The Flight of the Dragon: An Essay on the Theory and Practice of Art in China and Japan, Based on Original Sources

by Laurence Binyon

This pioneering essay explains Chinese and Japanese art theory by analyzing original records left by Eastern artists and critics. Not only influential in the Modernism movement and British poetry, it is particularly perceptive of the influence of Zen on art. Laurence Binyon (18691943) was a well-respected poet and the premier Asian art historian of his time.

Genres: Japan

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1911

About the author

Robert Laurence Binyon (August 10, 1869 - March 10, 1943) was an English poet, dramatist and art scholar. His most famous work, For the Fallen, is well known for being used in Remembrance Sunday services.

Husband of Cicely Margaret Powell Binyon

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this little gem of a book.
So much history, art and culture.
Chinese and Japanese subjects are always my favourite and I love learning about the deep rooted history's.

[RedGrayBlue · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely summary and study of the values espoused in historical Chinese and Japanese art styles.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Describes conceptions of nature and theories of art in China and Japan, and is particularly perceptive about the outlines of Zen thought and the relation of Zen to the arts. Offers frequent and insightful comment about similarities and differences in European and Asian aesthetic traditions, including a ‘corresponding attitude’ toward nature and art between Asian painters and some English poets, most notably Wordsworth, but also Shelley, Keats, and Meredith, an observation that anticipates by three decades R. H. Blyth’s more famous exploration of the point in Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics. Murray issued reprints in 1914, 1935, and 1948; a Grove Press edition appeared in 1961, a French translation, Introduction a la peinture de la Chine et du Japon, in 1968.