Ju Ming with his work at the National Gallery Singapore in 1986. (Image source: The Straits Times).

HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Modern Asian Art Department has been entrusted by Mr. Johnson Chang Tsong-Zung, director of Hanart TZ Gallery, to present Embodying The Dao of Martial Arts – Important Sculptures by Ju Ming from the Collection of Johnson Chang Tsong-Zung, featuring 26 works by the celebrated Taiwanese sculptor Ju Ming from Chang’s private collection. Since the early 1980s, Chang has been a key figure in promoting Ju Ming’s art in Hong Kong and abroad, organising many of the artist’s important exhibitions around the world. To be offered in the Modern and Contemporary Asian Art Evening Sale on 4 October as part of the Hong Kong Autumn Sale Series 2015, Embodying The Dao of Martial Arts is comprised of Chang’s personal collection of Ju Ming’s sculptures covering his decades long oeuvre, including works from the Taichi series and Living World series, as well as those depicting village life and farm animals – both popular motifs from his ‘Native Culture’ period. Partial proceeds from the sale will be donated to Asia Art Archive and Moonchu Foundation. 

Mr. Johnson Chang Tsong-Zung said: “As early as the 1970s, Ju Ming caught my eye. His treatment of folk subjects elevated them, linking them to the literati xieyi style and creating a new form of art deeply rooted in Chinese tradition. In this sense, Ju Ming’s Taichi series not only serves as an icon for modern Chinese art, but was also the vehicle that profoundly transformed the traditional figures of folk gods into something universal, representing the two forces of yin and yang. Taking a two-decades-long journey together as artist and curator, from the earliest emergence of his art to his establishment as one the international art world’s leading figures, has been an experience gratifying beyond words.” 

Vinci Chang, Sotheby’s Head of Modern Asian Art Department, said: “We are delighted to work together with Mr. Johnson Chang Tsong-Zung, to present to the market his collection of important Ju Ming sculptures this autumn. His collection encompasses master works across various periods, series and media, and is impeccable in its depth, breadth and quality. We look forward to showcasing Ju Ming’s oeuvre in a comprehensive manner, and to sharing the beauty of the master’s sculptures with fellow collectors and art lovers alike.” 

Ju Ming and Johnson Chang Tsong-Zung at London’s Southbank Cultural Centre, 1991.

Embodying The Dao of Martial Arts – A Comprehensive View of Chang’s Collection of Ju Ming Sculptures 
Chinese tradition praises the ‘poet-warrior’ who has the ability to excel in both Wen and Wu. If Wen refers to the enlightenment of ethics-based humanities, then Wu reflects on the spirit of martial arts, which emphasises introspection, with the pursuit of transcending the self as the ultimate goal. Ju Ming’s sculptures embody the aesthetics of martial arts through a process of unceasing self-transcendence. He saw martial virtue as an aesthetic object, using sculpture to transform the dynamic state of Kung Fu into static imagery, transforming the beholder’s understanding and imagination of combat into a transcendent artistic experience. 

Ju Ming was born into a peasant family in Miaoli, Taiwan in 1938. With only primary school qualification, he began studying traditional carving with Lee Chin-Chuan in the 1950s. His apprenticeship lasted for more than three years. In the late 1950s, Ju Ming briefly established a workshop producing traditional carvings for export. The 1970s witnessed a rise of the native culture movement, where the Taiwanese art scene began to resonate with rural literature. Ju Ming rose to prominence at that time, becoming the representative artist for rural art. In 1968, he fulfilled his long-cherished wish to apprentice himself to Yuyu Yang, marking the beginning of his exceptional artistic career. 

Chang came to know about Ju Ming for the first time in 1976, when he read about the artist’s exhibition in the National Museum of History in Taipei in a magazine. Chang deeply appreciated Ju Ming’s works, and from 1982 to 2006 he tirelessly curated almost all Ju Ming exhibitions organized outside of Taiwan, many of which had played critical role in positioning Ju Ming on the international art scene. In particular, Chang spearheaded shows at Hong Kong’s Exchange Square and National Gallery Singapore in 1986, London’s Southbank Cultural Centre in 1991, Japan’s Hakone Open-Air Museum in 1995, Paris’ Place Vendôme in 1997, and East Berlin’s Unter den Linden in 2003. Ju Ming once said that it was Chang, who was also his agent at the time, whom he must thank for his success overseas.  

