Zhang huan q confucius biography book

Searching around online for paintings of Confucius and expecting to find something classical, I found this contemporary image, completely de-idealized. Not for the ages, he belongs to our own place and time. In the artist statement, Zhang Huan asks this question about tradition and change. Where is the sense of spiritual belonging for contemporary Chinese?

Where indeed, offers Daniel K. Gardner at China Musings. How fully will his age-old teachings and ideals connect with the needs of a country undergoing sweeping social, economic, and cultural changes?

This is the guide book of the solo exhibition of Chinese artist Zhang Huan of the same title at Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, from October to January.

Zhang Huan offers no answers. Look carefully at the photograph. You can see what is perhaps a more powerful image than the figure itself in the reflection of the figure, the reflection of tradition in the pool of water, behind the geometric grid. How much different would a Babylonian rabbi look? Email Address. Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

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