the word design and its translations in china

Kansei Engineering International Vol.5 No.3 pp.73-78 (2005)

ORIGINALARTICLES

THE WORD "DESIGN" AND ITS TRANSLATIONS IN CHINA

Zhou Yu

Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China, 361005

Abstract: The translation of the word "DESIGN", from the beginning of the 20th century. when it was first introduced to China fromWestern countries, up to now, has changed many times, including "Tu-an[•}ˆÄ](pattern)", "Gong-yi-mei-shu[•HŒ|”ü•p](arts and

crafts)", "Yi-shu-she ji[Œ|•p•ÝŒv](artistic design)", and "She ji-yi-shu[•ÝŒvŒ|•p]design art)". After analyzing and differentiating

the meanings of the original word and the translations, the author reveals that the underlying trend of the translations is to put more emphasis on the relationship between design and art, particularly their similarities and consistence, rather on the unique characteristics of design acquired from continuous evolution of the tradition. Those translations clearly reflect certain flaws of design research and education in China in the past. Considering the differences between design and art, the specialization of design study and its independence from art study are not enough; on the other hand, considering their similarities, the connection and cooperation b

etween design research and art research have not been fully explored. Designers and artists haven't carried out extensive cooperation in specialized fields. Key words: Design, Translations of design, Misunderstanding

1 .INTRODUCTION

The word "DESIGN" and its related concepts and

techniques, together with other Western culture, were

first introduced to China from abroad around the turn of

the last century. Until now, design has achieved a lot in

both theoretic research and industrial application in

China. However, the Chinese translation of "design" has

changed many times, mostly in the form of the four

fbllowing terms: Tu-an[ 図案 ](pattern),

Gong-yi-mei-shu[工芸美術](arts and crafts),

Yi-shu-she-ji [芸術設計](artistic design), and

She-ji-yi-shu[設計芸術](design art). These translations

reflect the inspiration resulting from the exchange

between Chinese and Western cultures, and the

understandings or sometimes misunderstandings of "design" by Chinese scholars

.

2.DISCUSSION OF THE WORD "DESIGN"

Before interpreting the meanings of the translations, I

will first discuss the original meaning of the word"design"in Western culture in order to understand the

differences between them. "Design"itself is an old word. its origin can be traced

to a Latin word from "Designare"to "designate",

which means signs or marks used to recognize or

differentiate people and objects. The contemporary

concept of "design" developed its meanings through

evolution of the tradition. Surprisingly, these meanings

spread so widely that Encyclopedia Britannica Online

has to ask us to "see industrial design; interior design.

See also advertising; architecture; typography; and other

subject areas in which design is fundamental." when

searching for the meaning of "design". [1] Leaving aside

its everyday usage, what we are taking about is as the

International Council of Societies of Design (ICSID)

defines: "Design concerns products, services and

systems conceived with tools, organizations and logic

introduced by industrialization, not just when produced

by serial processes." [2]

Traditionally, design is closely related to fine art and

handicrafts. Design mainly concerns composition of line,

color, and shape. "Because painting is a two-dimensional

art, the flat pattern of lines and shapes is an important

aspect of design, even for those painters concerned with

creating illusions of great depth." [3] In addition, design

is also about the creative thinking of the mind. Early

Western art was profoundly influenced by Platonism. It

is thought that the inspiration of art came from Idea.

Therefore, the creativity of artists was always associated

with the Creator, thing-in-itself or other mysterious

substances transcending the world. In the 17th century,

many Platonists, such as Giovan Pietro Bellori, Giovanni

Paolo Lomazzo, favored equaling design to "Idea".

Therefore, design was divided into intrinsic design and

extrinsic design reflecting the two meanings. Intrinsic

Received October 7, 2005

Accepted October 21, 200573

Kansei Engineering International 019

design is to pursuit idea; extrinsic meaning is to realize

ideas by using color, stones or other materials.

Driven by scientific development and industrial

revolution, the contemporary definition of design,

especially industrial design, gives up and, at the same

time, inherits some part of the traditional value of arts

and handicrafts. The process of giving up traditional

values is manifested as follows. First, manual manufacturing was replaced by machine manufacturing. As a result, elaborate handicrafts displayed different

characteristics than those of industrial products. The

former emphasizes originality and irreproducibility. In

contrast, modern design must practice functions, follow science and technology, consider cost, and serve the

masses. Secondly, idea precedes manufacturing. In

machine manufacturing, idea is generated first, and then

it is applied to production. However, in art creation, idea and producing are inseparable, and unpredictable

randomness with inspiration is even more valuable. Meanwhile, design inherits many characteristics of art.

