#dynastic china

[chinoiseriene]

GongDeng 宫灯 palace lanterns, also known as court lanterns, are a distinctive type of traditional Chinese lantern and a hallmark of Chinese craftsmanship.

The city of Luoyang in Henan province was especially known for the production of palace and court lanterns. It’s also considered the origin of this craft.

As the name suggests, palace lanterns were initially used in the imperial palace. They are typically made with a delicate wooden frame, adorned with silk gauze or glass, and painted with various decorative patterns. These lanterns are celebrated for their elegance and regal courtly style. Used primarily within the court.

The lanterns in this post are from the Qing Dynasty and are made out of Zitan (red sandalwood)

[sinoheritage]

Caihua 彩画 "colour painting" is the traditional Chinese decorative painting used for architecture and one of the most notable and important features of historical Chinese architecture. Caihua served not only as decoration but also protection of the predominantly wooden architecture from various seasonal elements and hid the imperfections of the wood itself.

The use of different colours or paintings would be according to the particular local regional customs, as well as historical periods. The choice of colours and symbology are based on traditional Chinese philosophies like the Five Elements.

One of the most common types is Hexi Caihua 和玺彩画 “Hexi painting” or “Imperial-style decorative painting” which is the royal variation of Caihua. Historically used only on the most important buildings in Chinese palaces.

[shafran-saffron]

PRC leaders if they were historical Chinese emperors:

Mao Zedong: Great millitary strategist, later less effective as a statesman and paranoid towards his court. Would get at least a couple eunuchs slaughtered in over the top fashions. People will mostly remember the first part and ignore the second. Closest historical analogue: Hongwu Emperor (red turban rebellion leader)

Deng Xiaoping: Very good statesman with some micro-managereal tendencies. Would mingle with the common folk and low level officials a lot. The population would casually grow by like 1/3 during his tenure without anyone noticing. Would conquer some small nearby periphery states cause why not. Closest nalogue: Qianlong emperor

Jiang Zemin: THE SCHOLAR EMPEROR. 100% micromanaging enthusiastic. Will make a big fuss about, like, importing a new strain of rice to cultivate or something. Which in hindsight would actually for real be an amazingly impactful decision, but people would make fun of it at the time. In his time would be seen as unremarkable (and maybe even a little disliked by the army for not doing any conquests), but in hindsight would 100% be the highlight of his dynasty. Name would still be most famous for compiling some hyper influencual text or funding some inventor friend. Closest analogue: Hongzhi emperor. With maybe a little Wang Mang mixed in cause nerd <З

No opinion in xi and hu jintao in this context yet, sorry guys. Oh yeah hua guofeng exists. He would be, like, the clearly less favorite of the princes competing for the throne that gets to rule for a year and then is overthrown in palace intrigue. Pretty chill in the meantime though.

[sinoheritage]

Song Dynasty Stone Carving Park 南宋石刻公园 is located in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province.

It’s a park with Song-era (960-1279 AD) stone carving relics as its theme. The park is centered on the tomb passage of Song Dynasty aristocrats, such as that of Shi Jian, Duke of Qi.

They collect scattered stone carvings in the valleys and gullies near Dongqian Lake, Ningbo City to form various scenic spots.

The stone statues mainly depict military generals, civil officials, and animals (horses, tigers, sheep, etc).

[sinoheritage]

Fenglin Pavilion 风临阁, Datong city, Shanxi province, China.

Originally built in 1518 during the Ming dynasty. It’s now a restaurant that serves traditional Shanxi cuisine.

It is said that a coal tycoon spent 370 million yuan (more than 50 million USD) to renovate it. With the toilet alone, which is made out of real copper, jewels, and pearls, costing 5 million yuan (more than 650,000 USD).

[chinoiseriene]

Penjing 盆景, also known as penzai 盆栽, is the ancient Chinese art of depicting artistically formed trees, other plants, and landscapes in miniature.

Since at least the 1st century AD, Taoist mysticism has included the recreating of magical sites in miniature to focus and increase the properties found in the full-size sites. There were legends dating from at least the 3rd and 4th centuries of Taoists said to have had the power to shrink whole landscapes down to small vessel size.

The earliest-known graphic dates from 706 AD and it shows two maid servants carrying penjing with miniature trees.

(all the artifacts in this post date back to the Qing era)

[chinoiseriene]

Sancai 三彩 is a versatile type of decoration on Chinese pottery predominantly in the three colours of brown (or amber), green, and white. It is particularly associated with the Tang dynasty (618–907), appearing around 700 AD.

Because the Tang Sancai is unearthed in Luoyang earliest and is found the most there, it is also called "Luoyang Tang Sancai. It was easier and therefore cheaper to make than Chinese porcelain or celadon, and suitable for making large figures.

Sancai travelled along the Silk Road, to be later extensively used in Arab, Cypriot, and Italian pottery from the 13th to the 15th century. Sancai also became a popular style in Japanese and other East Asian ceramic arts, such as Nagayo ware.

Under the Qing dynasty (1644–1910), sancai ware was one of several ancient/medieval Chinese styles revived at a high quality level, reflecting the antiquarian tastes of the emperors.

[sinoheritage]

Chinese dramas x Chinese history

It’s very common to see C-dramas take inspiration from actual historical paintings and artifacts from different dynasties. With some dramas adding a modern twist to them.