{"id":9175,"date":"2019-05-10T21:56:58","date_gmt":"2019-05-11T01:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parsons.edu\/undergrad\/?post_type=student-work&p=9175"},"modified":"2019-09-20T17:04:18","modified_gmt":"2019-09-20T21:04:18","slug":"rui-zhang","status":"publish","type":"student-work","link":"https:\/\/parsons.edu\/undergrad\/student-work\/rui-zhang\/","title":{"rendered":"Rui Zhang"},"content":{"rendered":"

Specifically, I chose the \u201cArt of the Mountain: Through The Chinese\u00a0Photographer\u2019s Lens\u201d exhibition that was happening in Chinatown as my\u00a0research focus out of my strong interest in interpreting and sharing the\u00a0magnificence of Chinese traditional landscape art. Born and raised in a\u00a0traditional Chinese family, I found this topic to be extremely related to my\u00a0previous experience and practice with Chinese landscape art and calligraphy\u00a0since I was a little girl. The magical balance between ink and water and the\u00a0precise control between applying brushstrokes together form a deliverable\u00a0landscape painting. There are so many secrets inside Chinese landscape\u00a0painting that are remained unspoken, but the world should be aware and\u00a0appreciate. Therefore, I wrote this paper, to not only spread this knowledge of\u00a0Chinese landscape art to the world but also discuss its possible significance and\u00a0function to our very current reality-21st century.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you ever have the chance to travel back in time to Chinese Qing Dynasty under the\u00a0reign of Qianlong in the late 18th century, you won\u2019t catch a harmonious and private scene of\u00a0each family celebrating in their house or Qianlong in his palace cherishing the moment of\u00a0celebration with his concubines, ministers, maids, eunuchs on a Chinese New Year\u2019s Eve.\u00a0Instead, they will all gather in an enormous assembly and kneel down for the higher majesty in\u00a0their minds-Nature. Qing Dynasty under the control of Qianlong is recognized as one of the most\u00a0prosperous periods in Chinese ancient history and it is also when the Chinese rigid system of\u00a0feudal society had reached its most glowing time and started to have a rapid downfall afterwards.\u00a0As a emperor with such enormous power over its people and even upon the whole world at his\u00a0time, Qianlong never recognized himself as the ultimate ruler of the universe, instead, he\u00a0worshiped the principles the higher natural world had given and had always carried a humble\u00a0heart facing nature like many other emperors in Chinese history. Therefore, on any important\u00a0holidays or seasonal solstices, Qianlong and all his people would go to Temple of Heaven in a\u00a0big organized ceremony and together pray for a better season and better time for the upcoming\u00a0future. (1)<\/p>\n

In fact, this value of worshiping nature has always been a core value of Chinese ancient\u00a0society \u2014 \u201cTian Ren He Yi\u201d, a theory originated from great Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zi, meaning the integration of human and universe, is recognized as the root of ancient Chinese\u00a0feudal government system and the very explanation of Chinese traditional various types of art\u00a0forms. (2) No matter it is literature, poetry, calligraphy, paintings, drawings, music or dance, all traces to this one key value- Chinese\u2019s people worship of nature. Among all of the above,\u00a0landscape art as one of most symbolic expressions of individualized Chinese art forms, shares its\u00a0very intimacy on revealing the magnificence of nature by its graceful balance of water and ink,\u00a0precise touches of brushstrokes, subtle control of humidity, which we seldomly catch in other\u00a0cultures. Nowadays, in 21st Century, the landscape art can still draw on this Chinese culture\u00a0tradition to express itself by adapting its form and ideology, elevate and reassemble itself to\u00a0make us recognize a deeper problem with our current society.<\/p>\n

