Three Artefacts In China

In this picture, these are Chinese fans from the oldern China days. In the past, these fans had a variety of designs. On these 2 fans, they are painted with landscape scenes. This category of fans are landscape painting. These fan are not meant for fanning but rather they are a unique cultural conception of China. Compared to other countries, it is not representing a natural scene but rather endowing the cultural meaning in nature. I means a union between the person and nature. Harmony between humans and nature is an essential, basic element in landscape painting. 

Compared to todays' fans, there is a vibrant range of colours added. These colours were not put in a structured manner but rather randomly. Some of todays' fans are not made only of wood and paper but could be made of feathers too. These days, fans were not semi-circle shaped but could be any shape like leaf-shape or circle shapes.

These are hand-painted porcelain with flowery patterns called the Bird-and-flower paintings.  Flowers were an integral component of religious teaching and medicine. There are four types of flowers making up the "four gentlemen", these four flowers are plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum are the most welcomed paintings. And for a special type of flower, the "peony", it was the "king of flowers", symbolising wealth, good fortune and high status.

Todays' Bird-and-flower paintings are using freehand methods compared to the oldern times. The three categories of freehand painting is slightly freehand, greatly freehand and fine-brush with freehand styles. Nowadays, Bird-and-flower paintings are not only applicable to scrolls, manuscripts or porcelain but to anything as a form of design.

These scrolls are hanging from the wall and they are called Ancient Chinese Poem Calligraphy scrolls. Popular ancient Chinese proverbs on a scroll is a concise way to communicate to others the value of hard work, commitment, wise planning, and many more important morals. Chinese calligraphy artwork is an ancient and aesthetic discipline in China that often combines natural beauty with words of wisdom. 

These day, hanging scrolls are much more colourful as the pictures had brighter colours. Hanging scrolls were not restricted to only calligraphy or paintings but they were also used for advertisements. Todays' scrolls could be coloured and drawn on silk and not just on paper.

Change and Continuity

1) Adequate information on the "Change and Continuity" in the river system/ river profile and ancient civilisation. 

-along Singapore River, from Coleman Bridge to Anderson Bridge

-at the Asian Civilisations Museum

The Singapore River wasn't that clean in the past...

Today, tour boats float on waters, as tourists and locals alike sit on and enjoy the scenery. 

HOW DID THE SINGAPORE RIVER EVOLVE?

The mouth of the Singapore River used to be the old port of Singapore, the humble beginnings of Singapore's existence. 

Trading, where our forefathers lived, the early civilisation of Singapore.

When Sir Stamford Raffles landed on the Singapore River, he realised how important the Singapore River was, and it was a very good place for trading, and it expanded rapidly over the years, starting from 1880...

With rapid population growth and urbanisation, the Singapore River ended up becoming into an open sewer and rubbish dump as all forms of waste were discharged into them. That was during the 1970s. Then, a clean-up campaign was introduced, and the river were clean around 1987. After which, regular inspections started to make sure the sewage system is working well, and the river cleans. 

Today, the Singapore River is now part of the Marina Reservoir after damming the Singapore River at its outlet to the sea to create a new reservoir of freshwater. The damn is called the Marina Barrage. Old kampongs and shops where our forefathers lived were replaced with new hotels stand alongside old restored wharehouses, which have been converted to shops, restaurants, along the upper reaches of the Singapore River. 

And there you go, the Marina Barrage.

This is the Old Tao Nan School building

The Asian Civilisation Museum first opened its doors at the Old Tao Nan School building on 22 April 1997 at Armenian Street, with exhibits focusing mainly on Chinese civilisation. When the Empress Place Building was renovated, the museum started to exhibit collections from Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and East Asia. 

There is a wide variety of exhibits, ranging from artwork to medieval prints. 

The exhibits are displayed in a huge museum, works of art from China, all the way to India. It is so exquisite!

Our group photo ^^

Singapore River

3) Using photographic evidences, do you think the shape course of Singapore River will change in the future? Justify your answers. 

Singapore River (Past):

Singapore River(Now):

Referring to the pictures above, i believe that the shape course will not change much. As from all pictures, only certain parts might be taken up slightly to build a bigger mall or an extension of land for better view. Also, the Singapore River is very important as it is a part of our Singapore's history, and it is also a tourist attraction. Unless the government wants to build something like a walkway or a dock in the Singapore River, there shouldn't be any changes to the shape course. Also, the original shape course would need to be kept as much as possible in order for students like us who are curious to learn about the history of Singapore and tourists to learn as much facts as possible.

Singapore River

This is the Elgin Bridge

This is the Coleman Bridge

This is the Anderson Bridge

The Singapore River

Typical tour boats floating along at the side

Activities carried out along Singapore river

Explain the activities that are carried out along the river during the early days and present days.

Singapore river in the past:

In the past,there were many activities on the Singapore River. There were hawkers, coolies, lightermen and merchants on and alongside of the Singapore River. A lot of  shophouses were also situated there.Trading was common along Singapore River, since Singapore was a trading port at that time.The river was very polluted at that time.

Singapore river in the present:

Now, there is no more trading in the area but the shophouses and some other buildings of that time are preserved. There are restaurants, pubs and clubs along the river. There are also river cruises in the river for tourists . The river is much cleaner now, compared to the past. A lot of office buildings, companies and shopping malls are located near the Singapore river.

Reflection (Akhila)

What we enjoyed most when working on this task

I enjoyed walking along the river with my group mates while we were doing the task. It was fun to work outdoors with my group mates. I liked the Asian Civilisation Museum a lot as it has a wide range of exhibits of the different countries in Asia. The write-up beside the exhibits was very helpful and I learnt a lot about the culture, activities and beliefs of the different races.

What were some challenges we faced? 

We were not sure of the directions to the Asian civilizations museum from the Singapore river.Thus, at first,we got lost and went the other side of the Singapore River instead. We wasted a lot of time trying to find the correct way to the museum. Due to this wastage of time, we had little time left to do our geography task at the end.

Describe ONE area that you think your group could do better if given an opportunity to do it again.

If we were given another opportunity, We would plan our route well. With good planning, we could have saved a lot of time and spend more time on the geography task.