Ai Weiwei’s Zodiac Heads reference a long and ongoing story of cross-cultural exchange and collision between China and the West, beginning with a mid-18th century fountain at Yuanmingyuan, the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. The fountain, commissioned by Emperor Qianlong and designed by Jesuit priests promoting Catholicism in China, was used to tell time: 12 zodiac animal sculptures each spouted water for two hours (or one shichen) each day. During the Second Opium War in 1860, the waterspouts were looted from Yuanmingyuan by French and British forces. Over the past 35 years, a number of the original waterspouts have appeared in auctions, including a 2009 auction that spurred controversial repatriation efforts and discussions of ownership, due to the European origin of the original designers. At present, seven of the original waterspouts have been located and returned to China, while the locations of the other five remain unknown.

The dragon, the most auspicious of the twelve animals, was a symbol of the emperor’s power in dynastic China. Its origins are very ancient and its image was prominent on imperial robes and porcelain. Archaeologists have traced the earliest images of the dragon to the prehistoric period, when they were painted on pottery or fashioned into jade pendants. The dragon, the only imaginary creature among the twelve, is said to be composite with the horns of a deer, a camel’s head, the eyes of a demon, the body of a snake, and the scales of the carp. The dragon has 117 scales, 81 of them yang and 36 yin. The dragon is also linked with astronomy because the green dragon constellation is a symbol of the east and the rising sun. In modern China, this creature is still perceived as fortunate, and the year of the dragon often causes an upsurge in birth rates.

Ai Weiwei’s Zodiac Heads reference a long and ongoing story of cross-cultural exchange and collision between China and the West, beginning with a mid-18th century fountain at Yuanmingyuan, the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. The fountain, commissioned by Emperor Qianlong and designed by Jesuit priests promoting Catholicism in China, was used to tell time: 12 zodiac animal sculptures each spouted water for two hours (or one shichen) each day. During the Second Opium War in 1860, the waterspouts were looted from Yuanmingyuan by French and British forces. Over the past 35 years, a number of the original waterspouts have appeared in auctions, including a 2009 auction that spurred controversial repatriation efforts and discussions of ownership, due to the European origin of the original designers. At present, seven of the original waterspouts have been located and returned to China, while the locations of the other five remain unknown.

The dragon, the most auspicious of the twelve animals, was a symbol of the emperor’s power in dynastic China. Its origins are very ancient and its image was prominent on imperial robes and porcelain. Archaeologists have traced the earliest images of the dragon to the prehistoric period, when they were painted on pottery or fashioned into jade pendants. The dragon, the only imaginary creature among the twelve, is said to be composite with the horns of a deer, a camel’s head, the eyes of a demon, the body of a snake, and the scales of the carp. The dragon has 117 scales, 81 of them yang and 36 yin. The dragon is also linked with astronomy because the green dragon constellation is a symbol of the east and the rising sun. In modern China, this creature is still perceived as fortunate, and the year of the dragon often causes an upsurge in birth rates.

Ai Weiwei’s Zodiac Heads reference a long and ongoing story of cross-cultural exchange and collision between China and the West, beginning with a mid-18th century fountain at Yuanmingyuan, the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. The fountain, commissioned by Emperor Qianlong and designed by Jesuit priests promoting Catholicism in China, was used to tell time: 12 zodiac animal sculptures each spouted water for two hours (or one shichen) each day. During the Second Opium War in 1860, the waterspouts were looted from Yuanmingyuan by French and British forces. Over the past 35 years, a number of the original waterspouts have appeared in auctions, including a 2009 auction that spurred controversial repatriation efforts and discussions of ownership, due to the European origin of the original designers. At present, seven of the original waterspouts have been located and returned to China, while the locations of the other five remain unknown.

The dragon, the most auspicious of the twelve animals, was a symbol of the emperor’s power in dynastic China. Its origins are very ancient and its image was prominent on imperial robes and porcelain. Archaeologists have traced the earliest images of the dragon to the prehistoric period, when they were painted on pottery or fashioned into jade pendants. The dragon, the only imaginary creature among the twelve, is said to be composite with the horns of a deer, a camel’s head, the eyes of a demon, the body of a snake, and the scales of the carp. The dragon has 117 scales, 81 of them yang and 36 yin. The dragon is also linked with astronomy because the green dragon constellation is a symbol of the east and the rising sun. In modern China, this creature is still perceived as fortunate, and the year of the dragon often causes an upsurge in birth rates.

Ai Weiwei’s Zodiac Heads reference a long and ongoing story of cross-cultural exchange and collision between China and the West, beginning with a mid-18th century fountain at Yuanmingyuan, the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. The fountain, commissioned by Emperor Qianlong and designed by Jesuit priests promoting Catholicism in China, was used to tell time: 12 zodiac animal sculptures each spouted water for two hours (or one shichen) each day. During the Second Opium War in 1860, the waterspouts were looted from Yuanmingyuan by French and British forces. Over the past 35 years, a number of the original waterspouts have appeared in auctions, including a 2009 auction that spurred controversial repatriation efforts and discussions of ownership, due to the European origin of the original designers. At present, seven of the original waterspouts have been located and returned to China, while the locations of the other five remain unknown.

The dragon, the most auspicious of the twelve animals, was a symbol of the emperor’s power in dynastic China. Its origins are very ancient and its image was prominent on imperial robes and porcelain. Archaeologists have traced the earliest images of the dragon to the prehistoric period, when they were painted on pottery or fashioned into jade pendants. The dragon, the only imaginary creature among the twelve, is said to be composite with the horns of a deer, a camel’s head, the eyes of a demon, the body of a snake, and the scales of the carp. The dragon has 117 scales, 81 of them yang and 36 yin. The dragon is also linked with astronomy because the green dragon constellation is a symbol of the east and the rising sun. In modern China, this creature is still perceived as fortunate, and the year of the dragon often causes an upsurge in birth rates.

Ai Weiwei’s Zodiac Heads reference a long and ongoing story of cross-cultural exchange and collision between China and the West, beginning with a mid-18th century fountain at Yuanmingyuan, the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. The fountain, commissioned by Emperor Qianlong and designed by Jesuit priests promoting Catholicism in China, was used to tell time: 12 zodiac animal sculptures each spouted water for two hours (or one shichen) each day. During the Second Opium War in 1860, the waterspouts were looted from Yuanmingyuan by French and British forces. Over the past 35 years, a number of the original waterspouts have appeared in auctions, including a 2009 auction that spurred controversial repatriation efforts and discussions of ownership, due to the European origin of the original designers. At present, seven of the original waterspouts have been located and returned to China, while the locations of the other five remain unknown.

The dragon, the most auspicious of the twelve animals, was a symbol of the emperor’s power in dynastic China. Its origins are very ancient and its image was prominent on imperial robes and porcelain. Archaeologists have traced the earliest images of the dragon to the prehistoric period, when they were painted on pottery or fashioned into jade pendants. The dragon, the only imaginary creature among the twelve, is said to be composite with the horns of a deer, a camel’s head, the eyes of a demon, the body of a snake, and the scales of the carp. The dragon has 117 scales, 81 of them yang and 36 yin. The dragon is also linked with astronomy because the green dragon constellation is a symbol of the east and the rising sun. In modern China, this creature is still perceived as fortunate, and the year of the dragon often causes an upsurge in birth rates.