Challenges of Developing Terminology in Two Different Cultures:

Structural & Vocabulary Issues

Shu-Jiun (Sophy) Chen, Academia Sinica

2013.08.08

Presentation for GRI Colleagues

What Are Structural Issues in an AAT Context?

The way we classify, organize and arrange terms

What Are Structural Issues in an AAT Context?

The AAT reflects our perspectives/viewpoint on the world

It reflects our cultural preferencesIt reflects our real-life linguistic needs

What Are Structural Issues in an AAT Context?

The AAT can be used to guide users in enhancing their knowledge of specific

topics and concepts, and can even affect their views on and perception of these

concepts.

What Are Structural Issues in an AAT Context?

In terms of Chinese and English mapping, we have noticed some definite patterns in the

structural issues which arise.Today, I’d like to highlight one of these patterns.

The First Structural Issue Pattern

There is a conflicting structural arrangement between Western and

Chinese cultures….. To begin, the case of ceramic glazes

In the context of Western cultures, people tend to classify ceramic glazes

• by composition alkaline glaze, blue-and-white, Bristol glaze, celadon, lead glaze

• by form clear glaze

• by technique blister glaze, crystalline glaze, matte glaze, overglaze, sang de boeuf

However, from a Chinese perspective, curators and research studies tend to classify ceramic

glazes

by colorunder different colors with varying compositions, forms and techniques

Monk's Cap Ewer with Ruby Red Glaze, Hsüan-te Reign (1426-1435), Ming dynasty (1368-1644) 明宣德　寶石紅僧帽壺

Red glaze

Tea dust glaze

Six Conjoined Vases with Tea Dust GlazeCh‘ien-lung Reign (1736-1795), Ch’ing dynasty (1644-1911) 清 乾隆 茶葉末六聯瓶

Blue-and-white Flat Vase with FiguresYung-lo Reign (1403-1424), Ming dynasty (1368-1644) 明 永樂 清花人物扁壺

Blue-and-white

Vase with Underglaze red Jia-jing Reign (1522-1566), Ming dynasty (1368-1644)明 嘉靖 釉裡紅菊花玉壺春瓶

Underglaze red

PotCh‘ien-lung Reign (1736-1795), Ch’ing dynasty (1644-1911)清 乾隆款 藍地琺瑯彩瓷壺

Enamels on blue ground

Vessel1744-, Ch‘ien-lung Reign , Ch’ing dynasty (1644-1911)清 乾隆窯 琺瑯彩黃地福壽花卉瓶

Enamels on yellow ground

The Problem Includes

• Some terms shared by Western & Chinese cultures. Where should these terms be located within the hierarchical structure of the AAT?

• Some terms are arranged in different FACETS by Western & Chinese cultures

Ceramic Glaze by color vs. composition/origin vs. form vs. technique

(Underglaze enamels)

The Problem Includes

• Some terms do not even have an exact equivalence.

Is “Famille Rose” equivalent to “Fencai”(Powdered Colors), “Yangcai”(Foreign Colors) or “Falangcai”(Painted Enamel)?

1736-1795, Ch‘ien-lung Reign , Ch’ing dynasty (1644-1911)清 乾隆 粉彩蟠桃天球瓶

Fencai (Powdered Color) National Palace Museum

Vase1736-1795, Ch’ien-lung Reign, Ch’ing dynasty (1644-1911)

Famille roseBritish Museum

Yangcai National Palace Museum (Taipei)

1742-, Ch‘ien-lung Reign , Ch’ing dynasty (1644-1911)清 乾隆 磁胎洋彩玉環蒜頭瓶

1736-1745, Ch’ien-lung Reign, Ch’ing dynasty (1644-1911)plate

Famille RoseBritish Museum

Gall-bladder vase in yangcai enamels with figures décor, 1736-1795, Ch’ien-lung Reign, Ch’ing dynasty (1644-1911) 磁胎洋彩人物膽瓶

(Foreign Colors)

Yangcai National Palace Museum (Taipei)

1736-1795, Chien-lung Reign, Ch’ing dynasty (1644-1911)Dish in falangcai (painted) enamel on green ground with incised pattern of flower brocade and flowers of the four seasons décor磁胎畫琺瑯四季花綠地四寸碟

Falangcai (Painted Enamel)National Palace Museum

Famille RoseBritish Museum

1723-1735, Yong-zheng Reign,Ch’ing dynasty (1644-1911)Bowl. Flowers. Made of famille rose, red, yellow, green enamelled ceramic, porcelain.

Types of Chinese Porcelain

Imperial Kilns官窯

Commercial Kilns民窯

For DomesticMarket

Chinese ExportWares

Fencai (powdered colors) 粉彩 x ○ (3) ○ (4)

Yangcai (Foreign Colors) 洋彩 ○ (1) x x

Falangcai (Painted Enamel) 琺瑯彩 ○ (2) x xFamille Rose refers to the style of porcelain made in China characterized by the inclusion of an opaque enamel color that ranges from pink to purplish rose. The pigment itself is called Purple of Cassius, which was taken to China by Jesuit missionaries around 1685. The style reached its peak during the reign of Yung Cheng (1723-1735), after which it became increasingly commercial and largely for export to Europe. The style also occurs in German faience and English porcelain.

Famille Rose might refer to (1),(2), (3) & (4) types of Chinese porcelain. However, the current structure of the term in the AAT, where it is listed under <Chinese Export>, might only be limited to Type (4).

