The relationship between traditional Chinese art and modern design

Chinese Culture and Modern Design

There are two books in ancient China that have been acclaimed by the world as reflecting the influence of Chinese culture on design. One is the pre-Qin period's Kaogongji, and the other is Tiangongkaiwu, which has been hailed by foreign researchers as China's 17th-century encyclopedia of craftsmanship.

The author of "Kaogongji" and the date of completion of the book is not known, generally believed to be the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, completed by the hands of the Qi people. Tian Gong Kai Wu is the masterpiece of Song Ying Xing (1587-1663), a great scientist of the Ming Dynasty in China, first published in Chongzhen ten years (1637). Both are ancient Chinese scientific and technological texts that have had, and continue to have, an impact on the world, and are exemplary works that combine Chinese culture with scientific design thinking. The influence of the Kaogongji and the Tian Gong Kai Wu on subsequent generations is enough to make our jaws drop. Around the time of the Tang Dynasty, the Zhouli came to Japan; in the 1850s, it was translated into French, and the Kao Gongji spread to Japan and the West. Now it has been noticed and emphasized by more foreign scholars. According to incomplete statistics, as of 1989, 16 editions of the book "Tian Gong Kai Wu" have been issued worldwide*** and printed 38 times.

We will continue to discuss the influence of Chinese culture on modern design by combining these two books.

The Book of the Examiner has been called "the book of the hundred craftsmen of the pre-Qin Dynasty", and the Book of the Examiner that we see today appeared as a part of the Rites of the Zhou - the Rites of the Zhou - the Examiner's Records of the Winter Officials. The book of "Zhou Rites" originally had six official records, i.e., "Heavenly Official Tsukazai", "Earthly Official Situ", "Spring Official Zongbo", "Summer Official Sima", and "Autumn Official Crown". The "Heavenly Official Tsukazai", "Earthly Official Situ", "Spring Official Zongbo", "Summer Official Sima", "Autumn Official Si Guan", and "Winter Official Sikong". But "winter official Sikong" early anonymous. It is said that the Western Han Dynasty, Hetian King Liu De cultivation good ancient, like to collect pre-Qin classics, for the purchase of this, had to spend thousands of gold and can not be, had no choice but to "Kao Gong Ji" to make up for it. This book originally has no name, the name of "kao gong ji" is also the handwriting of the Han dynasty, and then by the hands of Liu Xin father and son, only to get the present book. The "Kao Gong Ji" was included in the ancient Chinese "three rites" one of the "Zhou Li", is enough to show that the Chinese ancient people have paid attention to the traditional culture and modern science and technology of the intermingling of each other.

The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period was an important period of social change in ancient China, in which agriculture, handicrafts, commerce, and science and technology all developed greatly. In the handicraft industry, on the one hand, the original operation process was more pure; on the other hand, many new processes were produced. The division of labor is also more refined, "Kao Gong Ji" there are "attack the wood of the work of seven", "attack the gold of the work of six", "attack the skin of the work of five" and so on, indicating that in each profession, but also refined out of the The records show that in each specialty, there were also different types of work. At this time, before the Spring and Autumn Period, the pattern of "industry and commerce eat government" has been broken, in addition to the government handicrafts, and the emergence of many private individual handicrafts. Due to the deepening of social change, culture and education, science and technology began to popularize in the people, so "the disciples of Confucius and Mozambique were all over the world", and academic thinking was more active than ever, showing a hundred schools of thought contending for supremacy. Many scholars paid more attention to practice and cared about the progress of society and the development of production technology, and some outstanding scholars and technological inventors such as Lu Ban, Mo Zhai and Li Bing came into being. They closely integrated Chinese culture with science and technology, and through scientific design, many crafts and technologies were improved and enhanced, thus enabling the great development of social productivity.

