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China Daily

98 / 04 / 14 /

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1. Art academy combines the old and the new
2. Chinese film to go high tech
3. Culture Notes (Page 9, Date: 04/14/98)
4. Kindergarten: Men at work
5. Young Tibetans yield to fashion
6. What's on (Page 10, Date: 04/14/98)
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Art academy combines the old and the new
HANGZHOU -- "Aesthetics will replace religion."
Cai Yuanpei, a famous educator and a pioneer in the New Cultural
Movement of 1919 announced at the founding ceremony of the
National Academy of Art at West Lake in Hangzhou 70 years ago.
The National Academy of Art, the first national fine art
institution of higher learning in modern China, "will create
beauty and convert the love of superstition into the love of
aesthetics so as to fulfil the lives of the people," Cai said.
Last weekend, the academy, now named the China Academy of Art,
celebrated its 70th birthday in Hangzhou, now capital of East
China's Zhejiang Province.
Amidst jubilation, the professors and alumini talked mainly of how
to carry on the academy's 70-year-old traditions into the 21st
century in the face of the serious challenges from the bourgeoning
market economy and the rapid development of information
technology.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin has expressed his hope with his
inscription in honour of the event: "Strive to build a first-grade
fine art institute of higher education."
"While preparing for the celebration, we have had a chance to comb
through the history of our academy and re-evaluate the traditions
we have inherited from the founders," said Xu Jiang,
vice-president of the academy.
At its founding, Lin Fengmian (1900-91), the academy's first
president, who held the position for 10 years, stated that
"introducing Western art, re-arranging Chinese art, integrating
Chinese and Western artforms and creating the new art for the new
era" were the four goals that the academy should reach.
Replacing religion and superstition with art and aesthetics was an
essential part of the New Cultural Movement that aimed at freeing
China from feudal bondage and ushering the country into a new age
of science and democracy.
Lin Wenzheng, Cai Yuanpei's son-in-law and the academy's first
dean of studies, noted: "If we want to blaze a new trail to suit
degenerated Chinese painting to the social conscience, we cannot
neglect the contribution of Western painting. However, if we want
to break away from the Western format and make oil paintings a new
form of art to represent the spirit of our nation, we should not
overlook the centuries' achievements of Chinese painting."
Most of the first generation of professors at the academy received
initial schooling and traditional Chinese art training in China,
and later studied in either Japan, France or Germany. Lin Fengmian
studied art in Paris for two years.
With a developed understanding of the comparative qualities of
Eastern and Western artforms, the founders allowed varied and
sometimes even contradictory styles and teaching systems to exist
under one roof.
While Lin Fengmian advocated a synthesis of the East and West, Pan
Tianshou (1897-1971), trained solely in traditional Chinese
painting, was able to hold onto the Chinese tradition, said Pan
Gongkai, the academy's current president and Pan Tianshou's son.
The open-mindedness inspired the academy teachers and students to
study a wide range of artistic ideologies and explore new idioms
and expressions.
Lin Fengmian took the lead to experiment with synthesizing the
East with the West in his own works and created a lyrical style
entirely his own, which is noted for infusion of ink and colours,
capricious changes in brush strokes, spare outlines and filled
backgrounds.
Wu Dayu (1903-88), the academy's first dean of the Oil Painting
Department, was one of the few leading modern abstract painters in
China. His works are distinguished for the use of bright colours
that effect sharp contrasts.
In the early years after the May 4th Movement in 1919, many
scholars wrote out their prescriptions to reform traditional
Chinese painting which was considered to be degenerating into a
tool for the lingering imperial feudal power.
Chen Duxiu (1880-1942), a pioneer in the New Cultural Movement and
one of the first Chinese advocators of Marxism, declared that
Chinese painting should be transformed by Western art.
However, Pan Tianshou, the academy's president from 1944-49 and
1959-71, challenged Chen's idea. He said that Chinese painting,
the mainstream of Oriental art, could only reform itself from
within.
He explored a new and systematic way of teaching traditional
Chinese art by analyzing its historical development, its forms of
expressions and its "rules." Meanwhile, he created his own
painting style, which integrated all traditional Chinese artistic
media -- poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal cutting. His use
of heavy brushwork and pursuit of an effect of "mightiness" and
"grandeur" still influence many younger painters.
The diversity and academic flexibility encouraged in the academy
helped unleash creativity and imagination in many of its students.
