Qiu Ying had a special talent for duplicating famous paintings and thus, his work was in great demand. However, for the most part, his paintings were different and inventive, novel and witty, while staying within the parameters of acceptability. When considering why Qiu Ying copied Zhang’s Along the River During the Qingming Festival, there are three main purposes: First, Qiu Ying may have appreciated Zhang’s work, and the outstanding detail and the composition of this painting, so he may have copied this painting as a means of preserving old compositions. Second, to copy this painting, the artist needs to have skill and dexterity to balance the whole composition and every detail, therefore, Qiu Ying may have copied this work to practice the ancient techniques of the craft and to develop his personal style. The last reason why Qiu Ying made duplicates of famous masterpieces is that collectors in the Ming period had a compelling desire to own famous antique paintings, even if only in reproduction. Furthermore, it is possible that Qiu Ying wanted to show his love of Suzhou …show more content…
Although Qiu Ying’s Along the River During the Qingming Festival is a replica, the structure of the buildings and the people’s clothes clearly show the characteristics of the Ming dynasty. This skillful representation is a work of Qiu Ying’s own creation and imagination, in which he captures a more exciting city, Suzhou, compared to the ancient city of Kaifeng depicted in Zhang’s version. Qiu Ying’s version is two times longer than Zhang’s version. Using Suzhou city in the Ming dynasty as the background, Qui Ying’s painting captures the real lives of urban and rural people in Jiangnan during the Ming period. It shows the lively community life and folk customs with grand and magnificent scenes as well as illustrating the economic, political, military and political conditions at that
There are little to no direct accounts of how individuals’ lives were a couple thousand years ago in Ancient China. With a wealth of information on the rise, decline, and fall of empires, Michael Loewe, a sinologist who specializes in oriental studies and theology, writes an imaginary story about a hero named Bing set around 70 BCE. Bing: From Farmer’s Son to Magistrate in Han China is Loewe’s fictional portrait of life during the Han Empire. It is by no means a comprehensive historical account of Han times, in fact, it was written with those readers who are not familiar with Chinese in mind, however through the life of Bing we can gage how the lives of laborers, those involved in military service, merchants, and government officials might
“The Death of Woman Wang”, written by Chinese historian Jonathan Spence, is a book recounting the harsh realities facing citizens of Tancheng country, Shandong Province, Qing controlled China in the late 17th century. Using various primary sources, Spence describes some of the hardships and sorrow that the people of Tancheng faced. From natural disasters, poor leadership, banditry, and invasions, the citizens of Tancheng struggled to survive in a devastated and changing world around them. On its own, “Woman Wang” is an insightful snapshot of one of the worst-off counties in imperial Qing China, however when taking a step back and weaving in an understanding of long held Chinese traditions, there is a greater understanding what happened in
The Cultural Revolution in China was led by Mao Zedong, due to this Liang and many others faced overwhelming obstacles in many aspects of their life such as work, family and everyday encounters, if affected everyone’s families life and education, Liang lets us experience his everyday struggles during this era, where the government determined almost every aspect of life. The beginning of the book starts out with Liang’s typical life, which seems normal, he has a family which consists of three children, two older sisters and him the youngest, his two sister’s reside in Changsha 1. his father has an everyday occupation working as a journalist at a local newspaper. Things start to take a turn early in life for Liang Heng, his family politics were always questioned, the mistake made by one of his family members would impact his entire family and it would be something they would have to suffer through, it was impossible for them to live down such a sin.... ...
Hung Liu is successful in creating a juxtaposing image that tells a story about the many aspects of her Chinese origins. According to the painting, not all life in China is surrounded by beauty and elegance, like many believe it to be based on the traditional historical customs. Liu makes her point using a brilliant yet subtle progression, moving from the ideal to reality. Making use of the various principles and elements of art in her work creates a careful visual composition that benefit and support the painting’s achievements as a whole. This oil painting, being approximately 13 years old now, will hold a special place in Chinese history for the rest of its existence. The ideas Hung Liu portrays in Interregnum may help reform a social movement in the country by making her viewers socially aware of the cruel conditions the Chinese are facing under Communist rule, and this is all made possible through the assimilation of the principles and
“It was not easy to live in Shanghai” (Anyi 137). This line, echoed throughout Wang Anyi 's short piece “The Destination” is the glowing heartbeat of the story. A refrain filled with both longing and sadness, it hints at the many struggles faced by thousands upon thousands trying to get by in the city of Shanghai. One of these lost souls, the protagonist, Chen Xin, was one of the many youths taken from his family and sent to live the in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. Ten years after the fact, Chen Xin views the repercussions of the Cultural Revolution internally and externally as he processes the changes that both he, and his hometown have over-gone in the past ten years. Devastatingly, he comes to the conclusion that there is no going back to the time of his childhood, and his fond memories of Shanghai exist solely in memory. This is in large part is due to the changes brought on by the Cultural Revolution. These effects of the Cultural Revolution are a central theme to the story; with repercussions seen on a cultural level, as well as a personal one.
