Impression on Oil Painter Wei Kuizhong

On my way back to Beijing, I dropped into the art museum of Hebei Provincial Institute of Painting in the city of Shijiazhuang, where an exhibition on Wei Kuizhong＇s off paintings was on the display. I was so overwhelmed by those extraordinary works that I was eager to talk to the painter. Wei was a sincere and determined artist. He looked taciturn but when it came to his artistic pursuits and ideas, his eloquence surprised me. In the Chinese art market today when everybody complains about the lack of mainstream artworks, Wei＇s oil masterpieces with thrilling make him stand out as a leading figure.     

Mao Zedong and His Ideas on Chinese Cultural Exchange with Other Nations

MAO Zedong,a leadingstatesman and ideologistof the twentieth century,rarely went abroad when overseeingaffairs of state in China.He had,nevertheless,a broad knowledge ofmany foreign ideas and civilizations,and saw the wisdom in the ex-change of ideas between China andother countries.He personally in-volved himself in many of theseprojects to further the world’sknowledge of China,her relation-ships with the outside world,mod-     

Art Information

CoLLECTIoN & AUCTIoN Li Keran’s painting sets a record high auction price “Mountains Permeated with Maple Red”by renowned Chinese painter Li Keran was sold at HK$35,040,000 at Christie’sHong Kong, setting a record high auctionprice for painting works in the world. The painting work was created between 1962 and 1964, based on a famous verseline from Chairman Mao Zedong’s poem“Qinyuanchun (Changshan)”. 1     

Miao People’s Dragon-Patterned Embroidery

Embroidery is a distinctive folk art of China that dates back to ancient times.Embroiders stitch various patterns and characters with needles on silk and cloth fabrics,creating unique pieces of art.There are many embroidery styles in China,among which Miao people’s dragon-patterned embroidery     

Marginalization and Combination： Liu Mingxlao＇s Oil Paintings

Efforts to localize oil painting have never stopped since this western art was introduced into China, A Chinese educational system on oil painting had not been developed until the era of master Xu Beihong. But if oil painting can be localized or not still remains a question in China. After New China was founded in 1949, influenced by Chairman Mao＇s theories on cultural development, Chinese oil painters were required to, besides serving ideological needs, pursue Chinese characteristics and cater to ordinary people＇s tastes. Dong Xiwen＇s ＂The Founding Ceremony of the New Republic＂ was the pioneer in this endeavor. Following him, almost all Chinese oil artists rushed into this direction, except some who made breakthroughs in landscape subjects. For instance, Wu Zuoren combined Chinese water and ink painting with western oil painting, creating a simplistic style.     

Reform of China’s Cultural Undertakings

CHINA’S reform of culturalundertakings started in 1979,when the Communist Partyof China(CPC)proposed a generalreform and opening to the outsideworld and began China’s economicrestructuring.The key and difficultreform was in the operation of per-forming troupes.The reform under-went four stages.     

The Handshake Across the Vastest Ocean of the World—The Exhibition of Journeys to Peace and Cooperation

““““““““““““““““In July 1971, my father Richard Nixon, the then U.S. President, declared that he would visit China at the invitation of Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai of the People‘s Republic of China. The news astonished the world and changed the direction of history, because since 1949, the United States had had no diplomatic relations with the People‘s Republic of China. It was difficult for most people to believe that these two countries could overcome the ideological and political disparities to come together. On February 21, 1972, when my father set out on his journey for peace, he was very excited. As he stepped out of Air Force I, he decided to stretch out his hand first to Premier Zhou Enlai before he set on Chinese soil.““““““““““““““““- Julie Nixon Eisenhower, daughter of former U.S. President Richard Nixon     

Embroidery Art to the Highest Level-A glinpse of splendid Suzhou embroidery

The Chinese embroidery art has a long history. Statistics show that 5500 years ago in the Liaoning area there appeared a beautiful embroidery type called ＂Wei Embroidery＂, which＇s stitched on fur apparels. And prior to the Shang Dynasty, about 16 to 11 B.C., Chinese embroidery artisans and versatile home ladies used their hands creating countless pieces of beautiful embroidery works on silk textures. Colorful Chu embroidery, solemn and unsophisticated Han embroidery, gorgeous and luxury Tang embroidery,     

Form without Content Lin Zhaohua’s Drama Practice in the 1990s

“In essence, art is an ability to express one’s feeling to others and this ability is expressed by materializing a proper form for some feeling.” This aggressive motto by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche has been venerated as a guiding principle by experimental artists. Drama experiments done by Lin Zhaohua in the 1990s, in some sense, have testified to the definition that drama is a living text. Lin, as an experimental drama director, has not only planned but also presented this living text o…     

Haining Shadow Play:Legacy of the Song Dynasty

Leather silhouette was rst introduced to the court as a toy during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC – 24 AD). According to the History of the Han Dynasty, Lady Li, Emperor Wudi’s favorite concubine, was a beautiful dancer but died of illness when she was very young. The emperor felt so sorrowful that he missed her day and night. A Taoist claimed that he could call back the spirit of Lady Li. In fact, he played leather images of the concubine behind a screen and the emperor watched it o…     

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Triumphal Return to China

MUSIC is an internationalart,enabling people allover the world to com-municate with and understand eachother.The first cultural troupe sentby the American government to visitChina 20 years ago was the Philadel-phia Orchestra.Their perform-ances contributed greatly to Sino-American cultural exchange andpromoted friendship between theAmerican and Chinese people.InMay 1993 the Philadelphia Orches-tra came to China again as theAmerican people’s cultural envoy     

Designer Brings Cultural Awareness to Fashion

The appointment was delayed. I didn‘t want to disturb Hu Xiaodan when I saw he was so busy with his work. Sporting a crew cut and lightweight casual clothes, he looked more like a university professor than the ““““the pride of Chinese fashion designers““““. It was hard to picture him as the cenfroversial figure in the circle of fashion design, and he spoke with quiet conviction about his dedication to ““““borrowing““““ ideas from the Chinese culture.     