Two of the best known are Zhao Wo-kee, a 77-year-old
Chinese-French artist in Paris, and Wu Guanzhong, 79, professor at
the National Academy of Arts and Design, who won the medal of
honour for literary and artistic achievements from the French
Cultural Ministry in 1991.
Zhao Wo-kee began to study modern Western oils under Wu Dayu in
1935 and taught at the academy after graduation. Zhao, who claimed
that he only started to seriously study traditional Chinese
painting after he arrived in France in 1948, has successfully
blended the spirit of traditional Chinese art into modern Western
abstract oils to produce his own unbridled self-expression.
Wu Guanzhong graduated from the academy in 1942. "The acceptance
of diversified Chinese and Western art schools and the emphasis on
aesthetics with training in the basic skills only as the means to
fulfil the aesthetic goals are two things that I learned from the
school and have treasured till today," Wu said.
Wu went to France for further study in 1947 and returned to China
in 1950 "to be able to plant my feet firmly in the soils of
Chinese tradition," he said.
After years of trial and experiments, he has created oil works
that have been acclaimed as having true "Chineseness" and an
individualistic style that, neither abstract nor realistic,
attains a lyrical rhythm in between the dots, lines and patches.
After the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, the academy
-- which changed its names a few times, Huadong Art Academy and
Zhejiang Art Academy among others -- tried to maintain an academic
diversity by developing the "Zhejiang School" of traditional
Chinese figure painting and introducing new ideas on realism from
Romanian and East German artists.
It was done with much difficulty, as Soviet-styled realism was
then upheld as the politically sound idiom for art.
The academy's professors and graduates contributed to the
development of realism in the academy, creating the life-like
sculptures on the Monument to People's Heroes in the centre of the
Tian'anmen Square. Their realistic paintings, such as Li
Binghong's "Nanchang Uprising," now hang on the walls of the
Museum of the Chinese Revolution and IN other public places.
However, the ultra-leftist rage between the late 1950s and early
1970s did take its toll on the academy.
Lin Fengmian, Wu Dayu and a few other artists had to leave the
school because of their persistence in their own diversified views
and styles.
It wasn't until after China opened up to the outside world and
started reforms in 1979 that it became possible for the academy to
re-evaluate its traditions and goals set by its founding
professors and to pursue academic diversity, flexibility and
freedom while shouldering artists' social responsibility and
historic mission, Pan Gongkai said.
Over the past 20 years, the academy has continued to grow. At
present, in addition to its departments and studios, the academy
is developing three major areas of studies: creative images,
design, and research.
Last Saturday, the academy signed a contract with the Pearl
Oriental Holdings Ltd, a real estate company in Hong Kong, which
will invest 20 million yuan (US$2.4 million) in building the
academy's new design art branch school in Shanghai.
All these new developments will only enhance the academy's
determination to carry on the 70-year-old heritage, Pan said.
"We will carry on the traditions, opening up to the outside world
while continuing to hold on to the traditional Chinese art," said
Pan Gongkai, himself an artist of traditional Chinese painting.
"Our ultimate goal, by adopting these two strategies, is to look
for ways to modernize Chinese art and carry on and develop the
Chinese tradition into the new century," Pan said.
"We will delve deep in Chinese and Western art, history,
philosophy and even ways of thinking to be able to create and
blaze a new trail in the paintings of the new century," said Xu
Jiang, who is also dean of the Oil Painting Department.
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_Date: 04/14/98_
_Author: Li Xing_
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Chinese film to go high tech
CHINA will soon have the same technology that was used for the
production of the Oscar-winning film "Titanic," according to Yang
Buting, deputy director of China's Film Bureau.
He said that since last year the Chinese Government has pumped 26
million yuan (US$3 million) into a joint programme involving the
China Film Science and Technology Research Institute, Beijing Film
Studio and Qinghua University. "Technologically speaking, there
will be no problem in reaching this level of sophistication," Yang
said.
The number of film-goers taking in Chinese-made movies dropped by
more than 1 million in the 1990s, and most film studios are
running in the red, according to Yang.
As a result, the studios are using state-of-the-art technology and
equipment from the United States to rejuvenate the nation's
sluggish film industry with science.
"Titanic" won 11 Oscars at last month's award ceremony, including
the one for best visual effects. Film critics said that the
successful application of digital technology is one of the major
reasons for the film's tremendous success. Many people said they
felt that they were really in a disastrous situation when watching
the film.
