China

Learn more about crossbows and the crossbow trigger mechanism on view in the exhibition, China’s Terracotta Warriors: The First Emperor’s Legacy (at the Asian Art Museum from February 22–May 27, 2013).

Michael Knight, Senior Curator of Chinese Art at the Asian Art Museum, and Jerry Yang, Collector and Co-founder of Yahoo!, discuss collecting Chinese calligraphy in conjunction with the exhibition, Out of Character: Decoding Chinese Calligraphy (on view at the Asian Art Museum from October 5, 2012–February 13, 2013).

Dr. Sanford Tom explores Huangshan (or the Yellow Mountain), which is often considered the most beautiful as well as the strangest mountain in China.

Asian Art Museum Docent, Linda Lei, gives a talk to teachers on the symbols associated with Chinese Lunar New Year at the Asian Art Museum on May 15, 2014.

Learn more about the oldest known dated Buddha produced in China and how it may have looked when it was created.

Master Chinese calligrapher Cai Xingyi writes the poem Ascending the Heron Tower by Poet Wang Zhihuan (688-742) in cursive script. See more in the exhibition, Out of Character: Decoding Chinese Calligraphy (on view at the Asian Art Museum from Oct. 5, 2012–Jan. 13, 2013).

Leta Bushyhead, Asian Art Museum Storyteller, tells a Chinese folktale inspired by objects in the museum’s collection.

In 1420, in an effort to consolidate his control over the throne, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty moved China’s capital to a site in the North, now known as Bejing. There, he built a vast complex of palaces and administrative buildings now covering 178 acres. Because access was restricted to the imperial family and to those who had business with them, it came to be known as the Forbidden City. Learn more in this short documentary.

Lamp China. China; Tang dynasty (618–906). Glazed earthenware. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60P535.

Paul Hoover reads a poem he wrote in response to the works “Anonymity,” 2008-2011 (eight from a series of nine light boxes) by Poklong Anading and Chinese bronze mirrors (from the Asian Art Museum’s collection). These works are on view as part of the exhibition Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past (on view at the Asian Art Museum from May 18–September 2, 2012). This presentation was part of MATCHA. Co-presented with Litquake.