Name: Nirvana Tablet | 中文名: 涅槃变相碑
Dated to: 691 A.D. | Culture: Tang Dynasty
Collected: 1957 in Linyi, Shanxi | Current location: Shanxi Museum
Dimensions: 302 x 97 x 25 cm

Nirvana Tablet: Visualizing Buddhist Stories

At 302 centimeters high, 97 centimeters wide, the tablet was originally engraved in 691 AD for Dayun Temple. The temple has been destroyed long time ago in the history. This stone tablet survived and was collected in 1957.

Revolving around the key subject of Nirvana, there are six different stories like “Being Brought up in Nandas”, “Double Tree Nirvana”, “Expounding Buddhist Doctrine for Mother”, “Prophetic Vision by Way of the Double Feet”, “Funeral Procession”, “Burning of the Coffin” and “Emergence of Pagoda in Heaven”.

In the lower part of the tablet are some names of benefactors. The middle part, decorated with relief sculpture, is of some higher artistic value due to its majestic scale, appropriate composition and exquisite carving.

Stone Carving Art Relics of Shanxi Province

Shanxi Museum

The unique historical position and natural environment of Shanxi has resulted in superb stone carving art. Since the Western Han Dynasty, the variety of stone carving works has been marvelous, locally distinct.

As to Buddhist picturing, Yungang and Tianlongshan Grottoes have gained fame home and abroad; with a great number of other statues standing in the countryside and ancient temples. All the stone carvings and statues were found and unearthed in Taiyuan Huata and South Nieshui of Qinxian, and all the other places have made it possible for the restoration of the artistic nationalization since Yungang Time when its grottoes were coming into being and furthermore of the secularization in the Song and Yuan dynasties.

The stone carvings and statues in the Tang Dynasty, graceful, robust and elegant, has created in anybody’s mind a longing sensation like “everything has been within me”. Just as religions are illusive, so too is art.

[Forbidden Treasure of China Series]
This is the 24^th of 64 culture heritages that the government of China forbids to exhibit abroad. The complete list is here. In Chinese.

[Chinese Keywords]
国家一级文物 禁止出境

Song Zuying & Placido Domingo at “Bird Nest”, piano: Lang Lang

Kang Ding Love Song is one of the most popular Chinese folk songs. Its simple melody and vivid rhythm are easy to remember and sing, and its lyrics tell a timeless theme — LOVE.

Behind this famous folk song, there are two stories. One is inside the music – how it was written; the other is outside the music, how it became well-known. Let’s me tell them one by one.

Kang-Ding Love Song: The Story Inside

“Kang-Ding Love Song” was a folk song born in the 1930s in Kangding (Sichuan) by a local musician named Li Yi-Ruo from Xuanhan (Sichuan). He wrote this song based on his own true romantic story:

When he was attending college in Chengdu, Li fell in love with a classmate from Kangding. His parents did not agree on their relationship because her surname is also Li. Then he broke up with his parents and lost their financial support for schooling and living expenses. Thanks to all the help from Miss Li’s that Yi-Ruo was able to finish his college.

Morning in Kang Ding | by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/shenxy/1448654734/}shenxy{/link}

Influenced by feudal ethics, the relationship between Li Yi-Ruo and Miss Li of Kang-Ding did not have a happy ending. Yi-Ruo had traveled to Kang Ding with Miss Li. In order to commemorate this relationship, Yi-Ruo wrote this folk song titled “Horse riding high upon the mountain side”.

Li Yi-Ruo taught local people to sing this song and they loved it, calling it “Horse Ride Song”. One guy named Ou said Yi-Ruo taught him this song when he had dinner with Yi-Ruo. He thought the title was “Song of Kang-Ding Town”. And the lyric was different, including a sentence about “labor is good”, and the guy’s name in the lyrics was “Li” instead of Zhang.

Three People Giant Flute and Koudi

Kang-Ding Love Song: The Story Outside

This song gradually spread locally in the 1940s. In mid-40s, a student from Fujian named Wu Wenji studied at the Qingmuguan National Music School in Chongqing. He collected this song from the soldiers from Kangding.

