12 replies to this topic

[fcharton]

Bonjour,

This is the first post from the CHF Embassy in Paris, I will try to post information relevant to CHF. For obvious reasons, my messages on this thread will be bilingual.
Voici le message inaugural de l’Ambassade Parisienne de CHF. J’envisage de poster ici diverses informations relatives à CHF.

Museums in Paris / Musées parisiens

For what I know, there are three museums dedicated to asian civilisations in Paris
Il y a, à ma connaissance trois musées parisiens consacrés aux civilisations asiatiques.


Musée Guimet, 6 place d’Iena (metro Iena)
Nice collection of asian arts, and many temporary exhibitions (right now on Qing court paintings, see below).
Belle collection d’arts asiatiques, diverses expositions temporaires. Actuellement, une exposition sur la peinture de la cour des Qing. (cf ci-dessous)
If you go there, you need to visit the Pantheon Bouddhique and its Japanese Garden, just a few metres away (19 avenue d’Iena) entrance is free. The museum has a nice bookshop.
A voir également, le Pantheon Bouddhique et le Jardin Japonais, qui se trouve au 19 avenue d’Iena (just à côté du musée, entrée gratuite), et une librairie assez bien fournies (livres en français) dans le musée


Musée Cernuschi, 7 avenue Velasquez (parc Monceau), metro Monceau/Villiers
Great collection of ancient bronze and funerary ceramic
Superbe collection de bronzes anciens et de céramique funéraire


Musée D’Ennery, 59 avenue Foch, metro Victor Hugo (fermé actuellement/closed now)
Private collection of chinese and japanese objects, in a Napoleon III hotel.
Collection particuliere d’objets chinois et japonais, dans un hotel particulier Napoleon III


There used to be another museum, called Kwok On, rue des Franc-Bourgeois, but it apparently closed years ago. I don't know where its collections went.
Il y avait un autre musée, Kwok On, rue des francs bourgeois, mais il semble avoir fermé il y a quelques années


All through August, there is an exhibition in Guimet about Paintings of the Court of Qing. I am planning to visit it sometimes around lunchtime (it is very close to my office, and I will probably have a lot of free time in August). Would other parisian members be interested at having a first CHF gathering in France there? Guimet is opened every day except tuesday, from 10 to 18. I would prefer weekdays, but can do otherwise...
Tout le mois d'Aout, le musée Guimet tient une exposition sur la peinture de la cour des Qing. Je compte aller la visiter un jour à midi (c'est à côté de mon bureau et, de toutes façons, Aout est un "mois creux"). D'autres membres parisiens de CHF (s'il y en a) seraient ils intéressés par une premiere rencontre CHF France là bas? Guimet est ouvert tous les jours (sauf le mardi) de 10h à 18h, je préfèrerais un jour de semaine, mais puis m'arranger autrement.


Francois

Edited by fcharton, 30 July 2006 - 01:18 AM.

[ChiangAP]

Bonjour,

This is the first post from the CHF Embassy in Paris, I will try to post information relevant to CHF. For obvious reasons, my messages on this thread will be bilingual.
Voici le message inaugural de l’Ambassade Parisienne de CHF. J’envisage de poster ici diverses informations relatives à CHF.

