Private Collections

CCTV.COM (07.01 2003 14:13)

    China is an ancient civilization with tremendous cultural and artistic traditions. However, with time went by, some physical links to the past lost. Although national museums have been established to reserve the historical relics, there are still many gaps in their collections. Fortunately, there are collectors who fill the gaps with their private collections so that the stories behind them won't be forgotten.

    Through a history that spans more than 5000 years, China has developed a unique culture. Although now in the process of modernization, she still maintains a distinctive style. The red walls, the Chinese architecture remind us of the mysterious eastern beauty, which private collectors strive to capture.

    As the capital of China, Beijing is famous for her Hutongs, where the people of old Beijing lived, and where some people are even living now. The collector Mr. Ma has lived in Beijing since he was born.

    These porcelains are from the different dynasties of Chinese history. The various colors, materials and handcrafts mark the unique artistic characteristics from that dynasty.

    Mr. Ma has been collecting porcelain for more than 20 years. With his rich experience, he can often tell the time of the piece of porcelain according to its special characteristics.

    This box is for women to hold their facial powder. It applies one of the techniques of Chinese drawing, and is quite elegant.

    Porcelain shards are also a part of some people's collections. Only those with a trained eye can truly appreciate these fragments. Mr. Ma's good friend Mr. Hou is especially interested in Porcelain shards.

    Mr. Ma and Mr. Hou became friends because of their common interest in collection more than 20 years ago. Since then, they often exchange the ideas of their collected works. They say that through discussions, they can learn a lot from each other and at the same time can get better understanding of the culture in the Chinese porcelain.

    Near their homes, there is an antique market called 'Baoguo Temple'. Here, you can find many kinds of Chinese antiques such as teapots and coins. They often come here to find new pieces for their collections. Today they have come again and found which they say is more than 300 years old, dating to the Qing dynasty.

    Actually collecting has a long history in China with three periods famous for collecting. The first time appeared in the Song Dynasty, more than 900 years ago. The second time was in the Qing dynasty. The Emperor Qianlong himself was not only an outstanding emperor, but also a good artist and collector. During that time, more people began to collect porcelain painting as well as other items. The third period occurred in the early 20th century in which many collections of high quality could be found. Nowadays, is the fourth time.

    Today, people's collections cover a wide field. Abacuses, accessories, teapots, antique boxes and lanterns are collected today. Actually, there are more than 70 million collection lovers now in China, and their collections are also far beyond what have been mentioned just now.

    It is very interesting that many couples are enthusiastic for the collections of Chinese antique, Mr. and Mrs Li is one example. After living in different countries, they have better understanding of the Chinese culture. Today, with their foreign friends, they come to this antique furniture store to find their next piece.

    This is Mr and Mrs. Li, and they are their friends of Gram and Lucy. Mr. And Mrs. Li used to live and study in Japan and New Zealand. After they came back to China, they began to decorate their home with Chinese style furniture. After seeing the Li's collection, Gram and Lucy also developed a fondness for Chinese furniture.

    In fact, their collection began with stamp collecting. They bought their first stamp in New Zealand. Mr. Suo is a friend they got to know that time. According to Mr. Li, the most important and interesting part of collecting is the friendships that are made.

    On the east of Beijing is the Liangma Antique Market. Here, Ms Yue opened an antique shop where she shows some parts of her collection. As an old technique in China, embroidery often uses human figures, flowers, and animals in the decorations. I am impressed by the fine craftwork and wonder how long it took to finish a single piece.

    Although only in her twenties, Ms. Yue has been collecting embroidery for 8 years.

    Recently, she opened another shop. Influenced by her, some of her friends are also interested in collecting embroidery, and they often visit this shop.

    In Ms. Yue's home, I saw the first piece of her collection. And this is the embroidery she likes best ----a pair of chair covers. Many of her pieces are quite beautiful, but what impressed me most is this pair of little shoes. It is decorated with embroidery all around, the two sides, the heels and even the soles.

    In order to acquire more pieces, Ms Yue often go the suburbs of Beijing and even other provinces or cities to find new treasures.

    This is little village is called 'Small Wang Village', where many farmers take collecting embroideries all over China as their careers, so she can often comes here to find more authentic pieces. Many of her pieces were got in this way. Step by step, she has made friends with a lot of farmers here. Mrs. Li is one of them. Today, we come her home.

    Mrs. Li has been collecting embroideries for more than 20 years. Once she gets new ones, she always calls Mrs Yue to have a look. Today, she shows Mrs. Yue a very beautiful portiere; however, Mrs. Yue says she has already had a piece very similar to this one. Mrs. Yue is also very interested in the little shoes. Unfortunately, what she likes best among them is only one shoe rather than a pair, what a pity. Seeing a lot, she hasn't found the pieces she feels very satisfied. However, an ancient costume catches her eyes. Although it does not have a very long history鈥攐nly 70 to 80 years, the embroideries craft is very fine and the color is still quite bright, so is worth collecting. Mrs Yue says that I should try it on. Oh, am I cool? At last, Mrs Yue buys it, and feels quite happy.

