The new masthead of China Heritage is a photograph made by Lois Conner in the Garden of Perfect Brightness 圓明園, northwest Beijing:
The lakeside scene takes its name, ‘Pine Breeze, Wisteria Moon’ 松風蘿月 — ‘the wind scented by pine trees, the moon seen through a wisteria trellis’ — from a line in a poem by the Qianlong Emperor composed in 1762:
Folded hills, serene waters convey a heavenly truth
Wisteria moon, pine winds invite contemplation
屏山鏡水皆真縡,
蘿月松風合靜觀。
‘Pine Breeze, Wisteria Moon’, where a pavilion inscribed with Qianlong’s poem once stood, marks a unique location in the sprawling gardens.… Read
The State of a Civilisation
After the Future in China
Xu Zhangrun’s Triptych for Today Humble Recognition, Boundless Possibility — Part II In The Pirouette of Time we introduced Xu Zhangrun’s triptych ‘After the Future in China’. … Read
Xu Zhangrun’s Triptych for Today Humble Recognition, Boundless Possibility — Part II In The Pirouette of Time we introduced Xu Zhangrun’s triptych ‘After the Future in China’. … Read
The Great Palace of Ch’in — a Rhapsody
Translatio Imperii Sinici
Conflagrations light up both ends of China’s imperial history. In 1860, the Garden of Perfect Brightness 圓明園, the de facto seat of the Qing dynastic court, was ransacked and put to the torch.… Read
Outside the Pigsty Looking In, Two Views
In 2019, the Fifteenth Day of the First Month 正月十五 falls on the 19th of February. It marks the first full moon of the Lunar New Year and it is a festive day generally known as Yuanxiao 元宵, literally ‘First Evening’.… Read