Celestial Beings and Bird-Men: Flight in Chinese Jade
WHAT: Celestial Beings and Bird-Men: Flight in Chinese Jade—an RASBJ talk by Angus Forsyth
WHEN: November 10, Wednesday, 7:00-8:00 PM Beijing Time (online)
MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: Angus Forsyth will tell us about jade objects, dating from the Han Dynasty onwards, that depict celestial beings typified by the flying apsaras of Buddhism, a concept which originated not in China but in India and the Christianized West, and came to be associated with veneration of the gods and specific devotional practice. The talk will be supported by copious illustrations of objects from his private collection. He plans a second talk in 2022 about kinnaras (man-birds), anthropomorphized bird headdress ornaments and garudas.
MORE ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Angus Forsyth is an internationally respected collector of, and authority on, Chinese jade and a former president of the Oriental Ceramics Society of Hong Kong. He has given long and dedicated study to ancient jades, with special attention to the Neolithic period, publishing widely on the topic. His publications include Chinese Jade (1991) and Jades from China (coauthored with Brian McElney, 1994) and Ships of the Silk Road: The Bactrian Camel in Chinese Jade (PWP, 2018), which was the basis of his talk to RASBJ March3 “Jade Camels of the Silk Road”
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