Prof. Sun Jingbo of China Central Academy of Fine Arts was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture for two murals (acrylic-painted mural Verve of China featuring flying asparas with musical instruments, and lacquer mural based on the famous calligraphy work of Wang Xizhi's Orchid Pavilion Preface) to be donated as gifts of Chinese Government to the Kennedy Center. The murals will be installed in the VIP lounge of the Eisenhower Theater and unveiled during the Festival. Thus the lounge itself will then be renamed as the "Chinese Room".

Verve of China

Ancient Chinese artists uniquely designed the image of feitian in the Buddhism fresco art. Its image of deity-human combination and free soaring in the universe symbolize the longing and pursuit for the idealized "Pure Land" of humanity. The author of the painting once studies frescos of the past dynasties in Dunhuang Mogao Grotto and produced this painting to revisit the magnificence of feitian.

Dedicated to Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Washington D.C..

Produced in summer, 2005
Epigraph by Sun Jingbo, Professor from China Central Academy of Fine Arts

Lan Ting Xu (Orchid Pavilion Preface)

The Chinese characters were invented under the inspiration gained by ancestors when they recorded the shape and form of objects on the earth. Over the past five millenniums, Chinese calligraphy has developed into an independent art category and been lauded in parallel with Chinese painting for its time-honored history, abundant conformations and multi-purposes as means of recording, lyricism and recitals.

Numerous outstanding calligraphers emerged over the long-standing history. Most celebrated calligrapher Wang Xizhi (321-379) of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, known as "calligrapher sage", was accomplished in almost every form of calligraphy, such as kaishu (regular script), xingshu (running hand) and caoshu (cursive hand). His most famous work is Lan Ting Xu (Orchid Pavilion Preface). Solid in structure and smooth in writing, Lan Ting Xu opens a vast visionary space for views and conveys the subtle correlation between man and nature, emotion and context as well as destiny and luck. Lan Ting Xu is credited as unprecedented "No.1 Xingshu" in the Chinese calligraphy circle.

Designed and supervised by Prof. Sun Jingbo and Tang Hui from China Central Academy of Fine Arts
Produced by Beijing Lion Art Corporation Ltd.

(China.org.cn September 21, 2005)