A Study on the Correlation between Ito Chuta’s Art view and the Contents of Japanese History Textbooks

ABSTRACT

[PURPOSE] This study is intended to find a relationship between Ito Chuta’s view of art and art-related content described in Japanese history textbooks. Among the people mentioned in relation to the establishment of the history of Japanese art is Ito Chuta, this report on findings, which focused on his activities in the Meiji era and his perception of worldwide architecture, has been made.[CONTENTS] His perception of art (or architecture) has a deep association with his trip to visit worldwide architecture in the Meiji era. His trip lasted for three years and three months, starting from China and India and followed by Italy, Greece, and America, and the Yungang Grottoes were introduced to the world for the first time. The paper focused on Chuta's comparison of the style of Yungang Grottoes with the architecture of Horyuji and then reviewed the Horyuji-related part of the history textbook published in the Meiji-Taishō era.[RESULTS] After returning to Japan after his trip, he came up with a new architectural model which contrasted with The Tree of Architecture by Banister Fletcher and unfolded the theory of architectural evolution based on nationalism. His theory of architectural evolution suggested an evolutionary methodology that extracts the so-called “principle of evolution” from the history of world architecture and that Japanese architecture should take it.