Asia in the Making of Europe Volume II Book one

主題 Topic	世紀奇聞：視覺藝術  A Century of Wonder: The Visual Arts
書刊名 Title	《由亞洲建構歐洲》 Asia in the Making of Europe Volume II Book one
作者 Author	Donald F. Lach
出版社 Publisher	The University of Chicago Press
出版年 Year	1970
語言 Language	英文 English
裝訂 Binding	□ 平裝 Paperback　　　　■精裝 Hardcover
頁數 Pages	276 pages
ISBN (10 / 13)	ISBN-10: 0226467503 ISBN-13: 978-0226467504
Bibliography Reference	(STC, Duff, GW . . .)
來源網址 Web Link
劇本簡介撰稿者	李祁芳、林柏豪
撰寫日期 Date	15 May 2015

A.   簡介 Introduction (within 100 words, Chinese or English)

安‧雅斯邱(Anne Askew 1521-1546)出身林肯郡的望族，一心追求宗教改革，不惜與信此書對於研究亞洲繪畫藝術影響歐洲文化的研究，有極大的貢獻。自古以來，亞洲對於歐洲總是充滿了神秘的色彩。歐洲人對於亞洲的一切事物充滿了好奇心。但即使好奇，亞洲畢竟是一片未知的土地，亞洲大陸上的一切，對於身在遙遠的歐洲人來說，具有奇聞軼事般的神秘吸引力，他們一方面對於亞洲的內涵充滿好奇，另一方面是則是對這片未知的土地對歐洲所可能帶來的衝擊感到恐懼。當時的亞洲已是高度文明化的地區，歐洲人即使害怕傳說中未知的亞洲，但好奇心仍驅使著歐洲人探索亞洲的慾望。此書針對當時的視覺藝術，探討當時亞洲意象呈現於歐洲文獻中的意義。起初，印度的發現已開展了歐洲對亞洲的初步認識。除了商業上的往來，耶穌會信徒也著手繪畫了在東方的所見所聞，進而在歐洲流傳。因為耶穌會的描墨，歐洲人更加渴望一探亞洲風采，蒐集自亞洲西傳的藝術品更是為人喜愛。動植物的描繪也是歐洲人爭相一探究竟的視覺藝術。此書中探討了大象、犀牛、老虎等不同動物的畫作，表現出歐洲人對於亞洲的好奇及觀察。關於亞洲的視覺藝術呈現，雖然未構成當時歐洲的藝術流派的改變，然而卻添加了許多亞洲元素在不同畫作裡，使歐洲藝術創作更顯多元。

B.   文本摘錄 Extracts (4-6 Pages)

In the century of the great overseas discoveries European were struck by wonder at the extent and variety of the world that was rapidly being opened to full view. Writers of the sixteenth century described the curiosities and singularities of the outside world as beguiling, perplexing, and stupefying. Artists as well as collectors of oddities were awestruck by the alien works of nature and man that appeared to be fearfully and wonderfully made. Fear, strange, as it now seems, struggled with admiration and curiosity in the perception and comprehension of marvels that were inexplicable in traditional European terms. Only the boldest spirits were prepared to admit their own perplexity and uncertainty about the meaning of the revelation of America and the East for European civilization. Other who were inclined to look to the supernatural for the explanation of baffling problems surely sighed with Psalmist: “Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people” (Psalm 77:14).
  Stupefaction, bewilderment, and anxiety arrested reactions for a time. A pause was required for a more complete assessment of the revelations and for contemplation of their ultimate implications. But while wonder mixed with fear produced hesitation, it did not beget apathy or inertia. Men in all walks of life from the humble potter to eminent divines and philosophers were inspired with a desire to learn in more detail about the high civilizations of Asia and their spiritual and material works. Those aspects which could be comprehended most readily by Europeans both in Asia and Europe were naturally the surface and concrete manifestations of Asian civilization. The doctrine of Asia’s great religious and philosophical systems were obviously beyond the abilities of the merchant in the field to understand. The missionaries with their strong Christian bias were initially determined to dismiss Asian beliefs and material works as heathen superstitions and vanities. In Europe the Humanists were inclined to regard as barbarous all that was not classical and European. Some artists of the Renaissance were likewise disposed to belittle what they saw of Asian arts by categorizing them as works of talented craftsmen. But, despite the convinced ethnocentrism of Europe’s artists and intellectuals, the reality of Asia could not forever be ignored or dismissed disparagingly. In the course of the sixteen century, artists, writers, scholars were required to make room in their works and thoughts for the encroaching civilizations of the East.
  The accommodation of Europe to the actuality and permanence of Asia as part of its own world came slowly and falteringly. Asia, unlike America, had had interchanges with Europe that stretched back in time before the beginnings of recorded history. In Antiquity and the Middle Ages, flora, fauna, and portable foods from Asia were brought into Europe at irregular intervals Such imports were generally associated with a vague outer world of barbarians and enemies of civilization. Periodic invasions of the Christian West by infidel Muslims, pagan Mongols, and terrible Turks contributed to Europe’s fear of and antipathy to the East. Alexandria, known in the eighth and ninth centuries as “the market of the two worlds,” was the place where most of the business of Eurasia was transacted in the Middle Ages. But even here there was no firm knowledge about the exact places from which the products of Asia came, for pepper and other spices were vaguely called “grains of paradise” until the sixteenth century.