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Recap: Pieces of China (S3, E9): Wendy Paulson on the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, 4.21.21

Apr 23, 2021

Pieces of China is an online series using objects to tell the story of China. Season 3, Episode 9 took participants on a hide-and-seek journey to the mudflats of Jiangsu province in an effort to spot and protect the spoon-billed sandpiper. Unfortunately, industry and reclamation threaten the birds’ habitats. Spoon-billed Sandpipers are one of the […]

Recap: Pieces of China (S3, E8): Julia Lovell on the Monkey King, 4.8.21

Apr 14, 2021

Pieces of China is an online series using objects to tell the story of China. Season 3, Episode 8 looked at Monkey King, a shape-shifting trickster on a kung-fu quest for eternal life and the unforgettable protagonist of Journey to the West, one of China’s four great classic novels. Julia Lovell, who recently translated the […]

Recap: Pieces of China (S3, E7): Ben Wang on Qi Baishi’s Chicks, 3.25.21

Mar 31, 2021

Pieces of China is an online series using objects to tell the story of China. Season 3, Episode 7 explores one of the most revered masters of Chinese painting, Qi Baishi, who lived from 1864-1959. Ben Wang, China Institute’s beloved professor of Chinese culture, shares one of his favorite Qi Baishi works—two chicks tugging on […]

Recap: Pieces of China (S3, E6): Derek Sandhaus on Baijiu (白酒), China’s Fiery Alcohol, 3.11.21

Mar 15, 2021

Pieces of China is an online series using objects to tell the story of China. Season 3, Episode 5 explores the distilled spirit known as “Baijiu,” 白酒，developed by the Ming dynasty, and elevated during the Communist era to the national sensation that we see in China today. Any businessperson will tell you that nary a […]

Recap: Pieces of China (S3, E5): James Fallows on China’s Aviation Ambitions, 2.25.21

Mar 2, 2021

Pieces of China is an online series using objects to tell the story of China. Season 3, Episode 5 explores a hair-raising flight across China by James Fallows, national correspondent and former Beijing correspondent for The Atlantic. A life-long aviation aficionado, Fallows shares the harrowing flight he co-piloted on the Cirrus SR22, a four-seat prop […]

Pieces of China: James Fallows on the Cirrus SR22—and China’s Aviation Ambitions

Feb 25, 2021

Cirrus SR22 Not many Americans have actually flown a small plane in China. But James Fallows, national correspondent and former Beijing correspondent for The Atlantic, has, and it was a hair-raising experience. A life-long aviation aficionado, Fallows will share the harrowing flight he co-piloted on the Cirrus SR22, a four-seat prop plane, from Hunan province’s […]

Recap: Pieces of China (S3, E4): Peggy Wang on Wang Guangyi’s Great Criticism, 2.4.21

Feb 9, 2021

Pieces of China is an online series using objects to tell the story of China. Season 3, Episode 4 takes a look at Wang Guangyi’s Great Criticism series, which juxtaposes revolutionary images with the Coca Cola and other western commercial logos. The series has become an iconic representation of China’s contemporary art movement and been […]

Recap: Pieces of China (S3, E3): Emile de Bruijn on Chinese Wallpaper, 1.28.21

Jan 28, 2021

Pieces of China is an online series using objects to tell the story of China. Season 3, Episode 3 explores a woodblock-printed wallpaper from 1750 (which survives in three magnificent British houses), that tells the story of the beginnings of China’s trade with the West, as well as the impact of Chinese design from the […]

Pieces of China: Emile de Bruijn on Chinese Wallpaper

Jan 28, 2021

Where does that exquisite De Gournay Chinese-inspired wallpaper originally come from? China, of course—dating back to the 1700s in the workshops of Suzhou. Join us as interiors expert and member of the British National Trust Emile de Bruijn takes us on a journey to examine a woodblock-printed wallpaper from 1750 (which survives in three magnificent […]

Recap: Pieces of China (S3, E2): Yale Curator Denise Leidy on the Sancai Glaze, 1.21.21

Jan 21, 2021

Pieces of China is an online series using objects to tell the story of China. Season 3, Episode 2 explores a beautiful form of Chinese pottery that represents the influence of China and its role as the center of cosmopolitan life at the crossroads of Eurasia at the time of the Tang Dynasty. Sancai (三彩), […]