Highlights include: 

Ju Ming, Taichi Series: Single Whip, 1994, bronze, edition 3/8, 122.5 x 189 x 90 cm, est. HK$5 – 7 million / US$641,000 – 897,000. Photo: Sotheby's.

executed circa 1985, this work is number 20 from an edition of 20; incised with the artist’s signature in Chinese, numbered 20/20; bronze; 45 by 74 by 41.5 cm.;   17 3/4  by 29 1/8  by 16 3/8  in.

This work is an early Taichi Single Whip and was cast from a wood sculpture. Ju Ming and Chang Tsong-Zung had various discussions in the early 1980s about the issue of bronze casting, when questions were raised about the bronze having another life in a wood piece. Ju Ming later decided to create his Taichi independent of the wood sculptures, and this is one of the few wood Taichi that he was particularly fond of and decided to cast in bronze. 5% of the sale proceeds will be donated to Asia Art Archive; and 20% of the sale proceeds will be donated to Moonchu Foundation. 

Ju Ming, Taichi Boxing, bronze, 1984 © Arts of Asia

Curating Ju Ming

Ju Ming is an artist of international renown whose global career can be described as having been launched from the unique platform of Hong Kong. This was important for me as well: it was because of Ju Ming that I was curating independent exhibitions overseas as early as the 1980s, starting in Asia and then expanding to Europe. Following my curation of Ju Ming’s solo exhibition at the Hong Kong Arts Centre in 1982, I was able to organize two additional exhibitions in Asia, one at the Ayala Museum in Manila and another at the Bhirasri Institute of Modern Art in Bangkok. In 1986, it was Hong Kong again that played a role in linking the artist with the Western art world. The Hong Kong Arts Centre was hosting a sensational solo exhibition featuring sculptor Henry Moore, whose works then dominated all of the most visible public spaces in Hong Kong. On Ju Ming’s behalf, I contacted Nigel Cameron, the artistic consultant for Exchange Square, the only remaining venue available for display. Nigel agreed to take on Ju Ming’s sculptures and scheduled them to be displayed concurrently with Moore’s. It was in this way that the works of both artists, one from the East and the other from the West, were exhibited alongside each other, with Moore’s established reputation conferring a legitimacy upon Ju Ming’s rising fame. And by the end of the year, I was curating a solo exhibition for Ju Ming at the National Gallery Singapore. Spanning both the entire indoor and outdoor spaces, the exhibition featured an even richer collection than was shown at Exchange Square, and was considered one of the most significant, memorable exhibitions in Singapore of the 1980s.

The sponsoring institutions of Ju Ming’s 1986 outdoor exhibitions in Hong Kong and Singapore both collected major pieces from those shows: Hong Kong Land acquired a pair of bronze sculptures titled Single Whip from his Taichi series, displayed at Exchange Square, and the Singapore Art Museum collected a lively group of coloured bronze sculptures from the Living World series, installed near the Museum entrance. Almost thirty years later, these works are now considered as iconic examples of public art. 

Generally speaking, the artworks that I show in my curated overseas exhibitions are not for sale, unless acquired by the hosting institution, while commercial exhibitions are always conducted jointly with local galleries. Aside from running Hanart TZ Gallery, I’ve organized a wide variety of exhibitions as an independent curator. In the 1980s, Ju Ming’s main collectors came from Hong Kong and Singapore. Following the 1986 acquisition of Single Whip at Exchange Square, one year later Szeto Wai, architect of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, commissioned and donated Ju Ming’s Taichi Arch to the school. The sculpture was the artist’s largest piece at the time, and it was an eye-catching symbol of the campus’ architectural style. Sitting in the center of the main campus plaza across from the library, Taichi Arch was a milestone piece in Ju Ming’s large-scale bronze sculptures. Angular and powerful, the sculpture, as Ju Ming explained, was meant to echo the appearance of the stone quarries etched into the hills of the campus. The university later awarded Ju Ming with an honorary doctorate in 2011, a gesture to a decades-long kinship.

Hong Kong is home to several other outdoor pieces by Ju Ming. Another influential work is Harmony, also from the Taichiseries, located across from the main entrance of the Bank of China building. Selected by I.M. Pei and completed in 1989, Ju Ming’s original concept for the piece was to create two opponents, one pushing and the other being thrown down. But later it was decided that the image of the big trampling upon the small ought be avoided, resulting in the final product: two figures, pushing hands; a picture, indeed, of Harmony. The piece was a donation from Mr. Xu Zhantang, who was also a generous sponsor of a large exhibition in London. This 1991 exhibition at London’s South Bank Centre was a decisive event in launching Ju Ming’s reputation in the West, an opportunity made possible by my old friend Sir David Tang.

