The Ashmolean Museum is currently displaying in two galleries a selection of works by the Hong Kong artist Wucius Wong. This display based on the Museum’s collection is linked to the Lui Shou-kwan Centenary Exhibition: Abstraction, Ink and Enlightenment on view in the The Khoan and Michael Sullivan Gallery (Gallery 11) until the 7^th of April 2019.

Born in Guangdong province on mainland China in 1936, Wucius Wong moved with his family to Hong Kong when he was not yet ten years of age. The influx of many aspects of Chinese culture that arrived in Hong Kong from the mainland, throughout the nineteenth- and twentieth centuries, created a unique multi-cultural atmosphere that permeated all aspects of life in what was then a British Crown Colony. Wong grew up in this cross-cultural atmosphere, one that he later saw as being a dialogue between East and West. His Hong Kong upbringing, and the three periods in which he lived in the USA later in life, all greatly affected his art work and resulted in the unique transcultural flavour that is evident in his painting. Despite spending sixteen years of his adult life in the USA, Wong identifies Hong Kong as being his home; the place where his roots truly lie.

Image 1: Wucius Wong , Valley of the Heart #7心壑之七, 1997, Sullivan Bequest, EA2015. 331  © the artist

With regard to the question of what the contribution of Hong Kong artists has been to the broader worldwide artistic endeavor, Wong has suggested that the answer lies in the cross-cultural nature of Hong Kong. He considers Hong Kong artists to be in a unique position to use this cross-cultural phenomenon in the formulation of new approaches to ink painting, and in the seeking out of new directions that cut across cultures, media and forms. Of course, it might well be suggested that this was something that had already been achieved with considerable success by Wong’s one-time teacher Lui Shou-kwan. In the case of the landscapes of Lui Shou-kwan they represent aspects of the Hong Kong landscape as he saw them on his sketching and painting trips around the islands from the 1950s to the 1970s. Wong, on the other hand deals with this in his own way.

For Wong it has been the modern city landscape, together with imagined landscapes, some of which show the starkest of scenes, that have been at different times the main themes in his work. Since the mid-2000s Wong has thought increasingly about Chinese traditions, following his lifelong engagement with East and West, to work “towards a new understanding of ink and brush.” At this time he was producing ink paintings of landscapes in series on such apparently Chinese-inspired themes as Great River, Deep in the Mountains, and Searching for Plum Trees.

Wong was heavily involved in the Hong Kong modern art scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s and in 1958, at the age of 24, was a co-founder of the Modern Literature and Art Association. This was the same year in which he began his studies with Lui Shou-kwan. As had been the case with his teacher, in order to perfect his skills, Wong copied the Chinese masters of the Song and Yuan dynasties, and a firm grounding in landscape painting is reflected clearly in his own creative work during subsequent years.

Wucius Wong first went to the USA in 1961, in order to pursue his painting studies. Following five initial years of training at the Columbus College of Art and Design, Ohio, and the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore, when his work is seen to have been heavily influenced by abstract expressionism, he went on to produce works that incorporated elements of popular culture and mixed media. This can be seen, for example, in an album leaf dedicated by inscription to Michael Sullivan in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum. This album (EA2015.421) is one of two in the museum’s collection that demonstrate the state of modern art at the time when they were compiled. The other (EA2015.422), was compiled two years later, in 1970.

Image 2: Wucius Wong, Album leaf Collage with newspaper clippings, 1968, Sullivan Bequest, EA2015.421 © the artist

Wong produced this album leaf the year after he became curator of the City Hall Museum and Art Gallery. He remained in that post for a number of years, making his second trip to the USA during this period as recipient of a John D Rockefeller 3^rd Fund Grant. This took him to New York for a year and it was at this time that he turned to Chinese brush and ink again. By his own estimation, during the year he spent in New York, his works were “subtle and muted”, while, following his return to Hong Kong, they became increasingly “colourful and vibrant”.

On his return to Hong Kong he resumed his post as curator but resigned in 1974 in order to take up a post in the Design Department of Hong Kong Polytechnic. The teaching of graphic design was something that has occupied him throughout his professional career.

In 1984 Wong went again to the USA and took up residence, first in Minnesota and then in New Jersey, remaining there until 1994. His decisive homecoming was as a result of Britain’s historic return of Hong Kong to China. Thinking back to this time, in 2006 he wrote, my “…main motivation for coming back was to bear witness to the historic day in 1997 when Hong Kong returned to China.”

His involvement since his youth in writing and literature can be seen to great effect in his later works, in the use of his own poetical inscriptions as well as those by major poets from China’s past. An impressive large-scale calligraphic work from 1999 entitled Expression in Calligraphy #25 (書興之廿五) is currently on display in the Early China Gallery at the Ashmolean Museum. This example, of a well-known poem by Su Dongpo 蘇東坡 (1037-1101), displays his own remarkably idiosyncratic calligraphic style to great affect – a style in which he appears to have deliberately avoided adopting the trappings of traditional calligraphic models from China’s past.

Image 4: Wucius Wong, Expression in Calligraphy #25 (書興之廿五), 1999, Reyes Gift, EA2002.142 © The artist

Despite this poem being very well-known, in Wong’s hands, a new dimension can be observed, the profound sentiments found within the text expressing thoughts and feelings that are frequently represented in visual form in his own landscapes:

“Viewed from the front, an entire mountain range; from the side, forming into a peak; from a distance, close up, high, and low – all [views] are different. I cannot recognise the true appearance of Lushan precisely because I am in the midst of the mountain itself.”

