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The Chrysophoron Room in St. Petersburg is a pilg-rimage place for any-one doing sightseeing there. It is a reconstruction of the original chrysophoron room built by the King of Prussia in 1716. This 300-year-old dazzling, magnificent spot is hailed as “the eighth wonder of the world”, which is only one of the demonstrations of Europeans’ obsession in chrysophoron since ancient times. Of course, the love of chrysophoron is not confined to the western world. It is also very common in ancient China, which is exactly what the book Chrysophoron Art in Ancient China talks about.
Compared to porcelain, jade and calligraphy as well as painting, chrysophoron is of minority in China. Even for me, a person who often have the opportunity to visit historical relics exhibitions, chrysophorons are usually ignored when put together with the mainstream art such as porcelain. In the west, however, chrysophoron enjoys a much higher status and Europeans’ fascination with chrysophoron is just like ours with jade. Then where did this difference come from? The answer can be found in this book written by Xu Xiaodong.
Based on his research and work in the Forbidden City, Mr. Xu acquired a large amount of first-hand materials. These documents and archaeological objects show the different attitudes of Chinese and westerners toward chrysophoron, which can well represent the differences between Chinese and western civilization.
These differences have long been a big topic. Westerners are proud of their sculptures while Chinese people take pride in China’s porcelain; oil painting is well developed in the west while ink painting has long been in a dominating position in China... These phenomena are by no means accidental. Differences between China and the west can be found even in their attitudes toward chrysophoron, an object made of the same material.
In the west, Nordic residents began to use chrysophoron for decoration at least 10,000 years ago. At that time, these people believed that chrysophoron had a magical force and many people wore chrysophoron accessories as a talisman, making them embodying religious meaning. In ancient China, however, jade was used for a similar function. That different choice between chrysophoron and jade is also a kind of cultural difference between China and the west.
Of course, there are some exceptions during the long 4,000 years of China’s chrysophoron art history and some viewed chrysophoron as a treasure. That is the Khitan tribe. This exception is not hard to understand. Differences exist not only between Chinese and western civilizations, but also among different ethnic groups. That is also the origin of different characters of these groups. The Han people’s tradition is to respect jade. So the Khitan tribe would certainly choose another object to show that they were of a higher status. Finally they chose chrysophoron. In the political life of Khitan, chrysophoron is even more important than jade, gold, silver, or ceramics. In addition to the colorful, warm and easy-to-carve features of chrysophoron as well as influences of Buddhism, the reason for its popularity also lies in the sufficient supply of chrysophoron raw materials, thanks to the development of commerce and trade between Khitan and chrysophoron suppliers such as the Baltic Sea region through the exchange channel between China and the west. Moreover, the dialogue and competition between the culture of Khitan and that of the Northern Song Dynasty is a deeper political factor.
Khitan nobles used chrysophoron, a non-Han cultural object, to make colorful and magnificent decorations of all kinds. For example, the large variety of jewelry, clothing, etc. unearthed from the tomb of the princess of Chen Kingdom and her consort prince could not only show off its power in expanding territory but also serve as a sign of group identity to compete with the Northern Song which was ruled by Han people.
It seems that differences in culture have been a common phen-omenon since ancient times. In contrast, our current pursuits of art are often similar to each other as well as westernized and globalized. We do not reject learning for modern western civilization, but the things we learned should be integrated into our own culture.
As said by Gu Wenda, one of the four most important persons in China’s contemporary art, contemporary Chinese art must return to our own traditional culture before it can move forward and be valued by more people in the world... Unfortunately, after being overwhelmed by the west for a century, differences in the pursuit of art are restricted because of the universal language. Are historical relics the only source for us to see the splendid civilizations?
Compared to porcelain, jade and calligraphy as well as painting, chrysophoron is of minority in China. Even for me, a person who often have the opportunity to visit historical relics exhibitions, chrysophorons are usually ignored when put together with the mainstream art such as porcelain. In the west, however, chrysophoron enjoys a much higher status and Europeans’ fascination with chrysophoron is just like ours with jade. Then where did this difference come from? The answer can be found in this book written by Xu Xiaodong.
Based on his research and work in the Forbidden City, Mr. Xu acquired a large amount of first-hand materials. These documents and archaeological objects show the different attitudes of Chinese and westerners toward chrysophoron, which can well represent the differences between Chinese and western civilization.
These differences have long been a big topic. Westerners are proud of their sculptures while Chinese people take pride in China’s porcelain; oil painting is well developed in the west while ink painting has long been in a dominating position in China... These phenomena are by no means accidental. Differences between China and the west can be found even in their attitudes toward chrysophoron, an object made of the same material.
In the west, Nordic residents began to use chrysophoron for decoration at least 10,000 years ago. At that time, these people believed that chrysophoron had a magical force and many people wore chrysophoron accessories as a talisman, making them embodying religious meaning. In ancient China, however, jade was used for a similar function. That different choice between chrysophoron and jade is also a kind of cultural difference between China and the west.
Of course, there are some exceptions during the long 4,000 years of China’s chrysophoron art history and some viewed chrysophoron as a treasure. That is the Khitan tribe. This exception is not hard to understand. Differences exist not only between Chinese and western civilizations, but also among different ethnic groups. That is also the origin of different characters of these groups. The Han people’s tradition is to respect jade. So the Khitan tribe would certainly choose another object to show that they were of a higher status. Finally they chose chrysophoron. In the political life of Khitan, chrysophoron is even more important than jade, gold, silver, or ceramics. In addition to the colorful, warm and easy-to-carve features of chrysophoron as well as influences of Buddhism, the reason for its popularity also lies in the sufficient supply of chrysophoron raw materials, thanks to the development of commerce and trade between Khitan and chrysophoron suppliers such as the Baltic Sea region through the exchange channel between China and the west. Moreover, the dialogue and competition between the culture of Khitan and that of the Northern Song Dynasty is a deeper political factor.
Khitan nobles used chrysophoron, a non-Han cultural object, to make colorful and magnificent decorations of all kinds. For example, the large variety of jewelry, clothing, etc. unearthed from the tomb of the princess of Chen Kingdom and her consort prince could not only show off its power in expanding territory but also serve as a sign of group identity to compete with the Northern Song which was ruled by Han people.
It seems that differences in culture have been a common phen-omenon since ancient times. In contrast, our current pursuits of art are often similar to each other as well as westernized and globalized. We do not reject learning for modern western civilization, but the things we learned should be integrated into our own culture.
As said by Gu Wenda, one of the four most important persons in China’s contemporary art, contemporary Chinese art must return to our own traditional culture before it can move forward and be valued by more people in the world... Unfortunately, after being overwhelmed by the west for a century, differences in the pursuit of art are restricted because of the universal language. Are historical relics the only source for us to see the splendid civilizations?