Ju Ming’s sculptures at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and at the Bank of China building are both powerfully evocative of the qualities and texture of natural stone. The style is representative of Ju Ming’s unique approach to bronze sculpture. in the 1980s. Ju Ming began gravitating toward this new material following his work with wooden Taichi sculptures in the 70s: the 1983 exhibitions at the Ayala Museum and the Bhirasri Institute of Modern Art featured only bronze Taichi sculptures. Having studied under the tutelage of sculptor Yuyu Yang (Yang Yingfeng) for a decade, the artist’s practice and grasp of sculpting technique was wide and comprehensive. While bronze is generally preferred for its ease of preservation, from an artistic angle the main difference between working with bronze and with wood is that of moulding versus carving: the former involves opening up a concrete structure, unveiling the form that is buried inside, while the latter is a process of shaping, manipulating a pliable mass into a desired form. But Ju Ming resisted creating his bronze works purely through moulding. Rather, he retained his carving technique by creating his moulds out of pieces of hand-carved Styrofoam, which resulted in an effect that, more so than wood, closely resembled the style and feel of natural stone. In fact, Ju Ming’s Taichi sculptures can be best appreciated by applying the traditional aesthetic qualities used to judge Chinese garden rocks, known as qishi or “strange stones”: “beauty, penetrability, dynamism, and abundance of crevice and crease”. Aside from texture (“dynamism”) and substance (“beauty”), an emphasis was placed on the sensation of space and motion (“penetrability” and “abundance of crevice and crease”). This sense of motion is exactly where Ju Ming’s virtuosity lies. He creates a fraught tension between the desires for movement and stillness, rendering figures that possess not only the “form” of motion, but also its “momentum.” Chinese outdoor sculpture traditionally has been largely religious in theme.  Among the literati, however, one of the most important three-dimensional figures is the “strange rock” (qishi) while sculptures of the human form were not held in particular regard. The absence of figure sculptures in Chinese gardens evidences a major difference between the East and the West, especially against the context of the Western tradition of mythical sculptures. In the realm of three-dimensional art, rendering the spirit of the qishi into a resource that can be used in contemporary Chinese art is an undertaking of profound significance. It is my belief that Ju Ming has accomplished this task brilliantly, and that it is his most important contribution to modern Chinese culture.

Ju Ming caught my eye as early as the 1970s, and I had high expectations of him. I hadn’t been satisfied with the contemporary Chinese art that was coming out of the art schools. It seemed impossible then to break away from the Western system of discourse, to establish a voice that arose from one’s personal history yet chimed with the current times. So in 1976, when I came across Lion Art Publishing’s coverage of Hung Tung and Ju Ming’s exhibitions I was filled with elation and surprise. Discovering that such strong and powerful art could arise from the soil of history, I only became more dissatisfied with the direction of the art academy system. In 1980, I began hosting exhibitions independently at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. The first artists I showed were Hong Kong’s Luis Chan and Taiwan’s Ju Ming. My exhibitions gradually expanded in scope and number, and included the first Hong Kong exhibitions of the naïf artist Hung Tung and of Ju Ming’s teacher Yuyu Yang. At the time, Ju Ming was most well-known in Taiwan for his depictions of farm animals and historical figures. There were two reasons for this: the artist had been prolific and successful in creating temple statues, and the general population was still rather reserved in their acceptance of contemporary art. When it came to promoting Ju Ming in Hong Kong, however, I placed my emphasis on the Taichi series, as well as the then-new Living World series, which at the time featured colorful wooden sculptures. This was my way of releasing him from the folk elements attached to his previous image. In the wake of these exhibitions,  Ju Ming rose to fame in Hong Kong and abroad, becoming particularly known for his Taichi series. In speaking about the artist’s works in the 1970s, Mr. Yu Dagang once observed that the wood carving technique Ju Ming used for his animal sculptures evoked the xieyi brushstrokes of Chinese calligraphy, and compared it to Qi Baishi’s depiction of fowl. I agree wholeheartedly with this observation. Ju Ming’s treatment of folk subjects elevated them, linking them to the literati xieyi style and flavour, unleashing the Chinese expressive spirit anew and creating a contemporary art that was deeply rooted in Chinese tradition. In this way, not only does Ju Ming’s Taichi series serve as an icon for Chinese contemporary art, it was the vehicle that profoundly transformed the traditional figures of folk gods into something universal, representing the two forces of yin and yang. The Taichi series can thus be considered a modern interpretation of China’s qishi, as well as the modern incarnation of the temple gods.

