CATALOGUE
The Beginning of the World
– According to the Chinese –
This book is published on the occasion of the exhibition, based on the Sam and Myrna Myers collection, one of the most important privately owned collections of Far Eastern art in Europe, which will be presented in the fall of 2020 at the Baur Foundation in Geneva and then in the spring of 2021 at the Musée des Arts asiatiques in Nice.
Read the article about the exhibition. It contains extracts of the authors’ texts.
Size: 23 x 29 cm
Pages: 296
Illustrations: 250
Cover: cardboard laminated
Bilingual work: French and English
50 €
Put up for sale on October 22, 2020
COEDITOR: Co-published with the Baur Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland
AUTHORS
Filippo Salviati: gives a solid scientific basis to this ensemble by placing the jades in their historical context.
Jean-Paul Desroches: guides us in their reading by addressing the themes of the cult of Heaven and the cult of Earth.
Laure Schwartz-Arenales: opens the great celestial bestiary with the sacred animals of the Four Directions.
Stephen Little: the way of the “Tao” which federates, condenses and regenerates all that circulates in Heaven and on Earth.
Jean-Marc Bonnet-Bidaud:, he unveils the invaluable discoveries of celestial observers over the millennia.
Adrien Bossard: concludes by inviting us to follow in the footsteps of the sinologist and poet Victor Segalen.
Since time immemorial, China has been interested in the Great Tale of the Universe. From the earliest dynasties, sky watchmen have been tracking the movement of celestial bodies. Cosmology became a state science and the rulers – the sons of Heaven – the guarantors of the echo of Heaven and empire. The history of this marriage between Heaven and Earth can be deciphered through the prism of jade.
Only jade is able to bridge fifty centuries and simultaneously offer a mirror reflecting Heaven, Earth and mankind. Emblematic symbols, mythical beasts and ritual instruments illustrate this, inviting the public to discover some 200 insignia. Unpublished aspects of Chinese civilization are approached and enlightened by archaeology, anthropology and astronomy. This multidisciplinary approach is facilitated by a simple mediation without abandoning the existential questions that today involve the whole of humanity.