The Drunken Poet

01/20/2014 //
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drinkerW150xD100xH150mm, China

Li Bai, the famous Romanticist poet of the Tang dynasty which brought poetry to a new height during his time.  In the “300 Tang Poems”, now seen as the canon of poetry, Li Bai had 34 entries.  Equally famous was his enjoyment of the Chinese wine.  He enjoyed a carefree life in youth, worked briefly for the court he was cast away for being out spoken, in later years he came a Taoist and continue a life of wandering.  He wrote over a thousand poems, on the subjects of nature, solitude, friendship and drinking.

Li Bai’s character was portrayed in a Beijing opera “Tai Bai Zeoi Se”

The story begins with the 2 corrupted generals, Yang and Gao who are in charged of the court examination, both were hoping to make some money out of it.  Li Bai had been recommended by the court scholar He to enter the exam.  Upon seeing the scruffy clothes Li Bai was wearing, sensing there would be no money out of him, the examiners gave him a hard time.  Without looking at his paper, he was teased and mocked; feeling unjust Li Bai vowed to give equal humiliation to the two and walked out of the examination hall.

Then one day, the Tang Emperor received a letter from the neighboring country, the letter was written in their own language and nobody in court could read it.  Feeling embarrassed by their own failure, the officials wanted to take the blame out on the messenger.  The messenger replied, if the Emperor wanted to be friend with their country, he should seek a way to read the letter, then the two countries could become friends, otherwise they would be at war.  Among the hundred scholars at court, nobody could read a word of it and Li Bai was recommended by scholar He.  “But Li Bai was not an official.”, said Yang, “and he drinks too!”.  The Emperor said he himself drinks as well and award Li a grand title so he can help out in the palace.  Li finding his new earned power, took his chance to played tricks on the two.  Here is what happened.

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Categories figurine, pottery

Miao Patchwork

01/17/2014 //
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patchworkW820xL130mm, China

This is a section of a patchwork from the Miao tribe.  I find the creatures on the patchwork processing a lot charm, as this is handmade even if they are the same kind, are different.  This simple beauty is already hard to find in the digital age.

On this patchwork there are flowers, butterfly, fish, birds and dragons.  The Miao believes that creatures are interchangeable; a man can become a dragon and vice versa, fish butterfly, flowers and bird can also turn into dragon.  Recorded in one of the ancient songs, the butterfly has 12 sons, they had a fight and the water dragon was chased away.  He escaped through the waterways and into the ocean, then he realised he has forgotten to bring his money!  The fish surrounded his and offered him the money and he was able to become the king of the ocean.  There used to be a lot of these ancient songs which get passed down by mouth through generations, sadly only 12 songs were left.

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Categories fabric, tribal

Tin Toy Cyclist

01/16/2014 //
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tin toy

L200xW90xH180mm, China

In support for this Saturday’s Harbourfront Bike Ride, hope we will get a harbourfront cycleway soon!

For more details about the event visit:
http://harbourfrontcycleway.hk/hfbr6

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Categories figurine, metal, toy

Miniature Medicine Pot

01/15/2014 //
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medicine pot

DIA100xH90mm, China

After the miniature bamboo steamer, we have the miniature medicine pot.  Made with a sandy type of clay, this pottery container is identical to the real thing.  Unlike the normal teapot the handle and the spout are placed in the same direction which makes pouring easier.  The doctor for Chinese medicine normally prescribe for the herbs to be boiled with certain amount of water (e.g. 6 bowls) and to be reduced to a lesser amount (say 1 bowl).  It will be hard to judge by time how long the brewing will take and every now and then one will have to pour out the medicine to see if the correct amount has been reached.

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Categories container, pottery, toy

Miniature Bamboo Steamer

01/14/2014 //
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steamerbamboo steamerDIA95xH100mm, China

We have a large bamboo steamer in yesterday’s blog and today a miniture one is featured.  This small tea container is a Yi Xing pottery, the famous teaware province.  As all Yi Xing teapots are hand built instead of made by on the potter’s wheel, the artisan are extremely crafted with their hands.  This miniature has all the details of the real bamboo steamer.

When one think of Yi Xing pottery, the dark brown colour clay (Zi Sha) comes to mind.  The brown colour of the Zi Sha comes from the high content of iron.  In the same area apart from the Zi Sha are other types of clay and the white clay is one of them.

