Ceramic Artist Gao Feng：In Pursuit of Glory of Life

In the beginning of his career, Gao Feng served as an apprentice in a ceramic workshop, doing errands for his masters. With several months of practicing and training, he acquainted himself with every process of ceramic making and developed interest in this profession dealing with clay and fire, One year later, he was transferred to the ceramic studio of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. At that time, except Jingdezhen and a few other ceramic sites in frontier areas, the technique of ceramic throwing had been generally replaced by machine molding and infilling.     

Shu Junhuan and His Portrait Oils of Leaders

S hu was born of a peasant family. Supported by the state scholarship, he nished his academic art training in the Central Academy of Fine Arts and became the third-generation oil painter of modern China. Talented and diligent, Shu has steadfastly pursued his artistic ideals and perfected his skills. While versed in such a wide range of subjects as portrait, body, landscape and still life, he has gained reputation as an accomplished artist thanks to his virtuosity in portraits of leaders. Sh…     

The Artistic Journey of a Chinese Painter

Hepingli, a working-class residential district developed in the 1950s in Beijing. At 9 am everyday, Duan Xiaoying appears in a first-floor apartment in the district after driving his daughter to school and his wife to office respectively. This small apartment is the legacy of his diplomat father who liked doing woodwork for leisure. Duan recalls that his first oil painting box was made by his father. Now the apartment becomes his studio where he spends the whole day for oil creation. Duan us…     

Art Brings Us Together

uring his short stay in Chengdu, I was lucky to catch a chance of meeting Mr. Lee Paoltmg, Secretary-General of the Sculptural Association of Taiwan. The main purpose of his trip was to invite some sculptors from Mainland to attend an intemational camp of iron A sculpture in Taiwan nextyear. Continually surrounded by various disturbing noises, he impressively remained calm and quiet. There＇s something elegant and sophisticated in his charm of manner. Mr. Lee appeared to be a real gentleman -- modest, kind, considerate and extremely polite. Standing in front of his unfinished work, a distorted, twisted and screwing.up banana, at a very simple roadside workshop, he spoke in his soft tone, in an absolutely undemonstrative way, ＂I am stable exteriorly but interiorly I am not.＂ —— Perhaps, that makes sense.     

The Modern Artistry of Ting Shao Kuang

TING Shao Kuang,a Chinese-American artist,is famousfor his modem heavy-colorpainting.Born In Chenggu County,Shaanxi Province,in 1939,he stu-died sketch and watercolor In themiddle school attached to the Cen-tral Academy of Fine Arts from1955 to 1957 in Beijing,then en-tered the Central Institute of Artsand Crafts to study decorative paint-ing,graduating in 1962 with excel-lent grades.During his study in theinstitute he won the appreciation ofnoted artists Zhang Ting,ZhangGuangyu and Pang Dongqin andwas deeply influenced by their theo-ry of color and line.The sevenyears‘training laid a solid founda-tion for his art career.     

The Gilt-Roofed Hall for the Tenth Panchen Lama Inaugurated

ERDENI Choji Gylitsan.the tenth Panchen Lama,oneof the two highest-ranking Living Buddhas(the otherbeing the Dalai Lama)of Tibetan Lamaism,was bornin 1938 and died on January 28,1989.Before his death heserved as vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of theNational People‘s Congress He was a great patriot,a famousstatesman and an outstanding leader of Tibetan Lamaism.After his death,the central government allocated a large sumof money to build a magnificent gold-plated stupa at the ZhaxiLhunbo Monastery,in Xigaze, to accord with the wishes ofthe Tibetan people and to commemorate his great achieve-ments,his love for his religion nd his service to his country.The total investment for the gold-plated stupa was over64 million yuan and the construction took three years andeight months to complete The stupa,11.52 meters high andcovered in gold.leaf,used 614 kilograms of gold,275 kilo-grams of silver and 1,018 gemstones of various kinds.It has     

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.     

Chinese Artist Launches Maiden Voyage around the World

Zhai Mo, Chinese contemporary artist, stunned the media in the early winter of 2006 when he announced in a press conference that he would embark on his maiden voyage around the world on a no-engine boat, the first of its kind for a Chinese. Zhai Mo＇s abstract painting exhibition ＂E000.00.000 N000.00.000＂ was displayed in Beijing later. And ＂Road to Civilizations： Global Tour to Explore World Civilizations＂, a large-scale 260episode TV documentary program, was officially launched w an unprecedented event jointly presented by CCTV, China News Documentary Film Studio, Center of Comparative Studies of World Civilizations under China Academy of Social Sciences and CCTV Media Group. 21 well-selected team members would drive seven SUVs to travel around 50-strong countries across the six continents within 500 days. Meanwhile, a global voyage would take place simultaneously.     

