For the Something Old Something New Collectible Jewellery is the necklace of the three fish, the dushan jade fish are hang on a hand woven Chinese knots necklace.
Three fish are seen as a sign of blessing, in the East Han dyansty, when bribery was a common affair, there was a just officer named Yang Zhen. Yang was in charged of the appointment of government official, unlike the others before him, he would only appoint those who has the ability and reject those who tried to bribe him. One day, when Yang was at a low point in his life, he saw three fish jumping out of pond. He feels that the gods has understood him and blessed him with the three fish and soon after he was promoted to be one of the three top officials. The three fish became a symbol for the three top officials under only the emperor himself, in today’s terms they are the prime minister, the secretary of home affairs and the secretary of defense.
Something Old Something New
Collectible Jewellery Collection
Lions, perhaps not being a native animal in China, were considered as mythical creatures, protector and even made to be carriage of Bodhisattva Manjusri.
Chinese lions are often portrayed playing the xiu qiu, symbolizing harmony and joy.
However, does lion really enjoy playing balls like a cat …
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).
A pair or lions; the lion playing with the xiu qiu is a male and the other with the cub is a lioness. These pair of wood carving is part of an architectural element, in fact it is part of the bracket that hold up the beam in traditional Chinese architecture. This highly decorative architectural / structural elements are found in the south, in larger building such as ancestral homes.
In the building the lions would have been view with their tails on the upper part and their heads at the bottom, as in the photo below.
Following on from yesterday’s blog,
hidden by the entrance of the peculiar Parc Monceau is a very fine collection of Asia Art.
A collection of more than 5000 objects collected, between September 1871 to January 1873, by Henri Cernuschi. It will be some task even for today’s standard, when in the 1870s there were a lack of communication, no planes, internet as such. Amongst the collection is a 4m tall bronze Amida Buddha.
I just had a short holiday in Paris and finally visited the breath taking collection of the Musee Du Quai Branly.
From the Gilles Clément garden to the green wall by Patrick Blanc, from Jean Nouvel’s architecture to its chic mud house interior and needless to say about this collection, the whole place is a piece of art.
One could easily spend a good afternoon there browsing the surperbly presented collection, just the Africian section could endure for more than a couple of hours. Afterwards treat yourself to a meal at the Bon Accueil which is just behind the museum.
Musee Du Quai Branly
37, quai Branly
75007 Paris
(close monday)
You can now also find the Han Wan Po at Mountain Folkcraft.
Ha Wan Pao is a monthly paper about people who make beautiful things. whether they’re making comic books, tofu or shoes; what they have in common is the quiet pursuit of excellence.
Ha Wan (下環) is an old name for wanchai – the hong kong neighbourhood where the project was born.
W180xD80xH360mm, China
(in the order from left to right – Fu Sau, Lu)
In my generation and those before, the blessing trio figurine could be seen at the focal point of all homes.
The three are a combination of all good blessings,
Fu – good fortune,
Lu – prosperity, Sau – longevity
The three were originally concept of the astrology, stars.
Fu Star – the planet Jupiter
Lu Star – Ursa Majoris
Shu Star – Canopus
In the Ming dynasty the Taoist, attributed the Stars to persons or saintly figures and the three are grouped together to symbolize the idea of a good life ever since. Perhaps life has become less harsh or simply the flats are much smaller, Fu Lu Sau figurines are seldom seen in homes.
This a a figure of Ne Zha, perhaps the only child deity of China. His legend, however, is no bed time story.
Ne Zha was born in the Shang dynasty, son of general Li Jing, the miracle drama started the minute he arrived to this world. After being pregnant for three and a half years, his mother gave birth to a ball of flesh. General Li thought it was a demon and split the ball opened with his sword, there a boy jumped out of the opened ball. This boy was Ne Zha, he was already capable of walking and speaking and soon became a disciple of Tai Yi Zhen Ren. One day in May when he was seven, he took a bath by the sea and disturbed the dragon palace, the Dragon King send his coast guard to see what had happened. Ne Zha started and argument which turned into a fight and killed the guard, the Dragon Prince came and was also killed (I wont go into the detail of his injuries …) The dragon king was on his way to complain to Jade Emperor and got beaten up badly by Ne Zha. The news traveled to the Jade Emperor anyway and the entire family was sentenced to death, General Li and his wife was captured to be executed. Ne Zha turned himself in and said he is the one who made the mistake and should be the only one being punished, before his execution, he carved out his own flesh and bone to return to his parents. Moved by his act the Jade Emperor and let his parents lived.
Through a dream Ne Zha asked his mother to build him a temple so there is a place for his soul. Unlike Lady Li, his father is still upset at Ne Zha and punish his soul, when he found out about the temple he had it burnt. Ne Zha was angry, with the help of his master he rebuild his body with lotus roots and now armed with the iconic wind Fire Wheels and the Universe Ring. General Li was saved from Ne Zha by the powerful Rand Deng Dao Ren and the boy finally tamed.
In this figurine, he is holding the Universe Ring, the Fire Wheels are replaced by the typical dragon and tiger that the junk boat god rides.
Ne Zha was worshiped by the fisherman for his power to control even the dragon king who is in charge of the sea.
Though unintentional by the artist, there is something rather modern about the painting; the lack of shadow, the flatten objects, the solid colour, lack of detail and the sharp outline of the objects.
DIA130mm, China
Mountain Folkcraft 