Constructed in 1993, Chinatown Square Zodiacs is one of the most famous and monumental public art in the Chinatown of Chicago. This work consists of twelve bronze zodiac animals, or "sheng xiao" in Chinese, which is a repeating cycle of twelve years and each year is represented by an animal. It is designed by Xilin Sun, Ziqiang Jiang, and Chunwang Lin from Xiamen University and each of the animal statues was sponsored by private donors. These twelve bronze zodiac animals' statues were first created to celebrate and commemorate the opening of the Chinatown square plaza, which marks the success of the efforts from Chinese activists who wanted more lands from the city of Chicago for Chinese immigrants at that time. Hence, the twelve zodiacs animals' …show more content…
The twelve animals were designed in an unusual way. Normally, the twelve zodiac animals would be depicted vividly so that they can well resemble the actual animal (or the dragon in imagination). However, in the Chinatown Square Zodiacs, some of the animals have awkward square shapes in their body parts, which might even cause confusion to the visitors. For instance, other than a design of a spiral silhouette of a snake body, the Snake statue in Chinatown Square Zodiacs has a square shape for the body part. At first glance, visitors could only tell that this is the statue of Snake by the relatively precise depiction of a snake head on the top of the statue, while at the same time confused by the weird pose and shape of its body part. This kind of design could also be seen in the Ox's horns, Monkey's tails, Dragons' body part, etc. Overall speaking, some of the animals' body parts that are smooth and unwrinkled in nature are designed to have a square and aggressive shape that generates strong visual impact. Visitors could recognize each animal when observing them, while at the same time acknowledge that they all have different shapes from their prototypes in the real world. This special design exerts a sense of holiness onto the twelve zodiac animals, implying that all of the zodiac animals are sacred creatures that should not be
The Egyptians often included lions to symbolize strength, leadership, loyalty, and war. The top of the palette also includes a human face with bull horns. This was done in attempt to represent the gods the ancient Egyptians believed in. These gods are associated with power, masculinity, and fertility.
Chinese Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses is a significant sculpture that represented the armies of Qin Shi Huang (the first Emperor of China). It is also known as the eight wonders of the world. It described a strong personality and specific characteristics from that era. This amazing artwork not only shows the remarkable historical value, but also the great artistic achievement. Qin Terracotta art is a great success in both sculpture and architecture.
I visited the Oriental Institute of Chicago Museum, which contains various artifacts, I choose a Model Hippopotamus from Egypt. The hippopotamus is dated to Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, circa 1878 BC. According to wall text at the Oriental Institute of Chicago, hippopotamuses in Egyptian culture represented the enemies of the ruler. I was attracted to the Model Hippopotamus based on its size/shape, lines, texture, and the color.
Chinese first established their community in Los Angeles at today's El Pueblo Historical Monument. About two hundred settled by the year 1870. This number gradually increased over the years when the Southern Pacific began to construct a railroad from San Francisco in the 1870s. They were farm laborers, servants, road builders and small shopkeepers. Even with heavy discrimination during this time, Chinese held a dominant economic position in the Los Angeles laundry and produce industries for several years. Due to this old Chinatown explained its' boundaries eastward from the Plaza across from Alameda Street and grew to a population of over three thousand.
Did everyone has taken a moment to imagine which neighborhood that you like to live? The Chinatown neighborhood of Chicago is one of the historic neighborhoods. According to Harry Kiang’s Chicago’s Chinatown, “In 1890, 25 percent of the city's 600 Chinese lived along Clark between Van Buren and Harrison Streets, in an area called the Loop’s Chinatown. After 1910 Chinese from the Loop moved to a new area near Cermak Road and Wentworth Avenue, mainly for cheaper rent” (Encyclopedia of Chicago). The Chicago has two Chinatowns at the Southern part of the Chicago. Thus we can know that the old Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood is called the Loop’s Chinatown and located at Clark between Van Buren and Harrison Streets; the new Chicago’s Chinatown located
Throughout several myths, monsters are described as many diverse creatures. At first glance, they all seem very distinctive. However, each monster is like a combination of several qualities and characteristics that are matched in different ways to form the monsters that appear in myths such as Hercules, Bellerophon, and Perseus. All monsters have very distinct looks that make them inferior to humans. Generally, they are a mixture of two or more different animals such as snakes, lions, or humans and they may have multiple heads. For example, Cerberus was a horrific three-headed dog that had the tail of a dragon and his back was covered with snakes. Several monsters have some part of them from a snake. Snakes symbolize an evil quality and that is why many monsters are forms of them. Cerberus had his whole back covered in snakes and a dragon tail. Both of these are snake-like parts that contribute to Cerberus looking terrifying. His tail is from a dragon which is very similar to a snake and his back is filled with snakes like fur. The Hydra of Lerna is also an im...
