16 | Thursday, April 29, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY LIFE Youths get a lesson in life through skills course

YINCHUAN — In the local school, 12­year­old Duan Jiayang learns the skills required to take care of vegeta­ ble fields. “I learned how to place the mulch film,” says Jiayang, a student of Tanglai Hui Primary School in Yinchuan, capital of Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region. “It’s not easy.” In China, many parents place a heavy focus on their children’s aca­ A series of exhibitions have been organized at the National Art Museum, highlighting gongbi technique — one that demands meticulous and precise brushwork, as well as demic grades, while vocational skills rich colors. Some of the works on show include A Break During Dance (left) by He Jiaying and Emperor Wudi Sees Off Silk Road Envoys (right) by Feng Yuan. have largely been ignored. “Some parents do everything for their children,” says Yan Mei, an offi­ cial with the primary school, adding that many students lack the basic skills needed in their daily lives. For example, Yan says, some parents would do chores on behalf of their A brush with history children during the school’s general cleaning, while their children would just sit around. Since March last year, authorities Vibrant colors and themes reflected in classical artwork at gongbi exhibition, Lin Qi reports. have issued a variety of guidelines, requiring that colleges, middle schools and primary schools pay lassical ink paintings that are more attention to teaching students rendered using the long­standing practical skills. gongbi technique have always Following the rollout of these been a favorite at art shows. This guidelines, Tanglai Hui Primary Cparticular technique demands meticulous School launched an “agricultural and precise brushwork, and its rich colors class base” on one of its campuses. often enhance a feeling of elegance and Students plant fruit and vegetables being highly narrative. on a plot of land about 0.4 hectares The employment of fine gongbi tech­ in size. nique can be found in some of the best­ In the days leading up to the May known artworks in Chinese history, such Day holiday, students of various as Court Ladies Wearing Floral Head­ grades at the school worked togeth­ wear, attributed to the 8th­century paint­ er to sow seeds, till the soil and place er Zhou Fang, and Along the River mulch film over the fields, says During the Qingming Festival by Zhang school principal Yang Bo. They Zeduan of the Song Dynasty (960­1279). planted watermelon, spinach and Modern masters like Qi Baishi are also corn, among other crops. May Day, noted for utilizing the technique to also known as Labor Day, is depict, in vivid detail, small insects and observed on May 1 in China. feathered animals. “We will ask students to get Unlike their ancient predecessors, who involved in the entire process of the took delight in hailing naturalism and a plants’ growth,” Yang says. “Life pursuit of solitary living, gongbi painters skills education is not simply about today focus on a realistic approach to working in the fields, but also expe­ portray people’s mentality. riencing and observing life.” This development was given full The school hopes that students expression at the 11th National Exhibi­ will develop an understanding of tion of Chinese Hue Art, which wrapped just how precious food is so that up on Sunday at the National Art Muse­ they will better appreciate the hard­ um of China in Beijing. Launched by the ship their parents went through, China Hue Art Association, the exhibi­ Yang adds. tion showed the evolution of gongbi art On a campus of the No 21 Primary over the past five years and was also a cel­ School in Yinchuan, students were ebration of the centennial of the Commu­ attending a special life skills class: nist Party of China this year. how to make variously shaped More than 400 paintings were on dis­ steamed buns. play, bringing together the works of well­ With fermented dough and established artists whose achievements Left: Life Is Like a Song by Chen equipment prepared, students in other styles of painting have breathed Mengxin. Top: Wind From the East began to make buns in the shape of new life into the tradition of gongbi by Niu Kecheng. Above: A bust of swans, hedgehogs and rabbits. painting. Chen Zhifo, a modern master of the One of the students, Lian Yan, The show also served as a launch pad gongbi style whose work is on show quickly grasped the technique and for up­and­coming artists, whose inten­ at the National Art Museum. made a dough swan, put it in the sive exposure to global movements in art PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY classroom steamer and watched it has inspired them to refresh the creation become a steamed bun. of ink art. “I really love my life skills course. He Jiaying, a noted figure painter, ush­ paintings and a scene even more dynamic and build a confidence in it before they “The history (of art and culture) It’s my favorite class,” she says. “We ers the fine style of “court lady” painting and diverse”, but he also finds some works can further push the front line of tradi­ marches from one peak to another,” says can learn to make steamed buns and into the context of modern life. “rather wanting in technique and taste”. tional gongbi paintings. Wu Weishan, director of the National grow succulent plants here.” His work A Break During Dance, His style has been a subject of study The exhibition also set off a surge of Art Museum. “These exhibitions show Children usually just study at painted on silk, retains the elegance and and imitation among gongbi painters, appreciation for gongbi art at the Nation­ the evolution of gongbi art from the home and doing chores is an