When The Peking Opera produced Ba Wang Bie Ji’s “Farewell My Concubine”, audiences applauded the overthrow of evil procured in the interest of prestige and power. The legacy of the concubine as a force in memory and independence in China’s imaginary arises from the history of the Silk Road.
Concubine Design and Silk Wallpaper
The presence of the concubine as an icon and identity recognized in China’s robust economic relations extended to this foreign socio-economic relationship, so that the “exotic” nature of this rather practical arrangement continues in the articulation of China as a source of quality in delicacy of form, and mystic promise of the East.
In 11th century B.C. Sung Dynasty, China, the dogma of disinterestedness held instrumental value. Rather than focused attention, acts of “harmonizing” the female Yin with the male Yang established a union of proportions. The lore of discovery is pertinent to Art History as early as 1300 with images of beauty and passion, as China secured presence as the world economic leader in terms of per capita income through trade.
Soft Trade Wind from the East
During the Sung Period, the Silk Road served as a conduit between East and West. The history of trade leading up to the incorporation of fabric dye silks conjuring imagery of beautiful concubines in waiting served to inform the crafting of textiles, and related goods circulated on the Silk Road between Asian and European traders. Maritime contact between Europe and the rest of world initiated in the fifteenth century with the voyages of Vasco de Gama and other patron explorers in discovery of new lands and markets of exchange for advancement of Europe’s monarchies.
From 1500 to 1820 Japan’s relationship to European markets also had economic impact as Europe accrued gains through its exchange with Asia such as the expansion of the trade of consumer goods for which demand was highly elastic. There was a softer side of this otherwise macho expansionist tendency as well; the importation of fine goods items like porcelain and silk wallpaper for the European market. The Dutch Far East Company (VOC) and British East India Company (EIC) figured prominently in this trade.
Everyday luxuries were acquired tastes in Europe, and came to have a significant presence on the European consumer market, which was enhanced by the exchange of currency exchange, and the field of desire resulting from exposure to such items. When the VOC and EIC gave way to wider Western enterprise and investment in the region post the Napoleonic Wars of 1820, merchants set the stage for Far Eastern aesthetics as a mark of civilization.
Live in the luxury of the Ancient Far East. Silk wallpaper is pure concubine design.