The figures of Three Star Gods are personified representation of Good Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity. They originated from Chinese people’s worship of the stars in the southern sky. During the time of Lichun 立春 (the Beginning of Spring), there are …
Continue reading “Three Star Gods”
As the deity who grants success in the imperial examinations, Kui Xing 魁星 is revered as the God of Literature. The image of Kui Xing is often presented as a spirit holding a writing brush in one hand and a …
Pun Design ： Writing brush + Ingot + Kui Xing Punning Details： -Writing brush 笔 bi is a pun on 必 bi meaning ‘certainly’ or ‘necessarily’; -Ingot 锭ding is homophonous with 定 ding meaning ‘surely’ or ‘inevitably’; – ‘kui’ refers …
Continue reading “You will certainly come out first in the imperial examinations”
The term ‘Kui Xing’ originally referred to the North Star (北斗 Bei Dou). As stated in the Historical Records by Sima Qian (司马迁 145BCE – ?) , ‘Kui is the first star of the Great Dipper constellation’. Therefore, Kui also …
Continue reading “God of Literature”
More often than not, traditional Chinese motifs or symbols are not receiving their deserved attention, being given simplistic or inadequate labels and inaccurate explanations in our museums, catalogues, or even scholarly writing. The treatment of many pictorial representations of the thousand-year-old literary anecdote ‘A bamboo counter is being added to the house in the sea (海屋添筹 hai wu tian chou)’ is a case in point.
In this scene, there are several Chinese longevity symbols such as the crane, the generic immortal, the pine tree, and the deer, etc. However, the proper meaning of this particular scene is not a simple assemblage of individual symbols. It …
Continue reading “May the length of your life be eternally prolonged!”
‘True love conquers all’ is the theme of the Peony Pavilion (牡丹亭 Mudan Ting), a musical play of fifty-five scenes written by Tang Xianzu (汤显祖, 1550–1616) in Ming dynasty. Also known as The Romance of Return of Soul (还魂记 Huanhun …
Continue reading “A Startled Romantic Dream in the Back Garden”
The Peony Pavilion is a famous play written by Tang Xianzu in Ming Dynasty. There are very few figural paintings depicting this play on Kangxi famille verte porcelain. Dr Yibin Ni first identified the figures and the scene on a porcelain dish in the V&A Museum at the turn of the millennium, and now is discussing a couple of incorrect details in the description of the scene in their online catalogue.
Ancient literature shows that Laozi (老子, also known as Lao Tzu) served as the Keeper of the Imperial Archives of the Eastern Zhou court (东周, 770-258 BCE). He must have greatly benefited from the perk of the job – the …
Continue reading “Confucius consulting Laozi”
Laozi (Lao Tzu 老子) is a great ancient Chinese thinker, to whom a five-thousand-character book ‘Dao de jing 道德经’, or The Scripture of the Way and Virtue, has been attributed. He is regarded as the founder of philosophical Daoism (Taoism), …
Continue reading “Laozi exiting Han’gu Pass”
Laozi (Lao Tzu 老子), literally ‘old teacher or master’, is the well-known name for a great ancient Chinese thinker, to whom a five-thousand-character book ‘Dao de jing 道德经’, or The Scripture of the Way and Virtue, has been attributed. He …
Continue reading “Laozi Riding on a Black Buffalo”
Have you ever wondered why images of an old scholarly man riding a buffalo are often depicted on Chinese antiques? What is so special about this man who looks highly respected and followed by yet still sitting on a buffalo’s back? We hereby invite art historian Dr Yibin Ni to solve the mystery…