Chang Shu Hong (The Five-Character Stele of Dunhuang)

Author: Ye Wenling
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: Chang Shuhong (1904–1994) was a Chinese oil painter and Dunhuang scholar. Manchu ethnicity. Born on April 6, 1904, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and passed away on June 23, 1994. In 1923, he graduated from the Dyeing and Weaving Department of Zhejiang Provincial Jiazhong Industrial School and remained at the school to teach. In 1927, he went to France for studies, initially attending the Lyon Sino-French University and the Lyon National School of Fine Arts. In 1932, he enrolled in the Paris National School of Fine Arts to study oil painting. During his time in France, his works were selected multiple times for the Spring and Autumn Salon exhibitions and won gold and silver medals. In 1936, he returned to China and served as a professor and head of the Western Painting Department at the Beiping Art College. In 1944, he became the director of the Dunhuang Art Research Institute and worked long-term in Dunhuang with colleagues to clean, restore, copy, and study the Mogao Caves. After 1949, he also served as the director of the Dunhuang Cultural Relics Research Institute and concurrently as the president of the Lanzhou Art College from 1959 to 1962. In the 1960s and 1970s, he served as the chairman of the Gansu Federation of Literary and Art Circles and a standing member of the China Artists Association. In 1983, he was appointed as a visiting professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. His oil paintings excel in portraiture and still life, blending the realistic techniques of Western oil painting with the expressive forms of traditional Chinese painting, giving them a decorative quality. He published works such as Dunhuang Art, Selection of Tang Dynasty Patterns from Dunhuang, Dunhuang Murals, Dunhuang Color Sculptures, Dunhuang, and Art of the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang.
This is a series of character-focused books that highlights historical photographs and visual materials. It is said that we are now living in an image era, and this statement holds considerable truth. Regardless of television, film, and CDs dominating cultural consumption and reading trends, the sudden rise of old photographs, old cartoons, and old illustrations as historical relics is enough to show that people are no longer satisfied with experiencing life and history through text. They are increasingly willing to read about people and history through historical images. Indeed, individual life scenes, portraits, and even pages of manuscripts often contain more appeal and spark readers' imagination than descriptive text.
The protagonist of this book, Chang Shuhong, is a national hero who devoted his life to protecting Dunhuang art. Getting closer to him is like being surrounded by the celestial music of Dunhuang, allowing one to deeply feel the lofty spirit and cultural integrity of Chinese intellectuals as represented by him.