From July.28 to Aug.6, 2017, Shanghai Qinghe Culture Communications Co. planned the exhibition in the name of Singing Birds and Fragrant Flowers at Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy. The exhibition showed original paintings by Madam Bao Ying, famous female artist of the academy with her 103 extraordinary paintings based on information and materials of representative flowers, trees and birds from 83 countries．
And the exhibition Singing Birds and Fragrant Flowers was held at Art Gallery of Tokyo Sino-Japan Friendship Museum from May 18 to 23, 2018 in Japan. 46 original copies from Madam Bao Ying based on information and materials of representative flowers, trees and birds of certain countries were exhibited. On May.18, Mr. Yukio Hatoyama, former Prime Minister of Japan, and Mr. Ni Jian, Counsellor of Chinese Embassy in Japan attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.
the preface of Singing Birds and Fragrant Flowers
Flowers Much To Be Remembered
If one browses the Chinese and foreign books, he will find flower is the most favored topic men of letters are fond of writing about. “Her face is seen in flower and her dress in cloud, a beauty by the rails caressed by vernal breese” (Li Bai); The shadows of plum blossoms hang over the shallow streams, their fragrance floating underneath the moonlight” (Lin Bu); “Oh, my love is like red roses, blooming in June” (Burns: A Red, Red Rose); “When giving a person a rose, your hand retains the lingering fragrance of the flower”... From goddess Flora of the Greek myth, Duma’s La Dame aux Camelias to The Book of Songs, Peony Pavilion, Peach Blossom Fan and A Dream of Red Mansions in Chinese literature, the work of art and well-known phrases associated with flowers express people’s love for flowers and their strong yearning for a better life, which have moved from generation to generation of readers.
A flower is like a world. Ever since humans started to record their history, flowers have been their companions. People have never spared their good praises for flowers. In ancient Greek mythology, osmanthus flower is owned by the god of science and art, and hence the title of “poet laureate” came into being. Rose became the symbol of love because it was born on the same day as Venus and carnation is a favorite flower in the Mother’s Day. Every nation has its own culture, and flower, as a kind of special language symbol deeply immersed in the historical development of a nation, eventually evolved into a unique cultural phenomenon. Nearly half of the cherry blossoms in the world are planted in Japan, a close neighbor country of China separated by only a strip of water. Every season of cherry blossoms virtually becomes a national holiday in Japan due to the countless number of people enjoying the flower. There is even “Cherry Blossom Forecast” just like the weather forecast. In addition, the Netherlands and Turkey have the “Tulip Festival”; Bulgaria and the USA have the “Rose Festival”; Canada has the “Maple Syrup Festival” and Fiji has “Hibiscus Festival”... Flowers feature in festivals, as well as people’s daily life. The world of flowers and the world of people blend with each other, carrying a lot of historical implications.
“Disputing for sunny trees, early orioles trill; pecking vernal mud in, young swallows come and go” (Bai Juyi). Orioles are singers for spring. Swallows are migrant birds returning in spring. Just as flowers and birds give enjoyment for human beings, men also project the most beautiful and good vision on flowers and birds, and thus they become the messenger of peace. Pigeons and olive branches have been the symbol of peace for humans for a long time, and the emblem of the United Nations is the pattern in which a pair of olive branches hold the earth. In 2014 when it was the centennial anniversary of the First World War, European countries invariably chose corn poppy that was blooming in the battlefields as the flower to commemorate the dead soldiers. The profound meaning of this choice is easy to understand.
Bao Ying, a Shanghai native female painter, famous for painting flowers and birds, has spent 2 years making elaborate drawings of the first batch of 100 pieces of work representing the birds, trees and flowers from 83 countries around the world, in the hope that people can get to know them by browsing her painting collection Singing Birds and Fragrant Flowers, a rare art feast. In Bao Ying’s painting work, flowers, trees and birds have been given a new life because they not only look graceful, but also are full of vitality, so that readers can get as much a ready response as they are awed by the beauty they see. In the era when the world is becoming increasingly integrated and tens of thousands of life species are disappearing each day in a way that people cannot imagine, we hope that through the artist’s drawings we can leave a piece of memory of the old times for our future generations, making them appreciate the nature, cherish the beautiful life and pray peace for the world when they enjoy reading the painting collection Singing Birds and Fragrant Flowers.
Binhai FEI
First draft in November, 2016
Final draft in June, 2017, in Shanghai
