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In China, formal school groupings known as 'education collectives' have become one of the most common forms of school-to-school collaboration, promoted by policymakers to narrow the achievement gap between schools and optimise resource allocation. Previous research has focused on the purposes and achievements of education collectives rather than their structural diversity. This article seeks to address this gap by typologising education collectives in China. We map the landscape of education collectives, illuminating how school-to-school collaboration and education collectivisation have been promoted and operationalised in China. To achieve this, we employ the metaphor of traditional Chinese landscape painting as a methodological tool. Through this, we promote a deeper understanding of the cultural and psychological roots of school-to-school collaboration in China. We conceptualise education collectives from three perspectives inspired by the features of landscape painting: power relations, legal status, and external institutional engagement. These three dimensions also illuminate the homogeneity, exclusion and unsustainability that the education collective may encounter in their development process. This typology places education collectives within the broader policy context of Chinese basic education and system reform and offers insights into the diversity of network and partnership structures among inter-school collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study looks at two aspects of ancient Chinese genre painting to interpret the more realistic ancient shopping scenes in the painting of the peddler in spring scenery in the Ming Dynasty, namely, the Ming spring scene and the characters' costume image features. Through the analysis of the detailed characteristics of the style, structure, pattern, and color of the figure costume in the painting of the peddler, a total of five sets of figure costume for an adult male and four children in the painting of the peddler in the spring scenery of the Ming Dynasty in China were digitally restored using the 3D virtual fitting technology, which clearly showed the characteristics of the figure costume of the peddler and children in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). The figure's costume style in the painting of the salesman restored in the article is Beizi, closed crotch trousers, open crotch trousers, and abdominal circumference (a type of apron from the Song Dynasty. It is made to resemble a short apron and is wrapped around the abdomen). The study of the painting of peddler in the Ming dynasty in this work provides a reference for future study on ancient Chinese genre paintings of peddler and the restoration of the costumes of the figures in the painting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how Chinese people affiliated with different religions and ideologies of the Song period (960–1279 CE) used artistic, literary and visual representations to merge mountains and the natural world with the human body. This fusion of natural and human worlds in representation appears in a variety of contexts, including paintings of famous Song landscape artists, writings of literati thinkers, architectural developments of Neo-Confucian scholars, body charts recorded in the Daoist Canon, and artwork connected to Chinese Buddhism. The paper asserts that Song Chinese people used art and other material objects not only for the purpose of representing the world in which they lived but also as a means of expressing, developing and empowering their religions and ideologies. So powerful were these material representations, in fact, that in certain cases, they may have acted as a primary conduit through which the religion or ideology was experienced. As the paper shows, the interaction between the non-material activity of visualization (how people create images in their minds) and representation (how people create material objects to reify the images in their minds) is often pivotal, as opposed to accessory, to some of the later ideological developments of the Chinese people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Exhibitions, Conferences, Announcements" from the "Religion & the Arts" journal provides information on various ongoing exhibitions across the United States, including the Salem Witch Trials, Nigerian sculptor Bruce Onobrakpeya, Jewish ritual art, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Himalayan art, medieval astrology, Neapolitan crèche, Tibetan mandalas, Chinese mythical creatures, and Islamic art. The document also highlights upcoming conferences on topics such as Wendell Berry's work, literary mythologies, and women's contributions to natural philosophy in early modern Europe. Additionally, calls for papers on the reception of the Book of Job in literature and ethical, spiritual, and religious themes are included." [Extracted from the article]

