MAY 2002

VOLUME 33 - NUMBER 5

Reinterpretation and renewal are the themes which link the diverse articles featured this month. While bronze lamps are generally acknowledged as grave goods, Guolong Lai returns to the classic texts to explore their function in funerary ritual. As new archaeological finds and the liberation of academic exchange make sites and information in China more accessible, many museums in the West are 'rediscovering' their Chinese collections. In view of this, Jan Stuart and Chang Qing have recontextualized the Freer Gallery's Chinese Buddhist sculptures for an exhibition at the gallery which begins on 16 April. Wu Hung goes back to basics and examines how Laozi was represented before anthropomorphic images of the deity were in popular use. Seizo Hayashiya and Rob Linrothe look at how contemporary artists are bringing new life to the ancient practices of tea ceremony and thangka painting while keeping true to the ideals of tradition. In his report on the National Palace Museum's symposium on Mongol art and culture, Jeffrey Moser explains how the field may be gradually experiencing a paradigm shift as scholars bring fresh insights. In his commentary, Stephen Vincent gives an update of the Schultz trial.

FEATURES
Valerie C. Doran. Passage/Memory/Landscape: The Paintings of Michael Mazur
Zhang Qingjie. New Archaeological and Art Discoveries from the Han to the Tang Period in Shanxi Province
Li Yuqun. A New Understanding of the Tang Dynasty Grottoes at Tianlongshan
Liu Junxi and Li Li. The Recent Discovery of a Group of Northern Wei Tombs in Datong
Wu Hung. A Case of Cultural Interaction: House-shaped Sarcophagi of the Northern Dynasties
Yang Hong. An Archaeological View of Tuoba Xianbei Art in the Pingcheng Period and Earlier
Joy Beckman. Minister Zhao's Grave: Staging an Eastern Zhou Burial
PREVIEWS & REVIEWS
Julian Thompson. Book Review: Jessica Harrison-Hall: Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001
INTERVIEWS
Michael R. Martin. A Conversation with James Watt
NEWS
Rand Castile. Obituary: Laurance P. Roberts (1907-2002)
Frederick Baekeland. Obituary: Sidney B. Cardozo (1916-2002)
COMMENTARY
Lo Ch'ing. Commentary: A Palace Museum without a 'Palace'?