Symbols and Rebuses in Chinese Art


Book Description

This work catalogues hundreds of symbols in Chinese artistry, and describes each of their meanings. It explains why a depiction of a bat can mean happiness, and why some beautiful images, such as sparrows and pears, are rarely seen.




Chinese Art


Book Description

With over 630 striking color photos and illustrations, this Chinese art guide focuses on the rich tapestry of symbolism which makes up the basis of traditional Chinese art. Chinese Art: A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery includes detailed commentary and historical background information for the images that continuously reappear in the arts of China, including specific plants and animals, religious beings, mortals and inanimate objects. The book thoroughly illuminates the origins, common usages and diverse applications of popular Chinese symbols in a tone that is both engaging and authoritative. Chinese Art: A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery is an essential reference for collectors, museum-goers, guides, students and anyone else with a serious interest in the culture and history of China.




Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art


Book Description

With clear, readable explanations, this Chinese art history book provides a visual insight into the very rich history of Chinese sybbolism. Can decorative objects increase one's wealth, happiness, or longevity? Traditionally, many Chinese have believed that they could—provided they include the appropriate auspicious symbols. In Hidden meanings in Chinese Art Asian Art Museum Curator Terese Tse Bartholomew, culminating decades of research, has provided a thorough guide to such symbols. Auspicious symbols in Chinese art are often in the form of rebuses—visual puns. Because many words in Chinese share the same pronunciation, there is a wealth of opportunities for such punning, and over the centuries many rebuses have developed established meanings. Should one give a clock as a gift? Certainly not! "To give a clock" songzhong is a pun for "a last farewell," in other words, for attending a person who is on the edge o death. Why is a pot of philodendrons an appropriate gift for someone opening a new store or restaurant? In America the philodendron serves as a substitute for a Chinese plant named wannianqing, or "ten thousand years green." Such a gift expresses the wish that the business will flourish for ten thousand years. Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art brings a systematic approach to the cataloguing of such hidden meanings. Richly illustrated with photos of art objects and with many original illustrations by the author, and enhanced with extensive bilingual indexes and other supporting materials, this book is an essential reference for anyone interested in exploring Chinese art and culture.




Dictionary of Chinese Symbols


Book Description

This unique and authoritative guide describes more than 400 important Chinese symbols, explaining their esoteric meanings and connections. Their use and development in Chinese literature and in Chinese customs and attitudes to life are traced lucidly and precisely. `An ideal reference book to help one learn and explore further, while simultaneously giving greater insight into many other aspects of Chinese life ... the most authoritative guide to Chinese symbolism available to the general reader today ... a well-researched, informative and entertaining guide to the treasure trove of Chinese symbols.' - South China Morning Post




Traditional Chinese Toggles


Book Description

This volume is a much-needed reference guide to the historical and cultural significance of Chinese toggles or zhuizi - carved pieces of jade, ivory, bone, wood, shell and semi-precious stones used by the Chinese in ancient times as counterweights to secure personal effects like tobacco pipes and money pouches to their belts. Over time, toggles became treasured objects of identity and expression, believed to bring the bearer good luck, happiness, fertility, longevity and health. The book explains how toggles were used in daily and ceremonial life, and interprets the designs that are fundamental to understanding these artefacts. Accompanied by stunning photography and detailed descriptions, Traditional Chinese Toggles: Counterweights and Charms will be the definitive illustrative guide to this little-known Chinese art form.







Modern China


Book Description

Providing an indispensable resource for students, educators, businessmen, and officials investigating the transformative experience of modern China, this book provides a comprehensive summary of the culture, institutions, traditions, and international relations that have shaped today's China. In Modern China, author Xiaobing Li offers a resource far beyond a conventional encyclopedia, providing not only comprehensive coverage of Chinese civilization and traditions, but also addressing the values, issues, and critical views of China. As a result, readers will better understand the transformative experience of the most populous country in the world, and will grasp the complexity of the progress and problems behind the rise of China to a world superpower in less than 30 years. Written by an author who lived in China for three decades, this encyclopedia addresses 16 key topics regarding China, such as its geography, government, social classes and ethnicities, gender-based identities, arts, media, and food, each followed by roughly 250 short entries related to each topic. All the entries are placed within a broad sociopolitical and socioeconomic contextual framework. The format and writing consistency through the book reflects a Chinese perspective, and allows students to compare Chinese with Western and American views.




