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Interview with Carolyn Lee, author of The Water Rabbit, the Story of a Survival

New Post has been published on https://china-underground.com/2022/07/27/interview-with-carolyn-lee-author-of-the-water-rabbit-the-story-of-a-survival/

Interview with Carolyn Lee, author of The Water Rabbit, the Story of a Survival

Carolyn Lee’s story on how surviving a shipwreck gave her the strength to change her life.

Carolyn Lee, a British novelist, had a dysfunctional childhood with a mentally unstable mother and was looking for an escape until she met Raymond, a Hong Kong boy who promised the prospect of a new, adventurous life. Carolyn and Raymond relocated their family to Hong Kong in 1994, where Raymond began a job in investment banking while Carolyn cared for their three children. Carolyn got depressed as the two grew apart over the years. After her father died in 2000, she thought the family’s new sailing activity would help mend their relationship, but it ended up tearing them apart. Carolyn ended her marriage and started over when their yacht Purple X sank in the South China Sea in 2007. She then became a life coach.

Official Site | Publisher

What motivated you to start writing and share a very personal part of your life?

The main purpose of the book in the first instance was to tell the story of the rescue. Whenever people have asked me about it, they always said I should write it down. The rescue was only possible due to the heroism and incredible seamanship of Capt Sirpreet Kahlon of the Maersk Princess. The story of this recuse would be lost had I not written in detail about it. The other aspect of the book is to give hope to people that there is still real kindness in the world. These strangers risked their lives to save us. And no matter how hard you think something is, you can grow from such experiences and find happiness.

How long did it take you to create this volume?

I started writing in June of 2021 and completed it in October that year. There was a process of going through a few edits which took time, so I would say 6 months in total.

What was the hardest part to write?

Reliving some painful aspects of my marriage and the rescue were quite hard. To put down in words and express things that were painful to live through was difficult. I was also very concerned about portraying things in a balanced way. My intention was never to show people in a bad light, but it was hard to do that in terms of my mother in particular. I hope I have given a fair account of the folk mentioned in the book.

You survived a shipwreck. What did you feel in those dramatic moments? What were you thinking? Have you ever lost hope to be rescued?

When I was almost on the verge of drowning, I did feel very sad for my children. I was profoundly distressed that I may never see them grow up and I wanted them to know I loved them and to go on and live good lives. I was very sad I would not have any final words with them. I think it was that fear that helped me push on a little longer and keep going. My deceased father to whom I was very close, seemed to speak to me at this critical time. I certainly heard his voice tell me he would not see me today as it wasn’t my time. This urged me on to keep fighting for my life.

How did this experience change your life?

It was so clear to me that life can end at any moment. I felt surviving the rescue took everything I had. If I could summon up the energy and drive to stay alive, I could face what my life really looked like and what it meant to me. If there were aspects of it that I really felt did not serve me anymore, I could change them. It may not be easy, but surely not as bad as nearly dying. The experience gave me courage.

How do you think Hong Kong society has evolved since you arrived?

When I arrived in Hong Kong in 1994, things were still rather British. The return of Hong Kong to China was a historical moment and I felt privileged to be living through it. Over time, yes Hong Kong has changed, but so have I. I see how Hong Kong has evolved over my 28 years living there. although I think it will always be unique due to its specific history. Hong Kong society seems to take a lot of wait-and-see approaches but also, the people seem very practical and resilient. They will make their decision on what they want and work hard to fulfill their own destiny, whether that be moving away or choosing to stay. Hong Kong is evolving and the people of Hong Kong are evolving with it. I always see it as a place of opportunity. It has certainly been a place of opportunity for me.

What is your next project?

I want to focus on my repatriation to the UK. I have lived in Hong Kong for half of my life, and my Hong Kong experience really shaped who I am today. In many ways, the UK seems like a foreign country so there is a process of adjustment. I am also working with schools in my work as a life coach and I have a cottage rental business here in Cornwall. I am pleased many international people stay at the cottage – that is one thing I was worried about missing – the international community I had grown to love in Hong Kong.

#CarolynLee, #HongKong, #TheWaterRabbit

#Carolyn Lee #hong kong #The Water Rabbit

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15+ Rare Images of The Fall of Liu Shaoqi & the "capitalist roaders" during the Cultural Revolution

New Post has been published on https://china-underground.com/2022/07/24/images-liu-shaoqi-the-capitalist-roaders-during-the-cultural-revolution/

15+ Rare Images of The Fall of Liu Shaoqi & the "capitalist roaders" during the Cultural Revolution

During the Cultural Revolution, Liu Shaoqi, an eminent Chinese revolutionary, politician, and theorist, was expelled, imprisoned, and tortured to death

The Cultural Revolution was a sociopolitical movement in China launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his death in 1976 to preserve Chinese communism by removing remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society and re-establishing Mao Zedong Thought as the dominant ideology in the People’s Republic of China.

The Revolution signified Mao’s return to the central position of power as Chairman of the Communist Party of China (CPC) after a period of less radical leadership to recover from the failings of the Great Leap Forward, which caused the Great Chinese Famine (1959-1961). However, the Revolution failed to fulfill its primary objectives. Mao, who launched the movement with the support of the Cultural Revolution Group in May 1966, claimed that bourgeois elements had infiltrated the government and society with the intention of restoring capitalism.

Related article: The Four Pests Campaign to Wipe Out the Sparrow

In the early days of the Cultural Revolution, Liu Shaoqi also brought Red Guard armbands to meet the Red Guards. The picture shows Liu Shaoqi with Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping

Mao urged young people to “bombard the headquarters” and said that “rebellion is acceptable.” The country’s youth responded by organizing Red Guards and “rebel organizations.” The Little Red Book, which became a hallowed scripture for Mao’s personality cult, was constructed from a selection of Mao’s sayings. They periodically organized “denunciation rallies” against revisionists, seizing control from local governments and CPC sections until creating revolutionary committees in 1967.

Related article: 20+ Chinese Propaganda Movies

Liu Shaoqi and Jiang Qing, 1966 the Tiananmen Gate. JIang Qing was the wife of Mao and member of the Gang of Four

Mao Zedong and Lin Biao meet the Red Guards

Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Lin Biao, JiangQing among the Red Guards

The committees frequently broke into competing factions and engaged in armed confrontations known as “violent struggles,” to which the army was dispatched to restore order. Mao declared the Revolution completed in 1969, although the active phase would remain until at least 1971 when Lin Biao escaped and perished in an aircraft accident, suspected of a bungled coup against Mao. The Gang of Four took control in 1972, and the Cultural Revolution lasted until Mao’s death and the arrest of the members of the group in 1976.

The Cultural Revolution was marked by bloodshed and anarchy. Death toll claims range greatly, with estimates ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of people killed during the Revolution. Beginning with the Red August in Beijing, massacres happened across the country, including the Guangxi Massacre, which included extensive cannibalism; the Inner Mongolia incident; the Guangdong Massacre; the Yunnan Massacres; and the Hunan Massacres.

Related article: the destruction of a Confucian temple triggers the Cultural Revolution

The Red Guards damaged historical treasures and ransacked cultural and religious places. The Cultural Revolution coincided with the breakdown of the Banqiao Dam in 1975, one of the world’s largest technical disasters. Meanwhile, tens of millions of people were persecuted: senior officials, most notably Chinese President Liu Shaoqi, along with Deng Xiaoping, Peng Dehuai, and He Long, were purged or exiled; millions were accused of belonging to the Five Black Categories and were subjected to public humiliation, imprisonment, torture, hard labor, property seizure, and, in extreme cases, execution or harassment into suicide.

Propaganda poster criticizing Liu Shaoqi during the Cultural Revolution

Liu Shaoqi (24 November 1898 – 12 November 1969) was a revolutionary, politician, and thinker. From 1954 to 1959, he served as the NPC Standing Committee Chairman. From 1956 to 1966, he served as the Chinese Communist Party’s First Vice Chairman. From 1959 to 1968, he served as the de facto head of state and enacted policies for China’s economic rebuilding.

Liu had prominent posts in the Chinese government for 15 years, ranking third only to Premier Zhou Enlai and Chairman Mao Zedong. Liu, who was once viewed as Mao’s heir, displeased him in the early 1960s before the Cultural Revolution. From 1966 forward, Mao reprimanded Liu before having him expelled. As the “commander of China’s bourgeoisie headquarters,” China’s leading “capitalist-roader,” and a traitor to the revolution, Liu vanished from the public eye in 1968.

uring the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Mao launched a political campaign to liquidate Liu Shaoqi: “Down with China’s Khrushchev”

Approval document issued by Mao’s order (No. 155 of 1968). The photocopies of the documents are taken from the collections of the East Asian Libraries of the famous American universities.

During the Cultural Revolution, he was expelled, imprisoned, and tortured to death, but Deng Xiaoping’s administration restored his reputation after his passing in 1980 and gave him a national memorial service.

Even Song Renqiong, a general in the People’s Liberation Army of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and one of the Eight Elders of the Chinese Communist Party, was persecuted and severely criticized during the Cultural Revolution. He was the father of Song Binbin, also known as Song Yaowu, a senior leader in the Chinese Red Guards.

Intellectuals were dubbed the “Stinking Old Ninth” and were extensively persecuted—notable professors and scientists like as Lao She, Fu Lei, Yao Tongbin, and Zhao Jiuzhang were assassinated or committed suicide. Schools and universities were closed, and college entrance tests were postponed. The Down to the Countryside Movement transported almost 10 million urban smart adolescents to the countryside. In December 1978, Deng Xiaoping took over as China’s new paramount leader, succeeding Chairman Hua Guofeng, and launched the “Boluan Fanzheng” program, which progressively destroyed the Maoist policies associated with the Cultural Revolution and restored order to the country. Deng and his supporters then initiated the momentous Reforms and Opening-Up program, ushering in a new era in Chinese history. The CCP admitted in 1981 that the Cultural Revolution was incorrect and was “responsible for the most severe setback and heaviest losses experienced by the people, the country, and the party since the establishment of the People’s Republic.”