According to Pat Hui (b. 1943), collaborator with Wong on over 200 works – for a period of more than twenty years – it was in the 1980s that Wong began to concentrate more on the development of his calligraphic skills and made a return to the writing of poetry that had occupied him in his youth. The use of poems from the Song dynasty can also be seen in two other examples in the museum collection, one of which is currently on display in the Later China Gallery (EA2015.191), in which a Ci lyric by Xin Qiji 辛棄疾 (1140-1207) appears to move from left to right, floating above Pat Hui’s painted ground, lending a new dimension to this poem of nostalgia and regret.

Image 5: Wucius Wong and Pat Hui Painting and Calligraphy of a Song Dynasty Poem, 1987, Sullivan Bequest, EA2015.191 © The artist

These collaborative works – combining the calligraphy of Wong with the painting of Pat Hui – they named “poetic visions” (詩情畫意). As well as historical poems Wucius Wong uses his own poetry with which to construct the very fabric of his landscape, where a literary text or poem is subsumed into the main body of the painting. This is illustrated well in New Dream no. 4 新夢之四 (1997).

Image 6: Wucius Wong, New Dream no. 4 新夢之四, 1997, Reyes Gift, EA2002.141 © The artist

In the poem hidden within this painting Wong displays a nostalgic view for the Hong Kong in which he grew up, while at the same time expressing a profound understanding of the landscapes of both China’s past, and the American landscape of his personal experience:

“Can you cut your vision into strips and arrange them vertically and horizontally like all the tall buildings you once grew up with; and then desire to forget that which you have so often seen; and chase those mountains and waters that it has not been so easy to see? On awakening could you seek a new dream, and not care what mountains are, or what waters are, because you have your own dream?”

Dr Paul Bevan, Christensen Fellow in Chinese Painting, Ashmolean Museum

Bibliography

The Poetic Visions 詩情畫意 (Hong Kong: Alisan Fine Arts, 2005)

Wucius Wong, Pleasure in Ink 筆情墨一 (Hong Kong: hanart T Z Gallery, 2006)

Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Prints by Wucius Wong (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1979)

Mountain Thoughts: Landscape Paintings by Wucius Wong (Minneapolis: The Minneapolis Institute of Art, 1987)

The Paintings of Wucius Wong (London: Goedhus Contemporary, 2000)

Wucius Wong, Visions of a Wanderer (Hong Kong: Plum Blossoms, 1997)

Wucius Wong City Dream 王無邪，城夢 (Hong Kong: hanart T Z Gallery, 2002)

Calligraphy and Beyond: Wang Jiqian, Wucius Wong 書意畫情：王己千，王無邪 (Hong |Kong: Plum Blossoms, 1999)

First we will look at a hanging scroll that appears in the exhibition by Chen Chongguang 陳崇光 (1839-1896). This shows three characters from Qiuranke zhuan虯髯客 (The Legend of Qiuranke), a work of popular fiction written by the Daoist priest Du Guangting 杜光庭 (850-933) in the latter part of the Tang dynasty.

Chen Chongguang ,The Hero’s Happy Encounter, 1989, EA1966.85 © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

In this painting, entitled: Yingxiong qiyu tu英雄奇遇圖 (A Remarkable Meeting of Heroes) (1878) the eponymous hero Qiuranke 虯髯客 (Knight with the Dragon Beard) can be seen on the left. After meeting Hong Fu Nü 紅拂女 (Lady of Red Fly-Whisk) (right) and her husband Li Jing 李靖 (centre), together, as the “Three Heroes of the Wind and Dust”, they strove to overthrow the Sui dynasty in order to establish the Tang.

In the story, before the scene depicted in the painting takes place, Hong Fu Nü eloped with Li Jing, escaping from the court of the powerful general Yang Su楊素 (d. 606) where she had been working as a courtesan. Despite her demure appearance as seen in this painting, she is said to have excelled at martial arts and indeed The Legend of Qiuranke, in which she appears so prominently, is often referred to as the earliest Wuxia 武俠 (Martial Arts) novel.

Famously, a poem about Hong Fu Nü can be found in the Qing dynasty novel of manners Honglou meng 紅樓夢 (The Dream of the Red Chamber) in which one of the central characters, Lin Daiyu 林黛玉, is humorously compared to her. The poem takes Hong Fu Nü’s elopement with Li Jing as its theme:

Bowing with hands clasped, the hero’s manner inimitable,

The beauty, with great vision, saw the dead end that lay ahead.

In that moribund place Lord Yang would meet his end,

How could he hope to rein in a heroic woman such as she?

The story of the three heroes became the inspiration for a number of related literary works, and, as with so many traditional stories in China, has recently been made into a television drama series – an historical love story – “Hong Fu Nü of the Three Heroes of the Wind and Dust” (Fengchen sanxia zhi Hong Fu Nü 風塵三俠之紅拂女) (2004), starring the popular actress Shu Qi舒淇. In this, it is she and her fellow Tang court ladies who take centre stage, all of whom excel at performing the most unlikely of airborne, acrobatic, martial arts moves.

Dish with figures from the novel The Water Margin, 1680 – 1720, Mallett bequest 1947, EAX.3531    © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

It will be remembered from the previous instalment that amongst the 108 “brothers” in the Ming dynasty novel, the Water Margin a handful are women and as with all other heroes in the story they excel at martial arts. There a number of ceramic examples in the Ashmolean collection decorated with figures from the Water Margin, each showing three heroes carrying distinctive weapons in a variety of martial arts stances.

In this example can be seen, from right to left: Zhang Qing 張清 “The Featherless Arrow”; Yang Zhi 楊志 “The Blue-Faced Beast”; and Suo Chao 索超 “The Impatient Vanguard”, all three carrying weapons as if ready to engage in battle. Suo Chao wields the Guandao關刀 (a weapon named after the Chinese god of war, Guan Yu 關羽), Yang Zhi has a sword sheathed on his belt and in addition, grasps in his hand a variation of the weapon known as the Monk’s Spade, and Yang Qing appears to carry a pot and a ball, no doubt also to be used as weapons.

