Paintings on Silk and Paper...a continuation of Early Chinese Art
 Year of the Rat    

Recent "rat" years:
1960, 1972, 1984
 Year of the Rat
Year of the Rat
(begins February 7, 2008

Rats are perfectionists. They communicate extremely well, are quick-witted, levelheaded and always alert.  They choose their friends carefully and dote on children.

Famous people born in the Year Of The  Rat:  Antonio Banderas, Ben Affleck,Cameron Diaz, Churchill, Shakespeare, Samuel L. Jackson.
Chinese handscrolls are viewed at leisure by unrolling slowly.  The handscrolls show courtly life, the beauty of nature, or, combined with original poetry, become private expressions to be shared in intimate circles.  Hanging and handscrolls inspired by Buddhism also become an act of meditation.
Banquet Scene with a Female Musician, Song Dynasty painting.
Ladies Preparing Silk, Northern Song Dynasty painting.
"Banquet Scene with Female Musician" is a Song Dynasty copy of a 10th Century handscroll by Gu Hongzhong.
"Ladies Preparing Silk," attributed to the Emperor Huizong, Northern Song Dynasty, early 12th Century.  Handscroll, ink and colors on silk.
Boston Museum of Fine Art
Both silk and paper were prepared for painting with a thin slip -- a fine coating of clay or plaster, to create a smooth and firm ground for painting.
Detail of a painting by Han Kan, depicting a horse.
Detail of a painting by Han Kan, a celebrated painter of the court, c.742-756.  "Night-Shining White"  is described as the favorite mount of the Tang Emperor Ming-huang.  The work is a handscroll, in ink on paper.
Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Chinese -- and Japanese -- artists painted the landscape with the foreground at the bottom of the pictorial plane, the middle ground in the center and separated by soft and misty colors, objects and lines, and the distance at the top.
Painting from the Northern Song Dynasty

Detail of a 12th Century Southern Song Dynasty painting.
  "Early Spring," by Guo Xi, 1072 ce (Northern Song (Sung) Dynasty.  Hanging Scroll, ink and slight color on silk. 60" Long.
National Palace Museu, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Above is a detail of the Emperor Ming-huang's "Flight to Shu," 12th Century, Southern Sung Dynasty.  Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk,  32 5/8" X 44 3/4".
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Examine this exhibit entitled
"The Splendors of Imperial China:  Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei."
To write your name in Chinese and to hear how it sounds, click on the URL below:   http://www.mandarintools.com/chinesename.html
Page Updated 3/12/08
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Copyright M. Hoover and San Antonio College, August, 2001.  All rights reserved.