Item description / significance
This is an inner painted (inside painted, reverse painted) glass ball depicting the character of Monkey from the beloved Chinese classic Journey to the West. It is an adaptation of one of the “Havoc in Heaven” series of 8 paintings by Liu Jiyou. In this painting, Monkey has escaped from a furnace.
Bought where
in China on Xianyu, the Chinese second-hand marketplace app (from a seller in Nanjing, Jiangsu, eastern China)
Age and origin
Painted in 1996, according to the inscription, probably Hengshui, Hebei Province, in northern China
What I like about it
What attracted me is the quality of the painting (the level of detail)—and the low price, to be honest! Now that I am more familiar with the Liu Jiyou paintings, I like it more than I did originally.
Other notes
The seller also sent a tassel with an inside-painted hulu gourd on a tassel:
See below for information about the inscription and the painting this adaptation was based on, as well as photos of the sphere, including photos from the seller.
Inscription
The inscription begins at the top right.
First, it describes the subject: 闹天宫, nào tiāngōng, havoc in heaven.
Then it gives the year and month when it was made: 歲末 (?), suìmò, year end, 丙子年, bǐngzǐnián, 1996, 叁月, sān yuè, March.
The year is written using the traditional 60-year cycle system, which involves combining one of 10 “heavenly stems” with one of 12 “earthly branches”.
Then it says 作, zuò, work.
Inspiration
Randomly, when looking at Xianyu listings for blue-and-white painted tiles from Jingdezhen, I ran across a tile that shows the same monkey in the same chaotic scene!
I concluded that this must be a famous painting. Actually, there’s a series of 8 paintings: “Havoc in Heaven” (大闹天宫) by Liu Jiyou (刘继卣, 1918-1983). They were first published in 1956.
You can see all 8 here (or here). The titles of the individual paintings (and some possibly quite terrible Google translations of them) are as follows:
- 降石猴禀议天庭, The Stone Monkey Subdues the Heaven
- 弼马温怒归山中, Bima Wen Returns to the Mountains in Anger
- 齐天大圣战神兵, The Monkey King War God Soldiers (?)
- 蟠桃园内问真情, Asking for the Truth in the Peach Garden
- 醉罢瑶池食仙丹, After getting drunk, he ate the elixir in Yaochi (?)
- 下界为王会新朋, Meeting New Friends in the Underworld
- 火眼金睛千钧棒, Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils
- 大闹天宫孙悟空, Havoc in Heaven Sun Wukong
I bought a large book of the paintings (ISBN 9787805037653).
The cover of Anthony Yu’s abridged translation of Journey to the West, The Monkey and the Monk, uses a photo of a silk embroidery based on one of the other paintings of Monkey in the Havoc in Heaven series:
The credit on the back cover of the paperback edition says:
Cover image: Early twentieth-century Chinese scroll, silk embroidery, artist unknown (detail). Reproduced courtesy of Christopher Yu. Photo by Ted Lacey. Book + cover design: Matt Avery.
Well, it can’t be an “early twentieth-century scroll,” because the painting was only published in 1956! Also, why are there so many credits and yet no mention of Liu Jiyou? I’m going to write to the University of Chicago Press about this, and maybe for the next printings, they can update the paperback covers and the hardcover dust jacket (and meanwhile update the ebook).
Visit We Love Translations for more on the Yu translation and other translations of Journey to the West.
Inner painting vs. painting
Ok, now back to the painted ball!
My photos
Seller’s photos
