In observance of the Chinese Lunar New Year — the beginning of a new agricultural cycle — this exhibition depicted the relationship between the natural environment and China’s traditional culture through the centuries. In order to achieve a harmonious relationship between heaven, earth, and man, Chinese people developed a variety of technologies and rituals to manage and communicate with the environment. Using artifacts from public and private collections from the Neolithic era (ca. 6500–1700 BCE) through the present, as well as illustrations from Chinese texts, the exhibition underscored how dependence on agriculture left its mark on Chinese culture and philosophy and how culture, in turn, influenced Chinese approaches to nature.

1990 New Year Exhibition: The Chinese Earth–Views of Nature
1990中国新年展:中国土地—自然观
January 23 – March 3, 1990
Curated by Anita Christy
Media Coverage
Related Programs
- Symposium: “The Chinese Earth.” Speakers included: Thomas Berry, Perter Perdur, Ronald G. Knapp, Baruch Boxer, James Reardon- Anderson, and Lester Ross. The symposium explored the history of the Chinese people’s relationship to their environment and examined the challenges China now faces, both from the ecological effects of millennia of cultivation and the exploitation of land.
- Performance: The Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, directed by Tsuan-nien Chang, “Auspicious Springtime: A Concert of Chinese Folk Music” (March 3, 1990).
- Performance: Muna Tseng, “Ways, Shrines and Mysteries” (March 3, 1990).
- Movie: Chen Kaige, Director, “Yellow Earth (1984)” (March 3, 1990).
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