China's I Ching, the earliest scientific summary of the Chinese people's understanding of the world, the so-called know astronomy, know geography, is the process of progress in understanding the world. But this understanding has never stopped and has been deepened in the course of development. The invention of the compass is the pride of the Chinese people, the original compass, the ancients called it "Sinan", this kind of Sinan about the Warring States period has appeared. Sinan consists of a bronze ground and a magnetic spoon. Ground 17.8 × 17.4 cm, inside the circle and outside the square, the center of the round surface concave, round outside the disk surface layered casting 10 heavenly stems, twelve earthly branches, four trigrams, marking twenty-four directions. Magnetic spoon length 11.5 cm, caliber 4.2 cm, ground with natural magnets, placed in the center of the earth circle, spoon head for the N, spoon tail for the S, when stationary, due to the role of geomagnetism, the spoon tail pointing to the south. Sinan design, not only exquisite, but also fully embodies the traditional Chinese culture of yin and yang ideas.

With a beautifully designed compass, so that the Chinese people's geographic activities and the scope of the ability to greatly enhance and expand, so, under the guidance of the I Ching culture, the Chinese people began the exploration of the universe, resulting in a beautifully designed armillary sphere. The armillary sphere is an ancient coordinate instrument for determining the position of celestial bodies, which has been manufactured in all dynasties since the Han Dynasty. The base of the instrument is cross level, and the instrument is divided into three layers: the outer layer is the "Hexagram", which determines the time of the day and the latitude and longitude; the middle layer is the "Three Stars", which determines the position of the four seasons of the year and the sun, the moon and the stars; and the inner layer is the "Four Traveling Instruments", which is equipped with a telescope so as to determine the position of the heavenly bodies. The middle layer was the "Three Stars Instrument" to determine the four seasons of the year and the positions of the sun, moon and stars; the inner layer was the "Four Travels Instrument" with a telescope to spy on the target. The armillary sphere was made of copper. The invention of the armillary sphere is not only a scientific progress, but also a breakthrough in design. Chinese ancient people to the determination of time and space, focused on a small armillary sphere, which itself is the embodiment of modern systems theory design thinking.

The Han Dynasty not only designed and manufactured the armillary sphere, but also designed and manufactured the armillary sphere. The armillary sphere is an ancient celestial globe, which has been manufactured in all dynasties since the Han Dynasty. Instrument under the ground for the cabinet, on the latitude and longitude ring gauge, the gauge in the set of Hunxiang ball, half in the ground. Cabinet axis of 35 degrees, is the geographic latitude of Bianjing (now Kaifeng, Henan). The surface of the ball listed the positions of the stars and hosts in the universe for observation. The armillary sphere is the same as the armillary sphere, are copper body.

In the hands of the Yuan Dynasty astronomer Guo Shoujing, the many shortcomings in the design of the armillary sphere, to improve the science, design and manufacture of simple devices, the utility of a wider range of simple instrument. It was 470 centimeters long, 328 centimeters wide, and 310 centimeters high. The simple instrument broke through the shortcomings of the interlaced rings of the armillary sphere, which were inconvenient to observe, and the rings were erected separately, which made it simple to assemble and easy to use, and it was the most advanced astronomical instrument in the world at that time. Guo Shoujing, the designer and manufacturer of the simple instrument, designed and made the simple instrument at the same time, but also designed and manufactured thirteen kinds of astronomical instruments.

The Chinese interest in exploring the universe intensified during the Ming and Qing dynasties, so the Ming government established the National Observatory in Beijing, which the ancients called the Observatory. The ancient observatory of the Ming and Qing dynasties was set up on the city wall in the southeast corner of the inner city of Beijing. It was built in the seventh year of Zhengtong of the Ming Dynasty (1442 A.D.), and later the Qing Dynasty government added and repaired it, making it the national observatory of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The height of the platform is 14 meters, and the top of the platform is 20.4 meters long from north to south and 23.9 meters long from east to west. Instruments designed and manufactured during the Ming Dynasty were either destroyed or moved to other places (simple instruments, armillary sphere, etc.). Existing equatorial latitude and longitude instrument, celestial instrument, quadrant instrument, ecliptic latitude and longitude instrument, geodesic instrument, geodesic instrument, the limit of the instrument, guihengfu Chen Yi *** eight astronomical instruments are designed and manufactured in the early years of the Qing Dynasty.