Porcelain painted in enamel colours, ca. 1700, Salting bequest, C.1196-1910  © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

A similar example in the Victoria and Albert Museum again shows Yang Zhi, this time together with Xie Zhen 解珍and one of the three female heroes from the novel, Gu Dasao 顧大嫂 “The Tigress” (Mu da chong 母大蟲), as introduced in the last instalment of the blog. In the scene depicted on this plate Yang Zhi and Gu Dasao have been battling with Xie Zhen and have apparently succeeded in disarming him. Yang Zhi holds a trident-like spear and Gu Dasao the sword known in Chinese as the baojian 寶劍 (Precious Sword).

By the second half of twentieth century martial arts had become firmly established as a national sport in China, having been formalised in the decades immediately prior to this. In a 1974 Cultural Revolution propaganda poster in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum, a young girl demonstrates her skill with the baojian in front of her classmates, with their master looking on in approval. The poster is a reproduction of a painting by the artist Ou Yang 鸥洋 (b. 1937) entitled Chuying zhanchi雏鹰展翅 (The Fledgling Eagle Spreads its Wings). The painting, showing members of the youth organisation, the Shaoxiandui 少先队 (Young Pioneers), promotes the future role these young people might go on to play in the defence of the Mother Country, as suggested by the martial theme and the large cannon seen in the background.

The Fledgling Eagle Spreads its Wings. Poster (1974), EA2006.208 © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

More examples of girls practicing with a baojian can be seen in a set of souvenir matchboxes showing a variety of different postures. These postures, all standard forms learned in martial arts practice, are not named, the writing on the reverse of each matchbox simply listing basic instructions on how to use matches.

Four matchboxes with small girls practicing martial arts EA2010.95

For an excellent example of sword technique and the postures as practiced in one style of martial arts we can see the extraordinary skill of Chen Suijin in the 1st Taolu World Cup – first place in Women’s Taijijian (Taiji sword).

A stylised form of swordplay is also central to martial roles played in Peking Opera and one of the most famous of these is the sword dance performed by Yu Ji in Bawang bieji 霸王別姬 (Farewell my Concubine), the story of Xiang Yu 項羽, King of Chu, and his concubine Yu Ji 虞姬.  In recent times this was made famous by Chen Kaige’s film Farewell my Concubine (1993).  Earlier in the century, though, the double-sword dance towards the end of the opera was made a speciality of the great male performer of female roles Mei Lanfang. Following the sword dance Yu Ji snatches Xiang Yu’s sword with which she commits suicide.

Another martial role played by a woman is Mu Guiying 穆桂英 from the Peking Opera Yangjia jiang 楊家將 (Generals of The Yang Family), a staple of the Peking Opera repertoire, in which the female members of the family are prominent in their exhibition of martial prowess.

Song Guangxun 宋广训 (b. 1930, Baxian, Hebei) from The Generals of the Yang Family, Mu Guiying in a Beijing opera, 1978 (design), 2006 (print), EA2007.48 © The artist

An inkstick with impressed decoration, showing a baojian and a set of Chinese books, is dated the eighth year of the Xianfeng reign (1858) and is made in a traditional form that stretches back centuries. Such inksticks were ground with water on an inkstone to produce the pigment that was applied with a brush in both traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy practice. This example was made by the Hu Kaiwen, an ink factory established in 1765.

Ink stick with decoration showing a book and sword, Hu Kaiwen Ink Factory, EAX.5521 © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The decorative motif found on this inkstick refers obliquely to one of the group of semi-mythological figures known as the Baxian 八仙 (Eight Immortals). This is in fact an example of one of the An Baxian 暗八仙 (Hidden Eight Immortals). In such imagery, the Eight Immortals do not appear in person but are substituted by the specific attributes with which they are associated, in the case of Lü Dongbin, as shown on the inkstick, these are the baojian and a set of books. A mythical figure associated with both scholarly pursuits and martial arts Lü Dongbin 呂洞賓 is said to have been the founder of the internal martial arts style known as Baxian jian 八仙劍 (Eight Immortals Sword). The silk hanging below is one of a pair in the current Ashmolean exhibition and depicts the Eight Immortals with their attributes.

For more on the Eight Immortals please see my previous blog for the exhibition “Pure Land: Images of Immortals in Chinese Art” shown at the Ashmolean in Gallery 11 in 2016.

Embroidered Hanging (detail: Lü Dongbin) EA1958.83 © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Despite what is often suggested by martial arts practitioners, it is most unlikely that a style of sword practice such as this could have been passed down through the centuries, and this example, as with most martial arts styles, no doubt developed into what we see today during more recent times; perhaps more specifically in the nineteenth century or the Republican period at the time when martial arts made a resurgence as a national sport.

The exhibition “A Century of Women in Chinese Art”, at the Ashmolean Museum closes on 14 October 2018.

Posted on behalf of  Dr Paul Bevan, Christensen Fellow in Chinese Painting, Ashmolean Museum.

The Ashmolean Museum holds an extensive collection of objects from the Cultural Revolution period (1966-1976). One striking exhibit that appears in the exhibition is a ceramic figurine of a young woman in army uniform washing the floor with mop and pail.