All images have been augmented and partially cleaned up or restored. However, the quality of some of the original pictures was very poor. We couldn’t find any better-resolution images.

Full body photo of Liu Shaoqi after his death in Kaifeng

Topics: Liu Shaoqi death, liu shaoqi cultural revolution, cultural revolution purges

Source: wikipedia, Chinese web

#CulturalRevolution, #DengXiaoping, #GangOfFour, #GreatLeapForward, #HeLong, #HuaGuofeng, #LinBiao, #LiuShaoqi, #MaoZedong, #PengDehuai, #Propaganda, #RedGuards, #SongRenqiong

#Cultural Revolution #Deng Xiaoping #Gang of Four #great leap forward #He Long #Hua Guofeng #lin biao #liu shaoqi #mao zedong #Peng Dehuai #propaganda #red guards #Song Renqiong

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Exploring the Wild Great Wall: Interview with Simone

New Post has been published on https://china-underground.com/2022/07/06/exploring-the-wild-great-wall/

Exploring the Wild Great Wall: Interview with Simone

Discovering the wild Great Wall

Simone is an explorer and a lover of travel and photography. In recent years, Simone was fascinated by the East and decided to visit a large number of countries. From 2017 to 2022 he settled in China, where he still lives and where he traveled widely throughout the country, discovering its most evocative places. Over the past two years, he explored abandoned, unrestored stretches of the Great Wall. The project of this work is to collect images to share them through a photographic exhibition for all lovers of photography and travel. By following the link you can visit his Instagram profile.

How did you get to Beijing? What did you do before COVID?

I decided to come to China for many different reasons. The most important one was to get into the game and try a new life experience. So, about six years ago, I moved to Beijing and started studying the Chinese language. I am a travel lover and, before Covid, I worked for a travel agency; I organized tailor-made trips for foreigners who wanted to discover the most authentic China. … But then, Covid changed all my plans, turned all my dreams upside down … eh eh

What prompted you to explore the Great Wall? What are you looking for during your explorations?

The first time I visited the Great Wall I did it like everyone else, as a tourist; I bought my ticket and followed the classic route. I said to myself, ok, nice, but until then, it didn’t give me any special emotion … that day, my luck was to go beyond the classic path, to “jump the wall” and continue along an abandoned section of the wall. It was a terrific surprise! The vegetation that had grown on the Wall over the years was very dense, at times difficult to cross. The further I advanced and gradually discovered the ruins of the abandoned watchtowers now immersed in the lush vegetation, the more I was able to visualize how nice it would have been to be there a few hundred years ago, a witness to a time now past. After that day, I decided that I would try to venture as much as possible to other parts of the Great Wall. Every time I visit a new stretch, I get lost in the adventure and I can taste the decadent charm that this monumental work conveys. I’m a lover of photography, and sooner or later I will put together the thousands of photos I take every time I go there, and maybe I will make a photo book.

Why does the unknown lure our curiosity and attention?

Good question! Perhaps it is human nature to always try to give answers to everything. When we are unable to find an answer, we are more intrigued. The human mind is always in need of new stimuli. It needs to flee from the inevitability of everyday life. Humankind has always pushed itself further … both in the field of exploration and in the field of personal research.

What are your main sources of inspiration as a traveler and photographer?

This need for adventure, exploration, and to “lose myself” in nature, was born from the experiences I had as a child. From an early age, I was used to exploring the mountains with my parents. Although at the time I did not love that very much because I thought it was too tiring, I loved playing surrounded by nature, imagining being an explorer at times, or a ‘Robinson Crusoe’, having to build my tree house. When I reached the top of the mountain, I could see what lay beyond, widening my curiosity. This curiosity, that is, reaching the summit to enjoy the view below, has remained within me. Perhaps this is the reason why I love to venture along the Chinese Wall, because every time I reach a higher point, I can enjoy a unique view. Most of the excursions I do on the Great Wall start from point A and end at point B, allowing me to consistently have a different view. I rarely go back along the path I started from.

I’ve never been a great reader; I’m more a lover of cinema. From an early age, I was more attracted to images. Reading a book took too long, too much effort. I was too lazy. The only reads I liked were comics, especially Tex Willer. If I had to mention a book that inspired me, I would probably say Kon Tiki, or In Vespa by Giorgio Bettinelli. As for cinema, I love adventure films; as a child, I have seen many times Indiana Jones, Rambo, Cliffhanger, and Waterworld while more recently The Lord of the Rings, Into the Wild, Everest or The way back. In recent years, I have also been lucky enough to participate in evenings, where, each time a special guest, sometimes an alpinist or a traveler or an explorer, shared their experience. Roberto Ghidoni, who crossed a stretch of Alaska on foot, and Alex Bellini who attempted to row across the Pacific inspired me more than others. Every time I went home, I told myself that sooner or later I too would leave for a solo adventure. Among the photographers who probably inspired me the most, there are Michael Yamashita and Salgado. Their photographs always give me emotions.

What precautions do you take when embarking on an exploration?

Usually, I don’t take many precautions besides understanding my limits and knowing when to stop when crossing a dangerous section. I always wear clothing suitable for this type of excursion, trekking shoes, and technical clothing, and I always try to be autonomous about provisions.

Often, before exploring a new area, I do some online research on the place I want to go and discover; I study the topography of the place to have an idea of what could be the best way to get to the Great Wall. Sometimes, if I can, I also get suggestions from those who have been there before me.

I prefer to carry out these explorations during the cold months, not only for “photographic” reasons but also to avoid snakes along the way … eh eh

What is the strangest thing you’ve ever seen on your travels?

In recent years I have made many trips, especially to Asia, and I happened to come across many strange situations, especially because they are very far from our culture. If I had to mention a special one, I could tell about an episode I witnessed during one of my trips to India. In many Indian cities, it is common to see cows walking / grazing everywhere on the street; after a while, one no longer even pays attention to it. One morning, however, while I was walking across a small square with a local market, a very curious thing happened. While one of the many cows that wandered around the city center was urinating on the street, a lady, a florist, approached the cow, put her hands under the spout, and used the cow’s pee to wet the flowers for sale, to bless them. Perhaps this was one of the most particular and curious experiences that have ever happened to me. One day, in Indonesia, on the island of Sumatra, while I was wandering around with my motorbike in a hilly, mountainous area near a village where I was a guest for a few weeks, I slipped due to the not “clean” terrain. Fortunately, nothing broke, but still, I was very badly hurt. I couldn’t walk because of the pain in my leg. Back in the village, they accompanied me to the home of an elderly woman. This lady, with her mouth and teeth completely red due to the constant chewing of the Bethel nut (a very common practice in the area), as soon as she saw my sore leg, prepared a mixture of herbs which she then spread on the wound. I have no idea what it was. I just know that the next day I no longer had any pain, I was completely healed. I was impressed with this experience. The day after I went back to her house and gave her some sugar (considered a very precious gift) to thank her.

Another experience happened on a very remote island in Indonesia. I arrived there after a few days of traveling, after taking several small boats called Speedboat, but the only thing that was pace was the speed at which we took on the water into the boat. Once I arrived on the beach of this tiny island, I went in search of a village in the hope of finding someone willing to host me. I found a young family who hosted me. In the afternoon I gave him some money and asked him if it was possible to help me cook fresh fish. In the evening, as soon as I returned to the wooden and straw house, I found eggs instead of fish (later I discovered that chicken eggs are considered a more precious commodity than fish). What a disappointment! And they thought they had done me a favor …

I couldn’t sleep at night, it was very hot, and the humidity was unbearable; in addition to this, perhaps because of the dinner, I had stomach problems. As I left the hut to go to the bathroom, that is to say on the beach, I saw the couple who was hosting me with their newborn child sleeping on the floor in the room, with a bible resting on the pillow next to the baby’s head to protect him during the night from some evil spirit.

Have you met other people during your observation of the most remote areas of the Great Wall? What were they doing?

In some abandoned stretches of the Great Wall, I often meet other trekkers and photographers. While in the most remote areas, I usually don’t meet anyone, besides some local farmers at the foot of the valley. Usually, in these stretches, there are very few who venture, also because at times they are very dangerous. However, I always prefer not to meet anyone, especially the locals to avoid too many questions or the usual local elder who does not allow me to continue along my path.

Before arriving in China, have you ever accomplished this kind of trip?

I’ve always been a lover of travel, and exploration. Before arriving in China, I made many very adventurous trips, such as Sumatra in Indonesia. Less than 24 hours after my arrival, I bought a second-hand motorcycle, tied my backpack as best I could, opened the map, marked a point, looked for the smallest and most winding road that crossed a mountainous and sparsely inhabited area, and left immediately without even thinking about where I could have arrived that day, what I would find and where I could sleep, etc.

I have made many trips of this type. A few years ago I made a trip of about a year and a half, always here in Asia. This trip has greatly increased my need for exploration and knowledge, in fact, as soon as I returned to Italy I decided to enroll at university and start studying, which until then was very far from my thoughts … and so after a few years, I graduated in oriental languages and arrived in China.

What’s your next project?

As soon as the Covid situation in China is settled, and tourists can come back, I would like to continue working in tourism, sharing my knowledge of this beautiful country with foreign travelers. In addition to this, I would like to organize a photographic exhibition on the Great Wall, and maybe in the future also about other areas of China. Perhaps I will organize the photographic exhibition in Italy in a few months, as soon as I return there.

I would also like to do a photo book, but for the moment it is still early, I need more time to continue exploring other parts of the Great Wall, perhaps even those further away from Beijing. For the moment I just share my photos regularly on my Instagram profile.

