The Chinese Art Book: Music in Visual Art

Marquis Yi Bell Set, 433 BC

Dancing Figure and Musician, 2nd Century BC

Sound are longitudinal waves that propagate through air.  For those who are fortunate enough to have a sense of hearing and sight, we instinctively correlate the size and weight of an object to its sound.  We can feel the vibrations of the instrument as it moves through our bodies.

Some music in Chinese history was used for ritual and ornate state ceremony.  In this case, the bells in the picture above are black, heavy looking, and regular it its pattern and adornments.  Everything about this piece is deliberate and controlled.  They don't appear to be household objects, too heavy to be practical.  They appear to serve a grand purpose.  The size of the bells imply the sound carries over a large distance.  The picture above isn't from The Chinese Art Book, but there are also long wooden rods used to strike the bell.

The figures on the bottom are curvaceous and asymmetric, suggesting imbalance and movement.  I will assume for now that the figures are female.  The dance figure on the left has these long sleeves that accentuate her arms.  The movements are meant to take space with the purpose of attracting attention.  The figure looks as if she's mourning over a tomb, but it's a 25-stringed instrument that sits on the ground.  The position of her heads shows her direction of focus, and the hands are poised, ready to use the fine motor skills of her fingers to pluck complex chords and melodies.

The instrumentalists in the following video look dorky, but this is an accurate historical recreation of music from the Warring States period.  Ancient music sheets survived along with someone having the foresight to label each bell with its respective note.  The dance sequence is based on small models and historical painting:

I'm not sure what to make of these pieces.  I can only imagine myself an emperor of my court.  As all of my ministers are wining and dining in front of me, I am sitting on my throne, listening with my eyes closed as I consider the present moment of my empire.  I'm hoping no one assassinates me.

The Chinese Art Book: Text and Permenance

Diamond Sutra 868AD  

Stamping on Water, Song Dong, 1996

Note: The man is holding a seal carved with  "水," the character for water.

The Diamond Sutra is the earliest example of printed text that exists today.  This piece depicts a monk kneeling and prostrating himself in the front of the Buddha and enlightened deities.  The power of the written word derives from it's ability to create ideas that surpasses an individual's imagination.
Yet the written word on text is immobile.  It needs the human agent to influence action.

I find it ironic that the earliest published book is a Buddhist text because Buddhism preaches suffering from the attachment to identity.  The very nature of text is to identify and categorize.  Ideas of human beings are based on how humans relate the outside world to our own perceptions.  Buddhism claims perception in itself is a form of illusion, impermanent as nature erodes and constantly shifts identity.

When Song Dong attempts to imprint a human label onto nature, the label has no permanence.  The water has no ability to self identify, or hold onto such a label.  The liquid simply returns to it's original state and continues to flow.  Man cannot force nature to accept a label.

Song Dong's piece also shows how text relates to the flow of time.  Text will always be about recorded thoughts from the past.  Ink holds and maintains ideas when it attaches to paper, but the the of the present moment becomes the past.  The present in infinitesimally fleeting.  Nature needs no sense of self identity and continuously changes.

This contrast reflects upon the power and weakness of text.  If humans cling nurture the values of the past, text can multiply and remain within our social consciousness.  But just imagine what would happen if we placed The Diamond Sutra into the water.  Ideas that have life on paper would disintegrate into the impermanence of nature.  Perhaps we have to accept that even the grandest and deepest of human thoughts must dissipate into the constant shifting of nature.

The Chinese Art Book: Introduction

I remember one of my professors explaining how viewing cultural history from a chronological perspective generalizes the narrative as progressive, or future work "improves" from the past.  This isn't just a symptom of our capitalist society, where the passage of time provides growth.  It's also been used by Chinese dynasties to criticizes the flaws of the past.  Historical narratives written by dynasties tend to distort the narratives of its previous dynasty.  This doesn't mean that everything in the past must be inferior to the present, but we should at least be aware of such distortion trying to explain the values of a culture.

So the next thing I'll attempt is a series of art critique in The Chinese Art Book by Colin Mackenzie, Katie Hill, and Jeffrey Moser. Chinese art seems completely alien to the Western world because the viewer has to relearn all the historical context and baggage behind the art.  At least Western art is familiarized in our everyday world, like the mosaic in a church or lingerie on a billboard.  But why is Confucius on a can condensed milk? Question for the philosophers.