First, design, similar to art, emphasizes creativity, as ICSID defines design as "a creative activity and the

central factor of innovative humanization of technologies

and the crucial factor of cultural and economic

exchange." [4] Furthermore, it defines designer as such: "The term designer refers to an individual who practices

an intellectual profession, and not simply a trade or a

service for enterprises." [5] Secondly, design, like art, also depends on materials to realize its ideas. Pure

creative thinking occurs in the period of planning, and cannot be called design unless it is materialized or

substantiated in manufacturing by materials just as

painting is achieved by canvas, music by notes, and

sculpture by stones.

In summary, design can be viewed as a unity of two

opposite factors reflecting its differences from and

similarities to art. In other words, design is a unity of functional manufacturing and aesthetic creation, and meanwhile a unity of ideas and materialization. In China,

many scholars had such discussions. Authors of artistic

design, Prof. Ling Jiyao and Xu Hengchun said: "Product design should follow this formula: design=

utility +convenience +beauty." [6] From this standpoint, design can be regarded as a unity of a series of opposites, including function and form, objective regularity and

subjective creativity, popularity and individuality of

products.

How to understand these opposing factors? As for the

principal relationship between function and beauty, first

of all, modern design is no longer a subject of art. Thus, logically, industrial manufacturing precedes aesthetic

creation. Functional requirements and technical limits

must be considered prior to aesthetic beauty and willful

creation. Accordingly, rational self-examination runs

through the whole process in design. A designer must

think over ideas repeatedly, attempt to prove their

feasibility. On the contrary, in art, self-introspection is

propelled by intuition, passion and inspiration. Additionally, an artist would never know what his

painting looks like before he draws out the last stroke.

However, a designer has already got a complete

structural form and achieved materialization to some

extent with the help of mould or computer before actual

manufacturing. Thus, one of the important characteristics

of design is its predictability.

Although individual categories in the field of design

attribute variable importance to these two opposite

factors discussed above, a state of balance is always

achieved. For instance, in industrial design and

mechanical design, designers usually pay more attention

to function and advanced technology than to decorative

beauty. While in clothing and textile design, designers easily fulfill their basic function of keeping people warm. Therefore, there is much more room and freedom for

aesthetic and artistic creation.

Secondly, no matter how important function or beauty

might be in different field, either factor is absolutely

necessary. That is to say, either one is dispensable in a

real design. Outstanding designers will do their best to

combine function with beauty harmoniously. Even the functionalism and modernism in the history of design

couldn't pay attention exclusively to function without

considering aesthetics.

Now let's look at the four translations of "design" in

China.

3. DISCUSSION AND COMPARISON OF FOUR

TRANSLATED TERMS FOR "DESIGN"

3.1 Tu-an[図案](pattern)

The name of "Tu-an" is directly imported from

Japanese. Prof. Chen Zhifo, one of the first who

introduced Western design theory to China , once wrote:

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"Tu-an was called design in English. It means planning

and artistic conception. The name of Tu-an was first

translated by Japanese, and became popular at home."

[7] At the end of the 19th century, to replace the

traditional manual way of manufacturing, Japan was

determined to learn from Western developed countries

the modern system of production, which depends on

scientific technology, assembly line production and

pre-manufacturing design. Correspondingly, the concept of Tu-an means completing a drawing before production.

On the contrary, craftsmen produce the same time when

they conceive ideas for their products. Chen Zhifo

thought Tu-an is a primitive form of product. That is to

say, one must thoroughly consider the composition of

shape, outline and color at first, and then draw it out on

the paper before producing any necessity of life.

Afterwards, Chen established a Tu-an design center in

Shanghai, compiling lots of textbooks and spreading

design ideas among the people.

