Traditional Chinese Art Research Articles

Prolonged Grief Disorder and Positive Affect Improved by Chinese Brush Painting Group in Bereaved Parents: A Pilot Study

Traditional Chinese art practices such as brush painting and calligraphy are thought to promote self-development through holistically engaging both physical and mental health. This pilot study investigated the beneficial effects of a community-based self-help group incorporating Chinese art practices as a culturally adapted bereavement intervention. Twenty-six Chinese parents aged over 49 years and who had lost their only child participated in a 20-session Chinese brush painting group over a 6-month period. Ten bereaved parents from the same community who did not participate in the art course but received living support were recruited as a control group. Compared with the control group, the art practice group exhibited a pre-post intervention effect in terms of promoting positive affect and preventing deterioration of prolonged grief symptoms, particularly through the improvement of accessory grief symptoms (e.g., “emotional numbness due to the loss”, and “feeling that life is unfulfilling, empty or meaningless after the loss”). No effect was found on negative affect. These findings indicate that a culturally adapted community-based art group may be an effective means of improving grief-related health.

Eclecticism in Chinese Modern Calligraphy, Analysis on Foo Yong Kong’s Painting

Foo Yong Kong is a unique artist, in his artistic practice, he mixes the art of calligraphy with the abstract art of expressionism. Chinese calligraphy is a form of Chinese traditional art. Abstract expressionism is one of the idioms of modern art. In modern art discourse, calligraphy is not categorized as fine art. As part of the identity of the Chinese nation for centuries, the existence of Chinese calligraphy art has been experiencing various developments. One phenomenal development is about how calligraphy redefine itself within modern art discourse which has led to a renewal of Chinese modern calligraphy. This study aims to analyze Foo Yong Kong's paintings in the perspective of Chinese modern calligraphy discourse with a focus on aesthetic tendencies in his works. The results show the tendency of eclecticism in Foo Yong Kong's artwork that combines aesthetic elements in calligraphy such as black brush stroke resulting from the effects of using special brushes ( mao bi ) and solid ink ( mo ), ink stone ( yantai ) and paper ( xian zhi ), with the practice of action painting using acrylic paint with contrasting colours. Keywords: Chinese Calligraphy, Abstract Expressionism, Eclecticism, Foo Yong Kong, Modern Chinese Calligraphy DOI : 10.7176/ADS/81-05 Publication date :April 30 th 2020

Works of the artist Zeng Fanzhi in the dialogue of traditions of Western European and Chinese painting

This article is dedicated to analysis of the works of a contemporary artist Zeng Fanzhi in the context of dialogue of traditions of Western European and Chinese painting. The author reviews the stages of formation of this original artistic manner that combines different stylistic approaches and techniques; reveals the key artistic peculiarities of his works – from referring to Western expressionism to formation of an individual style. A detailed analysis is conducted on the principles of conceptual art of Zeng Fanzhi realized in the use of meaningful images and symbols, such as “masks”. The author examines the methods of abstract painting in the works of Chinese artist reflected in the technique of “chaotic brush”, which is based on the expressive linear abstractions. In the period after 2018, which marks the period of experimental painting, Zeng Fanzhi combines the artistic methods of Paul Cézanne with the concept of traditional Chinese art, with the “found object” technique, offering a completely new interpretation of the works of Chinese classical painting. The article discusses the specificities of linear constructs and brush strokes in the artist’s works for determining the features common to his works of various periods. A conclusion is made that the paintings of Zeng Fanzhi represents a visual manifestation of harmonious interaction of the Western European and Chinese art tradition. Each stylistic approach used by Zeng Fanzhi demonstrates a profound understanding of painting, reveals his creative interpretation of artistic principles of Western European art that formed as a result of personal experience and high level of education. Chinese painting entered the era of non-modernism, remaining in many ways similar and simultaneously different from the art of Western modernism and postmodernism.

