Art in the Flames: Chinese Art and Wartime Narrative in the Second Sino-Japanese War, 1931-1945

Under the impetus of tremendous social changes, politics, economy, culture, and art found new ways of existence in China during the early twentieth century. After the September 18th Incident in 1931, anti-Japanese sentiment held by Chinese people increased. In the great struggle for the survival of their nation, artists in China were faced with wars and turmoil related to national peril at the embryonic stage of modernization, and experienced spiritual shock, emotional conflict, and change of artistic concept. Some artists carried out anti-Japanese propaganda activities in various forms with the sense of national consciousness taking priority, gradually forming the special category of wartime art. The political situation and societal structure crucially influenced artists’ work, and the political inclination, ideological awareness, and cultural background of artists were also decisive factors affecting their artistic creation and career choices during the war. The war not only brought constraints on the objective conditions of art-making, but also had a huge impact on artists’ mental state. Thus, the purpose and meaning of artists’ continuing to make art during the war and their response to society and the war is worth studying further. Through the presentation of wartime artworks and the investigation of fundraising exhibitions organized both in China and abroad during the wartime, this paper examines the similarities and differences of art policies between different political forces, and analyzes in what ways these art policies influenced the artists and their artwork, and how the wartime artwork affected the political situation and the war in turn.