There’s an interesting article over at the BBC today: Is English or Mandarin the language of the future?

English has been the dominant global language for a century, but is it the language of the future? If Mandarin Chinese is to challenge English globally, then it first has to conquer its own backyard, South East Asia.

Worth reading in full

It seems Feng Shui resides in the layout of cities, towns, villages, dwellings, temples and buildings. Even before the inhabitants of ancient China were looking for suitable land on which to live, farm and survive they had already obtained the knowledge and principles of Feng Shui. These have been adjusted and refined over thousands of years by subsequent generations resulting in Feng Shui becoming a geographic and geometric art form.

 Acknowledging the evolving ideas of Feng Shui and correlating this with the knowledge and history available at this point in time we create environments most suitable for living and working in. Although it has fixed important principles that make it never changing, it also has designs and methods that with the passing of time are continually updated due to the accumulation of knowledge which makes it ever changing.

The ‘I Ching’ also known as the book of changes is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts. According to this text the Chinese universe consists of heaven (yang) and earth (yin). Heaven itself consists of the sun (yang) and the moon (yin). In turn, earth consists of rivers and streams (yang) and mountains and plains (yin). On those mountains and plains, there are people (yang) and buildings (yin). In people themselves, males (yang) and females (yin) possess an exterior (yang) and interior (yin).

These principles imply that yin and yang should be considered when studying Feng Shui. This Installation was created by Clodagh for the fabric company, Trevira, for a Brussels trade fair. It considers Feng Shui principles, such as the use of water, light, colour, movement, sound and scent, to offer an oasis away from the stress and strain of a long day at the fair.

Modern Architecture in Feng Shui seems to influence the landscape more than natural features and forces. Although nature is still important, it becomes less of a consideration in urban Feng Shui, appearing more as ambience and decoration.

Below the Leo House located in Kelapa Gading, Jakarta, Indonesia is designed by Edy Hartono from Edha Architects. The 240 sqm project is based on Feng Shui art by demand of the owner. The architect combined modern architecture with Feng Shui in a pleasant dialogue. Glass and wood lattice were used for the massive planes of the façade which basically consist of geometric plane. Lighting and air circulation are optimized to the maximum in the interior through glass floors.

Feng Shui Art in Leo House by Edha Architects.

Many people like to Feng Shui their homes after all a home is not an empty box made of plaster, wood or brick where we move our furniture, appliances, personal belongings and selves. The rooms in our home have a major influence on our moods, and how we live. A home is for protection, shelter and security. A Feng Shui expert working on your home would examine the interior space making sure the circulation of ch’i is healthy and balanced. I have read that the way in which the layout out and decoration of your home is designed can improve the atmosphere within it whether it be conflict over the living situation or more personal problems. With its many considerations, a Feng Shui analysis of a home starts at the entrance and proceeds throughout the interior.

‘A room of one’s own’ this living room design blends traditional elements with the modern. The mirror above the fireplace balances the opening below, drawing residents ch’i upward, and plants and flowers flanking the fireplace enhance the energy. Gentle curves are positive attributes, and an area of the room used for another purpose is elegantly screened off.

I study Interior Design and I have found reading about Feng Shui very interesting its so apparent in everything and very influential to Interior and Architectural Design in the past, currently and will continue to be in the future.

• Week 1: No notes (introductory lecture)
• Week 2: Hutongs
• Week 3: Chinoiserie
• Week 4: Chinese Characters

Take a look at the outline for Block 2 and the reading for each week, as well as the next couple of assignments. See you Wednesday, usual time and place!

Cloisonné is the name used to describe the process of enamelling or decorating metalwork. The name derives from the French for ‘compartments’ – ‘cloisons’, as Cloisonné is created by soldering wire onto a metal surface in a pattern, and filling the ‘compartments’ made by the wire with vitreous enamel. Cloisonné first developed in Ancient Egyptian Jewellery and body adornment, where they would use a mix of cut gemstones, glass and enamel.  This technique was very popular and through trading it gradually moved around europe, the Anglo-saxon, Roman and Byzantium empires, Russia, and eventually, in the 14th Century it arrived in China.

