A
winding trial from waterside leads up
to a distinctive high living, where a
traditional Chinese village is built
on the riverside cliff, with the
housese, courtyards and streets
carved into solid rocks. Half hidden
in the thick foliage and blossoms,
its presence is definedly expressed,
forging a coherent and hamorious
integration between the man-made
environment and the natural
landscape. A style that took
thousands years to formulate is
wonderfully articulated by a
contemparity Chinese artist.
An Anhui
Village
曲曲一湾柳月，濯魄清波, 洗出千家烟雨；遥遥十里荷风，递香幽室, 移将四壁图书。
Anhui
used to be a highly advanced area in
culture and economy, but it has
lagged bahind lately. Maybe
precisedly because of this, it has
preserved large quantity of physical
evidences of the past glory.
The
village portrayed by a Chinese artist
in the painting is one of such
heritage sites with the buildings
dating back to the early Ming dynasty
about 600 years ago. It is a man-made
environment designed to facilitate
both functional activities and
cultural experiences, following
faithfully a sophisticated tradition
that refuses to go beyond the
necessary in pursuing the wild side
of technology, nor does it allows
shared living spaces to be turned
into arts exhibition grounds.
A Riverside
Town
堂开淑气侵入，门引春流到泽。片片飞花，丝丝眠柳。扫径护兰芽，分香幽室；捲簾邀燕子，问剪轻风。
A typical scene of a
traditional riverside town in
Zhejiang Province is graciously
rendered by a contemporary Chinese
artist.
It is not a standard
machine which has no soul, nor is it
a piece of imported visual art that
lacks dimensions of locality, culture
and history.
No, it is not.
A living environment
like this is nurtured by a specific
culture, shaped by a collective
psyche and enriched with historical
depth. It is a space that, though
man-made, is as organic as the
natural setting on which it is
created.
