DOCSLIB.ORG

Searchable PDF Format

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Searchable PDF Format 'More lnsulin Successes . Problems of Nlodernization . Normon Bethune .The Manchus Australia: A g 0.40 New Zealand: NZ g 0.40 U.K.: 25 p U.S.A.: g 0.50 Faticat mot!:er iil a Shangl'iei' park, Zirairy SlttLicltcitg Articles of the Month PROBTEMS !N CHINA'S MODERNIZATION \D Advontoges ond shortcomings. Deueloping the Chi- i\ nese to'sks model. Selt-reliqnce ond imports. Current ond priorities. Noted economist Xue Bood,ing gives down-to-eorth opinions. Poge 2 PUBLISHED MONTHLY. lN ENGLISH; FRENCH, SPANISH, ARABIC AND BIMONTHLY IN GERMAN BY THE CHINA WELFARE INSTITUTE MEMORIES (sOONG CHING LING, CHA|RMANI OF DR. BEIHUNE Bottle-front stories of the greot Conodion internotionolist, the 40th vot. xxv!il No. 11 NOVEMBER 1979 onniversory of whose deoth comes this month, movingly recolled by well-known novelist Zhou Erlu, CONTENTS outhor of o widely populor book obout hi'm in Chinese, ond by China's Modernization: Some Current Problems Xue Bethune's lormer bodyguord Yong Baoding 2 Yoolo. Poge 16 Shanghai Window on Chinese City Tan Manni 5 - l-ife After lrrsulin Synthesis: Progress Research in Peptide SHANGHAI _ Niu Jingyi 13 wrNDow oN A Second Lile-ln Memory oJ Dr. Norman Bethune on 'His the 40th Anniversary of Death Zhou Erlu Itl CHINA'S CITY IIFE Memories of Bethune Yang Yaota 1B The post ond present of City Co-ops: More Jobs for Youth Lu Zhenhua and Liu Chino's lorgest metrop- olis, ond the multitude Chuang 21 of things the visitor con Miniature Trees and Landscapes 24 see there. Poge 5 China's Manchu Nationality Aisin-Gioro Pu Jie 28, Cooperation, Friendship and Results Joint Research with a Danish Scientist Zou Shichang- 32 The Photography of Chen Fuli Huang Xiang J+ How A Farm Family Gets lts Income Liu Chenlie 40 New Rail Artery Serves New lndustries Liu Hongta. 42 APPROACH, The Glay-Figure World of Zheng Yuhe Zhang Fenggao 46 IO The Way Every Teacher Should Be Zeng Xiangping 50 IHE Sri Lanka Dances Come to China's Stage Jiang Shimei CO Noted Japanese Orchestra in Beijing Zhao Jinglun 54 SECRET Carto.ons 56 OF Chinese History - XIV' tIFE The Glory Thal -Was Tang: 3 High Point in Culture Jiao Jian - 57 'Yang Scenes of Tang Court Life Hong 60 Lightrng Up in Xinhui County Qiu Jian 66 Do You Know? China's Currency: Renminbi 68 Language Corner: Lesson 11: Visiting West Lake 71 PEOPLE, COVER PICTURES: MY THE MANCHUS Front: Niu Jingyi (center), Gong Yueting (right) and Du Yucang who have scored new breakthroughs in Aisin-Gioro Pu Jie, brother of .l biochemical science (see article on p. 3). Chen Yi Chino's lost ertperor, tells the present situotion Back: giant panda per- history ond Wei Wei, the first ever trained lo of Chino's once-ruling, Monchu iorm, does his stuff with the Shanghai Acrobatic notionolity of which he is o I roupe. Zhang Shuicheng noted member. Poge 28 Editoriol Office: Woi Wen Building, Beijing (37), Chino. Coble: "CHIRECON" Beijing. Generol, Distributor: GUOZI SHUDIAN, P.O. Box 399, Beijing, Chiho. Chima's Modernization : $ome Gurrent Prohle $ XUE BAODING qINCE the decision to shift Chi- agriculture, light industry, heavy tricity, seventh place; and in tJ na's focus to socialist mod- industry. petroleum ninth place. China now ernization, foreign visitors have Second, there were serious has more machine tools than some noted some economic and techni- setbacks beginning with the cul- industriaiiy advanced countries. cal problems involved and won- tural revolution in 1966, during These are the achievements and dered whether we wiII be able to ten years of interference and advantages. cope" When I visited the United sabotage by Lin Biao and the However, since China started States with the delegation of gang of four which brought from such poverty and because of the Chinese Academy of Social China's economy to the brink of her large population today, she is Sciences earlier this year, Amer- collapse. still behind the first hundred of ican friends asked if we had a Third, there has been a decided the world's 150-odd countries in practicable plan for moderniza- turn for the better. since the national income per-capita. Our tion. Below I give some personal downfall of the gang. Great people's livelihood has improved vrews. efforts by both government and too slowly. They