Museums in Paris / Musées parisiens

For what I know, there are three museums dedicated to asian civilisations in Paris
Il y a, à ma connaissance trois musées parisiens consacrés aux civilisations asiatiques.
Musée Guimet, 6 place d’Iena (metro Iena)
Nice collection of asian arts, and many temporary exhibitions (right now on Qing court paintings, see below).
Belle collection d’arts asiatiques, diverses expositions temporaires. Actuellement, une exposition sur la peinture de la cour des Qing. (cf ci-dessous)
If you go there, you need to visit the Pantheon Bouddhique and its Japanese Garden, just a few metres away (19 avenue d’Iena) entrance is free.
A voir également, le Pantheon Bouddhique et le Jardin Japonais, qui se trouve au 19 avenue d’Iena (just à côté du musée, entrée gratuite)
The museum has a nice bookshop.
Musée Cernuschi, 7 avenue Velasquez (parc Monceau), metro Monceau/Villiers
Great collection of ancient bronze and funerary ceramic
Superbe collection de bronzes anciens et de céramique funéraire
Musée D’Ennery, 59 avenue Foch, metro Victor Hugo (fermé actuellement/closed now)
Private collection of chinese and japanese objects, in a Napoleon III hotel.
Collection particuliere d’objets chinois et japonais, dans un hotel particulier Napoleon III
There used to be another museum, called Kwok On, rue des Franc-Bourgeois, but it apparently closed years ago. I don't know where its collections went.
Il y avait un autre musée, Kwok On, rue des francs bourgeois, mais il semble avoir fermé il y a quelques années
All through August, there is an exhibition in Guimet about Paintings of the Court of Qing. I am planning to visit it sometimes around lunchtime (it is very close to my office, and I will probably have a lot of free time in August). Would other parisian members be interested at having a first CHF gathering in France there? Guimet is opened every day except tuesday, from 10 to 18. I would prefer weekdays, but can do otherwise...
Tout le mois d'Aout, le musée Guimet tient une exposition sur la peinture de la cour des Qing. Je compte aller la visiter un jour à midi (c'est à côté de mon bureau et, de toutes façons, Aout est un "mois creux"). D'autres membres parisiens de CHF (s'il y en a) seraient ils intéressés par une premiere rencontre CHF France là bas? Guimet est ouvert tous les jours (sauf le mardi) de 10h à 18h, je préfèrerais un jour de semaine, mais puis m'arranger autrement.
Francois

1/You forgot "la maison chinoise" rue de Courcelles (antique dealer - private collection)

[ChiangAP]

1/You forgot "la maison chinoise" rue de Courcelles (antique dealer - private collection)
2/ Good idea to have a meeting. Please note we have been kicked out of Tour Eiffel and are now in St Mandé, at the other end of Paris! (It's all right for those who stay in the "beaux quartiers"! )
3/ Preferably from August 20 onwards

[fcharton]

1/You forgot "la maison chinoise" rue de Courcelles (antique dealer - private collection)

I was keeping this one for another post on "interesting sites", together with St Louis des Invalides... I didn't know it could be visited, but I will try soon (I frequently have meetings very close to it...).

2/ Good idea to have a meeting. Please note we have been kicked out of Tour Eiffel and are now in St Mandé, at the other end of Paris! (It's all right for those who stay in the "beaux quartiers"! )
3/ Preferably from August 20 onwards

I think it is only fitting that government agencies move to less posh settings... makes us commoners feel that our taxes are better spent... But the meeting will happen. The Guimet Exhibit ends on the 4th of September.

Just to get you tempted, here is a small advert (in french), note the superb paintings by Castiglione (Lang Shining) a jesuit who became Qianlong's official painter.

http://www.museeguim...d18861_u1l2.htm

Francois

[Moose]

Museums dedicated to asian civilisation?As in whole of Asia such as Korea, China, Japan and other or only a few major asian civilisations such as China and Japan?

[Liang Jieming]

Museums full of stuff brought back from all over asia.

[fcharton]

Museums full of stuff brought back from all over asia.

... and kept safely here, out of reach of red guard, red khmers...

The origin and nature of collections vary a lot from one museum to the other. But most of them come from private collections (not all french). Collecting asian antiques was a very developped european pastime since the 19th century, so there must have been quite a large trade. It might be interesting to try to research how it was organised (given the quantity of chinese antiques in europe, it is impossible that they were all looted...)

Cernuschi is mostly chinese, and most of it is very old (Tang and before). D'Ennery is only Chinese and Japanese, more recent, typical of the curiosities which european collectors were fond of. Guimet is varied, and covers asia in the largest sense, ie from Pakistan, Afghanistan to Cambodia, and Vietnam and China, and Mongolia, etc... A large part of its collections come from the archaeological expeditions from the early 20th century. I will try to look further into this next time I visit it.