Then he handed in this song to his teacher Wu Zhengqian. Wu liked it a lot, so he requested Jiang Dingxian (a famous musician at the Composition Department) to rearrange the accompaniment for better recording and singing.

When Jiang Dingxian finished the accompaniment, he renamed its original title “Horse riding high upon the mountain side” into current “Kangding Love Song”. Later, Wu Zhengqian sang the song for the first time at a school concert.

Later, Jiang Dingxian recommended this song to the then popular singer Yu Yixuan. The same year in Nanjing, Yu Yixuan held a personal concert singing this song publicly. It became part of her repertoire afterwards. She sang the song everywhere she went, from Nanjing to the Northwest, domestic and abroad, which made “Kangding Love Song” spread throughout the world.

Go to next page to view its Chinese lyrics and a poetic liberal translation in English.

Climbing a Tree to Catch Fish | by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/piper/27080789/}CaptPiper{/link}

Cats are our friends. In China, we think cat is the teacher of other cats such as tiger. Why? Because cat can do what tiger cannot do: climbing a tree.

The other thing that always puzzles me about domestic cats is that they like eating fish. How could they have evolved to like eating fish while they cannot catch it? I know there are special specie called “fishing cat”, but I think most domestic cats don’t know how to catch fish. Maybe you readers can help me out.

Climbing a tree, catching fish, oh, yes, now we have a solution for cats: climbing a tree to catch fish. Is this a good solution? Maybe you already have a answer, I think you will better judge it after reading the following dialogue between Mencius and King Xuan of Qi. This dialogue happened 2300+ years ago.

Climbing a Tree to Seek for Fish: The dialogue between Mencius and King Xuan of Qi

” … doing what you do to seek for what you desire is like climbing a tree to seek for fish…” — Mencius

Fishing Cat | {link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_Cat}Wikipedia{/link}

Mencius said, ‘May I hear from you what it is that you greatly desire?’

The king laughed and did not speak.

Mencius resumed, ‘Are you led to desire it, because you have not enough of rich and sweet food for your mouth? Or because you have not enough of light and warm clothing for your body? Or because you have not enough of beautifully coloured objects to delight your eyes? Or because you have not melodies and tones enough to please your ears? Or because you have not enough of attendants and favourites to stand before you and receive your orders? Your Majesty’s various officers are sufficient to supply you with those things. How can your Majesty be led to entertain such a desire on account of them?’

‘No,’ said the king; ‘my desire is not on account of them.’

Mencius added, ‘Then, what your Majesty greatly desires may be known. You wish to enlarge your territories, to have State of Qin and Chu wait at your court, to rule the Middle Kingdom, and to attract the surrounding barbarous tribes to you. But doing what you do to seek for what you desire is like climbing a tree to seek for fish.’

The king said, ‘Is it so bad as that?’

Cat And Fish in Plate | by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/zenera/64447610/}zenera{/link}

‘It is even worse,’ was the reply. ‘If you climb a tree to seek for fish, although you do not get the fish, you will not suffer any subsequent calamity. But doing what you do to seek for what you desire, doing it moreover with all your heart, you will assuredly afterwards meet with calamities.’

The king asked, ‘May I hear from you the proof of that?’

Mencius said, ‘If the State of Zhou should fight with the people of Chu, which of them does your Majesty think would conquer?’

‘The State of Chu would conquer.’

‘Yes; and so it is certain that a small country cannot contend with a great, that few cannot contend with many, that the weak cannot contend with the strong. The territory within the four seas (China) can be divided into nine parts, each of which is about a thousand mile square. All Qi territory together is but one of them. If with one part you try to subdue the other eight, what is the difference between that and Zhou’s contending with Chu? For, with such a desire, you must turn back to the proper course for its attainment.

‘Now if your Majesty will institute a government whose action shall be benevolent, this will cause all the officers in the Middle Kingdom to wish to stand in your Majesty’s court, and all the farmers to wish to plough in your Majesty’s fields, and all the merchants, both travelling and stationary, to wish to store their goods in your Majesty’s market-places, and all travelers to wish to make their tours on your Majesty’s roads, and all throughout the kingdom who feel aggrieved by their rulers to wish to come and complain to your Majesty. And when they are so bent, who will be able to keep them back?’

