[goodorient.net] Instructions on Inkstone Storage

If an inkstone is placed on the desk, it should avoid sunshine, otherwise, it will become dried in the stone texture, and inkstone case will become dried also after a long time under sunshine...

Avoid sunshine: if an inkstone is placed on the desk, it should avoid sunshine, otherwise, it will become dried in the stone texture, and inkstone case will become dried also after a long time under sunshine.

Appreciation: when appreciating an excellent inkstone, it is recommended to place a carpet on the desk to prevent the inkstone from touching on metal and glass utensils; it is also forbidden to pile the inkstone in case of damage by knocking.

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Posted by Amidiu to goodorient.net at 10/23/2006 12:56:21 AM

[Eastern Tradition] HuLianxian, Originator of Xiang Embroidery

Mr. Hu Lianxian, was a craftswoman in the late years in Qing Dynasty. She could embroider the paintings and cut the embroidery scripts, which had laid the foundation of the Xiang embroidery...

 

Mr. Hu Lianxian, was a craftswoman in the late years in Qing Dynasty, with the ancestral home in Anhui Province. In her childhood, her father moved to Suzhou to work as an official, so she went to Jiangsu as well, and lived in Suzhou for long time, and therefore, she was titled as the "Suzhou People". Since her childhood, she began to learn the Suzhou-style embroidery, as well as the painting. After getting married in 20, she went back to Changsha, Hunan Province, and making a living with her embroidery. Later she established the "Needlecraft by Ms. Hu Lianxian" and the "Wu Caixia's Embroidery Workshop" to make the embroidery works, making the research and the improvements of the needle rules and material selections of the embroidery, and imparting her skills to the women in poverty.

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Posted by Amidiu to Eastern Tradition at 10/23/2006 12:52:24 AM

[minorityheritage.com] Alluring Artworks from Straws

Alluring Artworks from Straws

The straw patchwork is basically an art of "cut-and-paste", just like paper-cuts. There is a series of complicated procedures to make wheat straw a beautiful artwork. With its unique luster, the straw patchwork is of high value both for decoration and esthetics. Human figures, birds and flowers as well as animals on the patchwork are all very lifelike, revealing an elegant and classic demeanor.

 

The straw patchwork was originally an imperial art craft during the Sui Dynasty (581-618) but later was lost for a long time. It first reappeared in Henan, Guangdong and Heilongjiang provinces. In 1980s, folk artist Liu Limin revived the art form after many failed attempts.

 

Liu lives in Henan Province, a place teeming with wheat, which provides good resources for the straw patchwork. The village where she lives has a tradition of producing various crafts made of wheat straw for more than 250 years. Here, Liu began to weave up her own dream of reviving the ancient art of straw patchwork. For more than five years, she has endeavored to make all kinds of experiments. With her imagination and artistic knowledge, she finally summed up a set of manufacture procedures, reviving the long-lost art form.

 

To make the patchwork, the wheat straw first has to be soaked in a special kind of chemicals for 30 minutes, which will make the straw antiseptic, mothproof and more flexible. Then the useless parts are cut off and the straw is split from  the middle. The straws are flat when they are dry, but they are still raw materials and can't be used directly. The inside of the straws needs to be scraped thinner, leaving only the shining "skin" of straws. The straws also need to be colored. The method for coloring is not dye but carbonization, which is depigmentation-preventable.

 

In order to keep the shape of the straw patchwork for a longer time, Liu has developed a special kind of glue and chemicals used to intenerate the straw after years of research and hard work, which has been patented. The glue and chemicals are epurated from the herbals in the mountain, which makes the straw patchwork totally "natural" and environment-friendly.

 

The artists of straw patchwork make full use of the natural color and texture of wheat straws. In the deft hands of the artists, the common straws become alluring artworks. The huge straw patchwork made by Liu, Lady of Guo Country Goes Sightseeing in Spring, has been collected by the Great Hall of the People. Five cows, has won the Golden Award of Folk Art at the Second China International Folk Art Exposition.

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Posted by Amidiu to minorityheritage.com at 8/29/2006 07:07:44 AM

[minorityheritage.com] Founder of "Clay Figure Zhang"

The inventor of the "mud molding" art in Tianjin is Mr. Zhang Changlin.Mr. Zhang Changlin, with the style name of Mingshan, began to learn the fabrication of the mud molding from his father since his childhood, and practiced with some stunt skills.

The mud molding in Tianjin already had the tremendous reputation in Qianlong and Jiaqing periods in Qing Dynasty. What really made the mud molding in Tianjin shine the extraordinary splendor, and become the rare flower in the folk art, is the color molding by the "Mud Molding Zhang", who has improved the traditional mud molding into a level of the round-molding art, decorated with colors and properties, and forming the unique style. The inventor of the "mud molding" art in Tianjin is Mr. Zhang Changlin.

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Posted by Amidiu to minorityheritage.com at 10/23/2006 12:50:17 AM

[Jing De Zhen Ceramic, Pottery, Porcelain, Cloisonne] The Fine and Elaborate China of Jingdezhen

Jingdezhen, Jiangxi has been famous for being fruitful of china and enjoyed the title as "Capital of china". As early as in the Tang Dynasty which was 1300 years ago, the china produced in Jingdezhen was called as copied jade...

 

Jingdezhen china art is a kind of important treasure in China's culture treasury. Jingdezhen, Jiangxi has been famous for being fruitful of china and enjoyed the title as "Capital of china". As early as in the Tang Dynasty which was 1300 years ago, the china produced in Jingdezhen was called as copied jade. After a long term development, Jingdezhen china has become more and more exquisite, and people would like to describe and praise it as "Sound is like that of a chime stone, as white as jade, as thin as paper and as bright as a mirror". tibetan jewelry

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Posted by Amidiu to Jing De Zhen Ceramic, Pottery, Porcelain, Cloisonne at 10/23/2006 12:31:45 AM