#Chinese art

[weepingwidar]

Xie Lei (Chinese, 1983) - Essence (2022)

[jareckiworld]

Lu Xinjian — Matrix: 2010 Asus_Rampage_III_Extreme_F (acrylic on canvas, 2024)

[moononmyfloor]

Riverside Code at Qingming Festival ( 清明上河图密码 ) : Qīngmíng shànghé tú mìmǎ Cultural Meta Masterpost

All the images are taken from show's official Weibo

Riverside Code at Qingming Festival is our newest Big Chinese Period Drama, as in actual proper historical drama. The premise is a series of mysterious murder cases that happen alongside the Bian river that flows across the capital of Nothern Song Dynasty, Bianjing, during the time of Qingming Festival, at the same time as the painter Zhang Zeduan happened to be drawing the world-renowned painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival.

In other words, the show's based on a novel that was inspired by the said artwork and the possible intrigues that the hundreds of people captured in that painting must've undergone during that time, long long ago.

The show was officially announced on 2023. 10. 18, and had been relentlessly promoting its content, how much research and historical reproduction and replications and all that went into the project. The episodes themselves (which you can watch here for free with Eng subs) have an ending segment called Song Dynasty Encyclopedia, to educate the viewer on the significance of the painting and other Song Dynasty trivia.

And rightfully so, if you watch this short BTS video you'll realise what a MASSIVE project and labor of love this was and they should be proud of it and boast about and promote their work to heaven and back.

And as always, I dove headfirst into all the meta crumbs I could get my hands on and am gonna compile them here and share with whomever else is interested! 😁

Mind, the translations might not be super smooth, my Chinese is but elementary but I'll try to provide more external links to supplement the posts so you can read from people who know better!

I will update this masterpost as I go on making new posts alongside the Weibo's updates! (So don't hurry to reblog this one just yet because it's unfinished lol)

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1. Nuo Opera

More posts by me

[neshamama]

wang zibo, "ladies," 2022, oil on canvas

[niteshade925]

April 20, Beijing, China, National Museum of China/中国国家博物馆 (Part 1 - Dehua white porcelain exhibition/德化白瓷展):

Aaand finally, the National Museum of China/中国国家博物馆! I was lucky enough to see the famed Dehua white porcelain exhibition/德化白瓷展 here. Some of you may recognize some of these pieces already, since pictures and shorts of them have been circulating online way before I went on this trip, but there are many many other pieces too. The pieces I post here are only a small portion of the entire exhibition, so if you ever get a chance to see the exhibition elsewhere in person, don't hesitate. This stuff is amazing.

First up is one of the two that has been gaining popularity online, the piece named 神话 or "Legend".

The first time I saw a porcelain piece like this, I thought that the clothing part was made with paper? But no, the light fabric of the clothing, the hair, it's all porcelain. Keep in mind when looking through these pictures: every part of every piece is porcelain.

This piece is the other one that was becoming popular, the piece named simply 纸, or "Paper". If you don't look up close and see the glossy surface, you can't tell it's actually porcelain. I cannot for the life of me imagine the kind of magic that was used to turn clay into this

Anyway, this is a good point to introduce Dehua porcelain a little bit. Dehua porcelain is a regional specialty of Dehua/德化, which is located in Fujian province, and is known for its expressiveness and white color. For this reason it's also known in the West as "Blanc de Chine" (French: "white of China"), and this should be the reason why this exhibition is named 中国白, which basically means the same thing. The history of Dehua porcelain goes back to Song dynasty (960 - 1279), and it is still being produced today. Many of the pieces I'm posting here are modern pieces.

But Dehua white porcelain can be colored too (I imagine the color must be painted on later, because the white comes from the clay itself), and when it is colored, it looks like it came right out of a painting

This piece is especially amazing to me. Look at the texture, look at those details. Zoom in and you will find that there are actually a bunch of porcelain ants on this porcelain tree stump. Porcelain ants. I never expected to use porcelain as an adjective when describing ants. Wtf. It's like a manifestation of a scene from an older animated movie.

Peanuts are called 花生 in Chinese, which literally means "flower grow", and because it also has a long shelf life, it symbolizes longevity and a happy marriage. Also a fun fact: because Watson of Sherlock Holmes is usually phoenetically translated as 华生 (huá shēng) in Chinese and sounds similar to 花生 (huā shēng), you will find that many in the Chinese SH fandom refers to Watson as "peanut".

This piece is titled 春色满园, or "garden filled with spring scenery". This is also a common 4-character word used to describe gardens in spring. I'm guessing the figure depicted here is one of the flower gods. It is one of my personal favorites because of its superb depiction of movement, it's as if the flower god will really fly away on clouds at any moment

More depictions of traditional Chinese deities, specifically Chang'e/嫦娥, the moon goddess. That moon rabbit is too cute.

Depictions of what I'm assuming is the Four Heavenly Kings/四大天王, based on the items they are holding. The Four Heavenly Kings are Buddhist deities.

Look at her clothing! That porcelain is so thin it's almost see-through! Also is it depicting Li Qingzhao/李清照, the famous female poet from Song dynasty? She does have a famous ci poem that's about paddling a boat in a lake full of lotuses while drunk

The piece titled 锦绣前程, or "future as vibrant and prosperous as silk brocade". This is also a common 4-character word used in well wishing. The figure in this piece is holding a xiuqiu/绣球, a ball made of silk, which was usually seen as a token of love

Somewhat more modern-themed pieces:

Among the hundreds of amazing pieces, this one caught my attention for its unique texture. When everyone else was trying to turn the clay into these thin sheets representing fabric or paper or flower petals, this artist took the noodle approach. Not many visitors seemed to like it, but I think it's pretty cool

Piece titled 运势如虹, or "fortune like the rainbow", also a 4-character word used in well wishing. Traditionally horses symbolize vitality and success, hence why many people use the words 马到成功 ("horse's arrival brings success") and 龙马精神 ("vitality of dragons and horses") in well wishes during Year of the Horse

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Dehua white porcelain exhibition!

[arthistoryanimalia]

Sauce tureen shaped like an Asiatic dormouse

Made in Jingdezhen, China; about 1745

Spotted at the “Outside In: Nature-inspired Design at Winterthur” exhibition

[bleedingthroughteeth]

Chinese snuff bottles

[blueiscoool]

Chinese Bronze Sword With An Inlaid Rock Crystal, Turquoise and Gold Hilt Warring States Period, Circa 4th - 2nd Century B.C.

[the-cricket-chirps]

Huang Yongyu

Rat

Ink and colour on paper

[thunderstruck9]

Lu Xinjian (Chinese, 1977), Matrix / 2007 Gigabyte_GA-P35-DS3_F, 2024. Acrylic on canvas, 140 x 205 cm.

[memories-of-ancients]

Porcelein turtle vessel, China, early 16th century

from The Ayala Museum, Manila

[weepingwidar]

Xie Lei (Chinese, 1983) - Thriver IV (2019)

[jareckiworld]

Liu Wei — Panorama No. 2 (oil on canvas, 2015/2016)

[balkanparamo]

Reflections: Guan Zeju

[neshamama]

liu qi, "xizhi (geese)," 2023, ink and color on paper

[imitationcrabs]

Jade figure of crab in the collection of the National Museum of Asian art