The Chinese Art Book does not place the pictures of artistic works in chronological order, rather each open page is a binary to the other side.  As the book jacket puts it, "The dialogue between each couple invites meanings that often go far beyond those of the individual works."
The next project I'll attempt on Blogger will attempt to figure out why The Chinese Art Book makes these binaries.  I will try my best to make these themes relatable to those unfamiliar with Chinese culture, but at certain point I'll have to delve into Chinese history.  Understanding Chinese culture is like trying to understand an episode of the Simpsons.  I remember showing The Simpsons to a guy from Shanghai, and I had to pause the video every 10 seconds because each joke derived from a unique aspect of American culture.  When a Westerner looks at Chinese culture, it's like a version of The Simpsons that lasted 3000 years.

My Tumblr thing was a complete failure.  It was boring and completely devoid of context.  Pandering to the internet crowd was pointless. Screw it, I'll write what I want. I want to do this because my bigger project involves delving into Chinese art, trying to pinpoint the artistic details that the Chinese saw in art.

Trauma and the TeoChew Identity

For those unfamiliar with the TeoChew culture, geographically it's a small subset of ethnic Chinese people who originate in the Chaozhou region of China.  It's about a full day bus ride northeast of Hong Kong.
The Wikipedia article on TeoChew people leaves the reader confused with various tidbits of trivia.  It lacks cohesion as to why people center around this cultural identity.  Many of those who even know their ancestral ties belong to this cultural group find it has little to no relevance to who they are now.

If we strip away the material behind culture, what ethos remains?

For America, it's "We the people."  The people have sovereignty over their decisions and fate.  For the British, it's the beginning of industrialization and being at the forefront of creating a globalist machine.  For the sports fan, it's the athlete moves or moves something with the right timing.

I believe the the ethos of TeoChew people revolves around exile and trauma.

Here's some more detail with what I mean through geography and political history.

The word TeoChew(潮州) literally translates to "Tide State." The Chaozhou region is surrounded by high, rocky cliffs.  The water flows into many river deltas, which mix with the subtropical humidity creates an inhospitable swamp.  Sea water rises and falls and the swamp and ocean encroach on each other's territory.  The region has little farmland.  One must rely on the ebbs and flows of nature to survive.

Because this region is ideal for alligators, mosquitoes and disease, the Chinese royal court would send unwanted people and ministers, hoping that they would die riddled with disease in the sweltering heat, or at least a typhoon to have a roof collapse on their heads.

One of the most famous political dissidents was Han Yu during the Tang dynasty.  He was exiled for arguing against allowing the cremated knuckle bones of the Buddha to enter Chang An.  Although he visited the TeoChew region for only a few months and wasn't a native to the TeoChew region, his political satire "Memorial to the Alligator" 祭鱷魚文 was, and still is, a text to embolden the outcast.  The text is about how he uses will of the son of heaven to banish the evil alligators.  But if one were to read the text more carefully, it's evil people that prey on the people.  Once history provided distance to review the life of Han Yu, many saw the exiled man as a courageous dissident.  

Many historical figures thereafter used the legacy of HanYu through the TeoChew region as a bastion for the righteous dissident.

Improved seafaring technology allowed TeoChew people to then cross the South China Sea into Southeast Asia.

The modern push for diaspora of TeoChew people was due to the invasion of Japanese imperial troops during WWII and the Chinese civil war.  Chinese Republican soldiers were forcing able bodied men to fight, and the Japanese were looting and destroying everything in sight.  This was why my grandparents left their homeland.

The second major shuffle occurred with TeoChew Cambodians and Vietnamese during the 1960's and 70's.  The Vietnam War and Cambodian genocide occurred only one generation after WWII.  Communism in China is at a pique, and TeoChew culture is seen as belonging to the "Four Olds" under the Mao regime.

A curious thing suddenly happens.  TeoChew people could not physically return to their native territory, nor were many TeoChew people seen as fully assimilated into the foreign lands they immigrated too. Some decided to cling onto the remains of TeoChew identity, some decided to fully assimilate into their surrounding culture.

A generation after that chaos, we end up back to the present.  I am fortunate enough to be one of the few people in my generation who can read Mandarin, read classical Chinese, and be able to watch TeoChew opera.  I am also fortunate to know personally people in my parent's and grandparent's generation to identify themselves with this ethnic group.  

Still, I'm debating whether this culture is relevant to me.  I do not fully identify with it, nor do I have attachment and nostalgia towards it.  In fact, I assumed many in my generation were satisfied with the answers already available.  But many would still randomly bring up questions.  Perhaps with continued dialogue I can help others find answers.  Maybe I'll find some answers myself.

Classical Words of the Day: April 3rd, 2015

Adjectival phrases of more than one syllable are followed by the noun modifier, 之

士shi4
knight

豪傑hao2jie2
heroic

若夫豪傑之士
As for heroic knights



Comparative degree is expressed by the coverb 於，which takes on the meaning "than."

