The Poetic Dream Argument

This place is a dream.
Only a sleeper considers it real.

Then death comes like dawn,
and you wake up laughing
at what you thought was your grief.

But there's a difference with this dream.
Everything cruel and unconscious
done in the illusion of the present world,
all that does not fade away at the death-waking.

It stays,
and it must be interpreted.

And this groggy time we live,
this is what it's like:

A man goes to sleep in the town where he has always lived
and he dreams he's living in another town.
In the dream, he doesn't remember
the town he's sleeping in his bed in. He believes
the reality of the dream town.

The world is that kind of sleep.

The dust of many crumbled cities
settles over us like a forgetful doze,
but we are older than those cities.

We began as a mineral.
We emerged into plant life
and into the animal state, and then into being human,
and always we have forgotten our former states,
except in early spring when we slightly recall
being green again.
That's how a young person turns
toward a teacher. That's how a baby leans
toward the breast, without knowing the secret
of its desire, yet turning instinctively.

Humankind is being led along an evolving course,
through this migration of intelligences,
and though we seem to be sleeping,
there is an inner wakefulness
that directs the dream,

and that will eventually startle us back
to the truth of who we are.

~ Mevlana Rumi; translation by Coleman Barks

Bucheinband, 18th century book cover

Coloured Baroque so-called paper rose, embossed papers,with stencils and gold.

Ex Bibliotheca Gymnasii Altonani (Hamburg)

{*image via The Book Aesthete}

銅鏡、饕餮、天人 Chinese Bronze Mirrors

Although having always been attracted to ancient Chinese culture and artefacts, I only fell in love with Chinese bronzeware "properly" during the studies of Chinese art and archaeology in my first year of university. Amongst various beautiful objects, the mystical and highly aesthetic bronze mirrors are my favourite.

Bronzes (simplified Chinese: 青铜器; traditional Chinese: 青銅器; pinyin: qīng tóng qì; Wade-Giles: ch'ing t'ong ch'i) are some of the most important pieces of Chinese art, warranting an entire separate catalogue in the Imperial art collections. The Chinese Bronze Age began in the Xia Dynasty, and bronze ritual containers form the bulk of the collection of Chinese antiques, reaching its zenith during the Zhou Dynasty. The appreciation, creation and collection of Chinese bronzes as pieces of art and not as ritual items began in the Song Dynasty and reached its zenith in the Qing Dynasty in the reign of the Qianlong emperor, whose massive collection is recorded in the catalogues known as the Xiqing gujian (西清古鑑) and the Xiqing jijian (西清繼鑑). Within those two catalogues, the bronzeware is categorised according to use:

Sacrificial vessels (祭器),
Wine vessels (酒器),
Food vessels (食器),
Water vessels (水器),
Musical instruments (樂器),
Weapons (兵器),
Measuring containers (量器),
Ancient money (錢幣), and
Miscellaneous (雜器).

The most highly prized are generally the sacrificial and wine vessels, which form the majority of most collections. Often these vessels are elaborately decorated with Taotie (饕餮) patterns.

漢 四神博局銘文鏡 徑11.8 x 厚0.5

臺灣國立歷史博物館

Han Dynasty bronze mirror, National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

宋 龍紋綾花鏡 直徑16.9公分

圓鏡，作八尖瓣菱花形，鈕有傷缺。鏡背飾龍紋與壽山福海。

臺灣國立故宮博物院

Song Dynasty bronze mirror, National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

唐 月魄鏡 直徑18.2公分

圓鏡，作八瓣菱花形、龜形鈕。鏡背飾嫦娥、月兔、臼杵、玉桂樹與蟾蜍，間飾雲紋，鏡緣則以卷雲與花枝間隔排列。

臺灣國立故宮博物院

Tang Dynasty bronze mirror, National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

周 羽狀紋鏡 徑11.1X厚0.3

器形：鏡/ 功能：生活用具/ 技法：塊範法/ 紋飾：四葉捲草紋，瑞獸

臺灣國立歷史博物館

Zhou Dynasty bronze mirror, National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

In China, the greatest part of discovered and preserved bronze items were not forged to ploughs or swords but cast to sacrificial vessels. Even a great part of weapons had a sacrificial meaning like daggers and axes that symbolised the heavenly power of the ruler. The strong religious sense of bronze objects brought up a great number of vessel types and shapes which became so typical that they should be copied as archaic style receptacles with other materials like wood, jade, ivory or even gold until the 20th century.

