Dong Lin: The Tree in Blossom on the Rocks

Text/Yuana

The term The Tree in Blossom on the Rocks originates from Wang Yangming’s Instructions for Practical Living of the Ming dynasty: “When you have not seen this flower, it is quiescent within your mind. When you come and see this flower, this flower is suddenly animated. That is why you know it does not exist outside of your mind.” This line illuminates the profound truth of the Eastern philosophical idea “Xin wai wu wu”—that nothing exists outside the mind. All things in the world are not isolated entities external to perception but reflections within consciousness itself. The flower blossoms because human attention grants it luminosity and life. Dong Lin’s ceramic art inherits this very conception: clay becomes the vessel, the hand becomes the sensorium, and the act of molding transforms into an encounter between “mind” and “matter.” It is at once the manifestation of thought in material form and the rebirth of individual spirit within the elemental interplay of earth and fire.

In Dong Lin’s oeuvre, flowers, birds, trees, and stones are no longer passive objects of contemplation; they are expressions of emotion and conviction. Drawing upon imagery from ancient myth and folk forms, she transforms traditional Chinese symbols—repositories of collective memory—into a new artistic language. In freeing them from the constraints of historical narrative, she weaves them into contemporary experience. The tree hidden among rocks thus becomes both an echo of antiquity and a metaphor for spiritual affirmation. Amidst the hardness of stone, tenderness still breaks through; under the weight of the mundane, faith and warmth persist in quiet resilience.

I. Tracing: Reviving Ancient Symbols

If many artists draw inspiration from memory, Dong Lin’s memory stems from the ancient—not from a specific era, but from a continuity of spirit. It recalls a cosmology in which humanity and nature remain undivided, and plants, myths, and images constitute an integrated worldview. Her act of “tracing” is a journey along the hidden path between nature’s formation and the awakening of the heart.

In traditional Chinese painting, the hollyhock and the daylily symbolize loyalty and filial piety. This imagery originates from the ancient scroll Pictures of Loyalty and Filial Piety (first painted by Qian Xuan during the late Song to early Yuan, later copied by Shen Zhou and Wang Wu). From this emerges the poetic sentiment “the hollyhock turns to the sun, and the daylily evokes remembrance of the mother,” a motif embodying literati reflections on faithfulness and maternal affection. Distinct from the refined delicacy of classical painting, Dong Lin’s ceramic work Xuancao Flower and Shukui Flower exudes vivid strength. The upright hollyhocks suggest steadfast devotion; the curling daylilies evoke gentle, flowing thought. Their glazes radiate in mutual brilliance, composing a scene of opulent clarity charged with emotional intensity.

Zhong Kui and the Little Frog portrays Zhong Kui, a figure from Daoist lore believed to ward off evil. Traditionally depicted with fierce eyes and a commanding beard, he embodies righteous solemnity. Dong Lin, however, endows him with warmth: here, Zhong Kui crouches playfully beside a frog, surrounded by blossoming plants. The once austere exorcistic symbol gains a touch of innocence and humor. In folk belief, frogs signify water, fertility, and good fortune—their presence softens Zhong Kui’s severity and infuses the work with tranquility, transforming the act of exorcism into a gesture of compassion.

The Elf Holding the Fairy Peach and A Group of Elves Holding Gems together conjure a fantastical scene of sacred treasure-seeking. The fairy peach—core motif of the Queen Mother of the West’s celestial banquet—symbolizes longevity and immortality, while the “rainbow boulder” embodies the essence of heaven and earth. The animated spirits in these works are no longer hollow mythic figures but messengers of the human soul, tirelessly gathering and conveying materials imbued with goodness and eternity. Their acts resemble a ritual both solemn and exuberant, drawing divine presences down from the unreachable heavens into the tangible world of experience.

In these works, Dong Lin is not engaging in nostalgia. Rather, through reinterpretation of mythic symbols, she liberates them from historical confinement and restores their vitality of spirit. In her reconstructed cosmos, humans and beasts, deities and sprites coexist; order and chaos intermingle.

II. Interpreting: The Poetry of Material and Craft

If “tracing” is a process of returning to origins, “interpreting” channels that source into a new context, allowing it to flow within a contemporary vocabulary. This section focuses on the core of Dong Lin’s artistic language: her hand-building ceramic technique, her acute sensitivity to material properties, and her capacity for creative transformation. Here, craft is not a mechanical skill, nor material a passive medium; together, they merge into a poetic mode of expression—bridging ancient sentiment and modern sensibility.