Analysis on the landsense creation of Chinese classical poetry and mountains-and-waters painting based on landsenses ecology

ABSTRACTInspired by Chinese traditional art forms and architectural thoughts, landscape ecology or landsenseology emphasizes the integration of human physical senses, psychological perceptions and sustainable development concept into the regional ecol-environmental research and planning-construction-management, which is an inheritance and development to ancient Chinese simple ecological ideas and sustainable development consciousness. The multiscale of spatiotemporal combination is one of the principles of landsense creation, which means that people’s senses and perceptions at different times and different places can be integrated into a single landsense for a landsense creation. The bidirection of vision manifestation and the vein-compliance of orientation are the other two main principles of landsense creation. As traditional Chinese art creations, poetry, calligraphy and painting possess the same origin, poetry, calligraphy and painting reproduce their creators’ perceptions of ecosystems and also present their creators’ visions for a better living environment, which reflects people’s simple ecological ideas and sustainable development consciousness at that time. Zhihuan Wang is a famous poet in the Chinese Tang Dynasty. The poem, On the Stork Tower, is one of his representative works. This poem is widely loved by people and has been widely spread in China. Based on the theory and methodology of landsenses ecology or landsenseology, this paper analyzes the creation method, lofty artistic conception and good vision of the poem, which provides an effective approach or methodology for art appreciation. The analysis framework formed with this approach is of enlightening significance for the theoretical researches and practices of eco-environmental art creation, eco-environment construction and sustainable development.

Analysis and characterization of materials used in heritage theatrical figurines

The precious collections of the Qing Dynasty paper-made theatrical figurines known as Shage xiren (纱阁戏人) represent a unique type of Chinese traditional folk art. The name, “Shage xiren” can be explained as the theatrical figurines that display in gauze curtains covered showcases. There were originally 36 showcases of Shage xiren of which 34 are preserved with 28 showcases exhibited at Qingxu Taoist Temple of Pingyao and the other damaged 6 are kept in the storeroom. It is rare that ancient paper-made figurines can be retained; therefore Shage xiren became a valuable source for understanding the traditional folk art as well as exploring rarely inherited crafts. Due to the material specificity and the poor preservation conditions, most of the figurines are found with various damages. It appears necessary to carry out appropriate conservative and restorative actions. To date, very few works have been reported on investigating the materials and crafts of making Shage xiren, resulting in a lack of basis for restoration. In this research, the samples collected from the damaged figurines, including wooden stick, plant fibers, paper pieces, clay fragments and textile fibers were studied. Polarized light microscope, X-ray diffraction, granulometry, Raman spectrum, digital microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrum analyses were employed to characterize the materials used in producing the cultural relics. The results indicated that not only paper, but also various materials were utilized in making the figurines. To form well-shaped bodies, the figurines have moso bamboo sticks applied as supporting structures, then covered with wheat straw and filled with natural cotton. The paper costumes and decorations were made from coniferous wood pulp and bamboo fibers respectively, and the textile belts were made from silk. The heads, feet and fingers of the figurines were shaped with fine local clay mixed with natural fibers to prevent cracking. The heads were further applied with lime to improve the surface smoothness and brightness. The pigments of red lead, basic lead carbonate, indigo and artificial ultramarine were used in painting and dyeing the clay heads and feet, and paper decorations. Although the figurines were made from accessible materials, the ingenious design and the sophisticated skills combining sculpturing, paper folding and elaborate ornamenting made it one of the unique artefacts. This research further provided reliable evidence in guiding the conservation and restoration work.

The Communication Dilemma of Guqin Art Within the Context of New Media

It is difficult to avoid the impact that digital technology has had on the media. Maintaining the original form of traditional art and music within the changing media environment is vital for Chinese traditional art and music communication, especially there is a lack of Chinese traditional art and music inheritors at the same time. This paper takes the Guqin instrument as an example, adopting the space perspective of cultural geography to study its contemporary communication. The article applies media ecology theories to illustrate how modern media techniques change the Guqin stem, dispel the tradition of this art, and bring the new development opportunity to Guqin. The paper also references the point made by György Márkus about modernity and tries to explore the cultural reason for the existence of traditional art in modern times. Finally, the author points out that the key to communicating traditional art is to understand multiple dimensions of modernity and find the communication logic and cultural background behind these media phenomena. It is essential to clarify Guqin art changes during the modern period and, based on these, to adopt different communication and inheritance strategy and techniques. That’s how to inherit better and develop this old but precious art treasure.

