This sculpture is to be sold with a certificute of authenticity
issued by Kalos Gallery, Taipei.

Ju Ming's famous sculptures, Taichi Series, have made him an esteemed

carving master worldwide. As he performed with knife and ax chopping and chiseling giant pieces of wood, he created a visualized and artistic of Taichi which embodies a Chinese philosophical outlook on life.

During the period when Ju Ming practicing the ancient Martial Art–Taichi, he soon discovered that Taichi did more than just make him stronger: It gave him much inner energy and opened up profound thoughts for his creative work. Ju gained firsthand experience of the awe-inspiring vital force that circulates through all living creatures, and as he gradually adopted this new philosophy and internalized its principles, he also started to express it in his art. This was the point of departure for his Taichi series, a collection of works brimming with impressive momentum and a joyful spirit. In these pieces, Ju managed to sublimate the abstract essence of traditional Chinese culture and to pour it into his creations that transcend language and geographical barriers.

For Ju Ming, the Taichi Series is the starting point of his own unique style. He expresses the vital inner force discovered in Taichi boxing in a form that immediately resonates with a profound understanding of the energy within. In the Taichi Series, Ju creates a tension between geometric abstract forms which bring forth the active and forceful postures of the figures. This, along with the contrast between the dynamic poses and the static material, and the rough and terse finishes create a rich rhythm in the works. As the renowned art historian Michael Sullivan said: In his Taichi Series, this conflict of forces is explicit, in the dualism of the figures who thrust and retreat, give and take, in a dynamic relationship with one each other. An invisible electric current seems to flow between them.

The idea for the medium used in Gate of Wisdom from the Taichi Series (Arch) came from Ju Ming’s teacher, noted artist Yang Yuyu; it is

a successful parting from the traditional complex realism of his Woodcarving and is instead simplified bronze sculpture. Being much harder and more solid in texture than wood, bronze presents the artist with difficulties in conveying the complexity of change in the final work. Nevertheless, this difficulty forced Ju Ming to acquire greater control of the substance and texture of his medium. Although each finished piece is simple and forceful on the surface, it still embodies within a very rich, abstract philosophical significance.

Ju Ming's influence on the art scene is not only confined to Asia, it reaches areas such as Southbank Centre, in the UK with the almost half mile

long river Thames. It was the first time Southbank Centre ever exhibited works of a Chinese artist, Ju Ming’s Taichi series to be specific. The Times published about the aforementioned exhibition at the time. Professor Michael Sullivan of the Oxford University praises “The accomplishments of Ju Ming exceed beyond the beauty of the beauty and power portrays by his work. More importantly, in comparison to his contemporary peers, connotative of his own cultural traditions, creates a naturalistic language that can be regarded to be inevitable ─ fountain.” (Meng yu, Yang Carving for Humanity ─ The Biography of Ju Ming, CommonWealth Publishing Company, Taipei, 1997, p189) Professor Michael Sullivan has published a number of works on Chinese art which have since become texts for the teaching of art history at many Western universities. Michael is also the first Western authority to have applied a systematic method to the research of 20th Century Chinese art. Due to his work in this area, he has become an important bridge between Chinese and Western culture. He has also praised and collected pieces of Ju Ming’s art.

Ju Ming and the West continue to agitate sparks, the Ashmolean Museum in London’s Oxford University is the world’s oldest museum; In 2003,

an addition to their collection encompassed a similar work as the present lot entitled the Taichi Series – Arch (2000), presiding residing on the left side of the Museum’s front entrance, contrasting with the British reclining statue by Henry Moore, reflecting on the significance of Ju Ming’s work. In ancient China, relatively less emphasis in artistic development was placed solely on sculpture, rather those artists concentrated on crafts more related to painting. By contrast, forming techniques in Western sculpture began with an accurate portrayal of motion and understanding of the subject. In Ju Ming’s works, one can see the spirit of Western sculpture along with its grace, once again echoing the deep affinity Ju Ming’s works have with those of Henry Moore.

The Taichi Arch is more abstract and imaginative. Upon a closer examination of the Taichi Arch series, the Ju Ming Museum has elaborated:

The Taichi Arch is evolved from the pushing Hands of two Taichi practitioners. The pushing hands of the past has a space between the two practitioners; while the creation of a new Taichi Arch will connect the two pushing hands into a whole. The figural image no longer exists and the work enters into a form that deviates from an abstract stylistic approach. The form encompassed a hidden charm, from the left to the right and from the right to the left; through an abstraction with modern qualities to convey the conception of an endless eternity. This piece for auction is adroitly cut with geometric planes, from which one can tell that Ju Ming’s chisel threw off concern for form and instead leisurely followed the intent of the work, wandering from form to formlessness, passing through both the solid and the empty. Taichi Arc is truly worthy of belonging in any art lover’s permanent collection.