Bai Ming Patches Up Fragments of Civilization

In the 1980s, he exchanged his grandfather＇s curio collections for a color TV set, a refrigerator and a cassette recorder, the three popular luxuries of the time. He called himself a ＂spendthrift＂ of his family then. In the 1990s, he dug for ceramic fragments in the demolishment site in Ping＇an Avenue and therefore gained the nickname ＂Fragment Bai＂. In 2000, he co founded ＂Mu Ming Tang＂, a museum to display ancient ceramic fragments, and obtained a new title,     

WUYUTAI：A LEADER IN TEA CULTURE

Legends have it that Shen Nong, Patron of Agriculture living 4700 years ago, tasted hundreds of herbs by himself in order to find those which can cure diseases for his clan people. The other day he took poisonous herbs by accident, but fortunately he picked out several green, tender leaves with fragrance and chewed them. All of sudden he felt refreshed and was not longer uncomfortable. He called this tender leave ＂Cha＂ （Chinese pronunciation for ＂tea＂） and hence the origin of the tea.     

A Life Destined for Calligraphy

I was born in the countryside. I had a colorful and joyful childhood although my peasant parents couldn＇t give me an affluent life at that time, My toys were all handmade by myself such as catapults and powder guns. Like many kids of the time, I also liked to dissemble and re-assemble clocks and radios as a means of entertainment. Once I noticed a small bottle of ink with a brush pen in it at the window and showed strong interest in them. Since then, my poor handwriting left over everywhere in my house. My father was tolerant and never scolded at my unrestrained scrawling. That was my first experience in Chinese calligraphy which led me to a life destined for this magic art.     

Fan Di＇an and National Art Museum of China

September 20, 2014 was Saturday, but it meant another work day for Fan Di hn, director of the Nation-al Art Museum of China （NAMOC）. From early in the morning tie worked tirelessly tor a whole day and late in the evening he took the flight to Hang- zhou for the annual session of China Oil Painting Society that would take place the next day. In the eyes of his elder sister Fan Biyun, Fan Di＇an was busy working all year round. ＂ Perhaps because of hard work, my younger brother looks older than his age. When we are together, our iriends always joked, saying he is my el- der brother,＂ Fan Biyun said.     

Pinwheels Bring Happiness

Liang's lifetime has been dedicated to pinwheel making and it is said pinwheels that he has crafted can make a hill if put together. Thanks to his pinwheel makers' family and his disposition to have fun, pinwheels have been with Liang in all his life. Liang was born in a family of pinwheel makers in the eastern suburb of Beijing in the early 1930s. Pinwheels that Liang's family made were quite popular in neighborhoods and during the Spring Festival Liang's grandfather sold pinwheels in a tem…     

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.     

Lin Fengmian： Life Dedicated to Art

Lin Fengmian [1900 - 1991 ] is a master artist whose life was dedicated to the development of fine arts of modern China. Lin went to France for the study of art in 1919. He was enrolled in Dijon Academy of Fine Arts in 1921 and later transferred to Paris State Higher School of Fine Arts. During his study in France, he began to develop the concept of ＂creation based on reflections on life＂.     

Porcelain Collector and Expert Sun Yingzhou

Born of a peasant family, he grew up from an apprentice to a successful antique dealer and great expert in cultural relics. He lived an austere and thrifty life but generously donated all his collections totaling thousands of pieces of ancient treasure to the state. It even took nearly two months for museum staff to inventory his donations, among 25 pieces are identified as state level-A antiques.     

AN EMBASSY TO CHINA

From 1419 to 1422, a large diplomatic mission consisting of 510 persons and dispatched by Timurid King Shahruh Bahadur paid a visit to the Ming Empire. The delegation member and painter recorded in his diary traditions and customs he saw along his journey and politics, economy, traditions and people of the Ming Dynasty. These notes were later compiled as “An Embassy to China”, which is now referred to as an important historical record for the study of cultural exchange between Central Asia and China of the time. The author, based on this literary work, reviewed that part of history on friendly exchange between China and lran.     

A Hard and Lofty Mission—— The Translation and Publication of the Japanese Edition of ＂ The Panorama of the Great Wall＂

In November 11, 2003, the renowned Chinese writer Zhou Erfu, at age 83 and in the advanced stage of cancer, strenuously wrote a letter to his Japanese friend Yi Kenichiro, inquiring about the translation and publication of the Japanese edition of his novel ＂The Panorama of the Great Wall＂ which reflects the whole period of the Chinese people＇s anti-Japanese war from 1937 to 1945. Yi Kenichiro, with a medium-sized figure, gentlemen-like appearance and unswerving disposition, is a Japanese professor expert in Chinese literature and language. He was then busy with his teaching work and the translation of the Japanese version of Zhou＇s novel. Receiving Zhou＇s letter, he fell into a sad mood and hoped Zhou could be recovered soon and live up to the day when the whole novel was published in Japan.     

Archaeologist Zou Heng： Life Savings Spent on Books

Zou Heng＇s house is nothing but a library. Most of his rooms, even the space beneath the bed, are filled with books. He began to buy books in his college years in the end of the 1940s and has kept doing so until now. The walls of his study are all furnished with bookcases reaching to the ceiling and even the desk and the floor are piled with books. Though in his eighties, he spends most of his time in reading and writing. His wife told me that he got up early at 5 am and work at the desk until late at night.