Eight Pillars of the Orchid Pavilion – Jiandu (Calligraphy on Bamboo Strips)
Dai Yuzhou
戴裕洲
Production date
2014
Object Detail
Media
bamboo, ink
Measurements
2 pieces, each 102 x 50 cm & 6 pieces, each 72 x 64.5 cm
Notes
Dai Yuzhou’s ‘Eight Pillars of the Orchid Pavilion Series’ evidences his thorough research in Chinese art history and his diligent study of calligraphy and seal carving. It represents one of the most significant calligraphy works in Chinese history ---- ‘The Preface to the Orchid Pavilion’ by the ‘Sage of Calligraphy’, Wang Xizhi (303-361AD). Reflecting on the cultural tradition of venerating artistic antecedents, the artist includes a reference to the Pavilion of ‘Zuo Shi Lin Liu’ or ‘the Stone Resting in the Running Water’, a historical remnant in Zhongshan Park from Yuanmingyuan (the Old Summer Palace in Beijing). During Emperor Qianlong’s renovation, its wooden structures have been replaced by eight magnificent steles, each engraved with a distinctive copy of ‘The Preface to the Orchid Pavilion’ by a significant scholar or calligrapher from the Tang to Qing dynasties, namely ‘Eight Pillars of the Orchid Pavilion’. Presented as a beautiful visual pun, the ‘Jiandu' consists of eight framed versions of ‘The Preface to the Orchid Pavilion’ and each is written on separate bamboo slips, called 'Jiandu', in unique calligraphic styles that were used before Wang Mang’s Xin Dynasty (9-23AD); for the 'Zhuanke', the artist cut one piece of Balin stone into eight seals and engraved extracts from the poem referring scripts on stele inscriptions dominated during the Six Dynasties period (220/222-589AD). Juxtaposing eight different ways of writing lexically the same character in each body of work, Dai Yuzhou invites today’s audiences to appreciate the ‘qi’ (spirit and energy) of Chinese antecedents preserved in those graceful and skilful strokes.
Accession number
2014.108.a