    In the south of Beijing, every weekend the market is full of people looking for bargains. Some people like started their collections with pieces they found here. It is also a place for collection lovers to exchange ideas. The market also attracts foreigners who come here to learn more about the Chinese antiques and culture.

    In this antique city, you can find jade, panting and many other kinds of Chinese antiques. For people who like Chinese culture, this is a good place to visit.

    Many of the people who sell antiques here are themselves collectors. With their sharp eyes, they try to choose authentic pieces to show to antique lovers.

    Not far from the antique city, there is an antique market called 'Panjiayuan', which is relatively well known among foreigners. Looking around here, telling the real antiques from the forged ones and bargaining with the merchants can be an interesting experience.

    There is a Chinese saying that says, 'Virtuous people wear jade.', so I come here to the Panjiayuyan Antique Market and bought some. For Chinese people, jade is a symbol of virtue. Actually, I know very little about jade, but we're going to visit a jade collector in Beijing. I think we will learn a lot and maybe I can find out what kind of deal I got on this piece.

    Mrs. Ma is already in her sixties. More than 10 years ago, she began to collect jade. From her, I know that jade comes in two main types: jadeite and nephrite. The jadeite is usually harder than the nephrite, and the color is often green, while the nephrite is usually white.

    Mrs Ma collects jade with different colors and shapes. She let carvers make it into various figures which she designs. This is called a 'Luck' beset with three jades. This is a jade piece that Mrs. Ma likes very much, and it is has been carved into the shape of beans.

    Mrs Ma often makes jade ornaments by herself. She can grind the jade into the shapes she wants and then does the polishing work and later string them together. This is a jade bracelet that she made herself.

    When I am leaving, Mrs Ma is going to give me a piece of jade as a present. She says that there is a long history of jade in China. Wearing jade can often remind a person of the mysterious culture of the east civilization.

    People say that you can know almost the whole world from stamps, but Mr. Sun has 'Three Dimensional Stamps', by which he means his collection of key rings. His various key rings from more than 100 countries teach him a lot and at the same time add color to his life.

    Mr. Sun is retired, however, his life is still quite colorful, because he has a special interest----collecting key rings. Since buying his first key ring, he has been collecting for almost 30 years.

    Starting from that camera key ring, Mr. Sun looks for key rings wherever he goes. Also with the help of his relatives and friends, he now has collected more than 4700 pieces from more than 100 countries. . He classes his key rings into different sets. This is his sports set, including the Olympics, the Asian Games, and the world cup. This 'United Nations' set is his pride and joy. He spent more than 3 years collecting these 186 key rings. He often proudly calls it 'the United Nations of my Bookcase.'

    He bought this Russian navy soldier when he visited Russia, and this key ring is now a reminder of those days.

    Many of his friends know of his love for key rings, so they often bring some to Mr Sun. Today, one of his former colleagues has brought him a souvenir key ring from the World Trade Center in New York. Mr Sun says this key ring is particularly precious today after the events of September 11th.

    Mr. Sun also takes pictures of his key rings and even writes stories about some of them. He hopes one day, he can write a book called '100 Stories in 100 Key Rings' and also establish his key ring museum on the internet.

    Being a collector, a person should have not only the enthusiasm for collection, but also some professional knowledge in this field. Therefore, it is very necessary for them to attend some kind of training classes so that they can get shaper eyes and a better taste in judging the various antiques.

    This January, the Nanxing Vocational School began to offer a course in Chinese antiques appreciation in order to satisfy the need of the collection lovers in Shanghai. The students come from different fields such as banking, auction shops, municipal government, and foreign companies, and their ages range from teens to sixties; however they are all attracted by the beauty of Chinese antiques. Many of the teachers here are antique experts; they not only teach the students theory, they also show them the real antiques. Through more than three months of study, some of the students have a basic idea of how to appreciate antiques, and they often exchange their opinions about the pieces provided by the teachers.

    With more and more people join the collection circle; the ideas about collections are different. Some people like to show their collected pieces to others, while others prefer to appreciate them by themselves. In any case, all the collectors regard their collections as the most valuable treasures, and their craze for collection is far beyond what we can imagine.

    From today's program, I think you have gotten a general picture of the private collections that can be found in China. In addition to the collectors I introduced to you, there are still many others. They learn a lot from their collection and also enjoy themselves. When you have time, try to visit these informal museums where I believe that you can gain a better understanding of Chinese culture. Thanks for watching today's program, always have fun! (By Wang Haifang)

Editor:Guan