Dr. He Qi is the artist whom I have chosen for this project. He Qi came to be a Christian while he was in middle school during the Cultural Revolution, in order to avoid having to labor all day he worked recreating photos of Chairman Mao, because people wanted to have Mao's image in their homes. One day, Qi came across a magazine with the painting of “Madonna and Child" by Raphael on it. This serene image inspired him because of the peaceful nature of the photo. This drove Qi to recreate this photo at night and to share it with his friends. This is how Qi came to Christianity and followed Christianity through art by attending art school. Dr. He Qi has participated in the creation of Chinese Christian art since 1983. He wants to change the image of foreign Christianity through art.
Blending Chinese folk customs and the traditional painting techniques of the Chinese with western art of the middle and modern ages is what He Qi strives for in his artwork. After the Cultural Revolution, He Qi was the first among the Mainland Chinese (which is a Chinese people under the rule of the Peoples Republic of China) to obtain a Ph.D. in Religious art. His dissertation was written while studying at Hamburg Art Institute in Germany. He was a professor at the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary and a tutor for the master students in the Philosophy Department of Nanjing University. He Qi's work has been presented in various exhibits across the world and throughout the media of the world. He is also a council member of the Asian Christian Art Association which keeps a gallery and profile of He Qi and he is a member of the Chinese Art Association. Qi wants to supplement Chinese art in the way that Buddhist art did in ancient times. He Qi has stated that his art is about the fact that, "We need to hear a peaceful voice from the angel in heaven."
Christianity in China
Christianity began in China as a belief known as Nestorian. Nestorian is a belief that Jesus is two people; Jesus the man and Jesus the son of God. The 5th or 7th century A.D. are the times given for the beginning of a mission to develop Christianity in China. It is stated that as many as three missionaries attempted to integrate Christianity unsuccessfully. This may be due to a belief that the Christians who wanted to integrate their beliefs were drawn by the bad image they had for the Chinese because the Chinese participated in idol worship, inhumane practices, bribery, and their poor living conditions and illiteracy. The Christians drawn in by these things to drive them in their mission were viewed as people trying to invade China by taking over China spiritually. This idea of taking over China spiritually did not go over well with the Chinese so they lacked the ability to trust in the beliefs of the missionaries. It is said that a fourth missionary movement took place and some progress was made but there was still much speculation with Christianity, because the Chinese felt that they were being fed lies because some of the missionaries were involved in the East India Trade Company and promoted an invasion of China.
There was finally a real Christian movement in the 1920s. Christianity in China now is made up of Protestant, Catholics, and some Orthodox Christians. In the 21st Century China has been deemed the third largest Christian community on this Earth. Christians have established clinics, hospitals, schools, stopped Opium trade for injuries, and even more recent adoption of orphan Chinese babies by American Christians has become increasingly popular. From the information that I was able to find about the artist He Qi I know that he is a Mainland Chinese person which means he was under the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). Through the PRC Christianity was divided into members of Jidu jiao, (literally, Christianity) Protestantism and members of Tianzhu jiao (literally "Lord of Heaven" religion), Catholicism. Because of this division He Qi's comment on how his work is about hearing a peaceful voice from the angel of Heaven it could be assumed that Qi is Catholic. But, it seems to make no difference in China because Catholics are Christians. He Qi does not inform as to what belief system he belongs to beyond Christianity. This I believe allows for interpretation of his art across the Chinese beliefs about Christianity whether literal or not. The system the Chinese use is really a lot like American Christianity in that the Jewish are the more literal readers of the bible and other denominations are not as literal readers.
The History of the Artwork
The artwork is entitled Song of Solomon and is copyrighted for 2001. It is not the first of Qi's works on the Song of Solomon but it is the most recent. This image has been printed on the front of the Minnesota Monthly in promotion of the Premier art galleries exhibit of the work of He Qi. He Qi also provides his work for an initiative to promote kids learning about Christianity in pamphlets and books by “Faith Incubators”. Not only are his religious and cultural drives provoking the way his art is made but now also this children's ministry. Qi represents the stories of the bible in his work in a very literal sense. Sometimes he even expresses a word for word image in his art. The tradition is a representation of Chinese folk art because Chinese folk art is often very colorful and has bold representations and exaggerations of ideas. Chinese traditional art is a part of folk art because it represents the culture through the colorful exaggerations. Qi makes an addition to his art in a modern way through the representation of Western traditions along with the beliefs of Christianity in Chinese culture. Everything influences this piece of art as well as all of his art. He Qi tells the stories of the bible through the images presented in the bible as well as the images present through interpretation of the bible.