are still rather people have restored social order poor in food, clothing, daily from the recent chaos, dnd savod necessities and housing. These are .A Four-Point Evaluation industry and agriculture from the the lags and lacks. Most important is a realigtic planlessness they had fallen into. The f our modernizations, pro- overview of China's basic eco- The rapidity of recovery is re- posed by Premier Zhou En1ai at nomic situation today. Broadly, flected in the economic statistics the Fourth National People's there are four points people for 1977-78 given by Premier Hua Congress in 1975 and reiterated by should be clear on: Guofeng in his "Report on the Premier Hua Guofeng at the Fifth First, there were remarkable Work of the Government" at the in 1978, are aimed precisely at achievements in our economic Second Session of the Fifth meeting the increasing everyday construction in the 1? yeais from National Congress*. needs of the people and making Fourth, not economy prosperous the f ounding of the People's this recovery has our socialist Republic of China in 1949 to the yet wholly eliminated the im- and strong. eve of the cultural revolution in balances of the past, Hence 1966. As early as 1956, Comrade the present policy of readjust- Seeking a Chinese Model Mao Zedong summed up initial ment, restructuring, consolidation is the choice of experience in his famous work and improvement. Its aim is to Very important "On the Ten Major Relation- advance in the course of read- a road for China's modernization ships." He explained the relation- justment, to better the people's conforming to her own situation. ships between industry and agri- livelihood and make our economy Foreign friends have asked which culture, between heavy and Iight flourish. model we shall pick, The Amer- west industry, between economic and ican? The Japanese? The defense construction, between the Advantages and European? Or the Yugoslav or state, the production units and the Disadvantages Romanian models? We recall Chairman Mao Zedong's advice on individual producer, and so on. In total output of several major Later these concepts developed into the point. He said we should avoid products China, as a result of from any t'wo principles for our national post-liberation progress, copying mechanically is now foreign example, learn from the economy. Agriculture was to be among the world's leading coun- experience of others, "make viewed as its foundation and in- tries. Our grain production is .good things foreign serve China," and dustry as its leading factor. The second only to that of the United study, digest, utilize and develoP order of its priorities was to be: States, We rank third, after the things useful to ourselves. Soviet Union and the United XUE BAODING, a well-known econ- States, in coal production. In omist in China, is Vice-Director of + See "Crucial Steps in China's Modern- the Institute of Industrial Economics of steel output we have reached ization," China Reconsttucts , October the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, fifth place in the world; in elec- 1979 issue. 2 CHINA &ECONSTBIJQTS, ?ii)'* d, :r ,l ,ii,'t- j ,-:r w. .,r ' l;".'t:, Electrification of the Baoji-Tianshui sectiorr of the Long- hai line. an east-lvest rail artery across central Chlna, NOYEMBER 1979 It yields, directly or indirec{ly, a good part of our national revenue. Such is the shape of things in China's economy. In its social organization our agriculture has , been transformed by the advent of the people's com- munes. But its production is still chiefly by manual work and sub- ject to nature's whims. Of China's 100 million hectares of cultivated area less than 40 percent is work- ed by machines. Some present averages: one h. p. of mechanical power for every 2/3 hectares, one tractor per 200 hectares of farmed land, 220 kilograms of chemical fertilizer used per hectare (with the proportion of nitrogenous, phosphate and potash fertilizers often not suited to different soils and crops as science requires). Grain production per agricultural worker averages less than one ton, low productivity indeed, as com- pared, for instance, to that in the U.S.A. and Canada, generally be- Coal cutting in the Datong mining area, Shanxi province. tween 60 and 100 tons. In the last decade, the chief Chairman Mao was the first to with