The 1991 Ju Ming exhibition at London’s South Bank Centre owes a great deal to Sir David Tang’s generosity. For this exhibition, he and I took many trips between Taipei and London, rallying the help of many others, including Sir Ronald Grierson, then Honorary Chairman of the South Bank Centre. It was only with the sponsorship of Mr. Xu Zhantang and Mr. Tang’s friendships with influential society figures that this important exhibition was made possible, firmly establishing Ju Ming’s reputation in the British art world. The exhibition was situated alongside the Thames at the South Bank Centre, and was the first to be held in the new Queen’s Walkway exhibition space. The Times did a half-page report on the exhibition, creating an instant sensation. At the end of the year, the exhibition travelled to Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Central England, where the museum’s sculpture garden collection was dominated mostly by Henry Moore. This exhibition, then, was a reunion, echoing the two artists’ previous encounter in Hong Kong. It was this event that marked Ju Ming’s official acceptance into the Western art world, a privilege that made it easier for me to plan more activities across Europe later on.

I’ve hosted many types of exhibitions for Ju Ming in Europe. In addition to large-scale solo exhibitions, there was Ju Ming’s participation in the ‘Open’ International Exhibition of Sculptures and Installations in Venice (1994), the Art on the Beachsculpture exhibition in Saint Tropez (1991) and other gallery exhibitions. The most impressive, however, were the public solo exhibitions in Paris and Berlin, two of the world’s most important art centres. Our Paris partner, Herve Odermatt, was an established dealer in Western early Modernist oil paintings, but he was enthralled with Chinese contemporary art, and in particular, with Ju Ming, but he had scant experience in curating exhibitions. At the time, I was also collaborating with Enrico Navarra Gallery in Paris, which in the 90s was focused on the works of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat (and in fact can be credited with a good deal of the latter’s success in the art market over the last twenty years). Working together, then, Herve was able to coordinate and secure the square at the prestigious Place Vendome, while Enrico assisted with setting up the exhibition, putting together the catalogue, and the PR. In December of 1997, the event began with Mme Jacques Chirac presiding over the opening ceremony, and an evening banquet at the Ritz Carlton. It was a fortuitous coincidence that Baron Guy Ullens happened to have a long-term suite at the Ritz that directly faced the Square, so every day he had been watching me set up for the exhibition from his window. Only on the day before the opening did he come over to say hello and offer his congratulations. Even more remarkable, however, was Ju Ming suddenly revealing to me on the day of the opening that it was his 60th birthday. We had twice the cause to celebrate. Speaking of age, in the 1980s while preparing for exhibitions, the two of us would often get into spats, and on a few of these occasions, Ju Ming would mention that a fortuneteller had predicted that he would have a short life, so he was not to be exposed to too much provocation. Today, we know that the artist has safely crossed the tumultuous tides of fate.

The 2003 exhibition in Berlin was hosted at a venue that seemed to encourage reverie. On the Unter den Linden in East Berlin, on the grassy pedestrian mall in front of the Adlon hotel starting at the arch of the Brandenburg Gate, a row of Ju Ming’s Tachi sculptures were positioned in a line. An iconic location, where once Hitler’s soldiers paraded, the area today has become an important tourist and cultural hub. The opening ceremony at the Adlon was especially moving, and  we experienced the amiability and hospitality of the Berlin government officials and local residents, as well as a collective, common spirit. Art critic Maggie Pai remarked that this exhibition signified a new zenith in Ju Ming’s career, the public space exalting his works to another level. When the sculptures were removed following the exhibition, the critic, who had only high praise for this outdoor exhibition, admitted to a sense of void and loss.

Within Asia, the apogee of Ju Ming’s exhibitions was marked by the 1995 Hakone Open-Air Museum show in Japan. No sculpture garden is more highly regarded in Asia than the Hakone. Located amid the mountainous hot springs, it symbolizes an unattainable dream for many in the Taiwanese art world. In the 1970s, the Hakone Open-Air Museum acquired one of Ju Ming’s wooden sculptures, Single Whip, from his Taichi Series, but expressed no further interest at the time. After the celebrated success of the London show I approached the Hakone with the idea of a major exhibition, working together with art consultant Mrs. Mariko Yoshida and Huang Cailang, Director of the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts. Together we arranged for a large-scale solo exhibition for Ju Ming’s sculptures at the museum.

In sum, the greatest accomplishment of those two decades of exhibitions and endeavour has been to position a Chinese sculptor at the very highest levels of the international art world. Each of Ju Ming’s major overseas exhibitions, whether at the Hakone Open-Air Museum, London’s South Bank Cultural Centre, or in Paris or Berlin, as well the myriad smaller scale art events, has carried with it an air of pioneering excitement. Being able to take this long journey together with an artist, from the earliest emergence of his art into the world to his establishment as one the art world’s leading figures, has been an experience gratifying beyond words. 

