China

China
Author: Cecilia Lindqvist
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Total Pages: 426
Release: 2009-04-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 0786731990

The origins of Chinese ideographs were not known until 1899, when a scholar went to an apothecary for some medicine made of “dragon bone.” To his surprise, the bone, which had not yet been ground into powder, contained a number of carved inscriptions. Thus began the exploration of the 3000-year-old sources of the written characters still used in China today. In this unparalleled and deeply researched book, Cecilia Lindqvist tells the story of these characters and shows how their shapes and concepts have permeated all of Chinese thought, architecture, art, and culture.

Life Symbols as Related to Sex Symbolism

Life Symbols as Related to Sex Symbolism
Author: Elizabeth Edwards Goldsmith
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 568
Release: 2011-01-31
Genre:
ISBN: 0557203155

Life symbols as related to sex symbolism : a brief study into the origin and significance of certain symbols which have been found in all civilisations, such as the cross, the circle, the serpent, the triangle, the tree of life, the swastika, and other solar emblems, showing the unity and symplicity of thought underlying their use as religious symbols.

Living Symbols

Living Symbols
Author: Ida Huberman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 224
Release: 1988
Genre: Animals in art
ISBN:

Living Water

Living Water
Author: Robin Jensen
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2010-11-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004189084

This general survey of early Christian baptismal iconography and architecture integrates visual depictions and physical settings of baptism with textual evidence for its practice and purpose. An opening overview of pictorial art (paintings, relief sculpture, mosaics, and ivories) prompts questions about components of the actual ritual which are treated in the literary sources. The study’s second half considers selected baptismal structures, examining the symbolism, purpose, and possible meaning of their spatial design and decorative programs. In most instances the synthesis of documentary and material evidence is enriching and complementary. However, even when physical and textual data diverge, their discontinuity demonstrates the variability of ritual performance and the perennial distinction between ideal and actual practice..

China's Living Houses

China's Living Houses
Author: Professor and Chairman Department of Geography Ronald G Knapp
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 206
Release: 1999-01-01
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780824820794

It has been said that for the Chinese "a house is a living symbol," one endowed with meaning and the result of conscious action. China's Living Houses is the first book in any language to explore comprehensively the extraordinarily complex links among folk beliefs and household ornamentation across time, space, and social class. Well-written and copiously illustrated, it reveals dwellings as dynamic entities that express the vitality of Chinese families as each journeys through life.

Symbols in Life and Art

Symbols in Life and Art
Author: James A. Leith
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 230
Release: 1987-09-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0773561439

Northrop Frye describes the way symbols operate as media of exchange in literature, drawing examples from English literature in difference periods. Eva Kushner examines the increased freedom on expression possible to Renaissance poets because of the availability of a wider range of symbols. Poet and literary historian Douglas Jones probes the use of the railway as a distinctive symbol of both unity and alienation for English Canadians. Abraham Moles analyses the social impact of "dynamic myths" on social changes which break with established traditions. Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov discusses the function of symbols in the art of Van Gogh. James Leith examines the role of symbols in revolutionary movements, in particular the adaptation of the ancient symbol of the equilateral triangle. Anthony Storr discusses the vital role of symbols in the search for a sense of unity in life. Wilfred Cantwell-Smith considers various world religions as symbolic efforts to give ultimate meaning to life. In conclusion, Norman Mackenzie reflects on all the essays, drawing on his own command of modern literature and culture.

Living in The Story

Living in The Story
Author: Charlotte Vaughan Coyle
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2021-08-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1666705233

What kind of book is the Bible? Is it a rulebook or a guidebook for moral living? Is it a history book or a book filled with fascinating (and sometimes fantastic) stories? Did humans write the Bible or did God somehow speak a perfect message that the authors transcribed? Many people have asked these questions about the nature of this beautiful, odd, comforting, disturbing book the church calls its “Holy Scripture.” Charlotte Vaughan Coyle shares her own journey to make sense of the Bible in this read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year project. She discovered that the crucial work of asking hard questions and even arguing with the Bible revealed the Scriptures to be a symphony of polyphonic voices, a work of art that paints an alternative vision of reality, a complex novel-like story unavoidably embedded in its own culture and time, and yet able to give witness to the God beyond history who has acted (and continues to act) within history. With the heart of a pastor and the passion of a preacher, Rev. Coyle invites seekers and students (both churched and un-churched) to strap on their scuba gear and join her for a deeper dive beneath the surface of this immense, colorful, mysterious world of the Bible.

The Watkins Dictionary of Symbols

The Watkins Dictionary of Symbols
Author: Jack Tresidder
Publisher: Watkins Media Limited
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2012-01-01
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1780283571

Traditional symbols form a visual shorthand for ideas, yet their functions and meaning extend far beyond that—for thousands of years they have enabled artists and craftsmen to embody and reinforce beliefs about human life in immediate and powerful images. This accessible and comprehensive guide features more than 2,000 major themes from Absinthe to the Zodiac: figures and symbols found in myth, literature and art, as well as those that have entered into the mainstream of everyday life. Covering classical and other mythologies, Biblical themes and traditional symbols from cultures across the world, this wonderful dictionary has thorough yet concise entries on individual animals, plants, objects, supernatural creatures, mythical episodes, miracles, and many other topics.

The Symbols of the Church

The Symbols of the Church
Author: Maurice Dilasser
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Total Pages: 172
Release: 1999
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780814625385

This colorful book looks both beyond the church building and deep within it to find symbols relevant to Judeo-Christianity.