external assistance as a sup- stress has been on farm crops, put forward the magnificent goal plement, enlisting both central which made up about 70 percent of China's four modernizations on and loca1 initiative, developing of output, by value. Forestry, the basis of the universal truths of large, medium-sized and small animal husbandry and fishery Marxism-Leninism and our actual projects simultaneously and con- were neglected, or damaged as situation. After the founding of centrating forces to solve major when some woods and pastures the people's republic in 1949, and problems one at a time. They were destroyed and lakes drained paiticularly after the basic com- sum up the Chinese people's to make tilled land, disrupting the pletion of the socialist transforma- experiences in long years of ecological balance. Within our tions in 1956, he repeatedly called struggle and construction.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Research on the Propagation Effect of the Painters Art in the Tang Dynasty
    2019 3rd International Workshop on Arts, Culture, Literature and Language (IWACLL 2019) Research on the propagation effect of the painters art in the Tang Dynasty Jin Xiaoyun Art College of Gansu University of Political Science and Law, Lanzhou 730070, China Keywords: Tang Dynasty; painters art; spread; effect; research Abstract: As the highest peak of feudal society development in Chinese history, the glory of the Tang Dynasty is reflected in all aspects, and painting is part of it. Throughout the painters art in the Tang Dynasty, the magnificent and positive spirits are revealed everywhere. It is one of the most brilliant pearls in the history of Chinese art, and it has written generous colour for the splendor of world culture. The creative environment of the Tang Dynasty painters was relatively free and there were many ways of communication. Therefore, many famous art and works were spread at that time, which had a great impact on the people at that time and in later generations. This paper mainly studies the spread and effect of the painters art in the Tang Dynasty. 1. Introduction The Tang Dynasty has achieved unprecedented development in economic, political, and cultural aspects, and which constituted the prosperous Tang Dynasty that the Chinese nation is proud of. The art of painting also showed an unprecedented prosperity in the Tang Dynasty. The painters art of the Tang Dynasty was supported by the famous masters of the Tang Dynasty. Because of the powerful national power and prosperous economy, the scale and artistic reached the level that the former generation could not match.
    [Show full text]
  • Dressing for the Times: Fashion in Tang Dynasty China (618-907)
    Dressing for the Times: Fashion in Tang Dynasty China (618-907) BuYun Chen Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 BuYun Chen All rights reserved ABSTRACT Dressing for the Times: Fashion in Tang Dynasty China (618-907) BuYun Chen During the Tang dynasty, an increased capacity for change created a new value system predicated on the accumulation of wealth and the obsolescence of things that is best understood as fashion. Increased wealth among Tang elites was paralleled by a greater investment in clothes, which imbued clothes with new meaning. Intellectuals, who viewed heightened commercial activity and social mobility as symptomatic of an unstable society, found such profound changes in the vestimentary landscape unsettling. For them, a range of troubling developments, including crisis in the central government, deep suspicion of the newly empowered military and professional class, and anxiety about waste and obsolescence were all subsumed under the trope of fashionable dressing. The clamor of these intellectuals about the widespread desire to be “current” reveals the significant space fashion inhabited in the empire – a space that was repeatedly gendered female. This dissertation considers fashion as a system of social practices that is governed by material relations – a system that is also embroiled in the politics of the gendered self and the body. I demonstrate that this notion of fashion is the best way to understand the process through which competition for status and self-identification among elites gradually broke away from the imperial court and its system of official ranks.