Girl in Army Uniform with Bucket and Mop (1970-1979)
Porcelain figure, with polychrome glazes; wooden mop handle
Jingdezhen, Wade Gift, EA2010.78 © the artist

Throughout the period of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) the porcelain kilns at Jingdezhen, renowned as the imperial kilns since the early Ming dynasty (c.1400), continued to produce fine quality porcelain. Much of the output from this time used the forms and decoration of revolutionary imagery, often depicting Chairman Mao himself, heroes from revolutionary history, and in particular figures from the eight Yangbanxi – often known in English as the “Model Operas”. These revolutionary dramas, ubiquitous during the period and still hugely popular today, originally included five modern Peking Operas, two ballets – Red Detachment of Women and The White Haired Girl – and one symphonic work, the Shajiabang Symphony. Later the symphony was replaced by other theatrical productions. Women play central roles in all of these.

At the time of the Cultural Revolution, images taken from these popular dramas could be found reproduced on all manner of everyday objects, from thermos flasks to teapots, from biscuit tins to matchboxes. One example of the latter in the Ashmolean collection shows an image of the lead female character from The Legend of the Red Lantern (红灯记 Hongdeng ji) (EA2010.229.1). This drama tells the story of Li Tiemei and her role in the communist underground during the War of Resistance against Japan (1937-1945); this conflict, and the civil war that succeeded it, being the most common themes on which these dramas were based.

Matchbox with image of Li Teimei from The Legend of the Red Lantern, Wade Gift, EA2010.229.1 © the artist

Perhaps the best known of the Model Operas is actually a ballet: The Red Detachment of Women (红色娘子军Hongse niangzijun). This tells the story of a young woman who escapes servitude on Hainan Island, one of the last stands of the Nationalists in the Civil War before the People’s Republic of China was established. Wu Qinghua defies the local gentry that have enslaved her, and the Nationalists authorities who prop up the corrupt landowners, and joins the “Red Detachment of Women” to overthrow them.

Another example, in which women are represented in their new role as active participants in the military struggle for a socialist society, is on display in the exhibition. This a woven silk picture based on an oil painting by the artist Luo Qi 罗祺 (b.1929) (EA2010.284). The scene depicted shows a group of armed female militia looking up towards the red glow at the mountain top, on which a gun placement can be seen and where the red flag of the People’s Republic of China is flying; the ‘red glow’ of the title alluding to the Chinese Communist Party and to Mao Zedong himself.

Red Glow (1964) after a painting by Luo Qi 罗祺 (b.1929)
Woven silk with applied colour pigments, EA2010.284 © the artist

Luo Qi’s original painting, on which this silk textile is based, was awarded the highest prize when it was displayed in the Fourth National Art Exhibition; the exhibition to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the PRC that took place in 1964. This silk example was woven in black and white and colour was later applied by hand, a speciality of the “Hangzhou Picture Weaving Factory” at which it was made.

Figures from The Red Detachment of Women can be seen in two sets of papercuts in the Ashmolean collection (EA2008.37.b). This story was known to all during the period of the Cultural Revolution and was performed across China, adapted to local theatrical forms using a host of different Chinese dialects. The most famous filmed version of the story is the ballet; so famous was it that it later became an inspiration for the American composer John Adam’s modern opera Nixon in China. The ballet version of the Red Detachment of Women was based on a hugely popular feature film that had been released in 1961 and the ballet was followed by a Peking Opera version.

Wu Qinghua from the ballet Red Detachment of Women
Gittings Gift, EA2008.37.b © the artist

For more on Peking Opera, see the next instalment of this blog.

In another set of paper cuts in the museum’s collection can be found an image of a woman dock worker, calling to mind the Model Opera On the Docks (Haigang 海港) (EA2008.34). This revolutionary drama, written by Xie Jin and originally staged in the 1960s, was filmed in 1972 and starred Li Lifang as Fang Haizhen. It tells the story of a team of dock workers loading a cargo of rice to be shipped to Africa, overseen by the heroine Fang Haizhen, local communist party secretary. A counterrevolutionary attempts to sabotage their mission by substituting glass fibre for the rice, but is discovered by Fang. The plot is foiled and the perpetrators brought to justice.

Papercut – Woman Docker
Gittings Gift, EA2008.34.c © the artist

A poster from the museum’s collection shows stars from the Model Operas, (EA2006.261). The main caption reads: ‘Long Live the Triumph of Chairman Mao’s Revolutionary Line of Literature and Art!’ It will be noticed that four of the ten figures depicted are women, although, Li Tiemei, from the Legend of the Red Lantern and Wu Qinghua are not amongst those shown here. In the front row can be seen Xi’er – the White Haired Girl, lead protagonist in the 1966 ballet, based on a story from the 1940s.  In the middle row, from right to left, can be seen the female leads from other revolutionary operas: Ke Xiang from Azalea Mountain (Dujuan shan) (1973), Jiang Shuiying from Ode to the Dragon River (Longjiang song) (1972), and, on the left, Fang Haizhen from On the Docks.

Poster – Characters from Revolutionary Operas, EA2006.261 © Shanghai People’s Publishing House

Another type of revolutionary woman altogether, can be seen in the 1971 print “There are Heroes Everywhere” Biandi yingxiong 遍地英雄 by the printmaker Zhang Chaoyang 張朝陽 (b.1945) (EA2007.90). This print, the title of which suggests that revolutionary heroes could be found in all walks of life, shows a harvest scene during the Cultural Revolution, at a time when young educated city dwellers had been sent “Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside” Shangshan xiaxiang 上山下鄉 to be “re-educated” by the local peasantry. The title of the print is taken from the final line of a poem by Chairman Mao, entitled, Dao Shaoshan 到韶山 (To Shaoshan) (1959) – one of many poems written by Mao Zedong – composed on a visit to his hometown after an absence of 32 years.

