Fashion, Chinoiserie and Modernity in The Circle of Chalk, 1929

The author suggests that the enthusiasm for chinoiserie was reignited in the early decades of the twentieth century, though the context of this resurgence was contradictory. Whilst East Asian design was held in high regard as an inspirational source for new kinds of European self-expression, the cultural decontextualisation of it in the service of Western modernity was also an act of cultural imperialism. It was in this context that London audiences were able to see another ‘Chinese opera’ play, The Circle of Chalk, based upon a translation of the Chinese play of the same name, Huilan Ji. Much like The Orphan of China some 200 years earlier, The Circle of Chalk arrived in London via multiple European translations. Without a doubt, one of the main selling points was Anna May Wong, the star Hollywood actress making her British stage debut. The author suggests that Wong was undoubtedly objectified and commercialised as an ethnic object, yet she could also be considered to represent the edgier, more politically engaged, sides of chinoiserie fashion. He also analyses the Australian–Chinese actor Rose Quong, arguing that she was able to express both Australian–Chinese and Chinese identities in London.