The Chinese name for Cloisonné, ‘Jingtailan’ refers to the Jingtai Emperor during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). The most valued pieces of Chinese Cloisonné are thought to have come from this era, although the earliest pieces date back to the reign of the Xuande Emperor (1425-1435). By the reign of Jingtai, the Chinese had developed very advanced skills in Cloisonné, and therefore created some extremely detailed and beautiful pieces.

The Chinese have developed a very distinct style of Cloisonné, and although they did not invent the technique, they appear to be the most famous for it. They often use this technique for pots, vases and ornaments, but it is also used to make pendants and beads for Jewellery. Chinese Cloisonné designs, like many other pieces of Chinese art, are often religious or images of good luck and prosperity. Their designs commonly feature images of winged birds, the Dragon and the Phoenix, which were all thought to be symbols of good virtue. Cloisonné in China is full of bright colours and beautiful patterns and motifs. It is often further decorated with gold and brass sculpture, which gives an extremely rich and majestic look to each piece. (As seen below)

Jade Carving (Yu)

“Soft, smooth and glossy. It appeared to them like benevolence; fine, compact and strong – like intelligence”

Attributed to Confucius (551-479 BC)

The process of Jade carving is originally done by drawing a bow string back and forth to propel a drill, while adding water and abrasive to the stone. Jade is extremely difficult to carve and is sculpted by repetitively cutting, grinding and polishing the stone. It also a very expensive material to work with, and jade carvers must be careful not to waste it. They have to think of ways to make a beautiful design while keeping the carving to a minimum. The way Jade is carved is often symbolic. When carved into a pig, it represents prosperity, when it is in the shape of a disk, it represented Heaven, and when a piece of Jade is enclosed in a square, it represents the Earth.

Carved Jade is thought to have become popular in China over 7000 years ago, when it was used for weaponry and ornaments. According to the Chinese ‘creation’ story, after man was created, he wandered the Earth with nothing to protect him from wild animals. A storm took pity on him and forged a rainbow into two Jade axes, which it tossed to the Earth for man to find and protect himself with. Since the beginning of Chinese history, Jade has been a prominent symbol of wealth, power, security, good health and strength.

An ancient Chinese proverb states, “You can out a price on Gold, but Jade is priceless”.

According to legend, only Emperors were allowed to posess carved Jade, and it is often referred to by the Chinese as ‘the Stone of Heaven’. A piece of Jade was sometimes placed on the tongue of a dead person to represent ressurection. To the Chinese, Jade is a majestic and divine stone.

Jade was commonly used to adorn the body.  During the Han Dynasty, royal members were buried in suits made of Jade. The suit was made up of several square Jade plates, which were woven together with wire, ribbon or silk.

Nowadays, a common trinket sold to tourists in Chinese markets is a faux-jade Buddha Pendant. Although the Chinese still treasure Jade, it is becoming less fashionable and more commercialised.

“But jade carving is very slow, and it takes a long time to sell, because the market for jade carving is narrow: just a few collectors here and in Japan and America.” 

Quote from a Jade Craftsman in an interview with the Smithsonian.

Due to the fact that little to no digital interaction of note is being produced in China or has been in the past by Chinese designers, there are sadly no ways for China to have innovated under this discipline. And as such, Chinese culture and the Chinese style isn’t at all a part of digital interaction design or web based design around the world. The more the world (and so China) develops and grows, the more of an industry for Chinese made and influenced web based design grows. It’s a small but growing industry due to the legal issues surrounding the access to world wide information. Also, now that Hong Kong is officially a part of China once again, the country has gained a fairly sizeable foothold as many great web designers and design companies reside in the great city

That being said, there are several very influential web designers based around the rest of China. Since they have moved towards the web, more and more fantastic web designers have been springing up such as this one: doopaa.cn, (Upon Interaction and Design) who are part of the East Pai Interactive Technology Company Ltd. a high-end web design and interaction company based in Tianjin, the company also has a branch in Beijing.