In the ongoing exhibition Art of the Mountain: Through The Chinese Photographer\u2019s\u00a0Lens<\/em> happening near Chinatown in New York City at China Institute Gallery, various\u00a0photographers and artists try to rebuild this connection between traditional Chinese Landscape\u00a0art and today\u2019s world to show us the possibility of its value finding its place in the 21st century\u00a0chaotic art world. The artist Yang Yongliang stood in the lead. His Peach Blossom Colony<\/a><\/em>, done\u00a0in 2011, is a black and white photographic digital manipulation piece that echoes with the\u00a0elementary structure, composition and aesthetic of Chinese traditional landscape art. However, at\u00a0the same time, it strictly discriminates itself by relating to the rising usage of technology, abrupt\u00a0growing of skyscrapers and the fast-paced exhaustion of our natural environment. The Peach\u00a0Blossom Colony is done in inkjet print and sized in 33 3\/8 by 92 1\/8 inches. At a first glance, the\u00a0whole very horizontal painting gave its audience a strong illusion of a constructed fairyland. The wide spread extending skyline gave us a strong relief from our crowded, fast paced reality,\u00a0quickly drawing us into a different dimension of consciousness. The sense of stepping back into\u00a0a different time zone when there was not an interruption in the skyline, but only magnificent\u00a0nature and mountains. The abrupt standing of a few steep mountains from a far distance, pushing\u00a0off the horizon line, covered in faded effects by the natural magic of fog, gives us a mysterious,\u00a0powerful image of nature. The wandering fog is a form of Qi, the element put in landscape art in\u00a0Chinese tradition to harmonize the vital energy of nature. Qi is growing on the mountains,\u00a0breathing in and out of the mountains, healing the whole landscape, elevating the involvers\u2019\u00a0spiritual world. Their existence makes sure a connection built between nature and us, and we are\u00a0relying on each other. Surrounding by Qi, the mountains are revealing but not fully showing. The\u00a0far distance also gives us a breathing space, therefore they are magnificent but not scaring, grand\u00a0but not imposing. soaring but not intimidating. The mountains behave like part of us, embedding\u00a0us in the whole landscape, breathing, growing and thriving with us in a connected system. Just\u00a0like renowned Taoism pivotal thinker Zhuangzi has wrote and expressed in The Identity of \u00a0Contraries, \u201cthe universe and I came into being together; and I, and everything therein, are\u00a0ONE(\u5929\u5730\u4e0e\u6211\u5e76\u751f,\u4e07\u7269\u4e0e\u6211\u4e3a\u4e00).\u201d (3) The well kept distance between the viewers and\u00a0mountains lessen the deterrence and hostility of nature might provide. Therefore, we gain a \u00a0peaceful image of us living with the mountains. A respect for them appreciating their\u00a0powerfulness far away, not interrupting it, allow us to lie peacefully in this painting.<\/p>\n

(1) William T. Rowe, Chinas Last Empire: The Great Qing (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard\u00a0University Press, 2009).<\/p>\n

(2) Ralph Weber, “Oneness and Particularity in Chinese Natural Cosmology: The Notiontianrenheyi,” Asian\u00a0Philosophy 15, no. 2 (2005): doi:10.1080\/09552360500165379.<\/p>\n

(3) Chuang Chou and Herbert Allen. Giles, Chuang Tz\u01d4 (Chuang Chou). Mystic, Moralist, and Social\u00a0Reformer. Translated from the Chinese. By Herbert A Giles (London, 1889), 23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9176,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9175","student-work","type-student-work","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-objects-as-history"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRui Zhang - Parsons Notes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/parsons.edu\/undergrad\/student-work\/rui-zhang\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rui Zhang - Parsons Notes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Specifically, I chose the \u201cArt of the Mountain: Through The Chinese\u00a0Photographer\u2019s Lens\u201d exhibition that was happening in Chinatown as my\u00a0research...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/parsons.edu\/undergrad\/student-work\/rui-zhang\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Parsons Notes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hashtag\/parsonsfirstyear\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-20T21:04:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/parsons.edu\/undergrad\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/05\/Constructed-Reality-Chinese-Landscape-Art-Finding-Its-Function-in-the-21st-Century.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/parsons.edu\/undergrad\/student-work\/rui-zhang\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/parsons.edu\/undergrad\/student-work\/rui-zhang\/\",\"name\":\"Rui Zhang - 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