Francois

[fcharton]

Other parisian places worthy of note / Autres lieux à voir à Paris

La maison chinoise 48 rue de courcelles
A chinese house built between 1926 and 1928 in paris for a chinese antique dealer (mr Loo). A very surprising sight.
Une maison chinoise dans la plaine monceau, en plein quartier hausmanien. Construite entre 1926 et 1928 pour un antiquaire chinois, M Loo

Saint Louis des Invalides
The church St Louis des Invalides, inside the Invalides compound, which also hosts the Tomb of Napoleon and the Army Museum, displays flags taken to the enemy in past wars. A number of Chinese flags and pennants (probably dating from the Opium and Boxers Wars in the 19th century) are visible, a curious sight.
L'église St Louis des Invalides, à l'intérieur des Invalides (où se trouvent également le Tombeau de Napoleon et le Musée de l'Armée) présente dans sa nef des drapeaux pris à l'ennemi. Quelques drapeaux et bannières chinoises, qui datent vraisemblablement des guerres de l'opium et des boxers, y sont visibles, une curiosité.

Chinese bookshops/Librairies chinoises

Le Phénix, 72 bld de Sebastopol (metro Reaumur Sebastopol)
You Feng, 45 rue Monsieur le Prince (metro Odeon)

Edited by fcharton, 30 July 2006 - 10:49 AM.

[snowybeagle]

... and kept safely here, out of reach of red guard, red khmers...

A good point, until we think of the whole sequence of events from the 19th century leading to the rise of the red guards in the 20th century.

[ChiangAP]

Saint Louis des Invalides
The church St Louis des Invalides, inside the Invalides compound, which also hosts the Tomb of Napoleon and the Army Museum, displays flags taken to the enemy in past wars. A number of Chinese flags and pennants (probably dating from the Opium and Boxers Wars in the 19th century) are visible, a curious sight.

Some of these Chinese flags are not flags, really, but pennants used as signals during battles.

The gallery of "Cour d'honneur" (the large courtyard leading to the church, still used for military parades) is decorated with standing 16 to 19th century canons. In the middle of it, there are 2 tall Qin dynasty bronze canons, engraved with Chinese and Manchu characters.

[fcharton]

Some of these Chinese flags are not flags, really, but pennants used as signals during battles.

Yes I remember one of them with a big name of animal (bear?) embroidered on it. To which extent did the chinese military worship its flag? in the west is was quite serious.

The gallery of "Cour d'honneur" (the large courtyard leading to the church, still used for military parades) is decorated with standing 16 to 19th century canons. In the middle of it, there are 2 tall Qin dynasty bronze canons, engraved with Chinese and Manchu characters.

Are there? I am impressed. Taken ot the enemy aren't they? (and it probably should be Qing, Qin cannons sound, well, anachonistic...)

I am tempted to go there this afternoon, but I will probably go to guimet instead, and report on the Qing painting exhibition instead. Invalides will have to wait until tomorrow or the day after. Thanks a lot for the info, Jean.

Francois

Edited by fcharton, 30 July 2006 - 06:17 AM.

[fcharton]

Just in case some members living in paris are reading this...

A "chinese corner" (on the model of the english corners which flourished over China in the 80s) is help on thursdays, lunch hours, in the Parc de Bercy, Cour St Emilion (metro 14). Bring your sandwich and eat it in Chinese... (similar events are organised on week ends, but most of the small gang of regulars have families, and tend to be busy on week ends).

The focus of the corner is relatively scholarly (even though we do chit chat a lot...) It is organised by a chinese from Kunming, who used to be a litterary critic in China, has been living here for over 20 years, and now works as head of the chinese section in the French National Library, quite a scholarly person. Yesterday, we were joined by a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who studies christianism, and as one of the regular is a devout catholic, the discussion took a very metaphysical turn (in a strange mixture of broken chinese and broken french...). As long term project, we are trying to translate and set up a famous Yuan play, Dou E Yuan.

Right now, it happens on pretty much every thursday, so if you are in Paris, you're welcome to it. Event are usually announced on a french forum www.lechinatown.fr, and you may PM me for details.

And of course, if other members want to start the same in their neighbourhood...

Francois

[fsgien]

the first post was way back "fcharton, on Jul 29 2006, 07:18 PM, :

French is a language i wish i had made an effort to come to gasp with, like Putonghua, alas . . . .

France, especially Paris is part of China, look back to Prance's activity in Chin during the C19 @ C20
Zhou En Lai and compatriots sojourn there, Vietnam and the French influence and . . . .