Storyteller: In this dialogue, Mencius was trying to persuade King Xuan of Qi that conquering other states with wars to enlarge his territory wouldn’t work, just as fruitless as “to climb a tree to seek for fish”. Having a benevolent government would automatically attract people and enlarge his territory.

Other English equivalents:

to fish in the air; to milk the bull; to wring water from a flint; a fruitless approach …

[Chinese Keywords]
缘木求鱼

Since Feb 2009, it has taken me almost a year and half to finish this “Scenic Splendor of China” 22-posts series. Today I can finally make a summary here. I hope you also enjoyed the virtual journey around the beautiful territory of China like I did.

The rise of Chinese National Geography

National Geographic is a worldwide famous magazine based in the USA. In China, there was a similar magazine. Its original name was “Geography Knowledge”. It was established in 1950 as a specialized magazine. But it was out of public awareness until October 2000, when it changed its name to “Chinese National Geography”.

After this kind of copycat name change and related content redesign (to be more entertaining), it soon became one of the most popular magazines in China and had gained huge popularity and credits.

500 page magazine: the thickest issue of all magazines

In Oct 2005, to celebrate its 55th anniversary, the magazine introduced this 500 page issue “Scenic Splendor of China” without any price change. Later a hardcopy version was published. In the following years, it was reprinted three times and could hardly meet the demand.

This “Scenic Splendor of China” selection event was organized by Chinese National Geography, co-sponsored by 34 media in the country. It took 8 months to select the final winners of 17 types (114 total number) of most beautiful landscapes. They are: Mountains, Lakes, Forests, Grasslands, Deserts, Yardangs, Danxias, Karsts, Islands, Coasts, Waterfalls, Glaciers, Canyons, Urban District, Villages & Towns, Tourists Caves, and Wetlands.

As a science magazine, “Chinese National Geography” advocates the ideal of nature and humanity, especially in revealing what effects the process and changes of nature have on human. Another important issue is that it advocates the harmonious coexistence between human and nature, the concepts for us to follow in the relationship between human and nature. So it is so apparent that such a magazine should do such a selection, and the magazine should be proud of doing such a selection.

Criteria: Overthrow the traditional aesthetics

The selection has different criteria in different type of landscapes, while the overall focus is ecological point of view. In this list of “China’s Most Beautiful Places”, many formerly unknown places have been pushed into the center stage of public awareness.

“Chinese National Geography” magazine stated this as three points:

1. To overthrow the tradition: traditional famous mountains and lakes failed to make into the list;

2. To promote new aesthetics: glaciers and yardangs are introduced;

3. To focus on the West: minority ethnic cultures shine.

In a new century, “Chinese National Geography” magazine reveals a most beautiful and natural China to the world from a new perspective , which will promote the aesthetic evolution of Chinese people in the new period.

Please click the individual titles below for the post about each type of landscapes. Note: It was divided into four pages. Click the page number at the bottom to navigate.

Top 3 Yardangs in China with Google Earth links

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Top 5 Karst Peak Forests in China with Google Earth Links

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Top 5 Lakes in China with Google Earth Links

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Top 6 Grasslands in China with Google Earth Links

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Top 6 Waterfalls in China with Google Earth Links

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Name: Riders on Horseback – Wall Painting | 中文名: 娄睿墓《鞍马出行图》壁画
Dated to: 550-577A.D. | Culture: Northern Qi Dynasty
Unearthed: 1979@Taiyuan, Shanxi | Current location: Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology
Dimension: 160cm x 450cm

“Riders on Horseback” is a wall painting in the Tomb of Lou Rui from the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577A.D).

Tomb owner Lou Rui, nephew of Empress Wuming of Northern Qi Dynasty, had been on important official positions such as Great General, Da Sima, Da Shi, etc. He was a major figure in the Northern Qi regime.

Ramp corridor and burial chamber of the tomb were all painted, covering 200+ square meters with 71 paintings. With their bold lines, harmonic color, dynamic and vivid formation, careful and precise composition, these paintings have been recognized as excellent representative artworks of Chinese paintings in Southern and Northern Dynasties period.