#GreatWall, #GreatWallOfChina, #UrbanExploration, #Urbex

#great wall #Great Wall of China #urban exploration #urbex

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Interview with Fashion Designer Guo Pei

New Post has been published on https://china-underground.com/2022/06/02/interview-with-fashion-designer-guo-pei/

Interview with Fashion Designer Guo Pei

A journey into the creative universe of Guo Pei between silhouettes, three-dimensional embroidery, shared cultural heritage, spirituality, and philosophy

Born in Beijing, Guo Pei began sewing at a very young age, in an interview with Forbes magazine, she says that she got her start in sewing at the age of 2 years old, helping her mother make clothes for the winter and developed her love for dressmaking. Guo Pei studied fashion at the Beijing Second Light Industry School in the 1980s. During her fashion design studies, she also learned a lot thanks to the theater, an environment, in which clothing designers could freely express their creativity more than in other artistic disciplines. Guo Pei graduated from the best in her class and spent the next ten years designing for major manufacturers, designing children’s clothing and womenswear before launching her own brand and atelier in 1997, Rose Studio. Exhibiting in Paris and traveling in Europe had a profound impact on her work. Guo Pei nowadays is China’s most famous couturier. She has been dressing celebrities, royalty, and the political elite for over 20 years. She made Song Zuying’s dress worn during her performance with Plácido Domingo at the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics. The dress, covered with 200,000 Swarovski crystals, took two weeks to be complete. In 2015, Guo Pei became the second native Chinese member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, the main governing body of the high fashion industry, allowing her to run on the Paris Haute Couture Week calendar. Her first collection to be showcased as part of Paris Fashion Week was her Spring Summer 2016 collection. Courtyard, which gained wide acclaim from critics, inspired by spring flowers for femininity and the phoenix for peace and purity, has had traditional Chinese influences such as golden tassels, intricate thread embroidery on silk, bibs, and long trains. In the same year, Guo Pei was also named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and one of Business of Fashion’s BoF 500, a list of the most influential people who shaped the global fashion industry. Guo Pei’s works were also exhibited at the annual exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, entitled “China: Through the Looking Glass”. In her sculptural fashion works, there are historical and iconographic references that interact constantly reflecting and taking into consideration different sources such as architecture, literature, nature, and philosophy, without ever losing sight of the spark of her personal touch that springs from her experiences and ways of seeing the multiple layers of reality. Her creations triumph in the coexistence of universal symbolism. She transforms and shapes lights, shadows, dreams, and darkness into beauty with her originality. Some of her creations can take nearly five hundred skilled craftsmen, thousands of hours, up to two years to complete.

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

What does fashion mean to you? How did you develop your interest?

For me, fashion is an expression of an era in aesthetics and popular culture. I started my design journey with ready-to-wear, but once I was in touch with the couture, I realized that what I pursue is something more timeless. I want my design to transcend time and not be limited to trends and ephemeral aesthetics. I create it with art and craftsmanship to make a more cultural and collectible value. I believe that interest is often not deliberate cultivation but may be related to the environment in which one grows up. The atmosphere of childhood will constantly influence and guide you. Growing up with my grandmother, I listened to the stories of her fantastic clothes and embroidery when I was young. The seeds of this beautiful yearning were planted in my heart, making me interested in clothing, which became an ideal—until now, making the most beautiful garments in the world is my pursuit.

“Since death is inevitable, I prefer to imagine it as a dream, an alternate universe parallel to this world, where everything returns to its original state of true pureness and beauty. It is the start of a mysterious journey.” – Guo Pei

The beauty of Guo Pei’s garments evokes a dialogue between the human body and spatial dimension, but she also echoes a profound spiritual resonance

What are your sources of inspiration, and what is the creative process behind them?

There are so many sources of inspiration in my design, from architecture to nature, from jewelry or museums, etc. I often say that design is like a language; the remarkable design must be of sentiment, representing your inner perception. Museums give me the most significant influence and spark. You have to admire the brilliance created by our predecessors. Their work has undergone the test of time and continues to spark infinite imagination in the visitors’ eyes. It conveys the spirit and technical breakthroughs the creator instilled in it hundreds of years ago. All these aspects deeply touched me and inspired me. The inspiration can happen instantly, as in the case of my collection Architecture, for which I quickly completed the sketches while waiting at the airport. It takes a lot of time to realize the sketches, from the custom fabrics to the pattern designs, to the embroidery and decorative details. The final presentation of these designs takes my team months or even years. There are many more tweaks and modifications to be made during this time.

Guo Pei cites the Chinese saying “There is a kingdom in a flower; wisdom in a leaf” as the inspiration for Garden of Soul (2015). She further explains, “I always find the power of nature fascinating, especially when the flowers are blossoming,” and she draws comparisons between the human soul and gardens and their mutual need to be nurtured

Guo Pei works with scrupulous skill, and her silhouettes remind us that fashion is a conjunction point: the space where theater, performance, and sculpture are a confluence

When it comes to fashion there is a balance between the look and the touching. Can you tell us your relationship with the materials and fabrics you chose for your high fashion garments?

I think there are two essential elements when it comes to fashion. One is the silhouette design, which could also be described as the look, and it often expresses a state of the moment. For example, in my “Legend” collection, I was moved by the architecture and sculptures in the church and felt a kind of great beauty, and I would use the silhouette’s design to express how I felt at that time. We can find the shoulder design from wide to narrow and the pants from thin to fat in the fashion. This change of silhouette is an expression of the current trend. The other thing is texture, and it is also touching. It is a more delicate feeling; frequently, the material of a garment determines the price and grade. The lower-priced fashion can express trends and have a solid visual experience with beautiful colors. However, it hardly brings you a very delicate feeling, especially when you go to touch it. The touch is the choice of material that determines the grade of the garment and reflects its value. The couture must choose the best materials so that people will experience a sense of well-being when they come in contact with the clothes. The sense of touch is crucial to designers.

One of the connecting pieces in Guo Pei’s collections, is the use of gold in a lot of her shows. Guo Pei believes that not only does gold embody the top of terms of knowledge and wealth, but also believe that it is, “the color of our souls”.

Can you share with us any meaningful story from backstage of your work?

From the design of each collection to the presentation of the final show, we have experienced so many challenges. For example, I was pretty nervous on the backstage of each show, rarely having seen my presentation in the front. As a designer, I think that’s pretty interesting. They always share their best moments with the audience, and rarely can they sit in the front as happily as the audience to enjoy the final work, which I think is also the biggest regret for designers. I stand at the runway entrance at almost every show. At that moment, I only care about the perfect presentation of the models. My designs are usually quite spectacular, and I am worried about the models accidentally falling because of the height of the heels and the weight of the garments. But I’ve been fortunate that the models have shown my designs well in basically every show.

In Elysium (2018), Guo Pei continued to explore botanical life, looking not to the flower petals but the root structures. “Roots are the source of life and vitality; without roots, there’s no life,” she explains

Installation view of Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 2022. Photograph by Drew Altizer. Courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Your fashion design creation garments represent a cultural bridge that connects the East and the West. Can fashion help people to overcome cultural differences?

I think fashion can totally help people overcome cultural differences because it has no boundaries. As in China, after the reform and opening up, we were first connected to western fashion and followed this trend. Until now, most Chinese people wear Western-style clothes. So whether we really accept western culture and philosophy or not, we accept the culture of clothing, so fashion is borderless and very tolerant. It is not like art which is difficult for many people to appreciate, nor does it entirely fall into reality and vulgarity. It contains the past and future and people’s aspirations for a better life, and it has the styles of various countries and nationalities under different cultures. Therefore, fashion is one of the best ways to exchange cultures.

Couture Fantasy celebrates the extraordinary designs of Guo Pei Guo Pei’s Couture Fantasy is the first complete exhibition of the artist’s revolutionary fashion design works are on show at the Legion of Honor Museum. Guo Pei is the first Chinese couturier, exhibiting more than 80 ensembles over the last two decades. These outstanding and exclusive creations and collections have paraded on Beijing and Paris catwalks. Also included among the garments are many unreleased models that have never been shown to the public before. Guo Pei’s creations blend the boundaries between art and fashion and draw inspiration from Western and Chinese traditions. The event is an opportunity to get closer to the fashion designer’s artworks and acquire greater awareness and understanding of her passion for fashion and design. Furthermore, the exhibition allows the audiences to have a privileged point of view on Chinese culture and traditions and the new countenance of contemporary China. Guo Pei merging the Chinese imperial past, the decorative arts, the European architecture, and the botanical world creates extraordinary fantasies, where sumptuous embroideries, precise and meticulous details, and exquisite craftsmanship are balanced with unconventional tailoring techniques.

Installation of Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy at the Legion of Honor museum. Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Photo: Gary Sexton

The Legion of Honor Museum, where is showcased Guo Pei’s retrospective, through its neoclassical architectural context, encourages viewers to consider the rich historical ties between China and the West. Each of the Legion of Honor’s special exhibition galleries is dedicated to one or more of Guo Pei’s major catwalk collections. The exhibition explores the stages in Guo Pei’s career as an extraordinary leader in the world of fashion since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Couture Fantasy is presented as part of the museum’s global textile and costume arts exhibition program, highlighting extraordinary artists and movements that have changed the course of fashion history. Couture Fantasy is presented exclusively at the Museum of the Legion of Honor from 16 April to 5 September 2022. Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy is curated by Jill D’Alessandro, Curator in Charge of Costume and Textile Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, in close collaboration with Guo Pei; and is organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco with significant support from the Asian Couture Federation.

Guo tells BBC Culture remembering the stories of grandmother’s childhood “I thought the clothes looked better because I couldn’t see them, so a wish was planted in my heart. It made me believe I could create even more beautiful clothes.”

Installation of Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy at the Legion of Honor museum. Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Photo: Gary Sexton

Guo Pei, L’Architecture (Fall/Winter 2018–2019), Copyright © Guo Pei / Asian Couture Federation. Photograph by Lian Xu. All rights reserved. Image provided courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Guo Pei, Elysium, Spring-Summer 2018, courtesy the artist Photography by Lian Xu, courtesy the artist Image provided courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

A special thanks to Robyn Day, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Photos courtesy of Guo Pei and Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

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A Third Century Chinese Account of the Roman Empire

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A Third Century Chinese Account of the Roman Empire

Roman life is described in translations of The Weilue, a 3rd-century Chinese historical text.