    [Show full text]
  • Narada Foundation Annual Report
    Legal Consultant (Pro Bono) : JunHe LLP Foster Civil Society A Fair and Just Society Where Every Heart Carries Hope A / Room ����, Tower C, Vantone Center, No. � Chaowai Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, ������, China T / ���-��������-��� Narada Foundation E / [email protected] P.C / ������ Annual Report http://www.naradafoundation.org /01-02 /03-05 /06 Foreword About Narada Foundation Board of Directors Mission and Vision Board Members and Supervisors ����-���� Strategic Plan /08-47 /48-51 /52-53 Programmes Audit Report Our Team Sector Development Scaling Up Social Innovation ○ China Effective Philanthropy Multiplier Social Enterprise and Impact Investment Other Programmes ○ Ginkgo Fellows Programme ○ New Citizen Programme ○ Quantitative Historical Research Project ○ Funding Leping Social Entrepreneur Foundation XU Yongguang ,Chair of the Board of Directors PENG Yanni , CEO In Chinese culture, twelve years is a full cycle in life and history. Narada Foundation passed its ���� marked the third year of Narada Foundation’ s ����-���� strategic plan. We have furthered our first �� years in ����. three work areas, namely sector development, scaling up social innovation (China Effective Philanthropy Multiplier) and social enterprise and impact investment, in all aspects, addressing In the past �� years, Narada Foundation upheld its mission‘ foster civil society’ and strove to fulfil the needs and underlying problems of grassroots non-profit development, and accomplished our its vision‘ a fair and just society where every heart carries hope’ . Narada has been growing and original goals set at the planning stage. strengthening philanthropy infrastructure and improving the non-profit and philanthropy ecosystem in China together with our non-profit partners, an example of ownership and The China Effective Philanthropy Multiplier continued to perform efficiently in ����.
    [Show full text]
  • Official Colours of Chinese Regimes: a Panchronic Philological Study with Historical Accounts of China
    TRAMES, 2012, 16(66/61), 3, 237–285 OFFICIAL COLOURS OF CHINESE REGIMES: A PANCHRONIC PHILOLOGICAL STUDY WITH HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS OF CHINA Jingyi Gao Institute of the Estonian Language, University of Tartu, and Tallinn University Abstract. The paper reports a panchronic philological study on the official colours of Chinese regimes. The historical accounts of the Chinese regimes are introduced. The official colours are summarised with philological references of archaic texts. Remarkably, it has been suggested that the official colours of the most ancient regimes should be the three primitive colours: (1) white-yellow, (2) black-grue yellow, and (3) red-yellow, instead of the simple colours. There were inconsistent historical records on the official colours of the most ancient regimes because the composite colour categories had been split. It has solved the historical problem with the linguistic theory of composite colour categories. Besides, it is concluded how the official colours were determined: At first, the official colour might be naturally determined according to the substance of the ruling population. There might be three groups of people in the Far East. (1) The developed hunter gatherers with livestock preferred the white-yellow colour of milk. (2) The farmers preferred the red-yellow colour of sun and fire. (3) The herders preferred the black-grue-yellow colour of water bodies. Later, after the Han-Chinese consolidation, the official colour could be politically determined according to the main property of the five elements in Sino-metaphysics. The red colour has been predominate in China for many reasons. Keywords: colour symbolism, official colours, national colours, five elements, philology, Chinese history, Chinese language, etymology, basic colour terms DOI: 10.3176/tr.2012.3.03 1.
