Afleveringen
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A Journey Through Chinese Fine Arts
History, Periods, Materials, and Masterpieces
Source: https://chat.deepseek.com (prompt: write a short article on the history of Chinese fine arts)
Chinese fine arts, with a history spanning over 5,000 years, represent one of the world's most enduring and sophisticated artistic traditions. Rooted in philosophy, religion, and imperial patronage, Chinese art reflects the country's cultural evolution, technological advancements, and aesthetic ideals. This article explores the major periods, materials, notable names, and finest examples of Chinese fine arts, highlighting the emperors and dynasties that shaped this rich heritage.
### **Historical Periods and Development**
1. **Neolithic Period (c. 10,000–2000 BCE):**
The earliest Chinese art emerged during the Neolithic era, characterized by pottery and jade carvings. The Yangshao culture (5000–3000 BCE) produced painted pottery with geometric and animal motifs, while the Liangzhu culture (3300–2200 BCE) excelled in jade craftsmanship, creating ritual objects like *bi* discs and *cong* tubes.
2. **Shang and Zhou Dynasties (c. 1600–256 BCE):**
The Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) is renowned for its bronze ritual vessels, intricately decorated with taotie (mythical creature) motifs. The Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE) continued this tradition, emphasizing the use of bronze for ceremonial purposes and introducing inscriptions that documented historical events.
3. **Qin and Han Dynasties (221 BCE–220 CE):**
The Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE) is famous for the Terracotta Army, a monumental funerary art project commissioned by Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) saw advancements in silk painting, lacquerware, and tomb art, with murals depicting daily life and mythological themes.
4. **Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE):**
Often considered the golden age of Chinese art, the Tang Dynasty was marked by cultural flourishing. Buddhist sculpture, landscape painting, and ceramics thrived. The era's cosmopolitan nature is reflected in the vibrant tomb figurines and the famous Dunhuang cave paintings.
5. **Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE):**
The Song Dynasty is celebrated for its landscape paintings, which emphasized harmony with nature. Artists like Fan Kuan and Guo Xi created monumental works such as *Travelers Among Mountains and Streams*. The period also saw the perfection of porcelain, exemplified by Ru, Guan, and Ding wares.
6. **Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368 CE):**
Under Mongol rule, Chinese art absorbed foreign influences. Literati painting, led by artists like Zhao Mengfu, gained prominence, focusing on personal expression and calligraphy.
7. **Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368–1912 CE):**
The Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) revived traditional Chinese aesthetics, producing exquisite blue-and-white porcelain and monumental landscape paintings. The Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) saw the rise of court-sponsored art, including the intricate *Jadeite Cabbage* and the *Forbidden City's* architectural grandeur.
### **Materials and Techniques**
Chinese artists employed a wide range of materials, including:
- **Silk and Paper:** Used for painting and calligraphy.
- **Bronze:** For ritual vessels and sculptures.
- **Jade:** Revered for its beauty and symbolic significance.
- **Porcelain:** Famed for its delicacy and craftsmanship.
- **Ink and Pigments:** Essential for painting and calligraphy.
### **Notable Artists and Emperors**
- **Gu Kaizhi (c. 344–406 CE):** A master of figure painting, known for *The Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies.*
- **Emperor Huizong (1082–1135 CE):** A Song Dynasty emperor and accomplished artist, renowned for his bird-and-flower paintings.
- **Qi Baishi (1864–1957):** A modern master of ink painting, celebrated for his expressive brushwork.
### **Finest Examples**
1. **The Terracotta Army (Qin Dynasty):** A testament to imperial power and craftsmanship.
2. **Along the River During the Qingming Festival (Song Dynasty):** A panoramic painting by Zhang Zeduan depicting urban life.
3. **The Forbidden City (Ming and Qing Dynasties):** An architectural masterpiece symbolizing imperial authority.
4. **Dunhuang Murals (Tang Dynasty):** Buddhist cave paintings showcasing religious and cultural exchange.
Chinese fine arts are a testament to the nation's rich cultural legacy, blending technical mastery with profound philosophical and spiritual depth. From ancient jade carvings to imperial porcelain, these works continue to inspire and captivate audiences worldwide.
**END**
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The rapid turnover of G7 leaders has become a farce. Economic turmoil, a major change in global industrial investment and a river of US sanctions and the Team Trump tariff avalanche expected this year provide the bulk of today’s episode.
A quick update on ASEAN and Cambodia FDI and the outlook for Trump tariffs on the world’s largest trade partnership between China and ASEAN.
Australia’s sustainability transition is highly dependent on China’s EVs, but so is the UK and many are countries.
Like, subscribe and share…
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Belt and Road update
In this episode we cover Cambodia's Techo Funan Canal and China's involvement and investment attitude as well as a update on risks to the Belt and Road in West Asia, Red Sea, Mediterranean and Africa.
Check out my Multipolar Peace friends on YouTube below.
