The children at play motif dates back to the tang dynasty, though peaked in popularity during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Here we look at some examples of this motif as its used in antique furniture, porcelain, folk arts and paintings.
Symbolism, Patterns & Motifs
Symbolism, Patterns & Motifs
Red star over China – These temple carvings from the cultural revolution era sport politically correct themes
Stowe Sprague was kind enough to send me these interesting photos on her blog from her visit to the Tulou region of Nanjing county, Fujian province. During her visit to a temple in the town of Taxialou, she noticed the temple’s architectural wood carvings had been replaced with “politically correct themes” rather then the traditional Chinese motifs. Apparently […]
The ultimate comprehensive english/Chinese dictionary of chinese furniture vocabulary and terms
I have seen this list floating around on the internet (though I have no idea where it originally came from). Though some terms are region-specific, its nevertheless very comprehensive with over 450 different terms. Chinese Pinyin English 朵云双螭纹 duǒ yún shuāng chī wén Cloud surrounded by confronting dragons motif. In order to make it a […]
So just what is “chinoiserie” anyways?
While trolling around on the net, I came across this very nice blog post from Posh Living which does a wonderful job of explaining what chinoiserie is which is. A main staple amoung designers, chinoiserie design elements in a room are timeless and sophisticated. Since we have talked in the past about how chinoiserie screens […]
Glossary of Chinese Symbolism and meanings
Glossary of Chinese Symbols – and images found on antique Chinese furniture and other artifacts such as Baxian, Chinese Animal symbols, Dragon, yin yang and more.
Chinese New Year & Spring Festival 2008
Year of the Pig ends and year of the Rat begins on febraury 7th 2008 till January 26th 2009 “Springfestival” or “Chinese Newyear” is nowadays well known in the West as well, though only experiencing it yourself will show you how important it is for the Chinese. The impact is huge, surely with the role […]