In addition, another well-known scholar Yu Jianhua

also discussed about Tu-an. He said: "The term of Tu-an

appeared recently. However few people understood its

meanings and skills. Since our nation is to develop

modern industry and to improve the quality of products

to compete with West and Japan, it is essential to value

and study Tu-an. From arts and crafts to household

utensils, a composition sketch is definitely needed prior

to a finished product. Tu-an and handicraft should not be

separated." [8]

It is clear that the concept of Tu-an emphasizes that a

successful production should rely on complete planning, which has accelerated modern industry with high quality

and high output in Europe, America and Japan. However

in Chinese culture, Tu-an is mainly associated with art, especially two-dimensional art and handicrafts, such as decorative patterns on the surface in painting, embroidery and appliances. Contemporary Chinese

Language Dictionary defines Tu-an as decorative

patterns and figures with tidiness, orderliness and harmony, commonly used on fabric, handicrafts and

architecture. [9] However, the majority of industrial

design needs not only external design, but also inner

structure drawing that immediately influences function. Chen Zhifo focused on book layout, textile and single

pattern design in his career. Japan gradually gave up the use of Tu-an and replaced it with transliteration by

pronunciation. In China, Gong-yi-mei-shu began to

replace the use of Tu-an.

3.2 Gong-yi-mei-shu[工芸美術](Arts and Crafts)

Prof. Cai Yuanpei, late President of Peking University, was the first to use the term of Gong-yi-mei-shu in 1920.

He classified the type of handicraft, namely

Gong-yi-mei-shu, into art. In his book, the origin of art, he wrote: " I define art in both a narrow and a broad

sense. Narrowly speaking, art refers particularly to

architecture, carving, and Gong-yi-mei-shu. William

Morris, a leading figure of Art and Crafts Movement

utterly detested the separation of fine art and handicrafts. So he advocated artistic labor, which also seems to be the case in China. We should do further research."

Morris tried to revive handicraft industry to remedy the

rough and monotonous quality of machine products, meanwhile to serve the labor class instead of noblemen

alone. His ideas and Gong-yi-mei-shu by Prof. Cai share

similar connotation. Other scholars, like Mr. Liu Lin,

thought Gong-yi-mei-shu was a kind of technology, by which daily necessities were artistically designed. Products from that technology are different from crudely

made handworks. Mr. Zhang Derong proposed that

Gong-yi-mei-shu was a new word in China, but not a new profession. It has a history of thousands of years. Gong-yi-mei-shu means applied art. That is to say,

whenever articles for daily life are artistically designed, it can be called Gong-yi-mei-shu. Gong-yi-mei-shu is

closely associated with people's everyday life.

Ideas above emphasize the important characteristics of

modern design, being that design has expanded from

traditional fine art to daily life, and practical use is

considered. However, these definitions still deviate from

the principles of modern design. First, Gong-yi-mei-shu

mainly deals with household utensils, while a large mount of industrial machines and electronic devices are

excluded. Secondly, Gong-yi-mei-shu overlooks the

change of production approach from handicraft to design. Mr. Zhang extended the history of design to thousands of

years, confusing the product of industry with that of art.

Inevitably, Gong-yi-mei-shu would meet with the same

fate as Morris had proved . Due to low efficiency but

high cost of manual production in workshops, only the noble class could afford Morris's design, which basically

went against his good will to serve the people. Thirdly, Gong-yi-mei-shu neglects the technological influence in

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design. In the early days of the 20th century, the majority

of daily necessities were furniture, clothing and kitchen

utensils. Science and technology used weren't as

complicated as that in heavy machines or precision

instruments. Naturally, Gong-yi-mei-shu pays more

attention to artistic elements. To conclude, the concept of

Gong-yi-mei-shu is only appropriate in a transitional

period toward modern design. Among all scholars of early 20th century, Chen Zhifo

held a broad view close to that of modern design. He

classified Gong-yi-mei-shu into traditional and modern

types. The former refers to art and crafts by hand, while

the latter concerns industrial products by machine. Thus,

he distinguishes modern design from handicrafts.

Moreover, he began to notice that design is all-around,

including the whole life style. He wrote: " Modern

Gong-yi-mei-shu embraces the whole life, ranging from

interior decoration, furniture, clothing, stage, to street

park, city environment, traffic vehicles, almost

everything." [10] Unfortunately, his creative idea did not

spread far and broadly. In reality, Chen never took part in

traffic vehicle design. So far, when it comes to

Gong-yi-mei-shu, people think of nothing but

handicrafts.

3.3 Yi-shu-she-ji[芸術設計](artistic　 design)

Chen Zhifo thought that design could be transliterated

into She j i directly, and from then on She j i came out

with Tu-an simultaneously. Back to ancient ages,"She[設]"and"Ji[計]"were always used s

eparately.

"She" means planning, while "Ji" means draft or idea.

When "She" and "Ji" are combined to form a single

world, it regards design as a technical term. Nevertheless,

since the l990s, people used to add Yi-shu[芸術] before

She j i, namely artistic design, the third translation for "design".