Mutual knowledge of the Chinese and Roman empires was very limited. Only a few attempts at direct communication are witnessed in the documents. In order to preserve control over the lucrative silk trade, intermediate empires such as the Parthians and the Kushans prevented direct contact between the two empires.

The historian Florus recounted the arrival of various envoys to the court of the first Roman Emperor Augustus (r. 27 BC – 14 AD), including the “Seres” (possibly the Chinese):

“Even the rest of the nations of the world which were not subject to the imperial sway were sensible of its grandeur, and looked with reverence to the Roman people, the great conqueror of nations. Thus even Scythians and Sarmatians sent envoys to seek the friendship of Rome. Nay, the Seres came likewise, and the Indians who dwelt beneath the vertical sun, bringing presents of precious stones and pearls and elephants, but thinking all of less moment than the vastness of the journey which they had undertaken, and which they said had occupied four years. In truth it needed but to look at their complexion to see that they were people of another world than ours.” (Florus, as quoted in Yule (1915))

The Chinese commander Ban Chao attempted to send his emissary Gan Ying to Rome in AD 97, but the Parthians forbade him to cross the Persian Gulf. Ancient Chinese historians told of several alleged Roman embassies in China. The first known came in 166 AD, presumably from the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius or his adopted son Marcus Aurelius. Others are said to have arrived between AD 226 and 284, with a notable gap to the first Byzantine embassy in AD 643.

Weilue: The People of the West

The Weilüe (魏略), or “Short History of Wei”, is a Chinese historical text written by Yu Huan between 239 and 265. Yu Huan was an officer in the state of Cao Wei (220-265) during the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-280). Although he was not a historian, he was highly regarded by Chinese academics. The original content of the book has been lost, but the chapters on the Xirong have been cited by Pei Songzhi, as an annotation to volume 30 of the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms (三國志), the official historical text of the Three Kingdoms period, which collects the chronicles of the rival states, Wei Kingdom, Shu Kingdom, and the Wu Kingdom of the Three Kingdoms in a single text, and served as a model for historical novels such as The Romance of the Three Kingdoms of the 14th Century, first published in 429. The Weilüe contains material new, unique, and generally reliable, mostly from the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries. Most of the new information contained in the volume appears to come from the Eastern Han Dynasty before China was largely cut off from the West by civil wars and unrest along its borders during the late 2nd century.

Yu Huan, who never left China, does not mention in his text the sources from which he received the information. However, land communications with the West apparently continued uninterrupted even after the fall of the Eastern Han dynasty.

Yu Huan collected a great deal of information on Western countries including Parthia, India, and the Roman Empire, and on the various routes to reach these exotic destinations.

Some information was already known before Yu Huan, and can also be found in some sections of the Records of the Grand Historian (史記, Shiji by Sima Qian), the History of the Former Han (Hanshu, 汉书, initiated by Ban Biao, continued from son Ban Gu and terminated by Biao’s youngest daughter Ban Zhao), and the Book of Later Han (Hou Hanshu, 後漢書, compiled by Fan Ye).

The book describes the routes to the Roman Empire. It is possible that some, if not all of the information contained come from reports by foreign sailors and travelers. One such document that may have been available to Yu Huan is detailed in the Book of Liang by a Roman merchant who arrived in Jiaozhi near modern-day Hanoi in 226 and was sent to the court of Eastern Wu Emperor Sun Quan, who asked him for a report on his native country and its people.

Yu Huan included a brief description of “Zesan”, a vassal state of the Roman Empire, identified by some as Trebizond in modern-day Turkey and by historian John E. Hill with Azania, corresponding to the southeastern coast of Africa.

The complete translation with the translation notes by John E. Hill (September 2004) of the volume in English can be found by following this link.

Below, are the most significant passages describing a peripheral part of the Roman Empire through the eyes of a third-century Chinese intellectual.

Section 11 – Da Qin (Roman territory/Rome)

The kingdom of Da Qin (Rome) is also called Lijian. It is west of Anxi (Parthia) and Tiaozhi (Characene and Susiana), and west of the Great Sea.

From the city of Angu (Gerrha), on the frontier of Anxi (Parthia), you take a boat and cut directly across to Haixi (‘West of the Sea’ = Egypt). With favourable winds it takes two months; if the winds are slow, perhaps a year; if there is no wind, perhaps three years.

The country (that you reach) is west of the sea (haixi), which is why it is called Haixi (literally: ‘West of the Sea’ = Egypt). There is a river (the Nile) flowing out of the west of this country, and then there is another great sea (the Mediterranean). The city of (Wu) Chisan (Alexandria)7 is in Haixi (Egypt).

From below this country you go north to reach the city of Wudan (Tanis?). You (then) head southwest and cross a river (the Sebannitus branch of the Nile?) by boat, which takes a day. You head southwest again, and again cross a river (the Canopis branch of the Nile?) by boat, which takes another day. There are, in all, three major cities [that you come to].

Now, if you leave the city of Angu (Gerrha) by the overland route, you go north to Haibei (‘North of the Sea’ – the lands between Babylonia and Jordan), then west to Haixi (Egypt), then turn south to go through the city of Wuchisan (Alexandria). After crossing a river, which takes a day by boat, you circle around the coast (to the region of Apollonia, the port of Cyrene). (From there, i.e. the region of Apollonia) six days is generally enough to cross the (second) great sea (the Mediterranean) to reach that country (Da Qin = Rome).

This country (the Roman Empire) has more than four hundred smaller cities and towns. It extends several thousand li in all directions. The king has his capital (that is, the city of Rome) close to the mouth of a river (the Tiber). The outer walls of the city are made of stone.

This region has pine trees, cypress, sophora, catalpa, bamboo, reeds, poplars, willows, parasol trees, and all sorts of plants. The people cultivate the five grains [traditionally: rice, glutinous and non-glutinous millet, wheat and beans], and they raise horses, mules, donkeys, camels and silkworms. (They have) a tradition of amazing conjuring. They can produce fire from their mouths, bind and then free themselves, and juggle twelve balls with extraordinary skill.

The ruler of this country is not permanent. When disasters result from unusual phenomena, they unceremoniously replace him, installing a virtuous man as king, and release the old king, who does not dare show resentment.

The common people are tall and virtuous like the Chinese, but wear hu (‘Western’) clothes. They say they originally came from China, but left it.

They have always wanted to communicate with China but, Anxi (Parthia), jealous of their profits, would not allow them to pass (through to China).

The common people can write in hu (‘Western’) script. They have multi-storeyed public buildings and private; (they fly) flags, beat drums, (and travel in) small carriages with white roofs, and have a postal service with relay sheds and postal stations, like in the Middle Kingdom (China).

From Anxi (Parthia) you go around Haibei (‘North of the Sea’ – the lands between Babylonia and Jordan) to reach this country.

The people (of these countries) are connected to each other. Every 10 li (4.2 km) there is a ting (relay shed or changing place), and every 30 li (12.5 km) there is a zhi (postal station). There are no bandits or thieves, but there are fierce tigers and lions that kill those travelling on the route. If you are not in a group, you cannot get through.

This country (Rome) has installed dozens of minor kings. The king’s administrative capital (Rome) is more than 100 li (42 km) around. There is an official Department of Archives.

The king has five palaces at 10 li (4.2 km) intervals. He goes out at daybreak to one of the palaces and deals with matters until sunset and then spends the night there. The next day he goes to another palace and, in five days makes a complete tour. They have appointed thirty-six leaders who discuss events frequently. If one leader does not show up, there is no discussion. When the king goes out for a walk, he always orders a man to follow him holding a leather bag. Anyone who has something to say throws his or her petition into the bag. When he returns to the palace, he examines them and determines which are reasonable.

They use glass to make the pillars and table utensils in the palaces. They manufacture bows and arrows.

They divide the various branch principalities of their territory into small countries such as that of the king of Zesan (Azania?), the king of Lüfen (Leucos Limen), the king of Qielan (Wadi Sirhan), the king of Xiandu (Leukê Komê), the king of Sifu (Petra), (and that of) the king of Yuluo (Karak). There are so many other small kingdoms it is impossible to give details on each one.

Section 12 – Products of Da Qin (Roman territory)

This country produces fine linen. They make gold and silver coins. One gold coin is equal to ten silver coins.

They have fine brocaded cloth that is said to be made from the down of ‘water-sheep’. It is called Haixi (‘Egyptian’) cloth. This country produces the six domestic animals, which are all said to come from the water.

It is said that they not only use sheep’s wool, but also bark from trees, or the silk from wild cocoons, to make brocade, mats, pile rugs, woven cloth and curtains, all of them of good quality, and with brighter colours than those made in the countries of Haidong (“East of the Sea”).

Furthermore, they regularly make a profit by obtaining Chinese silk, unravelling it, and making fine hu (‘Western’) silk damasks. That is why this country trades with Anxi (Parthia) across the middle of the sea. The seawater is bitter and unable to be drunk, which is why it is rare for those who try to make contact to reach China.

The mountains (of this country) produce nine-coloured jewels (fluorite) of inferior quality. They change colour on different occasions from blue-green to red, yellow, white, black, green, purple, fiery red, and dark blue. Nowadays nine-coloured stones of the same type are found in the Yiwu Shan (a mountain range east of Hami).

In the third Yangjia year (CE 134), the king of Shule (Kashgar), Chen Pan [who had been made a hostage at the court of the Kushan emperor, for some period between 114 and 120, and was later placed on the throne of Kashgar by the Kushans], offered a blue (or green) gem and a golden girdle from Haixi (Egypt).

Moreover, the Xiyu Jiutu (‘Ancient Sketch of the Western Regions’) now says that both Jibin (Kapisha-Gandhāra) and Tiaozhi (Characene and Susiana) produce precious stones approaching the quality of jade.