The primary objective of this empirical investigation was to comprehensively examine the economic, environmental, and socio-cultural factors that exert a substantial influence on the collective impact of Chinese landscape paintings and modernist interior design. The study applied a complete econometric framework, integrating unit root tests, lag selection criteria, and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models. The results indicate a statistically significant and enduring association between essential factors, such as customer demand, price elasticity, and supply chain costs. The ARDL models demonstrate significant short-term and long-term effects, as seen by the substantial R-squared values reaching 84.4%. These findings confirm the variables' strength and explanatory capability and incorporate stepwise and robust least squares models, further supportingthe obtained results. The present findings have important implications for professionals in various fields of art interior design. The results provide valuable data-driven insights that can inform the creation of sustainability and economic feasibility in these domains. This study is a crucial reference point for future academic inquiries and practical applications in the interdisciplinary fields of art, design, and supply chain management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Beyond the Brush: Mediums and Methods in Modern Chinese Painting" explores the evolution of modern Chinese painting from the early twentieth century to the present day. It delves into the transition of Chinese painting from traditional ink painting to experimentation with various mediums such as oils, watercolor, and photography. The text highlights the cultural and political significance of modern Chinese painting, emphasizing the intersection of art, history, and national identity. Additionally, it discusses the impact of transmediality on Chinese painting, challenging the binary division between 'national painting' and 'Western-style painting.' [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of National Palace Museum Research Quarterly is the property of National Palace Museum and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It is difficult to achieve high-precision color reproduction using traditional color reproduction methods when the angle is changed, and, for large-sized artefacts, it is also significantly difficult to collect a large amount of data and reproduce the colors. In this paper, we use three Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) modeling methods based on spectral imaging techniques, namely, the five-parameter model, the Cook–Torrance model and the segmented linear interpolation model. We investigated the color reproduction of color chips with matte surfaces and Chinese paintings with rough surfaces under unknown illumination angles. Experiments have shown that all three models can effectively perform image reconstruction under small illumination angle intervals. The segmented linear interpolation model exhibits a higher stability and accuracy in color reconstruction under small and large illumination angle intervals; it can not only reconstruct color chips and Chinese painting images under any illumination angle, but also achieve high-quality image color reconstruction standards in terms of objective data and intuitive perception. The best test model (segmented linear interpolation) performs well in reconstruction, reconstructing Chinese paintings at 65° and 125° with an illumination angle interval of 10°. The average RMSE of the selected reference color blocks is 0.0450 and 0.0589, the average CIEDE2000 color difference is 1.07 and 1.50, and the SSIM values are 0.9227 and 0.9736, respectively. This research can provide a theoretical basis and methodological support for accurate color reproduction as well as the large-sized scientific prediction of artifacts at any angle, and has potential applications in cultural relic protection, art reproduction, and other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between aesthetics and morality has been long debated. The current study manipulated perceived artist morality to systematically explore its influence on aesthetic judgments of paintings. Experiment 1 showed perceived artist morality as indicated by moral appraisal significantly influenced Chinese participants' aesthetic judgments of Chinese landscape paintings. Participants rated their liking and the beauty of paintings, with the result that highly moral artists' paintings were rated significantly higher than paintings of low-morality artists. Experiment 2 used moral behavior descriptions and replicated the finding of perceived artist morality influence on Chinese participants' aesthetic judgments of Chinese landscape paintings, but we did not find this effect on aesthetic judgments of Western landscapes and abstract paintings. Experiment 3 found a cross-cultural discrepancy of the influence of perceived artist morality on aesthetic judgments. We found perceived artist morality influenced Western (Americans and Europeans) participants' aesthetic judgments of all styles of paintings. This study confirmed the influence of perceived artist morality on aesthetic judgments of paintings, and suggested artists who cultivate a highly moral persona can thereby enhance the aesthetic value of their artworks among the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Style transfer aims to apply the stylistic characteristics of a reference image onto a target image or video. Existing studies on style transfer suffer from either fixed style without adjustability or unclear stylistic patterns in output results. Moreover, concerning video style transfer, issues such as discontinuity in content and time, flickering, and local distortions are common. Current research on artistic image style transfer mainly focuses on Western painting. In view of the differences between Eastern and Western painting, the existing methods cannot be directly applied to the style transfer of Chinese painting. To address the aforementioned issues, we propose a controllable style transfer method based on generative adversarial networks. The method operates directly in the feature space