Friday 18th May is World Museum Day, a celebration of knowledge-serving institutions that’s been in the calendar since 1977. Museums across China often go big for the day, offering free or discounted entry and holding special events. Our photo theme this week is Masterful Museums — dedicated to showcasing some of the country’s most visually stunning museums.
We’re not sure how much Tetris Rocco Yim and the team at Rocco Design Architects were playing when they pitched their idea for the Guangdong Museum, but we love the result all the same.
This new building (the original museum dated back to 1959) was opened in 2010 and as imposing as it looks by day, it becomes positively decepticon by night, as this image from the museum’s official website shows:
The museum’s collection includes over 160,000 artefacts includes rare ceramics, wood carvings, and bronzes.
Friday 18th May is World Museum Day, a celebration of knowledge-serving institutions that’s been in the calendar since 1977. Museums across China often go big for the day, offering free or discounted entry and holding special events. Our photo theme this week is Masterful Museums — dedicated to showcasing some of the country’s most visually stunning museums.
The Suzhou Museum‘s collection of ancient art and crafts is extensive, and for certain scholars no doubt impressive. But for many visitors the thing about the museum that makes it truly memorable is its fantastic design. For this, we have Pritzker Prize-winning Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei to thank.
Pei was born in Guangzhou and raised in both Hong Kong and Shanghai, and his designs have long drawn inspiration from Suzhou’s gardens (for which the Jiangsu capital is famous, along with is canals and silk). For the museum, which opened in 2006, he put a modern spin on the classical gardens to which tourists flock, including the Humble Administrator’s Garden right next door.
The white-walled, grey-roofed structure echoes the traditional Jiangsu style, while the museum’s buildings are positioned around a central body of water, much like in the compounds constructed by the city’s rich traders in previous generations. It’s a tasteful, understated nod to the past.
Fruit Sister is, alas, nothing to do with Brother Orange, but is actually how Katy Perry is commonly referred to in China. She’s long been known as 水果姐 (shuiguo jie) thanks to her apparent penchant for fruity imagery in her publicity photos and videos.
Her name has soured somewhat on the Mainland in recent months however after her donning of a sunflower dress in Taiwan (where the sunflower is a symbol for movements seeking to protect Taiwanese independence) left a bitter aftertaste in the mouths of the authorities here. Perry was tipped to appear at last year’s mishap-plagued Victoria’s Secret show in Shanghai and also had Mainland China dates for her recent Asia tour on the books, but neither took place after she was refused permits by the government. “Sunflower Sister” issued a note of contrition but it was not to be.
In contrast, Bad Luck Bus has had no problems performing in Mainland China — incredibly even bringing a tour entitled 1989 to the country. Yes, 公交霉 (gongjiaomei), or Bad Luck Bus, is one of a number of nicknames for Perry’s arch-rival Taylor Swift. This is a variation on Tay-Tay’s oft-used Chinese nickname of 霉霉 (mei mei) a homonym for 美美 (beautiful) but using the character for bad luck. Apparently her Chinese fans believe that every time she tops the Hot 100 Billboard charts, the feat is accompanied by some stroke of misfortune, often in her personal life.
So why the public transport reference? Well that comes from slightly more mischievous “fans” of Ms Swift noting the speed and regularity with which she apparently changes boyfriends.
Material cultural heritage — and therefore archaeology, the discipline behind its systematic excavation and analysis — has become increasingly important to China in recent years. At top levels, the Chinese government has been publicly vocal about demanding the repatriation of stolen artifacts, such as an ancient bronze tripod vessel that recently sold for £410,000 (about $555,000 USD) at private auction in the UK. The Chinese government even maintains a website to collect tips on “stolen (lost) cultural relics.”
Archaeological artifacts have also found themselves at the center of a renewed soft power push. In February, CGTN, the English-language branch of state TV network CCTV, launched a video series called “If Treasures Could Talk,” beginning with an imagined soliloquy delivered by a 6,000-year-old head.
On the domestic front, CCTV last year began airing a reality show called National Treasure, which brings together archaeologists, restorers, museum volunteers, and A-list re-enactors in an effort to make China’s millennia of history cool to the kids again. The show is supplemented with a suite of social media and photo app tie-ins, though it’s been accused by journalist Wang Chao of “twisting the truth to chase TV ratings.”
