我们先从中国艺术对史蒂文斯的启发开始谈起。他常去纽约看中国艺术的展览。1909年的一天,一大早七八点钟他就从哈特福德出发,去纽约看一个以织品为主的展览。展览中有一些古老的乐器使他发生了兴趣,比如镶嵌珍珠母的琵琶,法国风笛。他在同年3月18日给未婚妻艾尔西的信中写道,最让他印象深刻的是中国画的颜色, Let’s start with the inspiration of Chinese art for Stevens. He often goes to New York to see the exhibition of Chinese art. One day in 1909, he set off from Hartford at seven or eight early in the morning and went to New York to see a fabric-based exhibition. Some of the old instruments on display brought him interest, such as the mother-of-pearl pipa and the French bagpipes. In a letter to his fiancee Elsie on March 18 of the same year, he wrote that what impressed him most was the color of Chinese painting,