Liling Porcelain Made in official Kiln

Not long ago a hundred fantastic works of art from Hunan Province were auctioned off in Hong Kong.Among them a set of Five-color Glazed Porcelain bowls used exclusively by Chairman Mao was sold for 8million yuan,top bid ofthe auction.In Capital International Auction held in October 1993,a set of small porcelain bowls used by Chairman Mao was auctioned off at 88,000 yuan.In the autumn of 1974,Chairman Mao returned to Hunan for the last time.Considering Chairman Mao would celebrate his birthday in Changsha,the then provincial party committee of Hunan decided to send a set of exquisitely-made Liling porcelain bowls,made in special kiln,to him as blessings of people from     

China Children’s Art Theatec

CHINA Chilren’s Art Thea-ter,located just off Wangfuj-ing Street in downtown Bei-jing,is the only state-level children’sart palace in China.It was built in1956.Kalimeris Flower,the first play toopen the theater,set a record for thelongest run in cnildren’s theater andbecame a milestone in the historyof moden children’s drama in newChina.Kalimeris Flower is a movingfairy tale of a boy living in the     

John Goethe China

John wolfgang von Goethe,a renowned German poet and writer, was first known to Chinese in the late 19th century,His name and masterpice “Faust“ appeared in works of Chinese diplomats and overseas students such as Li Fengbac and Gu Hongmig.And it was Ma Junwu who first translated Goethe‘s works into Chinese.     

THE MYSTERY OF SANXINGDUI CULTURE

Stories about Sanxingdui Culture published in the magazine before have caught readers' great interest. So far there are three major viewpoints about the origin of this mysterious culture. Some experts note that unearthed artifacts in Sanxingdui were legacies of the ancient Shu Kingdom and have nothing to do with foreign cultures. But since no written records have been left about this culture existing more than three thousand years ago, those who support this hypothesis have to resort to a smattering of clues in ancient documents of ensuing periods as well as legendary stories. A rivaling opinion argues that this culture has some relation with the ancient civilizations of Western Asia, Central Asia as well as Aegean Sea. It is believed that Ancient Egyptians already knew how to produce bronzes in the period between 3 800 and 3 500 BC and it is quite possible that the technology was imported to China in some way. In recent years, however, some scholars, based on extensive studies, assert that Sanxingdui is a result of cultural exchange and assimilation. They hold that some tribe lost its way during the great migration of the ancient India-Iran tribes and misled itself to Sanxingdui. The tribe settled there and developed a culture that blends elements from both ancient central China and ancient India-Iran areas.     

THE MYSTERY OF SANXINGOUI CULTURE

Stories about Sanxingdui Culture published in the magazine before have caught readers＇ great interest. So far there are three major viewpoints about the origin of this mysterious culture. Some experts note that unearthed artifacts in Sanxingdui were legacies of the ancient Shu Kingdom and have nothing to do with foreign cultures. But since no written records have been left about this culture existing more than three thousand years ago, those who support this hypothesis have to resort to a smattering of clues in ancient documents of ensuing periods as well as legendary stories. A rivaling opinion argues that this culture has some relation with the ancient civilizations of Western Asia, Central Asia as well as Aegean Sea. It is believed that Ancient Egyptians already knew how to produce bronzes in the period between 3 800 and 3 500 BC and it is quite possible that the technology was imported to China in some way. In recent years, however, some scholars, based on extensive studies, assert that Sanxingdui is a result of cultural exchange and assimilation. They hold that some tribe lost its way during the great migration of the ancient India-lran tribes and misled itself to Sanxingdui. The tribe settled there and developed a culture that blends elements from both ancient central China and ancient India-lran areas.[第一段]     

Historic County of Wu’an

County has played an important role in the history of China since it was first established as a basic administrative unit in 00the Qin Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. Historic counties have not only performed administrative and economic functions but also carried and preserved basic information about culture and traditions of China. Not long ago, the Photographic Exhibition on the Cultural Heritage of Historic Counties of China, organized by China Cultural Relics Protection Foundation in partnership with the Palace Museum and China Institute of Toponymy, was held at the Forbidden City, displaying photographs on the cultures and traditions of the first 16 Historic Counties of China, with an objective to enhance the public’s awareness of the conservation of cultural heritage in these historic counties.Our magazine will cover each of these chosen historic counties in each issue.     

Lu Junjie's Purple Sand Pottery Art:Breakthroughs and Innovations

<正>The exhibition on Lu Junjie’s purple sand pottery art, held in the National Art Museum of China, offers viewers a rare opportunity to learn about explorations and innovations that     

Li Qing Dedicated to Art of Fire

Ceramics is an art of fire. The tension and flexibility of earth are extended in the artist＇s hands to show the unique textural beauty and subtle feelings of the artist and original materials from the nature are mixed and tempered by fire. This complicated process demonstrates the artist＇s particular ideas, feelings and dispositions. In the eyes of Li Qing, a young artist from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, that is the very nature of ceramics that fascinates him so much.