“Language”, “Image” and “Meaning” of the Film Dubbing Art - a Case Study of THE SOUND

Recently, with the popularity of the TV program THE SOUND and the similar voice competition TV performance , dubbing actors and this industry are coming into the public notice gradually. Dating back to the pre-Qin dynasty, the theory of “Language”, “Image” and “Meaning” has appeared in the traditional Chinese art. For instance, “Language” cannot convey “Meaning” entirely; form “Image” to complete “Meaning”; gain “Meaning” and ignore “Image”. The relationship among them is the dialectical unity. Artists are required to integrate the three things organically in the artistic creation, creating excellent works of art. Film dubbing art is a kind of artistic creation, so this paper will take the TV program THE SOUND as an example to analyze how the dubbing actors use the three aspects of “Language”, “Image” and “Meaning” flexibly.

Design of space for a kite festival

The object of this research is kite festival in the Chinese city Weifang in Shandong province. The subject is the impact of graphic support of the kite festival upon heightening interest in the folk culture. The development of a new design concept of hosting a festival would increase its attractiveness and popularize traditions of the Chinese folk crafts. Having originated in China, the kites rapidly spread among the neighboring countries of Southeast Asia, and later appeared in Western countries. Kite festivals were used extensively – from entertainment events to translation of information, and even military purposes. The goal of this work consists in identification of peculiarities of the Chinese traditional folk art with regards to hosting public cultural events on the examples of the International Kite Festival in Weifang. The authors analyze the specificities of logos and event posters of the hosted festivals, and propose the criteria for the analysis of advertising and graphic information. The new design ad graphic support of festivals alongside the recommendations on arranging space for the festival are developed. The research results, designed tools and new concept of graphic support for holding a kite festival in Weifang would help to popularize Chinese cultural traditions and increase its tourism attractiveness.

中国传统艺术-曲艺

The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive cultural and art history analysis of such a form of performing arts as Quyi, which has deep historical roots in China. Quyi art is endowed not only with a unique aesthetic function, but also has cultural significance and plays an important role in the history of China. Based on the study of historical sources, the article analyzes the traditions of vocal performance of Quyi, taking into account the cultural characteristics of certain regions of China and dialect differences, vocal variations, types of performing techniques, styles, schools, etc. Key objects of the review are the individual vocal schools and the typology of Quyi. In connection with changes in cultural trends and anatomical justifications of sound production, the author proposes an updated classification of schools and styles of traditional Chinese art, which represents an innovative approach to the theory of studying the debated form of vocal performance art. Currently, in the background of the rapidly developing society, the accumulation of knowledge, the improvement of the cultural level of the population as a whole and the development of vocal traditions don't look optimistic. Most young people in China are not familiar with this form of traditional art and identify Quyi with singing, dancing, and other forms of musical creativity. In connection with the above, the study and the systematization of information about Quyi are relevant for modern musicology.

A comparative analysis of selected recommendations of the feng shui school of form, Alexander et al.’s pattern language, and findings of environmental psychology

Feng shui is a traditional Chinese art of creating a supportive living environment. Despite many research contributions on feng shui, very few verify (comparatively or experimentally) the actual effectiveness of feng shui recommendations. Even the architectural profession has never clearly denied its opinion on feng shui. This comparative analysis seeks to determine whether 118 selected feng shui school of form recommendations are consistent with the recommendations of Alexander et al.’s pattern language and with selected findings in environmental psychology. The results support this, showing that 34% of the recommendations (or forty recommendations out of 118 in total) are consistent with pattern language and that 45% (or fifty-three recommendations) are fully or partially consistent with the findings of environmental psychology. Altogether, more than half of the recommendations (57%, or sixty-seven recommendations) are consistent (indirectly confirmed) by one or the other knowledge system, which means that it is very likely that these recommendations will actually have the promised impact on users of physical space. Twenty-seven feng shui recommendations (or 23% out of the 118) are doubly consistent, of which most are related to the five-animals feng shui model, the importance of the presence of water and natural light in the living environment, and the importance of the main entrance. The bulk of the recommendations, which remain unaddressed, relate to the Chinese concept of living energy, or qi.