of style and content domains, synthesizing target images by merging style features and content features. To enhance the output stylization effect of Chinese painting, we incorporate stroke constraints and ink diffusion constraints to improve the visual quality. To mitigate issues such as blank spaces, highlights, and color confusion resulting in flickering and noise in Chinese painting style videos, we propose a flow-based stylized video optimization strategy to ensure consistency in content and time. Qualitative and quantitative experimental results show that our method outperforms state-of-the-art style transfer methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite significant strides in digital classification of Chinese ink paintings, existing methods predominantly rely on low-level features, insufficient for capturing the nuanced artistic styles of such works. This study introduces a novel multi-branch residual network that leverages depth correlation features to enhance the classification of Chinese ink paintings. We innovatively combine global style features, extracted using the Gram matrix, with local brushstroke features obtained via the Holistically-Nested Edge Detection(HED) method. This dual-feature approach addresses the limitations of previous studies by incorporating high-level stylistic nuances alongside low-level details, resulting in a more robust classification system. Quantitative results demonstrate a marked improvement in classification accuracy, with our network outperforming existing state-of-the-art models by significant margins in both artist and genre classification tasks. This advancement not only underscores the efficacy of integrating diverse feature sets but also paves the way for more sensitive and accurate management of digital art repositories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reconstructs the story of the "Chinese Painting Exhibition" in the USSR, brought to Moscow and Leningrad in 1934 by the prominent Chinese artist Xu Beihong. The exhibition covered a period from the Han dynasty up to the 1930s, and, for the first time, presented Chinese art to the Soviet audience. Before arriving in the USSR, the show toured Europe, where it was extremely popular and considered the first successful attempt to present Chinese art in the West. In contrast, the exhibition's perception in the Soviet Union was rather contradictory. The reasons for that could be found in the ongoing Soviet artistic discourse and preconceived vision of Chinese art. Based on archival materials, this study reveals the process of the exhibition's organization and focuses on the image of China and Chinese art constructed by its curators. Additionally, this article examines the reception of the show by both professional and mass Soviet audiences in conjunction with the Soviet ideology towards fine art, foreign art exhibitions of the 1930s, and existing narratives on China, which shaped the optic of Soviet visitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study delves deeply into exploring the artistic value of traditional Chinese painting (TCP) and aims to bridge the gap between its fundamental characteristics and the realm of human emotions. To achieve this, a novel convolutional neural network (CNN)-based classification model for TCP emotions is proposed. By thoroughly analyzing the distinct emotional mapping relationships inherent in TCP, a comprehensive framework is developed. Notably, emotional feature regions are accurately extracted using image saliency, and a multi-layer aggregation recalibrated emotional feature module is seamlessly integrated into the CNN network structure. This integration strengthens the activation of features that significantly influence TCP emotions. Moreover, a method of multi-category weighted activation localization is skillfully employed to classify Chinese painting emotions within the CMYK (cyan magenta yellow black) color space. The empirical results convincingly demonstrate that our algorithm surpasses existing approaches such as VGG-19, GoogLeNet, ResNet-50, and WSCNet in the task of TCP emotion recognition, achieving an impressive accuracy of 92.36%, the largest error is 0.191. This improvement signifies the advancements made by our model in accurately capturing and understanding the emotional nuances within TCP. By outperforming previous methods, our research contributes to the convergence of multimedia technology and cultural education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing classification models for traditional Chinese paintings mostly ignore shallow detail features, which leads to the imprecise classification of styles. To address the above problems, this paper proposes a Chinese traditional painting style automatic classification model based on dual-channel feature fusion with multi-attention mechanism. First, the spatial attention mechanism is introduced to enhance the Swin-Transformer framework to obtain the salient features of Chinese ancient painting images. Second, a dual-channel attention mechanism is constructed to extract global semantic features and local features of Chinese ancient painting images. Finally, the extracted features are fused and categorized based on the softmax classifier. To verify the feasibility and validity of the proposed model, this paper performs simulations on the Chinese painting dataset and compares it with existing algorithms.The average classification accuracy of the proposed model is 90.6 % , with an improvement of 3.14 % , which is better than the existing model in both visual effects and objective data comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Trans/Form/Ação is the property of Trans/Form/Acao and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Chinese landscape paintings, realistic landscape photographs, and oil paintings each possess unique artistic characteristics and painting features. Image-to-image translation between these three domains is an extremely challenging task. Existing image-to-image translation networks suffer from deficiencies in preserving content or conveying style, posing difficulties in achieving this task. To address this issue, we propose a novel two-stage multi-domain generative adversarial network approach (TMGAN). We add edge maps as additional guidance input and implement content control to better retain content information. In addition, we design the IOST (In/Out module for Style Transfer) module to better assist the style transfer task. By employing a clever design, we decompose the image translation task into two stages: content extraction and style injection. In the content extraction stage, TMGAN extracts high-resolution edge images from content images. In the style injection stage, TMGAN takes the high-resolution edge image as input and injects the specified style for generation. Notably, we accomplish this two-stage task using only a single multi-domain generator network. Extensive qualitative and quantitative experiments conducted against the baseline model validate the exceptional performance of TMGAN. Furthermore, to facilitate further research, we release MLHQ, a high-quality multi-domain landscape dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the wide application of deep learning technology in various fields, its potential in artistic creation has gradually attracted attention. This research focuses on the application of deep learning in the creation of traditional Chinese landscape painting and its cultural and aesthetic impact. First, the research comprehensively analyzes the existing deep learning algorithms and the basic elements of Chinese landscape painting to determine the most suitable model architecture. Then, through several rounds of experiments, various training parameters are adjusted and the optimal network configuration is determined. In terms of assessment, the study uses a variety of indicators, including visual quality and technical performance, as well as in-depth cultural and aesthetic analysis. The results show that deep learning not only effectively improves visual quality and technical performance, but also has a positive impact on culture and aesthetics. Although there are some limitations, such as high computational requirements and reliance on large amounts of training data, corresponding solutions are also proposed. This study provides a powerful experimental basis for the integration of Chinese traditional art and modern science and technology, and promotes the research in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructing low-cost, high-catalytic-performance anode electrocatalysts is a significant challenge for methanol oxidation (MOR) and urea oxidation (UOR) reactions. Using paper templates with abundant pores to prepare thin porous metal materials helps to obtain high-performance electrode materials. The nano amorphous B-doped Ni/crystalline Ni (nanoam Ni-B/Ni) foil composite electrodes were derived from paper templates prepared by impregnation, high-temperature reduction, and electrodeposition methods. Porous Ni foils (Nip) derived thinnest rice ("Xuan") paper, initially used for Chinese calligraphy and painting, exhibits the best performance due to its strong adsorption and wettability. Compared to direct current electrodeposition, pulse electrodeposition yields finer amorphous B-doped Ni nanoparticles with good catalytic performance. Under a current density of 100 mA·cm−2, the nanoam Ni-B/Ni composite electrode prepared under a duty cycle of 0.5–1.0 s achieved current densities of 290.4 mA·cm−2 (MOR) and 340.4 mA·cm−2 (UOR) at 0.8 V, which are improved by 37.1% and 55.1%, respectively, compared to those of Nip. After 2000 cycles, with solution replacement, the current densities maintained 99.2% (MOR) and 81.6% (UOR) of the original values, showing excellent electrocatalytic stability. This research provided a new use for Chinese rice paper, and the prepared Nip-based electrode, with a thickness of about 60 μm and a low area quality, had a simple preparation process and good electrochemical properties, and can be used as a potential substitute for commercial Ni foam for portable or small electrochemical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collection of the National Gallery in Prague includes two depictions of Qing dynasty battles during the Nian rebellion (1851–1868). These paintings have been studied by researchers, but the complex historical background of their acquisition and movement among Western collections was never clarified. Also, the sad process of how the paintings became orphaned from the matching inscriptions, which were still with them in the mid-20th century, has not been described before. After making new discoveries in the archives of institutions and individual collectors in the Czech Republic and Germany, this article discusses in detail the movements of the paintings among collections and their place in the collecting discourse throughout the 20th century. Their biography is a vital testimony to the complex processes of looting, appropriation, confiscation, damage and rediscovery, which affected numerous artworks and their collections in the tumultuous period of the last century.

