http://beijingcream.com/2014/10/muralist-seeks-to-recapture-lost-cultural-roots-of-tang-dynasty/ A Dollop of China Tue, 22 Jan 2019 17:42:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://beijingcream.com/2014/10/muralist-seeks-to-recapture-lost-cultural-roots-of-tang-dynasty/#comment-308867 Mon, 20 Oct 2014 12:39:38 +0000 http://beijingcream.com/?p=25977#comment-308867 I agree that the traditional Chinese culture and spirit has diverged and seemed faded out from our more-or-less westernized contemporary society. And the fact has stirred up a nostalgic sentiment especially among artistic people. Once I witnessed a group of young people dressed up in showy Han-style costumes parading down a crowded pedestrian street. I’d rather call it “performance art” than a practical effort. Anyway those grass-root artists deserve praise by means of alerting our consciousness.
But for high-art masters, what is urgent is to revive the Soul rather than the Form. Plainly recapturing the similarities in shape and color without any self-expression or modern-day interpretation only produces soulless fakes, however dedicate from the outside they are. And soulless products serve for nothing, culturally. First they have to understand that the splendor of Tang’s culture was derived and nourished in its all-engulfing optimistic zeitgeist; and second, they have to invent a way to create such an atmosphere conveyable to the viewers. No doubt, Xu’s works have attained both.

]]> http://beijingcream.com/2014/10/muralist-seeks-to-recapture-lost-cultural-roots-of-tang-dynasty/#comment-308311 Sun, 19 Oct 2014 18:57:28 +0000 http://beijingcream.com/?p=25977#comment-308311 I think the idea of Professor Xu is fantastic. And I like the Tang history part the most all the time.
When I was a high school student, our Chinese teacher once asked us: if you can go back in time which dynasty would you want to go most. And my answer is always undoubtly–Tang dynasty. In our Chinese history, Tang is one of the most open、strong and dreamy times. At that era, people from all over the world can come and trade with us Chinese. At that era, Tang is the much stronger than any other counties in the world. And the most attractive part is the cultural openness, such as there being so many great poets like Li Bai and Du Fu, the religion pluralism, and the upward outlook of countrymen of Tang.
But, maybe the horsemanship is not the most brilliant part. Tang dynasty represent the heyday of Chinese history, and so I think maybe just from the murals it’s hard to rise the resonance of nowadays people.

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