


































Economics, Law and Policy 
ISSN 2576-2060 (Print) ISSN 2576-2052 (Online) 

Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 

www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/elp 

55 
 

Original Paper 

The Combination of Chinese and Western Sculpture Art and the 

Future Direction 

Wang Fuxin
1
 

1
 College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 

China 

 

Received: October 1, 2023    Accepted: November 1, 2023   Online Published: December 10, 2023 

doi:10.22158/elp.v6n3p55               URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/elp.v6n3p55 

 

Abstract 

Sculpture art is the physical form of human emotion overflow. Sculpture is an important part of 

Chinese and Western culture. Whether ancient or modern, the creation of sculpture reflects the cultural 

spirit of the times. Due to the different cultural backgrounds, the themes of Chinese and Western 

sculpture art show great differences. The different cultures of China and the West determine that there 

are great differences between Chinese and Western sculpture art. With the development of economic 

globalisation, the collision and fusion of Chinese and Western cultures have prompted Chinese 

contemporary sculpture to present a combination of traditional and Western cultures. The performance 

of traditional and western culture in modern sculpture is analysed, and an effective way of combining 

Chinese and western culture is proposed from three aspects: theory and practice, connotation and 

function, and realism and realism. Sculpture art, as one of the important forms of artistic expression, is 

able to show the great differences between Chinese and Western cultures. The development of 

contemporary sculpture art, to recognize the significance of cultural integration and development, and 

to seek ways to effectively combine traditional Chinese culture with Western culture, so as to better 

promote the development of modern sculpture art. 

Keywords 

statuary art, cultural fusion, traditional culture 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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1. The Artistic Characteristics of Chinese and Western Sculpture 

1.1 The Artistic Characteristics of Chinese Sculpture 

The themes of Chinese sculpture are relatively more extensive. For example, it includes characters, 

fictional animals, myths and legends, life scenes, natural landscapes, historical stories, musical and 

dance theatre performances and so on, all of which can be used as the theme and content of sculpture. 

In Chinese sculpture, images of animals account for a relatively large proportion, especially during the 

pre-Qin and Qin-Han periods (i.e., before the flourishing of Buddhist sculpture), sculptors portrayed 

animal images that were more artistically successful than people. So in terms of subject matter, the 

centrality of man in Chinese sculpture is less prominent than in Western sculpture. Although in general 

there are many more figures in Chinese sculpture, they are not as striking. It is no accident that Chinese 

sculpture is characterised by freedom and boldness in its choice of materials, and is not limited to 

specific objects of expression. The Chinese believe that life is immortal, and they do not focus on the 

preservation of material life, but on the fulfilment of one’s social duties and responsibilities. What the 

Chinese seek is the realisation of spiritual character in society, not the pursuit of personal immortality 

apart from social ethics. 

1.2 Characteristics of Western Sculpture 

The development of Western art history has a clear historical lineage, which follows the trajectory of 

history. Unlike Chinese sculpture, Western sculpture pays more attention to the accuracy of scale, 

anatomy and perspective. Western sculpture pays more attention to the expressiveness of human 

structure. In sculpture, certain emotions are conveyed through the changes of the human body, so it is 

very important for the movements and turning changes of the human body. Classical Western sculpture 

often uses the rich variations of block and space as a way of reflecting the shape of silhouettes and 

clothing lines. In addition, Western sculpture has a strong sense of volume, whereas Classical Chinese 

sculpture has only a great deal of volume in relation to one another and is mostly flat. Sometimes artists 

use intaglio lines on flat surfaces to show the wrinkles of skin and clothes, so there is still no sense of 

three-dimensionality, only the flat effect of painting and tanning. As a result, the surfaces of Chinese 

sculpture are usually smooth and do not have as many subtle variations as Western sculpture. 

