A Long Reverence for Writing

A rare exhibit on the evolution of the written word in China--from ancient bones bearing inscriptions to lavish silk graced with calligraphy of 17th century imperial edicts--opens Saturday at the Los Angeles Public Library downtown.

Traversing centuries of China’s history, cultures, languages and ethnic traditions, the 68 objects in “Visible Traces: Rare Books and Special Collections From the National Library of China” offer windows onto a bigger world and the reverence the Chinese have had for the written word and writing styles throughout their history.

The exhibit, the only West Coast showing of collections from the National Library of China, Asia’s largest, will be open free to the public through June 25.

“This is a treat,” said UCLA professor Richard E. Strassberg, an expert on Chinese classics, who will be a symposium speaker on the collections Wednesday in the library’s Mark Taper Auditorium. “You will never see this in China.”

Strassberg, who has visited the National Library of China and is fluent in Mandarin, said visitors in Beijing can see pieces of the collection only with special permission.

A private viewing and reception for guests and supporters of the library, who raised more than $150,000 in private funds to obtain the exhibit, is scheduled for this evening at the library.

To coincide with Saturday’s public opening, the library is offering a storytelling and puppet show on China for children at 2 p.m. The Los Angeles public library, with 67 branches, is the busiest public library in the nation, serving 4 million people a year, according to city librarian Susan Kent.

The display in the Getty Gallery includes rare books and manuscripts, such as Buddhist sutras, inscriptions and pictorial rubbings, maps and atlases, illustrations and historical writings from minorities in non-Chinese scripts, such as Mongolian, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Tangu, Manchu, Yi, Dai and Naxi.

Before paper was invented, the ancient Chinese used the shells of turtles, bones of animals, bronze, stone, bamboo, brick, tiles and silk for engraving and writing.

During Shang and Zhou periods (16th century-3rd century B.C.), records of historical events, memorials for ancestors and citations of merit and virtue were engraved on bronze ritual vessels and musical instruments, according to the 337-page catalog for the exhibit.

In the Eastern Han period (AD 25-220), teachings of Confucius, the great sage born more than 500 years before Christ, were engraved on stone, becoming a master source in promoting Confucianism across the country, according to art historian Philip K. Hu of New York University, who compiled and edited the catalog.

Artifacts in the current display give glimpses into many facets of Chinese life.

In one book on display, “Outlaws of the Marsh From the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness,” which UCLA’s Strassberg calls a Chinese equivalent of the Robin Hood tale, the author explores the theme of social order.

In this novel, depicting the closing years of Emperor Huizong’s reign (1082-1135), 108 demons become heroic leaders of a rebel army that robs the rich and fights against tyrants.

All that happens when an arrogant official--defying a Buddhist monk’s admonition--opens a box in a sealed room where the demons are held captive. An illustration accompanying the text shows the demons escaping in billowy black clouds.

A Ming dynasty (1368-1644) map is another highlight of the exhibit. It illustrates an attempt to use Western map techniques, which Jesuits introduced to China, according to Strassberg.

“This was the first attempt” at East meeting West, he said.

But the map maker did not work to scale or distinguish actual places from mythical sites.

He listed localities such as the Land of Women, the Country of Red Barbarians, the Land of People with Two Bodies and the Land of Hairy People, who are born from eggs.

Although Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent are represented on the map, Africa is reduced and suspended along the map’s left side.

Europe is depicted even more marginally and is almost unrecognizable in the upper left section, illustrating the prevalent Chinese view of the world at the time.

Library officials hope Angelenos will take advantage of the exhibit.

Emphasizing that Los Angeles is the home of the third largest Chinese American population, Kent urged everyone “to come and see and learn about the treasures, art and culture” of China.

“We are honored to be able to show in such a beautiful gallery,” said Chen Hanyu, one of the two curators from the National Library.

The exhibit is the culmination of a two-year collaboration of the Los Angeles Public Library, Queens Borough Public Library and the National Library of China.

“Visible Traces” will be open during library hours at the Getty Gallery on the second floor: Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., 630 W. 5th St.