{"id":3705,"date":"2017-01-19T03:07:51","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T17:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/?p=3705"},"modified":"2017-01-28T04:47:46","modified_gmt":"2017-01-27T18:47:46","slug":"the-year-of-the-rooster-on-seeing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/journal\/the-year-of-the-rooster-on-seeing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Year of the Rooster, On Seeing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Palace
Palace Museum Calendar<\/em> marking the first day of the 2017 Dingyou Year of the Rooster \u4e01\u9149\u9e21\u5e74. Courtesy of John Minford.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

The word ji<\/em> \u96de is a homophone for ji<\/em> \u5409, ‘auspicious’, a term\u00a0used in such expressions as\u00a0jixiang<\/em> \u5409\u7965 and jili<\/em>\u00a0\u5409\u5229 or good fortune, and common in the new year salutation: \u5927\u96de(\u5409)\u5927\u5229. Artists and artisans alike have used everything from the humble chick, to the hen as well as\u00a0the statuesque rooster in their work since ancient times. The annual desk calendar produced by the Palace Museum in Beijing, \u6545\u5bae\u65e5\u66c6<\/a>, which draws on a\u00a0formidable collection, offers\u00a0ji<\/i> \u96de every day of the year 2017. (These museum calendars\u00a0were originally\u00a0produced from 1933 to 1937; the practice was only revived under the People’s Republic in 2010.)<\/p>\n

In the lead up to Chinese New Year on the 28th January 2017, the Beijing-based artist, writer, humorist and raconteur Huang Yongyu \u9ec4\u6c38\u7389<\/a>, made twelve paintings featuring\u00a0ji <\/i>\u96de. From 2006, Huang\u00a0painted an annual calendar of twelve works on the\u00a0theme of each of China’s traditional Zodiac Animals. He had done so partly out of pique since, although his work had been used in official postage stamps over the years (starting in 1980), in 2006 his Bingxu Year of the Dog \u4e19\u620c\u72d7\u5e74<\/a> picture of a micturating canine \u72d7\u6492\u5c3f<\/a> had been turned down. He completed the cycle of twelve animals this year, 2017.<\/p>\n

As Huang writes\u00a0in an introductory note to the Twelve\u00a0Ji<\/em> that appear below, looking back over the past twelve years (to when he was a mere eighty-year old):<\/p>\n

Time has truly flown by and, in the twinkling of an eye, I have painted all Twelve Zodiac Animals. I can’t avoid the fact that I’m an old man, and there’s not much puff left in me. \u65f6\u95f4\u662f\u90a3\u4e48\u5730\u98de\u5feb\u6d41\u901d\uff0c\u773c\u770b\u6211\u753b\u5b8c\u4e86\u8db3\u8db3\u5341\u4e8c\u5e74\u7684\u751f\u8096\u6708\u5386\u3002\u4eba\uff0c\u7a76\u7adf\u8fd8\u662f\u8001\u4e86\uff0c\u4e5d\u5341\u4e8c\u5c81\u7684\u4eba\u518d\u633a\u4e5f\u633a\u4e0d\u5230\u54ea\u91cc\u53bb\u4e86\u3002<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He goes on to say<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The ancients claimed that the\u00a0ji<\/i> \u96de has Five Virtues: with its crown it appears civilised; with the spurs on its feet\u00a0it is martial; faced with an enemy it courageously attacks; in the presence of food it displays its humanity by clucking for others to join in; while in the early hours\u00a0it never fails its duty. It’s intriguing that people share the same\u00a0qualities.\u00a0\u53e4\u4eba\u8aaa\uff0c\u96de\u6709\u4e94\u500b\u7279\u9ede\uff1a\u982d\u6234\u51a0\u8005\u6587\u4e5f\uff0c\u8db3\u640f\u8ddd\u8005\u6b66\u4e5f\uff0c\u6575\u5728\u524d\u6562\u95d6\u8005\u52c7\u4e5f\uff0c\u898b\u98df\u76f8\u547c\u8005\u4ec1\u4e5f\uff0c\u5b88\u591c\u4e0d\u5931\u6642\u4fe1\u4e5f\uff0c\u6211\u770b\u4eba\u82e5\u662f\u4e5f\u6709\u9019\u4e94\u756a\u8b1b\u7a76\uff0c\u61c9\u8a72\u662f\u76f8\u7576\u6709\u610f\u601d\u7684\u3002<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here, as in so much of his other work over the decades, Yongyu\u00a0gives both voice and form\u00a0to\u00a0a particular\u00a0sensibility or quwei <\/i>\u8da3\u5473, one that reflects the complex temper of the cultural universe I frequently refer to in my work on New Sinology. Pierre Ryckmans (Simon Leys) first introduced me to that world as an undergraduate student of Chinese and then, in China, friends like Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang, Wu Zuguang, Huang Miaozi<\/a>, and many others initiated me into the parallel realm of latter-day literati that miraculously (but only just) survived Mao. It is a land of the heart-mind that is part of a lineage leading back to the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and earlier. That group, and the thinkers and writers who inspired the Sages, as well as a disposition in which culture in its most vibrant and inclusive sense, light the way for\u00a0The Wairarapa Academy for New Sinology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Mother
Mother Hen: I can’t help getting excited when I create. \u6bcd\u96de\uff1a\u6211\u5275\u4f5c\u4e86\uff0c\u6211\u6291\u5236\u4e0d\u4f4f\u5174\u594b\u3002From Huang Yongyu, Animal Crackers<\/em>\u00a0\u9ec3\u6c38\u7389\u8457\u300a\u7f50\u9f4b\u96dc\u8a18\u300b.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Previously, Huang Yongyu’s Zodiac Animals featured in my essay<\/a> on the Bingshen Year of the Golden Monkey \u4e19\u7533\u7334\u5e74, published in\u00a0The China Story Journal<\/em> during the dying days of my editorship in early 2016. Some years prior, Yongyu’s work appeared\u00a0in\u00a0that Journal to celebrate the start of the\u00a02013 Guisi Year of the Snake<\/a>\u00a0\u7678\u5df3\u86c7\u5e74.<\/p>\n

