HEAVEN AND EARTH IN CHINESE ART: TREASURES FROM THE NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM, TAIPEI - TAASA Review December 2018

HEAVEN AND EARTH IN CHINESE ART: TREASURES FROM THE NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM, TAIPEI – TAASA Review December 2018

UNLOCK THIS ARTICLE

This article was originally found in the December 2018 edition of TAASA Review (Volume 27, Issue 4, Page 9).

The full article is available for free to TAASA Members.

Yin Cao H eaven and earth in Chinese art: treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is an exhibition organised around the Chinese philosophical concept of tian ren he yi (harmony between heaven and humans), which will be shown at the Art Gallery of NSW between 2 February and 5 May 2019.

The exhibition explores the ways heaven, earth and nature have been represented in art over 5000 years of Chinese history, from the Neolithic period (c12000-1500 BCE) to the 19th century. Celadon warming bowl in the shape of a lotus blossom, Northern Song late 11th to early 12th centuries/Song dynasty 960ï¿½1279, porcelain, ru ware, 10.4cm (h),16.2cm (rim diameter) The concept of tian ren he yi has been cherished by Chinese philosophers and scholars since Dong Zhongshu (179-104 BCE) proposed it during the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) more than two millennia ago.

Tian refers to heaven and earth, nature or the universe; ren is human beings; and he yi can literally be translated as combined as one entity'...