Chinese Gardens: Pavilions, Studios, Retreats
Human Landscapes: Gardens in Chinese Art
Maxwell K. Hearn, Douglas Dillon Curator in Charge, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The exhibition Chinese Gardens: Pavilions, Studios, Retreats is on view August 18, 2012—January 6, 2013 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, China
Guanyin is the bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists, usually as a female. The name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means “Observing the Sounds (or Cries) of the World”.
Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a lotus, and then sent to the western pure land of Sukhāvatī.
It is generally accepted among East Asian adherents that Guanyin originated as the Sanskrit Avalokiteśvara. Commonly known in English as the Mercy Goddess or Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin is also revered by Chinese Taoists (or Daoists) as an Immortal.
However, in Chinese mythology, there are other stories about Guanyin’s origins that are not directly related to Avalokiteśvara. Guanyin is an extremely popular Goddess in Chinese folk belief and is worshiped in Chinese communities throughout East and South East Asia. Guanyin is revered in the general Chinese population due to her unconditional love, compassion and mercy. She is generally regarded by many as the protector of women and children. By this association she is also seen as a fertility goddess capable of granting children.
An old Chinese superstition involves a woman wishing to have a child offering a shoe at a Guanyin Temple. Sometimes a borrowed shoe is used then when the expected child is born the shoe is returned to its owner along with a new pair as a “thank you” gift.
Guanyin is also seen as the champion of the unfortunate, the sick, the disabled, the poor, and those in trouble. Some coastal and river areas of China regard her as the protector of fishermen, sailors, and generally people who are out at sea, thus many also come to believe that Mazu, the Daoist goddess of the sea, is a manifestation of Guanyin. Due to her association with the legend of the Great Flood, where she sent down a dog holding rice grains in its tail after the flood, she is worshiped as a rice goddess. In some quarters, especially among business people and traders, she is looked upon as a Goddess of Luck and Fortune. In recent years there have been claims of her being the protector of air travelers.
(via collectivehistory)
Maoism
Anti-Confucianism: Mao’s Last Campaign
Mao and the Politics of Revolutionary Mortality
Mao Tse-Tung’s Materialist Dialectics
Of Belts and Ladders: State Policy and Uneven Regional Development in Post- Mao China
The Man Who Molded Mao: Yang Changji and the First Generation of Chinese Communists
I can’t vouch for any of these links, but they seem like they could be of interest? Has anyone downloaded these?
The disputed areas of the region of Kashmir. India claims the entire erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir based on an instrument of accession signed in 1947. Pakistan claims all areas of the erstwhile state except for those claimed by China. China claims the Shaksam Valley and Aksai Chin. (via)
(Source: , via fuckyeahsouthasia)
Chinese Cool 中华酷: Hua Dian- Ancient Chinese Forehead Decoration ⇒
Hua Dian- Ancient Chinese Forehead Decoration
I have been seeing some people on my dashboard saying that 花钿 (Chinese flower forehead decoration) are a kind of bindis or originate from India so I feel compelled to write this clarification. I hope this will be useful info for prospective hanfu-wearers.
It does not originate from India or have any relation to the bindi. It’s not religious but decorative and originates from the legend of Princess Shouyang who fell asleep under a plum tree and had a flower land on her forehead. The court ladies all admired the plum flower look so much they started imitating it with makeup. This started in the Southern Dynasty but became widely popular during the Tang dynasty.
The ornamental designs Tang beauties pasted on their foreheads were often of bird feathers or black paper, and possibly of shell, goldleaf, fishbone or mica. Or they would simply paint on a motif.
…Ancient cosmetic modes often originated in legend. Ornamental designs on the forehead were attributed to a princess named Shouyang, favorite of Southern Dynasty Emperor Songwudi (363AD-422AD). A blossom fell on the princess’ forehead one afternoon as she slept under the shade of a plum tree in the palace garden. Liking the effect, Shouyang wore the flower for a few days. Other court ladies followed suit, painting ornamental designs and pasting metallic patterns on their foreheads. This vogue peaked during the Tang Dynasty economic boom that succeeded a period of nationwide chaos.
http://www.womenofchina.cn/html/report/98885-1.htm
So please do not tell me that it is Indian again. Chinese are not appropriating anything. Thanks.
(via beyondvictoriana)
the execution of Cultural Revolution counterrevolutionaries, Harbin, China, 5 April 1968. these photos are from Li Zhensheng’s wonderful, terrifying new book on the Cultural Revolution, Red-Color News Soldier — part memoir, part history, part photography exhibition — as seen on the NYT’s Lens.
the matter-of-fact angles are what make these photos for me. with subject matter like this, one doesn’t need to manufacture pathos through photographic cunning. no fancy close-ups, no dramatic wide-angles. just point, and shoot.
Chinese punishments, Punishment of the wooden collar; 1801-1910
(via odditiesoflife)
Teapot and stand
China, 1800
The Indianapolis Museum of Art
南海观音 Guanyin of the Southern Sea