Johnson Chang Tsong-Zung

Early Taichi wood sculptures by Ju Ming, 1976. © Lion Art magazin

Ju Ming:  Embodying The Dao of Martial Arts

“He with strength and courage has the ability to excel in both “Wu” and “Wen”—this passage from chapter 27 of Chronicle of the Eastern Zhou States illustrates the Chinese tradition of the poet-warrior. If “Wen” refers to the enlightenment of ethics-based humanities, then “Wu” reflects the spirit or Dao of martial arts, which emphasises insight and introspection. It is the nature of men to see others but struggle to see themselves; concrete enemies are easy to defend against, but abstract enemies are difficult to evaluate. Martial virtue is about more than technique, for in addition to defeating one’s opponent, one must also pursue an ultimate practice of transcending the self. Ju Ming’s sculpture practice, itself a process of unceasing self-transcendence, embodies the four aesthetics of martial arts: form, spirit, virtue, and Dao (the Way of Nature). These aesthetics, like the aesthetics of art, are unifications of the internal and the external. Ju Ming saw martial virtue as an aesthetic object, and he used sculpture to transform the dynamic state of Kung Fu into static sculptures that transform the beholder’s understanding and imagination of combat into a transcendent artistic experience.

Traditionally, the aesthetic standards of Chinese sculpture have emphasised not the shape of a figure, but the cohesion of the overall artistic concept. The artistic concept is seen as the ultimate goal that the artist strives to attain. Garden design provides us with the best example of how sculpture and creative concept are appreciated in Chinese culture because it reflects the literati pursuit of becoming one with nature. Landscaping and stone-arrangement are intended to express the ideal of unity between man and his environment. Ju Ming’s art subverts the traditional Chinese appreciation of “literati” sculpture by expressing creative concepts related to martial virtue. The result is a new creative idiom in the world of sculpture and traditional Chinese culture. The creative concept of “martial virtue” comes from the principles of refining physical form while cultivating internal spirit and virtue in order to flourish with Dao. Dao is the highest state pursued in “martial virtue”. By becoming detached from technique, one can use it to pursue Dao, and bring one’s skill in concert with Dao. Then one ultimately arrives at the formlessness of Great Dao, in which the image (in this case, sculpture) contains the creative concept of Dao. Here we find the “great beauty” of Zhuangzi’s aesthetic philosophy: attaining the acme of beauty through the creative concept of “martial virtue”.

The emergence of sculpture in the Western world can be traced back through Neoclassicism, the Renaissance, and the Middle Ages to ancient Greece. Religious content became part of the purpose of figure sculpture before eventually being supplanted by symbols of authority. In the realm of modern art, sculpture became a way of breaking with the past by subverting its paradigms. Henry Moore, who was influenced by South American, African, and Asian cultures, created some of the first abstract modern sculptures. The Japanese sculptor Isamu Noguchi, who was influenced by Brancusi, introduced Eastern spatial aesthetics to the rationality of Western Modernism. Ju Ming also used unprecedented designs and techniques to attack the conventions of modern sculpture in cross-cultural communication. However, his sculpture practice is also rooted in Chinese culture, and it earnestly addresses the humanity of the lives of ordinary people. Ju Ming once said, “My career in art is like the growth of a tree. Native culture is the roots, the Taichi series is the trunk and branches, and theLiving World series is the flowers”. Nativist, Taichi, and Living World: these three series overlapped in time and grew together in meaning. Together, they represent Ju Ming’s lifelong pursuit of great beauty.

Johnson Chang Tsong-Zung first learned of the sculptor Ju Ming in 1976, when he read a magazine article about an exhibition at the National Museum of History in Taipei. For nearly a quarter of a century, from 1982 to 2006, Chang was the primary curator and organizer for major exhibitions by Ju Ming. With the exception of a few exhibitions in New York in the 1980s, Chang was responsible for virtually all of the artist’s exhibitions outside of Taiwan during this twenty-five-year period, including all the major outdoor exhibitions in Europe, the UK and Asia that launched and established Ju Ming’s international reputation, for example, the 1991 Ju Ming Taichi Sculptures exhibition at the South Bank Centre in London, the 1997 sculpture exhibition at La Place Vendôme in Paris, and the 2003 solo exhibition in Berlin. Ju Ming once said that it was Mr. Chang, who was also his agent at the time, whom he must thank for his success overseas. Without Mr. Chang’s support and guidance, it would have been impossible to achieve his dream of “letting the world see Ju Ming, and letting the world understand his poignant artistry”. This special auction features works from Mr. Chang’s collection of sculptures from Ju Ming’s Taichi series, as well as works from the Living World series. Shepherd Boy and two versions of Rooster and Hen, works that portray Chinese village life, are also among the twenty-six rare and valuable artworks from the various periods of Ju Ming’s decades-long career.

