Growing up in Orange County, CA I have visited the Bowers multiple times before, but by using the knowledge I have gained from this course I was able to see the museum from a different perspective. Last quarter I had taken a Chinese Religions course which really inspired me here at the Bowers. The museum had a lot of Chinese art and history but the piece I found incorporated the Desma unit about Two Cultures from week one was an ancient Chinese gong called the "Temple Drum."
The drums main symbol is the Yin and Yang. Being a new expert in Chinese religious philosophy I was able to know that Yin and Yang is a Daoist principle that describes how apparently opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another, similar to the way we studied Two Cultures. Both represent many tangible dualities (such as light and dark, fire and water, and male and female) and are thought of as physical manifestations of the two.
The drum is painted beautifully and was truly magnificent to see. It's amazing that two contrasting elements can be so dependent of one another and become such a pivotal belief of chinese people.
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