Unveiling Cross-Cultural Hidden Nexus: An Analysis of Chinas Contribution to the Cultural Influence of the East on the West

Abstract

Even though the cultural communication between Japan and Europe is massively documented, such as the impact of ukiyo-e prints on Impressionism, Chinese culture's enormous contributions are overlooked. Ukiyo-e is often regarded as the primary source that influenced Impressionism from the East during the Meiji Restoration in the fin de sicle. The East's impact on the West is long-lasting rather than explosive. The critical power of traditional Chinese art and innovations, for example, the moveable type printing, over the evolution of European art movements has yet to be noticed due to political and geographic limitations. Citing paintings by Ma Yuan (1160-1225), Li Song ( active 1190-1230) and Wang Ximeng (1096-1119) in China, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798- 1861), and Hiroshige (1797- 1858) in Japan, Vincent Van Gogh (1853- 1890) in the Netherlands, and Claude Monet (1840-1926) in France, among others, as examples of specific comparisons and cultural analyses, this article delves into the hidden connections and cultural exchanges, through working on the technical and iconographical forms from ancient China that shaped the European art in the epoch of high modernism.