Pang Yuanji, Traditionalist/Modernist

Pang Yuanji 龐元濟 (1864–1949) is well known for the important catalogues he compiled of his ancient painting collections, especially the Xuzhai minghua lu 虛齋名 畫錄. Less recognized is his patronage of numerous artists who lived and worked in his home. Less known still are the roles he played in the modernizing art world. Despite Pang’s passion for traditional—if not also conservative—painting styles, his role as the founder of updated hospitals and schools, as one of the first to incorporate new technologies in industry and business, and also his activities with reformers of politics and the arts, point to the agenda of a reformer and modernist. This essay revises our understanding of Pang, changing not only how we understand his contributions to China’s visual culture, but also how we understand him as one who helped bring China into the modern world.