 

2. A Simple Comparison of Chinese and Western Traditional Sculpture 

2.1 Chinese Traditional Sculpture 

Mr Wu Weishan, a contemporary Chinese sculptor, said in Blurring and Vividness: “The support of 

writing is the sensitivity of the Chinese. Sensitivity makes time swift. However, Zhongjie has an 

astringent flavour and is uneven like volcanic lava. The infectious power of Chinese sculpture-the 

radiation of emotion-acquires the first voice and achieves a high degree of evocation. It vividly attracts 

the viewer. Lines represent three levels: contour, volume and spirit. The expression is centred on 

pinching and moulding. Unlike the Western spirit of discursive rationality, Chinese rationality is 

practical rationality focusing on practice. Body, hand and heart correspond to each other, fingers are 



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connected to the heart, and human heart, humanity and human feelings are focused on humanity. The 

continuity and length of this line is consistent from beginning to end. It breaks down the boundaries 

between everything and is a metaphysical pursuit that runs through the entire life process”. His 

16-metre-high work, “The Unity of Heaven and Humankind-Image of Lao Tzu”, wearing a wide Taoist 

robe with large flowing sleeves and long eyebrows, portrays a natural and profound way of creating all 

things in the heavens and the earth, which is highly esteemed by first-timers. It embodies the glamour 

of Chinese landscape and nature, that is to say, Laozi’s Tao Te Ching advocates that “man obeys the 

law of the land, the earth obeys the law of the sky, the sky obeys the law of the Tao, and the Tao obeys 

the law of nature”. Wu Weishan’s “Portrait of Laozi” reflects the author’s unique understanding and 

thinking of traditional Chinese religion, philosophy and art. Wu Weishan’s sculpture is a rediscovery of 

the traditional Chinese way of thinking, the beauty of oriental “nature”, and a response to Western 

sculpture. “There is nothing in this pavilion, sitting and looking at the scenery you get everything”. The 

shape of traditional Chinese sculpture reflects the charm of nature and the Chinese unique view of 

nature. Wu Weishan pursues an unbalanced aesthetic attitude, which is similar to some of the ingenious 

compositions in Chinese freehand painting. At the same time, when shaping the image, it is also 

necessary to grasp the principle of “similarity with difference” in traditional Chinese painting theory, 

meaning “no similarity at all, not easy to reach the ears”, “heaven and earth are one, then divided into 

wind and rain, the four seasons, light and dark, far and near, wind and rain, and the four seasons, light 

and dark, far and near, and the four seasons. The four seasons, the light and darkness, the distance and 

the proximity, are not similar. All these are just right”. 

2.2 Western Traditional Sculpture 

The aesthetic value of western traditional sculpture is a concept of form that emphasises diversity and 

unity, based on the unity of difference and opposition between the local and the whole. Emphasis is 

placed on form, thinking in terms of proportion, space, structure and turn of form. In terms of 

expression, under the guidance of the theory of “representation”, traditional Western sculpture has 

developed a realistic and reproducible approach. According to sculptor Hildebrand, “Sculpture should 

be based on relief vision, i.e., showing a face from a fixed point of view, whereas sculpture in the round 

prohibits viewing from the periphery. Like a bas-relief, it should show the form it wants to show in a 

decreasing manner, a face advancing backward one layer at a time”. The sculptures of Michelangelo, 

an icon of Renaissance sculpture, also valued form. The statue of David he created as a whole has been 

highly summarised and refined, filled with infinite power in a quiet gesture, showing extraordinary 

heroism, focusing on all the male beauty and showing Michelangelo’s strong emotions that border on 

exaggeration. His works underwent an extraordinary ideal processing on the basis of realism and 

became typical symbols of the whole era. He believed that the criteria for good sculpture were modesty, 

completeness, and full of volume, and he paid more attention to the study of art and related disciplines, 

including natural sciences, geography, botany, geometry, anatomy, architecture, and so on. 

Michelangelo’s keen observation, great skill and powerful spirit pushed the Western realist tradition to 



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unsurpassed heights. These are also influenced by the Western traditional culture, which is an 

indispensable force in the history of Western culture, constantly influencing and changing the 

sculptor’s form of sculpture art, as well as the unique aesthetic ideas and unique concepts of treating 

nature and society possessed by Western sculptors. 