Ju Ming at Exchange Square, Hong Kong, 1988. © South China Morning Post

The Way of Nature: The Method of No Method

The painter Shi Tao emphasised “the method of no method”, and he regarded artistic expression more highly than technique. In this vein, Ju Ming devised new techniques and used new mediums in order to meet the needs of his artistry. Ju Ming once said that it is easy to learn, but more difficult to “forget”, which requires willpower and perseverance. In this sense he sought to “forget [his] teachers,” as Yuyu Yang had recommended him to do in order to find his own style, and as he continuously studied new ideas, he gradually cast off the influence of Master Yang and his earlier teacher, Lee Chin-Chuan. He also tried to “forget materials”, repeatedly starting over at square one and abandoning familiar techniques in order to explore new materials and methods. In this way he gradually worked toward his own unique methods of expression and individual style.

During the Yongzheng era of the Qing Dynasty, palace artisans made porcelain vases that perfectly imitated the appearance and texture of rosewood. Ju Ming’s meticulous expression of wood texture in bronze is well demonstrated by one work in this special auction, Taichi Series: Single Whip (Lot 1001). As an early Taichi sculpture, Single Whip was cast directly from a wood sculpture. Ju Ming later recreated this delightful Chinese tradition of imitating textures by devising unique methods to imbue bronze sculptures with the feel of wood or stone. In the early 1980s, Ju Ming sought to increase the scale of his sculptures, but he had trouble finding sufficiently large blocks of wood, an important concern since the intrinsic qualities of wood influenced the end result. So he invented a new method of sculpting in bronze to meet his needs. He first hand-carved his sculptures in Styrofoam, then cast them in bronze. In order to simulate the texture of wood in the Styrofoam, he cut large planes in single, bold strokes before adding details to the surface with carving tools of his own design. In this way he avoided the need to follow the grain of wood; instead, he created the grain himself, just as classical Chinese painters observed the characteristics of nature and created techniques to imitate the texture of rocky mountains. The creation of these techniques harks back to the fupicun (axe-cut texture) brushstroke conceived by the Tang Dynasty painter Li Sixun, which facilitated his striking depictions of the texture and shape of northern China’s rocky mountains.

The slightly rounded edges and corners of Taichi Series: Thrust (Lot 1002) express a relatively loose and heavy Taichi posture with the texture of a boulder polished by the flowing water of a stream. This thrusting motion is a basic movement in the “pushing hands” style of Taichi sparring. One begins in a relaxed state and draws on a series of subtle techniques to maintain one’s own balance while using concentrated force to disrupt the balance of one’s opponent by attacking their upper limbs and torso. The goal in pushing hands is to “control and not be controlled”. Ju Ming used a hot steel wire to smooth out some of the granulated surface of the sculpture in order to simulate the texture of stone. This stone texture is also a characteristic of Taichi Series: Turn Stomp (Lot 1003). The kicking motion portrayed in this sculpture is similar to the more difficult “Cross Leg” Taichi posture. Standing on one foot, the practitioner whirls his body and kicks out the lifted heel. These three sculptures, Single Whip, Thrust, and Turn Stomp, reveal the rich variations of Ju Ming’s expressions of texture. They also demonstrate his fluid skill in using movement and focus to portray in sculpture the power of both forceful attack and fluid yielding that is at the heart of Taichi.

Ju Ming, Taichi Series: Thrust, 1995, bronze, edition 5/10, 118.5 x 142 x 95 cm. Est. HK$4 – 6 million / US$513,000 – 769,000. Photo: Sotheby's.

executed in 1994, this work is number 6 from an edition of 20; incised with the artist’s signature in Chinese, dated 94 and numbered 6/20; bronze; 59.5 by 67 by 53 cm.;   23 ½  by 26 3/8  by 20 7/8  in.

This work has a monumental presence and relates the Taichi form to garden rocks, and it has the texture of a boulder polished by stream water. 5% of the sale proceeds will be donated to Asia Art Archive; and 20% of the sale proceeds will be donated to Moonchu Foundation.

Ju Ming, Taichi Boxing, wood, 1984 © Arts of Asia

Exhibited: Hong Kong, Times Square, Ju Ming Sculpture Exhibition, 2006, this edition exhibited.