Product List

Note: The translator has added the numbering in brackets for the convenience of the reader in checking the notes on the various items. For information on any of the items mentioned in the list, please click on the blue superscript No. 12 after “Product List” above, and then scroll down the page of notes until you come to the number you are looking for. For instance, if you want to check the notes on tin, scroll down until you reach note number 12.12 (6).

Da Qin (the Roman Empire) has plenty of:

(1) gold

(2) silver

(3) copper

(4) iron

(5) lead

(6) tin

(7) ‘divine tortoises’ – tortoises used for divination

(8) white horses with red manes

(9) fighting cocks

(10) rhinoceroses

(11) sea turtle shell

(12) black bears

(13) ‘red hornless (or immature) dragons’ (which produced the famous “dragons’ blood” resin)

(14) ‘poison-avoiding rats’ = mongooses

(15) large cowries

(16) mother-of-pearl

(17) carnelian

(18) ‘southern gold’

(19) kingfisher feathers

(20) ivory

(21) coloured veined jade

(22) ‘bright moon’ pearls

(23) luminescent ‘pearls’ or pearl-like jewels (probably large diamonds)

(24) genuine white pearls

(25) yellow amber

(26) (red) coral

(27) ten varieties of glass: red, white, black, green, yellow, blue-green, dark blue, light blue, fiery red, purple

(28) a magnificent jade

(29) white carnelian?

(30) rock crystal or transparent glass

(31) various semi-precious gems

(32) realgar

(33) orpiment

(34) nephrite

(35) multicoloured jade or gemstone

(36) ten sorts of wool rugs: yellow, white, black, green, purple, fiery red, deep red, dark blue, golden yellow, light blue and back to yellow

(37) finely patterned multicoloured wool carpets

(38) nine colours of multicoloured lower quality wool carpets (kilims rather than knotted carpets?)

(39) gold threaded embroidery

(40) polychrome (warp twill) fine silk or chiffon

(41) woven gold cloth

(42) purple chi cloth

(43) falu cloth

(44) purple chiqu cloth

(45) asbestos cloth

(46) fine silk gauze cloth

(47) shot silk, ‘clinging cloth’ or ‘cloth with swirling patterns’?

(48) dudai cloth

(49) cotton-wool cloth?

(50) multicoloured tao cloth

(51) crimson curtains woven with gold

(52) multicoloured ‘spiral curtains’?

(53) yiwei

(54) myrrh

(55) storax

(56) diti

(57) rosemary

(58) probably dhūṇa – an incense made from the resin of the Indian Sal tree.

(59) bai fuzi – lit. ‘white aconite’ – but it is not clear what plant this refers to here. See notes.

(60) frankincense

(61) turmeric, saffron or tulips

(62) rue oil

(63) Oriental lovage – Lysimachia foenum-graecum Hance

Altogether (they have) twelve types of aromatic plants.

Section 13 – The Sea Route to Da Qin (Roman territory)

As well as the overland route from Da Qin (Roman territory) through Haibei (‘North of the Sea’ – the lands between Egypt and Parthia), one can also follow the sea south along the seven commanderies of Jiaozhi (stretching down the north Vietnamese coast), which are in contact with foreign countries. Nearby (or ‘North’) is a waterway (the Red River) which leads to Yongchang in Yizhou (a commandery in present-day southern Yunnan). That’s why rare items come from Yongchang.

In early times only the maritime routes (to Da Qin) were discussed because they didn’t know there were overland routes.

Section 14 – Roman Dependencies

Now, (the Roman Empire) can be summed up as follows: the number of people and families cannot be given in detail. It is the biggest country west of the Bai Congling (‘White Pamir Mountains’). They have installed numerous minor kings so only the bigger dependencies are noted here:

Section 15 – The Kingdom of Zesan (Azania)

The king of Zesan (Azania) is subject to Da Qin (Rome). His seat of government is in the middle of the sea. To the north you reach Lüfen (Leukê Komê). It can take half a year to cross the water, but with fast winds it takes a month.

(Zesan) is in close communication with Angu city (Gerrha) in Anxi (Parthia). You can (also) travel (from Zesan) southwest to the capital of Da Qin (Rome), but the number of li is not known.

Section 16 – The Kingdom of Lüfen = Leukê Komê or modern Al Wajh

The king of Lüfen (Leukê Komê) is subject to Da Qin (Rome). It is 2,000 li (832 km) from his residence to (the nearest) major city (= Daphnae) of Da Qin (the Roman Empire).

From the city of Lüfen (Leukê Komê) going west to Da Qin (alongside the Butic Canal), you cross over the sea by an ‘elevated bridge’ 230 li (96 km) long;3 then you take the sea route southwest, travelling around the sea (coast), and then head west (to reach Da Qin).

Section 17 – The Kingdom of Qielan (Wadi Sirhan)

The king of Qielan (Wadi Sirhan) is subject to Da Qin (Rome). From the kingdom of Sitao (Istakhr, Stakhr) you go south, cross a river (the Rūd-i Kor), then head west 3,000 li (1,247 km) to go to Qielan (Wadi Sirhan). The route leaves south of the river (the Rūd-i Kor), only then do you head west.

From Qielan (Wadi Sirhan) you again travel west 600 li (250 km) to the kingdom of Sifu (Petra). The Southern Route joins (this east-west route) at Sifu (Petra). Also, (a route) goes southwest to the kingdom of Xiandu (‘Aynūnah).

Due south from Qielan (Wadi Sirhan) and Sifu (Petra) is Jishi (‘Rock Piles’). To the south of Jishi (‘Rock Piles’) there is a big sea (the Red Sea) which produces coral and pearls.

North of Qielan (Wadi Sirhan), Sifu (Petra), Sibin (Susa) and Aman (Ariana) there is a mountain range (the Taurus mountains)11 running east to west.

East of both Da Qin (Roman territories) and Haixi (= Egypt) there is a mountain range (the Jibāl ash Sharāh Range or Mount Seir) running north to south.

Section 18 – The Kingdom of Xiandu (‘Aynūnah = Leukos Limên)

The king of Xiandu (‘Aynūnah = Leukos Limên) is subject to Da Qin (Rome). From his residence it is 600 li (250 km) northeast to Sifu (Petra).

Section 19 – The Kingdom of Sifu (Petra)

The king of Sifu (Petra) is subject to Da Qin (Rome). From his residence northeast to Yuluo (Karak), you go 340 li (141 km), and cross over a sea (mistake for ‘river’ = the Wadi al-Ḥesa).

Section 20 – The Kingdom of Yuluo (Karak)

Yuluo (Karak) is subject to of Da Qin (Rome). The seat of government is northeast of Sifu (Petra) across a river (the Wadi al-Ḥesa). From Yuluo (Karak) you go northeast, and again cross over a river (River Arnon).

Featured image: Great Hunt mosaic depicts the capture and transportation of animals, Villa del Casale Sources: Wikipedia 1, 2

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#Ancient Rome #Cao Wei #Romance of the Three Kingdoms #Three Kingdoms #Yu Huan

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15 Rare Images of the Tragic Four Pests Campaign to Wipe Out the Sparrow

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15 Rare Images of the Tragic Four Pests Campaign to Wipe Out the Sparrow

A series of rare photographs and propaganda posters of the Four Pest Campaign in China (1958-9162).

The Four Pests campaign, 除四害, Chú Sì Hài, in China was one of the first actions taken during the Great Leap Forward between 1958 and 1962.

The four plagues to be eliminated according to the Chinese authorities were rats, mosquitoes, flies, and common sparrows. The extermination of the sparrows led to a serious ecological imbalance and was among the causes of the Great Chinese Famine, 三年大饥荒, which occurred between 1958 and 1962, causing the death of tens of millions of people.

In 1960 the campaign against sparrows finally came to an end and was redirected against bed bugs. The campaign was introduced and conceived by Mao Zedong as an initiative to promote public hygiene: the aim of which was to eradicate the four scourges responsible for the transmission of pestilences and diseases: rats (responsible for the plague), mosquitoes, and flies (responsible for malaria) and common sparrows (blamed of eating seeds and fruit).

On February 12, 1958, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the “Instructions to Eliminate the Four Parasites and Pay Attention to Hygiene”, beginning the extermination of the sparrows.

The sparrows were suspected of consuming about four pounds of grain per year. For this reason, the authorities ordered the destruction of the nests and eggs, and the elimination of the chicks.

People scaring sparrows at the Summer Palace, in Beijing, circa 1958

Millions of people organized themselves into groups to kill sparrows or to wear them out by harassing them by loudly hitting pots and pans. The campaign was a success and almost led to the extinction of the bird in the country. All the people were mobilized, including young, old people, women, and children.

Numerous tactics were used to eradicate the “threat” posed by the sparrows: they were therefore poisoned, tormented with drums, or fireworks to exhaust them, killed with a slingshot. Bamboo branches were used to chase sparrows from tree branches while flags were waved to confuse them. Anti-sparrow forces had no boundaries: alleys, roofs, trees, or walls of the houses, had all become battlefields. According to a newsletter in the People’s Daily, more than 83,200 sparrows died of exhaustion, poisoning, and beatings during the one-day raid in Beijing.

Some sparrows found refuge in the extra-territorial territories of the international diplomatic missions. The Polish embassy staff did not grant access to the Chinese authorities. For this reason, the embassy was surrounded by ordinary people armed with drums. After two days of drumming, the Poles had to use shovels to get rid of the corpses of the dead birds.

In April 1960, ornithologist Tso-hsin Cheng pointed out that sparrows ate numerous harmful insects, as well as wheat. Due to the combined effects of floods and drought, compounded by the lack of sparrows, the rice and grain harvest decreased. In this context, Mao ordered the end of the campaign against the sparrows, which were replaced by bed bugs. The extermination of birds had disturbed the environmental balance resulting in an uncontrolled increase in the populations of locusts and other insects harmful to crops.

Due to the lack of a natural predator, swarms of locusts began to move around the country, aggravating the environmental situation, already severely affected by wild deforestation and the abuse of pesticides and other substances that were poisoning the lands.