Some thirty years prior to all of this, Yongyu encouraged me to translate his Animal Crackers<\/i> \u7f50\u9f4b\u96dc\u8a18<\/a>, and some of that work features in the multimedia section of the\u00a0website<\/a>\u00a0created for the 2003 film Morning Sun<\/i>, which I made with Carma Hinton and Richard Gordon, who are also long-time friends of the artist.<\/p>\n

\"huang-yongyu-signature\"<\/a>These Year of the Rooster pictures first appeared in the pages of Beijing Evening News<\/i>\u00a0\u5317\u4eac\u665a\u62a5<\/a>; subsequently, they were widely reproduced online. An exhibition of the ‘Twelve for Twelve Months’ \u5341\u4e8c\u4e2a\u5341\u4e8c\u4e2a\u6708\u2014\u2014\u9ec4\u6c38\u7389\u751f\u8096\u753b\u5c55<\/a>\u00a0featuring the paintings Huang Yongyu has created\u00a0for the twelve Zodiac Signs over twelve years opens at the National Musuem of China in Beijing today (19 January). The show\u00a0will continue until 12 February 2017.<\/p>\n

The translated legends and written explanations are mine. See also The Year of the Rooster, On Reading<\/a> and The Year of the Rooster, On Eating, Imbibing, Injecting &\u00a0Speaking<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Geremie R. Barm\u00e9<\/a>,<\/i>\u00a0Editor, <\/em>China Heritage<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"Pleasure
‘Boundless Pleasure?\u00a0\u2014 I’ve never really enjoyed watching cock fights.’ This is a reference to Mao Zedong’s famous lines: \u00a0\u8207\u5929\u596e\u9b25\uff0c\u5176\u6a02\u7121\u7aae\uff01\u8207\u5730\u596e\u9b25\uff0c\u5176\u6a02\u7121\u7aae\uff01\u8207\u4eba\u596e\u9b25\uff0c\u5176\u6a02\u7121\u7aae\uff01(There is boundless pleasure in struggling with Heaven, with Earth and with Other People!) written in 1917. This was supposedly a reference to the energy and optimism Mao enjoyed as he\u00a0faced and overcame numerous opponents and trials during his early years. Who would have thought in\u00a01917, a\u00a0year that ushered in the New Culture Movement and a move away from the autocratic and paternalistic patterns of the past, that Mao’s thirst for struggle would eventually drag the country back into those very patterns. A century later, China still struggles with this baneful legacy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The Most Beautiful Bird: like the rooster, one of the most beautiful creatures in the world, you are so accustomed to having them around that you forget how unique they are. It’s the same with families and friends: it’s all too easy to forget how precious and special they are.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Do
Do you have to make such a racket just because you laid an egg?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A Elder Brother Miao man \u82d7\u65cf \u00a0on his way to market.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Self-awareness
Self-awareness is a virtue: do you really think you can lay an egg?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Everywhere
Everywhere you look: grandparents and parents crowding around to pick children up after school.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
‘A Chicken Trying to Talk to a Duck: sometimes misunderstandings are what it is all about.’ The Cantonese saying ‘[like] a chicken talking to a duck’ \u96de\u540c\u9d28\u8b1b, \u773c\u788c\u788c, means there that people just talk past and not to each other.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
‘The Folly of Amassing Too Many Eggs (or excessive wealth, also \u7d2f\u5375\u4e4b\u5371). The artist asks: What are you going to do with it all? One\u00a0explanation of Huang’s\u00a0vision of miserly greed may simply be that it reflects well the temper of the times, in particular the Xi Jinping-Wang Qishan anti-corruption campaign. Since we have been calling China’s party-state supremo the ‘Chairman of Everything’ for some years, however, we are inclined to\u00a0speculate\u00a0that\u00a0the dangers of amassing too much in one person’s edacious grasp might equally apply to the Fifth Generation Core Leader.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Commanding
Commanding Cock.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Chickens
‘Are We Destined to Only Ever be a Maths Quiz?’ Counting the number of heads and feet of Chickens and Rabbits in a Cage \u96c9\u5154\u540c\u7c60 is a traditional mathematical puzzle<\/a>\u00a0that continues to torment school children.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Delivering
Delivering Eggs,\u00a0\u559c\u86cb<\/a>\u00a0for a celebration.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Morning
Hens Welcome the Dawn the World Over. The image of a squawking hen is painted over a list of the names of female political leaders and their countries. Here the artist overturns the original meaning of the saying ‘If a hen is in charge in the morning, the household\u00a0will be in peril’ \u725d\u96de\u53f8\u6668, \u60df\u5bb6\u4e4b\u7d22<\/a>, which traditionally warns against women in power. Closer to home, the artist would daresay be aware that there have been no women in\u00a0China’s ruling Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee since 1976.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The word ji \u96de is a homophone for ji \u5409, ‘auspicious’, a term\u00a0used in such expressions as\u00a0jixiang \u5409\u7965 and jili\u00a0\u5409\u5229 or good fortune, and common in the new year salutation: \u5927\u96de(\u5409)\u5927\u5229. Artists and artisans alike have used everything from the humble chick, to the hen as well as\u00a0the statuesque rooster in their work since ancient […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[12,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays","category-journal"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9gcZ6-XL","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3705"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3705"}],"version-history":[{"count":117,"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4408,"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3705\/revisions\/4408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}