Erased Encounters: Chinese Artists and Intellectual Divides in Post-Independence India, 1947–61

In 1947, two months before India’s independence, Chinese artist Chang Xiufeng (1915-2010) departed China for India, followed later by You Yunshan (1912-2004). Both studied under Nandalal Bose at Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan during overlapping periods, yet neither ever acknowledged the other’s presence. You achieved recognition for adapting Chinese ink techniques to Indian landscapes, with her exhibitions earning acclaim among India’s cultural elite. Chang, meanwhile, pursued diverse Indian artistic traditions—from miniature painting to New Indian art—and introduced Chinese woodcut and bamboo carving to marginalized South Asian communities, including Nepalese and Bhutanese groups in border regions. His activities, however, drew increasing suspicion from Indian authorities, culminating in his 1960 imprisonment on charges of communist subversion. Drawing on archives from India and China, along with overlooked artworks, manuscripts, and diaries, this study traces the divergent paths of these two artists and their mutual erasure during their shared years in Santiniketan. Through comparative analysis, it illuminates the complex motivations behind their engagements and uncovers underlying fractures within India’s Chinese intellectual circles. This research contends that mid-20th-century Sino-Indian artistic exchange transcended conventional narratives of pan-Asianism or civilizational dialogue. Rather, these interactions were deeply shaped by wartime displacement, cross-border exile, and political tensions—both external and internal to China and South Asia. By challenging the habitual binary of “China” and “India,” this study proposes a more contingent framework for analyzing artistic agency amid the upheavals of wartime Asia.