With the advent of generative adversarial networks (GAN), an astonishing advancement has been made in the generation of art painting in recent years. However, existing methods still suffer problems such as color confusion or blurred details. In addition, most of those works centered around the generation of western art painting, while less attention was paid to Chinese traditional arts. Moreover, the lack of traditional Chinese painting datasets is also one of the reasons for the delayed development. To solve the above problems, our research focuses on the synthesis of multi-style traditional Chinese paintings. Firstly, we collect and sort out more than 1000 traditional Chinese paintings, including line drawings, meticulous paintings, ink paintings. Secondly, we propose a Chinese art generative adversarial network (abbreviated as CA-GAN) to decouple the latent vector based on attention mechanism. CA-GAN maps an image to content space and attribute space and fuses them to generate high-quality traditional Chinese art paintings. Meanwhile, a content discriminator is presented to check the consistency of mapping process based on cross-cycle consistency constraint. To make the generated images more artistic, MS-SSIM loss and Charbonnier loss functions are adopted to improve the performance of our model. Experiments have been conducted to verify the effectiveness and the generalization ability of our model. Compared with other state-of-the-art methods, the Chinese art paintings generated by CA-GAN are more vivid and realistic, and the resolutions of them are increased to 280 × 280 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planarized formal language has important artistic value and cultural significance in modern Chinese oil painting. This paper discusses the development of planarized language in China, from the early European influence to the modern localization practice, analyzes its artistic characteristics in composition, color, and modeling, and demonstrates the specific application of planarized language in Chinese oil painting. On this basis, four directions for the future development of planarized language are proposed, including strengthening the integration of local culture, exploring diversified expressive techniques, focusing on emotional and spiritual expression, and promoting international exchange and cooperation. The study shows that the planarized language has enriched the expression of Chinese oil painting, and continued research in this field will bring more innovation and development opportunities to the modern art world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to migrate text-to-image models based on pre-trained diffusion models to adapt them to domain generation tasks is a common problem. In particular, the generation task for Chinese landscape paintings with unique characteristics suffers from a scarcity of fine-grained contextual details specific to such artwork. Moreover, the use of substantial amounts of non-landscape painting data during pre-training predisposes the model to be swayed by alternative visual styles, thereby leading to generated images that inadvertently lack the distinctive traits inherent to Chinese paintings. In this paper, we propose a Fine-grained Hierarchical Semantic Adapter for Chinese landscape paintings generation, namely FHS-adapter. The method orchestrates the diffusion process in a batch-wise manner, leveraging external fine-grained multi-perspective information to guide it. It gradually diminishes the influence of other style images embedded in the pre-trained diffusion model, ultimately preserving a greater number of landscape painting elements. The encoder was also replaced with the Taiyi-CLIP encoder, which is adapted for Chinese. We propose T2ICLP, a multimodal dataset containing 10,000 high-quality image-text pairs of Chinese landscape paintings. Unlike previous datasets, this dataset extracts fine-grained textual information from four perspectives, including Meta, Description, Sentiment, Poem. We compared the proposed model with the mainstream diffusion-based T2I models. Through an anonymous user study, our FHS-adapter method performs well in simulating various aspects such as brushwork, e.g.'Gou, Cun, Dian, Ran' means hooking, texturing, dotting, and dyeing, compositional space, elemental proportions, and color usage of different painting genres and artists. Our dataset is available at https://github.com/T2ICLP/t2iclp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

