Show SEE NATURE AS SYMBOL OF LIFE chinese art developed in that spirit ku hu ming says art speaks to the heart of all nations the chi nese liese feel a reverence for the things of nature akin to a religious awe air water flowers trees and ani mals to them as to all ancient races are honored as the indications of the presence of some deity who must be duly worshiped at the proper season nature Is a symbol of the universal life which we all share writes a correspondent in the auckland weekly news the largest chinese temples are always in one of the beauty spots of the district and are built in such harmony with the surrounding hills trees and rivers that the archi architect tec ture enhances the loveliness of ni n i ture and satisfies the eye of the beholder seeming to fulfill some need of that particular place taoist contemplation and buddhist rites are but different paths to the same goal the realization of the oneness of nature the deep chasm which to the western mind divides nature from the human intellect does not exist for the oriental to him nature has a soul and lives as does man himself so whether revealed in snow clad mountains in slumber ous mists drifting over rivers and lakes in majestic trees and rugged rocks in blossoming flowers or in birds and beasts chinese art does exercise an elevating influence on the observer calming yet exalting his mood t nowadays when western tion Is gradually pervading the east too much importance Is given to ma bertal comfort and thus the subtle charm and spiritual value of pic pie tordal art as portrayed in painting prints tripods sacrificial bowls seals bronzes stones and porcelain Is in danger of perishing fruits and animals are presented as symbols the destinies of the em pire are said to be under the tutelage of tour four super natural animals the stag the tortoise the phoenix and the dragon hence their bronze fig ures are to be found in the palace courtyard the stag presides over literature and Is visible at the birth of sages the tortoise over virtue and appears at periods of widespread morality the phoenix con trola divination and the dragon rep I 1 resents authority this last super natural monster Is the national en sign of china besides his possession of authority the dragon king in fluentes fluen ces the season seasons eclipses are ascribed to his propensity to swallow the sun and moon leaving the world in darkness he Is believed to conceal himself at tain fain periods under the banks of the river and for this reason the bronze cow has to watch the river and keep it from flooding the country but this ruse often falls to outwit the malice of the evil drigon and floods result other forms of the dragon are the scaly the winged the horned the hornless and the dragon rolled with in itself each varies in color as the azure the gold the scarlet the pur pie the black the white the variegated and most important of all the yellow the imperial dragon Is al ways to be distinguished by ita its fifth claw which it assumes in all ings trigs such as carved ascents to the temple pertaining to the emperor each gateway of a temple Is guarded by winged monsters who have power over all living creatures at the yellow temple a stone lion wipes his eyes with his paw in grief at a good mans passing A tiger often guards graves for the mythical animal who is supposed to eat cat the brains of the dead fears only tigers and pine trees A frog Is sacred because the chanting of frogs la Is often the only note heard among ruing ruins |