The ritual books of old China minutely describe who was allowed to use what kinds of sacrificial vessels and how much. The king of Zhou was favoured to use 9 dings and 8 gui vessels, a duke was allowed to use 7 dings and 6 guis, a baron could use 5 dings and 3 guis, a nobleman was allowed to use 3 dings and 2 guis.

{Information via Wikipedia}

西漢 四乳草葉銘紋鏡 徑14 x 厚0.35

臺灣國立歷史博物館

Western-Han Dynasty bronze mirror, National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

唐 玉匣鏡 直徑16.0公分

圓鏡，圓鈕、四葉紋鈕座。內區飾四獸紋與規矩紋，外區銘文帶二十字。

臺灣國立故宮博物院

Tang Dynasty bronze mirror, National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

宋 謝少塘造青鏡 直徑11.3公分

圓鏡，橋鈕、圓鈕座。鏡背飾乳丁紋與雲紋。有銘二處各四字。

臺灣國立故宮博物院

Song Dynasty bronze mirror, National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

Bronze mirrors were produced in China from neolithic times until the Qing Dynasty, when western glass mirrors were brought to China. Bronze mirrors were usually circular, with one side polished bright, to give a reflection, and the reverse side with designs. They often had a knob in the center so that they could be attached to clothing. Some of the earliest examples of Chinese bronze mirrors belonged to the Neolithic Qijia culture from around 2000 BCE. However, until Warring States times, bronze mirrors were not common with approximately only twenty having been discovered. During the Warring States period, mirrors became particularly popular. It was during the Han Dynasty, and the introduction of the TLV mirror, that mirrors started to be mass-produced. Both Han and Tang mirrors are considered to be the most technically advanced. Bronze mirrors continued to remain popular up through the Song Dynasty, but then gradually lost their popularity and ceased to be produced after the arrival of Western mirrors during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

{via: Wikipedia}

隋末唐初 瑩質鏡 直徑16.1公分

圓鏡，半球鈕、圓鈕座。鏡背飾瑞獸葡萄紋，最外圈有銘：「練所神冶，瑩質良工。如珠出匣，似月停空。當眉寫翠，對臉傳紅。綺窗繡晃，俱含影中」。

臺灣國立故宮博物院

Bronze mirror, late-Sui/ early-Tang dynasties, National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

元 四獸四鳳紋鏡 直徑24.8公分

圓鏡，圓鈕、花瓣形鈕座。內區飾異獸，外區飾鳳紋與花卉。

臺灣國立故宮博物院

Yuan Dynasty bronze mirror, National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

五代 星官紋鏡 直徑14.5公分

圓鏡，圓鈕。鏡背飾兩仙人，一坐於樹下、一坐乘浮雲，旁有龜與鶴鳥。

臺灣國立故宮博物院

Bronze mirror, Five Dynasties Period, National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

唐 雙魚紋鏡 直徑11.9公分

圓鏡，橋鈕。鏡背飾魚紋，銘文帶模糊不清。

臺灣國立故宮博物院

Tang Dynasty bronze mirror, National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

唐 雙魚紋鏡 直徑17.1公分

圓鏡，橋鈕。鏡背飾魚紋。

臺灣國立故宮博物院

Tang Dynasty bronze mirror, National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

古代少女閨房私物：葵花銅鏡

唐代海獸葡萄紋銅鏡

1980年陜西漢中地區西鄉縣出土，直徑29釐米，陜西歷史博物館藏。

圓形，臥獸鈕，鏡面分兩區。內區飾六隻瑞獸攀援葡萄枝蔓，外區飛禽、異獸同向穿梭于葡萄枝葉之間，生動活潑。圖案立體感極強。

Tang Dynasty bronze mirror, Shannxi History Museum, China.

