Pilgrim Trip

#07010     91.5 X 122 cm     oc     2006-07

The“Silk Road”, as everyone knows, is the string which connected the old cultures of China, India and Middle-Asia. It played an important role in cultural exchange and development on the ancient Euro-Asian Continent. Its contribution became the legacy of human civilization such as the cultural and religious treasures in Dunhuang. Far apart from the vast Oceans and on the biggest land of the Earth covering Asia and Europe, the passing, exchange and integration of different cultures there is really a kind of “Renaissance” which made the Chinese culture to be a united trinity of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, the most representative of the Eastern civilization.

According to Dr. Chen, the essence of “Renaissance” (which is a phenomenon) is the creation of a new culture through the convergence and integration of different cultures, that means a richer, better and more sophisticate culture will be generated through the marriage of different cultures as happened in the Italian Renaissance in the 14th and 15th century. The Italian Renaissance is the convergence in creation of the already existed cultures around the Mideterrainean Sea-Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Judeo-Christianity etc. to become a new culture which became the base of the Western civilization. Then it developed in continuous and quick steps till today and is going to converge and integrate the Oriental culture to forge a shared “World Culture”.

In this painting, we see a group of camel and men etching step after step on the vast and barren desert towards the Temple of Heaven, afar on the horizon. Besides commercial activities, it is also a kind of cultural pilgrimage like the master Xuanzhuang of the Tang Dynasty who took the Silk Road to go to learn Buddhism in India. The long distance and the long-loneliness were overcome by his passion to pursue the truth and his prseverance to accomplish the task.

Cultural voyages such as these are full of challege and sacrifice. We need the bravery of Promethius who steal fire for humanity and accept the sacrifice, yet His contribution is forever honored and memorized.