 

3. The Expression of Western Culture in Modern Sculpture under the Perspective of Cultural 

Integration  

Influenced by the different philosophies of China and the West, Chinese and Western sculpture have 

different cultural spirits. However, Chinese modern sculpture is deeply influenced by Western culture 

and is often expressed in the form of Western art. 

3.1 Performance in Terms of Subject Matter  

From the theme point of view, Western sculpture focuses on characterisation and expression of ideas, 

pays more attention to the scientific nature of the human body’s proportional structure, and is 

accustomed to using human body changes to express emotions, so the movements and turns of the 

sculpture form are more important. Contemporary sculpture “Chord” is a bronze sculpture that depicts 

musicians playing music between cities in a realistic way. The work reflects the silhouette of the figure 

and the modelling of the clothes with rich block changes, and the whole has a strong sense of 

three-dimensionality. Obviously, it adopts the figure shaping method of western sculpture, highlighting 

the beauty of the scene by showing the beauty of the human body, which is in line with the artistic 

characteristics of western sculpture with the theme of the beauty of the human body. 

3.2 Material Performance  

Western industrial civilisation is relatively mature, and got rid of the dependence on natural resources 

earlier. Therefore, Western sculpture materials tend to choose stone, metal and other materials. The 

materials used in the sculpture “Enjoying Moon Flowers” are mainly stone and copper, using the stone 

carving of the moon with patterns to create a beautiful landscape image, so that the bronze statue 

blends well with the surrounding landscape and thus achieves a perfect decorative effect. On the 

surface of the material, whether it is stone or copper carving, there are subtle changes, such as the use 

of negative engraving to show the folds of the clothes, giving a strong sense of three-dimensionality, 

better reflecting the aesthetic characteristics of Western sculpture art. 

3.3 Manner of Performance 

In terms of artistic expression, western sculpture art is a three-dimensional modelling art, focusing on 

the use of the actual volume, the pursuit of formal perfection and display. In the creation of stone 

sculpture, in the West, through three-dimensional carving, the use of the texture of the stone itself to 

reflect the sense of depth and realism, so as to enhance the simplicity of the work with simple tones. 

The sculpture “Power” realistically shows a fast steel ball pushing against a steel plate. With the 

thickness of the steel plate and the deformation of the steel ball, it statically reflects the dynamic 

process, conveys the philosophy of movement as opposed to static, and embodies the unique artistic 



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charm of Western sculpture. 

 

4. Effective Combination of Traditional Culture and Western Culture in Modern Sculpture 

under the Perspective of Cultural Integration  

In the context of cultural integration, modern sculpture also needs to achieve an effective combination 

of Chinese and Western culture, so as to strengthen the exchange and interaction between Chinese and 

Western culture, and better create modern sculpture to meet the aesthetic needs of people in modern 

society. 

4.1 Combination of Theory and Practice  

The reason why Chinese sculpture art has long been stagnated by the impact of Western culture is 

directly related to the lagging development of Chinese sculpture theory. Chinese traditional sculpture 

has not been given enough attention, and the relevant theories have not been well developed and 

perfected, resulting in the contemporary Chinese sculpture artists in the face of Western sculpture art 

are in the degradation of their own problems, but the Chinese sculpture art after thousands of years of 

development, has accumulated a wealth of practical experience, and is able to show the unique charm 

of traditional Chinese culture in the creation of art. In fact, the development of Western sculpture art is 

also deeply influenced by Chinese art style. For example, the History of Western Modern Sculpture has 

repeatedly mentioned the influence of Chinese art style on the process of Western modern art, and 

Oriental porcelain and embroidery have brought creative inspiration to Western artists. Therefore, in 

the creation of contemporary sculpture art, the theory of western modern sculpture should be combined 

with the practice of traditional Chinese sculpture art to promote the progress and development of 

