Blucher Design Proceedings

Setembro 2016, vol.8, num.2 - The 10th Conference of the International Committee for Design History & Design Studies
Article - Open Access Idioma principal | Segundo principal

Birth of an Asian Design: Origins of the Chinese word ‘sheji’ and its relationship with the Japanese word ‘sekkei’

Birth of an Asian Design: Origins of the Chinese word ‘sheji’ and its relationship with the Japanese word ‘sekkei’

FUJITA, Haruhiko

Article:

In the West, the term ‘design’ is used widely in English-speaking countries, and in many nations such as France. It is used even in the names of schools, for example, ‘école supérieure d’art et design.’ In East Asia, the Chinese word ‘sheji’ and the Japanese word ‘sekkei’ are common, both signifying ‘design’ using the same Chinese characters. ‘Sheji/sekkei‘ could be even more widely used than the English ‘design’ itself. However, not much research has been done on the origins of these words despite their historical importance. This study shows that the modern Chinese ‘sheji’ lexicographically originated in the nineteenth century, and became to be used more widely in the twentieth century, partly affected by the Japanese ‘sekkei’ and ‘dezain’. This study also makes some other comparisons between ‘sheji’ and ‘sekkei’ to demonstrate the significant interrelationship between these two equivalents for the English ‘design’, used by over a billion Asian people.

In the West, the term ‘design’ is used widely in English-speaking countries, and in many nations such as France. It is used even in the names of schools, for example, ‘école supérieure d’art et design.’ In East Asia, the Chinese word ‘sheji’ and the Japanese word ‘sekkei’ are common, both signifying ‘design’ using the same Chinese characters. ‘Sheji/sekkei‘ could be even more widely used than the English ‘design’ itself. However, not much research has been done on the origins of these words despite their historical importance. This study shows that the modern Chinese ‘sheji’ lexicographically originated in the nineteenth century, and became to be used more widely in the twentieth century, partly affected by the Japanese ‘sekkei’ and ‘dezain’. This study also makes some other comparisons between ‘sheji’ and ‘sekkei’ to demonstrate the significant interrelationship between these two equivalents for the English ‘design’, used by over a billion Asian people.

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DOI: 10.5151/despro-icdhs2016-01_002

Referências bibliográficas
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Como citar:

FUJITA, Haruhiko; "Birth of an Asian Design: Origins of the Chinese word ‘sheji’ and its relationship with the Japanese word ‘sekkei’", p-8-14. In: Wong, Wendy Siuyi; Kikuchi, Yuko & Lin, Tingyi (Eds.). <strong>Making Trans/National Contemporary Design History [=ICDHS 2016 – 10th Conference of the International Committee for Design History & Design Studies]</strong>. São Paulo: Blucher, 2016.
ISSN 23186968, DOI 10.5151/despro-icdhs2016-01_002

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