Showing posts with label Chinese Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chinese Art. Show all posts

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Eight Nested Relic Boxes


We just learned about the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.

Another ancient Chinese work of art is the Eight Nested Relic Boxes.

Long ago in China a man called Buddha lived and many people followed him because of all the wise things he had to say.

He was so famous that when he died, they saved one of his finger bones and put it inside of a nicely carved box.
This box was put into another box and another.
There were a total of eight boxes, made of either gold, silver or jade, and wrapped in silk.

These boxes are in a museum now for people to come visit and see the box that people believe has the finger bone of Buddha inside.


(from: wikipedia - famen temple)


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Saturday, September 8, 2018

Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove


We just learned about the Nestorian Stele.

Another ancient Chinese work of art is the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove sculpture.

The seven sages in Chinese history were wise men, musicians and writers that lived in China around 200 AD.

They were very famous, and this sculpture is made of more than 300 bricks, carved to make a picture when they were put together.
It is over 8 feet long and about three feet tall.


(from: wikipedia - seven sages of the bamboo grove)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Saint Andrew - Duquesnoy

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Nestorian Stele


We just learned about the He Zun.

Another ancient Chinese work of art is the Nestorian Stele.

It has writing on it telling the story of Christian missionaries coming into China all the way back to 635 AD.
There was a time when people did not want Christians in China so they had to bury the tablet underground, and it was lost for about 800 years.

The sculpture is in Chinese and says it is for the "Memorial of the Propagation in China of the Luminous Religion from Daqin".
Daqin was the name of the Roman Empire.

On top of the tablet there is a sculpture of two dragons holding up a pearl.
Lots of Chinese artwork used dragons to show powerful or important things, and the pearl is probably from the Bible story saying that heaven is a precious treasure like a pearl.

There is also a cross and some clouds below the carvings.



(from: wikipedia - nestorian stele)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Annunciation of the Virgin by the Angel - Mochi

Saturday, August 25, 2018

He Zun


We just learned about the Phoenix Crown of Empress Xiadouanxian.

Another ancient Chinese sculpture is the He Zun.

This is a bronze sculpture made around 800 BC, and is the oldest ancient Chinese sculpture with the words "Middle Kingdom" or "Zhong Guo" meaning "China" on it.
It is a "Zun" sculpture, which is a kind of vase used to hold wine for pouring.

The sculpture is 15 inches tall, and weighs about 30 pounds.
There is writing on the inside in Chinese that talks about how the city of Louyang was built in China.

The He Zun was found by a local farmer who did not know what it was, so he sold it to a waste recycling center where someone would have melted the sculpture down for the bronze metal.

Luckily a historian saw it and rescued it, and then cleaned it up and put it in a museum.



(from: wikipedia - he zun)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Neptune - Coysvox

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Phoenix crown of Empress Xiaoduanxian


We just learned about the Shi Qiang Pan.

Another ancient Chinese work of art is the Phoenix crown of Empress Xiaoduanxian, made around 1500 AD in China.

In ancient times in China, queens brides and noble women would wear a special crown called Fengguan which means "phoenix crown".
The name comes from the phoenix decoration on the crown, made from feathers of the kingfisher bird.
There are also golden dragons, bearded pheasants, pearls and other gems.
Each crown was different and some would have more dragons or jewels based on how important the person was.

One of the fanciest phoenix crowns was from the Ming Empress Xiaoduanxian with 6 dragons, 3 phoenixes, 5,449 pearls, 71 rubies and 57 sapphires.
This kind of crown would weigh about five pounds.



(from: wikipedia - wang xijie)


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Saturday, August 11, 2018

Shi Qiang Pan


We just learned about the Qin Bronze Chariot.

Another ancient Chinese sculpture is the Shi Qiang Pan.

This is an ancient bronze bowl made around 900 BC.
There is writing inside the bowl, and some people believe this is the first time anyone tried to write about history in China.

The writing tells about all of the wonderful things the old and new rulers of China, did.
It also tells about the person named Qiang who made the bronze bowl.