Eventually, the government had to import 250,000 sparrows from the Soviet Union to repopulate the country.

Among the measures taken to combat insects, schools distributed DDT pumps to children. DDT was the first modern insecticide; it has been used since 1939, especially to eradicate malaria. However, DDT is a persistent and highly resistant organic pollutant in the environment. DDT is also highly toxic to aquatic life forms.

Sources 1, 2, 3

#AnimalRights, #GreatChineseFamine, #GreatLeapForward, #MaoZedong, #OldPhotographsOfChina, #Propaganda, #PropagandaImages

#animal rights #Great Chinese Famine #great leap forward #mao zedong #old photographs of China #propaganda #propaganda images

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The incredible story of the Chinese spy Shi Pei Pu

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The incredible story of the Chinese spy Shi Pei Pu

Shi Pei Pu, an opera singer, and spy masqueraded as a woman and had a 20-year sexual relationship with a French ambassador to gather secrets.

Shi Pei Pu (时佩璞, 1938-2009) who was born in Shandong province, was a Chinese opera singer and spy who went down in history for having duped Bernard Boursicot, an employee of the French embassy in Beijing, having a relationship with him that lasted 20 years to obtain secret documents.

Shi convinced the man that he was a woman and that he had a child from the relationship. In 1986, the story attracted the attention of the public and the media. Boursicot and Shi were tried and later sentenced to six years in prison.

Shi’s father was a university professor and his mother a teacher. The young man had two older sisters. Shi grew up in Kunming, in the southwestern province of Yunnan, where he learned French while attending Yunnan University, majoring in literature. At 17, Shi became an actor and singer while also garnering some accolades. Still young, Shi wrote some plays about workers.

Bernard Boursicot, born in 1944, had attended various boarding schools as a young man, where he had had several homosexual relationships with other students; upon graduation, Boursicot became determined to have sex with a woman for the first time, believing that institutionalized homosexuality among college students was just a rite of passage. He arrived in Beijing at the age of 20, and there he found a job as an accountant at the French embassy. In January, French President Charles de Gaulle announced that the government recognized the Communist regime. The embassy had opened in 1964 and was the first Western mission to China since the Korean War that took place a few years earlier. Shortly before Christmas, he was invited to a reception by Claude Chayet, the second-highest-ranking officer of the French diplomatic headquarters. Boursicot went to the party accompanied by a secretary from the British embassy. At the reception he met Shi, then 26, and they soon started a relationship. During the party, Shi, at that moment dressed as a man, told Boursicot that she was actually a woman but to dress and behave like a man to satisfy the desire of her father, who always wanted a son.

Boursicot and Shi Dudu, Shi Peipu’s “son”

Journalist Joyce Wadler, the author of the book Liaison on this relationship, attributed Boursicot’s belief that Shi was a woman to the man’s unique ability to retract his testicles, which, combined with the manipulation of his own penis, created the illusion of labial lips and a clitoris allowing a superficial penetration.

In 1965, Shi claimed to be pregnant and used a baby named Shi Du Du (later named Bertrand by Boursicot and his family) that had been purchased by a doctor in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. Over the next decade, the two continued their relationship.

Around this time Boursicot embraced his own bisexuality, having multiple connections with women while at the same time being engaged in a long-term relationship with a Frenchman named Thierry, with whom he hoped one day to form a family that would also include Shi Pei Pu and Bertrand.

Boursicot later claimed that they began passing documents to Shi when the Chinese Cultural Revolution complicated their relationship. He was approached by Kang Sheng, a Chinese secret service member who offered him access to Shi in exchange for documents. Boursicot worked for the secret services at the French embassy in Beijing from ’69 to ’72 and in Mongolia from ’77 to ’79.

In 1979 Boursicot returned to France and lost contact with Shi. In 1982 he managed to get Shi and his son, now sixteen, to arrive in Paris, where they began to live as a family. Boursicot was arrested on June 30, 1983 by agents of the Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire. When he was questioned by the authorities, he confessed that he had passed Shi at least 150 confidential documents.

Boursicot and Shi during the trial in France

In 1986 the two were sentenced to six years in prison for espionage. Upon learning the truth about their relationship, Boursicot attempted suicide in prison by slitting his throat but survived. The following year, French President François Mitterrand pardoned Shi in an attempt to dissolve diplomatic tensions between China and France. Boursicot also obtained a pardon in August of the same year. Public disclosure of the affair made Boursicot an object of laughter in France.

Released from prison, Shi returned to devote himself to Chinese opera. He remained in contact with Boursicot, declaring himself still in love a month before he died, in Paris, at the age of seventy.

Shi Peipu died in a French nursing home in Paris, aged 70, on June 30, 2009

“He did so many things against me that he had no pity for, I think it is stupid to play another game now and say I am sad. The plate is clean now. I am free” Bernanrd Boursicot on his relation with Shi Pei Pu, Joyce Wadler in The True Story of the M. Butterfly Affair, published in 1994

The film M. Butterfly shot by David Cronenberg in 1993 and based on a work by David Henry Hwang, nominated for the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for dramaturgy, starring Jeremy Irons and John Lone is inspired by this story.

A still from the movie M Butterfly (1993) directed by David Cronenberg

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#ChineseOpera, #DavidCronenberg, #DavidHenryHwang, #Espionage, #France, #JeremyIrons, #JohnLone, #MButterfly, #Spy

#chinese opera #David Cronenberg #David Henry Hwang #espionage #france #Jeremy Irons #John Lone #M. Butterfly #spy

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#Chinesesects #Handynasty #rebellion #secretsociety #taoism

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#bagua #BuddhaMaitreya #buddhism #Chinesesects #eighttrigrams #EmperorHongwu #IChing #secretsociety

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World Book Day, Celebrating the Joy of Reading and Literature

New Post has been published on https://china-underground.com/2022/04/23/world-book-day-china/

World Book Day, Celebrating the Joy of Reading and Literature

World Book and Copyright Day is a platform to bring together millions of people around the world.

International Book Day, or World Book and Copyright Day, is an annual event organized by the United Nations Organization about education, sciences, and culture to promote reading, publishing, and copyright.

What are the origins of this celebration?

Book Day was born in Spain in 1926 and was initially celebrated on October 7, as the creator of Don Quixote was believed to have been born on this date, according to the National Library of Spain. The Valencian writer Vicente Clavel was the original promoter of the proposal to dedicate one day a year to the celebration of the Book Festival, which was presented to the Official Chamber of the Book of Barcelona in 1923. Two years later, Clavel reiterated his proposal in Catalonia and started negotiations in Madrid as well. Finally, on February 6, 1926, King Alfonso XIII approved and signed the Royal Decree which stated that on October 7 of each year the birth of Cervantes would be commemorated with a feast dedicated to the Spanish book. In 1929 there was a lot of worldwide resonance thanks to the Barcelona International Exposition and the Ibero-American Exposition in Seville. However, the initiative soon encountered strong controversy over the choice of date, since it seemed pointless to celebrate Cervantes on the date of birth on which there was no certainty.

The other reason was of a more practical nature, and spring seemed a more appropriate time than autumn. This situation was resolved in 1930 when it was decided to permanently move the Book Festival to April 23rd. The celebration continued to enjoy great popularity, especially in Catalonia, where it coincides with the Diada de Sant Jordi, the patron saint of Catalonia. The Diada usually involves the exchange of gifts between loved ones and, from the 1931 Book Fair in Barcelona, even nowaday the gifts are a book and a rose.

In 1995 in Paris, the Spanish government presented the International Union of Publishers’ proposal for the worldwide celebration of Book Day to UNESCO. The General Conference approved it the same year. This choice of date also coincides with the death date of three authors who have made the history of literature such as William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes, and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. Furthermore, UNESCO, together with the International Union of Publishers, the International Federation of Booksellers, and the International Federation of Library Associations and Libraries, designate a city as World Book Capital, which during the arc of the year continues the promotion of reading until the following 23 April. In 2001, Madrid was the first city chosen by the commission. In some countries, World Book Day takes place on other days of the year, although the international event was created by UNESCO. In the UK and Ireland, World Book Day is a charity event in March, held annually on the first Thursday and coinciding with the release of special editions.

How is this day celebrated?

Thanks to the brilliant invention of the movable-type printing press in the mid-15th century, by Johannes Gutenberg who brought books into the industrial age, making them easily available to anyone who wanted to read them, today we celebrate what could also be called the day of universal culture. Before then, the writing systems of ancient civilizations thousands of years ago were clay tablets, subsequently, humanity switched to the use of papyrus and paper, during the Eastern Han period (25-220 CE). Printing was invented in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD) using carved wooden blocks to press ink onto sheets of paper. With the press, books became more accessible, making knowledge and learning for a growing number of people. Every year on this day, celebrations are held around the world to recognize the importance of books that create a link between past and future, a bridge between generations and between cultures. This anniversary promotes the enjoyment and benefits of books and reading. Books are vital vehicles for accessing, transmitting, and promoting information and content of any kind. Today we celebrate the power of innovation and information around the world. Today is a day to satisfy the senses in the magical world of literature, which allows you to travel without money and without means of transport, a time machine that makes discover and learn about customs and ideas far away in various eras and that offers keys to similarities and differences, to open minds between the particular and the universal. Today books and copyright are defended, creativity, diversity, and equal access to knowledge are defended, and literacy and learning are promoted. Loving and defending books is synonymous with hope and openness to dialogue.

Cities designated as UNESCO World Book Capital carry out activities with the aim of encouraging a culture of reading for all ages and sharing UNESCO values. They are committed to implementing policies that promote books as an instrument of cultural evolution, with the aim of fighting violence and building a culture of peace. Activities to celebrate and promote books and reading also include street festivals in some cities. A worldwide homage is paid to books and authors, encouraging everyone to access the books. On this day novelties are also proposed and may coincide with organizations of presentations of publications, debates on books, readings, interviews open to the public, or signing of copies with the authors. Since reading is also a personal action, there are infinite possibilities in marking this day, which is celebrated in over 100 countries around the world.

