European Renaissance Concepts and their Far Eastern Counterparts
Perspective: "Europe was not alone in developing a method to project space on the two-dimensional picture plane. The Chinese developed axonometry, dengjiao toushi in Chinese, which translates as 'equal-angle see-through'. Axonometry was used not only in wood block prints but also in the classic Chinese scrolls, the vertical hanging scrolls and the horizontal hand scrolls. Classic Chinese hand scroll were up to ten metres in length, and are viewed by unrolling them from right to left. Hand scrolls are based on a (pictorial) synthesis of space and time. Rather than having a 'subject', the scroll is based on a 'scenario'. For instance, a scroll may depict 'life along a river.' Upon unrolling the opening sequence of the scroll, we may see people boarding a boat on a river. As we unroll the scroll further, we see the boat cross a lake, navigate rapids in the river, stop at a small harbour, and lastly arrive at its destination at the sea shore. In other words, the scroll has taken the viewer through an experience in space and time. (Importantly, scrolls were not a collection of separate pictures, but rather a continuous and seamless visual image.) The scroll as a textual format was, of course, also known in the Occidental world. But the Chinese also developed the scroll as a pictorial medium. This partly explains the conceptual basis of axonometry. Unlike linear perspective, axonometry has no vanishing point, and hence it does not assume a fixed position by the viewer. This makes axonometry 'scrollable'. Art historians often speak of the 'moving' or 'shifting' perspective in Chinese paintings. Axonometry was introduced to Europe in the 17th century by Jesuits returning from China. The Chinese projection systems was initially used for technical and military purposes, such as diamond cutting and ballistic measurements. However, the wider acceptance of axonometry had to wait until it was given a mathematical foundation."