The company have designed many web pages, ranging from traditional to modern, Cartoon-y to more serious. Upon Interactive and Design is a very diverse company when it comes to the style of page and the design, but typically tend to focus around traditional Chinese style and culture, using recognizable Chinese imagery such as the warriors on horse-back and the ferocious looking dragon, even taking inspiration from classic Chinese cobalt work pottery. This site, made by Upon, is the first part in a series of three animation based websites made for their own company to promote themselves. Each of the three in the East Pai Series have received high praise from Chinese design consultancies about the quality of their work. Not only do each of these sites entertain you from the aesthetic perspective, but Upon make sure to fully immerse the viewer in the sights and sounds of their pieces.

As a commonality between many Chinese made websites, a large number of designers use Flash in many aspects of the site. Flashps.com is another one of them, along with the three Doopaa.cn sites for the East Pai Series. Adobe flash may be common place amongst Chinese web developers, and often times, flash can be a hassle for anyone without the correct and updated version. Despite this, designers around the world, not only in China are using the tool to their advantage.

EightBridge.com are a world wide known web design company who have done work for hundreds of world wide big name companies while having their main office in Beijing, China. EightBridge are one of the few big Chinese design companies for work for English speaking countries and companies, and as such, bring in a lot of business. Another company working for English speaking companies is Pixology Studios, also based in Beijing. Pixology might be a small company, but with the growth of China’s stake in web based and interactive design, they are bound to take off into the world of web.

Even the Chinese versions of English speaking companies, like the Nokia.cn site uses flash animation to create a fully immersive and interactive section of the site.

China might be late getting into the game, but the level of determination and grit these companies, and freelance Chinese web designers are showing quite clearly show us that they will do their upmost to catch up with the rest of the world. Through the coming years I fully expect to see many more web based and interaction designers coming from China, and I look forward to seeing what they will produce and how.

Evidence that China is much more than just the factory of the world, producing other people’s goods for them:

“The indelible stamp of “Made in China” has made an impressive mark on world trade, but this country’s ambitions are proving to be much higher.

No longer content to be known for their cut-price efficiency in stuffing Disney toys, Chinese companies now want to own high-end global brands and be at the forefront of major technological projects.

[…]

Europe’s markets are mature, full of established brands but ripe with investment opportunities and in the UK in particular, Chinese companies have been fast to realise their potential.

According to consultants Dealogic, Chinese firms have acquired stakes in 33 UK companies since 2008, acquisitions totalling almost £12bn.

They include mining, logistics and financial services companies.

[…]

China’s interest in such projects does not come as a surprise to Dr Karl Gerth from Oxford University, who has been researching how social changes in China are pushing global growth.

”China is becoming less and less competitive in manufacturing, those same jobs are moving to Vietnam and other places,” he says.
“At the same time there are millions of unemployed, college educated Chinese looking for work, who don’t want to work in factories; they want technically sophisticated jobs. In order to employ all those people the Chinese economy needs to move up the value chain and start participating in higher-end industries.”

Buying into established brands and pitching for large infrastructure projects abroad is seen as key to providing that upwards trajectory the Chinese economy needs to take.

(Read the full story at BBC News – Why Chinese companies want to buy British businesses.)

At the risk of – well, so many things – I thought I’d link to this article about a side of Chinese manufacturing we don’t get to hear much about, what with all the talk of iPhones and Xboxes and what not.

I chose the safest image to show for this blog but I don’t think there’s anything shocking there for anyone who’s done a bit of life drawing…

February 13th, this reporter visited an inflatable sex doll factory in Ningbo. This factory began producing plastic blow up dolls 3 years ago. Today, it has 13 varieties/models, with an average selling price of 100 yuan RMB. Last year, this factory sold a total of over 50,000 inflatable dolls, with 15% of them being exported to Japan, Korea, and Turkey.

There’s an interesting observation in the comments about Ningbo:

Ningbo is a place where the production of adult sex products is relatively concentrated, with 30-some large and small manufacturers. I myself work in this industry. This price is the market price, and the actual wholesale price is far lower than this, and based on what I know, this factory can only be considered small. Only producing 50,000 per year, larger manufacturers can produce this number in a month at their peak.

This is quite interesting when you consider the Chinese government’s hard-line official attitude to things like porn and the sex industry. Sometimes commerce triumphs over all…

(Read the full story at Inflatable Sex Doll & Adult Toy Manufacturing in Ningbo – chinaSMACK.)