Yixiang (意象) in Contemporary Chinese Ink Installation Art

ABSTRACT Since the early twentieth century, the art tradition in China has been challenged by art practices from the West, which has led to a bifurcation in Chinese art practices: one branch has stayed true to the traditional Chinese style with ink and the other has turned to the Western style. Although always accompanied by heated debates on whether Chinese painting should retain its ink tradition, efforts have been made to find a third way in-between the two styles, to make traditional Chinese art contemporary by incorporating traditional ideas and artistic techniques in new media art practices. These art practices are much less accessible internationally because of the difficulty in categorising and understanding them. This essay recontextualises these artworks in the context of traditional Chinese aesthetics by introducing the concept Yixiang (意象), with a discussion of the artwork “Melt” by Pan, Gongkai (潘公凯). The non-dualistic, dynamic, and relational features of Yixiang (意象) resonate with the characteristics of contemporary new media art practices, which usually include dynamic moving images or installation spaces that invite audience participation. Through a careful introduction of the cultural significance of Xiang (象) thinking, as well as its embodiment in artworks, this article proposes a new way of looking at contemporary media artworks which may go beyond the cultural confines of Chinese or Western art.

An Eco-poetic Approach to Architecture Across Boundaries

As highlighted by the post-Cartesian discourse across philosophical schools, Western thought had been struggling for a long time with conceiving interconnectedness. The problematic of Western dualism is most apparent with the so-called mind-body problem, but the issue does not only relate to the separation of body and mind but also the separation of living beings from their environments. Asian philosophy, on the other hand, has had a long history of thinking relations. The paper argues that an architectural philosophy that is open for a dialogue with Asian views would allow for a new approach to conceptualising the interconnectedness of minds, bodies, environments, and cultures. Linking Asian and Western aesthetics with a discourse on ecology, and setting it into dialogue with contemporary theories of architecture, the paper also refers torecent research on embodiment that is engaging from a new point of view with the natural sciences, and that appears to confirm positions of traditional Chinese philosophy. Reconsidering traditional Chinese art and aesthetics, the paper suggests, could initiate a new eco-poetic way of thinking the built environment and its design in favour of a future that is more than smart.

Immutability and impermanence in Qiu Zhijie's work: From Buddhism to New Confucianism to Mainland New Confucianism

Abstract'The need to go back to the past' is central to Qiu Zhijie (b. 1969)'s understanding of human agency, and in consequence is central to his artistic endeavour. By 'the past' Qiu means Chinese (immutable) history and identity, based on a sense of impermanence. Chinese philosophy has informed his work from its beginning in the 1990s, as he imagined calligraphic performances, infused his installations and photographs with explicit references to Buddhist sutras and Koan. Since 2000 he has peppered his discourse and curating practices with implicit references to Confucianism (such as the celebration of the master/student relationship, the search for social harmony). Initial works used a mix of western contemporary and Chinese traditional art forms, and were concerned to the cultivation of the self. The latter have become associated with social aims such as diffusing art to the masses, promoting ancient arts and crafts in curated projects that link the artist's individual development with that of the collective. Qiu designates this holistic aim as 'Total art'. Critics explain Qiu's concept of Total art using the Wagnerian concept ofGesamtkunstwerkor of post-structural criticality of history. Others compare Qiu's endeavour to Republican New Confucianism. Still others consider it as part of Chinese literati tradition, in an ahistorical perspective. We want to emphasize rather its relation to Mainland New Confucianist philosophy that emerged since the millennium, which is characterized by a will to use ontological Chinese values to defend a political vision of Confucianism that is both social and authoritarian, essentially Chinese and opened to the world. This explains how Qiu reconciles his view of 'going to the past', with his participation in the Government's sponsored international programmes. We shall question its consequence on Qiu's position as global 'avant-garde'.

Creating Digital animation based on traditional Chinese art

Creating Digital animation based on traditional Chinese art

Exploration of Chinese Traditional Furniture Art Form in Practical Teaching

This paper studies the application and implementation of Chinese traditional furniture elements in contemporary art design, particularly in practical teaching. Through exploring the related curricular experiments and the practical projects of North China University of Technology, this paper analyses and explains the effect of traditional furniture, introduces the innovative design of traditional furniture structure and contemporary innovative design of traditional furniture patterns. These teaching achievements express the understanding of the cultural connotation of furniture and realize the interpretation of traditional Chinese furniture in contemporary design. It is an effective way to inherit and develop traditional furniture culture and art from mortise and tenon structures and patterns of traditional furniture as reference for contemporary design.

Paper-Cut Flexible Multifunctional Electronics Using MoS2 Nanosheet.