Chinese sculpture art under the guidance of theory. Drawing on western sculpture styles and materials, 

we can achieve the innovation of contemporary sculpture forms, strengthen the personalised pursuit of 

contemporary sculpture art language, and complete the creation of works with both romanticism and 

critical realism. From the development history of the Chinese nation, traditional Chinese culture has 

shown a strong vitality. Therefore, in the creation of contemporary sculpture art, it is also necessary to 

give full play to the advantages of traditional Chinese culture, to achieve tolerance of Western sculpture 

culture, and to draw nutrition from it, so as to better promote the development of traditional culture 

while achieving cultural inheritance. 

4.2 Combination of Connotation and Function  

Comparison of Chinese and Western culture can be found, traditional Chinese sculpture art has a deep 

cultural connotation, while Western modern sculpture art is very rational and practical. In the creation 

of contemporary sculpture art, it is necessary to pay attention to both the cultural connotation of 

sculpture and the social function of sculpture decorating space, and to meet people’s aesthetic needs 

while retaining the basic characteristics of things. In order to achieve this goal, contemporary sculpture 

artists can seek inspiration from traditional culture, strengthen the excavation of traditional sculpture art 

materials, and then use western rustic modelling techniques to create, combining originality and 



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modernity. The sculpture “Restored Nurse Man” adopts the flat figure of Manchu folk paper-cutting art, 

and by realising the three-dimensional modelling of the image, it combines rusty metal and rough wood 

to complete the creation of the figurative sculpture, conveying a strong sense of vicissitudes. Compared 

with traditional Chinese sculpture, Western sculpture has a stronger propaganda character. Chinese 

traditional sculpture tends to serve a few people, while Western sculpture pursues the public’s 

appreciation of art and emphasises the promotion of the humanistic spirit. Therefore, it has more social 

education and cognitive functions, which can lead people to better understand the truth and history. In 

the creation of contemporary sculpture art, it is necessary to use traditional sculpture art and culture to 

inject fresh vitality into the work, while at the same time focusing on the function of the sculpture to 

play the role of beautifying the environment. Using this approach, sculpture design can break through 

the limitations of the western human thought theme, using abstract forms to show the profound 

ideological connotation, but also from the point of view of serving the people for artistic exploration, so 

that the works created to give people spiritual solace. 

4.3 Combination of Realistic and Realistic Writing  

In the performance of modern sculpture art, it is also necessary to strengthen the combination of 

traditional Chinese realism and western realism, in order to form a unique artistic charm. In the study 

of sculpture art, it is also necessary to strengthen the realistic training of sculpture, so as to enhance the 

sculptural sense of the work, better reflect the beauty of the overall structure and layout of the sculpture, 

and realise the pursuit of the sense of quantity. In social practice, people gradually grasp the intrinsic 

properties of objects through contact with objects of various shapes, and then produce different feelings, 

and ultimately create an aesthetic pursuit of physical form. Therefore, in the creation of contemporary 

sculpture, it is important to maintain the basic characteristics of modelling, thus helping people to 

imagine and remember, and thus bringing stronger visual impact. Strengthening the application of 

writing in traditional sculpture can achieve a deep understanding of the concept of traditional Chinese 

art creation and show the diverse styles of art creation. The sculpture “Tai Chi” adopts the western 

modelling norms, and at the same time refines the essence, spirit and spirit of traditional Chinese art 

and culture, so that the work achieves the realm of “the text as the first”, which can not only bring 

strong visual impact, but also evoke people’s reverie for the primitive atmosphere of life. Therefore, in 

the creation of contemporary sculpture, while applying Western realistic techniques, it is also necessary 

to strengthen the use of traditional Chinese pictorial techniques in the treatment of details, instead of 

deliberately pursuing strict proportionality, and to use abstract imagery to express pictorial things, so as 

to retain the basic characteristics of things and strengthen the transmission of imagery. Adopting this 

method to realise the combination of Chinese and Western cultures can perfectly portray the external 

form of things, while showing the inner temperament characteristics of things, thus making 

contemporary sculpture simultaneously realistic and abstract aesthetic significance. 

