Asian Art Museum Curator, Joseph Chang, reads an excerpt from Eight Poems on Yellow Ridge in semicursive and cursive script, Xong Tingbi (1596–1625). Translation: It’s been called “Lotus Terrace” now for years innumerable; And round the terrace, fields upon fields of lotus leaves are seen. The slightest breeze wafts floating fragrance from the other shore, While setting sunlight in clear waters plays with emerald green. —Lotus Blossom Terrace. This work was on view at the Asian Art Museum as part of the exhibition, Out of Character: Decoding Chinese Calligraphy (from October 5, 2012–January 13, 2013).
Activity
If you were to design a bronze vessel for a friend who has done something important for you, what shape would you make it? How would you decorate it? Would you use designs like the ones on the bronze vessels in the museum? What would you inscribe on it?
Activity
In the spring of 2020, a herd of wild Asian elephants started migrating north from Southwest China. As of June 2021, the elephants have traveled 500 kilometers, navigating through rural areas and cityscapes toward an unknown destination. Scientists believe this unusual migration was spurred by deforestation, urbanization, and habitat loss.
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Create your own paper lantern and retell “The Girl Who Used Her Wits.”
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Activity
Make your own seal script stamp and use it to “sign” a decorated postcard.
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Activity
The Chinese Zodiac is based on a twelve-year cycle and each year is linked to an animal. Find your birth year and color in your zodiac animal.
Background Information
Islam has been an important cultural force in much of Asia for more than five hundred years, and in some parts for more than a thousand. Today, far more Muslims live in other parts of Asia than in the Arab areas of Asia such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.
Background Information
As with art, literature, and philosophy, the Tang dynasty (618-906) nurtured a Golden Age of development and innovation in science and technology that culminated in the Song dynasty (960-1279). The expansive exchange of foreign goods and information during the Tang, together with the high value placed upon close observation and analysis that characterized the Song, set the stage for vigorous scientific innovations. Important advances were made in astronomy, agriculture, industry, medicine, and military technologies.
Lesson
Lesson: Students will 1) understand how Wong was viewed by her community as a rebel in her choice of career and in her artistic style; 2) practice using compare/contrast skills to identify the hallmarks of art from the Qing and Song dynasties, to understand how Wong’s work was initially judged; and 3) hone discussion skills through the use of Project Zero’s Artful Thinking Routines.
