Walk through Beijing's great attractions -- 故宫Gugong (The Palace Museum), 天坛Tiantan (Temple of Heaven), 天坛天安门广场Tiananmen Square, 颐和园Yiheyuan (Summer Palace).
See 吐鲁番Tulufan's well-known attractions -- 苏公塔Sugonta (Emin Minaret), 高昌城Gaochang Ruins, and 火焰山Huoyan Shan (Flaming Mountains).
The compounds and manors of the extreme wealthy in 山西Shanxi's small towns and villages. See the old town of 平遥Pingyao with well-preserved Ming and Qing city wall and street layout.
工艺品Arts and Crafts
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北京市 - 钟馗Beijing city - Zhong Kui
This turned out to be the legendary demon vanquisher 钟馗Zhong Kui. A story has it that during the 唐朝Tang dynasty (618 - 907), the emperor 明皇Ming Huang had a dream in which he withnessed a little demon stealing his jade flute and his favorite 杨贵妃Yang Guifei's perfume bag. But before the thief got away, a larger ugly demon in official clothing appeared and captured it. He then gouge the poor little demon's eyes and ate it. After witnessing this gross act, the emperor wants to know who he is. Our hero introduces himself as Zhong Kui. He had come to the capital with a friend for the imperial examination, but although he proved to be the first in the class, the title was withdrawn from him due to his unpleasant appearance. Seeing the unjustness he commited suicide right on the palace hall. And he vowed to rid of all the empire's demons. The emperor then woke up. Immediately he summoned the great painter 吴道子Wu Daozi to render an image of this good demon-official and have it spread throughout the empire. So, from Tang onward, many households had posters of Zhong Kui on their doors to repell bad demons. Made of clay and hand painted.
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武汉市 - 月下饮酒Wuhan city - Two Drinkers
Also made of clay and painted. Two commoners enjoying a meal, perhaps under the moonlight. Their extraordinary expressiveness made them very identifiable. The set comes in several pieces, including the two men, a stone platform, two dishes of food, two cups and two kuaizi (chopsticks). I got the set at 武汉市Wuhan city's 黄鹤楼Huanghelou (Yellow Crane Tower) in 2001 when I was there. It had to be moved from there to my village, and from my village I lugged it around to 广州市Guangzhou city; then check in on the plane back to New York. I forgot at which stage the arms broke off.
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北京市 - 官人，酒鬼Beijing city - Official, Drunkard
Painted clay. On the left is an official, very likely a corrupted one, rocking leisurely on a large gold nugget. On the right is a drunkard in the shape of a wine pot.
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济南市 - 虎Jinan city - Tiger
Hand painted ceramic figure of a tiger with a leather bellow on its mid-section. Because of the bellow, as you push the tiger head a little, air comes out of the two-holed mouth and produces a sudden "oong" sound. The tiger subspecie 华南虎South China Tiger, which many believes to be the antecedent of all tigers, was native to south China. So, since antiquity the solitary tiger has been revered to the point that it was elevated into a mythological symbol. It is one of the 四象Four Symbols of the 五行学Five Elements system of thinking. As the White Tiger (white here does not mean the color of the tiger's skin, but the symbolic color of the direction) it is the guardian of the direction "west" and the season "autumn". Tigers are believed to be the king of all beasts. They are in fact the largest of all cats. So recognized that it is the adopted form of the imperial tally used to authorize imperial instructions, particularly military instructions. The tiger tally is divided into two halves, whereby they must match for the instructions to be authentic. Unfortunately, today the South China tiger is in grave danger of extinction.
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济南市 - 猪Jinan city - Boar
Colorful threads were sewn onto the stuffed cloth body to define the details of this seemingly tamed boar.
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都斛 - 酒杯Duhu - Drinking Cup
While I was in my mother's village last year (2006), I went into her father's old house. Since his passing several years ago, this was the first time I was able to go in and take a good look. It was one of the oldest house in the village, dating back to the early Republican era (1912-1949). It was built by his grandfather, who was a merchant. And because of his trade and because of the chaotic times, he was wary of bandits who often raided villages; so, he dugged a tunnel that led to outside the village. But unfortunately the folks said that the tunnel had collapsed and a brickwall had sealed its entrance, so I cannot examine it. The house has a low second level, a sort of attic. A very narrow staircase leads up to it. After some time looking over some of the remains, I found this cup which I liked very much. I don't know the exact date, but it was very unlikely from my grandfather's time.
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都斛 - 清币Duhu - Qing Coin
Besides the above cup and I also found this 清朝Qing dynasty (1644-1911) coin and the Mao buttons below. The coin has the Manchurian characters (left photo) on one side and the Han characers on the other. There were two other coins but this one was best preserved. Qing coins are quite numerous in the market, although many are fake. Currency was standardized during the first empire; the circular copper coin with a square hole in the center had been in use til the last century, more than 2000 years. The circular shape represents Heaven, the square hole, Earth.
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都斛 - 毛泽东钮Duhu - Mao Buttons
You can find these buttons in most tourist areas. They come in various sizes and designs. Although I never bought one I always liked their iconic look. And so having found these it was enough.
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唐模 - 茶道用具Tangmu village - Tea Ceremony Utensils
A set of utensils used for tea ceremony. They were carved out of solid bamboo and are extraordinarily detailed and delicated. Unfortunately they are irresistable to the tastes of termites. And since 2004 these tiny folks had colonized it. I had to get rid of them for these photos.
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西安 - 茶壶Xian - Teapot
I got this tiny burnt-ochre-color teapot in a sort of flea market by Xian's city walls. The seller was from the well-known ceramic town 景德镇Jingdezhen in 江西省Jiangxi province; about twice a month he would come to the old capital for a few days to sell his wares. It is made of special hard porcelain that has a sharp ring when tap at. Porcelain production was already active during the 商朝Shang dynasty (16th - 11th).
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济南市 - 美人葫Jinan city - Beauty on a Gourd
I was told that a hot rod was used to mark the lines of this beauty sitting by the rocks. The dark brown burns seems to be evident of that. It is a large perfect gourd, about 40cm high.
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苏州市 - 扇子Suzhou city - Folding Fan
This well-made fan was made specifically for painters. The paper ends are not glued to the wood pieces, which makes it more flexible for the artist. After the artwork is completed it can then easily be glued together. This particular one has better wood and paper, but I discovered a fan-making shop while I was lost in the mazes of old alleys near the birthplace of the great Ming (1368-1644) painter 唐寅Tang Yin. At the entrance gate was hung a birdcage, instead of a dog, and this orange-breast bird chirped loudly when I sneaked in. The building layout was classical: A big empty courtyard in the center, and on four sides are the rooms. A man and two women were assembling fans at a leisure pace and weren't very taken by my sudden visit. I expressed my interest in the craft, and they happily showed me around. The workplace had three rooms: one room for hanging wet glued paper, another room for glueing, the middle room for assembling the pieces. In the middle room were drawers of handles, all standardized, of wood and bamboo. These handles were made elsewhere and they are of good quality. The paper can be plain or speckled.
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绍兴 - 梳子Shaoxing city - Wood Comb
The combs here were made by a brand name company that specializes in combs.
