May 15, 2012
Playful fish in flora-filled water became a popular subject for Chinese painters when the cultivation of rare fish came into vogue in twelfth century. Because fish (魚, yu) is homophonous with the word for abundance (余, yu), it has become a common symbol for wealth and prosperity. Paintings of fish are often used to illustrate the auspicious expression, “May there be abundance year after year (年年有余).”
Among the literati, the popularity of fish stems from the Daoist book Zhuangzi, in which Zhuangzi and Huizi debated whether one could know the happiness of fish without being one himself. The story goes like this:
Zhuangzi and Huizi were crossing the Hao River by the dam.
Zhuangzi said, "See how free the fishes leap and dart: that is their happiness."
Huizi replied, "Since you are not a fish, how do you know what makes fishes happy?"
Zhuangzi said, "Since you are not I, how can you possibly know that I do not know what makes fishes happy?"
Huizi argued, "If I, not being you, cannot know what you know, it follows that you, not being a fish, cannot know what they know. The argument is complete!"
Zhuangzi said, "Wait a minute! Let us get back to the original question. What you asked me was 'How do you know what makes fishes happy?' From the terms of your question, you evidently know I know what makes fishes happy.
"I know the joy of fishes in the river through my own joy, as I go walking along the same river."
Based on translation by Thomas Merton, The Way of Zhuang Tzu, New Directions Books, 1965
Posted by China Online Museum. Posted In : Painting
February 2, 2012
Bronzes
have been cast in China for about 3,700 years. Most bronzes of about
1500–300 BC, roughly the Bronze Age in China, may be described as ritual
vessels intended for the worship of ancestors, who are often named in
inscriptions on the bronzes. Many were specially cast to commemorate
important events in the lives of their possessors. These ritual vessels
of ancient China represent possibly the most remarkable achievement in
the whole history of metalcraft before modern tim... Continue reading...
Posted by China Online Museum. Posted In : Bronzes
March 10, 2011
The three friends of winter refer to the pine (松), bamboo (竹), and plum (梅). The origin of this term is found as early as the Record of the Five-cloud Plum Cottage (五雲梅舍記) from The Clear Mountain Collection (霽山集) of literary writings by Lin Jingxi (林景熙, 1241-1310, a Song dynasty loyalist), “For his residence, earth was piled to form a hill and a hundred plum trees, which along with lofty pines and tall bamboo comprise the friends of winter, were planted (...
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Posted by China Online Museum. Posted In : Painting
February 16, 2011
Along the River During the Qingming Festival (Up the River During Qingming, Qingming River View, 清明上河圖, pinyin: Qīngmíng Shànghé Tú) is a panoramic painting generally attributed to the Song Dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan (張擇端, 1085–1145). It captures the daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing (汴京), today's Kaifeng (開封) in Henan (河南). The theme celebrates the festive spirit and prosperous street scene at the Qingming Festival, ... Continue reading...
Posted by China Online Museum. Posted In : Painting
February 8, 2011
A hand-held
fan is a rigid or folding device used throughout the world since ancient
times for cooling, air circulation, or ceremony and as a sartorial
accessory. The Chinese character for "fan" (扇) is etymologically derived
from a picture of feathers under a roof.
The rigid fan has a handle or stick with a rigid leaf, or mount. The
folding fan is composed of sticks (the outer two called guards) held
together at the handle end by a rivet or pin. On the sticks is mounted ... Continue reading...
Posted by China Online Museum. Posted In : Painting
November 17, 2010
Chinese ceramic ware is an artform that has been
developing since the dynastic periods. The first types of ceramics were
made about ten to eleven thousand years ago. Chinese ceramics range from
construction materials such as bricks and tiles, to hand-built pottery
vessels fired in bonfires or kilns (窑), to the sophisticated porcelain
wares made for the imperial court.
There are two primary
categories of Chinese ceramics, low-temperature-fired pottery or táo (陶,
about ... Continue reading...
Posted by China Online Museum. Posted In : Ceramics
October 11, 2009
Yan Zhenqing (颜真卿, 709–785) was a leading
Chinese calligrapher and a loyal governor of the Tang Dynasty. His
artistic accomplishment in Chinese calligraphy parallels the greatest
master calligraphers throughout the history. His “Yan style” of the
Regular Script is the textbook-style that most calligraphy beginners
imitate today. The “Yan style”, which brought Chinese calligraphy to a
new realm, emphasizes on strength, boldness and grandness. Like most of
the master call...
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Posted by China Online Museum. Posted In : Calligraphy
July 28, 2009
Wang Xizhi (王羲之, 303 - 361) was a Chinese calligrapher, traditionally referred to as the Sage of Calligraphy (書聖, 书圣).
Born in Linyi (临沂), Shandong (山东) Province,
he spent most of his life in the present-day Shaoxing (绍兴), Zhejiang
(浙江). He learned the art of calligraphy from Wei Shuo, commonly
addressed as Lady Wei (衛夫人). He excelled in every script but
particularly in the semi-cursive script (行书). Unfortunately, none of
his original works...
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Posted by China Online Museum. Posted In : Calligraphy
June 23, 2009
Zhu Xi (朱熹, 1130 - 1200) was a Song Dynasty (960-1279) Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China. His contribution to Chinese philosophy included his assigning special significance to the Four Books (四书) [the Analects of Confucius (论语), the Mencius (孟子), the Great Learning (大学), and the Doctrine of the Mean (中庸)], his emphasis on the investigation of things (格物), and the sy... Continue reading...
Posted by China Online Museum. Posted In : Calligraphy
June 12, 2009
The phrase “Pan of the south and Li of the north (南潘北李)” was coined in recognition of two contemporary painters, Pan Tianshou (潘天寿) and Li Kuchan (李苦禅).
Pan Tianshou began his career teaching Chinese painting in 1923,
when he moved to Shanghai to accept an assignment. In that same year,
he met the 80-year-old master of the Shanghai School (海派), Wu Changshuo (吴昌硕), and the two painters became intimate friends. (Read more...)
Li Kuchan was born in Gaotang County ... Continue reading...
Posted by China Online Museum. Posted In : Painting
