Tags: calligraphy | Mi Fu | National Palace Museum | painting

The thematic website introduces the art and life of Mi Fu, a scholar-official and master of painting and calligraphy from the Northern Sung period. Dealing mostly with his calligraphy, the contents of this website are divided into two main approaches: a gallery of selected works mostly from the National Palace Museum collection as well as themes based on times and places in Mi Fu's life....

Tags: painting | Shih-Chiao Lee

Li Shiqiao was one important Taiwanese artist early in the Japanese Colonial Period (from 1895 to 1945). He was known for his sincere and careful attitude towards painting, philosophical and critical mind, as well as his unique and superbly skillful painting style. He contributed significantly to art in Taiwan, educating and inspiring quite a few followers who later became excellent artists. After Li Shiqiao’s death, more than four hundred pieces of his works, including oil paintings, water-color paintings, sketches, and their related items, have been preserved in the Li Shiqiao Museum of Art. They are Taiwan’s important cultural assets and should be carefully preserved for future appreciation and study. .....

Tags: craft | culture | jade

According to Shuo wen jie zi (The Origin of Chinese Characters《說文解字》): ”Jades are the beauty among all stones.” The connotations evolved from jades, in terms of personal traits, culture, art and moral conduct have mingled together ever since. Each dynasty saw various development of craftsmanship, diverse creations of implements and utilitarian functions, and different roles that jade played. The affection that the Chinese have for these hand-crafted objects of jade has largely enriched the content of the Chinese culture....

Tags: emperor | empress | painting | portrait

In the history of Chinese calligraphy and painting, portrait paintings for common people were seldom commissioned. Generally, only the imperial household and aristocracy could have portrait paintings. Many emperors and empresses had their portraits painted in the Chinese historical record.........

Tags: bronzes | rubbing

Chen Chao-Jung, Associate Research Fellow of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica

Full-surface bronze rubbing is a special craft with its origins in the middle 19th century. Through a combination of sketching, painting, rubbing and paper cutting, this technique brings out three dimensional bronze carvings and figurations on flat rubbing paper. The art of full-surface bronze rubbing requires delicate technique and a lot of time. Since the advent of photography, this art has become rare and precious due to the difficulty of passing the skill down. More than two thousand full-surface bronze rubbings are in the collection of the Fu Ssu-Nien Library of the Institute of History and Philology. ....