What kind of relationship exists between artistic

design and design? According to the list of college

specialties published by Ministry of Education in 1998,

under the major of art, there are two specialties

concerning design, artistic design and artistic design

study; within the major of mechanic engineering, there

are industrial design and mechanical design with

automation. Is artistic design, like industrial design and

mechanical design, just a branch of design? The

publisher's answer is no. As the list has indicated, artistic

design has three primary subjects, that is, art, literature

and engineering. Its relevant courses comprise sketch,

painting, composition training, expert techniques,

professional design and design theory etc., which indicates that artistic design is combination of art and

industry. As for artistic design study, its courses include

world arts and crafts history as well as design history. In

a way, artistic design isn't a branch of design, but is

equal to design itself.

Quite a few scholars hold similar viewpoints. Prof.

Chen Ruilin argued that the term of artistic design

replaced antiquated Gong-yi-mei-shu and ambiguous

She ji. It included environmental design, industrial

design, decorative design, clothing with textile design

and ceramic design and so on. [11] Clearly, he regarded

artistic design as design itself because various types of

design are included. Prof. Ling Jiyao and Xu Hengchun

definitely agreed with Chen's view: "Yi-shu-she ji,

namely artistic design, is the translation of design in

English. In modern industrial mass production, it

integrates usefulness in function, convenience in

operation with beauty in appearance organically and

harmoniously. " [ 12]

Why another word, "artistic", has to be put before

design, considering that artistic design refer to nothing

but design? Isn't it an unnecessary redundancy that

might result in somewhat misunderstanding? I believe

that the viewpoint regarding design as artistic design

attributes more importance of aesthetics and beauty to

design. As I have mentioned above, aesthetic element is

indispensable indeed, so is function. There wouldn't be a

real design if missing either of function or beauty.

Logically, function precedes beauty. This corresponds

to the order of human needs in Abraham. H. Maslow'

theory, in which the need for living precedes the need for

beauty. Yet in terms of importance, aesthetical quality

should not lag behind. However, a product cannot be

designed only for usefulness or beauty. Although it is

assumed that the importance of aesthetics can be

emphasized or strengthened by adding a word "artistic"

before "design", in my opinion, this only implies that

aesthetics actually does not holds the same status as

function.

3.4 She-ji-yi-shu[設計芸術](design art)

She - ji-yi-shu or design art, appeared during the late

1990s. In the list of specialties for master and doctor's

degrees published in 1998, "design art study" is a

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specialty in the art major. There lie two views on this

specialty. One thinks She-ji-yi-shu is a substitute for

Gong-yi-mei-shu. Prof. Li Yanzu said: "To replace

Gong-yi-mei-shu with She-ji-yi-shu, it isn't just a change

of words, but an emphasis on the essence of design art."

He considered design art isn't the entirety of handicrafts;

rather it especially refers to applied work. Li continued: "Applications in handicrafts belong to design art

, while

excluding the rest that is purely hand-made, individually

produced, and decorative only for display." [13]

Others consider design art as design itself. Shandong

Arts And Crafts College once compiled a series of

textbooks in 2002. One author wrote: "Modern design is

modern design art, also called as design art or design in

practice." Moreover, two terms are based on the same

theory: " Modern design art aesthetics should be

regarded as the same as technical aesthetics in theory. In

this textbook, we prefer to use design art aesthetics

instead of the other, merely because nowadays design is

becoming more vigorous and complicated all over the

world. The use of design art aesthetic appears

straightforward and avoids misleading readers in terms

of its concepts. For the same purpose, we use modern

design instead of industrial design." [14]

As I think, to merely reverse the order of design and

art, the meaning will go widely divergent. In

Yi-shu-she - ji, or artistic design, She-ji, namely design is

the subject, while Yi-shu as a modifier. This term

underlines the roles of beauty and aesthetic played in

industrial manufacturing. However, in She-ji-yi-shu,

Yi-shu, namely art, becomes the subject and She-ji is the

modifier. Therefore this term refers to a kind of art on

design. Undoubtedly, compared with artistic design, design art brings art closer to design because it regards

design as an art, which is inconsistent with the principles

of design. Truly speaking, design and art are so

inseparable that part of industrial product can be

appreciated as artworks. Nevertheless, they are still

different concepts. Modern design has several inherent

characteristics such as functionality, technological

requirement, mass consumption and group coordination

etc, which is contrary to art. Only under the

circumstances that an industrial product by design is

temporally stripped of its functionality, design could be

regarded as art. Obviously, by no means design is art by

nature.