Beyond the hype, China is also investing heavily in actual archaeological research, led by the work of the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing.
CASS launched its first major overseas project in 2014, joining the team of Harvard archaeologist William Fash for a joint dig at the Maya site of Copán in Honduras. More recently, China sent five archaeologists to Saudi Arabia to assist with an excavation at a port on the Red Sea, according to a March report from Xinhua.
Naturally, Chinese archaeologists also have a lot to work with inside their own borders. To give an idea of what the lay of the land looks like, here are the top 10 archaeological finds inside China last year, as reported by CASS’s Institute of Archaeology.
[Editor’s note: The descriptions below were translated and summarized by RADII’s Fan Shuhong from two sources: this Xinhua report and this post on CASS’s official site. We refer to dates with the archaeological standard of BCE/CE (Before Common Era/Common Era), which are numerically equivalent to BC/AD of the Gregorian calendar.]
Yang Guan Zhai Ruins, Gaoling, Shaanxi
Covering an area of over one million square meters, these are ruins from the most prosperous period of the Yangshao culture (ca. 5000-3000 BCE). Preliminary estimates state that the burial site covers an unprecedented 85,000 square meters, and contains over 2,000 graves.
Such a large-scale, organized burial site from Yangshao’s Miaodigou phase (ca. 4000–3500 BCE) provides valuable archeological evidence regarding the rise and spread of this type of grave, as well as the exchange of culture and influence between the Guanzhong Plain and Western China. It also provides clues to help solve the mystery of the settlement patterns and grave structures of the Miaodigou period, a question that has long puzzled archaeologists.
Ruins of Zheng and Han City, Xinzheng, Henan
This is the first time that systematic archaeological excavation has occurred on the city walls of the Zheng and Han capital city ruins since the discovery of the Zheng Gong Tomb near Li Jia Lou in 1923.
A total of 16 roads with carriage tracks, moats, drains, wengcheng (small city walls outside the city gate, or enclosures for defenses outside the city gate), city gates, and drainage pipes have been discovered, providing evidence for “Drainage Gates” mentioned in historical records of the Zheng State (1046–221 BCE) during the Zhou Dynasty. It is the first time that a grid-shaped wengcheng integrated into a defense system dating back to the Warring States Period has been discovered among all of the Eastern Zhou capitals in China’s Central Plain.
Qin and Han Dynasty Ruins of Yueyang City, Xi’an, Shaanxi
In Ancient City #3, several large-scale palace structures were discovered and confirmed. Large quantities of architectural building materials, including copper tiles, ovular pan tiles, blank tiles, animal print tiles, and cloud-print tiles were excavated, coupled with the discovery of partially-underground structures, bath houses, chimneys, and other facilities. Bricks, massive copper tiles, eaves tiles, and other relics discovered at this site are some of the earliest discoveries from Qin Dynasty (ca. 221 BCE) excavations.
Based on these findings, a significant number of building systems in the Qin and Han Dynasties are believed to have originated in Yueyang City.
Investigation and Excavation of Emperor’s Tomb, Eastern Han Dynasty, Luoyang, Henan
The archaeological investigation and excavation of the tomb of an emperor of theEastern Han Dynasty (~ 25 – 220 CE) at Mangshan Mountain has already been running for 15 years. The tomb utilizes both inner- and outer- cemetery systems. The inner cemetery centers around the burial site of the emperor and the queen, with roads surrounding them. The outer cemetery is made up of the main architectural structure, and is concentrated at the northeast side of the inner cemetery.
Many discoveries from this tomb have corresponded to and confirmed literary records from the period.
The first cave ruins of the Paleolithic era were discovered within the borders of Xinjiang Province. Archaeologists believe this site will be important in understanding 40,000 years of evolution of ancient peoples, and in establishing a chronological framework for cultural development in the region.
Among the findings was one of the earliest occurrences of wheat in the archaeological record in this region, a sample of which was carbon-dated to be between 3,500 and 5,000 years old. Discoveries of pottery, bronze, iron, and grindstones show similarities between the Afanasevo culture, the earliest known archaeological culture in Siberia, and the Qiemuer Qieke culture, named after an early Iron Age site near present-day Altay in far northern Xinjiang.
