No time for relaxation this weekend. Claudia had heard that there is a special exhibition about buddhist art this weekend in Beijing - so we (Claudia, Agnes and me) of course had to go there!
A huge line of Chinese people waiting to go into the exhibition awaited us in front of the exhibition hall. But luckily we didn't have to wait too loong and soon made it inside.
The title of the exhibit was: "The lights of Dun Huang" because it showed the buddhist art of the caves of Dun Huang in China which is Unesco world heritage and simply amazing.
Big lying buddha, colourful paintings with people having their hair cut, with gods sitting on the clouds or bodhisvattas with many many arms! The following homepage gives an introduction on the different Chinese forms of buddha: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/chin_deities.htm. Just click on the one you are interested in and then on "text explanation" (if available).
Many buddhas later we also visited the second exhibit about new year's posters (many of them from Mao's time showing propaganda pictures with slogans like: "Mao loves children", "hard working communist farmers with enough food and never ending happiness in life"). Yes, long live Chairman Mao :-)!
If from reading my blog or in general you are interested in Chinese history, there is a suspenseful book about three generations of Chinese women (from lillie-foot over communism to modern China) which I am reading right now and which I can highly recommend: Jung Chang (author): Wild Swans (German: "Wilde Schwaene").
Another book comparing Chinese with western culture which is quite funny is the German book from Herbert Rosendoerfer: "Briefe in die chinesische Vergangenheit", fiction, but with at least some cultural truth in it.
Hope you also enjoyed your weekend!
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