A combination of computers, lasers and virtual reality technology
was used to achieve the unparalleled quality of sound and
pictures, which could not have been produced using earlier
equipment. High technology has been the main thing used to lure TV
watchers back to the cinema in the 1990s in the West.
China has the world's biggest potential audience and films have
long been used as the major means to guide people's thinking and
behaviour. So, the Chinese Government is now urging film producers
to make movies more entertaining by joining the market
competition, Yang said.
About 80 per cent of the films distributed in China are Chinese
products. Since the early 1990s, China has been importing
Hollywood movies to satisfy people's tastes.
However, critics are complaining that Hollywood movies have spread
too much Western culture and are threatening the Chinese film
industry.
China has a 5,000-year history and a lot of stories that can be
adapted for films, and the country is not short of well-known
directors, Yang said. He said China's policy is to learn from
every other culture and to develop a national culture of its own.
Lu Da, who studied digital technology in the United States last
year and is responsible for China's digital film programme at
Qinghua University, said that many Chinese movies have good themes
and storylines, but their problem is that they use out-of-date
techniques that limit the exploration of artistic effects.
However, Gu Xintai, the chief engineer at the August First Film
Studio, said that the goal of China's digital movie programme is
to cut costs, and that making a film like "Titanic" would involve
too many problems in funding, scripting and casting.
China's most expensive movie was "The Opium War," which cost 100
million yuan (US$12 million), or about one-twentieth of what
"Titanic" cost.
Yang said that the technology will first be used for some
experimental movies, and then for war and science-fiction movies.
(Xinhua)
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_Date: 04/14/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Culture Notes (Page 9, Date: 04/14/98)
Relic photo show
HARARE -- A four-week photographic exhibition of "China's finest
cultural relics" is now going on in Harare.
About 100 people, including high-ranking officials from the
Zimbabwean Government and foreign diplomats in Harare, attended
the opening ceremony of the exhibition early last week.
In his opening speech, S. J. Chifunyise, Zimbabwe's acting
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Sport and
Culture, said the exhibition marks another milestone in the very
cordial relations existing between Zimbabwe and China.
"The exhibition will show the people of Zimbabwe for the first
time 50 beautiful pictures of Chinese cultural relics dating from
the neolithic age to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)," he said,
adding "It marks a new development in cultural exchanges between
our two countries."
Also there for the occasion, Qiu Bohua, an official of the Chinese
Embassy to Zimbabwe, noted that as of December 1997, a total of 19
cultural sites in China have been listed as world heritage sites
by the World Heritage Commission of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The exhibition was jointly organized by the Chinese Embassy and
the National Museums and Monuments Ministry of Zimbabwe.
Great Wall
CHINESE archaeologists have discovered a new section of the
ancient Great Wall, a structure which dates back well over 2,000
years, in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,
according to China Youth Daily.
The section meanders for over 200 km through sparsely populated
areas near the Urad Front Banner of the region.
Ancient Chinese used locally quarried black stone to build the
wall which is 5-6 metres high and three metres wide, according to
archaeologists.
The remoteness of the section has contributed to its remaining
virtually intact.
The section features small beacon towers located 1 kilometre
apart, with large beacon towers every five kilometres.
Experts point out this, one of the most highly preserved sections
found in recent years, is a rare historical treasure which will
greatly enhance future research. (Xinhua - CD)
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_Date: 04/14/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Kindergarten: Men at work
SHANGHAI (Xinhua) -- Wearing earphones and seated in total
darkness, a group of urban kids listen attentively to the sounds
of nature -- deafening thunder and the howls of wild animals.
Their teacher believes this will help improve the children's
courage.
Pan Haohan, employed 10 years ago as the city's first male
kindergarten teacher, aims to teach children to overcome their
timidity so they will be better prepared to survive in an
increasingly competitive society.
The 40 male kindergarten teachers in Shanghai are particularly
conspicuous among the city's 20,000 female kindergarten teachers
in part for their different views on pre-school education.
A recent survey covering 204 kindergarten administrators and
teachers and 284 parents found that 76 per cent of them believed
that male teachers would be popular among children and 62 per cent
of them agreed that male teachers would be more effective in
improving students' creativity and character.
The Shanghai-based Wenhui Daily has recently begun a write-in
column encouraging readers to comment on whether the interest in
hiring male teachers indicates a belief that children need
masculine guidance in kindergartens.