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Categories container, pottery

Bamboo Steamer

01/13/2014 //
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bamboo steamer bamboo steamerDIA340xH120mm, China

Food steaming has become one of the way to a healthier lifestyle; food is cooked at 100c over boiling water killing germs and the add of oil is not essential hence avoiding trans fat.  Typically, the steamer would be placed over a wok filled with boiling water, the steam from the water would filled the steamer through the gaps at the bottom, the food would be cooked with all the juices and flavor retained.

It was said that the method was first invented for the Han dynasty army for rejuvenating their dried ration, the steamers can be stacked up to heat up large quantity of food.  The elimination of oil used in this method also made the enemy harder to detect the location of the camp.  However, with archaeological discovery the steamer seems be have appeared long before, to be as far back as the Zhou dynasty, some 2000 year ago.

Tomb cave painting of the Jin dynasty

Unfortunately, though the method lives on with the high tech electrical steamer, the age of the bamboo steamer is on its last legs, their used to be streets filled with artisan making bamboo steamers, now there is only a couple in the city.  It seems like its ancestors, the bronze and the ceramic steamer, the bamboo version is replaced by the stainless steel and the plastic version.

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Categories bamboo, container

Bamboo Box

01/10/2014 //
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bamboo boxDIA95xH110mm, China

Bamboo is a plant that can be found in most part of China, not only is it a source for food, it is also used from scaffolding for architecture, to delicate weaved containers and nowadays for flooring and even clothing.

This bamboo box, I found is one of those back to the basic ideas.  Making use of the culm (the main shaft) and the nodes (the horizontal structure), a container is naturally form, the fibrous culm gives the box its texture.

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Categories bamboo, container

Bamboo Shoot

01/09/2014 //
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bamboo shoot

W50xL150xH40mm, China

This is a pottery figurine of a bamboo shoot.

Bamboo shoot, the sprout of the bamboo plant, is a great delicacy.  It is harvested when it has barely seen from the soil, when its texture is still fruit like before turning woody.  If it is left a night too long the bamboo shoot will be too hard to be consumed. It is not comparable to another other vegetables and the tin version is nothing close to the real thing.


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Categories figurine, pottery

Paper Mache Elephant

01/08/2014 //
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elephant

L330xW200xH400mm, Hong Kong

We have now associate the term white elephant to large and redundant project that is exhausting to maintain, e.g. the Olympic bird nest stadium or even Downton Abbey.

The white elephant first gained its sacred reputation from the appearance in the dream of Queen Maya (mother of Buddha).  In the dream, Queen Maya was carried by our spirits to a lake in the Himalayas where she was bathed and pampered.  Then came a white elephant holding a white lotus flower and circled around her 3 times.  It is believed that the buddha took the form of a white elephant to be reborn on earth.

This sacred animal became a symbol of justice and power for the kings of the Southeast Asia and that it offers peace and prosperity.  Temples, palaces were build for his home; musicians, cooks for its entertainments, etc.  The white elephant is a rare, in today’s terms, it is albino (a genetic disorder which lacks pigments in the skin).  In the old days, as they are rare, the king would use them as the highest reward.  This would be a blessing if one has the means to sustain the up keeping of the sacred elephant but otherwise a curse and this is where the meaning of the modern idiom comes from.

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Categories fabric, pottery

Plate

01/07/2014 //
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plateDIA160mm, China

On the plate is painted 3 generation of scholars, the well learnt elderly man, the established and the scholar to be.  Behind them are a selection of scholarly objects and collectibles; scrolls of painting and calligraphy, stationary, books and root sculptures.  On the side of the plate is the phrase “knowledge with no cliff”, meaning knowledge is so board that it is like an ocean without an edge.

This phrase is well learnt by most young students, as an encouragement for acquiring knowledge.  The phrase came from the late Ming well known writer Zhang Di who was born in a wealthy intellectual family.  Well learnt, he indulges in decadent love of beauty; pretty maid, handsome serving boys, fashion, gourmet, elegant horse, glamour, crowds, painting, antiques, etc, etc.  The life style and the political situation made him a poor man at later years, he found himself failure in all counts.  This however, made his writing all the more powerful.

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Categories container, pottery
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