you look at a historical text, you do not always know whether the view expressed was normative. But if we see an image, especially a public one, we can usually assume that the work already had an audience, some community that understood its message. That is valuable for social history.
Let me give you an example. In China after the 12th century, in many different media, we find references to a story about a Han dynasty prime minister who was on tour in the country. He passes through an area where a riot is taking place, but he does not do anything, and explains: “I have no jurisdiction here. This is up to the city and county officials. My job is national policy.” This story shows up on vases, ink pots, pillows and paintings all the way into the 20th century. So, this is a concept that we can see was pretty well understood in China. If we did not have the art, we wouldn’t know that this understanding was so widespread.
