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Chinese Shadows: Rubbings of Han Dynasty Stone Relief

(Toronto, July 10, 2002) -- The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) presents a fascinating new exhibition that allows us to explore one of the major art techniques of ancient China. Chinese Shadows: Rubbings of Han Dynasty Stone Relief (206 BC - 220 AD) showcases modern examples of a 1,500-year old ink-on-paper technique that details the magnificent stone relief art from Chinese tomb shrines commissioned 2,000 years ago by wealthy landowners and officials. The ink-rubbings and original stone reliefs in this exhibition provide an extraordinary glimpse into life during the Han Dynasty. Chinese Shadows will be displayed in the Herman Herzog Levy Gallery, and runs from July 6, 2002 until December 2, 2002.

Of the rich pictorial arts of the Han Dynasty, stone reliefs are almost the only thing that has survived. Rubbings are the most faithful reproductions of these "stone paintings" from the Han Dynasty, in some ways even surpassing photography. The process is an art form in itself. To make a rubbing, thin paper is moistened and laid on an engraved stone. With a brush, it is tamped into the engraved lines carefully. When the paper is almost dry, ink is applied with a flat pad. After the paper is peeled off, it shows the design that is engraved in the stone in white lines against black. The life-sized, black-on-white rubbing often shows more detail than the monochromatic stone relief itself.

In Chinese Shadows, original stone reliefs from the ROM's collection, the tools to make rubbings, and rubbings from the most beautiful stone reliefs in China will be on display. Earthenware and bronze tomb figures from the Han Dynasty, mainly recent acquisitions through the Tanenbaum gift, will also be showcased to provide cultural context. The rubbings in Chinese Shadows illustrate Han Dynasty daily life, mythology, and religious beliefs. The designs are powerful and often look surprisingly modern. Most of the rubbings were purchased directly from China with monies from the Louise Hawley Stone Chair Fund, and will be shown to the public for the first time.

The most spectacular exhibit of Chinese Shadows will be a full-size reconstruction of the one and only larger Han Dynasty tomb shrine still existing in China, covered with rubbings taken from the original stone engravings. The Han Dynasty was an era of great economic and cultural prosperity, created from the social-political stability after China's unification in 221 BC. It became fashionable for wealthy landowners and officials to commemorate their lavish lives with elaborate tombs. They also contracted skilled craftsmen to erect stone shrines in front of these tombs, graciously providing a place where their descendants could worship them. The interior walls and ceilings of these edifices were adorned with fascinating true-life and imaginary scenes, showing the ways the rich clients preferred to be remembered. The ROM reconstruction of a Han Dynasty tomb shrine will be featured in the Louise Hawley Stone Court, and visitors will be able to enter the structure for a closer look.

"Because large stone slabs are not easily transported, and can usually only be accessed at their place of origin, ink-rubbings became vitally important as the main source for the study of ancient Chinese stone relief art," explains Dr. Chen Shen, Curator of the Near Eastern and Asian Civilizations Department. "These rubbings depict the beliefs, the mythology, and many aspects of daily life in Han society. They are like modern photographs, and they are key to defining this affluent dynasty as we now understand it."

"Chinese rubbings are also significant because they highlight the techniques and workshop traditions of the artisans," adds Dr. Klaas Ruitenbeek, Senior Curator of the Near Eastern and Asian Civilizations Department and Louise Hawley Stone Chair of Far Eastern Art. "The ROM is in the unique position that it can both show original stone reliefs and rubbings." A catalogue to the Chinese Shadows exhibit will be available in August.

This exhibition serves as both a precursor and a complement to the upcoming feature exhibition Treasures from a Lost Civilization: Ancient Chinese Art from Sichuan, presented by the AIC Group of Funds, scheduled to run in the Terrace Galleries from August 3, 2002 until November 10, 2002. This is a momentous touring exhibition that showcases remarkable artifacts from the major archaeological site in Sanxingdui, Sichuan Province, China. The artifacts, excavated from two sacrificial pits discovered in the 1980s, are among the most unusual and spectacular works of art produced anywhere in ancient China. The important findings show that Sanxingdui was the centre of a hitherto unknown established state. This is the exhibit's sole Canadian venue before returning to China.

Since September 1999, the ROM has opened four new Asian art and culture galleries, the Gallery of Korean Art, the Asian Sculpture Gallery, the Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery, and the Herman Herzog Levy Gallery, complementing the Museum's world-famous T.T. Tsui Galleries of Chinese art.

 

 

Issue date:
July 10, 2002

For more information:
Media Relations
Tel.: 416.586.5547
Fax: 416.586.8022
E-mail: media@rom.on.ca

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