Chinese-Islamic Works of Art, 1644–1912


Book Description

Chinese-Islamic studies have concentrated thus far on the arts of earlier periods with less attention paid to works from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). This book focuses on works of Chinese-Islamic art from the late seventeenth century to the present day and bring to the reader’s attention several new areas for consideration. The book examines glass wares which were probably made for a local Chinese-Muslim clientele, illustrating a fascinating mixture of traditional Chinese and Muslim craft traditions. While the inscriptions on them can be related directly to the mosque lamps of the Arab world, their form and style of decoration is characteristically that of Han Chinese. Several contemporary Chinese Muslim artists have succeeded in developing a unique fusion of calligraphic styles from both cultures. Other works examined include enamels, porcelains, and interior painted snuff bottles, with emphasis on either those with Arabic inscriptions, or on works by Chinese Muslim artists. The book includes a chapter written by Dr. Shelly Xue and an addendum written by Dr. Riccardo Joppert. This book will appeal to scholars working in art history, religious studies, Chinese studies, Chinese history, religious history, and material culture.




Information Resources in the Humanities and the Arts


Book Description

This familiar guide to information resources in the humanities and the arts, organized by subjects and emphasizing electronic resources, enables librarians, teachers, and students to quickly find the best resources for their diverse needs. Authoritative, trusted, and timely, Information Resources in the Humanities and the Arts: Sixth Edition introduces new librarians to the breadth of humanities collections, experienced librarians to the nature of humanities scholarship, and the scholars themselves to a wealth of information they might otherwise have missed. This new version of a classic resource—the first update in over a decade—has been refreshed to account for the myriad of digital resources that have rewritten the rules of the reference and research world, and been expanded to include significantly increased coverage of world literature and languages. This book is invaluable for a wide variety of users: librarians in academic, public, school, and special library settings; researchers in religion, philosophy, literature, and the performing and visual arts; graduate students in library and information science; and teachers and students in humanities, the arts, and interdisciplinary degree programs.




Children in Chinese Art


Book Description

Depictions of children have had a prominent place in Chinese art since the Song period (960-1279). Yet one would be hard pressed to find any significant discussion of children in art in the historical documents of imperial China or contemporary scholarship on Chinese art. Children in Chinese Art brings to the forefront themes and motifs that have crossed social boundaries for centuries but have been overlooked in scholarly treatises. In this volume, experts in the fields of art, religion, literature, and history introduce and elucidate many of the issues surrounding child imagery in China, including its use for didactic reinforcement of social values as well as the amuletic function of these works. The introduction provides a thought-provoking overview of the history of depictions of children, exploring both stylistic development and the emergence of specific themes. In an insightful essay, China specialists combine expertise in literature and painting to propose that the focus on children in both genres during the Song is an indication of a truly humane society. Skillful use of visual and textual sources from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) period explains children's games and the meaning of depictions of boys at play. Gender issues are examined in an intriguing look at mothers and children in woodblock illustrations to Ming versions of the classical text Lie ni juan. Depictions of the childhood of saints and sages from murals and commemorative tablets in ancient temples are considered. The volume concludes with two highly original essays on child protectors and destroyers in Chinese folk religion and family portraits and their scarcity in China before the nineteenth century. Contributors: Ellen B. Avril, Catherine Barnhart, Richard Barnhart, Terese Tse Bartholomew, Julia K. Murray, Ann Waltner, Ann Barrott Wicks.