Zhang Chaoyang 張朝陽, “There are Heroes Everywhere” Biandi yingxiong 遍地英雄 (1970) EA2007.90  © the artist

In 1976, with the death of Mao, which brought the Cultural Revolution to a close, the educated youth slowly began to return to their hometowns. A scenario closely related to this can be seen in the 1977 print prominently shown in the exhibition “Returning after Graduation” Biye guilai 毕业归来 by Li Xiu李秀 (b.1943), an impressive, large multi-block woodcut print using oil-based inks (EA2007.43).

From just a few clues in the detail of this print it can be deduced that the three young people in the picture have returned to their hometown in southwestern China following their graduation in Beijing (note the copy of Beijing Daily in the pocket of the young man). They had certainly been roughing it on their journey, as the number on the side of the train reveals the information that they had been travelling in a “hard seat” carriage, on a long distance sleeper, with no air conditioning; a journey, from the Chinese capital to Kunming in Yunnan, of almost 2,000 miles.

Li Xiu李秀, “Returning after Graduation” Biye guilai 毕业归来 (1977), multi-block woodcut printed with oil-based inks, EA2007.43  © the artist

The young lady and the man to her left are dressed in the costume of the Yi, a minority people found in the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. The other figures in the print are wearing the uniform of the People’s Liberation Army. This conveys an atmosphere of new found hope and freedom, having been made in the year immediately following the end of the Cultural Revolution. Following its appearance, this print quickly became one of the most published in China. It is often regarded as a depiction of the artist’s own experience, Li Xiu herself being a member of the Yi minority. The smiling faces, beaming with unbridled delight, show traces of the distinctive style that was often seen in the art of that period, for example, with the figurine of the girl with a mop and in the faces on the poster depicting the figures from the Model Operas. On another poster in the Ashmolean collection such delighted expressions can be seen again. Here the caption reads: “Long Live the Great People’s Republic of China”

Poster – “Long Live the Great People’s Republic of China”, based on an original painting by Jiao Huanzhi (1928-1982) and Sun Quan (active 1974), EA2006.267 © People’s Fine Arts Publishing House

The Ashmolean Museum is currently offering a travelling exhibition on the theme of the Cultural Revolution to venues round the country. See leaflet here.

Events linked to the “A Century of Women in Chinese Art” exhibition:

16 June 2018 Women in Chinese Art Symposium

11 July 2018 Guided tour of the exhibition with Dr Paul Bevan

Dr Paul Bevan, Christensen Fellow in Chinese Painting, Ashmolean Museum

Visitors viewing Chinese New Year Prints at the Jameel Centre during the China Festival.  © Ian Wallman

Chinese New Year prints, or as they are called in Chinese “nianhua” are an important part of traditional Chinese New Year rituals. They are called New Year prints as the sales for these colourful inexpensive mass-produced single-sheet woodblock images peaked around New Years’ time, even if they were actually in use all year-round. In order to prepare for the arrival of the New Year, the most important celebration in China, it was crucial to clear the house of misfortune and to invoke the blessings of the gods. To that end images often depicting terrifying guardians, gods (they are also referred to as “Paper Gods”) or auspicious motifs such as images depicting children were placed outside and inside the house. These images would be kept in place and worshipped during the whole year in order to protect the home from evil spirits and to bring good fortune to the family.

Yueying Zhong (born 1960), Figure riding a lion dog, 2012, Bequeathed by Michael Sullivan, 2013. LI2022.266.c © The artist’s estate

The quality of New Year prints varies, some were intended only for ritual use and not for display at all. On New Year’s Day Paper Gods would be presented with offerings and each member of the family would pray to them, and later on the Gods would be burned. It was believed that by burning them the Paper Gods would be sent off to Heaven, where they would watch over the family and intercede on their behalf throughout the year. These types of prints were often bought in sets of several dozen gods representing the Chinese pantheon of deities.

Yueying Zhong (born 1960), Man and boy riding a qilin, 2012, Bequeathed by Michael Sullivan, 2013. LI2022.266.d © The artist’s estate

The fact that they were objects used for worship and not considered as works of art explains why despite their mass production only few have survived, often in bad conditions. Foreign travellers would bring them back home as curiosities and this is how they often found their way into Museum collections. The exact dating of the prints is difficult as the same woodblocks would often have been used for printing over an extensive period of time.

Visitors viewing Chinese New Year Prints at the Jameel Centre during the China Festival. © Ian Wallman

Door Gods (Menshen)

The Door Gods are one of the most common subjects for New Year prints. Worshipping Door Gods dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) when the two loyal and brave generals, Qin Qiong (also known as Qin Shubao) and Yuchi Gong (EA1970.85.a+b), were watching over Emperor Taizhong’s sleep, finally enabling him to rest without being disturbed by ghosts and demons. To honour and relieve them from their duty the emperor painted their portraits on his door. The two generals can usually be identified by their respective weapons and face colour, Yuchi Gong has a darker face holding a steel whip or batons while Qin Qiong has a pale face and carries swords.

Military Door God Qin Qiong, Presented by Mrs Dubs, in memory of Professor Homer Dubs, 1970. EA1970.85.a

In general images of Door Gods always come in pairs and are pasted facing each other. Placing them back to back is considered to bring bad luck. They are placed to face the visitor when entering the house. Back entrances would equally be watched over by fierce looking Guardian Gods such as the popular demon queller Zhong Kui.

Guan Gong with sword, 19th – 20th century, Bequeathed by Michael Sullivan, 2013.

Another widespread Door God is the general Guan Yu (also called Guandi or Guan Gong) who lived during the era of the Three Kingdoms (3rd century AD). He played an important role in the establishment of a new dynasty under the warlord Liu Bei. His life has been fictionalised in one of the most famous Chinese historical novels, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, dating back to the 14^th century. For his achievements as a general Guan Yu received the honorific title emperor – Di. Guan Yu is even today seen as an epitome of loyalty and righteousness. He is usually depicted wearing a green robe and often has a reddish face.

