Controversial Chinese Artist Zhang Huan

ASIA SOCIETY
By Chris Livaccari

Visitors to the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, China, react to
a sculpture of Confucius by artist Zhang Huan. (Rockbund Art Museum)

CHINA - For the better part of two millennia, Confucius and his ideas of social harmony and responsibility have been venerated throughout China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. A new exhibition at the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai by controversial artist Zhang Huan entitled Q Confucius (through Jan. 29, 2012) is perhaps indicative of a new direction in attitudes toward the great sage. He was born in Anyang, Henan Province in 1965 (China), and currently lives and works in Shanghai and New York. In the wake of China’s branding of its language and cultural institutes with the “Confucius” tag (we here at Asia Society have our own Confucius Classroom Network), it is clear that this reevaluation of the tradition exists at many levels.  Rather than attacking the Confucian past, many are rediscovering its relevance and value, along with the two other great traditions that have defined Chinese intellectual history, Daoism and Buddhism. [link]