Traveling to Kublai Khan's Summer Palace: My Collage for LMAC #191
Shades of Xanadu
This week my collage was inspired by @shaka's beautiful template (Template for LMAC Collage Contest # 191), and by Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, Kubla Khan.
@shaka's Template
Some years ago I wrote a small book about Chinese art of the Yuan Dynasty(1231-1368). This dynasty covers most of Kublai Khan's (1215-1294) reign (1260-1294).
Painting of Kublai Khan Hunting (1280)
Credit: Lui Guandao (1258-1336) public domain
Just about everyone has heard of Marco Polo, and many of us have read the poem Kubla Khan. It was during the reign of Kublai Khan that Marco Polo made his storied visit to China, and it is of Kublai Khan's summer palace, Shangdu (Xanadu) that Coleridge wrote in his poem. The excerpt below is from Project Gutenberg:
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
The Mongols invaded China under Kublai Khan's grandfather, Genghis Khan. However, they did not control all of China until Kublai Khan defeated the southern part of the empire, which was known as the Southern Song Dynasty.
Mongols Using a Trebuchet to Overpower Enemy Defenses
Credit:Author unknown. C. 1307. Public domain. It is believed that use of the trebuchet was key to the Southern Song defeat by the Mongols.
Mongol rule was quite oppressive. However, it was in this oppressive atmosphere that literati art blossomed. It was in the art of underground literati painters that Chinese culture was preserved. To this day the literati artists of that period are revered.
Poetic Thoughts in a Forest Pavilion, by Ni Zan
Credit: Ni Zan. painted between 1366-1376. Public domain. Ni Zan was one of the artists known as the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty.
Collage Process
This is not one of my more literal collages. I thought of the river in Coleridge's poem, and of the opulence of Kublai Khan's palace. The collage was suggested by these different elements. It was also evidently influenced by an awareness of literati art.
I owe a debt to LMAC's LIL Gallery and to the LMAC members who contributed to that gallery. Thank you:
Shore
@bella76
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/6556Roses
@yaziris
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/7646
I also thank the following contributors to public domain sites:
Gems
Brett__Hondow
https://pixabay.com/de/photos/edelsteine-semi-precious-steine-1400682/Diamond
caro_oe92
https://pixabay.com/de/photos/diamant-stein-gelb-kristall-635332/Cranes
jasongillman
https://pixabay.com/de/photos/kr%C3%A4ne-v%C3%B6gel-sandh%C3%BCgelkrane-7445073/Barge
thefairypath
https://pixabay.com/de/illustrations/winter-schnee-jahreszeit-kalt-2146701/
- Fruit basket
congerdesign
https://pixabay.com/de/photos/obst-obstkorb-weintrauben-%C3%A4pfel-696169/
Finally, the swans were contributed by me to LIL some time ago.
The value of LIL in my efforts is obvious. Anyone on Hive can contribute to the library and everyone can borrow from it. Learn about the procedure here.
We have had some spectacular contests with handsome prizes this season. Today we are publishing the winners from Round #191 (this round). I don't compete so my collage can come in 'late'. Check out the 15 winners and get an idea of what LMAC artists produce each week.
As @shaka has said many times, everyone is an artist. Round #192 begins tomorrow. Join in the fun. Even though I don't enter the contest, I make collages because I can't resist.
Thank you for reading. Peace and health to all.
They all are creative
I love those collages
Thanks for sharing
China has an amazing history. Dan Carlin of Hardcore History podcast has a series of five amazing episodes in which he recounts the history of the Khans. They were very brutal, and this period transformed China in unprecedented ways. Sadly, the podcast is no longer free.
I imagine it must've been an amazing voyage for Marco Polo (if indeed his account is true given that some scholars have thrown suspicions on his version of the story).
This image that you showed is very striking in its simplicity. Although, if you think about it, this was an era when there was no mass media like today. So, this sort of near-photographic imagery must've been mind blowing.
This was an entertaining and creative post.
Thank you, @litguru. Ni Zan is my favorite of the Four Masters of Yuan. As you observe, his art is very spare. He lived a life dedicated to meditation and reflection. He tried to express in his work not a realistic representation of a scene, but a feeling, a philosophy. He was a Taoist, and at the end of his life gave all his possessions (which were not many) to his friends and retreated to a quiet, solitary life in the country.
I think you would love his work (you can tell I do). Look him up. He is much represented by art museums and also on Wikimedia Commons.
I wrote my small book because there was so much hate mongering about China at the time that I thought a book highlighting protesters would appeal to the American public. Four Masters of Yuan were protest painters, quiet protest painters, under Mongol rule.
Thanks a lot for commenting. It's really appreciated.
The Taoists wrote some really fascinating stuff. I had the pleasure of taking a university course on the subject. Our professor read some of the poetic verses aloud in Chinese, and it was stunning. The rhythm, sounds, pauses, flourishes, and flow was something that I hadn't really thought about. That was the moment when I realized that I could not really understand the true essence of the poem as originally conceptualized. Something was lost in translation. I still enjoy reading them because some of the essence still remains. I might have even come across the ones you mentioned at some point and will look them up. Thank you for recommendation!
A lot of work has been put into making it, everything looks so much more beautiful the way we see it and the underwater duck's that happens is just as fun.
Greetings Lady @agmoore, it is nice and comforting to visit your collages. It is a whole process from conception to final production, which finally generates art. But an enriched and meaningful art, always with a teaching, historical, social, artistic, and like the one you present us this time of literary value. I traveled in time through your artistic expression accompanied by its written description. Your mind is admirable, brilliant, and ingenious. It is all a pleasure and delight.
Happy weekend Lady 🤗
You are so kind, @almajandra. I write about subjects that interest me, and my collage are easier to make when I relate them to a theme. I learned a lot about Chinese art and history when I decided to write a book about the subject. It was fascinating. I'm really pleased that you enjoyed what I shared.
Thanks very much for reading and for finding value in my blog. Have a great week ahead.
Thank you very much Lady, for your good wishes 🤗
Wow, this is a lovely connection between history, literature, and art and it's amazing how the oppressive atmosphere of Mongol rule led to the preservation of Chinese culture through the art of underground literati painters. Thank you for sharing
Thank you for seeing that, @loveah. My interests cover history, literature and art. Even when I went to college, I chose concentrations that combined these subject areas.
I appreciate the lovely comment.
You always have such interesting information on the subject of your collages, A.G. I remember hearing of Kublai Khan while Genghis Khan with his invasions and cruelty seems to be a name recognized by many.
There is the wonderful influence of Chinese painters in your creation. Love how you positioned the sun,
Hope you are well and enjoying your new abode, my friend, 😊
Hello my dear friend,@redheadpei🌺
Yes! We finally have a house. My family loves it. That's important to me. I wonder, though, where are all the animals? No squirrels, birds, or even foxes (we had all of it at my other house--even opossum, rabbits and the occasional racoon). Maybe I'm not here long enough to see them. One thing I will put out is a bird house to jump start the wildlife visitations.
Thank you for your lovely comment. I was very impressed by the literati artists of the Yuan era. They lived in seclusion because their art--their culture--was forbidden to them. Two of the four masters of the Yuan Dynasty actually went to prison. One died in prison.
I hope late fall is treating you well. It's wonderful to see you here.
🌼🌺AG
As always, visiting your posts is such an enlightening experience.
I remember the game Marco Polo though😂😂😂
Thank you, @seki1. We actually don't know how much of Marco Polo's story was real and how much was embellished over time. Still, it's interesting.
Hope you aren't working too hard at school😀
School's after my life😭😭
I'm still running though 😂😂😂