This is a glass painting of a pair of Lady Amherst’s pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae) which are native to south western China and north eastern part of Myanmar. For the Chinese, the Lady Amherst’s pheasant is a noble bird. At the time of monarchy the Empress, being the highest ranking second only to the Emperor, would have phoenix as a pattern. For the first ranking official, their costume would have a red crown crane, while the second ranking official the Lady Amherst’s pheasant. The third ranking, the green peafowl and the fifth the silver pheasant, the eighth being the quail.
This engraving of the plant reminded me the pattern of the arts and crafts movement. Most probably also for the love of nature, the wall climber pattern was one of the first pattern to be used for the Chao Zhou golden wooden carving. Apart from wood carving it is also a popular pattern for pottery and more abstractly on costume.
Many years ago on one of the shopping trips to Gui Zhou, mother was on a bus when she saw this baby carrier. The baby carrier was not in a shop but carry a baby on the back of a woman. Falling in love with the unusual design mother jumped out of the bus and ran to find the woman with the baby. On closer look, the pattern looked even better, the colour are bright and the design abstract and modern. Mother begged the lady to sell the carrier to her so she can use it as a sample. The lady was very reluctant, as the baby carrier is believed to be an amulet for the child, protecting him throughout his life. After much persuasion here we are – a pattern of birds with flower!
This lotus leave was the lid for a container which unfortunately is not with us anymore. I think it will make a great presentation for lotus leave rice if you have a bowl of similar size or best of all make a pottery one. This will be my new pottery project, will keep you updated on this. Meanwhile, you can start practicing on making my favorite lotus leave rice first.
wash the lotus leaf thoroughly then put it in boiling water till soft, rinse with cold water and pad dry.
make a thin omelet with the egg, let cool and cut into thin slices.
heat the wok with a little hot till smoke raises, add in and stir fried the diced prawn followed by the diced roast duck, char siu, mushroom and finally the rice and the seasoning.
brush the lotus leave with oil, spoon in the fried rice and fold up the lotus leave like a gift.
put it in a bowl and steam for half and hour.
put the lotus leaf parcel in a nice container and enjoy!
Here is a folding fan with the fan leave decorated with a poem and painting by my father. The poem from the poet Bai Ju Yi, “The Jackdaw’s Nightly Cry”,
The Jackdaw cries for the lost of its mother.
That year it stayed at their forest home; by day and by night.
Every midnight it cried, tears would run down those who heard.
As if it was saying it has not taken care of its mother.
Hundred of birds are without mother but only you are grieving so.
Your mother’s kindness deepens your sorrow.
There was general Wu Qi too busy chasing fortune to attend his mother’s funeral.
These kind of humans are worse than birds.
The Jackdaw is the dutiful son of birds.
Here is a clip of a jackdaw to make up for my bad translation of poem.
You have probably seen a larger version of this in a Chinese garden before, a stool for sitting on for the ladies. It is called a Gu Dun, the word “Gu” means drum and as you can see the top of this pottery has decoration resembling a piece of leather held taut like a drum. The Gu Dun was originally made in wood and later also made with pottery, porcelain, stone and lacquer. You can see in the Sung painting below that it is already a popular chair at that time and the most recent design is perhaps Philip Starck’s Bonze Stool.
The one featured in the post today is a miniature decoration piece which is made in the form of a Gu Dun.
The carp fish is a blessing symbol for the Chinese, there are many legends regarding the carp fish and here is one of them:
Once upon a time there is an orphan named Ji Qing, without a family he made his living as a boat tracker on the Chuan Jiang River. Life was hard but he lived his days joyfully, being a good swimmer he is able to retrieve any objects his passenger accidentally dropped into the ocean. Diving deep into the water he had a special bond with the carp fish, even if he is hungry he will not harm them, his friend made fun of him and called him silly Qing. One day when he was tidying up the tow string, he saw a beautiful golden carp but at the same time a water snake was about to make it his dinner. Ji Qing threw the string on the water snake and saved the golden carp, he took the injured carp to his hut and nursed it for days. One evening exhausted from a day’s water he rushed home to see the carp but it was no where to be found. Oddly on the table was 4 gold bars and there carved the words, “I have jumped to the sky and swam to the reef but failed to be a dragon (it is believe that if a carp can jump over the mountain it will turn into a dragon), here I am to give wealth to Ji Qing.
Apology for the misinformed blog yesterday. This box should be a name card holder, yes, the traditional name card are of this size. Traditionally, a few days before a visit, a box containing a name card (tie) with the purpose of the visit will be delivered to the person’s estate. If the tie is not rejected that the meeting will go ahead, otherwise the box with the tie will be returned to the sender.
The character on this wood block print is not a Chinese version of Avatar but the hero Guang Hui Wang who was attributed the title of the country’s protector. The name Guang Hui Wai is itself a title given to him by general Chen when his effigy was worshiped during Chen’s battle to pacified Ziang Ziu some 300 odd years later. Guang Hui Wang became an idol god in Ziang Ziu and the legacy spread to Taiwan and South East Asia through the immigration of the Ziang Ziu people. Now back to Guang Hui Wang, his real name is Xie An, he lived in East Jin dynasty (320-385 AD). Xie An was a great scholar as well as a politician and a military leader. Apart from winning numerous battles, reclaiming lost territories and resolving disputes between nobles within his country; he is much admired for speaking and acting with morality and justices, not taking sides in the court and lastly being able to step away from power after battles were won. Xie An was borned in a established family, he was well known for his intellect, charm and good looks (this being reconfirmed by his poem with the famous Wang Xi Zhi and his portraits) … who someone please explain why he has turned into Avatar in all the new year prints?
Here is a clip from the procession in Southern Taiwan for Guang Hui Wang and the Xie family.
This embroidery is from a silk du dou, a more elaborated version than the one shown in the previous post – du dou. The du dou is the traditional undergarment for the Chinese; it was invented by Nu Wa and Fu Xi, the Chinese version of Adam and Eve and this is their version of the fig leave. The embroidery has a symbolic meaning of fertility; in the center is a baby with a long life locket, under him is is a pomegranate (a fruit of many seeds), over him is a bat (which has the same pronunciation as “blessing”)
Mountain Folkcraft 