Shades of Xanadu
This week my collage was inspired by @shaka's beautiful template (Template for LMAC Collage Contest # 191), and by Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, Kubla Khan.
@shaka's Template
Some years ago I wrote a small book about Chinese art of the Yuan Dynasty(1231-1368). This dynasty covers most of Kublai Khan's (1215-1294) reign (1260-1294).
Painting of Kublai Khan Hunting (1280)
Credit: Lui Guandao (1258-1336) public domain
Just about everyone has heard of Marco Polo, and many of us have read the poem Kubla Khan. It was during the reign of Kublai Khan that Marco Polo made his storied visit to China, and it is of Kublai Khan's summer palace, Shangdu (Xanadu) that Coleridge wrote in his poem. The excerpt below is from Project Gutenberg:
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
The Mongols invaded China under Kublai Khan's grandfather, Genghis Khan. However, they did not control all of China until Kublai Khan defeated the southern part of the empire, which was known as the Southern Song Dynasty.
Mongols Using a Trebuchet to Overpower Enemy Defenses
Credit:Author unknown. C. 1307. Public domain. It is believed that use of the trebuchet was key to the Southern Song defeat by the Mongols.
Mongol rule was quite oppressive. However, it was in this oppressive atmosphere that literati art blossomed. It was in the art of underground literati painters that Chinese culture was preserved. To this day the literati artists of that period are revered.
Poetic Thoughts in a Forest Pavilion, by Ni Zan
Credit: Ni Zan. painted between 1366-1376. Public domain. Ni Zan was one of the artists known as the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty.
Collage Process
This is not one of my more literal collages. I thought of the river in Coleridge's poem, and of the opulence of Kublai Khan's palace. The collage was suggested by these different elements. It was also evidently influenced by an awareness of literati art.
I owe a debt to LMAC's LIL Gallery and to the LMAC members who contributed to that gallery. Thank you:
Shore
@bella76
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/6556Roses
@yaziris
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/7646
I also thank the following contributors to public domain sites:
Gems
Brett__Hondow
https://pixabay.com/de/photos/edelsteine-semi-precious-steine-1400682/Diamond
caro_oe92
https://pixabay.com/de/photos/diamant-stein-gelb-kristall-635332/Cranes
jasongillman
https://pixabay.com/de/photos/kr%C3%A4ne-v%C3%B6gel-sandh%C3%BCgelkrane-7445073/Barge
thefairypath
https://pixabay.com/de/illustrations/winter-schnee-jahreszeit-kalt-2146701/
- Fruit basket
congerdesign
https://pixabay.com/de/photos/obst-obstkorb-weintrauben-%C3%A4pfel-696169/
Finally, the swans were contributed by me to LIL some time ago.
The value of LIL in my efforts is obvious. Anyone on Hive can contribute to the library and everyone can borrow from it. Learn about the procedure here.
We have had some spectacular contests with handsome prizes this season. Today we are publishing the winners from Round #191 (this round). I don't compete so my collage can come in 'late'. Check out the 15 winners and get an idea of what LMAC artists produce each week.
As @shaka has said many times, everyone is an artist. Round #192 begins tomorrow. Join in the fun. Even though I don't enter the contest, I make collages because I can't resist.
Thank you for reading. Peace and health to all.