Chinese brush painting developed over a period of more than six thousand years.
Figure Painting developed beyond religious themes during the Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD), and landscape painting was established by the 4th century.
Another style is flower-and-bird painting, which became independent of other Chinese brush art around the 9th century then gradually developed into two different styles. Source: Asia Art.net
One famous 20th century Chinese brush-painting artist was Chen Zhifo (1895 – 1963)
Chen was born into an educated family. At 23, he went to Japan to learn patterns that later influenced his painting style.
Chen would become a renowned painter in the early 20th century.
His artistic career started in design, patterns and other arts. When he started Gongbi style flower-and-bird painting, he was nearly 40, and he revived the declining tradition of Gongbi style Chinese brush painting.
When he started painting, he usually sketched his subjects then went through many drafts modifying them before applying colors.
Chen focused on the design of branches, leaves and birds to portray his subjects.
Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
Howard Steven Friedman writes in the Huffington Post about the incredible economic growth in China and the high degree of income inequality between the haves and have nots—a growing problem in America too (but Friedman doesn’t mention that).
Friedman concludes by saying, “For China to continue its growth rate, it will need to address inequality systematically and aggressively.” He mentioned large numbers of men with limited social mobility and few job or family prospects and warns that this inequality could lead to political instability and discontent.
Friedman also doesn’t mention that in the 1930s, there was a huge gap between lifestyles in urban America and the rural U.S. since only 10% of farm families had central station electricity in the mid 1930s.
It took America forty-five years to establish a power grid in one state, Pennsylvania. China has accomplished this feat for all of its cities in less time. Source: America Electrified — China’s Road Map
In fact, Friedman points out [without knowing it] the solution that will soften the threat of political instability when he writes, “the Chinese government is trying to modernize the countryside in an effort to quell discontent.”
China may have learned how to deal with this potential threat from the U.S. by providing the same liquid and virtual drugs.
In America, watching TV is the leisure activity that occupied the most time (almost 3 hours a day). Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Like many Americans at the low end of the economic ladder, guzzling beer and staring at TV sooths discontent. There is no reason that won’t work in China too.
However, for those who do not calm down, there is always prison and America has the largest prison population on the planet—another role model for China to study.
Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
I agree that some of the crimes that warrant the death penalty in China are unfair for the crime committed, but China is not a Western country and the history of China prior to Communism shows that convicted criminals were often executed for a long list of nonviolent crimes.
Call me an Old Testament man. I believe if someone is convicted with overwhelming evidence of a brutal crime, he or she should face punishment equal to or worse than the crime they committed.
A trial for first-degree murder should end in a swift execution.
Face it, there are convicted criminals who cannot be allowed out of prison. Instead of locking them up for decades at a high cost to honest hardworking taxpayers, the criminals should be executed.
The Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says, “Recognition of inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.” Source: Human Rights Here and Now
I disagree with the term “all members” of the human family. Some criminals forfeit that right due to the nature of his or her crimes.
In forty-six American states and the District of Columbia, convicted criminal offenders are denied the right to vote while serving a sentence in prison. Thirty-nine states also disenfranchise felons on parole and twenty-nine disenfranchise those on probation.
In fourteen states, even ex-offenders who have served their sentences remain barred for life from voting. Source: The Sentencing Project
However, there is pressure on the United States to go easier on ex-offenders and allow them to have the right to vote again.
In fact, almost every country is changing due to pressure from human rights groups. I don’t oppose what the human rights groups are doing yet slavery didn’t end during the American Civil War. Why isn’t more being done to end slavery?
Today, more than 27 million men, women and children endure brutal working conditions for no money and under the constant threat of beatings, torture and rape. Source: iAbolish.org
All a slaver has to do is make sure he or she lives in a country that, at worst, will lock him or her up for life and provide free shelter, free food and free medical—something that China doesn’t do for these types of crimes.
Do you believe pampering hard-core criminals is going to change them? Maybe theWest should consider what “human rights” looks like in a collective culture as opposed to individualism.
_______________
Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
For centuries, Shanghai was a fishing village. It didn’t grow into a town until the 13th century during the Southern Song Dynasty (1260 – 1274), when it became an important port and commercial center.
During the Ming Dynasty (1364 – 1644), Shanghai slowly became a national textile and handicraft center.
After the Opium War in 1840, Shanghai was “forced” by the British and French to serve as a major trading port and became an international colony with foreign concessions.
The British built their concession in 1842—the same year an American neighborhood called the International Settlement was opened. The French arrived in 1847. Source: Facts and Details
The Russians and Germans arrived later and a Japanese enclave was established in 1895.
The video provides a quick overview of Shanghai’s history and culture.
Today, Shanghai’s population is about 21 million making it one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world.
Shanghai has developed into a leading international center of business, culture and design with an abundant and diverse offering for dining, shopping and nightlife.
Geographically, the Huangpu River divides the city into two areas—Pushi and Pudong. Pushi is the older part of Shanghai.
Twenty years ago, Pudong was rural and green and had little to offer in housing and shopping. Much has changed since the sleepy fishing village of the 12th century.
Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
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A collectivist culture tends to view themselves as members of groups (families, work units, tribes, nations), and usually considers the needs of the group to be more important than the needs of individuals.
Most Asian cultures, including China, tend to be collectivist.
Another example between individualism and collectivism is Piety (respect for elders). In the West, evidence suggests that the young are doted on to the point where many Western children are spoiled and rude while in China that same energy is focused on the elders—at least it was before Western fast food and consumerism appeared in China.
When there is an interest conflict between individuals and the collective, individuals are expected to sacrifice their own benefits for the sake of the collective well-being.
An individualist culture is one in which people tend to view themselves as individuals and to emphasize the needs of individuals.
Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the lusty love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.
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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse 
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