rit on the quest for
realism, emerging from the ancient tradition. This is the distinctive note
in the evolution of Chinese painting under the last two dynasties. It
would seem as if, even in this guise, a universal need of the mind is
being satisfied, a need which we, too, have known after experiencing a
chilling academicism, and when modern culture had overthrown the ancient
idols. Chinese painters have thus completed a round analogous to that
traveled by our own artists.

[Illustration: PLATE XXV. TIGER IN A PINE FOREST
Eighteenth to Nineteenth Centuries. Collection of V. Goloubew.]

For the Far East as for Europe, the problem now presented is that of a
revival. Bent beneath the weight of the prestige of the past, too learned
in the last word of culture, modern art is seeking to find itself, groping
blindly, full of promising but unfinished works. The time has come when
there are signs throughout the world of a desire for a universal
civilization, by the reconciling of ancient divergencies. Europe and the
Far East bring into contrast the most vigorous traditions in history.
Henceforward there is interest for both civilizations in studying and in
coming to understand a foreign ideal. Though incomplete, these pages will
perhaps help to show that such a mutual comprehension is not impossible
and that, if egotistic prejudices are overcome, apparent dissimilarities
will be resolved into a profound identity. Thus will arise the elements of
a new culture. In coming to understand a mood which so fully reflects an
unknown world, the European mind will discover principles which will make
it rise superior to itself. May this broad comprehension of human thought
lead Europe to estimate with greater justice a civilization numbering its
years by thousands, and to refrain from thwarting the fulfillment of its
destiny.

* * * * *

BIBLIOGRAPHY

An Introduction to the Study of Chinese Pictorial Art. Herbert A.
Giles, M.A., LL.D., Professor of Chinese in the University of
Cambridge. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. London, Bernard
Quaritch. 1918.

Painting in the Far East. Laurence Binyon. Second Edition, revised.
London, Edward Arnold. 1913.

The Flight of the Dragon. Laurence Binyon. Wisdom of the East Series.
London, John Murray. 1911.

Epochs of Chinese and Japanese Art. Ernest F. Fenollosa. 2 volumes. F.
A. Stokes and Co., New York