Ju Ming,, Taichi Series: Turn Advance, 1996, bronze, edition 3/8, 179 x 115 x 134 cm. Est. HK$4.5 – 6.5 million / US$577,000 – 833,000. Photo: Sotheby's.

executed in 1996, this work is number 3 from an edition of 8; incised with the artist’s signature in Chinese, dated 96 and numbered 3/8; bronze; 179 by 115 by 134 cm.;   70 ½  by 45 ¼  by 52 ¾  in.

Exhibited: Sculptures Ju Ming: Taichi and Living World Series, Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Macao, 2005, p. 39, different edition illustrated in colour

Literature: Macao, Temporary Exhibition Gallery of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Sculpture Exhibition of Ju Ming: Taichi & Living World Series, 2005, different edition exhibited
Hong Kong, Times Square, Ju Ming Sculpture Exhibition, 2006, this edition exhibited

From Complexity to Simplicity: The Spirituality of “Forgetting”

Of traditional Chinese painters, Bada Shanren of the Qing Dynasty is the artist Ju Ming admires most. From the simplification of ink painting advocated by the Yuan Dynasty painter Zhao Mengfu to Bada Shanren’s conscious “lessening”, there have been numerous examples of innovations in Chinese painting that came not in the form of new uses of brush and ink, but rather through the use of less brush and ink, highlighting the notion that less can be more. Both of these painters were literati artists who diverged from the trends of their epochs with an avant-garde spirit. Their ideas lent new meaning to Chinese art and had a historic influence on future generations. This trailblazing spirit is also evident in Ju Ming’s sculptures. He followed the dictum of his teacher, Yuyu Yang, to “forget”, casting off techniques that he had mastered and forms that had lingered in his mind. He retained rhythm and aura while disregarding form and leaving realism behind. Working in accordance with his own spirituality, he had no need to rely on pre-existing styles. Instead, he devised his own all-encompassing and unique creations. Over the entire course of his life, Ju Ming has never stopped creating, and “forgetting” is part of a lifelong philosophy that has allowed him to always bear in mind his ultimate goal: the formation of a unique individual style.

Johnson Chang Tsong-Zung once said that “reduction” is the basis of Ju Ming’s creative methods: the reduction of physical material to reveal images contained within. One large sculpture that exemplifies this theory is Taichi Series: Turn Advance(Lot 1024), made in 1996. This sculpture portrays the Taichi dictum that “one must sink in order to turn”. “Hands advance three parts, legs advance seven parts”: the figure’s centre of gravity drops toward the soles of his feet as he takes a step. However, when viewed from every angle, this work reveals a quasi-abstract expression that breaks from the past. Ju Ming captures the essence of Taichi boxing without adhering strictly to form, and the result embodies the words of Qi Baishi: “subtlety lies between seeming and not seeming”. By eschewing form but retaining resemblance, Ju Ming achieves an aesthetic beauty that contains the spirit of the Taichi practitioner. Western-educated artists of the Republican Era such as Xu Beihong generally embraced a more realist philosophy of art that emphasized the quality of the "life-like” and sought to capture both the form and the spirit of its object. Ju Ming’s unique form of expression more closely recalls the scholar-painters of the Ming and Qing Dynasties: a renewal and rethinking of the xieyi (freehand) tradition, or what might be called a sculptural expression of the Chinese literati spirit.

“If one is limited by form, one does not see essence; if one looks beyond appearances, one apprehends the rich subtleties within.”
Xie He, Record of the Classification of Old Painters

Ju Ming,, Taichi Series: Maiden Working the Loom, 1988, bronze, edition 3/20, 98 x 72 x 46 cm. Est. HK$900,000 – 1.2 million / US$115,000 – 154,000. Photo: Sotheby's.

executed in 1988, this work is number 3 from an edition of 20; incised with the artist’s signature in Chinese, numbered 3/20; bronze; 98 by 72 by 46 cm.;   38 5/8  by 28 3/8  by 18 1/8  in.

This work has been exhibited in many exhibitions, and another edition of which has been on continuous display at the main dining room of the China Club in Hong Kong since 1991. This particular piece, edition 3/20, was exhibited in Ju Ming's major exhibition in Macao in 2005, presented by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Macao. 5% of the sale proceeds will be donated to Asia Art Archive; and 20% of the sale proceeds will be donated to Moonchu Foundation.