Art and science represent human creativity and rational thinking, respectively. When the two seemingly opposite fields are intertwined, there is always a life-changing spark. In particular, the integration of ancient traditional Chinese art into the latest electronic devices is always been an unexcavated topic. Fabricating two-dimensional material with a tensile strain less than 3% with an ultimate global stretch has been an important problem that plagues the current flexible electronics field. The current research is limited to material in small scale, and it is always necessary to develop and extend large-sized flexible electronic systems. Here, inspired by the traditional Chinese paper-cut structure, we present a highly deformable multifunctional electronic system based on the MoS2 nanosheet. In this work, we first demonstrate how the traditional paper-cut structure can open the view of flexible electronics. In order to obtain a large area of MoS2 with excellent performance, we use a metal-assisted exfoliation method to transfer MoS2, followed by fabricating a field effect transistor to characterize its excellent electrical properties. Two photodetectors and a temperature sensor are produced with good performance. The mechanical simulation proves that the structure has more advantages in stretchability than other typical paper-cut structures. From the experimental and mechanical point of view, it is proved that the device can work stably under high deformation. We finally show that the device has broad application prospects in highly deformed organs, tissues, and joints. These findings set a good example of traditional Chinese culture to guide innovation in the field of electronic devices.

Chinese flower-bird character generation based on pencil drawings or brush drawings

Chinese flower-bird characters are gems of traditional Chinese art. It is an artistic font and the strokes of the characters are designed as beautiful patterns of flowers, birds, etc. The generation of such characters requires painters’ great efforts. Imagine that if we only need to sketch the outline of the ideal flower-bird characters using a pencil, and then we can quickly obtain these artistic characters, which will be of great significance in promoting their development, allowing more people to appreciate and even create this art by computer. Recently, with the development of deep learning and the invention of generative adversarial networks (GANs), some studies on font generation have made new progress. However, there is no research on the generation of flower-bird characters. We provide a solution by designing a GAN-based architecture to generate flower-bird characters. More specifically, a generator inspired by U-Net translates pencil drawings or brush drawings to flower-bird characters, and a patch-level discriminator distinguishes whether the received image is real. In addition to adversarial loss, a valid loss term called structural similarity loss is designed to further drive the network to generate satisfactory images. The quantitative analysis and user perceptual validation show the effectiveness of our method.

中国传统武术在新时代的可持续发展

中国传统武术在新时代的可持续发展

Making Sense of an Ancient Discipline in a Modern Time: How Tai Chi (太极) Practice Benefits the Body–Mind

Tai chi(太极) is an ancient Chinese traditional martial art that, today, is also practiced as a graceful and multifaceted form of exercise. It involves a series of movements performed in a slow, focused manner accompanied by deep breathing and expanded awareness of the body, mind, and surrounding environment. There is growing evidence that this mind–body practice has value in treating or preventing many health problems and you can get started even if you are not in top shape or the best of health. This paper is a review of the research that has been conducted internationally on the health-enhancing aspects of Tai Chi practice over the past few years. It is not possible to cover all areas of research in one paper; therefore, three important areas are chosen and discussed, namely, improving balance, strengthening the bones, reducing pain and the rest will be referred to in a future article.

Focused-ion-beam-based nano-kirigami: from art to photonics

Abstract Kirigami, i.e. the cutting and folding of flat objects to create versatile shapes, is one of the most traditional Chinese arts that has been widely used in window decorations, gift cards, festivals, and various ceremonies, and has recently found intriguing applications in modern sciences and technologies. In this article, we review the newly developed focused-ion-beam-based nanoscale kirigami, named nano-kirigami, as a powerful three-dimensional (3D) nanofabrication technique. By utilizing the topography-guided stress equilibrium induced by ion-beam irradiation on a free-standing gold nanofilm, versatile 3D shape transformations such as upward buckling, downward bending, complex rotation, and twisting of nanostructures are precisely achieved. It is shown that the generated 3D nanostructures possess exceptional geometries and promising photonic functionalities, including strongly interacting multiple Fano resonances, giant optical chirality, clear photonic spin Hall effects, and diffractive phase/polarization effects. The studies of such structures can build up novel platforms for versatile manufacturing techniques and be helpful to establish new areas in plasmonics, nanophotonics, optomechanics, MEMS/NEMS, etc., with the generation of exotic but functional nanostructures.