Ruins of Jiao Family, Zhangqiu, Shandong
This is the earliest city yet discovered in the Haidai region of coastal Shandong Province.
The discovery of rammed-earth city walls, a moat, a large number of high-status burials, a large number of jade artifacts, and other features show that this settlement was the center of a city-like tribe during middle-to-late Dawenkou culture (ca. 4100-2600 BCE). The organized housing materials found at this site have helped to fill a gap in knowledge among researchers of living patterns in this time and location.
Ruins of Mountain God Shrine in Baoma City of Jin Dynasty, Antu, Jilin
The ruins of Baoma City have provided new information about the city style of the Jin Dynasty (265-410 CE). It is not a traditional city, but rather is structured similarly to the Chinese character “回”. In recent years, it has become an extremely important site for the study of Jin architecture, thanks to the large, well-preserved, and important structures that have been unearthed there.
Ruins of Yao He Yuan (Yao River Plateau) of Western Zhou, Pengyang, Ningxia
This site has provided rich materials for research of the early Western Zhou Dynasty (ca. 1046 – 771 BCE). One of the biggest finds here has been an ash pit with seven oracle bones, inscribed with a total of 35 characters. This is the furthest northwest that oracle bone script — the earliest evidence of writing in China — has been discovered. This site is currently the only Western Zhou city that has been discovered in northwestern China.
Ruins of Da Shang Qing Daoist Temple on Longhu Mountain, Yingtan, Jiangxi
This is, to date, the largest, highest-grade, clearest, and most abundant Royal Taoist Temple that has been discovered. It is being seen as a significant breakthrough in the archaeology of Chinese religion.
Estuary Ruins of Sunken Silver, Pengshan, Sichuan
This is currently the largest-scale inland underwater archaeological project in China, and uses a raft of new drainage methods and technology. Artifacts from the site date to the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty (ca. 1368–1644), and come from Henan to the north, Guangzhou and Guangxi to the south, Sichuan to the west, and Jiangxi to the east.
Some Chinese names for European and American celebs need some tortuous explanation. Some really don’t.
Kanye’s most common Chinese nickname is 侃爷 (conveniently pronounced kanye), which can be translated in a number of different ways but is usually taken to mean big or grand talker. Can’t think why this applies to Mr West.
You don’t have to agree with trump but the mob can’t make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don’t agree with everything anyone does. That’s what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.
To give him his due, you could if you wanted also translate 侃爷 as “straight-talking grandpa” though. Side note: Kim Kardashian is known in Chinese as 金大妈 (jin dama, or “auntie gold”.
Not sure if this has always been the case or if Baidu is just throwing shade in light of some of his recent interviews and comments, but when we went to double check the translation for kan ye on the Chinese internet giant’s language service, here’s what they served:
Ye-ouch.
Cover photo: Kanye West on stage in Shanghai, 2008 (photo: Jake Newby).
Rihanna is most commonly referred to in China as 蕾哈娜 (lei ha na), a straight up transliteration of her name. But that’s boring. Far more interesting is a lesser-used but still fairly popular nickname for the singer: 山东天后 (Shandong tianhou), or Queen of Shandong.
How did she come to be crowned the ruler of an eastern province in China? It goes back to her 2011 single “We Found Love”, which fans in China took to referring to as 潍坊的爱 wei fang de ai — Weifang sounding like “we found” and 爱 being the character for “love”. Weifang is also a city in Shandong province.
When RiRi released “Where Have You Been” not long afterwards, some Chinese netizens took to calling it 威海油饼 Weihai you bing — Weihai also being a city in Shandong and youbing being a type of breakfast pancake.
Such apparent love for cities in Shandong cemented her as the province’s “Queen” (though we’re still holding out for her to appear in a Tsingtao commercial). And then the whole thing seemed to reach its apex when Rihanna arrived at the Met Gala in 2015 wearing a dress from Beijing designer Guo Pei, which Chinese Weibo users were quick to liken to a 煎饼 jianbing, another type of breakfast pancake (pictured up top).