(from: wikipedia - shi qiang pan)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fontana Della Barcaccia - Pietro Bernini

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Qin Bronze Chariot


We just learned about the ancient Chinese sculpture Gouji Zibai Pan.

Another ancient Chinese sculpture is the Qin Bronze Chariot, made some time around 200 BC.

This sculpture is of a driver with two seats in a chariot, with a large bronze umbrella.
The chariot is being pulled by four bronze horses, about half the size of a real horse.

It was found broken into many pieces, and it took five years to put the whole sculpture back together.


(from: wikipedia - qin bronze chariot)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Saint Bibiana - Bernini

Saturday, July 28, 2018

Gouji Zibai Pan


We just learned about the Li Gui.

Another famous Chinese sculpture is the Gouji Zibai Pan, made in 816 BC in China.

Just like the other bronzes we've learned about, this is a famous sculpture because it helps tell the history of China from long ago.

The Guoji Zibai pan is the largest ancient bronze pan sculpture in the world.
It is shaped like a bathtub, 15 inches high, 54 inches long, 34 inches wide, and weighs 475 pounds.
There are rings on the sides held by sculptures of beasts with the rings in their mouth.

The pan was made by the nobleman Gouji Zibai who was a soldier for King Xuan.
After he won some very important battles, the King threw a big party to celebrate.
To help remember the victory, the pan was made.

The pan could have had many uses, like holding water for washing hands and faces, or for a bathtub for people to wash in.
It could also have been used to hold ice cubes, but no one is really sure what it was used for.


(from: wikipedia - gouji zibai pan)


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Saturday, July 21, 2018

Li gui


We just learned about the Flying Horse of Gansu.

Another ancient Chinese sculpture is the Li gui, a small bronze bowl about 11 inches tall, made some time around 1,000 BC.

This sculpture is very important in China, because long ago they did not save records of all of their history, so people are not sure what happened or when it happened.

The Li gui is the oldest bronze sculpture from the time in Chinese history called the Zhou dynasty that lasted about 800 years.

There is some writing on the inside of the bowl that has helped people figure out important dates in history, thousands of years ago.
The writing mostly talks about King Wu winning a battle over the Shang dynasty, the people that ruled before the Zhou dynasty took over.



(from: wikipedia - li gui)


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Saturday, July 14, 2018

Flying Horse of Gansu


We just learned about the Mao Gong Ding.

Another ancient Chinese sculpture is the Flying Horse of Gansu, also called the Bronze Running Horse or the Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow.

This sculpture was found underneath a monastery in an old tomb with over 200 different bronze sculptures.

The horse in this sculpture is a type of horse called Tianma, which means heavenly horse.
These horses came from a place called Ferghana, and they were such great horses that the Emperor of China gave them the nickname of heavenly horse.

The statue is perfectly balanced on just one foot, which is stepping on top of a bird.
This is supposed to mean that the horse runs so fast it is almost like it is flying through the air with the birds.



(from: wikipedia - flying horse of gansu)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: David - Donatello

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Mao Gong ding


We just learned about the Da Ke ding and the Da Yu ding.

Another ancient Chinese sculpture is the Mao Gong ding.

Along with the other two dings, these three are some of the most famous Chinese sculptures.

This ding weighs 75 pounds, and is made of bronze.
People think it was made around 800 BC.

There are carvings on the inside of 497 characters telling about the history of the Kings of China in the old days.



(from: wikipedia - mao gong ding)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Leonardo's Horse

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Da Ke ding


We just learned about the Da Yu Ding.

Another famous Chinese sculpture is the Da Ke ding, made around 1000 BC in Shaanxi China.

Just like the Da Yu ding, this is a large sculpted bowl on a tripod, used to hold things usually for special ceremonies.

Along with the Da Yu ding and another ding, it is one of the most sacred historical treasures in China.

During the many wars through the years in China, enemies would come through towns and try to destroy all of the special sculptures and take the treasures of people.

The Pan family was the owner of the Da Ke ding, and they knew people would try to destroy it so they buried it underground to hide it.
Armies came into town and tried to dig around and find it, but they never did, so it is one of the few pieces of history telling the story of what happened long ago.