What are the benefits of a book and reading?

Regardless of how someone decides to take advantage of reading, whether it is traditional on paper or digital reading, or whether it is reading novels, detective stories, comics, biographies, information, learning manuals, religious books, etc … regardless of one’s individual choices, reading always enriches, adds and does not subtract. Unlike other days promoted by the United Nations, there are no themes for World Book Day, to ensure maximum autonomy and freedom.

Immersing in reading is an educational training experience in various aspects. Books are devices to ignite the imagination. Hearing someone read aloud offers space for the inventiveness, which in our age is often suffocated and conveyed by the excessive accumulation of images that are enjoyed due to media and marketing bombardments that homologate many minds and make them unable to think independently and freely.

Reading is now more important than ever because it creates emancipation, independence, and autonomy. Books encourage thinking, fighting inequalities and disinformation, and breaking down prejudices, and stereotypes, they are vehicles for preventing discrimination, injustice, intolerance, sensitizing people, and bringing emotions. Reading also becomes an opportunity to compare ideas and interpretations: the different understandings of a book can create debates to see new points of view and new solutions. Books play an important role in social change, in the fight against violence, and in building a culture of peace. Reading aloud helps improve pronunciation, strengthen confidence, and therefore benefit individual self-esteem. Thanks to books, it is easy to learn a language properly from a grammatical point of view, that is, you study without realizing it, increasing your dialectical, comprehension, concentration, and writing properties. It has a positive impact on enriching personal vocabulary and creating connections between words and emotions. While reading with the mind stimulates the dynamics of inner dialogue and therefore brings benefits to the conscience, it helps to know oneself and to know the other, bringing benefits to the EQ. Books are also a great way to reduce stress, which causes damage to the immune system. Numerous studies have shown that reading stimulates the mind and prevents the development of diseases such as senile dementia, Alzheimer’s, and memory loss. They are the gymnastics of the brain that protect it from deterioration and decline and keep it healthy even in old age.

Thanks to the work of interpreters and translators we can access a growing number of books from all over the world. More and more Chinese authors are well-known internationally, and more and more Westerners are interested in and write about China from many different points of view.

On our website, it is possible to find lists of books, reviews, and also interviews with authors who have opened the doors of their minds and who have shared their life experiences, fantasies, curiosities, historical research, etc. to offer new points of view and bring humanity closer.

Interview with Helen Zia. She has been outspoken on social justice issues ranging from human rights, and peace to women’s rights, countering hate violence, homophobia, and civil rights campaign against anti-Asian violence.

Interview with Author, and Poet Chen Chen. His work has appeared in Poetry, The Massachusetts Review, Drunken Boat, Best of the Net, The Best American Poetry, The Academy of American Poets, and elsewhere. When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities was a finalist for the Lambda literary award for gay poetry.

Chen Chen. Author: Jess X. Snow

Interview with Nona Mock Wyman. In her books, she touches on the themes of loss and of strength and peace found. She tells of her life-long search to understand her own roots, but also her gratitude for having a place to grow up with other girls in the same situation.

Interview with author Jeremy Tiang. Jeremy translates plays and novels from Chinese. He is also a talented playwright and an author.

Interview with Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer Xia Jia. Her works have been translated into Czech, Italian, French, Korean, German, Spanish, Japanese, and Polish. She’s also engaged in other science fiction-related works, including academic research, translation, screenwriting, and teaching creative writing.

Interview with Richard Perkins, author of Spring Flower: A Tale of Two Rivers. Richard edited his mother’s memoir. The book is a first-hand testimony of the dramatic events that have marked China’s recent history.

Interview with Guobin Yang: the role of the social media amid the Wuhan coronavirus lockdown. Guobin Yang’s research examines internet activism, social movements, digital culture, cultural sociology, historical sociology, critical theory, global communication, environmental communication, media, and Chinese politics.

Interview with Alice Poon. Always fascinated with iconic but unsung women in Chinese history and legends, Alice Poon is the author of Tales of Ming Courtesans, The Green Phoenix, and the award-winning non-fiction title Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong.

Interview with Eric Fish. He is the author of ‘China’s Millennials’ which challenges the idea that this generation has been pacified by material comfort and nationalism.

Interview with Ed Shew, author of Chinese Brothers, American Sons. Through the eyes of two brothers, Li Chang and Li Yu, who come to San Francisco in 1854 in search of the Gold Mountain, ‘Chinese Brothers, American Sons’ chronicles the little-known narrative of these pioneers.

Official site

#ChineseWriter, #ChineseWriters, #WorldBookDay

#Chinese writer #Chinese writers #World Book Day

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Earth Day: the largest environmental event on the planet that celebrates the Earth and promotes its preservation

New Post has been published on https://china-underground.com/2022/04/22/earth-day-the-largest-environmental-event-on-the-planet-that-celebrates-the-earth-and-promotes-its-preservation/

Earth Day: the largest environmental event on the planet that celebrates the Earth and promotes its preservation

World Earth Day is an international day to remember and manifest environmental sustainability and the protection of our planet.

The purpose of this green event is to involve the largest number of people around the planet in the awareness of the urgency of remedying a seriously compromised climatic and environmental situation.

What are its origins?

On January 29, 1969, seabed drilling in the Santa Barbara Canal in California caused an oil rig to explode, spilling 100,000 oil barrels on the county’s shores. The impact on the marine habitat was devastating, resulting in the death of thousands of fish and birds. In 1969 at a UNESCO conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to be celebrated for the first time on March 21, 1970, that is to say, the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. This day was later enshrined in a proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary-General U Thant to the United Nations. A month later, United States Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed the idea of holding a seminar on the environment nationwide on April 22, 1970. On that occasion, a young activist, Denis Hayes, who served as national coordinator, together with Nelson renamed the event “Earth Day“. Denis and his staff raised the event beyond the original idea of a course that would include all of the United States. More than 20 million people took to the streets and the first Earth Day remains the largest protest in human history. Since then, it has involved up to one billion people every year in 193 countries around the world. Earth Day now includes a wide range of globally coordinated events.

What does this day mean?

An important role is played by the protection of the marine environment and greenery and for this reason, each individual is called upon to show greater sensitivity towards the issue of protecting the planet and to adopt a more responsible lifestyle. Everyone can find daily new ideas to live responsibly and sustainably and can also engage in information actions, scientific dissemination, and environmental awareness. This day is an educational and informative event, an opportunity to evaluate the problems of the planet: pollution, the destruction of ecosystems, and the exhaustion of non-renewable resources. To save the planet, it is necessary to find and apply solutions that allow the negative effects of human activities to be eliminated. But it is a priority to hurry, to avoid a doomsday scenario. To protect our planet we need new energies and new solutions, our survival as a human species depends on the Earth, just think that 1/4 of all medicines originated in the rainforests and therefore it is essential to protect them and guarantee biodiversity.

What can be done for the planet?

There are many solutions that can be put in place to fight climate change, to improve the situation both globally and locally. You can act in many areas from the recycling of materials to the conservation of natural resources, from the use of natural or renewable products instead of chemicals that are harmful to the habitat. Through the reduction of consumption, recycling, reuse, energy, and sustainable nutrition, a difference can be made in preserving the health of the planet by ensuring the balance of biodiversity.

The organization chooses a theme for each edition and the slogan for 2022 is “Investing in our Planet” five main programs were also presented: The Great Global Cleanup, Sustainable Fashion, Climate, and Environmental Literacy, Canopy Project, Food and Environment, and Global Earth Challenge. Today 22 April 2022 on the occasion of Earth Day we want to share with you readers some interviews made in recent years with artists, architects, designers, journalists, writers, entrepreneurs, who have told us about their commitment and professional involvement on issues relating to the environment, pollution and the search for sustainability.

Interview with Sissi Chao. Founder of REmakeHub a social enterprise that provides a circular solution for waste pollution in the fashion and design industry.

Interview with Michael Standaert. Michael primarily covers environmental and climate change policy, and infrastructure developments for Bloomberg BNA, MIT Technology Review, and South China Morning Post.

Michael Standaert and his son

Interview with Wu Judy Chin-tai. Judy is a Taiwanese record producer whose work primarily focuses on natural sounds, instrumental music, and ethnic music.

Interview with Fashion Designer Toby Crispy. Toby demonstrated the various possibilities of upcycling fashion through redesign service and collaboration with NGOs, art groups, brands & corporate for exhibitions, workshops, events with various fashion brands, and green groups.

Interview with Stefano Boeri. His project of metropolitan reforestation aims to regenerate the environment and urban biodiversity. Protecting and increasing permeable and green surfaces is the solution for cities that are responsible for climate change problems.

Along the facades of Nanjing Vertical Forest are growing 600 tall trees, 500 medium-sized trees (for a total amount of 1,100 trees from 23 local species) and 2,500 cascading plants and shrubs will cover a 6,000 sqm area.

Interview with Michelle Hong. Cofounder of sustainable urban farming organization Rooftop Republic in Hong Kong.

Interview with Fengru Lin. Co-Founder And CEO Of TurtleTree with the mission to change the face of sustainable nutrition creating real milk through cell-based methods.

Interview with Xing Danwen. Xing Danwen‘s subjects include conflicts between globalization and traditions, problematic environmental issues created by the development, the urban drama between desire and reality.

disCONNEXION (Xing Danwen)

Interview with Shirley Ying Han. Shirley is a multimedia journalist in politics and global affairs and an associate producer at CNN. Her documentary film on the water crisis in the North China Plain received the Award of Excellence at the 2014 Canada International Film Festival.

Interview with textile designer Elaine Yan Ling Ng. She has focused on how the behavior of natural elements can be manifested in man-made materials to enhance the modern architecture and interior design.

Interview with Media Artist Jiayu Liu. Her work often recreates and augments the natural world and focuses on relationships between humans, nature, and the lived environment, exploring human behavior and response.

