アート・建築・デザイン 絵画

40点の猫の墨絵に、『論語』『唐詩選』『紅楼夢』『禅』『孫子』などより厳選した、孔子、孟子、孫武らの名言を添えました。猫のキャラクターと知性を東洋の教えと哲学にからめて表現した、“猫のタオイズム”画集。漢文をわかりやすく口語訳。

墨絵で描いた猫の絵に中国の賢人たちの格言、故事ことわざを添え、猫のキャラクターと知性を東洋哲学にからめて表現。猫版「タオイズム」の画集。格言をやわらかい口語体に新訳する。英文併記。

The hitherto separate realms of Chinese philosophy and cat-fancying are finally bridged in this winsome little tome. Shan, a painter and calligrapher, assembles an intriguing collection of ancient Chinese proverbs, poems and teachings of the sages, ranging from fortune-cookie aphorisms ("A friend who truly knows you is always with you") to Confucius's shrewd condemnation of nostalgia ("The contemporary man who wants to re-create the past indiscriminately," he writes, will just "bring trouble" on himself) and Gao Bagong's advice ("Do not take it to heart when you lose,/ Do not show it on your face when you win"). But the book's raison d'etre is the accompanying reproductions of Shan's portraits of cats as they doze, glare and stalk through a variety of landscapes and interiors. Done in a traditional Chinese style, festooned with traditional seals and calligraphic characters and featuring delicate lines and washes of muted color, her paintings eschew the lush, throbbing adorableness of the typical kitten calendar in favor of a more restrained-but still very cute-aesthetic, with nary a ball of yarn in sight. Illus.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

Timeless and elegant, The Cat and the Tao is a rich selection of sayings and quotes from the ancient Chinese masters that weds the inspired creativity of The Tao of Pooh with the spare beauty of calligraphic art. Artist and author Kwong Kuen Shan has combined the quiet power of eastern philosophy with the serene and playful beauty of her cat paintings, creating a book sure to comfort and move readers with its infectious appreciation for the wisdom of both. Her exquisite watercolor-and-ink paintings portray a variety of cats in settings ranging from the garden to the pond to the windowsill, each scene bringing to life the specific Taoist or Confucian text that accompanies it.

With special, masterfully stroked Chinese characters and authentic seals whose meanings are explained and interpreted on the facing page, The Cat and the Tao is an inspired combination of art and thought. Readers can experience the enchanting world of Kwong Kuen Shan's paintings while encountering meditations on the benefits of simplicity, the rewards of friendship, the tenets of living our lives with humanity -- and, of course, the invaluable lessons to be learned in both mischievousness and stillness, qualities which no creature exemplifies better than the beloved cat.
--このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

Kwong Kuen Shan is a Chinese artist living in Britain. She exhibits her paintings locally in the Welsh Mountains and Bristol. --このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。

クオン クエンシャン
中国人画家。香港生まれ。幼少より漢文学、中国史、書道に親しむ。イギリスに移住し、ロンドンで活躍したのち、9年前より南ウェールズの高地ブレコンに在住。定期的に個展を開いたり、地元で中国絵画を教えている

薩摩 美知子
英米文学翻訳家。青山学院大学文学部英米文学科卒(本データはこの書籍が刊行された当時に掲載されていたものです)