望wang4
to hope

則無望民之多於鄰國也
then do not hope that your people will be more than [those of] neighboring countries (Mencius 1A/3)






Reference:  Pulleyblank, Edwin G. Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar. Vancouver [B.C.: UBC, 1995. Print.

Classical Words of the Day: April 2nd, 2015

Classes of Verbs

Stative verb:  denote state rather than action, closely associated with adjectives

ie:  山高:  The mountain is high.

*Note:  高山 would be high mountain


Intransitive verb:  requires single noun to complete its meaning

ie: 王來:  The king comes.


Transative verb:  requires two or more nouns

ie: 王殺人:  The king kills people




Reference:  Pulleyblank, Edwin G. Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar. Vancouver [B.C.: UBC, 1995. Print.

Classical Words of the Day: April 1st, 2015

The Copula 為wei4
can be used in the sense of "to be," like the modern 作。

孟子為卿於齊
Mencius  was a minister of Qi.  (Mencius 2B/6)

子為誰
Literal:  sir make who
Translation:  Who are you? (LunYu 18/6)

不為不多矣
Literal: not make not many PERFECT
Translation:  is (already) not not-many.  (Mencius 1A/1)


Reference:  Pulleyblank, Edwin G. Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar. Vancouver [B.C.: UBC, 1995. Print.

Classical Words of the Day: March 31st, 2015

已yi3
already.   (已 does not imply a change in state, but a change in knowledge of state.  The following quote uses 已 after verb-less noun predicates.)

亂luan4
disorderly, chaotic

是亂國已
One can tell this is a disorderly country.  (苟Gou3 10/89)



君子jun1zi3
Gentleman, scholar, sage

妄wang4
reckless

亦yi4
also, too, likewise

矣yi3
(particle of completed action)

曰yue1
says

君子曰：此亦妄人也已矣。
The gentleman will say, "I now realize that this is a wild, reckless fellow."  (Mencius 4B/28)




Reference:  Pulleyblank, Edwin G. Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar. Vancouver [B.C.: UBC, 1995. Print.

Classical Words of the Day: March 30th, 2015

必bi4
Necessarily, must

若ruo4
like, similar to

桀jie2; 紂zhou1
(Proper nouns)

必若桀紂者也
...will necessarily be one like Jie or Zhou.  (Mencius 5A/6)



固gu4
certainly, definitely

願yuan4
desire, want

所suo3
this, it (this is a demonstrative pronoun)

固所願也
It is certainly what I want (Mencius 2B/10)




Reference:  Pulleyblank, Edwin G. Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar. Vancouver [B.C.: UBC, 1995. Print.

Classical Words of the Day: March 26th, 2015

乃nai3, 即ji2
then, thereupon

仁ren2
humanity

術shu4
technique

是乃仁術也
This indeed is the technique of humanity (Mencius 1A/7)

貺kuang1
to reward

乃夫子也。 吾貺子。
It was then you.  I will reward you.  (Zuo3 Ding4 9/5)

Reference:  Pulleyblank, Edwin G. Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar. Vancouver [B.C.: UBC, 1995. Print.

Classical Words of the Day: March 25th, 2015

是shi4, 此ci3, 斯si1
This

**Note:  是 is not like the modern copula "to be."

勇yong3
courage

此文王之勇也
This was King Wen's courage.  (Mencius 1B/3)

走zou3
running away, flee

是亦走也
This was also running away. (Mencius 1A/3)



皆jie1
"all", similar to the modern 都

聖人sheng4ren2
sage.  A wise man.  Not the plant.

皆方聖人也
They are all sages of old.  (Mencius 2A/2)

Reference:  Pulleyblank, Edwin G. Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar. Vancouver [B.C.: UBC, 1995. Print.

Classical Words of the Day: March 24th, 2015

夫fu1
the interrogative for "is it not? are we not?"

盡jin4
finished, all, end, exhaust

與yu3
and, with, for

之zhi1
possessive pronoun for "it," "he," "she," etc.


夫非盡人之子與
Are we not all the sons of men?  (Mencius 7A/36)



Reference:  Pulleyblank, Edwin G. Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar. Vancouver [B.C.: UBC, 1995. Print.

Classical Words of the Day: March 23rd, 2015

非fei1
Not

也ye3
(An end particle with no meaning)

Typical form:  A 非 B 也。

非我也，兵也。
It was not I, it was the weapon.  (Mencius 1A/B)

是不為也， 非不能也。
This is not doing, it is not not-being-able. (Mencius 1A/7)


Reference:  Pulleyblank, Edwin G. Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar. Vancouver [B.C.: UBC, 1995. Print.