In his poem, “Notes from the City of the Sun”, Bei Dao utilizes obscure imagery consistent with the Misty Poets and veiled political references to illustrate the struggles in Chinese society during the Cultural Revolution. The poem is sectioned into fourteen short stanzas containing imagery that are symbolic of the cultural hegemony in China under the rule of Mao Zedong. Bei Dao, born Zhao Zhen-kai, is an anti-revolutionary poet and one of the founders of a group known as the Misty Poets. The Misty Poets wrote poems that protested the Cultural Revolution led by Mao Zedong. Therefore, a lot of Bei Dao’s poems speak out against the Cultural Revolution and the restrictions that it placed on any form of art. Bei Dao’s poetry is categorized as “misty” because of the ambiguity in its references to Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution. An obscure imagery that occurs twice in “Notes” is the sun imagery. Another imagery that depicts the injustice of the Cultural Revolution is the description of freedom as scraps of paper. In the poem, Bei Dao also equates faith to sheep falling into a ditch; this is a depiction blind faith during the Cultural Revolution. The purpose of this essay is to analyze how Bei Dao’s use of the Misty Poet’s ambiguous imagery and implicit political context in the poem “Notes from the City of the Sun” to illustrate the cultural hegemony in China under Mao.
...y extraordinarily beautiful, it was also a wealth of information about the people and culture of ancient China during his reign.
Timothy Brook’s book, The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China is a detailed account of the three centuries of the Ming Dynasty in China. The book allows an opportunity to view this prominent time period of Chinese history. Confusions of Pleasure not only chronicles the economic development during the Ming dynasty, but also the resulting cultural and social changes that transform the gentry and merchant class. Brook’s insights highlight the divide between the Ming dynasty’s idealized beliefs, and the realities of its economic expansion and its effects. Brook describes this gap through the use of several first hand accounts of individuals with various social statuses.
First, the size of the painting drew me in before all. It measures at 339.1 by 199.5 cm, surrounded by a large golden frame. The size alone is enough to bring in any person passing by. Once getting close, the really wonder happened. The story told by the painting
Cheng, Pei-kai, Michael Elliot. Lestz, and Jonathan D. Spence. The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection. New York: Norton, 1999. Print.
Edward L. Dreyer. Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405-1433.
Cao Xueqin’s Story of the Stone is a classic in Chinese literature, showcasing the life and exploits of the wealthy Jia clan during the feudal era. Through Cao’s depiction, the reader is afforded a glimpse into the customs and lifestyle of the time. Chinese mode of thought is depicted as it occurred in daily life, with the coexisting beliefs of Confucianism and Taoism. While the positive aspects of both ideologies are presented, Cao ultimately depicts Taoism as the paramount, essential system of belief that guides the character Bao-yu to his eventual enlightenment.
This work is represented with ink and color on paper which is a hanging scroll, with scale of 114.0 cm * 39.1cm. When first seeing this painting, most of its was filled with a jagged overhanging cliff, and Ren Yu used ink to represent it in a ink wash painting feeling plus clear outline of its shape. Therefore, he also used another practice in traditional Chinese arts, Gongbi, to represent the water at the bottom of this work and some plants. Other than black, white, gray, there are only two colors in the picture: use green to represent plants, and use orange-red to fill the color of the cloth on the person. By the strong contradiction of color, it is easy to catch people’s attention on the figure, which is on the right-bottom of this work. He is in red, relaxed clothes, sitting on the ground of a cave,
The Qingming Shanghe Tu Scroll is viewed by many individuals as an illustration of a realistic portrayal of the Qingming festival in Kaifeng (Hsingyuan 155). After reading “soundscape” (Schaefer) and “city of elements” (Lynch), it can be interpreted in numerous ways, but for certain as a visual narrative. In our case, Athena and I decided to capture five specific areas of the scroll and go from a large scale to a smaller scale, focusing on the interactions involving trade and animals within the scenes. Throughout the video, we try to emphasize that socializing is part of the daily routines, generally in regards to the commerce and the specific elements that contribute, such as nodes, edges, and paths.
Yet, when dealing with eastern society art forms (Chinese, Japanese and Indian) everything the individual is wearing in the painting had a meaning, from the robes, color of each piece, how they sit, their height in the picture, to even the most notable; their stare, basically, the person was the symbol, where in European art, the painter would have to add religious symbols in paintings. When viewing Emperor Shunzhi 1644 –1661 portrait, one can point out, that he has almost the same pinpoint stare as Pablo Picasso Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Also, to point out, even though, women were second class citizens as well, in Chinese form of art; it could be classified as pre-rape culture. Then contrasting this idea, they started showing portraits of