Transcript
(00:00:00):
welcome to the chair i'm your host dr digby james wren today is friday the 13th of
(00:00:06):
december 2024 a most auspicious date to end my hiatus for the last two months and
(00:00:15):
to start broadcasting again streaming
(00:00:19):
to all of my subscribers and followers.
(00:00:22):
And I'm pleased to announce that the chair has roughly 4,000 subscribers and we go
(00:00:30):
out to about 200,000 on our newsletter,
(00:00:32):
200,000 a day.
(00:00:34):
We've had a TikTok with one million views.
(00:00:36):
So that's starting to build.
(00:00:38):
And so I thought I'd better get back into action and start talking about what is
(00:00:43):
important in the world for all of those that follow geopolitical risk
(00:00:48):
global trade and investment,
(00:00:49):
political economy,
(00:00:52):
and also public diplomacy,
(00:00:54):
Full transcript available.
Keep enjoying, keep watching and I'll be with you very, very soon.
(00:29:07):
Thanks very much.
(00:29:09):
See you again very soon.
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(00:00:00): Guest Intro:
Dr. Digby Wren, geopolitical risk analyst and policy advisor at Belt and Road Capital Partners.
Li Qiang saying, [South China Sea situation] it just needs to be more understanding right now. Do you see some sort of off ramp to these tensions that continue to escalate? Or are we actually seeing some sort of imminent armed conflict with China?
See Transcript link:
Added Comments to those in the original interview:
ASEAN is attractive to EU and US investment and trade, but the “jostling” in the South China Sea and Myanmar’s internecine feuds obscure positive economic growth indicators approaching 5% across the bloc, including Myanmar, which had 0.3% economic expansion despite a suppressive external sanctions regime (IMF/WB). (Wren, 2024)
NB: “Russia is winning” refers specifically to declining Western material and financial support for Ukraine and Russia’s expanded diplomatic and security reach. The upcoming BRICS+ summit has overshadowed US efforts and the NATO Rammstein Summit has been postponed/cancelled. These indicators are widely published in leading EU and Anglo-American mastheads and streaming news media.” (Wren, 2024)
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Multipolar Peace Now ! Part 2:1
We are forming a global alliance against globalism, and neutrality studies is part of that. Don't get confused, let's just live with the contradiction.
Last Friday we held the second panel of independent social media contributors, discussing the new multipolarity we are now in, why we think that the collective west is being collectively stupid about it, and what we—and you—can do to oppose the lunacy.
The Basics:
* Multipolarity is not only an emerging reality, it is also a preferable foundation for global order.
* Neutrality is an important tool within the overall mix of how nations view themselves and position themselves in the context of integrated and indivisible security.
* NATO is a dangerous organisation and its expansion globally is undesirable and contrary to achieving a sustainable peace.
Work in progress.
More here: Multipolarpeace.com
Contributors:
Dr. Warwick Powell
Dr. Pascal Lottaz: Neutrality Studies
Jerry Grey: Jerry's Take on China Youtube,
/ @jerrystakeonchina799
Arnaud Bertrand: Twitter, https://twitter.com/rnaudbertrand?s=2...
Dr. Jeff Rich: Burning Archive Youtube,
/ @theburningarchive Substack,
Dr. Digby Wren Substack, https://substack.com/@digbywren
Dr. David Oualaalou: Geopolitical Trends Youtube,
/ @geopoliticaltrends S.L. Kanthan Substack,
Twitter, https://twitter.com/kanthan2030?s=21&...
Einar Tangen Linkedin, https://www.linkedin.com/in/ehtangen/...
Dr. John Pang Twitter, https://twitter.com/jynpang?s=21&t=Oe...
The Chair is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
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Multipolar Peace Now ! Part 2:2 We are forming a global alliance against globalism, and neutrality studies is part of that. Don't get confused, let's just live with the contradiction.
Last Friday we held the second panel of independent social media contributors, discussing the new multipolarity we are now in, why we think that the collective west is being collectively stupid about it, and what we—and you—can do to oppose the lunacy.
The Basics:
* Multipolarity is not only an emerging reality, it is also a preferable foundation for global order.
* Neutrality is an important tool within the overall mix of how nations view themselves and position themselves in the context of integrated and indivisible security.
* NATO is a dangerous organisation and its expansion globally is undesirable and contrary to achieving a sustainable peace.
Work in progress.
More here: Multipolarpeace.com
Contributors:
Dr. Warwick Powell
Dr. Pascal Lottaz: Neutrality Studies
Jerry Grey: Jerry's Take on China Youtube,
/ @jerrystakeonchina799
Arnaud Bertrand: Twitter, https://twitter.com/rnaudbertrand?s=2...
Dr. Jeff Rich: Burning Archive Youtube,
/ @theburningarchive Substack,
Dr. Digby Wren Substack, https://substack.com/@digbywren
Dr. David Oualaalou: Geopolitical Trends Youtube,
/ @geopoliticaltrends S.L. Kanthan Substack,
Twitter, https://twitter.com/kanthan2030?s=21&...
