|
 Grassland
Ai Zhongxin
graduated in 1940 from the Department of Art of the former Central
University and is now a professor at the Central Academy of Art.Ai Zhongxin 1984 Oil on canvas 30" x 43" From the earliest times the steppe nomads lived in tented encampments which, although never permanent, sometimes grew to great size. The settlement in the background of "Grassland" is a modern version of those encampments. Visible at the far left are two circular Mongolian tents erected outside the main grouping. Flags, signifying the tribal affiliations of the group, would normally be flying from the masts, but those shown here are lowered in anticipation of the coming storm. Inventory #: CC_0011 Source: The Hefner Collection © The Hefner Collection The China Collection liscenced one time use only |
| THE HISTORY OF
TAOISM Russell Kirkland University of Georgia © 2002 "Aristocratic Taoism" (6th century - 10th century) Roots
These aristocrats were willing to perpetuate and assimilate certain elements from the T’ien-shih traditions (somewhat as early gentile Christians adapted certain earlier Hebraic elements). But the southern aristocrats asserted their own standing by articulating new models for personal self-cultivation (something never present in the T’ien-shih tradition) and claiming (a) that those models had been revealed by beings from dimensions higher than those who had authorized any earlier tradition, and (b) that those new models allow the individual practitioner to attain the spiritual status of such higher beings. "The Old Traditions of Chiang-nan" (? - 4th century) Roots: Old southern traditions of bio‑spiritual self‑development and talismanic ritual. No founder or known historical leaders. No sense of group identity. Social reality and specific teachings poorly known. Primary Texts: San‑huang wen ["Text of the Three Sovereigns"]: methods of invoking spirits Wu‑fu ching ["Scripture of the Five Talismans"]: talismanic magic “T’ai-ch’ing Taoism” (2nd-7th centuries) A term used in Ko Hung’s Pao-p’u-tzu for texts about “operative alchemy” (wai-tan)—a pursuit of personal perfection through a transformative process expressed in chemical terms; to be distinguished from the later meditational systems generally called “inner alchemy” (nei-tan). Ko says that such texts were brought south from Shantung at the end of the second century. Surviving T’ai-ch’ing texts teach a sequence of practices: transmission from master to disciple; establishment of a sacred ritual area and selection of an auspicious time; compounding of an efficacious substance (tan, “elixir,” symbolized as cinnabar, not gold) that would elevate the practitioner to a heavenly sphere called T’ai-ch’ing (“Great Clarity”); an offering to the deities; and ingestion of the tan. It is not known how many people of what social background may have actually engaged in such practices. New forms of “alchemy” appeared somewhat later. |