    [Show full text]
  • The Outlaws of the Marsh
    The Outlaws of the Marsh Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong The Outlaws of the Marsh Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong • Chapter 1 Zhang the Divine Teacher Prays to Dispel a Plague Marshal Hong Releases Demons by Mistake • Chapter 2 Arms Instructor Wang Goes Secretly to Yanan Prefecture Nine Dragons Shi Jin Wreaks Havoc in Shi Family Village • Chapter 3 Master Shi Leaves Huayin County at Night Major Lu Pummels the Lord of the West • Chapter 4 Sagacious Lu Puts Mount Wutai in an Uproar Squire Zhao Repairs Wenshu Monastery • Chapter 5 Drunk, the Little King Raises the Gold−Spangled Bed Curtains Lu the Tattooed Monk Throws Peach Blossom Village into Confusion • Chapter 6 Nine Dragons Shi Jin Robs in Red Pine Forest Sagacious Lu Burns Down Waguan Monastery • Chapter 7 The Tattooed Monk Uproots a Willow Tree Lin Chong Enters White Tiger Inner Sanctum by Mistake • Chapter 8 Arms Instructor Lin Is Tattooed and Exiled to Cangzhou Sagacious Lu Makes a Shambles of Wild Boar Forest • Chapter 9 Chai Jin Keeps Open House for All Bold Men Lin Chong Defeats Instructor Hong in a Bout with Staves • Chapter 10 Lin Chong Shelters from the Snowstorm in the Mountain Spirit Temple Captain Lu Qian Sets Fire to the Fodder Depot • Chapter 11 Zhu Gui Shoots a Signal Arrow from the Lakeside Pavilion Lin Chong Climbs Mount Liangshan in the Snowy Night • Chapter 12 Lin Chong Joins the Bandits in Liangshan Marsh Yang Zhi Sells His Sword in the Eastern Capital • Chapter 13 The Blue−Faced Beast Battles in the Northern Capital Urgent Vanguard Vies for Honors on the Training Field
    [Show full text]
  • The Outlaws of the Marsh
    The Outlaws of the Marsh Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong The Outlaws of the Marsh Table of Contents The Outlaws of the Marsh..................................................................................................................................1 Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong...............................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 Zhang the Divine Teacher Prays to Dispel a Plague Marshal Hong Releases Demons by Mistake....................................................................................................................................................7 Chapter 2 Arms Instructor Wang Goes Secretly to Yanan Prefecture Nine Dragons Shi Jin Wreaks Havoc in Shi Family Village...................................................................................................15 Chapter 3 Master Shi Leaves Huayin County at Night Major Lu Pummels the Lord of the West.......32 Chapter 4 Sagacious Lu Puts Mount Wutai in an Uproar Squire Zhao Repairs Wenshu Monastery....42 Chapter 5 Drunk, the Little King Raises the Gold−Spangled Bed Curtains Lu the Tattooed Monk Throws Peach Blossom Village into Confusion...................................................................................57 Chapter 6 Nine Dragons Shi Jin Robs in Red Pine Forest Sagacious Lu Burns Down Waguan Monastery.............................................................................................................................................67 Chapter 7 The Tattooed Monk Uproots a Willow
    [Show full text]
  • Painting Outside the Lines: How Daoism Shaped
    PAINTING OUTSIDE THE LINES: HOW DAOISM SHAPED CONCEPTIONS OF ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE IN MEDIEVAL CHINA, 800–1200 A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN RELIGION (ASIAN) AUGUST 2012 By Aaron Reich Thesis Committee: Poul Andersen, Chairperson James Frankel Kate Lingley Acknowledgements Though the work on this thesis was largely carried out between 2010–2012, my interest in the religious aspects of Chinese painting began several years prior. In the fall of 2007, my mentor Professor Poul Andersen introduced me to his research into the inspirational relationship between Daoist ritual and religious painting in the case of Wu Daozi, the most esteemed Tang dynasty painter of religious art. Taken by a newfound fascination with this topic, I began to explore the pioneering translations of Chinese painting texts for a graduate seminar on ritual theory, and in them I found a world of potential material ripe for analysis within the framework of religious studies. I devoted the following two years to intensive Chinese language study in Taiwan, where I had the fortuitous opportunity to make frequent visits to view the paintings on exhibit at the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Once I had acquired the ability to work through primary sources, I returned to Honolulu to continue my study of literary Chinese and begin my exploration into the texts that ultimately led to the central discoveries within this thesis. This work would not have been possible without the sincere care and unwavering support of the many individuals who helped me bring it to fruition.
