Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs Fourth Revised Edition. Charles Alfred Speed Williams
Introduction to the New Edition
The surge of American interest in Chinese culture following the visit of President Nixon to China in 1972 has highlighted the healthy trend of recent years to look at China in a realistic way. Since the thirteenth-century visit of Marco Polo to China, the country has been regarded by the West as an exotic Flowery Land—a Celestial Kingdom, remote and forbidding. Until the sixteenth century it was a land that did not come under strong foreign, then Western, influence. The Japanese occupation of Manchuria in the 1930s, followed by the emergence of Chinese communism after World War II, gave the world a sober picture of a vast country intent on asserting its own destiny. The explosion of a Chinese atomic bomb, followed by recognition as a nation in the United Nations Organization, obliged the United States to recognize the Chinese nation of 800,000,000 people.
For ordinary people in Western countries an easy way to comprehend Chinese culture and history is through books on traditional arts, literature, and folklore. American tourists may now visit China in organized groups, yet for most of us China and the Chinese will remain something only to read about or to watch on a television screen. For those interested in ancient Chinese culture, books must remain the principal reference source, supplemented by visits to museum collections.
Outlines of Chinese Symbolism & Art Motives, in the words of the author, C.A.S. Williams, is “a practical handbook of the science of Chinese symbolism as based on the early folklore.”
At the root of Chinese life, art, and literature are certain basic ideas that can and should be grasped by anyone studying China. To achieve a sound knowledge of Chinese art symbolism and primary concepts, there is no better book than this. It is easy to use. Subjects are arranged alphabetically, described in concise essays, and illustrated with crisp line drawings by Chinese artists. All pertinent terms are accompanied by their Chinese writings.
The edition of William’s book chosen for this reprint is the third revised edition, printed in Shanghai in 1941. Mr. Williams, a life member of the Royal Asiatic Society, Examiner in Mandarin at Hong Kong University, Professor of Customs College, and Acting Commissioner in charge of Maritime Customs in Peiping, wrote a number of books on Chinese language and culture. He was one of the band of versatile English scholars who gave the world pioneering works on the Far East.
Through thousands of years of continuous history China produced superb painters, poets, philosophers, potters, bronzesmiths, architects, and gardeners. Many of the artists and literary men were also priests who applied their religion in practical ways and developed such viable sects as Chán (Zen) Buddhism. Williams is remarkably perceptive on the subject of Buddhism, although he does not define Chán specifically. He is, however, far ahead of his time in pointing out the profound influence of imported Indian Buddhism