Feng Yuwei, director of the Shanghai Teachers Training Centre,
said that the participation of male teachers in kindergarten is
necessary, but the success of pre-school education does not depend
solely on the gender of the teacher. Personality, teaching methods
and educational objectives also are important, he said.
Observers believe that China's adoption of the one-child policy in
the late 1970s has unexpectedly created an unfavourable
circumstance for the healthy growth of children because of the
lack of sibling competition in the one-child families.
In addition, a large number of Chinese teachers, especially female
teachers, have habitually treated bold and aggressive children as
"bad children" and regard obedient children as model ones, which
has also had a negative impact on the competitive nature of
children.
Ten years ago, Pan started courses in boxing, shooting, fencing
and wrestling to improve the students' courage through acceptable
aggressive outlets.
"I don't expect my child to be an excellent artist or a
first-class scientist," said one parent, an employee with China
Eastern Airlines. "But I hope he will become a man of strong will
and good habits."
Feng Lirong, president of the Soong Ching Ling Kindergarten where
Pan works, said: "The teaching methods adopted by Pan are better
than traditional ones because they foster quickness of mind,
courage and independence."
Last year the school employed another male kindergarten teacher, a
graduate of Shanghai Jiaotong University. The new teacher is in
charge of science courses and he is very popular among the
children.
Male kindergarten teachers experience a certain amount of social
discomfort because taking care of children is traditionally
regarded as "inferior work" in China and only done by females.
Pan, 31, said he has courted women several times, and each time
has been rebuffed because of his "inferior occupation."
"I have confidence and I will convince the public through my work
that a male teacher can build a fulfilling and useful career in a
kindergarten," Pan said.
This autumn, Pan will tour Canada as a visiting scholar, giving
lectures on his teaching methods.
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_Date: 04/14/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Young Tibetans yield to fashion
LHASA (Xinhua) -- Tibetan youngsters are quietly abandoning
traditional dress and opting instead for fashionable clothing.
Young Tibetan women greet the arrival of spring by changing their
now redundant winter clothing for colourful, fashionable dress.
One street in Lhasa is particularly well-known for shops selling
the latest fashions, with 100 boutiques changing their window
displays almost overnight during the transition from one season to
another. Spring collections from coastal areas such as Guangzhou
appeared in the shops almost immediately.
Shopping for fashionable clothing has emerged as a new hobby for
an increasing number of young Tibetan women, with related items
representing a new focal point for consumption.
The popularity of fashionable clothing in Lhasa readily indicates
that Tibetans are just as susceptible to current trends as other
ethnic groups, according to a Tibetan fashion designer.
Most urban residents no longer have to worry about adequate food
and clothing, and can thus pay greater attention to more
superfluous things such as quality of life and, indeed,
fashionable clothing.
Gaizhoin, a clerk in a government department, wears fashionable
dresses during her leisure time. She said that dresses add to
pleasantness and spark a more lively aura in certain social
activities.
She said that some fashionable clothing items cost as much as
1,000 yuan (US$120), but she quickly added that the expense is
worthwhile since they make her appearance more "vigorous" and
"impressive."
Businessmen with foresight have paid special attention to the
clothing market in Tibet, with many opening shops to sell the
latest fashions. Various name brand products have gained
increasing popularity in Tibet.
One boutique owner who opened a shop in Lhasa five years ago said
he never imagined that styles of fashionable clothing would change
so fast. He claimed the intense competition and risks in operating
boutiques are greater than purchasing shares on the stock market.
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_Date: 04/14/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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What's on (Page 10, Date: 04/14/98)
CONCERTS
'Hot Red' -- British-Chinese violinist Vanessa Mae was warmly
welcomed upon arrival in Beijing last Friday. Now she is ready to
play her white Zeta electric violin at the Capital Stadium April
14-15.
The 19-year-old has pleasantly surprised the musical world with a
completely new and earth-shaking interpretation of the ancient art
of violin playing. On stage, she is a musical mermaid exuding
youth, beauty and talent. A striking balance between classic and
pop, traditional and vanguard, Mae's music is as fresh as the
spring wind to the ears of her fans.
On June 30, 1997, Mae played "Happy Valley -- the 1997
Re-unification Overture" in Hong Kong to commemorate China's
re-exercise of sovereignty.
People have described Mae as a "violinist of the Coca-Cola
generation." Actually, Mae's music is an alternative for busy
modern people who enjoy sampling cultural snacks.
