Mediating Soviet architecture in China, 1930s–1940s: translation, intermediation, and knowledge circulation

Abstract

The paper examines the introduction and representation of Soviet architecture in Chinese mass media and professional journals during the 1930s and 1940s. It analyzes how Soviet experiences in urban construction and architectural theory were translated, interpreted, and integrated into China’s architectural knowledge system, from a period of relative easing in Sino-Soviet diplomatic relations to the years of the War of Resistance Against Japan. Through a close reading and comparative analysis of texts and images, it traces their translingual pathways of dissemination, revealing that a substantial portion of these materials was not translated directly from Russian sources but mediated through Japanese-language publications. This finding highlights the extent to which Japanese architectural discourse functioned as a key intermediary in the circulation of Soviet architectural knowledge to China. It further reveals differences in the motivations behind their introduction and sheds light on Chinese architects’ selective reception and reinterpretation. The paper shifts the timeline of Sino-Soviet architectural exchange back to the Republican Era prior to 1949 and characterizes these early exchanges as fragmented and internationally mediated, supplementing and revising existing narratives centered on the policy of “Comprehensive Learning from the Soviet Union” after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in the 1950s. It highlights the role of horizontal knowledge circulation between non-Western contexts in the construction of modern architectural history and offers new historical insights into the origins and composition of modern Chinese architectural ideology.