Cloud Gate Qin Studio

Recently, I was bestowed upon a seal carving from my qin teacher and supervisor, Peiyou Chang 張培幼. It wasn't just a gift but a solid benchmark for my further artistic developments toward qin culture, to which, for many reasons, I feel intertwined.

This was the second stage of our conversations about having a second name. Mainly because it is about time to see myself through other lenses. I'll explain it. After many years of deepening knowledge-gathering efforts to move forward with qin culture in Brazil, I realized the need to tighten ties with Chinese communities overseas. That's because today, I see myself as coexisting in both worlds, marked by my own native Brazilian culture while receiving and adopting Chinese values constantly in my life. Talking a lot about this and other things, she gave me the name 林柏儒 Lín Bǎirú.

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Since it came to my knowledge, the other people around the world devoted themselves to establishing different perspectives on western qin (hardly connected to contemporary mediasphere Chinese culture), I considered managing my whole artistic life to embrace a new possibility for living by the qin. As soon as I saw my teacher venturing on doing Chinese carving small wooden pieces by herself, I asked her to make one for me as a hobby, like she does when asking her for a Chinese name.

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She did express some reluctance to do it. But after we talked about the implied meanings of having a second name (a courtesan one) for someone who most of the time perceives oneself as belonging to another culture, like me, she agreed to do it. A second name is one way to engage even more with qin culture as it strengthens the feeling of belongingness.

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By that, my mind started to wander around new possibilities, such as establishing a Qin Studio in Brasilia, which led me to think about a proper name. Again the matter of the terms. And so, pop-up in my mind the name "Cloud Gate Qin Studio."

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I don't know whether this name is a clichè or not. It sounds like something beyond earthly things and, simultaneously, an attempt to extend Wumen Qin School (translated as South Gate Qin School) to which I belong. I was seeking a name that matches the metal element from Bagua. That's why the most beautiful thing about Brasília is its bluest and rounded sky against reddish soil, which is very famous here.

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Thus, the blue sky of Brasilia immediately reminds me of its beautiful, soft clouds drifting side by side. Sometimes they disappear entirely, releasing the sunbeams that lash our bodies. At other times they cover all the blue, bringing us into a state of apprehensive stillness. Brasilia's sky is primarily a brilliant blue, while white clouds descend from the sky like dense mists.

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Then, the bleached blue (sometimes greyish) convinced me to adopt that name. My teacher Peiyou immediately wrote it in Chinese: 雲門琴齋 Yúnmén Qínzhāi. It will be the first initiative of its kind in Brazil. Still don't know how fortunate this initiative will be, but I'm confident that it is the time to materialize my years of efforts at some place. Next year, I'll be looking for new places to establish this studio and let the dice roll-up.