Archery has been an important weapon in Korea, known as the Gak Gung, the bow is made with a composite of buffalo horns, bamboo and other material.
東夷 Dong Yi is the name Korean are referred to by the Chinese, the word 夷 is a combination of the word 大 (big) and the word 弓 (bow); it does seem that the Chinese has been wary of this powerful weapon. In the Korean legends, the first Korean king Go Jumong could hit 5 flies in one arrow, King Park Hyeokgeose can shoot the bow as far as China (the ancient day missile)!
One can see in this video that the construction of the Gak Gung is very established and specific.
There is a long history for domesticated elephant in Thailand; with the strength the elephants can offer, they are captured from the wild and trained (a bit like the domestication of horses and dogs). The white elephants were offered to the King and worshiped, some were trained to be fighting elephants, as the one used by Queen Suriyothai’s carrier in the war with the Burmese in 1548AD. Others were trained to be laborers for the forestry, pulling logs from the mountain down to the river. To track the elephants, bells were put around their neck so they can be heard in the forest.
Here is a Thai folk tale about a boy and an elephant bell.
Once upon at time, there is a poor boy despite of his lack of education he was taught the virtue of respect. One day the boy was lost in the forest, he wandered fearfully and came face to came with a full grown elephant. The huge elephant was strolling peacefully munching banana and other fruits. Judging by the size of the elephant, the boy thought the elephant must be thousands of years old and must be respected, he kneeled and bowed giving his respect to the animal. Touched by the act the elephant helped him to find his way home, then the elephant said to the little boy, “Here is a bell given to me by the King of the Elephants, ring it if you are in trouble and the other elephants will come to help you.” Then one day, the boy and his father were in the forests collecting wood for the fire. Lighting strike and they became stuck by a fallen tree. The boy remembered the elephant’s word and rang the bell, soon a herd of elephants came and lift the fallen tree and relieved them. At the same time, the wild elephant who gave him the bell was captured and being trained as a fighting elephant. Unsuited to his general temperment, the elephant snapped, killed his mahout trainer and destroyed the village. The news reached the King and the troops were sent to kill the elephant, when the boy heard the news he volunteer to go to tamed the elephant in exchange for him to be free. As he entered the village, the elephant charged for an attack. The boy generally kneel and bowed as he did before, as he rang the bell, the elephant remembered him and came close to him. The elephant calmed down and followed him to meet with the King who kept his word and the elephant was free.
A pair of suan ni, with smoke coming out of their mouths!
Like the Tao Tie, Suan Ni is one of the sons of the dragon (the 8th son). Unlike the Tao Tie who adores food, the Suan Ni is a patient creature that loves the smoke from the incense. He can be found on the large incense burners and also as a carrier for the Bodhisattva Manjusri.
These Suan Ni are a pair of incense burners, flip open the head, place the incense, light it, flip the head back and enjoy their smokey conversations.
This cute little wood carving is in fact a tool, a wood block stencil for fabric printing in India, bunta. The stencil is painstakingly carved out from a solid piece of wood guiding only by a rough piece of paper template. Here is how they are made.
Unlike the west where the bat is associated with the dracula, the Chinese adores the symbol of the bat. Being viewed as an icon of blessing, their symbol can be seen everywhere. The Chinese name for bat is 蝠 ( fu), which sound like the word blessing, 福 (fu), and as bat sleeps upside down 倒 (dao) sharing the same pronunciation as the word arrival, 到 (dao).
Millefiori, “mille” (thousand) and “fiori” (flowers), in Italian.
I had a similar millefiori paper weight as a child. I had no concept of a paper weight then and took it as a treasure item which I spend numerous lazy afternoons staring into the glass. I would swear once I saw the little flowers moving inside but of course no one would believe me.
The millefiori frog here is not a Baccarat, but I just love the 70s psychedelic feeling to the film … and now you can perhaps also see the flowers moving inside the glass.
This beautifully carved figurine belongs to the datu (shaman) of the Batak tribe in Sumatra. It is the finial of a tungkot malehat, a ritual staff used by the datu. The tungkot malehat consist of the kneeling figure as well as a rattan or bamboo staff (which unfortunately is missing). Traditionally, these magic staff is carved by the datu himself, they are powerful supernatural weapons for fighting off evils spirits and also has the power of healing. During the ceremony the datu would enter into a trance while holding the staff which would aid him in the ritual.
These are a pair of wooden shuttles for the hand loom.
Anyone interested in weaving and other Chinese craftwork should watch out for the workshop organized by the Jin Ze Arts Centre, a not-for-profit art and craft organization aimed at the preservation and promotion of the fine tradition of Chinese craftsmanship by fostering exchanges of ideas and techniques between practitioners of traditional crafts and contemporary designers via innovative approaches.
Here is a weaving workshop held last March, wish I was there!
Typhoon Usagi just departed and its raining cats and dogs but this umbrella is probably too delicate to embrace the serve weather – a paper umbrella!
The paper is made from mulberry tissue paper coated with tung oil (oil extracted from the fruit of tung tree, Aluerites fordii Hemsi). The structure is made delicately with bamboo. These umbrellas are very durable, I had a plain dark blue one which lasted through my teen years.
W30xL450xD380mm, Korea
Mountain Folkcraft 