‘Expansion Painting: A Visual Essay’ attempts another way of thinking about and through my practice of expansion painting through the form of a visual essay. In Asian art, images and words often come together as one. As can be seen in Chinese ink painting, images and words appear on the same visual plane, suggesting we look equally at both, seeing and reading both image and text. I aim to replicate this equal relationship between images and words in this paper as ‘another’ form of expansion painting. The image/text relationship also aims to reflect the viewers’ ambiguous relationship between their bodies and the work in the installations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study first developed non-destructive and accurate methods to predict the relative contents of mixed mineral pigments in ancient Chinese wall paintings using multiple spectroscopic techniques. The colorimetry, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR FT-IR), ultraviolet–visible–near-infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy were employed. Analyses were conducted including color difference, spectral reflection, ATR FT-IR spectra, and Raman mapping for simulated samples (malachite–lazurite mixed with rabbit glue samples) before and after aging. Models were then established for predicting the relative pigment contents of samples using UV-Vis-NIR and ATR FT-IR spectral data with Beer–Lambert law, and mathematical methods comprising principal component analysis (PCA) and nonlinear curve fitting. In particular, PCA and empty modeling methods combined with non-negative partial least squares were developed to predict the relative pigment contents based on Raman mapping data. The results demonstrated that approaches comprising PCA, mathematical model, and empty modeling based on the spectral data were effective at predicting the relative pigment contents. The predicted results obtained using the mathematical model based on UV-Vis-NIR spectra had an error of about 2%, and the best prediction based on ATR FT-IR spectra had an error of <3.6% at 1041 cm–1. The errors for the predictions using PCA and empty modeling based on Raman mapping data were 0.01–9.30% and 0.28–7.15%, respectively. However, the predicted relative pigment contents obtained based on ATR FT-IR data combined with the Beer–Lambert law had higher errors. The findings of this study confirm the strong feasibility of using spectroscopic techniques for quantitatively analyzing mixed mineral pigments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese ink painting has an important milestone in the development of Chinese art history. Recently, most of the new concepts of visual communication design in China was influenced by cultural elements especially the Chinese traditional ink painting. However, how to strengthen the application of Chinese traditional ink painting as a new concept of visual communication has become a challenge. This study aims to investigate the significance of Chinese traditional ink painting as a new concept of visual communication design. A total of 20 respondents were involved in this survey acknowledged as design expert such as designer, professional painters, art artist and scholar. The results highlighted the significant of Chinese traditional ink painting in the development of new concept of visual communication design for better aesthetic appearance as well as for industry relate growth in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to historical records of Admiral Chengho's arrival, Jamblang Indonesia has existed since the fifteenth century. The temple in Jamblang has a very valuable historical heritage. Classic Chinese stories are displayed in paintings that cover every wall of the temple structure. However, the condition of the paintings is not good due to damage from incense smoke, faded colors, and cracked and moldy walls. The Chinese paintings on the temple walls are evidence of traces of Chinese culture which has a long history. The paintings were left unattended due to a lack of understanding and care, increasing the possibility that they would become increasingly blurry or perhaps disappear under the cover of incense smoke. This research aims to utilize digital technology as a solution for documenting these paintings to preserve and revitalize them. The methods used are documentation and digital image processing. Documentation is carried out by taking a photo of each image at eye level to minimize distortion. The difficulties faced were a narrow place to take photos with minimal distance, paintings that were blocked by several temple artifacts, lighting in the room that was very dark, and image tracing that was almost faded. The photos obtained are collected and processed using digital technology. Each part of the wall painting is documented, corrected and traced to obtain a collection of paintings in digital form that can be applied to various types of media. This research produces an image-processing framework for digitizing documentation to preserve cultural heritage. The results show traces of a high-value culture that has existed for a long time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study is to explore the social and psycho-emotional influence of traditional Chinese national symbols on the contemporary wall-paintings in Chinese public art as the synthesis of aesthetics and politics expressed in fine art. The scientific and practical significance of the study lies in the description of the influence of traditional wall-painting and Western art styles on modern Chinese public art. The group of respondents consisted of 96 students and teachers from Chinese art universities. The researchers used the method of expert assessments (semi-structured interview with the use of a special questionnaire), the 'Health, Activity, Mood' method and the D. V. Liusin method for determining the