The murals are divided into two parts:

On the walls of ramp, the lower section of walls of courtyard, corridor, and main chamber, the paintings illustrate Lou Rui’s military career and life scenes before his death;

On the upper walls of corridor, courtyard, chambers and gates, those paintings depict the illusory fantasy in which the tomb owner ascended to heaven and returned to the Western Pure Land after death.

The whole set of murals integrates human life and supernatural legends into one great magnificent picture.

These murals used traditional scroll type composition, divided into several short sections: people riding in the front, followed by group portraits, and sections are related to each other.

As to techniques, they were outlines using iron wires, so people, horses look delicate and realistic. They inherited the technique guidance “To use shape to express spirit” used for figure painting since famous painter Gu Kaizhi, and followed the rough style of Han Dynasty murals , In the meantime, the use of color washes, light and dark against the background, and distance contrast, makes the image more three dimensional and realistic .

These murals treasures indicate that artists in Southern and Northern Dynasties Period, like Gu Kaizhi, Zhang Senyou, Lu Tanwei of Southern Dynasties, and Yang Zi-hua, Cao Zhongda of Northern Dynasties, had already attained a considerable height in creative art, which laid the foundation of Chinese traditional painting.

For this reason, some researchers think these paintings in Lou Rui’s tomb were Painting Saga Yang Zi-hua’s work. His horse paintings were so good that “you can hear the horses neighing for water and grass at night”.

[Forbidden Treasure of China Series]
This is the 23^rd of 64 culture heritages that the government of China forbids to exhibit abroad. The complete list is here. In Chinese.

[Chinese Keywords]
国家一级文物 禁止出境

Night Bird Nest National Stadium | {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasyung_cn/3972113858/}T. Yung{/link}

Welcome to the August 19, 2010 edition of china carnival. We have seven submissions this time. Actually Athena Goodlight submitted four posts but I could only take two for one carnival. Thank her and everyone for your enthusiastic participation. Enjoy the posts!

Ray Peterman presents The Size of the Chinese Mobile Market posted at All Things Mobile, saying, “A personal take on what’s happening in the mobile world. Mobile advertising, mobile analytics, industry news and practical how to guides.”

Culture

Joseph Alban, L.Ac. presents How Acupuncture Works to Relieve Pain posted at Alban Acupuncture & Chinese Herbs Clinic, New York City.

Music

Dizi - a Chinese wind instrument | by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinreader/1223327733/}pinreader{/link}

Athena Goodlight presents Traditional Chinese Wind Instruments posted at Factoidz, saying, “These are the traditional Chinese wind instruments. Each of them has its own history with their ancient roots both from within China or adapted from other nearby countries. Every wind instrument has a specific sound quality made for a specific purpose.”

Other

Igor presents Heaven is a place on Earth posted at Be Zen, My Friend.

Travel

Great Wall | by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/franck-chilli/3882326984/}franckculinary{/link}

Athena Goodlight presents Running The Great Wall of China posted at Running The Great Wall of China, saying, “For the traveling athlete, running a half-marathon on the largest fortification and biggest battlement of the world may just be the exhilarating fitness adventure you’re looking for.”

elaineR presents Lexiaguo (Luoxiagou) – where is it in China? posted at ElaineR.com, saying, “Lexiaguo”

Zhu presents Beijing By Night posted at Correr Es Mi Destino, saying, “Between 10pm and 5am, the city is alive and thriving. Night markets, busy streets, lights everywhere — life doesn’t stop in Beijing.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of china carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Written in 1965 by Wang Huiran, Dance of the Yi People was adapted from two Yi Ethnic (Yunnan Province) folk song “Seaweed Tune” and “Cigarette Box Dance”. The music has beautiful lyric melodies and powerful rhythm beat. It vividly presents the charming night scenery of Yi mountain villages and the joyful dance scenes of enthusiastic young men and women.

