동서양의 만남과 미술의 교류

Abstract

The geographical boundaries for the meetings of the East and the West were decided by several historical events. Since ancient times, the exchange between the West and East Asian came in various forms via diverse routes. It started with the animal-style arts of nomads who traveled the Steppe route across the Eurasian continent. Then a renewed contacts was initiated by the expedition of Alexander the Great to the East which met with the expansion of the territory by Han China to the west, resulting the opening of the silk road. Through this road Buddhist culture and art forms were introduced to East Asia and active trading between the western regions, referring generally West Asia, brought about exotic goods and foreign merchants to China. As a result, the Silk Road eventually connected X’ian China with the Mediterranean area for several centuries. In the 7th century, Islamic power grew stronger and took over most of the area that Alexander the Great had conquered, and but the East-West trade routes still flourished via silk road. Gradually Arabs became experts in sea trade route connecting Mediterranean to Indian Ocean and to south China. In the eleventh century in response to the Islamic siege of Jerusalem brought about the launching of the Crusades and contributed to the cultural exchange between the West and East thus extending its boundaries. About the same time, Genghis Khan’s invasion of Islamic world and Eastern Europe occurred and there was the increased flow of cultural exchange to another level connecting Europe and Asia. The concept of“the West”went beyond the borders of West Asia but expanded to include Europe. Another dynamic force behind trade was the experience and development of scientific knowledge of the Arabs that came from their maritime activities. Active sea trading were carried out connecting West and East and the discovery of the New World and further explorations of the sea in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries with the development of navigational technology allowed circumnavigation. The discovery of diverse sea routes further facilitated the meeting of the European continent and Asian countries. From the end of the sixteenth century onward, Jesuit priests arrived at China and Japan spreading the Christian faith. Thereafter, various genres of art such as painting, architecture, ceramics and handicrafts as well as scientific knowledge began to reflect the mutual influences of the West and the East. Western painting was introduced to China and Japan and strongly influenced the art forms of the Asian countries. And the Chinese and Japanese arts were adapted to European tastes representing arts of chinoiserie in the eighteenth century and the japonisme of the nineteenth century in European culture. Beginning with the twenties century onward, however, the exchange of Eastern and Western art went beyond their boundaries and reached to the stage of globalism.