The above evidence of several cases related to astronomy, indicating that traditional Chinese culture has been intertwined with the development of science and technology, mutual influence and mutual promotion. In the practice of struggling with nature, the ancient Chinese produced the great I Ching culture, which has been influencing the development and progress of all aspects of Chinese society. The achievements of the ancient Chinese in astronomy, to some extent, thanks to the I Ching culture, is the I Ching culture for the ancients to guide a correct understanding of the universe of the road, so that the Chinese ancient people have a brilliant achievements in astronomy and design results.

The influence of I-Ching culture on the development of Chinese society goes far beyond the above examples, such as the influence of I-Ching on Chinese medicine, is known to all ****. Chinese medicine speaks of the complementarity of yin and yang, speak of yin and yang and the five elements of the phases, are derived from the culture of the I Ching. Accordingly, Chinese medicine also produced meridian science, and invented acupuncture technology, acupuncture technology is the treasure in the treasure house of Chinese medicine. According to the ancient Chinese meridian theory, meridians are located in all parts of the human body, and have the function of transporting the whole body's qi and blood, and communicating with the upper and lower parts of the body, as well as the inner and outer parts of the body. Acupuncture points are the control organs of the meridian system, and stimulation of acupuncture points can regulate the meridian system. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Chinese ancient people designed the "Heavenly Sage Acupuncture Bronze Man", the bronze man's body has a total of 657 acupuncture points, the name of 354 points. Tian Sheng acupuncture bronze man is the world's earliest design of the human body model, pioneered the application of the human body model for diagnosis, treatment and teaching of the precedent, in the history of the world's medical science are of great significance. Today, human beings engage in "simulation of human", with computer synthesis means, designed as three-dimensional graphics, to assist in the diagnosis of disease, treatment, in a sense, and the ancient Chinese medicine meridian theory and "acupuncture bronze", have the same effect.

Traditional Chinese culture has always had a heavy agricultural thinking, under the guidance of this heavy agricultural thinking, the design and manufacture of Chinese agricultural production tools, but also for the world of science and technology historians pay attention to. 1950 Huixian, Henan Province, solid around the village excavated iron hoe during the Warring States period, is a reasonably well-designed, beautifully styled handicraft products. The iron hoe is 10 centimeters long, 10.5 centimeters wide and 2 centimeters apart. This shape of iron hoe, after installing the handle is conducive to the use, not only can hoe grass, but also conducive to moisture retention. The keel waterwheel invented and designed by Bi Lan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, also known as the overturning wagon, is a kind of farmland irrigation tool. It was later perfected and popularized by Ma Jun of the Three Kingdoms. It consists of transmission shaft, square chain plate, carriage and other parts. It was first powered by human power, and later expanded to utilize animal power, water power and wind power. The keel waterwheel is well-designed, easy to make, high efficiency of water lifting, has been used until now.

Since the compass, ancient China's navigation technology, has been in the world in a leading position, the Ming Dynasty, three eunuchs Zheng He led the flotilla, in A.D. 1405-1433 years, seven times to the West. The fleet's largest sea length of 44 feet 4 feet, 18 feet wide, nine masts, hanging twelve sails, which was the world's largest design and manufacture of wooden sailing ships. This wooden sailing ship in navigation using a water compass.

Paper-making technology, is one of the great contributions of the Chinese people on the world civilization, with the continuous progress of science and technology, paper-making technology in ancient China is also more and more exquisite, after the Tang Dynasty, designed and manufactured by the dark flower dragon Xuanpaper, to the Qing Dynasty, more perfect, the Qing Dynasty production of the dark flower dragon Xuanpaper, longitudinal 64 centimeters, 133.5 centimeters across, is a beautifully designed, easy to use calligraphy and painting Xuanpaper.