Time: 7 pm, April 14-15
Place: Capital Stadium, Haidian District
Tel: 6405-5512, 6406-3324
Russian style -- The Stars Delegation of Russian Musicians is to
hold a concert, presenting vocal and instrumental music pieces.
Time: 7:30 pm, April 16
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie, Xicheng District
Tel: 6605-5812
Chinese music -- After a successful show in America, China Huaxia
Chamber Music Orchestra is to stage a concert, packaging the
traditional Chinese instrumental music pieces most favoured by
music fans at home and abroad.
Modern pieces for traditional Chinese instruments are also to be
played.
The works include traditional tunes like '' Floral Moonlit Night
on a River in Spring," "Three Chants at Yangguan Pass," "The
Quiet, Deep Night" and also modern pieces by Tan Dun, an
American-Chinese musician.
Zhang Weiliang, the orchestra director and a famous flute, xun,
and xiao player, will also perform "The Crying Flower," a piece he
composed. The sentimental sad piece depicts Daiyu, heroine from
the novel "A Dream of Red Mansions" who burns her poem scrolls
before her death.
Time: 7:30 pm, April 17
Place: Beijing Theatre, 10,Area 10 Anhuili, Chaoyang District
Tel: 6491-0516
STAGE
Russian performance -- At the invitation of the Ministry of
Culture, the Russian Cultural Festival will be held in Beijing and
eight other cities. Altogether 124 Russian artists from four art
troupes are invited to perform for Chinese theatre-goers.
In Beijing, the world renowned Russian State Folk Dance Company
(Beriozka) will perform April 16-18 at the Beijing Beizhan
Theatre; the Orenburg State Russian Folk Choir and the "Moscovia"
Chamber Music Ensemble will perform on April 23-24 at the Beijing
Poly Plaza International Theatre and the "Stars" of Russian
Singers and Musicians will perform on April 16 at the Beijing
Concert Hall.
A component of the 1997-98 China-Russia Cultural Co-operation
Programme, the Russian Cultural Festival will provide a good
opportunity for Chinese audiences to appreciate brilliant Russian
folk music and dances.
Tel: 6403-2703, 6403-1613, 6405-5512, 6407-3532.
'Rain Over, Sky Clear' -- Beijing People's Art Theatre's new
product "Rain Over, Sky Clear" has opened.
Written and directed by Li Liuyi, the drama is a real "Made in
China" small theatre play.
The plot develops through dialogue between a traditional Chinese
opera actor and a make-believe woman. The dialogue touches on four
people's readings of works by Marx, Nietzsche, Hegel and
newspapers.
All the characters in the play are looking for the honest side of
humanity through continuous self-denial.
The modern plot structure and use of montage technique means that
the audience should not approach the play with traditional
preconceptions. However, the director does not pursue obscurity,
but rather hopes to create a light atmosphere.
While the story is not realistic, the living conditions of modern
people reflected in the play are all too real.
Time: 7 pm, April 11-12, 14-20
Place: Small Theatre of Beijing People's Art Theatre
Tel: 6525-0123
New drama -- Chekov's "three sisters" will meet Beckett's two
vagabonds in the new drama "Three Sisters Waiting for Godot."
This is the first work of Lin Zhaohua Drama Workshop, which plans
a "Beijing Drama Season" to put on classics of Western and Chinese
drama during spring and autumn seasons from 1998 to 2000.
Lin Zhaohua, vice-president of the Beijing People's Art Theatre,
is well known for his experimental adaption of drama classics,
such as "Hamlet" and "Faust."
By making use of the two works, the play emphasizes human beings'
destiny of waiting through history.
Time: 7:15 pm, April 11-14, 16-21, 23-30, May 2-6
Place: Capital Theatre, 22 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6512-1598, 6525-0978
Peking Opera --The Mei Lanfang Peking Opera Troupe is presenting
four Peking Opera pieces of the Mei School at the Beijing Chang'an
Grand Theatre to mark the 104th anniversary of the birth of Mei
Lanfang (1894-1961), a master of Peking Opera and founder of the
Mei School.
The performance features the following pieces: "Dutiful Daughter
Lian Jinfeng," "King's Parting with His Favourite" and "Battle of
Jinshan."
Time: 7:30 pm, nightly
Place: Beijing Chang'an Grand Theatre, 7 Jianguomennei Dajie,
Dongcheng District
Tel: 6510-1309 or 6510-1308
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_Date: 04/14/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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