It is about 36 inches tall and weighs over 400 pounds.
It has special patterns and dragons carved into it, and inside are 290 letters inscribed telling the story of Ke, the ruler of the Western Zhou dynasty.


(from: wikipedia - da ke ding)


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Saturday, June 23, 2018

Da Yu ding


We just learned about the Yixian glazed pottery luohans.

Another ancient Chinese sculpture is the Da Yu ding.

A ding is used for storage or for special ceremonies and rituals.

This bronze ding sculpture was made around 1000 BC in Shaanxi China.
It has patterns and animal faces engraved on it, and on the inside of the ding is carved a speech from the Chinese King Kang of Zhou.

The speech talks about a few things:
Don't drink too much wine.
People need to support the king.
Everyone should try to be like the king's old grandfather Nang Gong.
All of the stuff the military owns and who is in charge of it.
The ding was made for his grandfather Nang Gong.

In the old days during wars a lot of times old sculptures like this would get destroyed, so it is hard to know what happened long ago because the history was erased.
This ding was hidden many times through the years so it was able to save the history of the past.



(from: wikipedia - da yu ding)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Christ and St. Thomas - Verrocchio

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Yixian glazed pottery luohans


We just learned about the Six Ritual Jades.

Another ancient Chinese sculpture is the Yixian glazed pottery luohans.

This is a set of life sized statues of Buddha that were made sometime around 1000 AD in China.

There have been at least eight found, but people think there may be many more.
All of the sculptures found are a little different, and were not just copies made from one sculpture.

They are made of terracotta which is a kind of clay, covered in glaze in a style called Sancai which means "three colors", brown green and white.




(from: wikipedia - yixian glazed pottery luohans)


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Saturday, June 9, 2018

Six Ritual Jades - Zhang


We've learned about four of the ancient Chinese Six Ritual Jades:
Cong - earth, Bi - sky/heaven, Huang - North, Hu - West,
and Gui - East.

The last of the Six Ritual Jades was the Zhang.

This was a flat blade or axe, and it was used to mean "South".


(from: wikipedia - chinese jade)


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Saturday, June 2, 2018

Six Ritual Jades - Gui


We've learned about four of the ancient Chinese Six Ritual Jades:
Cong - earth, Bi - sky/heaven, Huang - North, and Hu - West.

Another of the Six Ritual Jades was the Gui.

This was a kind of blade, and it was used to mean "East".


(from: wikipedia - commons: jade gui in the western han dynasty)


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Saturday, May 26, 2018

Six Ritual Jades - Hu


We just learned about three of the ancient Chinese Six Ritual Jades:
Cong - earth, Bi - sky/heaven, and Huang - North.

Another of the Six Ritual Jades was the Hu.

This was something like a vase, and it was used to mean "West".


(from: wikipedia - category:chinese jade)


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Saturday, May 19, 2018

Six Ritual Jades - Huang


We just learned about two of the ancient Chinese Six Ritual Jades: Cong - earth and Bi - sky/heaven.

Another of the Six Ritual Jades was the huang.

This jade sculpture was in the shape of an arc, and was worn as a pendant sometimes.

The arc shape was made for the direction of "North".

Sometimes the ends of these sculptures were carved into tigers or dragons.



(from: wikipedia - huang (jade))


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Saturday, May 12, 2018

Six Ritual Jades - Cong


Let's keep learning about the ancient Chinese Six Ritual Jade sculptures

We already learned about the Bi disc - for the heaven or sky.

The second one is Cong, which is for the earth.

The cong is usually a tube with a circle shaped inside and a square shaped outside.



(from: wikipedia - cong (vessel))


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Saturday, May 5, 2018

Six Ritual Jades - Bi


We just learned about the Houmuwu Ding.

Another part of ancient Chinese art is the Six Ritual Jades.

Long ago in China there were six jade things that important people like kings or emperors would keep to show that they were powerful and important.

The first of these was called a "Bi", which was a round disc with patterns on it and a hole in the middle.

Some people believe that the six ritual jade things each had a different meaning, and "Bi" was for heaven or sky.



(from: wikipedia - bi (jade))


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