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Home , Jiming Temple, Qinhuai District, Qixia Temple, Zhouzhuang

AHI 163D

Expressions of Originality

in Visual Art and Culture of Early Modern

General Itinerary

Professor Katharine Burnett

University of California, Davis

Summer Session I 2010

For AHI 163D in Summer 2010, we will be based in , the capital of the Southern (1127‐1268), and a center of artistic production from that time on. Hangzhou is one of the most beautiful cities in China. Centered on the picturesque West Lake, it is rimmed with an important museum, teahouses and restaurants, temples with ancient sculptures, , and tea plantations. We will read Chinese poetry on its shores and take pleasure boat rides to enjoy the views.

View of West Lake, Hangzhou

As the course focuses on the visual art of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties for which the value of originality was paradigmatic and typically results in forms that are extremely idiosyncratic if not also outright wacky,

Wu Bin (ca. 1543‐ca 1626), 500 Luohans, detail, handscroll, ink on paper, Cleveland Museum of Art

Wu Bin, On the Way to Shanyin, 1608, detail, handscroll, ink on paper, Museum

we will take fieldtrips to , the political capital of the (1368‐ 1644), and the cultural capital of China during the 17th century. Fuzi Miao market in Qinhuai , Nanjing

While in Nanjing, we will wander the ruins of the Ming Palace 明故宮, study paintings in the , and explore the 秦淮区, home to artists and entertainers during the 17th century. While there, we will explore the Fuzi Miao and Imperial Examinations History Museum 夫子廟和江南公園歷史陳列館, the Linggu Temple 靈谷寺, Ming City Walls, and City Gates, Heaven Dynasty Palace 朝天宮, 雞鳴寺, and Bell Tower 大鍾停，鼓樓, as time permits.

Qixia Temple, Nanjing

We will visit the 栖霞寺 in the mountains outside of the city, a Buddhist site with ancient grottos carved with Buddhist sculptures. The temple was an important gathering place for the leading intellectuals of the late Ming. We will have lunch in the temple’s vegetarian restaurant.

After Nanjing, we will travel to , the city that replaced Nanjing as China’s center of cultural production in the 18th century. Huang Shen, (1687 ‐ 1772), The Daoist and the Emperor’s Oranges, album leaf, ink and color on paper, University of Michigan Museum of Art

Inheriting the traditions of the 17th century artists, the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou (Yangzhou baguai) developed their own idiosyncratic styles. While in Yangzhou, we will visit the home of one of the famous salt merchants, and dine in a restaurant now housed there. In Yangzhou, we will visit the Yangzhou 8 Eccentrics Memorial 揚州八怪紀念館, Yangzhou Arts & Crafts Museum 揚州工藝美術館. Yangzhou City Museum 揚州市博物館, and Slender West Lake Park 瘦西湖公園.

From Yangzhou, we will go to Dingshan in County to study the whimsical ceramics made there. The Yixing ware ceramics are made in this area, famous for “espresso” sized teapots in “purple sand” clay. Although the clay has been used for potting for thousands of years, it was in the late Ming that the classic aesthetic of this ware was established. We will visit the Yixing Pottery Museum 宜興陶瓷博物館, and the Pottery Market (longxi taoci shichang 陶瓷市場 ). We will drive by on ride back to Hangzhou.

Teapot in the shape of a piece of rotting wood, Yixing ware, contemporary

Another fieldtrip will take us to , the city famous for its ancient gardens and canals. While there we will visit the Suzhou Museum, designed by I.M. Pei. This city was the elite cultural center during the Ming Dynasty, and center of vital developments in painting during the mid Ming.

LEFT A garden wall in Suzhou RIGHT Suzhou Museum, designed by I.M. Pei

In Shanghai, we will spend time studying paintings, calligraphy and other arts in the world‐class Shanghai Museum, and wander the Bund.

LEFT Shanghai Museum RIGHT The Bund at night

We will spend a day wandering the streets of , an old canal town famous for its architecture in Ming and Qing styles, and imagine ourselves back in time. In Zhouzhuang Old Town 周庄古戲台, we plan to visit the Zhang Residence Hall 張停, Shen Residence Hall 沈停, Zhouzhuang Museum 周庄博物館, Chengxu Temple 道觀 as time permits.

Views of Zhouzhuang

Welcome and farewell dinners will be held (pending reservations) at two of China’s best restaurants. One, established 1848, is Louwailou, located on West Lake in Hangzhou. It has the most beautiful and delicious food I have ever had in China. For more information, see http://www.louwailou.com.cn/english/intro.asp.

The other is the recently founded Dragon Well Major, described by Fuschia Dunlop in a 2008 New Yorker article. For more information, see http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/24/081124fa_fact_dunlop .