The Flying Dragon of XiAn - Report Example

The Flying Dragon of Xi’An Introduction to the Chinese Spirit The first look at the gilt bronze Flying Dragon in the Shaanxi History Museum of Xi’An makes one gasp for breath. Its beauty is beyond amazing and its grace is beyond divine. China has had many incarnations of lovely dragons throughout its history, and they are embedded in the mythic history of China as one half of the deity pair of dragon and phoenix, usually paired when seen in Chinese art. The Phoenix always dies in the fire she cannot resist, but rises again from the ashes. Searching the Internet for Chinese dragons will bring up a myriad of wonderful creatures. However, this dragon is uniquely lyrical and flowing, fanciful and strong, yet minimalist in many ways. His body is willowy thin and appears to move, even in pictures of the object. Formal Analysis The artist who created this loved this dragon, yet would have feared him also, not from the character of the dragon, as he is benevolent, which can be seen in his face, but from his sheer power and status. The face is strong with streamlined features, many sharp angles and imposing jaw and teeth. The tongue is culred, hinting at playfullness, as in a dog. There is even a small resemblance to the much prized Pekingese dog in the flattened forehead and small snout (for a dragon). The dragon is depicted in a downward flying stance, and the viewer can imagine that his front feet do not touch the ground and he dives on about a 45 degree angle with his body flowing behind him waving like a snake or a swimming eel. Tilting the picture makes this easy to see. The dragon’s rear legs trail almost straight up with his feet on the surface of the display cabinet or table, but in flight they would be only slightly tilted up at maybe 7-9 degrees more. The tail tilts even more. This is how the artist is showing us his speed. He is diving fast and the wind is lifting his hind legs and tail. However, if he was not entitled Flying Dragon, he might be imagined as dancing as gracefully as any creature created. Here, on the right in the hands of a worker placing him once again in the museum after the Beijing Olympics, he looks almost alive (Anonymousa). The curved body is punctuated in key areas, such as the snout, the top of the head, the arch of the neck, the base of the tail and the tops of the feet by sharp curly appendages, perhaps fins or maybe only feathers. This is a fancy decoration showing off his best points. The very pronounced sharp elbow might be functional and even dangerous in a fight, and they do look formidable. However, they seem to be oddly places for defence or offence, except for those on his feet. The very slender body is perfectly balanced, so that it can stand on the two fanciful three clawed feet. At 34 x 28 cm. (13 1⁄2 x 11 in.) The dragon is not a miniature, and might dominate even a large room, due to its gilt bronze color and its unique beauty. It is probably rather heavy for so slender a statue. The texture of the dragon is mostly smooth with some stylized grooving in patterns to accentuate certain features, such as the jowls, eyebrows, elbow and other pointed places and the hint of horns at the rear portion of the top of his head. There is also stylized coloring of the gilt to simulate scales. They are almost like tattoos in subtle colors that don’t stand out against the gold, but give it texture. Various dyes were added to the gilt to make those very subtle patterns. The gilt itself was applied to bronze with the use of mercury, which meant that those doing this process of applying gold leaf to bronze seldom lived past forty due to the toxic fumes. This dragon was probably as unique in his time of creation as he is today. It is hard to imagine anything that could patch him. China has many wonderfully beautiful treasures of art, but in this author’s opinion, none better than this. Contextual Analysis One of the most interesting sources of information on the Tang Dynasty is the many documentaries made by CCTV International in Beijing. While these government supported documentaries are a bit like propaganda for dissemination to foreign countries, they are also factual, though some of the less praiseworthy factors are ignored. One of the commentators for the series New Frontier: Chinese Civilization is Ji Xiaojun, a well-known commentator and host on CCTV English Channel 9 in Beijing, and he is respected enough that he can take on very controversial issues on national television within China (personal interviews with friends who spent years in Beijing 2014) Therefore he is considered to be reliably honest. In the two episodes: The Tang Dynasty Part 1 and Part 2, the history of the Tang Dynasty is covered in a very clear fashion (Mashpedia.com, 2014). The Sui Dynasty reunited China after a number of centuries of disassociated city-state and strong man rulers and established the first recorded set of national laws. They were very much admired as they tended to be benevolent and almost democratic. Many people benefitted from the laws, the prosperity and even changes in how laws were enforced. However, a benevolent emperor eventually dies, and is not necessarily succeeded by someone as good and kind. The following Tang Dynasty only lasted about 300 years, but it ushered in a renaissance era for the whole region based upon the flowering of Chinese civilization (Anonymousb). The Tang Dynasty was a time of great development in China mostly based upon the Great Canal system that joined the country north to south where it had only been connected before for transportation east to west. Chang An (the renamed Xi’An) became perhaps the largest city in the known world, and the center of Chinese culture and trade in the region from Iraq to Turkey via the Silk Road. Many foreigners came through Chang An, and some became respected members of the government. Discrimination was forbidden and actually served no cause in such prosperous times. During this time the economy boomed, government and law developed to a cosmopolitan level and arts and crafts flourished (Leigh 2004, 48). It was about a third of the way through this era when the Flying Dragon was cast. In looking at other sculptures of the same era the fluid lyrical body styles are evident in depictions of animals, though not of people. Evidence for whether or not the artist who created this casting was the innovator who started this style or merely an excellent adopter of it was not found. In fact, little about this particular work of art was found. The very slender flowing animal body styles seem to only appear from the Tang Dynasty forward, so it probably was invented then. The presence of other works that are similar in body style suggests it was popular, and this work stands on its own very visible merits. The popularity of dragons in Chinese folklore is well known, but the flying dragons were seen to be immortals, and possibly gods (Leigh 2004, 48). It is probable that this work was created for someone high in Chinese society, possibly the emperor himself, which was Xuanzong is also known as Ming Huang, "Brilliant Emperor, or a high official or family member (Ji 2003, 10). While this time was one of great leaps forward for China, and things were really good by comparison with previous eras in China, for the economy, business, art and culture, law, trade, the people as a whole, this was based upon consumption, mostly by those in high places. Ordinary people could not afford art if they wanted it, though most people who lived above subsistence level did decorate and did crafts and exchanged with others (Lopes ). Bronze casting was a long laborious process, requiring many workers. The artist was only one, though the one most necessary. Sadly the process of gilding shortened their lives, which is probably why we learn so little about the artists. Conclusion This project required a great deal of research, most of which yielded little or nothing. Many sources were used, but it seems that very little is known about this sculpture, except that it dates to 750 AD. It is bronze gilt with gold, so the process of gilding may have made the artist’s life very short. In any case nothing was found in any of six databases checked concerning this extravagantly gorgeous Flying Dragon. Since I will never be rich enough to won this, it goes on the list of things for which I want to buy a legal copy, perhaps not in the original materials. It would not be for investment, which is tough enough with the real thing, but rather for simple pleasure. It is a shame there are so few figures like this. Bibliography "Beauty show ----- China Olympic 2008, Olympic, Beijing Olympic,China Culture: Tang Dynasty Treasures.", accessed 4/10/2014, 2014, http://jaja0359.blogspot.ca/2008/01/tang-dynasty-treasures.html. "Tang Dynasty - Top Videos.", accessed 4/10/2014, 2014, http://www.mashpedia.com/Tang_dynasty. Ji, ZhangSiggins, Jeff. 2003. "Chinas Only Ruling EMPRESS." Calliope 14 (3): 10. Leigh, Bobbie. 2004. "Artistic Awakening." Art & Antiques 27 (10): 48. Lopes, R. Oliveira. "From Artistic Sophistication to Technical Virtuosity. the Symbolic Patterns and Bronze Casting Techniques in Ancient China." .   Read More