The Problem includes

• We might need to extend the context of the notes belonging to each term, so Chinese cultural references can be included.

Blue-and-white flat vase with figuresYung-lo Reign (1403-1424), Ming dynasty (1368-1644) 明 永樂 清花人物扁壺

STYLE FACET: Ming (ID: 300018438) Yongle (ID: 300018443) Ming imperial kiln style AGENT FACET: musicians (ID: 300025666)OBJECT FACET: vase paintings (ID: 300033668) landscapes (representations) (ID: 300015636)MATERIALS FACET: Blue-and-white (ID: 300266670)

Note: Refers to two-dimensional decoration applied to pottery by using paint made of metallic oxides or other pigments held in suspension in slip or another medium. The term is particularly used to refer to Ancient Greek red- and black-figure works.

vase paintings (ID: 300033668)

山水 (shan shui)

Landscape: no Chinese translation in the AAT

The closest entry in the AAT is 風景畫家 , or “landscapists”

風景畫 (feng jing hua)

• Feng jing hua (literally, “scenery painting”) is a term which entered Chinese during the twentieth century as a direct translation of the term “landscape painting.” It is the term used for a distinctly Western form of landscape, and not for traditional Chinese landscape depictions.

趙無極 Zao Wou-Ki, Paysage à Hangzhou (Landscape at Hangzhou), 1946. Private Collection, Paris. Oil on canvas.

Feng jing hua: Western-style Landscape Painting

郭熙 (Guo Xi), 早春 (Early Spring), 1072 (Northern Song dynasty). National Palace Museum, Taipei. Hanging scroll.

Shan shui: Microcosm

王希孟 (Wang Ximeng), 千里江山 (A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains), 1113 (Northern Song dynasty). Palace Museum, Beijing. Handscroll.

Shan shui: Landscape of the Daoist Immortals

Currently, there are no specific references to 山水 (shan shui) in the AAT. Instead, there is a reference to 青綠山水 (qing lü shan shui, blue-and-green landscape painting), covering only one aspect of the term.

沈周 (Shen Zhou), 蘆山高 (Lofty Mount Lu), 1467 (Ming dynasty). National Palace Museum, Taipei. Hanging scroll.

Shan shui: Portrait

Proposed Solution

• Add shan shui to the AAT as a new, separate child term under <landscape painting>. – This would facilitate retrieval for users, enabling

them to access entries on and to understand the differences between different types of landscape painting.

Proposed Solution

• Add shan shui to the AAT as a new variant term for <landscape painting>. – This would facilitate retrieval for users by:• Allowing users searching for the term <landscape

painting> to access information on and images related to <shan shui>.• Allowing users searching for the term <shan shui> to

access information on and images related to <landscape painting>.

• Draft a new scope note to clarify the specific history and allegorical functions of shan shui.

Sample shan shui Scope Note

• 山水畫 shan shui hua: A Chinese landscape painting style typically depicting mountains and bodies of water, often in an allegorical manner. Shan shui hua produced during the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) was monumental in scale, while Southern Song (1127-1279) shan shui hua was more intimate, providing horizontal, misty views of lakes and rivers. Shan shui hua can assume multiple symbolic dimensions, serving as a microcosmic illustration of the universe or a form of portraiture.

Toward Taiwanese Digital Art History

Chen Cheng Po Project

The initial idea of the project is to showcase the application of controlled vocabularies, especially when Academia

Sinica/TELDAP has richly invested in the Chinese version of the AAT

Academia Sinica received the archival collection of Chen Cheng Po (1895-1947), a famous modern painter in Taiwan.

The digital archival collection includes works of art, letters, diaries, postcards,

newspaper articles, manuscripts, artifacts, photos…etc.

Suzhou1929

89.4 × 115.5

Taipei Fine Arts Museum

Taiwan Western Art Association

Exhibitions in Taiwan

Teaching in Shanghai

Studies in Tokyo

Founding(1934)First

Exhibition (1935)

立石鐵臣

陳清汾楊三郎

李石樵

FoundersClassmat

e

Teacher

Co-worker

s

Shanghai Art School,

Western Painting

Department (1929-1933)

汪亞塵

王濟遠

Friends Chen

Cheng Po

范洪甲

Student

潘玉良

袁樞真

Taiwan Art Exhibition Society, Western Painting Section:

Exhibited Artists

石川欽一郎

李梅樹

顏水龍

藍蔭鼎

General Painting

(1924-27)Western Painting

(1927-29)

岡田三郎助田邊至

廖繼春

鹽月桃甫

鄉原古統

Co-Worker

s

Chen Cheng Po

Works from his Teaching Period(1929-1933)

1929 Qingli

u

1931Canal

1932 Nude Lying

Beside a Pool

Wang Jiyuan, Nude

Pan Yuliang,Nudes and Masks

Wang Yachen, Goldfish

Yuan Shuzhen,Colors of Mt.

Huagang

潘玉良

Shanghai Art School, Western Painting

Department (1929-1933)汪亞塵

王濟遠

Student

袁樞

真

Drying Dyed Cloth Digital Collections, Duke University LibraryDate 1917-1919documentary photographs by Sidney D. Gamble (1890-1968)http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/gamble_176-989/

Label text derived from Gamble's handwritten notes

Suzhou (TGN ID: 7018059)192989.4 × 115.5

Hangzhou (TGN ID: 7001806)1917-1919

Discussion