Yi people dancing | by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/freemindcard/4774822588/}free mind gallery{/link}

In the song, the Wang Huiran firstly introduced “four fingers tremolo” technique. Thus, based on the traditional buckle tremolo, pick tremolo, hook tremolo, “four fingers tremolo” separates the right hand thumb, and use the other four fingers to make tremolo. In the mean time, the thumb plays separate accompaniment parts to play the effect of polyphony or harmony.

“Dance of the Yi People ” has become one of the representative works of the fourth climax in the history of Chinese Pipa music.

Its classical guitar adaptation

Note: Ads preceded, be patient

This music is rich in national characteristics, and has a strong flavor of the times. It is deeply loved many musicians, was adapted into Guzheng, Sanxian, Yangqin, Ruan solo and orchestral music.

A famous Guitarist, Yin Biao, turned it into a classical guitar solo. In 1987, he played it at China International Guitar Festival held in Zhuhai. Artists from France, Japan, Spain, Austria and Argentina praised it and it soon became one of the most influential classical guitar music in the guitar world.

Mr. Chen Zhi – a well-known guitar educator – praised “Dance of the Yi Tribe” that it is a valuable creative exploration in the nationalization of the classical guitar!

A Guzheng version is below:

Pop Song: 999 Roses – A Vocal Adaption

As with many Chinese compositions for traditional instruments, in the late 20th century Dance of the Yi People was also remade into a Chinese popular song entitled “999 Roses” (九百九十九朵玫瑰), sung by Samuel Tai (邰正宵). You can listen to the Chinese pop song on youtube here: 999 Roses.

Confort Snake | by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebigdurian/89595700/}S. Bhansali{/link}

I hope you were not scared by this green snake. If so, I apologize.

“Less is more”. This is a popular motto quoted by graphic designers and lots of other professionals. The opposite is also a good one: “More is less.”

Flowers are beautiful as they are, over decorating them only make them ugly; things should be done appropriately, no more, no less. Overdoing a thing only diminishes it. There is an English idiom about this: Gild the lily.

It’s a common misquotation of a line from William Shakespeare’s 1595 play King John, iv 2:

To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, to throw a perfume on the violet, to smooth the ice, or add another hue unto the rainbow, or with taper-light to seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish, is wasteful and ridiculous excess.“

In Chinese language, we have a two thousand years old idiom describing the same idea, and as always, it comes with a vivid story.

Draw a snake and add feet to it

An official of the ancient State of Chu awarded a pot of wine to his men after the ceremony of Spring Sacrifice. One man said, “We have only one pot of wine. It’s not enough for all of us but sufficient for one. Let’s determine who’ll have the wine by drawing a snake on the ground. He who finishes first will have the wine.”

Draw a Snake and Add Feet to it

The others agreed. Very soon, one man finished his snake. He was about to drink the wine when he saw the others were still busy drawing. He said complacently, “How slowly you are !I still have enough time to add feet to my snake.”

But before he finished the feet, another man finished his snake and grabbed the pot from him, saying, “Whoever has seen a snake with feet? Yours is not a snake. So the wine should be mine!” He drank the wine. The man adding feet to the snake had to give in and could only regret his foolishness.

This story was recorded by Liu Xiang (77－6 B.C., West Han Dynasty) in his book Zhan Guo Ce.

From that story comes the idiom “Draw a snake and add feet to it”. Now people use this idiom to illustrate the truth that going too far is as bad as not going far enough.

[Chinese Keywords]
画蛇添足

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. An archipelago is a chain or cluster of islands that are formed tectonically. — wikipedia

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[image sources]: 6. lotour | 7. jingqu.cn | 8. hudeson | 9. 阿里山 | 10. yanmin

You can view all Top 10 Most Beautiful Islands in China in Google Earth here.

6. Miaodao Islands 庙岛列岛 – Fairy mountains on the sea
Google Earth | Wiki | location: Yantai, Shandong

Miaodao Islands: Fairy Mountains on the Sea | by {link:http://36.la/space/1653/do/blog/id/73883}宋文婧{/link}

Miaodao Islands, aka. Changshan Islands (or Long Island), sits in the Bohai Strait between Liaodong Peninsula and Shandong Peninsula. Reefs change in many styles because of long term erosion by the sea water. Among them, “The Sisters Reef”, “Lighthouse Island” are very famous coastal rock sceneries.