    [Show full text]
  • Download File
    On A Snowy Night: Yishan Yining (1247-1317) and the Development of Zen Calligraphy in Medieval Japan Xiaohan Du Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2021 © 2021 Xiaohan Du All Rights Reserved Abstract On A Snowy Night: Yishan Yining (1247-1317) and the Development of Zen Calligraphy in Medieval Japan Xiaohan Du This dissertation is the first monographic study of the monk-calligrapher Yishan Yining (1247- 1317), who was sent to Japan in 1299 as an imperial envoy by Emperor Chengzong (Temur, 1265-1307. r. 1294-1307), and achieved unprecedented success there. Through careful visual analysis of his extant oeuvre, this study situates Yishan’s calligraphy synchronically in the context of Chinese and Japanese calligraphy at the turn of the 14th century and diachronically in the history of the relationship between calligraphy and Buddhism. This study also examines Yishan’s prolific inscriptional practice, in particular the relationship between text and image, and its connection to the rise of ink monochrome landscape painting genre in 14th century Japan. This study fills a gap in the history of Chinese calligraphy, from which monk- calligraphers and their practices have received little attention. It also contributes to existing Japanese scholarship on bokuseki by relating Zen calligraphy to religious and political currents in Kamakura Japan. Furthermore, this study questions the validity of the “China influences Japan” model in the history of calligraphy and proposes a more fluid and nuanced model of synthesis between the wa and the kan (Japanese and Chinese) in examining cultural practices in East Asian culture.
    [Show full text]
  • Flowers Bloom and Fall
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ASU Digital Repository Flowers Bloom and Fall: Representation of The Vimalakirti Sutra In Traditional Chinese Painting by Chen Liu A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Approved November 2011 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Claudia Brown, Chair Ju-hsi Chou Jiang Wu ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY December 2011 ABSTRACT The Vimalakirti Sutra is one of the classics of early Indian Mahayana Buddhism. The sutra narrates that Vimalakirti, an enlightened layman, once made it appear as if he were sick so that he could demonstrate the Law of Mahayana Buddhism to various figures coming to inquire about his illness. This dissertation studies representations of The Vimalakirti Sutra in Chinese painting from the fourth to the nineteenth centuries to explore how visualizations of the same text could vary in different periods of time in light of specific artistic, social and religious contexts. In this project, about forty artists who have been recorded representing the sutra in traditional Chinese art criticism and catalogues are identified and discussed in a single study for the first time. A parallel study of recorded paintings and some extant ones of the same period includes six aspects: text content represented, mode of representation, iconography, geographical location, format, and identity of the painter. This systematic examination reveals that two main representational modes have formed in the Six Dynasties period (220-589): depictions of the Great Layman as a single image created by Gu Kaizhi, and narrative illustrations of the sutra initiated by Yuan Qian and his teacher Lu Tanwei.