Punched work, pierced work, and filigree are characteristics of Chinese jewellery. Their jewellery is seen to provide power and strength to the wearer. Animals were representative and symbolic. For example,  the dragon symbolized power and good luck, the goldfish for abundance of gold, the phoenix for good fortune, opportunity and luck, and many others like bird, tiger, monkey, bat, peacock. Clouds, flowers and twigs were also symbols of good luck. Colours and semi precious stones were worn in order to give power, but also to cure some diseases, give longevity, and to be healthy.  The most famous stones used for many centuries are coral, turquoise and jade.

Hair ornament, gilded silver, turquoise, coral and seed pearls.

Turquoise is seen as a “living stone” that shares the ultimate fate of the mortal that wear it. Its colour symbolizes water, air and sky. This stone can counteract devil forces and make the wearer brave and invulnerable. In addition, seeing it in a dream may bring you good luck.

Coral is supposed to bring good luck, strength to women, and favourable effects on menstruation. The most desired variety is the Italian coral. It was brought by the Silk Road and was only worn by the wealthiest class. Marco Polo noted that Tibetans ranked coral among the precious stones and used it to adorn the necks of their women and idols.

Turquoise and coral were used to make amulet boxes in silver, gold or copper. Hidden spells or prayers in the boxes were used to appease evil spirits, while the decoration was symbolic to strengthen power content.

amulet box made with turquoise and coral stones

The blue turquoise colour was also given by enamel or by the very traditional Chinese process: using Kingfisher feathers. The technique, called tian-tsui, means “dotting with kingfishers” that involves using glue to adhere the feathers onto vermeil, or silver. The Kingfisher bird is highly esteemed by the Chinese for its colour and celebrated in poetry and song by Chinese from ancient times. Over the centuries, the Kingfisher’s blue colour feather became highly prized and extremely sought after as an inlay in decorative arts. Kingfisher feather were used by the Chinese to denote status, wealth and royalty. Today that tradition has disappeared; many birds were killed during the Qing dynasty just in order to collect their feathers and the skill of tian tsui has disappeared as well. But we can still see very wonderful pieces in museums.

hair ornament made with kingfisher feathers

chinese necklace and earings made with coral beads and kingfisher feathers

This portrait of the wife of a high dignitary is painted on silk. It was made during the 1^st Ming dynasty (early 15^th century). She’s wearing a traditional headdress, which constituted with phoenix, clouds and flowers. The red beads were probably coral and the clouds in blue are made with kingfisher feathers to symbolize air and sky. We can also see turquoise beads on the pendants and pearls.

Turquoise, coral and pearls are very famous in Chinese jewellery. But the most famous stone is obviously the Jade. Not only for jewellery making, also for decorative objects, dishes, vases, hair comb… We found utilization of jade as jewel since Palaeolithic (hunter-gatherers) period with perforated beads at Zhoukoudian. But it’s during the Neolithic period the “art of jade” have started, caring in the Zhejiang province (5000 BC). The massive production of finely polished pendants and beads were being produced in South-East China during the 3^rd millennium before Christ.  In ancient time, Jade was most expensive than gold. For example during the Imperial China, the first prize for an athlete was jade, after gold for the second place and at the third place ivory.

Jade often has a green colour, but the most rare and luxurious one is the white jade.  Many colours can be found: pink, orange or light brown, blue, black. The different colours are created by different types of chemical components: the green jade contains chromium salts, the blue-green jade contains cobalt salts, the black jade contains titanium salts, and the pink jade contains salts of iron and manganese.

traditional jade bangle made in various colours

In ancient China, jade was used in rituals and sacrifices. According to ancient Chinese beliefs, the sky was round and the earth was square. A jade ornament with a round hole in the middle, called “bi”, symbolized the sky. A jewel of long hollow jade with rectangular sides, called “cong”, symbolized the earth. The bi was often placed with the corpse before burial as jade cicada was used to symbolize rebirth.

China, late Eastern Zhou dynasty or early Western Han dynasty 3rd – 2nd century BC Diameter: 5 1/8 inches, 13 cm Thickness: 1/8 inch, 0.4 cm

In the Han Dynasty, some leaders were buried in suits made entirely of jade. It was made of many pieces with various shapes, usually square, that were held together by thin threads of precious metal or silk, like the shroud of King of Chu. These extremely expensive structures were reserved only for elites. It is estimated that it took several years to achieve this kind of ritual costume that consists of 2000 to 5000 pieces! The Chinese believed that jade had magical properties and protected the corpse from decomposition.

jade shroud made with white jade and gold thread, Han dynasty.