In the ancient times, Miaodao Islands are known as “Three (Penglai, Wanzhang, Yingzhou) Fairy Mountains on the Sea”. According to “Records of the Grand Historians”, great emperors such as Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han had endure the long journey to come here and worship towards the fairy mountains and beg for longevity. And its famous sea mirage attracts lots of tourists.

7. Mount Putuo Island 普陀山岛 – Buddha Kingdom Between the Sea and Heaven
Google Earth | Wiki | location: Zhoushan, Zhejiang

Mountain Putuo Island is located in the Lianhua Sea within Zhoushan Islands. It is famous in Chinese Buddhism, and is considered the bodhimanda of Avalokitesvara (Guan Yin), a revered Bodhisattva in many parts of East Asia. Mount Putuo is one of the four sacred mountains in Chinese Buddhism. The wonderful scene here integrates the beauty of Temples, Sea, Sand and Rocks.

In Tang Dynasty (863 A.D.), Japanese Monk Master Hui’e took a ship back to Japan with a Guan Yin Statue from Wutai Mountains. The ship encountered storms at Lianhua Sea and could not proceed. After several failures, people believe Guanyin is not willing to go east (to Japan). So they stayed at Mountain Putuo and build a temple to worship the “Unwilling to Go Guanyin”. After several dynasties, numerous temples were built here. In its best time, the whole island has 4 major monasteries, 106 temples, 139 Grass houses and 4654+ monks, known as the “The No. 1 Buddhist Kingdom in China.”

A monk by the sea | by {link:http://www.foyin.com/plus/view.php?aid=65833}foyin{/link}

8. Mount Dayu Island 大嵛山岛 – Mountain, lake, grass, sea… all condensed here
Google Earth | Wiki | location: Fuding, Fujian

Mount Dayu Island, about 5km in diameter and 541.4 meters high, is the biggest island in East Fujian. In the boundless expanse of blue water on the East China Sea, 200 meters above sea level, there sets two lakes, which are known as “Heaven Lakes on the Sea”.

On the gentle slopes around the lake, there is vast grassland crowned as “Southern Tianshan”. Here you feel like you were on the great northwestern prairie. You can hardly imagine such a magical mood exists on the sea !

9. Linjin Islet and Nanding Island 林进屿、南碇岛 – Remains of precious ancient volcanic landscape
Google Earth Linjin, Nanding | Wiki | location: Zhangzhou, Fujian

Located in Zhangzhou, Fujian Coastal Volcanic National Geological Park, Linjin Islet is only 0.16 square kilometers in area, 72.7m above sea level. Nanding Island is “floating” southeast to Linjin Islet, about 6.5 km from the coast, smaller, only half of Linjin Islet.

Overlooking from Xiangshan Peninsula, Lin Jin and Nanding Islands like a pair of sister islands, sit one after the other on the sea. Solely formed by basalt lava, the islands’ most famous volcanic landscapes are craters and gusting vents groups and ancient lava groups. Especially, Nanding Island is formed by hexagonal columnar basalt stone composition. There are as many as 1.4 million of them, which twist northeast to form a Hurricane rhythm. Locally known as “Hairy Rock Forest”, or “Lava Coral”.

10. Hailing Island 海陵岛 – Silver beach by the South China Sea
Google Earth | Wiki | location: Yangjiang, Guangdong

Mawei Island of Hailing Island | by {link:http://www.cnzozo.com/pic/yangjiang514/2008/p010937480.shtml}cnzozo{/link}

Hailing Island is famous for its superior “ten mile long silver beach”. The sand is fine, smooth, and snow white. The water is clean and clear, no worry about sharks, reefs, or sea plants.

It is also rich in cultural heritage. Besides the Song Dynasty style touristy city, there is a Navy Silk Road Museum. In the museum sits a thousand year old ancient sunk merchant ship “No. 1 South Sea”. More than a hundred thousands
pieces of chinaware, gold ware, and jade ware from the ship are also exhibited in the museum. They will tell you the prosperity of ancient Navy Silk Road.