The deity Guan Gong, 19th – 20th century, Bequeathed by Michael Sullivan, 2013. LI2022.282.a

Other military door gods (generally recognisable from their orange coloured faces and heavy weapons) are depicted together with five children. The children represent the five talented sons of the scholar Dou Yujun, who lived during the Five Dynasties period (907–960 A.D.). In one the Ashmolean prints (LI2022.282.k) the child in the middle wears a civil official robe and rides a Qilin. This suggests the wish that a successful scholar should be bestowed upon the family by the mythical animal.

The Door God with five children, 19th – 20th century, Bequeathed by Michael Sullivan, 2013. LI2022.282.k

New Year prints would often depict a selection of gods from the vast pantheon of deities Chinese people believed in. This enabled families to obtain the favours of as many gods as possible at the same time. The supreme deity of Heaven, the Jade Emperor, generally occupies the most important position in the centre of the picture. He governs the enormous heavenly bureaucracy of gods often behaving in very human ways. The strict hierarchic organisation of the gods is influenced by Daoist and Confucian beliefs and includes influences from traditional folkloric religions.

Gods on an altar, 19th – 20th century, Bequeathed by Michael Sullivan, 2013. LI2022.282.i

The Star Gods (Sanxing)

Fu, Lu, and Shou are the gods of the three stars symbolising the three attributes of a good life: Prosperity (Fu), Status (Lu), and Longevity (Shou). The first depictions of the three Star Gods in human form are said to date back to the Ming dynasty. Each Star God can easily be recognised through an individual set of symbols. The God of Prosperity or good fortune holds a baby boy in his arms as male heirs were seen as a great blessing in Confucian culture. The God of Status stands tallest with his official cap, scholars robe and a ceremonial sceptre (ruyi) in his hands.

Three Star Gods: Fu, Lu, Shou (Prosperity, Status and Longevity) with children, 19th – 20th century, Bequeathed by Michael Sullivan, 2013. LI2022.282.h

The God of Longevity takes the form of an elderly immortal with an extended forehead and long white beard holding in one hand a staff and in the other hand a peach. The mythical peach is said to come from a fabulous tree which blossoms only once every three thousand years in Heaven. Eating the fruit is reserved for the gods as it brings immortality. The clothes of the God of Longevity are often decorated with the Chinese character Shou meaning longevity. Sometimes only one of the gods is represented in human form while the others would be symbolised by animals. The crane, because of its longlife expectancy, is a symbol of longevity. The bat (fu) is a homophone for good luck and the deer (lu) stands for status. The deer often carries in its mouth the mushroom of immortality (lingzhi) as it is renowned for finding the rare magical plant.

Yueying Zhong (b. 1960), The God of Longevity, 2012, Bequeathed by Michael Sullivan, 2013. LI2022.266.a © The artist’s estate

The Stove God

Stove God with five children, early 20th century, EA1975.15

Traditionally the preparations for the New Year would start with sending off the Stove God to Heaven on the 23rd day of the last month. It was believed that in Heaven he would report to the Jade Emperor on the behaviour of the family he observed in the kitchen from his place above the oven during the past year. Based on this report the supreme deity would then decide on how much prosperity he will give to the family in the coming year. In order to make sure the Stove God would deliver a positive report the family would bribe him with sweet treats before burning his image. Seven days after the old Stove God has been burned, a new image would be installed above the stove. Even if officially he is a lower rank god, the Stove God was one of the most popular gods which even poorer families would invest in buying.

Images of Children

Displaying pictures of chubby baby boys is believed to bring male offspring and abundance. The babies are often depicted holding the peach of immortality, surrounded by magpies and mandarin ducks, both symbols for joy and happiness. Often portrayed with pink cheeks and chubby torsos, this healthy-looking youth would symbolise a rosy future. The images of children in Chinese New Year prints were intended in particular for those who wished to accomplish the chief Confucian virtue of raising a large family.

Yueying Zhong (born 1960), Boy with a bird, 2012, Bequeathed by Michael Sullivan, 2013. LI2022.266.b © The artist’s estate

The immortals He and He

The image of the immortals He and He exemplifies the practice of depicting objects that are homophones of the desired result. This motif of the two immortals derives from the Daoist pantheon. One of the “He” is the immortal of harmony and the other “He” is the immortal of union. They are generally associated with a happy marriage. These prints symbolise double happiness or happy children and would be pasted on or near the bedroom door.

Children for conjugal blessing, 19th – 20th century, Bequeathed by Michael Sullivan, 2013. LI2022.282.c

Taohuawu Printing Workshops

The picture of a young round shaped boy is associated with the Taohuawu woodblock printing workshops in Suzhou. The roundness of the boy implies completion, perfection and harmony. The boy is wearing a lock, a common protective accessory worn by children to keep them away from harm. In this example from the Ashmolean print collection the boy is holding a banner stating that the embodiment of harmony brings good luck.

Chinese wooblock print , early 20th century, Presented by Mrs Dubs, in memory of Professor Homer Dubs in 1970, EA1970.84.b.

The production of New Year prints in China was particularly thriving in the late 19th and early 20th century and specialised workshops often with their own distinct style could be found all across China. Taohuawu is one of China’s most famous and oldest New Year Print production centres. It was already printing and distributing woodblock New Year Prints as early as the Ming dynasty. During its most productive period the annual production of Taohuawu New Year woodblock prints reached more than a million pieces which were distributed across the country. It enjoyed popularity equal to the Yangliuqing New Year Printing workshops in Tianjin. The two workshops were famous and often referred to in one breath: “Taohuawu in the South and Yangliuqing in the North of China”.

