XXX Международный конгресс ИИСАА. 19–21 июня 2019 г. Т. 2

Секция XV 52 XXX Международный Конгресс по источниковедению и историографии стран Азии и Африки in favor of studying the history of cultural interaction and formation of images of “the other”. For example, famous Russian scholar I. V. Sledzevsky notes that the comparison of “national images, ideas, models and development projects produced both at the interstate level and at the level of mass consciousness and popular culture” has become an “integral feature of world transformations in the 20th century”. In the 21st century, mutual images continue to have a significant impact on relations between specific states and nations. In the era of the “clip culture”, this statement becomes especially relevant in relation to visual images. As for China’s relations with Russia and the West, the active stage of the formation of mutual visual images between the parties began in the second half of the 19th century with the expansion of mutual contacts and the emergence of new touchpoints, as well as thanks to the development of communications and printing technology. If turning to popular culture in Russia and in the West, we can conclude that the most vivid image of China was manifested in the pages of various satirical cartoons so popular among readers of those years. In China, one of the most common visual “carriers” of information has traditionally been Chinese folk woodblock New Year prints — Nianhua . The custom to decorate the house on the New Year’s Eve with bright printed images with good luck symbols on them appeared in China as early 12 th century. In the second half of the nineteenth century, as noted by G. S. Gultyaeva, the art of Nianhua became more widespread in China and developed into an independent form of fine art. In the beginning of the 20 th century, with the development of printing technology, these images became more popular among all kinds of population of the Qing Empire than ever before. Despite the fact that the first images of foreigners and “overseas wonders” appeared on the Chinese popular prints in the 18th century, the largest number of the images of “European realities” belong to the early 20th century, as a response to the expansion of the sphere of interaction between the Qing Empire and the world. Such New Year prints can be divided into several main groups: 1. Images related to the activities of Christian missionaries in China. These are often anti-Christian drawings depicting the missionaries in the most unattractive way and calling for struggle against them. 2. Traditional good luck wishing woodblock prints with images of Western realities on them: houses, household items, costumes, etc. Such pictures became popular at the beginning of the 20th century with the increasing spread of “European innovations” in Chinese everyday life». 3. Images on historical and political issues, depicting, among other things, China’s relations with foreign states. According to experts, this genre first appeared at the turn of the 20 th century. This report focuses on the question how exactly foreigners and foreign realities were depicted in traditional Chinese Nianhua prints of the period in question.