Ju Ming, Taichi Series sculptures at Hakone Open-Air Museum, 1991. © Hanart Hong Kong

Exhibited: Macao, Temporary Exhibition Gallery of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Sculpture Exhibition of Ju Ming: Taichi & Living World Series, 2005, this edition exhibited

Literature: Sculptures Ju Ming: Taichi and Living World Series, Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Macao, 2005, pp. 14 & 28, illustrated in colour

Ju Ming, Rooster and Hen (Two Works), 1990, wood. L: 57.5 x 65 x 27.5 cm; R: 37 x 47 x 22.6 cm. Est. HK$700,000 – 900,000 / US$90,000 – 115,000. Photo: Sotheby's.

L: incised with the artist’s signature in Chinese; R: incised with the artist’s signature in Chinese, dated 90; wood (in 2 parts); L: 57.5 by 65 by 27.5 cm.;   22 5/8  by 25 ½  by 10 7/8  in.; R: 37 by 47 by 22.6 cm.;   14 ½  by 18 ½  by 8 7/8  in.

This pair of magnificent rooster and hen had been lent to the China Club for its inaugural opening in 1991, and was on display for 15 years until 2006. 5% of the sale proceeds will be donated to Asia Art Archive; and 20% of the sale proceeds will be donated to Moonchu Foundation. 

Returning to Native Soil: The Enlightenment of Folk Arts

In 1938, Ju Ming was born into a peasant family in Miaoli, Taiwan. He finished primary school and worked for a time as a shop assistant at a general goods store. Then, thanks to a recommendation from his father, he began studying traditional carving with Lee Chin-Chuan, who was restoring the Sea Goddess Temple in the nearby town of Tunghsiao. His apprenticeship lasted three years and four months. Lee Chin-Chuan taught Ju Ming traditional Taiwanese carving, which originates in Cantonese and Fujianese folk carving. The most traditional wood carving techniques included flower carving, burnishing, colouring, and gold tracery. In the late 1950s, Ju Ming briefly established a workshop that produced traditional carvings for the export market. In Post-World War II Taiwan, Western thought and Modernism were influential trends through the 1970s, when the political situation led to the rise of the nativist movement. This shift was also evident in a growing interest in folk arts, and the Taiwanese fine arts scene began to reflect the sentiments of the countryside. In 1971, in the second issue of Lion Art, Shiy De-Jinn published an essay, titled “My Art and Taiwan”, that became the manifesto of the nativist movement. This movement corresponded with Ju Ming’s emergence, and he became its representative sculptor.

Ju Ming’s Timber that Live, Orientation, Hong Kong, 1977 © Orientation

In 1968, when Ju Ming was 31 years old, he fulfilled his long-cherished wish to apprentice himself to Yuyu Yang and began his second term of discipleship. It was Yuyu Yang who changed his student’s name from Ju Chuan-Tai to Ju Ming. At the time, Ju Ming’s creative subjects were rich in native flavour: he carved farm animals, idols, and scenes of village life. His practice was based in traditional carving, and used coarse cutting methods to express authentic native sentiments in his images of Guan Yu, Confucius, and everyday workers. He often participated in provincial exhibitions, and although he repeatedly failed to win prizes, he was finally recognised with an award for Portrait of My Mother. However, winning prizes was not his ultimate goal. Under Yuyu Yang’s guidance, Ju Ming learned the importance of creating his own style. In 1976, Yuyu Yang shrewdly transferred his scheduled exhibition at the National Museum of History to Ju Ming, giving his student the opportunity to show a series of wood carvings with folk art qualities. Boosted by the context of the native culture movement, Ju Ming’s exhibition was well received. The cultural supplement of the China Times covered it for five days, running a total of thirteen articles that enthusiastically promoted this new wood-carving master who came from the people. According to Ju Ming’s own account, this exhibition was extended from five days to one month; then the museum moved it to a separate special exhibition space. In total, the exhibition lasted for a year. Ju Ming’s apprenticeship to Yuyu Yang ended in 1976, but their close student-teacher relationship endured. 

Ju Ming’s early Hen and Chicks wood sculptures © Lion Art magazine

This special auction features two rare pairs of works, Rooster and Hen (Lot 1043, 1044), that originate in Ju Ming’s experience of rural life in his youth. The smaller of the two pairs vividly portrays a heartwarming scene of a rooster lowering his head in search of food while a hen gazes with tenderness upon a chick perched on her back; two other chicks near her feet lift their heads and stretch their necks. The larger pair of carvings was cut using an intentionally rougher technique. The valiant and spirited rooster appears to be in the midst of announcing the start of the day in his village. Ju Ming raised buffalos from a young age, and he once said that the buffalo was his favourite subject. Buffalo and Boy (Lot 1047), a sculpture made in 1994, returns to the themes of his nativist period, reflecting the artist’s persisting interest in his origins.