What are the characteristics of China culture reflected in the torch and medal design of the Beijing Olympic Games?

From 2005 to 2008, the design team of the Olympic Art Research Center of the Central Academy of Fine Arts participated in the bidding for the image and landscape design of the Beijing Olympic Games series, and successfully bid for many Olympic design projects, such as medal design, standard design of the main emblem of the Beijing Olympic Games, sports icon design of the Beijing Olympic Games, and core graphic design of the Beijing Olympic Games (in cooperation with Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts).

BOCOG put forward two requirements for all Olympic image and landscape design projects: to have China characteristics, and to be different from previous Olympic image and landscape design.

Therefore, the combination of China's traditional culture and the Olympic spirit has become the first consideration for every unit and individual participating in the bid. In fact, the vast majority of bidding schemes also try to explain the understanding of the image of the Beijing Olympic Games with China traditional artistic symbols.

The medals of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are 70 mm in diameter and 6 mm in thickness. The creativity of the medal is taken from the ancient jade carving with dragon pattern in China, which embodies the values and sense of honor of the Chinese nation since ancient times. The front of the medal is designed by the International Olympic Committee, that is, the standing goddess of victory and the panoramic image of Panathinaiko Arena in Greece. The back of the medal is inlaid with jade, and the emblem of the Beijing Olympic Games is engraved on the metal pattern in the middle. The medal hook evolved from the traditional Yulong Puwenhuang in China. China, the medal of Beijing Olympic Games, has a strong personality and noble and elegant artistic style, which harmoniously combines China culture with the Olympic spirit.

The basic concept of medals comes from jade culture in China. The ancients in China believed that jade is a mysterious substance that combines the aura of heaven and earth with the essence of nature, and can connect heaven, earth and people. Therefore, in ancient times, jade was always used as a sacrificial vessel for grand ceremonies. Confucianism has always had the tradition that "a gentleman is more valuable than jade". Hiding the ceremony in a vessel, the noble meaning of the ceremony and the symbolic meaning of China's gentleman's personality become the basic pillar of the medal design thought of Beijing Olympic Games.

The sports icon of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is based on the structure of seal script, which not only has the pictographic interest of ancient Oracle Bone Inscriptions in China, but also has the simplified characteristics of modern graphics. In China, "seal script" means "round turn", which is round and smooth, beautiful and elegant, and combines rigidity and softness, reflecting the essence and charm of China's traditional aesthetics. It not only meets the simplified requirements of easy identification, easy memory and easy use of sports icons, but also condenses the sports characteristics and rich cultural connotations of sports icons through its unique morphological dynamics, and achieves the harmonious unity of form and meaning.

The sports icons of Beijing Olympic Games also have the application form of "rubbings", which express the sports beauty that challenges the limit with strong black and white contrast. We put forward a view that an important feature of China's traditional art is to emphasize the realm of neutralization, so the best balance between rigidity and softness and the combination of motion and static has become the big principle of sports icon design, without putting the so-called sports passion in the first place.

The torch relay graphics, torch relay symbols, torch relay colors, torch relay fonts and torch relay slogans of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games together constitute the image and landscape foundation of the torch relay of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The design principle of the torch relay graphics of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games requires coordination with the overall image and landscape of Beijing Olympic Games. At first, we tried to add some traditional elements to the original auspicious clouds. Finally, we chose Phoenix, a traditional totem with the longest history and most familiar to China people. After consulting a large number of phoenix patterns in past dynasties, we finally chose the phoenix pattern on the dragon robe of Qin Liangyu, a royal gift from Chongzhen, which was collected in Chongqing Three Gorges Museum. The next task is how to combine the auspicious cloud pattern with the phoenix pattern skillfully. We use the method of overlapping phoenix patterns between auspicious clouds to create a visual effect of alternating reality and reality, which is also true and illusory.