Within the printing workshops work was divided: the designer drew the motif; then the carver transferred that drawing to the woodblock; next the printer printed the black outlines and sometimes areas of colour as well. In some workshops stencils were used to colour the prints and additional details were painted on by hand.

New Nianhua

With the appearance of the more effective modern lithography studio technologies in the late 1920s many traditional workshops went out of business. However the technique was reviewed when the Chinese Communist Party, in an attempt to find a language to communicate its ideology to a wider population, identified New Year prints (nianhua) and other forms of folk art as a central component of its new arts and culture policy at the Yan’an forum in 1942. Consequently, the function and use of New Year Prints changed; they became effective vehicles of communist political messages and ideals. Their designs and technique became much more elaborate, often illustrating model behaviour. Their aim was to “emphasize labouring people’s new, happy and hard-fought lives and their appearance of health and heroism.” The new directives issued in 1949 by the Ministry of Culture stated that ostentation was to be avoided and costs should be kept down so that people could afford the pictures. Regarding the print circulations the old New Year print distribution networks such as incense shops, small book stands, or itinerant peddlers were to be used.

Ming Chu, artist, Weichen Shen, block cutter, Yanli Shen, block cutter, A Woman Transformed Into a New Person by Being in the Countryside, 1964, Bequeathed by Michael Sullivan, 2013. LI2022.466.a © The artist’s estate

Taohuawu Workshop, publisher
Changing the Appearance of Mountains and Rivers,  Suzhou, before 1965, Bequeathed by Michael Sullivan, 2013. LI2022.466.b © Taohuawu Workshop

The two prints entitled Changing the Appearance of Mountains and Rivers and A Woman Transformed Into a New Person by Being in the Countryside dating from the early 1960s demonstrate that the colourful images were meant to inspire behavioural change and praise the great achievements of the Communist Party visibly introducing modernity, such as electricity poles, into the landscapes.

Another major change was that prints were no longer the result of an anonymous production line, but they were carefully designed according to official propaganda by professional state artists. In 2006 the Ashmolean purchased a group of 12 colour woodblock New Year prints. This group was compiled by the National Art Workers Association of China in Beijing and distributed by Xin Hua Bookstore in1950.  The group of works includes prints by Jin Lang (1914 – 1998), Shi Zhan (1912 – 1993) or Zhang Ding (1917 – 2010), depicting scenes linked to the Chinese New Year such as in A Village Delegation Presents Comforts to the Troops on New Year’s Day or Greeting the New Year.

Jin Lang (1914 – 1998), artist Huabei University Art Workshop (active 1948 – 1949), printer New Rongbaozhai (established 1949), publisher International Bookstore (established 1949), retailer Greeting the New Year, EA2006.272  © The artist’s estate

Shi Zhan (1912 – 1993), New Rongbaozhai (established 1949), publisher International Bookstore (established 1949), retailer, A Village Delegation Presents Comforts to the Troops on New Year’s Day, EA2006.273 © The artist’s estate

Learn more about the Ashmolean Museum Chinese print collection on Eastern Art Online.

Felicitas von Droste zu Hülshoff, Chinese Paintings Programme

   Emily.G. Kemp, The Face of China(1909) 

Watercolours, Emily Kemp Archive,
© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Kemp Collection is one of the most extraordinary archives in the Eastern Art Department at the Ashmolean. It was created neither by an Eastern artist nor in an Eastern style. It even has a longer history than the Eastern Art Department. Offered by the British female explorer Emily Georgiana Kemp (1860-1939) in 1938, collections of watercolour paintings made by the artist herself, together with other objects illustrating Chinese life and art, were bequeathed to the Indian Institute, which is the precursor of the Eastern Art Department. This collection arrived during the re-organisation of the Museum of Asian Art and the artistic and historical value of the bequest fits perfectly with the purpose of limiting the display to objects of real artistic or historical importance. “(Kemp’s bequest) would enhance the educational value of our Museum,” The registrar of the University stressed in the letter, “and they would wish to help the university … obtain a collection of good enough quality to form the nucleus of a Chinese collection.”

Portrait Head of Miss Emily Georgiana Kemp, Chalk, 1892, Alphonse Legros (WA1940.5.5)
© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Apart from the quality and subject of the collections, the artist’s beliefs and achievement enhanced the paintings to something more than a snapshot of a scene. After graduating as one of the first students of Somerville College, Oxford, Kemp started to travel around and developed a lifelong passion for East and Central Asia. As an artist, writer and explorer, Kemp published six books that covered all her well-known journeys and expressed her extensive vision about religions. She was awarded the Grande Médaille de Vermeil by the French Geographical Society because of her work in 1921, Chinese Mettle, which was an honour never granted to a woman before. In 1935, Kemp founded the Chapel of the Somerville College to provide a place where members of all religions could pray. Along with her own work, the Lancashire-born adventurer had also bequeathed a number of artworks from other artists, such as Alphonse Legros (1837-1911)’s etchings and drawings, which filled a gap in the museum collection, and are currently housed in the Western Art Department.

The archive includes over a hundred published and unpublished watercolour sketches, 19 photographs, 10 textile pieces and more than 200 lantern slides. China was one of the most mentioned areas among Kemp’s works since her younger sister and brother-in-law were  missionaries in China. She visited China several times during late nineteenth to early twentieth century. While visiting the British missionaries based in China, Kemp travelled through thirteen provinces (including Beijing, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Shanghai). The slow passage along road and rivers allowed Kemp time to write, paint and watch China slip slowly by.  As a meticulous observer, she captured everything that caught her eye: the architecture, the landscape, or a glance of local daily life. Most of the watercolours and sketches that illustrated in her books are stored in Eastern Art archives, along with many unpublished ones. All of the artworks in the collection are in very good condition and are still as vivid as when they were made.

