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Ancient Roots of Modernism
Dateline: Beijing, China
On a visit this afternoon to The Forbidden City in Beijing, I was fascinated to discover a precursor to the phenomenon on which Dave Barry lifted the lid and left the seat down. Near the North Gate is an artificial landscape (shanshui, literally, "mountain water") called Dui Xiu Shan, which translates as -- and I am not making this up -- "Hill of Piled Excellence" (the official translation, not mine). A photo -- which I cannot attach via this slow and no-doubt heavily monitored station in my hotel -- would be amusingly representational. I mention this in this "modern art" thread, because with its 1538 construction date, this artistic vision appears to have well and truly trumped our western modern art history. Perhaps an Alert Reader missive to Dave Barry is in order.
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