{"id":38343,"date":"2024-02-10T08:05:04","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T21:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/?p=38343"},"modified":"2026-01-02T03:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T16:40:14","slug":"the-temple-the-mastheads-of-china-heritage-2016-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/journal\/the-temple-the-mastheads-of-china-heritage-2016-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mastheads of China Heritage<\/i>, 2016-2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u82df\u65e5\u65b0\uff0c\u65e5\u65e5\u65b0\uff0c\u53c8\u65e5\u65b0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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On 10 February 2024, the first day of the first month of the Lunar New Year, the jiachen<\/em> Year of the Dragon \u7532\u8fb0\u9f8d\u5e74, we replaced the masthead of China Heritage<\/em> with an image that reflected the tenor of our ongoing series\u00a0The Tower of Reading<\/em> \u5ff5\u6a13<\/a>\u00a0(see Introducing The Tower of Reading<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n

The photograph by Lois Conner<\/a>, long-time collaborator and dear friend, was made at The Temple, formerly The Pearl of Wisdom Temple \u667a\u73e0\u5bfa<\/a>, a 600-year-old complex at Shatan on the northeast edge of the Forbidden City in Beijing that was refurbished from 2009 to 2012 as a high-end hotel, restaurant and exhibition space also known as Dongjingyuan \u6771\u666f\u7de3. (Over the years, before the buildings were converted into a temple in the Qing dynasty, they had housed a printery in the Ming era. The temple was later used as the residence of a Living Buddha and it was eventually closed to worshippers in the 1950s. Before the recent renovation, the dilapidated buildings had even housed a TV factory.)<\/p>\n

Lois’s photograph of the old temple and the spectral images glimpsed through and on the glass of\u00a0a window\u00a0evoke something of the ineffable spirit of The Tower of Reading<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Temple at Shatan in Beijing \u5317\u4eac\u6c99\u7058\u6771\u666f\u7de3 replaced another photograph made by Lois Conner that featured\u00a0The True Face \u771f\u9762\u76ee entrance to the Temple of the Confluence at Mount Lu in Jiangxi province \u6c5f\u897f\u5eec\u5c71\u6d77\u6703\u5bfa. Made during a research trip that Lois and I made to Mount Lu in July 2004 in the background of that photograph the Peaks of the Five Old Ones loom over the scene obscured by the mist and clouds. For an essay on the significance of that photograph, see The True Face of Mount Lu<\/a>, 1 January 2022.<\/p>\n

Lois Conner’s ‘The True Face’ was the pictorial motif of Xi Jinping’s Empire of Tedium<\/em><\/a>, a series\u00a0launched on 1 January 2022. It was extended for another year in 2023. Although we continued to add material to that series in 2024, our main focus now turns to The Tower of Reading<\/em> and the work of Zhong Shuhe (\u937e\u53d4\u6cb3<\/a>, 1931-), a celebrated publisher, editor and writer.<\/p>\n

On 1 January 2026, we changed masthead once more. The leitmotif of\u00a0Seeds of Fire: China Heritage Annual 2026<\/i><\/a>\u00a0shows a bronze sculpture of the Dragon-Horse Bearing the River Image \u9f8d\u99ac\u8ca0\u5716 at the Pavilion of Mists and Rain in the Imperial Summer Palace and Hunting Lodge at Chengde \u627f\u5fb7\u907f\u6691\u5c71\u838a\u7159\u96e8\u6a13.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Lois Conner\u2019s art has featured both in my life and in my own work for over a quarter of a century. It has also been integral to China Heritage<\/em>. Below we revisit works by Lois that have been used as mastheads\u00a0since the inception of this publication in 2016. (For an essay on the history of our collaboration, see\u00a0The Affinities of Art \u85dd\u6d77\u56e0\u7de3<\/a>).<\/p>\n

I am immensely grateful to Lois for the constancy of her friendship as well as her unstinting support, insight and inspiration.<\/p>\n

Callum Smith, scholar and our digital guide, designed the China Heritage<\/em> website. Even as he pursues other interests, Callum continues to maintain and enliven the site, as well as the maze-like archive of material that we have built up over the years.<\/p>\n

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

Updated on 1 January 2026<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Selected Work by Lois Conner in China Heritage:<\/strong><\/p>\n