Gunpowder is another great contribution of the Chinese to world civilization, for the use of gunpowder, the Chinese ancients are not all fireworks salute, but also used in actual combat. Southern Song Li Zong Kaiqingyuan year (1259 AD), the Song army designed and invented the sudden gunpowder gun, is a kind of tubular firearms. The gun was made of a huge bamboo tube, which was filled with gunpowder and bullets. When the fuse was lit, the gunpowder would erupt and the bullets would be shot out, with a range of up to 150 paces (about 230 meters). This is the world's first rifle to fire bullets. 1970 July in Heilongjiang Province, A County, half of the Lacheng sub-county unearthed the Ming Dynasty "copper fire out of the water" firearms, is the earliest surviving copper cannon. Copper cannon by the front chamber, medicine room and tail handle composition, can be hand-held. The total weight of 3.55 kilograms, the cannon is small and lightweight, soldiers can carry a single person, ignite the fuse after the explosion launched in the actual battle proved to have considerable power. Ming Dynasty people also designed and invented a fire chariot, 120 long, 52 wide, 87 centimeters high. This is a kind of unicycle loading rockets chariot, before the sheep curtain, when needed, can be put down to block the lead bullet, the car set up on both sides of the six tube rockets, counting 160, two cannons, two lances, this chariot operated by two people. Later, the Ming Dynasty people designed and invented a 108-centimeter-long rockets, in front of the arrow bound gunpowder cartridges, the use of gunpowder to the back of the reaction force generated by the ejection of arrows fired out. This is the world's first jet firearms.

In the long process of history, the ever-prosperous Chinese culture, and the ever-advancing science and technology, has always been closely integrated, thus creating one miracle after another for the world civilization. These inventions not only have a high scientific and practical value, but also have a high artistic value of the design results. This is the wonderful place where Chinese culture and science and technology are intertwined.

Han Meilin believes that the success of art lies in the "root". This root is the root of the Chinese nation, which has experienced the precipitation of thousands of years of history, y rooted in the hearts of every child of China, whether we recognize it or not, it is in the subtle influence on our aesthetic and creative outlook. Roots of art can flourish and grow strong, no roots of art is ultimately just a leaf of duckweed, a short-lived flower, can not withstand the sculpture of time. The root of art is rooted in the colorful life, rooted in the excellent national culture of our nation for thousands of years. Therefore, life and ethnicity are two indispensable factors for artistic creation. Han Meilin said: national culture and art, is the mother of every Chinese artist.

Han Meilin believes that in order to reach the world level of art, it is necessary to rely on the national tradition plus modern consciousness. The day of the world's artistic commonwealth is the day of the world's artistic doom. In absorbing the relationship between Chinese and Western art traditions, we must correct the position of the two. Combine the Chinese and the Western, with the Chinese as the main focus. Combining the ancient and the modern, with the modern as the main focus. The combination of source and stream, with the source as the main source. This is not conservative or rigid, but a very dialectical materialist and historical materialist point of view.

Confidence in the culture of the entire Chinese nation has put Han Meilin's art on the road to success. The emblem he designed for China's Beijing Olympic bid is a classic design that perfectly combines traditional Chinese culture with modern design thinking. Han Meilin said: the design of any pattern logo, the most critical is simple and clear, competent and easy to understand, but also has a deeper connotation and does not fall into the commonplace, which is in front of each designer's problem. The success of the Beijing Olympic emblem logo is the concentrated embodiment of this design thinking.

The Beijing Olympic logo is a five-pointed star shaped by the five colors of the five Olympic rings: blue, black, red, yellow and green, and looped together with the Chinese handicrafts of the "pan long" way, which represents the traditional Chinese 'Chinese knot'. This represents the traditional Chinese 'Chinese knot', and also symbolizes the unity, collaboration, exchange, development, and joining hands of the five continents of the world in the new century. The overall graphic also resembles a human figure playing taijiquan, which is the spiritual embodiment of China's ancient traditional sports culture. Although Beijing's successful bid for the Olympic Games has become history, but its success, we can not help but say that this has a distinctive national characteristics of the design program, played a strong visual impact role.

Not only Han Meilin and Jin Daiqiang, but also many other artists and designers who do not have the impatience to chase after money as their goal, are exploring and exploring for China's modern art and design with their own sense of mission and responsibility in today's global Americanization. Although still arduous, still bitter, but is a self-sustaining in the world of national forest of the great national culture and art, the road to the world.