 

 



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5. Development of Modern Sculpture in China 

5.1 Analysis of the Development Status of Modern Sculpture in China  

Like other arts, sculpture in the 20th century also faced the embarrassment of not getting rid of the old 

ideological norms of the bondage, called “modern” is not enough, too much boast innovation and 

beyond, will inevitably lose themselves to nothingness. Over the past decades, the trend of modern art 

has been to praise rebellion, negation and scepticism for the purpose of innovation, which has become 

an indispensable image mark of modernist artists. Traditional aesthetic norms and formal meanings no 

longer play any role. The form is all that is new is good for innovation and unlimited indulgence in 

truth. Instead of trying their best to escape from confusion in the midst of tumultuous social change, 

artists indulged in confusion or used the excuses it brought to express their fears in the most extreme 

ways. Every sculptor tries his best to be different. If he wants to be different, he will destroy familiar 

forms of language... Though the common god is dead, the artist creates countless gods in his mind. 

Sculpture no longer focuses on the deeper meaning of expression. “The aestheticisation of life and the 

non-aestheticisation of art have caused the traditional norms of sculpture to disappear completely”, 

turning for a time the painstaking sculpture career of Michelangelo, Rodin and countless others before 

them into a game of jokes about society, art and life among sculptors in the 20th century. It seems that 

sculpture is not created for society, but for its own art circle. Some modern sculptures are highly 

painterly and even include some abstractions. There are two main reasons. One, there is a lack of 

awareness of large spaces and a need for education, experience and practice. The second is the need to 

study contemporary visual experience, public space, new materials and other conceptual art. 

5.2 Countermeasures for the Development of Modern Sculpture in China 

5.2.1 The Public Nature of Modern Sculpture  

Traditional sculpture is mainly an external “form” in the environment, while modern sculpture is 

integrated into the overall environment and becomes the internal “form” of the environment. It 

combines with the indoor and outdoor environment to become an inseparable work of art. 

5.2.2 Spatiality of Modern Sculpture 

The space reflected by modern sculpture includes environmental space, psychological space and 

sculpture space. Psychological space plays a decisive role as the main body of design. The whole 

planning, design and implementation can only be decided through the psychological space. The 

environment, as an object, has the function of accepting the sculpture space. Only by accepting the 

sculpture space can the psychological space be shaped. Sculpture as a medium between subject and 

object makes the design concept finally realised. 

5.2.3 Naturalness of Modern Sculpture 

Lao Zi’s thought of inaction in “Tao Te Ching” of “something gained, nothing used” is typically 

reflected in modern sculpture. Modern artists see a new way in earth art, which is to use natural 

materials to create works that are perfectly integrated with nature. When functionality is embodied, 

people treat it as a work of art; on the contrary, a cool object blends perfectly with nature, and the work 



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fades with the passage of time, the destruction of natural forces, and the loss of material properties. 

5.2.4 Chinese Characterisation of Modern Sculpture 

As a profound cultural tradition, the development and application of traditional Chinese cultural 

resources is an extremely important aspect of the development of Chinese modern art, whether it is 

ancient Greece and Rome or India and the ancient Two River Basin civilisation; the Mayan culture of 

South America and the tribal civilisation of Africa all have their own rich cultural traditions and 

resources. Chinese modern artists stand at the height of the times, re-examine their own cultural 

traditions and resources, organically integrate and utilise them, and will surely create modern 

sculptures with Chinese characteristics. 

 

6. Conclusion  

Under the background of cultural integration, Chinese and Western sculpture art has achieved cultural 

exchange and interaction. To promote the development of contemporary sculpture art, the effective 

combination of traditional Chinese culture and western culture should be strengthened, and the unique 

charm of contemporary sculpture art should be better demonstrated through the combination of theory 

and practice, connotation and function, realism and realism. 

 

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