Kemp resided for a year in Taiyuan (capital of Shanxi province) with her missionary family members. She was deeply interested in the various local religions and the ways of practising them in a different yet harmonious manner, largely due to the fact that Shanxi has a long and prosperous history of Buddhism and Taoism. “The subject, however, was so charming that I could not waste the one chance I had of sketching.” Kemp described. She visited several monasteries and captured the beauty of the architecture from every angle. Most of the scenes still exist today.

Omi tofu, Drawing, Emily Kemp Archive
“We were interested to meet quite a new god in this region. He has three faces, and wears a large stone hat. He is carved in stone and stands by the roadside like a little milestone at intervals all along the way but frequently there are no signs of worship about him. He is called by the Buddhist formula “O mi to fu”, and is worshipped by labours to prevent their getting sore feet, so they frequently burn sandals before him, and incense sticks may be seen in front of his image” -Kemp, E. (1909). The Face of China © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Kemp made a remarkable group of watercolours of the faces she met during her trip. Instead of systematically studying local ways of dressing, Kemp’s work is more impressive as a commentary on the physique and behaviour of various local characters. During her time residing in China (although short), Kemp was able to make use of her and her sister’s insider knowledge to represent China from different angles. Kemp’s writing shows more freedom and diversity than the missionary writing, which was tied to a particular mission. From the westernised noble court official to the young illiterate labourer, Kemp’s pen and brush depicted a country in transformation through its people. The ardour toward people from different backgrounds was presented in her artworks with equivalent attention to detail, which she believed to represent their style of life, or, what’s more, their state of mind.  Kemp’s friendly approach towards local people always won her a delighted response. “Often the women came round and smilingly interrogated us. Then we went through an amusing dumb conversation of the most friendly sort. The subject is usually the same – feet- and they never fail to admire our English boots, if not our feet. We, on our side, express much admiration of the exquisite embroidery of their shoes, though we do not admire their feet.” All of these elements produced a unique and accurate depiction of the local culture.

Kemp also visited Miao tribes in Guizhou, which were rarely explored by tourists at that time. The Miao lived in a village which was located in the deep valleys of the province, and was described by Kemp as “Almost inaccessible to the outside world and are only penetrated by missionaries”. Kemp used a chapter to describe the Miao in her book Chinese Mettle, which generally covers the different Miao tribes living around the province and their embroideries, languages and religions.  Apart from watercolours and photos, the Kemp Archive also houses a pair of Miao sandals. 

Hua Miao, Photograpy, Emily Kemp Archive,
“The Wha Miao (Hua Miao, flowery Miao) are so called because of the colour of their dress, which is dyed blue and red by an ingenious method of stenciling the cloth, using beeswax to make the design….The women, when married, wear their hair erected into a horn, which sticks out from the side of the head; but as soon as they have children the horn is erected straight up from the top.” -Kemp, E. (1921). Chinese Mettle
© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Kemp also spared no effort to speak highly of the spread of women’s education and welfare in China under the influence of English missionaries. She celebrated the policies issued by warlord Yan Xishan, the governor of Shanxi Provice, who encouraged girls to enrol into colleges. The Kemp collection includes some very precious photos and a sketch of the opening of the Edward’s Memorial Institute at Taiyuan (EMIT), which was to commemorate the work of Kemp’s sister, Edwards’s wife S. Florence Edwards (Known as ‘living Buddha’ to the local for her generous, loving personality).  The Institute housed about 200 students, including governor Yan Xishan’s wives. Kemp was also a friend of Zeng Baosun (曾寶蓀), a Chinese pioneer feminist, historian and Christian educator, and was invited to visit the first Christian University for women in China founded by her, the I-Fang Girls’ Collegiate School.

Zeng Baosun,
Slide, Emily Kemp Archive
Zeng Baosun (曾寶蓀), the great-granddaughter of Zeng Guofan. After received teaching training at Oxford and Cambridge, Zeng returned to China and founded I-Fang Girls’ Collegiate School in 1918, Changsha (Hunan), where anti-Christian and anti-foreign riots erupted constantly during the late 1980’s. Zeng’s work was very highly regarded by Kemp: “When I reflect on the state of unrest which existed during the birth of this school and the masterly way in which Miss Tseng(Zeng) has overcome all the difficulties of the situation, I find no words adequate to express my admiration. ”
-Kemp, E. (1921). Chinese Mettle
© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Kemp Collection is a varied collection which provides remarkable resources for different subjects. Her involvement and awareness of the culture and people allowed for a new complex image of China to emerge. All items in the collection are available in The Jameel Centre for the Study of Eastern Art for viewings by appointment. Click HERE from more information.

Reference:

Bright, R. M. (2008). China as I see it: The resident writing of British women in China, 1890–1940. Temple University.

Kaiser, A. T. (2016). The Rushing on of the Purposes of God: Christian Missions in Shanxi since 1876. Wipf and Stock Publishers.

Kemp, E. (1909). The face of China : Travels in east, north, central and western China. London: Chatto & Windus.

Kemp, E. (1919). Reminiscences of a sister, S. Florence Edwards, of Taiyuanfu. London: Carey press.

Kemp, E. (1921). Chinese mettle. London ; New York [etc.: Hodder and Stoughton.

Somerville College Chapel Blog. (2017). Emily Georgiana Kemp. [online] Available at: http://blogs.some.ox.ac.uk/chapel/2011/09/12/emily-georgiana-kemp/ [Accessed 21 May. 2017].

Williamson, H. R. (1957). British baptists in China, 1845-1952. Carey Kingsgate Press.

Yi Wu is an archive assistant and a local history student with a background in paper conservation. She currently volunteers for the Eastern Art Department, Ashmolean Museum and works at the Bodleian K B Chen China Centre Library.