Jade is still being used today, although the techniques have changed with technology the jade objects as talismans, “bi” or decorative objects are still used in Chinese culture, and popular with tourists as souvenirs.

It is estimated that China makes ¼ of the worlds clothing .  The processes employed to manufacture textiles is often dangerous to humans and the environment. The problem of environmental damage is not unique to China of course but with more and more of our clothing being produced there what impact is it having on the environment and on the human population? What steps, if any, are being taken to reduce the damage ?

One of the countries greatest environmental challenges is water pollution. The World Health Organisation estimates that polluted water causes 75 percent of diseases in China.

According to World Economic Forum on East Asia, Security and Sustainability China uses three times more energy than the global average, four times more than the USA and eight times more than Japan. Pollution is endemic; four hundred thousand Chinese die prematurely every year through air pollution and in addition, all China is chronically short of water.

Textile production uses large quantities of water and energy.

Environmental Impacts of Textile Processing Together with the chemicals industry, textile manufacturing is one of the largest polluting sectors in China. In general, textile processing has a very high consumption of water and energy, and a large amount of wastewater discharge.

Chemicals

25% of chemicals produced worldwide are used for textiles

Water

Growing cotton: 8,000 – 40,000 liters / 1 kg cotton Finishing of textiles: up to 700 liters of freshwater / 1 kg textile Wastewater in production: up to 600 liters / 1 kg textile

Source: Bluesign Technologies, AFIRM RSL Seminar presentation, September 27, 2007.

Chemically saturated and toxic wastewater is what makes the textile industry so environmentally damaging. Instead of recycling the wastewater many dye houses build pipes which dump the potentially toxic byproducts directly into rivers and lakes. There is a saying in China that if you want to know what colours are currently in fashion all you need to do is look at the rivers

.

Indigo dye discharged into the Pearl River.

Only ten percent of dyes are recycled. Treating contaminated water can cost over 13 cents per metric ton. The incentive to abide by environmental policies is diminished because of economic developmental incentives. As a result of 3 decades of economic boom  70% of China’s waters are polluted.

What steps are being taken to help solve the problem?

For global brands and retailers that source finished products from Guangdong Province, the management of wastewater is a fundamental aspect of responsible supply chain management. When apparel and textile factories release untreated or insufficiently treated wastewater into the environment, the media and consumers have historically focused on the global brands that contract with those factories, rather than on the factories themselves. And in many cases, these brands are the best placed to bring about change. For these global brands, water management – which in this case refers to conservation, usage efficiency and recycling, wastewater treatmentand discharge – is one area of their supply chains where they can exert a fair amount of control and influence. Source: Bluesign Technologies, AFIRM RSL Seminar presentation, September 27, 2007.

Major brands using the factories causing the environmental damage are being named and shamed in the media and encouraged to exert pressure on the factories to change their polluting ways. Greenpeace has recently listed some high profile brand names including Nike, H&M and Lacoste in its report “Dirty Laundry”.   It is important for a brand to protect its image and reputation and so there have been some commitments to improvements.

Dirty Laundry Part II

Further investigations by Greenpeace revealed that shoppers around the world are buying contaminated clothing and unwittingly spreading water pollution when they wash their new garments. Of the 78 articles analysed for Greenpeace’s Dirty Laundry 2 report, 52 tested positive for the presence of Nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) above the detection limit of 1 milligram NPE per kilogram of material (mg/kg). Clothing from all but one of the fifteen brands tested (GAP, two samples) contained NPEs above the detection limit. The clothes sampled were purchased from shops in eighteen countries.

These results demonstrate both the use of these chemicals in production and the consequent toxic discharges into waterways and rivers well beyond the country of manufacture. The problem and the solution are therefore not just local concerns. This is a truly global issue

The Chinese textile industry is under close scrutiny as consumers become aware of the environmental disasters connected with the products they buy and are demanding more eco- friendly goods.