Apr.27 Second Source

For my primary source, I found a picture named Ladies with Head-pinned Flowers. This a world-wide famous ancient Chinese lady portrait known for its great art value for the ancient Chinese painting skill and the great meaning for historical researchers. For my second sources, I plan to focus on some journal articles. There are three articles I found very useful for my analytical paper. Two of them provide the ideas about how this picture reveals the life in China and why this picture is so valuable from the view of art. Another one wrote by a modern history researcher indicates the life during the age in the picture. All of them suggest that the picture had complex background and can be analysis from different angles. I will generally explain the first two aspects and concentrate on the last point. The papers are in my computer and I cannot exactly remember their titles.  

Apr.20 Claim vs. Evidence

Evidence and claim should be linked together. Neither one can exist alone. The unsubstantiated assertion is not convincible. Evidence must be provided. Instead of just supporting claim, evidence can speak itself and further developed a claim to make it more accurate. According to the book, evidence should be used to advance claim not just confirm (Stephen 189). However, claim should also be clearly indicated when the evidence occur. A major purpose for analytical writing is to convince. The author should make effort to make people believe and be convinced by the article. The pale theories like claims are not powerful weapons to persuade while evidence can help you proof yourself.

Another key point for using evidence is the context. In chapter 6, Stephen mentions the interpretive context and the plausible interpretations should have suitable curriculum and social context. The interpretation as well as the evidence that supports the claim should occur with right social context in the field of claim and potential readers. All in all, these points teach us to use evidence and claim together and also tell us how to use them properly.

Primary Source

This is a famous drawing from Tang Dynasty in ancient China from about 1,400 years ago. This picture is considered to be high art in nowadays China. The women in the drawing was very accord with the appreciation of beauty and elegant in that age. We can tell the bodies of women in the picture were overweight comparing with the modern Chinese girls. Their eyebrows were painted in a particular way which was very thick and small. They all have heavy hair and tied up. Besides, both of their clothes and gestures were very different from the modern Asian women. The picture does not have a lot of color on its background as well as the women’s cloth. But if you are careful enough, you will find out the cloth were very delicate and the way they drew them make you feel the women are still alive and just standing in front of you.

The women in the picture not only describe the changes during history and times but also indicate the cultural symbol’s differences. The taste of beauty in that time was so different from nowadays. The way that they drawing portraits was also different. Their angles of seeing women and describing women were essential clues for us to analysis the art styles in ancient China. Instead of the distinct description, ancient painters would rather to express in an implicit way and dip inside of the people in picture. Women, who are pursuing beauty for their whole lives, can in some extent represent the appreciation for beauty of the society. It may even reflect the economics changing, the political background and the cultural demands in their time.