The design of the medals for the 2022 Winter Olympics refers to the jade bi unearthed from the tomb of the King of Nanyue.
Cao Xue, chief designer of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics mascot "Ice Pier".
Ice piers
Recently, the medals of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics were released. The medal is called "Concentric" and consists of five rings and a center, meaning "five rings concentric". The front of the medal is shaped by a ring, which is inspired by the traditional string pattern. It expresses the connotation of Chinese culture of "heaven and earth and people's hearts are the same", and the five rings also symbolize the Olympic spirit that allows human beings around the world to gather together and share the glory of the Winter Olympics. On the officially released materials, it is clearly stated that the design creativity refers to the jade bi excavated from the tomb of the King of Nanyue. "My colleagues and I were thrilled to hear this news, and this honor will always be in our hearts." Li Minyong, president of the Museum of the King of South Vietnam, said that in the officially released materials, the design of the Winter Olympic medal refers to the three-district ornamented jade bi numbered D54 excavated from the tomb, which is a national first-class cultural relic and is currently on display at the National Museum.
The mascot "Ice Pier" for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which was previously announced, was also designed by a 14-member design team led by Cao Xue, dean of the School of Visual Arts and Design of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (hereinafter referred to as "Guangmei").
Medals
The design elements refer to Yubi to express a beautiful vision
In 1983, the tomb of the King of Nanyue was found in Xianggang Mountain, Yuexiu, Guangzhou, and the owner of the tomb was Zhao Xi, the second generation king of the Southern Yue Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty. This tomb is well preserved, with more than 10,000 pieces of excavated cultural relics, and is the largest, highest-grade and most abundant ancient tomb seen in Lingnan. Just at the end of September last year, among the top 100 archaeological sites in China in the past century, the tomb of the King of Nanyue and the ruins of the National Palace of Nanyue were on the list, and they were one of the representatives of 16 important archaeological sites of the Qin and Han Dynasties in the country.
Many national treasures and cultural relics have been excavated from the tomb, of which there are 244 sets of jade, which are mainly divided into funerary jade and other categories, which can be described as Han jade grand view. A total of 71 pieces of Yubi were excavated from the tomb.
"In terms of decoration, they are divided into several categories, such as plain surfaces, two-zone and three-zone ornamentation. Among them, the three district ornaments are the most intricate and exquisite, and they are also the highest level of jade bi, with a total of 5 pieces. Li Minyong said that in the officially released materials, the design of the Winter Olympic medal refers to the three-district ornamented jade bi numbered D54 excavated from the tomb, which is a national first-class cultural relic and is currently on display at the National Museum.
"The jade bi is one of the most important ceremonial instruments in ancient China, and is considered to be a symbol of heaven and the basis for communication between heaven and man." Li Minyong believes that the medals of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games use jade bi as the design material, praise the Olympic athletes with the highest standard jade in Chinese culture, and perfectly combine China's excellent traditional culture, Chinese aesthetics and Olympic spirit, reflecting the beautiful vision of the world.
mascot
The Guangmei team modified more than a thousand times to create an "ice pier"
The mascot of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, "Ice Pier", is a smart and cute panda, designed by a 14-person design team from Guangzhou led by Cao Xue, dean of the School of Visual Arts and Design of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (hereinafter referred to as "Guangmei").
This "ice and snow panda" that entered the annals of Olympic history from Guangzhou in the middle of summer was built by the Guangmei team after working hard for more than 20 times in 10 months to and from Beijing and revising the plan more than 1,000 times.
Why have southerners not seen ice and snow, but been able to design a mascot for the Winter Olympics? Cao Xue, dean of the School of Visual Arts and Design of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and chief designer of the mascot "Ice Pier" of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, shared the thinking behind the mascot design of the Winter Olympics.
"When we do the design of the 'ice pier', we mainly consider it from three aspects, one is its culture, one is its artistry, and the other is its commerciality." Cao Xue said that because the mascot debuted to clearly represent the national image, the design team chose the panda image that has a sense of identity all over the world; and because it is the mascot of the Winter Olympics, it gives the panda image an ice shell with a sense of science and technology.
The head shell shape is taken from the ice and snow sports helmet, decorated with a colorful halo, which is inspired by the "ice ribbon" of the National Speed Skating Hall of the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the flowing bright color lines symbolize the track and 5G high technology of ice and snow sports; the heart shape of the left palm represents the host country's warm welcome to friends around the world. The overall image resembles an astronaut, implying the creation of the extraordinary, exploring the future, embodying the pursuit of excellence and the infinite possibilities of the future... "Ice Pier" embodies the harmonious coexistence between man and nature through the basic image of the panda, as well as the characteristics of winter ice and snow sports and modern technology.
The fusion of culture, artistry and commerciality has also made the image of the "ice pier" widely loved by people since its publication. According to data, the derivative income of the mascot of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games exceeded 20 billion yuan, and Cao Xue also placed expectations on the "ice pier".
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Ancient Chinese Sports from Cultural Relics:
Fencing and Liubo chess were the most popular sports in the Western Han Dynasty
The museum's collection displays the cultural heritage of mankind, but of course also includes cultural content related to sports. Li Minyong, director of the Museum of The King of Nanyue, further shared the ancient Chinese sports in the cultural relics.
From the Stone Age, in the Altay region of Xinjiang, there are mural images of human ski hunting dating back to 10,000 or 20,000 years ago; in the pre-Qin period, in the so-called Six Arts, shooting is archery, and the royal is driving, which is a kind of etiquette and a physical exercise.
By the time of the Western Han Dynasty, when the State of Nanyue was located, the cultural relics in the tombs of the Nanyue kings could be traced back to at least two popular sports at that time: the fierce confrontational sport fencing and the leisure sport Liubo chess, which tested wisdom. The tomb unearthed a number of long swords that are not used on the battlefield, which should have the nature of etiquette and performance exercise, and on a painting-patterned bronze mirror depicts the scene of two people fighting swords and several people around them watching; in addition, Liubo chess is the most popular game chess game in the Han Dynasty, and the tomb of the King of Nanyue unearthed a chess board and chess pieces.
"Everyone knows that Keju is the predecessor of modern football, and in another exhibition area of the South Vietnamese King Museum, there are many blue and white porcelain with Keju patterns unearthed in the ruins of the Wang Palace exhibition area, which shows the widespread popularity of this sport." Li Minyong said.
Written by: Nandu reporter Wang Meisu
Photo: Nandu reporter Liang Weipei