Xu Bing 's A Chinese Artist

There are 890 million English language speakers in the world. That means if you are the average monolingual, English speaking American, you are unable to communicate with about 88% of the planet. That’s approximately 6,505,469,000 people, any of whom could potentially be your spouse or lifelong friend. The most gratifying part of learning a language is being able to communicate with new people and learn about different lifestyles, traditions, religions, and ideologies. Through NSLI-Y, I wish to continue to expand my global view and develop lasting connections with individuals.

By comparing The Thirteen Emperors (seventh century A.D) (Figure 1) by Yan Liben (600-673), ink and color on silk, is currently at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and Xie Huan (1377-1452)’s Elegant Gathering in the Apricot Garden (ca. 1437) (Figure 2), ink and color on silk, is currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Both artists used the same subject matter (hand roll), and employed a different repetitive process they convey two distinct ideas; the differences between thirteen emperors in Yan and the idea of confucianism in Huan.

In Six Records of a Floating Life, Shen Fu writes of his wife, “Yün came to this world a woman, but she had the feelings and abilities of a man.” (Fu: 89) Shen Fu and Yün considered each other to be intellectual equals. However, their relationship was still constrained within the gender roles set by their society. They lived during the Qing dynasty, which was a prosperous time for China (“The Manchus”: 266) but also a time when, as Professor Scarlett states in the lecture Daily Life in Imperial China, “the outside world was for men and the inside world was for women.” Shen Fu and Yün’s relationship was pushing the bounds of their culture, but they still kept (mostly) within the lines of social acceptability.

“To treat illness without understanding the viscera and bowels is no different from a blind

Yuan Zhao was a Daoist healer in ancient China [471-99] who used his knowledge of the five phases to diagnose and cure a young girl of evil demons that had made her sick after numerous other Chinese healers were unable to even understand the source of her afflictions, which is meant to spread Daoism as much as tell a story. The story is a good example of ancient Chinese medical practices but to fully understand how the different elements of his story fit together it is helpful to have information on the five phases.

Almost a century before Christopher Columbus’s voyages, Zheng He -- a Chinese admiral -- traveled past China to the east coast of Africa and some of the Indian Ocean. On He’s first voyage, he had about 255 ships and 27,500 crew members compared to Columbus who only had three ships and 90 crew members. Zheng He traveled more than any other explorer before his time. Yet He isn’t celebrated. Although Zheng He did give China a good trading reputation, he didn’t do it in the best way; for example, Zheng He took too many voyages in order to accomplish his legacy, which included killing barbarians for not offering China a tribute.

motives, Liu has made an abrupt change in his evaluation of Du's character. Instead of

“Painting Album of Master Gu” -《顾式画谱》is the woodblock-printed book published in 1603 by Gu Bing, it is one of the high printing quality books in Ming dynasty. The origin painting of selected picture is called Nine Horses. It is the ink and colors painting on silk by Ren Ren in Yuan Dynasty. Gu Bing is a professional artist, the album consists of 106 pieces of illustrations and accompanying

This chapter looks at the various stylistic aspects in the prints which can be identified as Chinese or portraying Chinese origin and a plenty of factual detail and local narrative.

Artist Xu Bing spent four years creating his own false Chinese characters for the project. He didn't write them by hand instead he opted to carve them out and stamp the paper in the way of the centuries old traditional fashion even going so far has to hand bind the books as well, yet not a single one of his hand crafted books or scrolls means anything.

Yun Shouping (also known as Yun Nantian or Yün Shou-p’ing) was born in 1633 in the Jiangsu province and died in 1690, he lived for 57 years during the Ming period(1368-1644). As a young boy, he was separated from his father and was adopted by a wealthy family after the fall of the Ming dynasty. After the MIng dynasty collapsed, the Manchus started to rule the land and restored wealth to his real father into Buddhist monastery. Shouping was never loyal to the Manchus but instead focused himself to learn the art of poetry, calligraphy and painting. Shouping received a traditional artistic education, he trained to obey the rules of copying the work of earlier art masters. His artwork were freehand which meant he didn’t trace anything, he just saw the subject and “eyeball” it out. This takes years of

Xu Bing is a contemporary artist from the country of China, whose work often includes the use of text, and is regularly linked with the past. Xu Bing’s Book from the Sky, was a revolutionary installation piece that was first presented in 1988 in Beijing. Xu Bing is able to create complex riddles with his work, which make the viewer ask questions about its tradition, workmanship, meaning, propaganda, and cultural preconceptions. In Xu’s earlier series entitled Landscripts, he explores the meaning of written characters and the connection between painting and calligraphy.

China’s long and rich history had covered numerous inventions that are still used today. One of these inventions is paper. In 105 A.D, paper making was invented. It was during the reign of Eastern Han Emperor Ho-di when Ts’ai Lun, an official of the Imperial Court, reported that he produced a sheet of paper by cutting the bark of a mulberry tree and breaking it down into fibers. Because of this, he received many compliments for his ability. His invention became popular and was often cited as the “paper of Marquis Tsai.”

The Book of the Sky was first created in 1987, but I had experienced centuries of Chinese culture from the work: the traditional composing order from right to left, from top to bottom; the

At the same time, he was invited to create a commercial project for Beijing Central Business District, CBD. When he entered the construction site of this building, the animalistic hot temperature and rough skin in its interior enthralled Xu Bing’s attention immediately. The direct contrast of the migrant workers’ harsh working conditions and splendid appearances of mansions motivated Xu Bing to record this striking impression of his homeland. Unexpectedly, sponsor of this project agreed to his idea of making a work of art out of useless materials in the atrium of the building, which looks like a big cage (Xiong Artron), representing “China’s new wealth, prosperity, and capitalistic spirit (Traub).” The paradoxical representation of the most prosperous fortune center in Beijing and grandeur Phoenix, which are made of the surplus materials, to some extent, dramatically critique the growing capitalism in China. However, following the Olympic games suspended all constructions and truck transportations in Beijing, making them difficult to collect building debris. Shortly, the global economic crisis forced the sponsor of the Phoenix to reconsider its support. As Xu Bing said in the interview, “When the economy was growing, they had a greater tolerance for art, humor, self-mockery, and a bit of self-criticism. However, when things turn bad, their ability to accept this kind of artwork became limited (Traub).” Xu Bing suspended the construction of the Phoenix, rather than