漢 四孔草葉銘文鏡 徑13.8 x 厚0.4

臺灣國立歷史博物館

Han Dynasty bronze mirror, National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

*References and further readings:

中國銅鏡藝術 The Art of Chinese Bronze Mirrors (only in Chinese)

臺灣數位典藏聯合目錄 銅鏡藏品 Digital Archives Taiwan - bronze mirrors

臺灣國立歷史博物館 National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

臺灣國立故宮博物院 National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

Photography of the Shannxi History Museum, China - a set on Flickr

Shannxi History Museum on Wikipedia

The Violin of Eugène Ysaÿe

"It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness and of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature, and everlasting beauty of monotony."
— Benjamin Britten

Ysaÿe's hand

David Oistrakh plays Eugène Ysaÿe's Sonata for Solo Violin in D Minor, Op. 27, #3.




"Music, of all the arts, stands in a special region, unlit by any star but its own, and utterly without meaning ... except its own."
— Leonard Bernstein, The Joy of Music


Selections from Eugène Ysaÿe's Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Opus 27, performed by Ilya Kaler. (Thank you, GeorgeEnescu, for sharing such beauty.)




"... music, since it passes over the Ideas, is... quite independent of the phenomenal world, positively ignores it, and, to a certain extent, could still exist even if there were no world at all, which cannot be said of the other arts."
— Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation

Taipei: My City, My Home (updated)

Points of Interest in Taipei:
old houses, scholars’ dens, art spaces, tea culture & gardens etc.

Taipei is by far one of the most dynamically artistic and cultural cities in the world, with its own distinctive and profound heritage. I have compiled a list of places of interest in this wonderful city where I grew up and am becoming more and more fond of.

*This post is being constantly updated - please check back often. Also, most websites/links have an English and/or Japanese version, so do click away and explore!*

滿溢著藝術氣息的師大夜市一隅

《學者故居》 Scholars' Dens

林語堂故居 The Lin Yutang House (台北市仰德大道二段141號, Tel: 02-2861-3003) *See a beautiful photo album of Lin Yutang's residence.
殷海光故居 Yin Foo-Sun's Residence (臺北市大安區溫州街18巷16弄一之一號) {A good blog/reference site of many interesting old buildings}
李國鼎故居 Li Guo-Ding's Residence (臺北市中正區泰安街2巷3號, Tel: 02-2393-5991 要先預約) See also here.
錢穆故居 The Ch'ien Mu House (臺北市士林區臨溪路72號, Tel: 02-2880-5809)
嚴家淦故居 Yen Jia-Gan Residence (台北市中正區重慶南路二段2號、4號) *目前暫不開放參觀

溫州街小巷, 近殷海光學者故居

《老建築》 Old Buildings and Houses

台北賓館 Taipei Guest House (台北市凱達格蘭大道); 參觀資訊 http://tgh.mofa.gov.tw/ {Great photography on this blog.}
撫臺街洋樓 (台北市延平南路26號, Tel: 02-2314-5190) - No official website, but here's a wonderful blog full of info on old buildings.
市長官邸藝文沙龍 The Mayor's Residence Arts Salon (台北市徐州路46號, Tel: 02-2396-8198)
台北市中山堂 (臺北市延平南路98號, Tel: 02-2381-3137)
西門紅樓 The Red House (台北市萬華區成都路10號, Tel: 02-2311-9380)
牯嶺街小劇場 (台北市中正區牯嶺街5 巷2 號, Tel: 02-2391-9393)
台北故事館 Taipei Story House (台北市中山北路三段181-1號, Tel: 02-2596-1898)
台北之家/ 光點台北 Taipei House/ Spot Taipei (台北市中山北路二段18號, Tel: 02-2511-7786)
朝北醫院 (台北市萬華區西園路一段181號) *目前只能看外觀
古城老街區 (台北市中正區延平南路)
臺北縣立淡水古蹟博物館 Dansui Historic Sites, Taipei County (臺北縣淡水鎮中正路28巷1號, Tel：02 2623 1001)
北投溫泉博物館 Beitou Hotspring Museum (臺北市北投區中山路二號, Tel: 02-2893-9981)
台灣民俗北投文物館 Taiwan Folk Arts Museum (臺北市北投區幽雅路32號, Tel: 02-2891-2318)
吟松閣老溫泉旅館 (台北市北投區幽雅路21號, Tel: 02-28912063)
《玫瑰古蹟》蔡瑞月舞蹈研究社 Tsai Jui-Yueh Dance Institute (臺北市中山北路二段48巷10號, Tel: 02-2523-7547)
*士林官邸 (台北市福林路60號, {士林區中山北路5段460巷1號, 福林路口東南側}, Tel: 02-2881-2512, 02-2881-2912) Where the annual chrysanthemum exhibition is held: 士林官邸菊展.