In Eagle Gathering Wild Fun, ten eagles of varied postures hover in the forest, composing a collective image charged with primal force. With solid sculptural training and mastery of hand-molding, Dong Lin renders every beak, claw, wing, and gaze with precision. The interplay of detail and movement animates the sculpture, capturing fleeting wilderness vitality. Clay, awakened by her fingers, takes flight—each motion of the eagle becomes a concentration of the artist’s intent.

Blue Forever Porcelain and The Black Eagle Stands Alone exemplify the aesthetic autonomy of material. In Blue Forever Porcelain, the artist achieves mastery in modern glaze application. The verdant blossoms and fruits do not merely replicate natural colors but distill and purify the essence of “green vitality.” Flowing and sedimenting under intense heat, the glaze forms delicate gradations and textures—poems written jointly by fire and earth—transforming matter into a vessel of time. In The Black Eagle Stands Alone, Dong Lin employs black pottery, whose depth and restraint convey mystery and power in Chinese culture. Eschewing ornate color, she relies solely on form and mass to express the eagle’s solitude and dignity. The harmony between material and mood renders the “blackness” of the clay and the “aloofness” of the eagle as one timeless, meditative moment.

As Wei Yuan of the Qing dynasty wrote in Mogu, Upper Volume – On Learning II: “Technique may advance toward the Dao, and art may commune with the spirit.” In Dong Lin’s practice, material and craft are redefined—not as utilitarian means but as pathways to the spiritual. Her hands interpret the inner world, turning the materiality of ceramics into a vessel of thought. The flowing glaze resembles the pulse of time; the fissures on the clay’s surface breathe with nature itself. Thus, inner perception becomes external form, and the act of creation becomes a poetic embodiment of the soul.

III. Inhabiting: The Glimmer of Spiritual Light

Dong Lin’s art engages both the realm of nature and the essence of spirit. The world she constructs in ceramic form is an alchemical union of human consciousness, nature, and life itself. Through the processes of “tracing” and “interpreting,” the ancient radiance of spirit—far from being lost to time—once again illuminates the present, achieving the harmony of “heaven, earth, and all beings as one.”

Works such as Sleeping Together by the Flowers, Mandarin Ducks, and Longevity Peach employ poetic, humorous, or subversive approaches to explore the plurality of life and the complexity of emotion, together composing a vision of harmonious coexistence. In Sleeping Together by the Flowers, two women lie entwined, reading side by side. The soft fur at the frame encircles a moment of tenderness, mirroring the warmth within their hearts. The human touch fills the cold ceramic with vitality, silently speaking of intimacy and gentleness. The piece broadens the notion of “closeness,” transcending gender boundaries through its empathy and inclusivity.

In Mandarin Ducks, Dong Lin playfully deconstructs a symbol long associated with monogamous fidelity. Aware that in nature mandarin ducks do not practice strict pair bonding, she reveals their “polyamorous” tendencies, shaping a delicate triangular relationship. This deconstruction is not a denial of beauty but a humorous and profound unveiling of emotional authenticity—stripping away rigid symbolism to reveal the complexity and truth of human feeling, thereby reconstructing a more honest and modern sensibility.

Longevity Peach embraces a lighter, whimsical tone. By depicting the “contradictory” scene of grape-picking within a peach orchard, the artist juxtaposes two fruits imbued with distinct auspicious meanings—fertility and longevity—creating a spiritual space of imaginative delight. The intertwining of human desires becomes a celebration of life’s abundance.

The work Fertility stands as the spiritual nucleus of this series, elevating the praise of life to its zenith. As written in The Book of Changes: “Wealth is called great achievement; daily renewal is called great virtue; the continual generation of life is called the Way.” Fertility portrays an Oroqen woman giving birth, linking the female body, natural fecundity, and the cosmic cycle. Within the maternal form, the gestating peach and golden egg symbolize the sacred, potent force of creation. With a rich visual language, the work proclaims that the generative power of life itself is the world’s most radiant spiritual light—illuminating our existence and building a realm of abundance where the soul may dwell and flourish.

All things possess spirit; emotion is life itself. Through her artistic practice, Dong Lin releases ceramics from the category of mere objects, transforming them into reflections on existence. In her work, the viewer rediscovers a gentle yet steadfast faith—and perceives that, though the world remains imperfect, within the heart, the flowered tree forever blooms.