level of emotional intelligence. Having analysed the study results, the researchers proved the hypothesis that the use of traditional national symbols in contemporary Chinese public art is a factor that determines the artistic, psycho-emotional and ideological impact of this art form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of Christianity to China initiated a process of indigenization, particularly evident in Christian art. This study explores the indigenization of early 20th-century Chinese Christian paintings through literature reviews, case studies, and comparative research. The analysis covers four forms of primary research. First, it explores the indigenization of Christian concepts, tracing their development from the introduction of Nestorian Christianity in the Tang dynasty through the establishment of Fu Jen Catholic University in the Republican era. Matteo Ricci's implementation of the "Ricci Rule" during the late Ming dynasty, subsequently expanded by Celso Costantini, played a crucial role in the indigenous adaptation of Christian painting in China. The second facet focuses on the Beijing Catholic School of Painting, led by Chen Yuandu, a group that innovated Chinese Christian art by integrating local artistic expressions with traditional depictions of saints, assimilating symbols from Chinese literati painting, and preserving time-honored Chinese painting techniques. The third facet examines the strategy behind Christian painting methods. Fourth, this study discusses how the Fu Jen School faced varied reception and evaluations from domestic and international audiences under the complex social currents of the Republic of China and how the artists reflected the national spirit and artistic responsibility in their narrative paintings. Fundamentally, the practice of Christian painting at the early 20th-century Catholic School is not only an innovative artistic endeavor but also a significant case of cultural exchange between East and West and religious localization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study leverages visual design processes to construct a conceptual representation of domestic spaces. Drawing upon personal growth experiences, this work aims to foster reflection on family culture and elicit a fresh perspective on representations of family and home. The design manifests as a 3D installation piece, integrating geometric and organic forms in a novel synthesis of visual communication design. Mixed technique methodologies underscore the artwork's versatility, capturing the complexity and breadth of home as a concept. The creation process incorporated data from environmental conditions, relevant academic literature, and visual art influences. Analysis centered on the clarity of the theme, the symbolic form of the work, and the creative techniques employed, revealing an in-depth exploration of graphic design, interface design, and illustration principles. This study highlights housing as an elemental component of human life, serving as the nexus for sustenance, shelter, and travel. The artwork--an assembly of acrylic panels shaped into simple, uncluttered forms and decorated with paper-cut patterns--translates this concept into a tangible visual reality. It reflects the influential role of visual arts and graphic design in societal narratives. Light within the artwork, symbolizing warmth, creates a space imbued with love, joy, music, and laughter. The piece thus encapsulates a shared understanding of home, underlining the capacity of visual design to create universally resonant yet individually unique experiences. In conclusion, this work underscores the educational and societal significance of visual design, encouraging further exploration into home-themed art and its capacity to bolster societal stability and unity. It advances understanding of the aesthetics of home - its shape, color, and the interplay between Chinese paper-cut patterns and the home concept. This exploration reinforces the need for continued investigation into the potential of visual design to articulate and shape fundamental human spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores Pan Jianfeng's ink art practice, focusing on his Bone and Flesh series, which challenges traditional boundaries and norms through queer movements. The conversation between Pan and Karolina Pawlik delves into the philosophical implications of his work, emphasizing the transformative space created by tracing the edges of our world. Pan's art practice aims to unravel binary oppositions, offer insights into multispecies futures, and promote inclusivity and equality through brush practice. The series blends traditional Chinese ink painting with unconventional imagery, reflecting Pan's journey of self-discovery and liberation. [Extracted from the article]