The Chinese New Year is the most significant holiday for the Chinese people, as it is a time for honoring ancestors and reuniting family members together. The Chinese New Year originated centuries ago from the fear of the great beast Nián (年).This terrible monster resembled a huge ox with the head of a lion. Every year, on New Year’s Eve, this creature would come out and devour the terrified Chinese villagers. Numerous homes and animals were destroyed. Eventually, a wise old man counseled the villagers and instructed them on how to get rid of the horrible Nián. He told the people to hang red paper cutouts on their doors because the monster was scared of the color red. Also, the man advised the villagers to light torches and firecrackers, as Nián was frightened of fire and loud noises. The Chinese followed the wise man’s directions and finally conquered the great beast. After Nián’s defeat, the Chinese called this date “the passing of Nián”, known as Guònián (过年). This symbolizes the celebration of the coming New Year. In addition, in keeping the monster away for a year, the Chinese say Gōngxǐ fācái (恭喜发财), which means “congratulations” This represents congratulating each other for making it safely to another New Year.
These images are the Orisha symbols which were the symbols Griffith incorporated throughout his procession. The symbols come from the the seven Grandfather teachings which were dramatized in the precession. The several symbols hung from left to right were: Wisdom, courage, respect, truth, honesty, humility and love. This was a successful demonstration of the Seven Grandfather Teachings as it is emphasized so that the eye mainly focuses on these seven designs. The virtue Wisdom is represented as a Bow and Arrow, Courage is seen as Sabra, a dagger symbolizes respect, the virtue of truth is compared to an Axe, honesty is represented as crossroads, a crescent moon is presented as humility, and finally a heart is a clear depiction of love (Chhangur 11). These diverse symbols are morphological links made through Ring of Fire. Each culture has distinct practices and these symbols represent that despite our diversities we are still able to share particular practices and virtues. This work of art was well put together as viewers are able to make a connection with the theme of the procession Ring of Fire. Due to this successful representation of Griffith’s ideas we are also able to envision what his intentions were with these symbols, and how these symbols majorly influenced the performance of the
My belief is that the nature of our behavior is based on astronomy; hence the reason that people who share the same zodiac sign have very similar characteristics, and sometimes a combination of people with certain zodiac signs cannot get along or are very compatible. Sometimes I can tell from a person’s sign because of their behavior, and likes and dislikes. Learning more about astrology and the zodiac signs helps us to understand people and their actions. Many argue that it is coincidence, but the odds are too high to be that.
Ever since Taoism became popular, Chinese artwork normally portrays humans who have become immortal. In the 12th and
So the Rhinoceros after all isn’t just an animal according to The Song Dynasty. It is much more than that. It is a symbol of great power and achievements. It was even buried with the Emperor that owned it. It was such an honor to have a Vessel made for you. It meant that you were somebody everybody respected. You were in power of China. Which is a huge deal.
In The Art of the Cage, a saying is mentioned “to find enrichment is to sometimes have no enrichment at all.” This translates to how an animal in captivity may not be fed for a period of several days. By having animals in cages and separating them from a mate, parent, or offspring it gets them ready for the wild. In the wild the animal needs to endure hardships that it may face. While the animal has these hardships it gives them endurance, self-sufficiency, and survival instincts. In the past people collected animals has a way to express themselves with the gods to be closer. Zoo show the symbol o...
Along with many other cultures, the Chinese had to devise a way to tell time. Emperor at the time, Yú Dí, also known as the Jade Emperor, decided he would make it twelve year cycle. Thirteen animals were invited; the cat was the last one to finish so it was eliminated. To start the order was determined by how they finished in the race. When the race was completed the animals landed in this order; First was the rat, then the ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and finally the boar. I was born on May, 22nd 1999 at 5:30 pm; this lands me with an outer animal of a rabbit, an inner animal of a snake, and as a secret animal a rooster.
Symbolism played a very important role in Ancient Egyptian art. Because of the highly religious culture,
Life, chaos, harmony and death are aspects that played a strong role in the belief system of the ancient Egyptian people. These aspects focused on the belief of Gods and Goddesses as well as guidelines that affected how ancient Egyptian people lived their lives. Due to these themes having played a role in the ancient Egyptians lifestyle, many symbols, illustrations and works of art were created to go against the aspects of chaos. Countering the idea of chaos, there are works of art that are seen to symbolize the focus on how the ancient Egyptians tried to achieve a harmonious and balanced life by how they viewed their actions and lifestyle choices. Ancient Egyptian art that focus on symbolic images of their belief system are seen