tranquility of shinyu tu, a classical style but he says that one should dig deeper al Art Museum. The museum organized Song Dynasty until today, as well as its unpleasant task they want to avoid, gongbi painting depicting women from a into the heart of Chinese painting if another two shows — Exhibition of Fine unique charm as an independent form says the mother of Fan Wendi, one of well­to­do background. Whereas, at the aspiring to be distinctive. Brushwork Paintings Collected by NAM­ of art. the students in the school. same time, its depiction of three balleri­ “Firmly, I am rooted in the soil of Chi­ OC, which also wrapped up on Sunday, “These works are traces of history and “Vocational courses turn such nas is reminiscent of the work of French nese culture, and meanwhile, I reach out and Standing Out From Three Centuries, also reflections of the spirit of the time,” ‘tasks’ into an interest, and then a impressionist Edgar Degas. to absorb the nutrition of foreign art,” He a collaboration with Nanjing Museum to he says. hobby, and eventually a life skill,” He says that, for years, the National says. show works by Chen Zhifo, a modern she says. “It will be a good thing for Exhibition of Chinese Hue Art “has given a According to He, the artist should truly master of gongbi paintings, which runs Contact the writer at their future.” boost to the creation of quality gongbi understand the core values of Chinese art through May 9. 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as an affordable and easily accessi­ ble source of treatment for many TCM clinic gives Zimbabweans alternative medical care people. Traditional medicine is recog­ nized as a formal part of the coun­ HARARE — A newly opened tra­ “Usually when people come here, Sun says the center aims to train noticeable improvement. “TCM focuses on the whole body, try’s healthcare system and is ditional Chinese Medicine clinic is they don’t come with new problems; more local medical professionals to With his second acupuncture ses­ while conventional medicine focus­ regulated by the Medicines Control offering Zimbabweans an afforda­ usually they come here with old, administer TCM to Zimbabweans. sion, he felt even better, expressing es on one certain part of the body. If Authority of Zimbabwe, the state ble alternative to medical care in a unsolved or very difficult problems,” John Mbondoza, 59, is one of confidence that, with continued you have back pain, conventional body responsible for ensuring that country where access to quality Sun says. many in the country who have treatment, he will eventually be medicine would treat you for just medical treatments used by the healthcare remains a challenge to Sun says while Western conven­ turned to TCM to address their healed. the back pain, while TCM treats the public are safe. many people. tional medicine and TCM are differ­ health challenges. Karen Gurure, a China­trained whole body,” she says. Zimbabwe and China share a Last year the Zimbabwe­China ent, they each have a place in today’s Mbondoza was struggling with Zimbabwean medical doctor who is Gurure says there is room to long history of cooperation in the Traditional Chinese Medicine and healthcare landscape, adding that muscle contraction issues in his leg interning at the clinic, says the incorporate TCM within Zimbab­ health sector. Since 1985, China has Acupuncture Center opened at the TCM can play a complementary role for five years before attempting major advantage of TCM is that it we’s traditional medicine practices, dispatched 18 medical teams to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in to modern treatment methods. TCM. has fewer side effects compared to adding that a collaborative effort Zimbabwe. the capital Harare. Since its open­ “If painkillers can help you to After reading an article in the conventional medicine. between the two will contribute to China has also recently stepped ing, more than 150 people suffering reduce the pain in five minutes, local press about the opening of the Gurure, who studied at the Jiang­ the transformation of the local med­ up its efforts in helping to increase from various ailments, such as high why you should wait for a decoc­ center, he decided to give it a try. xi University of Traditional Chinese ical healthcare system. the capability of Zimbabwe’s health blood pressure, lumbar pain, diabe­ tion in three days to work?” she Before coming to the center, he Medicine, says more benefits can be Gurure says China offers valuable delivery system and enhancing its tes and hernias, among other health says. “The painkiller can keep you had tried different conventional derived from adopting TCM locally. lessons to Zimbabwe in terms of fight against the COVID­19 pan­ problems, have received assistance without pain, maybe, for one day medical treatments with little suc­ While Western medicine tends to modernizing and codifying tradi­ demic by providing various dona­ free of charge. and then, in another 24 hours, you cess. focus on diagnosing and treating ill­ tional medicine. tions of medical supplies — most Sun Shuang, a Chinese TCM prac­ need to take another pill. But with “I have been taking medication ness based on a patient’s symptoms, Zimbabwe has a long history of recently with delivery of its COVID­ titioner at the clinic, says the facility three days of Chinese traditional but there was no result,” he says, TCM uses complex patterns of traditional plant usage for medici­ 19 vaccines. is providing much­needed relief to medicine decoction, you will be adding that after his first acupunc­ imbalance within the body to deter­ nal purposes, and traditional med­ locals. free of the pain totally.” ture session with Sun, there was a mine a diagnosis. icines still play an important role XINHUA