Image restoration is a prominent field of research in computer vision. Restoring broken paintings, especially ancient Chinese artworks, is a significant challenge for current restoration models. The difficulty lies in realistically reinstating the intricate and delicate textures inherent in the original pieces. This process requires preserving the unique style and artistic characteristics of the ancient Chinese paintings. To enhance the effectiveness of restoring and preserving traditional Chinese paintings, this paper presents a framework called Sketch-Guided Restoration Generative Adversarial Network, termd SGRGAN. The framework employs sketch images as structural priors, providing essential information for the restoration process. Additionally, a novel Focal block is proposed to enhance the fusion and interaction of textural and structural elements. It is noteworthy that a BiSCCFormer block, incorporating a Bi-level routing attention mechanism, is devised to comprehensively grasp the structural and semantic details of the image, including its contours and layout. Extensive experiments and ablation studies on MaskCLP and Mural datasets demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method over previous state-of-the-art methods. Specifically, the model demonstrates outstanding visual fidelity, particularly in the restoration of landscape paintings. This further underscores its efficacy and universality in the realm of cultural heritage preservation and restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the history of Chinese embroidery, Gu's Embroidery in the late Ming Dynasty and Ding Pei's Principles of Embroidery can be considered the pinnacle of embroidered painting's practice and texts. Nowadays, there are many studies of the unique position and artistic value of "embroidered painting." It is in this context that this paper offers a particular consideration of the technical aspects of embroidered painting in the Ming and Qing dynasties. With a series of specific questions, this paper is designed to examine embroidered painting from the perspective of stitching technique and gender, as well as its dual status as both an independent art form and a stitching technique. However, due to its nature as a women-exclusive art, embroidery suffered discriminatory treatment and was unable to acquire its privileged status in a male-dominated imperial society. As a result, embroidered painting had to win discourse power by not emphasizing its sophisticated technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Successful restoration of two shell paintings from the Warring states period. • Identifying the mineral type of the pigment and obtaining its spectral information. • In-depth explanation of the picture details and discussion of its significance in early art history. The use of shells as a medium for painting is an exceptionally rare discovery in archaeology, representing a art form that has been largely overlooked. In this study, we present two shell paintings of the Warring States period (476–221 BCE) discovered in Zhongshan State, Hebei, China. Employing various techniques, including microscopic observation, computed tomography (CT), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), multispectral imaging, and Raman spectroscopy, we non-destructively unveil the exquisite images obscured by soil and reveal the unparalleled shallow relief technique employed in their creation. The identified pigments for the different paintings include cinnabar, charcoal black, and malachite. These elaborate depictions offer insights into the costume, rituals, life, hierarchy, and art of the Warring States period. The meticulous use of prominent lines emphasizes color patches rather than the brushstrokes relied upon in later stereotypical Chinese painting, significantly reshaping previous notions about the early development of Chinese painting. This unique expression undoubtedly refreshes our understanding of early ancient art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• THM-Py-GC/MS procedure to distinguish two types of gum benzoin were developed. • Various materials were identified simultaneously by THM-Py-GC/MS in ancient architectural paintings from Shuxiang temple. • For the first time, gum benzoin was detected as binding media in ancient Chinese architectural paintings. Animal glue, pine resin, starch, and tung oil were commonly used as binding media in ancient architectural decoration in China. Gum benzoin was also recorded in ancient Chinese literature but has not been detected in Chinese architectural decoration yet. To obtain comprehensive information on ancient binding media, this study investigated two types of gum benzoin using pyrolysis–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with thermal-assisted hydrolysis and methylation (THM–Py–GC/MS). Subsequently, organic binding media used in the architectural decoration of Shuxiang Temple, which is a Royal Manchu temple in the Qing dynasty, were analyzed. Heat-boiled tung oil was identified as the major binding medium in architectural decoration. In addition, animal glue, blood, starch, pine resin, and gum benzoin from Styrax benzoin Dryand and Qi (urushiol-based lacquer) were also determined. For the first time, gum benzoin was detected as a binding medium in architectural decoration in China. The identification of various organic binding media used in the architectural decoration can provide scientific support to the ongoing conservation project related to Shuxiang Temple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]