[Scenic Splendor of China Series]

This is one post of the Scenic Splendor of China Series. In 2005.10, Chinese National Geography (CNG) selected 114 “most beautiful places” covering 17 different types of scenic patterns. The complete list is here. In Chinese. These scenic places will be covered individually in future.

[Chinese Keywords]
中国最美的地方 海岛

Lacquer Screen from Sima Jinlong Tomb

Name: Lacquer screen with color figure paintings | 中文名: 彩绘人物故事漆屏
Dated to: 419－484 A.D. | Culture: Northern Wei Dynasty
Unearthed: 1965@Datong, Shanxi | Current location: Datong Museum
Dimensions: 80 x 20 x 2.5cm

Sima Jinlong Tomb

According to Book of Wei, Sima Jinlong is the ninth generation grandson of Lord Sima Kui (Brother of Emperor Xuan (Sima Yi) of Jin). Sima Jinglong and his wife Ji Cheng were buried together in this tomb.

This Sima Jinlong’s tomb has been robbed before, but there are still quite a lot of relics unearthed. When this lacquer screen was unearthed, there are five better preserved pieces. Originally, there should be paintings on both sides. The down side was seriously corroded  and hard to distinguish, the up side is well preserved. There are four pieces of carved stone screen stands unearthed at the same time. The decorations on the stands are delicate too, but mostly are Buddhism topics, which are unrelated to the screen paintings.

Formation and Content

It was made of wood after finishing with red lacquer. The figures were outlined with black ink, their faces and hands were painted with lead white, clothes and things were presented with various colors such yellowish white, blueish green, orange, and grayish blue, etc. There are also notes written with black ink on yellow background.

The painting topics at that time could be divided into three categories: one is classic stories, second is folk realistic stories, and the third is mythology stories. Royal and noble families specially emphasize on classic stories in order to educate and civilize people. So most of figure paintings in these families have such content. Screens are also a great platform for such stories. This lacquer painting is a typical example, showing most stories about exemplar women.

The complete images of this painting are still not published. The picture on the right shows one side of first and second blocks. The painting was divided into four sections:

The top section has five figures, including Emperor Shun‘s father Gu Sou, Shun’s Wives E-Huang and Nu-Ying, and Shun himself. It tells Shun’s story of abiding filial piety.

Another part of the lacquer screen (not described in text)

The second section has three figures – Three Queens of Zhou Dynasty, including King Tai’s Wife Tai-Jiang, King Wen (Ji Chang)‘s mother Tai-Ren and King Wu (Ji Fa)‘s mother Tai-Shi. They are the traditional high virtue exemplars of mothers and wives.

The third section has two figures. They are Lushi Chunjiang and Chunjiang’s daughter.

The bottom section has six figures, showing Consort Ban declined an Emperor’s invitation to ride in a palanquin because she feared to distract him from matters of state. In the painting, Emperor Cheng of Han was sitting in the big palanquin with a tall tent, looking backward. Four servants was holding the palanquin, while Consort Ban was following them on foot.

All these stories were take from Lienu Zhuang (Biographies of Exemplary Women) compiled by the famous scholar Liu Xiang. It includes 125 biographical accounts of women exemplars in early China, taken from Chinese histories like the Chun Qiu, Zuo Zhuan, and Shiji. The Lienü Zhuan served as a standard Confucianist textbook for the moral education of women in traditional China for two millennia.

Artistic Value

The stories presented on this lacquer screen inherited the tradition since Han Dynasty to use historical stories to educate people. Some of its notes were directly quoted from historical texts. Its calligraphy styling was also influenced by the scholars since East Jin Dynasty.

The expressions and gestures of the figures in the painting is quite similar to Kaizhi Gu’s (a famous painter of East Jin) work. Gu lived decades earlier than this paining, so it suggests his style and techniques had been adapted after his death and at least inherited on until Southern and Northern Dynasties. The brief peaceful time during Taihe Era provided a convenience for cultural exchange between the south and north.

[Forbidden Treasure of China Series]
This is the 22^nd of 64 culture heritages that the government of China forbids to exhibit abroad. The complete list is here. In Chinese.

[Chinese Keywords]
国家一级文物 禁止出境