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2012年9月12日 星期三

Off to Xian 5 (Xian Museum 「西安博物院」2)

Another part of the collection at the Xian Museum concerns not stones, tiles, bricks and pottery but metal ware and ornaments and calligraphy.



A gold coin of the Holy Roman Empire centred on Constantinople (present day Instanbul)  found in Xian in1980's during the period of North Wei (AD 386-534). Who'd expect to find some such coins in Xian nearly 17 centuries ago !



Some gold coins in the Western Han period  (206 BCE -- 8 AD ) even earlier than those in the above photo. These were found in 1999, probably something brought in by the Silk Road merchants into China: Chinese coins were seldom minted in a round shape.



Another pile of coins in the Western Han found in 陝西.



Various copper or gold metalware of the Western Han period



A golden lamb-shape oil lamp of the Western Han period found in 陝西鳳翔縣



A flattened bronze flask of the Western Han period collected in 1977



A copper jewellery casket of the Western Han dynasty found in 2003 at the Yanta District 芙蓉園 of Xian



A row of mat weights  (席鎮) in different form: dragon, birds and frogs



This is a snake-body animal head chimera Tang Dynasty mat weight for holding down one of the corners of mats (席鎮)



Another one



More mat corner weights



Another one



A Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD)  partitioned plate



A Tang Dynasty plate depicting a noble lady playing the lute found in Xian in 1968



Another Tang dynasty bowl with floral and bird pattern found in 1977



A Tang dynasty saucer for tea cups with floral pattern found in 1977



A Tang dynasty dou for collecting scraps (渣斗)



A Tang dynasty gold chain



To the left an Eastern Zhou auspicious animal figure (瑞獸) found in Shenxi and to the right a Tang dynasty dragon found in 1979



A Ming dynasty jade charm (玉辟邪)  to the left and a Ming dynasty Qilin (麒麟) found in Xian in 1972. 辟邪 is a mythical beast like a deer with two horns with a long tail and is otherwise known as 貔貅, with a big mouth but without anus and therefore it is believed that it will help its owner to accumulate wealth and good fortune. A Qilin has the head of a dragon, the body of horse,, the temperament of a deer, the tail of an ox, with hairs of five colors on its back and a belly of yellow hair. If it has one horn it's called Qi (麒) and if it has no horn, it's called lin (麟). It is believed to be able to throw flames from its mouth, and howl like thunder and is a symbol of peace and goodness and would appear only when a saintly person is born.



A Western Han square flask in gold and silver (錯金銀鈁) found at 蓮湖區南小巷 in 1964.



A closer view of some of the hooked cloud-lines on its surface



Children playing on the smooth marble surface at the entrance hall with their mother



The introduction to the calligraphy exhibition on the first floor exhibition hall filled with different ways of writing the
Chinese character "blessing" (福) by a hundred different caligraphers in different
calligraphic styles



The first four exhibits



Some of the characters



More "blessings"



Even more "blessings".



Even more



A closer view of some of the "blessings"



This one is by 蔣軍



This blessing is from 李德君



This one is by 越安志



This one is by (?)



This one is by 邢戈



This one is by 楊建忠



This one is by 任耀宇



This one by 郭德雙



This one is by 楊文業

This is really an eye opener for me. I never knew the character could be written in so many different styles !

(To be con'td)


8 則留言:

  1. Have you brought some gold coins as souvenirs for your friends, such as Bak Liu?
    [版主回覆09/13/2012 06:27:16]I know that for friends such like Bak Liu, money is like floating clouds. That's why I wouldn't waste my time to catch the clouds.

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  2. 好LIKE 那些 字 呢
    [版主回覆09/13/2012 06:28:31]Yes, it's amazing how many different styles the words could be written.

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  3. Do you think it is a deliberate way of displaying the relics? The museum seems so empty!
    [版主回覆09/13/2012 15:38:27]There were much more exhibits than I showed in my photos. Perhaps that's why I gave the impression that the museum is "empty". According to what I discovered from their official website, they got more than 130,000 exhibits. By exhibiting a small number at a time, they can be sure of keeping their jobs for a really long time !.

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  4. 西安有一個很珍貴的書法展覽館: 碑林。 你有去看看嗎?
    [版主回覆09/13/2012 06:32:25]We didn't have time to do so. What a pity !

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  5. We bought two stone貔貅at one of the historic city walls in Xian. Now my health and good fortune depend entirely on the blessing from these two mascots! Keeping my fingers crossed!
    [版主回覆09/13/2012 10:41:31]It's good you think that way ! Whatever else the two 貔貅 will do, they have certainly brought you peace of mind !

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  6. Those gold jewellery design is even better than the modern one! Amazing craftmenship!
    [版主回覆09/14/2012 04:16:15]They must be because gold ornaments were reserved only for very rich officials or members of the imperial court who would have nothing but the best !

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  7. Very interesting indeed!
    [版主回覆09/14/2012 09:22:01]I was quite surprised by what I found too!

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  8. d 金餅錢貨又真喺 "好金" 喎! ~~~~~~ d "福"又多又得意!
    [只微回覆09/14/2012 20:34:39]哈哈! 都覺得喺!
    [版主回覆09/14/2012 20:17:33]The Chinese is a very practical race. They're only concerned about two things: money and blessings.

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