#EarthDay, #Environment, #Nature

#earth day #environment #nature

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Chen Dongfan: Long Past Dawn, Pirates and Poets Whistle in the Dark

New Post has been published on https://china-underground.com/2020/12/08/chen-dongfan-long-past-dawn-pirates-and-poets-whistle-in-the-dark/

Chen Dongfan: Long Past Dawn, Pirates and Poets Whistle in the Dark

Chen Dongfan’s new exhibition: Long Past Dawn, Pirates and Poets Whistle in the Dark, at the Fou Gallery in New York is an extremely topical artistic event.

Related articles: Interview with Graffiti Artist Chen Dongfan

Exhibition link

In fact, the artist’s works were created during the period of the LockDown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This solo show displays more than 50 artworks with bright colors, where the tones evoke strong emotional responses. Through his direct and abstract style, active sensations are perceived relating to feelings and personal reflections arising from the social limits due to the spread of the epidemic.

The exhibit features two new series of Chen oil paintings: Poster and Story and one last major oil painting “Rise From The Ashes”. Curator Lynn Hai explains that the title of the exhibition is a combination of the titles of three main works of his series. Chen Dongfan, who lives and works in New York, has decided to undergo self-quarantine and had to give up making his paintings in his studio. So from his apartment, he focused his new artistic creation on small works of the size similar to an open book.

The Poster series, made on rice paper and plastic wrapping paper, highlights the artist’s feelings about confinement in the home due to the pandemic. The works are made with strong and vigorous colors. The energy of color outlines distorted figures that accentuate the state of confusion, suffering, trauma, and inner struggle, created by fragility and insecurity. The spaces of the pandemic and isolation may be too rigid or too small. But the deafening silence allows the artist to find his own voice and allows mastery of his mind. The fragility that Chen encounters brings out the small nuances and brings greater self-awareness. Focus, listen to his own feelings and re-elaborate them in dynamics and gestures. Pain takes shape in color.

In pale fire the shadow preys the hunter for midnight pleasure.

Chen Dongfan: Long Past Dawn, Pirates and Poets Whistle in the Dark installation view, photo by Lynn Hai ©Chen Dongfan, courtesy of Fou Gallery

The artist in his artworks invites us and urges us to stay at home, a conscious and generous choice to actively contribute to slowing the spread of the virus. From home, as curator Hai told, Chen began to draw inspired by online information, reading book, and literature. He has focused his attention on mental and cultural growth, on the study and deepening of myths, legends, and stories. He re-elaborates everything in the realm of his imagination and, passing from the visualization of the brain, materializes the collection of concepts on paper.

Chen Dongfan: Long Past Dawn, Pirates and Poets Whistle in the Dark installation view, photo by Lynn Hai ©Chen Dongfan, courtesy of Fou Gallery

Chen, who has been confined for a long time to creating works on a small desk, makes this limitation a starting point to free the mind, search, learn new information, make it his own and undertake a personal creative process. The artist navigating, imagining, finds, and decides the route to his destination. He land and sow on a fertile ground the ideas and visions for his new series “Story” in the form of a diptych: on the left side there is a line of a literary text in the center of the sheet; on the right side, his impressions are abstractly captured.

Legend returns to the shadow trap on the star side of bird hill.

Chen Dongfan: Long Past Dawn, Pirates and Poets Whistle in the Dark installation view, photo by Lynn Hai ©Chen Dongfan, courtesy of Fou Gallery

The mythical elements in his oil paintings are the result of a development path of the details of stories and symbols formulated over time, ancient beliefs that are transformed into universal when the artist paints a vision updated to the contemporary. He takes from the past to understand the present and manage the future. Mythology still plays a very important role in contemporary society, it can be found in different contexts, and in countless forms, quotes, interpretations. It’s present through the small daily rituals that anchor people in time and shape a day. Routines, habits, traditions, and celebrations generate significant and precious experiences in the inner world, these are handed down from generation to generation transforming, adapting, changing, but always remaining themselves and bearers of the same hope and optimism. The exuberant colors outlining detailed shapes decline time, allowing at the same time to travel in time, escape from time, rewind the time, stop the time, live the time. The artworks painted and narrated in “Story” bring to light the constant component of the cyclical nature of life: each phase of transition and transformation, enhances and confirms the importance of each unique process and moment.

Chen Dongfan: Long Past Dawn, Pirates and Poets Whistle in the Dark installation view, photo by Lynn Hai ©Chen Dongfan, courtesy of Fou Gallery

As curator Lynn Hai points out, Chen’s two most recent series show more figurative images, unlike the previous ones, mainly of abstract typology. In fact, we can grasp the influence of the in-depth analyses carried out in recent months. Some have experienced the fear of being alone during this time, as isolation can be uncomfortable or even frightening. Social distancing seems brutal, as humans take comfort in each other’s presence. Chen, on the other hand, has transformed isolation into a new possibility and opportunity to reflect on the relationship between art and society. His artistic meditation is captured in the changes in the narrative form of the stories, which allow to visualize a harmony that combines brush movements between pauses and slowdowns to focus on certain moments, of stories and myths that have settled over time. It shows us that being alone also means managing a skill. Loneliness has always been in human history the companion of hermits and religious, philosophers, researchers, scholars, and artists. However lonely one may feel, human beings have always experienced isolation to undertake a path of understanding. So this makes this experience a time of human communion. Even Chen absorbed between poetry and literature has plunged into the sea of time, between mythology and narration in search of his own spiritual and universal vision to be expressed with his art. In this way, Chen invites us to accept isolation, to let it take us deeper into ourselves, into our subconscious, reminding every one of their own individual purpose.

Voiceless secrets are trapped in the sky.

The balance that Chen reaches culminates in his oil painting “Rise From The Ashes“, the first work created after self-isolation, when he finally returns to his studio. The strong contrast of colors identifies a concrete and definitive point that coincides between an end and a new beginning of the life cycle. The intuitive and lively brushstrokes that envelop and the use of vibrant colors as well as evoke a rebirth appear as a celebratory dance, a feast to the new life, a ritual of thanksgiving, the image of a dancing fire. The color takes on folkloric characteristics, of celebration.

He infuses us with optimism, reminds us to pay attention to every single moment, live the present, the here, the now, the while, and appreciate the smallest things that bring well-being, calm, taking care of our memories, of our time. Simple joys are those that are worth being grateful for, as can the little daily rituals that anchor us in time and shape us. Regain possession of those moments of negligible happiness, feel the lack of a habit and have the courage to face the unknown, choosing to be heroes, without pretensions of a great mission, but day by day in the little things of everyday life, in the choices every day.

Eros is exiled with a cherry and the aced of spades.

Chen Dongfan, Burning of Babylon and the Mourning Kings and Merchants, 2020. Oil on paper, 11.3 x 14.9 inches. ©Chen Dongfan, courtesy Fou Gallery.

Chen helps us understand that colorful stories can be created from simple moments by bringing precious emotions to light. He reconciles his inner self with the surrounding world, his mind reaches a state of stillness, tranquility, and clarity. He doesn’t leave the outside world and problems out, he is aware of what is happening around and within himself. Understanding leads to a reunion of many more dimensions. Through art and experience, Chen creates a whole, which is an integral part of the constant and continuous flow of life, reality, and what creates a bond with the spirit.

For several months now, the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent problems related to health, economic precariousness, and social justice have taken the daily anxiety levels of many people to the extreme. Even if “Nothing’s sure about tomorrow” as Lorenzo de’ Medici wrote in Canzona di Bacco, this doesn’t mean we have to surrender. “Rise From The Ashes” thus becomes a message of good luck and hope. In this period, high-stress peaks are highly harmful, and therefore the ability to understand the situation, calm, and resilience become great allies in facing this difficult moment and approaching the solution. When things get difficult, art is that caress that calms the soul, the universal language that many can understand regardless of their cultural background. It connects the senses, penetrates the eyes, reaches the ears, opens the heart, and tunes the mind.

Since we have been in this pandemic world situation, the whole team of Fou Gallery in synergy and with a great sense of responsibility works with great commitment to making art accessible. Art is also a medicine capable of relieving the mind and soul and canceling that feeling of heaviness due to the fears that torment and grip, thanks to its relaxing and energizing ability. The dedication and optimism that spurs them to commit themselves in this period is an important sign of generosity, hope, and an example of resilience for all and reminds us of the importance of art in life and for life.

Photo Courtesy of Fou Gallery Photographers: Lynn Hai, Inna Xu

#ChinesePainter, #OilPainting, #RicePaper

#chinese painter #oil painting #rice paper

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Chen Dongfan: Long Past Dawn, Pirates and Poets Whistle in the Dark

New Post has been published on https://china-underground.com/2020/12/08/chen-dongfan-long-past-dawn-pirates-and-poets-whistle-in-the-dark/

Chen Dongfan: Long Past Dawn, Pirates and Poets Whistle in the Dark

Chen Dongfan’s new exhibition: Long Past Dawn, Pirates and Poets Whistle in the Dark, at the Fou Gallery in New York is an extremely topical artistic event.

Related articles: Interview with Graffiti Artist Chen Dongfan

Exhibition link

In pale fire the shadow preys the hunter for midnight pleasure.

Chen Dongfan: Long Past Dawn, Pirates and Poets Whistle in the Dark installation view, photo by Lynn Hai ©Chen Dongfan, courtesy of Fou Gallery

Legend returns to the shadow trap on the star side of bird hill.

Chen Dongfan: Long Past Dawn, Pirates and Poets Whistle in the Dark installation view, photo by Lynn Hai ©Chen Dongfan, courtesy of Fou Gallery

Voiceless secrets are trapped in the sky.

Eros is exiled with a cherry and the aced of spades.

Chen Dongfan, Burning of Babylon and the Mourning Kings and Merchants, 2020. Oil on paper, 11.3 x 14.9 inches. ©Chen Dongfan, courtesy Fou Gallery.

Photo Courtesy of Fou Gallery Photographers: Lynn Hai, Inna Xu

#ChinesePainter, #OilPainting, #RicePaper

#chinese painter #oil painting #rice paper

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