Borrowing the Road through Japan: Chinese Artists Who Studied in Japan in the First Half of the 20th Century

The history of 20th-century Chinese art can be framed through the lens of overseas study—from early studies in Japan, to mid-century education in Europe and America, and finally to training in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe after the founding of the PRC. It can be said that without these educational journeys and the ideas, systems, styles, and concepts reintroduced by returning students, the writing of China’s modern and contemporary art history would be incomplete.

Within this broader history, the period of “Study in Japan” from 1905 to 1937 marks the starting point. During this time, approximately 600 to 700 Chinese art students studied at nearly twenty Japanese art institutions, with the Tokyo School of Fine Arts at the core. These students drew influence from a wide spectrum of sources—from art education systems and exhibition models to the structures of public and private art organizations, modes of art market circulation, and modern artistic vocabulary. Their engagement extended to Japanese-style painting, oil painting, printmaking, sculpture, art historical writing, and various stylistic schools. The breadth of their reception was the most remarkable in the entire history of Chinese art study abroad. Influenced by the Japanese art world’s trend of blending Eastern and Western traditions, many of these returning artists shifted to or continued working within Chinese painting—a phenomenon unparalleled in other periods of art study abroad. It can be argued that the “Japanese influence” played a crucial role in shaping modern Chinese art. This lecture will provide a concise overview of these developments, including issues related to the reform of Chinese painting by artists who studied in Japan.