殷海光故居門口

《博物館/藝廊/表演藝術中心》 Museums, Galleires & Spaces for Performance Arts

國立歷史博物館 National Museum of History (臺北市南海路49號, Tel: 02-2361-0270) *新網頁好美; 記得順道參觀植物園
國立台灣博物館 National Taiwan Museum (臺北市中正區100襄陽路2號, 二二八和平公園內; 02-2382-2699)
紀州庵新館 (台北市中正區同安街107號, Tel: 02-2364-0651)
上古藝術館 Sogo Art (台北市建國南路一段160號B1, 忠孝東路口; Tel: 02-2711-3577)
佛光緣美術館 Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery (台北市信義區松隆路327號十樓之一, Tel: :02-2760-0222)
楊英風美術館 Yu Yu Yuan Museum (台北市重慶南路二段31號, Tel：02-23961966)
岩筆模 MBmore (台北市捷運中山站地下書街B39, 近R9出口)
南海藝廊 Nanhai Gallery, National Taipei University of Education (台北市重慶南路二段19巷3號, Tel: 02-2392-5080)
台北戲棚 Taipei Eye (台北市中山北路二段113號, 錦州街入口; Tel: 02-2568-2677)
台北偶戲館 Puppetry Art Centre of Taipei (台北市松山區市民大道五段99號2樓, Tel: 02-2528-9553)
台北市立美術館 Taipei Fine Arts Museum (臺北市中山北路三段181號, Tel: 02 25957656)
台北當代藝術館 Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei (台北市大同區長安西路39號, Tel: 02-2552-3721轉301)
瑩瑋藝術翡翠文化博物館 Museum of Jade Art (臺北市104中山區建國北路一段96號1樓)
台北服飾文化館 Taipei Costume and Culture Centre (台北市萬華區西園路二段9號, Tel: 02-2304-4088)
中正紀念堂展場 National Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall
國父紀念館展場 (國父史蹟紀念館) National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall
兩廳院: 國家戲劇院/ 國家音樂廳 National Theatre & Concert Hall
國立故宮博物院 National Palace Museum, Taipei (Always worth a visit, in any case...)
市長官邸藝文沙龍 The Mayor's Residence Arts Salon (台北市徐州路46號, Tel：02-2396-8198)
臺北縣立鶯歌陶瓷博物館 Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum (台北縣鶯歌鎮文化路200號, Tel: 02-8677-2727)
華山1914創意文化園區 Huashan 1914 Creative Park (台北市中正區八德路一段1號/ Tel: 02-2358-1914)
草山國際藝術村 Grass Mountain Artist Village (台北市北投區湖底路92 號, Tel：02-2862-2404)
台北國際藝術村 Taipei Artist Village (台北市北平東路7號, Tel：02-3393-7377)
凱達格蘭文化館 Ketagalang Culture Centre (台北市北投區中山路3-1號/ Tel: 02-2898-6500)
梅庭 The Plum Garden, Beitou (台北市北投區中山路6號, Tel: 02-2897-2647)
表演36房 Performing Arts School 36 (台北市文山區木新路二段156之1號, Tel: 02-2939-3088)
芝山文化生態綠園 Zhishan Cultural and Ecological Garden (台北市雨聲街120號, Tel: 02-8866-6258)
臺北市電影主題公園 Taipei Cinema Park (臺北市康定路19號, Tel: 02-2312-3717)
台北數位藝術中心 Digital Art Centre, Taipei (台北市士林區福華路180號, Tel: 02-7736-0708)
台北探索館 Discovery Centre of Taipei (臺北市市府路一號, Tel: 1999 {外縣市 02-27574547} 轉4547)