4. CONCLUSIONS

From Tu-an to She -ji-yi-shu, I found that there is an

underlying trend of translations for design: Too much

emphasis was placed on the relationship between design

and art, particularly their association and similarities,

rather than on the unique characteristics of design

acquired from continuous evolution of tradition, especially in the concept of design art. These translations

clearly reflect certain flaws of design research and

education in China. First, as for the differences between

design and art, design theory hasn't developed

professional knowledge system independent from art theory. Secondly, as for their similarities, the connection

and cooperation between design study and art study have

not been fully explored; designers and artists haven't

carried out extensive cooperation in specialized fields.

There are many examples in the first aspect . Many

design education programs are originated from art

education system. For a long time, the curriculum and

faculty team are combined with those of art education .

Correspondingly, industrial design and product design, two important subjects of design research, are far from

developed. A few scholars have already realized this

problem. Prof. Chen Ruilin said: "Until the early 20 century, ideas and techniques in Chinese design

development had been founded upon the Renaissance, Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau Campaign

around the turn of the 20th century." [15] Until now, the entrance examination of design education of some

colleges still uses duplicates of the traditional art

education, such as sketch, painting, drawing, suggesting

the profound influence of art. Moreover, it is worth

nothing that such influence has not been truly applied to

design research. Without design products to learn from, Bauhaus founded three core courses of design education

by analyzing the principles and the elements of

traditional painting, which is an absolutely scientific and

objective study. Nevertheless, it is not enough to test

design ability by just duplicating drawing or painting

courses required by art education to design education.

In the second aspect, although design is viewed as

inseparable from art, it is hard for designers to enter the

field of art because of the specialization of art research

and the lack of interest on industrial design. A number of

designers desire to use traditional culture and aesthetics

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when designing products. For example, in the curriculum

of industrial design education in college, the major

courses are mechanics, electrical engineering, basic

mechanical design, industrial art, basic plastic design,

engineering material, human engineering, psychology,

computer-aided design, visual communication design,

environmental design, indicating little influence of art. In

theoretic research, a large amount of articles either solely

explain techniques or unnaturally force aesthetics,

sociology, and other humanities into design, which leads

to total discontinuity of theory and application.

In conclusion, it is necessary to differentiate the

meanings of translations of "design". In my opinion, the

word"She-ji[設計]"is able to reflect the characteristics

of design, such as integrity, anticipation, and especially

creativity that is becoming increasingly important. In

addition, two separate words "She" and "Ji" are starting

to be used together as a single new word indeed, since

design was introduced to the nation. Therefore, the term

of She- ji should be popularized. At the same time, I

suggest referring to Western usage in case of any

confusion, adding clear restrictive words ahead like

industrial design, textile design, graphic design, and digital design etc. to define various categories.

NOTES

[1] See http//: www. britannica.com.

[2] See "definition of design", http//: www. icsid. org.

[3] See "Principals of design", http//: www. britannica.

com.

[4] See "definition of design", http//: www. icsid. org.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ling Jiyao, Xu Hengchun, Artistic Design, Shanghai

people press, Shanghai, 2000, p.9.

[7] Chen Zhifo, "methods of pattern composition",

Collected Works of Chen Zhifo, Jiangsu art press,

Nanjing, 1996, p.314.

[8] Yu Jianhua, "new method of pattern", as quoted by Li Yanzu, "Establishing China Design Art Research", Research on Design art, edited by Tsinghua university

art school Dept. of arts and crafts, 1st vol. Peking arts and

crafts press, Beijing, 1998, p.2.

[9] See Contemporary Chinese Language Dictionary, the Commercial press Ltd., Shanghai, 2001, p.1275.

[10] See note [7], p.161 & 309.

[11] Chen Ruilin, review on the development of Chinese artistic design during the early 20th century, Design Art Research, p.218.

[12] Ling Jiyao, Xu Hengchun, Artistic Design,

Shanghai people press, Shanghai, 2000, p.4.

[13] Li Yanzu, "Establishing China Design Art Research", Research on Design art, p. 5.

[14] Zhang Liguo, Aesthetics of Design Art, Shandong

education press, Jinan, 2002, p.4, 8.

[15] See note [11], p.238.

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the word design and its translations in china

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