Fleeting, Fleeting Light—Imagery of Time in Chinese Art

Exhibition Period:

2026.03.06–2026.09.04

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明明暗暗，惟時何為 (As light and darkness alternated, what did that mean, or what was time doing?)

'Heavenly Questions (Tianwen)' Qu Yuan (342–278 BCE)

Exhibition Description

Time concepts take on different forms across various cultures. Reflections on time were never abstract alone, but tied to visions of the universe—and these ideas found visual expression in the arts.

The exhibition Fleeting, Fleeting Light—Imagery of Time in Chinese Art is curated by the Department of Digital Arts and Creative Industries at Lingnan University, and generously supported by loans of twenty-four precious antiquities and contemporary works from Chamber of Young Snow. The exhibition begins with ink paintings, porcelain, lacquer, and jade from the late Yuan (1271–1368) to the modern era, unfolding imagery of the seasons, landscapes, immortal realms, and the space. Through them, we glimpse how the Chinese conception of time was shaped, and how, when embodied in art, time became a vessel for feeling.

The exhibition consists of three sections:

‘A Year in View’ introduces traditional depictions of the four seasons found in flower-and-bird paintings, landscape paintings, porcelain, and lacquerware. It explores the Chinese conception of time as both cyclical and linear. The seasons are a key concept in Chinese culture for understanding time, particularly through seasonal flowers and natural landscapes, whose distinct characteristics across the four seasons serve as a medium for expressing and conveying feelings.

‘Unending’ centres on porcelain and jade, examining images of mythical beasts, the spatial composition of these images on the objects, and the use of jade as a material, in exploring images of eternity. In the decorative arts, eternity signifies the unbroken continuation of an ideal state.

‘The Course of the Sun’ takes as its starting point the Space series works by Liu Kuo-sung (b. 1932), acclaimed as the Father of Modern Ink Painting. The section reinterprets the relationship between the sun and the earth, expanding the boundaries of how time may be conceived.