*Below four outside Taipei ~
國立台灣文學館 National Museum of Taiwanese Literature (台南市中西區中正路1號, Tel: 06-221-7201)
國立台灣美術館 (台中市西區五權西路一段2號, Tel: 04-2372-3552)
泰郁美學堂 Taiyu Beaux Arts Salon (嘉義市600大雅路二段452號, Tel: 05-278 5864)
國立傳統藝術中心 Centre for Traditional Arts (宜蘭縣五結鄉季新村五濱路二段201號, Tel: 03-970-5815). Two lovely exhibitions - 情結古今蝶戀花: 明&愚編飾創作展 "An Encounter with Colourful Butterflies and Flowers: Ming & Yu Design Collection" {see also 珠寶設計 古玩生香 Ming & Yu Jewellery Design}; 路轉青山巧手遇: 傳藝刺繡特展 "An Encounter with Ingenious Hands: A Special Exhibition of Traditional Embroidery."

Spot Taipei 光點/台北之家 is the former residence of the American ambassador to Taiwan (long long ago...), now an hauteur/art cinema, bookstore & cafe in one. David and I adore the al fresco cafe - ah, the resplendence of trees...

溫州街巷弄裡的殷海光學者故居

《品茗》 Tea Culture/ Teahouses

小慢 Xiaoman (台北市泰順街16巷39號, Tel: 02 2365 0017) - It immediately became my favourite teahouse in Taipei after only one tea session, perhaps even in the whole world. One of the most beautiful places in Taipei, and so close to where I live! (See more photos & Facebook page...)
紫藤廬 Wisteria House (台北市新生南路三段16巷1號, Tel：02 2363 7375 & 02-2363 9459); see also the Facebook official page of Wisteria House.
爾雅書馨一庭之廣生食品行 (台北市泰順街38巷25號, Tel：02 2363 3414) - Reminiscent of the nostalgic old Shanghai, visiting this teahouse is always on our to-do list whenever David and I come to Taipei. The owner used to have a fascinating and gorgeous antique shop nearby, where we discovered loads of treasures, but it seems to have closed down. Click here and here for more photos and information (in Chinese).
紅樓茶坊 Cho West Cha at The Red House Theatre (台北市萬華區成都路10號, Tel: 02-2311-9380)
撫臺街洋樓「午後茶韻」 (台北市延平南路26號, Tel: 02-2314-5190)
布拉格 There's No Place Like Café Prague (台北市泰順街40巷30號, Tel: 02 2369 7722)
明星咖啡館 Astoria Café (台北市中正區武昌街一段7號2樓, Tel: 02 2381 5589)
中山堂堡壘咖啡 Fortress Café (台北市延平南路98號2樓, Tel: 02 2381 3137)
二條通 綠島小夜曲 The Island (台北市中山北路1段33巷1號, Tel: 02 2531 4594)
采采食茶文化 Cha Cha Thé (台北市復興南路一段219巷23號, Tel: 02 8773 1818/ 台北市敦化南路一段132號, Tel: 02 8773 5838)
老樹咖啡 Oldtree Café (台北市中正區新生南路一段60號, Tel: 02 2351 6463)
朵兒咖啡館 Daughters' Café (台北市松山區富錦街393號, Tel: 02 8787 2425)

《Reference Websites》

台北市古典建築
台灣古蹟列表 (on Wikipedia)
台灣美術館及博物館
台北市政府文化局 Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government
文化快遞 Taipei Culture Express
文化資產 Taipei Cultural Heritage Sites
*藝遊網*
台北旅遊網 Taipei Travel Net
節氣與農諺 {臺灣節慶之美}
2010 臺北古蹟日 ~ 花現臺北城 嬉遊古蹟
國立臺灣工藝研究發展中心 National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (南投縣542草屯鎮中正路573號, Tel：049-233-4141)
AIR Taipei 藝術進駐
學學文創志業 Xue Xue Institute (台北市內湖區堤頂大道二段207號, Tel：0800-068-089)

*Musical landscapes for this post - Igor Stravinsky's Agon.