우훙의 중국미술사 연구 -미국의 중국미술 연구의 학문적 성장과 관점의 변화

Abstract

Among a number of scholars in the field of Chinese art history, Wu Hung stands out for his extensive knowledge in Chinese literature, history, and religion and for his sophisticated storytelling skills and original insights in writing art historical narratives that are theoretically inspiring and thematically exciting. This essay explores Wu Hung’s major works on Chinese art of the pre-modern period in an attempt to introduce the finest examples of scholarship in Asian art history in the West and to understand the recent achievement and problem in the field of Chinese art history. Wu Hung’s works assessed in this essay are The Wu Liang Shrine: The Ideology of Early Chinese Pictorial Art (1989),“ Art in a Ritual Context: Rethinking Mawangdui”(1992),“ What is Bianxiang?─On the Relationship between Dunhuang Literature and Dunhuang Art”(1992) and Monumentality in Early Chinese Art and Architecture (1995). These scholarly works demonstrate how Wu’s consistent interest in iconography, function and ritual as well as theoretical issues such as“word and image”and political questions associated withh istorical monuments has laid the foundation for his scholarship. In addition, the works show that much of Wu’s originality derives from his thorough investigation of a broad range of texts and newly discovered archaeological materials. When all these elements considered, it is difficult to deny that Wu’s works have made great contributions to the field. His works are of significance in challenging the Eurocentric view that has dominated the study of Chinese art in the West since the 19th century and in proposing a new Chinese art history with fuller emphasis on cultural and historical contexts. Consequently, his writings played a crucial role in expanding the field and in furthering research on the hitherto relatively neglected subjects such as Buddhist art and funerary and ritual art. Furthermore, Wu’s training bothin China and in the U.S. has led him to explore critical issues in Chinese art from theoretical perspectives and to produce stimulating and convincing narratives that appeal to both the Western and Asian readers. The last section of my essay focuses on Robert Bagley’s critical review of Wu’s Monumentality in Early Chinese Art and Architecture and the subsequent debate on the problem of“Chineseness”and the issue of the “cultural insider”versus“cultural outsider”in understanding and describing Chinese works of art. Although one cannot say that this debate was overall productive, it brought up a sensitive issue regarding the difference in approachbetween American-born and educated scholars and Asian-born and U.S.-trained scholars. The notably increased number of Asian-born and U.S.-educated scholars and their rise to prominence in the field of Chinese art history have further complicated the issue. The debate provides insights into the ways in which a scholar’s cultural and educational background relates to questions of“how to look at works of art”and“from what perspective.”