The Barbarian Hunt: Masculinity and Martial Prowess in East Asian Visual Cultures
Lianming Wang
Associate Professor, Department of Chinese and History, City University of Hong Kong
The representation of hunting scenes went through a significant revival starting in the late 17th century. This occurred when the Japanese made contact with the Jianzhou Jurchens during the Ijim War (1592-1598) with Korea. This interaction led to the emergence of a prominent pan-East Asian visual style that portrayed the masculinity and martial prowess of the northern nomadic culture. The organized hunting of Tartars, particularly the hunting of tigers, became a prevalent subject in the screen paintings created by Japanese Kano masters, catering to the demands of the samurais. Eventually, this theme spread globally through its fusion with European motifs and themes on gilt screens produced in Macao (through exile Japanese Christians) and exported to Nova Spagna. Departing from the large carved screens featuring Dutch hunting scenes, also known as Coromandel screens in the European market, this talk aims to explore the transcultural connections of this pictorial formula in East Asia. It begins by tracing its origins back to the medieval pictorial imagination prevalent in the royal tombs of northern China during the Tang (618-907), Jin (1115-1234), and Song (960-1279) dynasties. Alongside the extensive corpus of tomb murals depicting hunting, the prominence of paintings related to Wenji’s Return to China established themselves as dominant visual formulas, reflecting the changing cultural identities of Song-Jin rulers and border conflicts. After the Manchus (who were descendants of the Jianzhou Jurchens) rose to power in China, as revealed in the talk, this pictorial formula experienced a resurgence in early modern East Asia. It became a shared visual legacy that glorified the rise of nomadic culture, commemorated the arrival of the Dutch (often referred to as “red-haired barbarians”), and responded to the accelerated process of urbanization and land reclamation in China after the Ming-Qing transition. This period witnessed increased interaction between humans and wild animals and a greater appreciation for nature compared to previous eras.
Lianming Wang is a historian of global art focusing on early modern Sino-European exchanges. With a Ph.D. (2014) in East Asian Art History, he is an Associate Professor (History of Art) at the Department of Chinese and History, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR. Previously, Wang has held a number of academic position, such as Assistant Professor (2014-21) of Chinese Art History at Heidelberg University, Visiting Professor (2021/22) at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut and Global Humanities Visiting Professor of East Asian Art and Architecture at the Department of History of Art (Lent Term 2021/22) of the University of Cambridge. His research includes global encounters of art and architecture in early modernity, animal trade, exchange of objects and diplomatic gifts, export art, Ming-Qing gardens, and Qing court workshops. Currently, Wang is conducting a Gerda Henkel Stiftung-sponsored project (AZ 47/V/20) on Qing global animals. Heidelberg University awarded Wang the Hengstberger Prize (2018) for excellent research. His latest volume, Jesuitenerbe in Peking: Sakralbauten und transkulturelle Räume, 1600–1800 (The Jesuit Legacy in Beijing: Sacred Buildings and Transcultural Spaces, 1600–1800) (Winter Verlag, 2020), which was awarded the Academy Prize (2021) by Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, explores the global entanglements of Jesuit art and architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries.