The Taotie Image in Chinese Art, Culture, and Cosmology

The Taotie Image in Chinese Art, Culture, and Cosmology PDF Author: Dave Alber
Publisher: Dave Alber
ISBN: 1497355206
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description
The Taotie Image in Chinese Art, Culture, and Cosmology by Dave Alber. The taotie, also known as the “beast mask”, is the most distinctive feature of Shang dynasty art. It is a fascinating motif in Chinese art and, for centuries, has inspired curiosity as to its meaning. In this book, cultural scholar, Dave Alber, explores the many meanings of the taotie image. • What was the meaning of the taotie among traditional Chinese art historians? • What is the taotie’s influence in Chinese art history? • What is the most probable cultural origin of the taotie? • What function did the taotie image serve in Shang dynasty cosmology and psychology? • What is the Pan-Asian diffusion of the original motif? • How does this art motif enrich our experience of Chinese architecture, history, and contemporary music? Dave Alber, MA originally presented the content of this book as a lecture at Henan Polytechnic University (HPU) in Mainland China. The Taotie Image in Chinese Art, Culture, and Cosmology is written in dual-language English and Chinese. Thus, it is a great tool for learning either English or Traditional Chinese. With almost one hundred photographs from Dave Alber’s travels in China and Asia, it is also an ideal book for studying Chinese and Pan-Asian art.

The Taotie Image in Chinese Art, Culture, and Cosmology

The Taotie Image in Chinese Art, Culture, and Cosmology PDF Author: Dave Alber
Publisher: Dave Alber
ISBN: 1497355206
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 92

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Taotie Image in Chinese Art, Culture, and Cosmology by Dave Alber. The taotie, also known as the “beast mask”, is the most distinctive feature of Shang dynasty art. It is a fascinating motif in Chinese art and, for centuries, has inspired curiosity as to its meaning. In this book, cultural scholar, Dave Alber, explores the many meanings of the taotie image. • What was the meaning of the taotie among traditional Chinese art historians? • What is the taotie’s influence in Chinese art history? • What is the most probable cultural origin of the taotie? • What function did the taotie image serve in Shang dynasty cosmology and psychology? • What is the Pan-Asian diffusion of the original motif? • How does this art motif enrich our experience of Chinese architecture, history, and contemporary music? Dave Alber, MA originally presented the content of this book as a lecture at Henan Polytechnic University (HPU) in Mainland China. The Taotie Image in Chinese Art, Culture, and Cosmology is written in dual-language English and Chinese. Thus, it is a great tool for learning either English or Traditional Chinese. With almost one hundred photographs from Dave Alber’s travels in China and Asia, it is also an ideal book for studying Chinese and Pan-Asian art.

Heart of Myth: Wisdom Stories From Endangered People

Heart of Myth: Wisdom Stories From Endangered People PDF Author: Dave Alber
Publisher: Dave Alber
ISBN: 1534785515
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
The Heart of Myth: Wisdom Stories From Endangered People by Dave Alber is a global anthology of myths from the living polytheistic traditions of six continents. The Heart of Myth unpacks the spirituality of the myths of each region in a local context, then traces connections and archetypes between regions so that world myth may be understood as both a communicative vocabulary and a grand cultural continuity. Dave Alber’s The Heart of Myth: • reveals the universal language of mythology, • explains the spiritual function of myth as expressed in collective archetypes, • tells about the ecological and sustainable vision of indigenous people, • describes the lives of living polytheistic communities, most of them endangered people from six geographic regions (North America, Central and South America, Arctic, Asia, Africa, and Oceana), • tells stories of myth, legend, and folklore from around the globe (American Mythology, Central American Mythology, South American Mythology, Arctic Mythology, Asian Mythology, African Mythology, and Oceanic Mythology) In the tradition of Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth and Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, Dave Alber’s The Heart of Myth: Wisdom Stories From Endangered People tells stories from the mythic world. David tells stories of Native American Mythology, Central American Mythology, South American Mythology, Arctic Mythology, Asian Mythology, African Mythology, and Oceanic Mythology. From Native America Dave Alber’s The Heart of Myth relates the myths of the Crow, Onodowaga, Zuni, Cree, and Chemehuevis. From the Arctic it covers the myths of the Chuckchi, Igloolik Inuit Eskimo myths, Inuit, and Buriyat. From Central and South America, David Alber tells myths from the Circum-Caribbean People of the Orinoco River Valley, Bororo, Yekuana, Aymara, Mapuche. From Africa Dave tells myths of San, Ogoni, Dinka, Masai, and Karanga. From Asia The Heart of Myth tells the myths of the Tharu, Kashmiri, Akha, Ainu, Karen, and Agta. From Australia and the Pacific Islands, The Heart of Myth speaks myths from Wurundjeri, Torres Strait Islanders, Hawaiian, Maori, and Samoan peoples. Samples from The Heart of Myth are at davealber.com.

The Shape of the Turtle

The Shape of the Turtle PDF Author: Sarah Allan
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791494497
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Many Chinese philosophic concepts derive from an ancient cosmology. This work is the first reconstructions of the mythic thought of the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1700- 1100 B.C.) which laid the foundation for later Chinese patterns of thought. Allan regards the myth, cosmology, divination, sacrificial ritual, and art of the Shang as different manifestations of a common religious system and each is examined in turn, building up a coherent and consistent picture. Although primarily concerned with the Shang, this work also describes the manner in which Shang thought was transformed in the later textual tradition.

Astrology and Cosmology in Early China

Astrology and Cosmology in Early China PDF Author: David W. Pankenier
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107292247
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 617

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Book Description
The ancient Chinese were profoundly influenced by the Sun, Moon and stars, making persistent efforts to mirror astral phenomena in shaping their civilization. In this pioneering text, David W. Pankenier introduces readers to a seriously understudied field, illustrating how astronomy shaped the culture of China from the very beginning and how it influenced areas as disparate as art, architecture, calendrical science, myth, technology, and political and military decision-making. As elsewhere in the ancient world, there was no positive distinction between astronomy and astrology in ancient China, and so astrology, or more precisely, astral omenology, is a principal focus of the book. Drawing on a broad range of sources, including archaeological discoveries, classical texts, inscriptions and paleography, this thought-provoking book documents the role of astronomical phenomena in the development of the 'Celestial Empire' from the late Neolithic through the late imperial period.

The Zoomorphic Imagination in Chinese Art and Culture

The Zoomorphic Imagination in Chinese Art and Culture PDF Author: Jerome Silbergeld
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824872568
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 474

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Book Description
China has an age-old zoomorphic tradition. The First Emperor was famously said to have had the heart of a tiger and a wolf. The names of foreign tribes were traditionally written with characters that included animal radicals. In modern times, the communist government frequently referred to Nationalists as “running dogs,” and President Xi Jinping, vowing to quell corruption at all levels, pledged to capture both “the tigers” and “the flies.” Splendidly illustrated with works ranging from Bronze Age vessels to twentieth-century conceptual pieces, this volume is a wide-ranging look at zoomorphic and anthropomorphic imagery in Chinese art. The contributors, leading scholars in Chinese art history and related fields, consider depictions of animals not as simple, one-for-one symbolic equivalents: they pursue in depth, in complexity, and in multiple dimensions the ways that Chinese have used animals from earliest times to the present day to represent and rhetorically stage complex ideas about the world around them, examining what this means about China, past and present. In each chapter, a specific example or theme based on real or mythic creatures is derived from religious, political, or other sources, providing the detailed and learned examination needed to understand the means by which such imagery was embedded in Chinese cultural life. Bronze Age taotie motifs, calendrical animals, zoomorphic modes in Tantric Buddhist art, Song dragons and their painters, animal rebuses, Heaven-sent auspicious horses and foreign-sent tribute giraffes, the fantastic specimens depicted in the Qing Manual of Sea Oddities, the weirdly indeterminate creatures found in the contemporary art of Huang Yong Ping—these and other notable examples reveal Chinese attitudes over time toward the animal realm, explore Chinese psychology and patterns of imagination, and explain some of the critical means and motives of Chinese visual culture. The Zoomorphic Imagination in Chinese Art and Culture will find a ready audience among East Asian art and visual culture specialists and those with an interest in literary or visual rhetoric. Contributors: Sarah Allan, Qianshen Bai, Susan Bush, Daniel Greenberg, Carmelita (Carma) Hinton, Judy Chungwa Ho, Kristina Kleutghen, Kathlyn Liscomb, Jennifer Purtle, Jerome Silbergeld, Henrik Sørensen, and Eugene Y. Wang.

Metamorphic Imagery in Ancient Chinese Art and Religion

Metamorphic Imagery in Ancient Chinese Art and Religion PDF Author: Elizabeth Childs-Johnson
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000873129
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
Metamorphic Imagery in Ancient Chinese Art and Religion demonstrates that the concept of metamorphism was central to ancient Chinese religious belief and practices from at least the late Neolithic period through the Warring States Period of the Zhou dynasty. Central to the authors' argument is the ubiquitous motif in early Chinese figurative art, the metamorphic power mask. While the motif underwent stylistic variation over time, its formal properties remained stable, underscoring the image’s ongoing religious centrality. It symbolized the metamorphosis, through the phenomenon of death, of royal personages from living humans to deceased ancestors who required worship and sacrificial offerings. Treated with deference and respect, the royal ancestors lent support to their living descendants, ratifying and upholding their rule; neglected, they became dangerous, even malevolent. Employing a multidisciplinary approach that integrates archaeologically recovered objects with literary evidence from oracle bone and bronze inscriptions to canonical texts, all situated in the appropriate historical context, the study presents detailed analyses of form and style, and of change over time, observing the importance of relationality and the dynamic between imagery, materials, and affects. This book is a significant publication in the field of early China studies, presenting an integrated conception of ancient art and religion that surpasses any other work now available.

Ancient Chinese Art

Ancient Chinese Art PDF Author: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
ISBN: 0870994832
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description


Astrology and Cosmology in Early China

Astrology and Cosmology in Early China PDF Author: David W. Pankenier
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107006724
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 617

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Book Description
Drawing on a vast array of scholarship, this pioneering text illustrates how profoundly astronomical phenomena shaped ancient Chinese civilization.

The Tao of Art

The Tao of Art PDF Author: Ben Willis
Publisher: Dissertation.com
ISBN: 9780595144211
Category : Art, Chinese
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Whether Taoism is a nature philosophy or simply pantheism, it is clearly one of the world's oldest and most important philosophies of life. In The Tao of Art, Ben Willis brings together two widely disparate fields of thought, art and philosophy, and shows the unity between them in Taoism. A recent major exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago confirmed what Willis makes clear: that most historical Chinese art was heavily influenced by the cosmic concepts of the philosophical Taoists. Through a brilliant synthesis of the procedures and values of art with the inner meaning of the Tao, Willis establishes compelling reasons to believe that both art and creativity are imbued with a universal spirituality. The Tao of Art is a valuable contribution to art theory, as well as a benefit to readers interested in spiritual development and a broader understanding of Taoism. Well researched, with 18 B&W reproductions of beautiful Chinese watercolors.

Metamorphic Imagery in Ancient Chinese Art and Religion

Metamorphic Imagery in Ancient Chinese Art and Religion PDF Author: Elizabeth Childs-Johnson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781000873184
Category : SOCIAL SCIENCE
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Metamorphic Imagery in Ancient Chinese Art and Religion demonstrates that the concept of metamorphism was central to ancient Chinese religious belief and practices from at least the late Neolithic period through the Warring States Period of the Zhou dynasty. Central to the authors' argument is the ubiquitous motif in early Chinese figurative art, the metamorphic power mask. While the motif underwent stylistic variation over time, its formal properties remained stable, underscoring the image's ongoing religious centrality. It symbolized the metamorphosis, through the phenomenon of death, of royal personages from living humans to deceased ancestors who required worship and sacrificial offerings. Treated with deference and respect, the royal ancestors lent support to their living descendants, ratifying and upholding their rule; neglected, they became dangerous, even malevolent. Employing a multidisciplinary approach that integrates archaeologically recovered objects with literary evidence from oracle bone and bronze inscriptions to canonical texts, all situated in the appropriate historical context, the study presents detailed analyses of form and style, and of change over time, observing the importance of relationality and the dynamic between imagery, materials, and affects. This book is a significant publication in the field of early China studies, presenting an integrated conception of ancient art and religion that surpasses any other work now available.