    [Show full text]
  • Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
    WHC Nomination Documentation File Name: 1004.pdf UNESCO Region: ASIA AND THE PACIFIC __________________________________________________________________________________________________ SITE NAME: Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties DA TE OF INSCRIPTION: 2nd December 2000 STATE PARTY: CHINA CRITERIA: C (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (vi) DECISION OF THE WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE: Criterion (i):The harmonious integration of remarkable architectural groups in a natural environment chosen to meet the criteria of geomancy (Fengshui) makes the Ming and Qing Imperial Tombs masterpieces of human creative genius. Criteria (ii), (iii) and (iv):The imperial mausolea are outstanding testimony to a cultural and architectural tradition that for over five hundred years dominated this part of the world; by reason of their integration into the natural environment, they make up a unique ensemble of cultural landscapes. Criterion (vi):The Ming and Qing Tombs are dazzling illustrations of the beliefs, world view, and geomantic theories of Fengshui prevalent in feudal China. They have served as burial edifices for illustrious personages and as the theatre for major events that have marked the history of China. The Committee took note, with appreciation, of the State Party's intention to nominate the Mingshaoling Mausoleum at Nanjing (Jiangsu Province) and the Changping complex in the future as an extention to the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing dynasties. BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS The Ming and Qing imperial tombs are natural sites modified by human influence, carefully chosen according to the principles of geomancy (Fengshui) to house numerous buildings of traditional architectural design and decoration. They illustrate the continuity over five centuries of a world view and concept of power specific to feudal China.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter Five Guangxi, Guangdong, Hong Kong
    Chapter Five Guangxi, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Sichuan (1928-1935): the landscape of art As early as the fifth century, Xie He (謝 赫, active ca. 500) outlined what he called the Six Principles of Painting (liu fa 六 法). “Spirit resonance and life movement” (qiyun shengdong 氣 韻 生 動), the first principle, is what defines Chinese painting and is the most significant and elusive.1 Since the Song dynasty, the observation of natural phenomena has been an important aspect of artistic creation in China. Artists sketched from nature in order to understand the principles of the life force or qi which animated the natural world. In doing so, they were following the first of Xie He’s Six Principles. The great Yuan dynasty landscape painter Huang Gongwang (黃 公 望, 1269-1354), inspired by the Five Dynasties and Northern Song artists Li Cheng (李 成, 919-967) and Guo Xi (郭 熙, ca. 1001-1090), exhorted his students to: Carry around a sketching brush in a leather bag. Then, when you see in some scenic place a tree that is strange and unique, you can copy its appearance then and there as a record. It will have an extraordinary sense of growing life. Climb a tall building and gaze at the “spirit resonance” [qiyun] of the vast firmament. Look at the clouds－they have the appearance of mountaintops! Li Ch’eng and Kuo Hsi both practiced this method; Kuo Hsi painted “rocks like clouds”. When the ancients speak of “Heaven opening forth pictures”, this is what they mean.2 In his “Conversation on art” (Hua tan 畫 談), written in 1940, Huang Binhong referred to this passage and synthesised the writings of a number of earlier artists whose art was also 1 Osvald Sirén, The Chinese on the Art of Painting, Translations and Comments, pp.18-22.
    [Show full text]
  • The Water Margin Podcast. This Is Episode 28. Last Time, Chao Gai
    Welcome to the Water Margin Podcast. This is episode 28. Last time, Chao Gai and his six sworn brothers were on the lam after their heist came to light. They slaughtered almost every last one of a 500-men government force sent to arrest them. Then, they fled to the bandit stronghold on Liangshan, hoping to find refuge there, just like Lin Chong the Panther Head did after his run-ins with the law. And just like Lin Chong, they had to deal with the two-faced antics of the bandit leader, Wang Lun, who jealously hoarded his power and position against any newcomers who might overshadow him. As we resume our narrative, Lin Chong was paying a visit to Chao Gai and friends, and Wu Yong, the smart one among Chao Gai’s entourage, had just said that they should leave instead of waiting for Wang Lun to kick them out. “Heroes, please do not harbor such thoughts,” Lin Chong told them. “I know what must be done. I was just worried that you all might leave. That’s why I came so early to talk to you. Let’s see how he treats you today. If he says the right things, unlike yesterday, then it’s fine. But if he says so much as one wrong word today, I’ll take care of it.” “Chieftain, we are extremely grateful for your immense kindness!” Chao Gai said. But Wu Yong kept up his charade a little longer, saying, “How can we allow Chieftain Lin to quarrel with his brothers because of us? If they’ll have us, then we can stay.
    [Show full text]