Einar Tangen Linkedin, https://www.linkedin.com/in/ehtangen/...
Dr. John Pang Twitter, https://twitter.com/jynpang?s=21&t=Oe...
The Chair is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
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(00:00:00):
Well, thank you for having me on the show again.
(00:00:01):
Well,
(00:00:02):
the first thing to say,
(00:00:03):
I think,
(00:00:03):
is that political assassination is not a new thing in the United States.
(00:00:06):
There's a long history of this.
(00:00:07):
I'm not sure how many presidents have been assassinated, but there's been at least
(00:00:29):
at least seven or eight attempts on presidents.
(00:00:33):
So it's nothing new.
(00:00:34):
But of course,
(00:00:35):
what's interesting about this,
(00:00:36):
of course,
(00:00:37):
is that President Biden has been,
(00:00:42):
well,
(00:00:43):
has been shown to be a senile old man and hardly capable of fulfilling the presidency.
(00:00:49):
So I think this is going to,
(00:00:53):
as the former speaker said,
(00:00:55):
will most probably propel Trump into the presidency.
(00:01:00):
There's one photo with his fist clenched in the air where he's saying,
(00:01:04):
we have to fight,
(00:01:05):
fight,
(00:01:05):
fight,
(00:01:07):
with blood streaming down his face.
(00:01:09):
And I think that will be enough to get him across the line.
(00:01:13):
But,
(00:01:13):
you know,
(00:01:13):
one always has to ask the question,
(00:01:16):
who's going to benefit from such an assassination attempt?
(00:01:19):
You know, why was it attempted in the first place?
(00:01:22):
And,
(00:01:23):
you know,
(00:01:23):
the fact that this fellow was fairly obvious in some videos that I've seen,
(00:01:28):
he was easily spied.
(00:01:30):
So how he got there and how he was able to do this is quite strange, I think.
(00:01:37):
But yes, this is definitely going to change the balance of the election in November.
(00:01:42):
And I think Trump is now going to get a fairly smooth ride to the victory in November.
(00:01:49):
Trump is now, in effect, a kind of a hero.
(00:01:53):
He survived an assassination attempt.
(00:01:55):
And I think that's going to swing a lot of voters,
(00:01:59):
not urban voters,
(00:02:00):
but definitely sort of suburban voters and
(00:02:03):
and areas,
(00:02:04):
poorer areas,
(00:02:05):
especially areas that have suffered from de-industrialisation and former soldiers
(00:02:12):
are definitely going to rally behind him now.
(00:02:14):
And I think that's going to be enough to get him across the line.
(00:02:17):
And I think people will forget very quickly that he has incited the public to
(00:02:23):
violence previously,
(00:02:25):
the insurrection after the previous election.
(00:02:29):
So all of this
(00:02:32):
I think he's really going to help him.
(00:02:35):
And Biden is looking so bad.
(00:02:38):
So the timing, you know, he couldn't have asked for better timing to survive an assassination attempt.
(00:02:43):
And I think he's going to ride the wave of sympathy and a sort of hero worship into
(00:02:50):
the presidency in November.
(00:02:51):
All right.
(00:02:53):
Thank you very much for that.
(00:02:54):
Digby Wren, international relations expert from Pen on Pen.
(00:02:57):
Thank you.
Original video stream here.
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NATO is boosting its visibility in the Asia Pacific region. For three years in a row, leaders or representatives of four Asia Pacific countries – Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand – have attended the annual summit of the military alliance. The outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has been an ardent advocator of Asia Pacific outreach, and his argument has been echoed by US officials as Washington, DC hosted this year’s NATO summit.What is behind NATO’s growing interest in Asia Pacific? Will NATO be a force for good if it establishes a sizeable footprint in the region? Host Ding Heng is joined by Digby James Wren, External Relations Advisor to the Royal Academy of Cambodia; Lee Pei May, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the International Islamic University Malaysia; Professor Shen Dingli from the Institute of International Studies, Fudan University.
Listen to original here.
Transcript below.
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The United States wants NATO to be dragged in to Asia.
Today is Wednesday the 10th of July 2024 and today we're going to explore the NATO Summit that's being held in Washington today and tomorrow. And, I think we're going to start with an article written by the the former Singapore ambassador to the United Nations, Kishore Mahbubani, who was actually appointed twice as Singapore’s UN ambassador. Now, he's a very, very well-respected figure, and he wrote in 2021 that...
“that the Pacific has no need of the destructive militaristic culture of the Atlantic Alliance.”
Now, what was he talking about?
What he was talking about was the fact that NATO, which has existed since post-World War II and the Cold War era, basically has been involved in invasions and wars in Europe, in the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa and other places.
Now the United States wants NATO to be dragged in to Asia.
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