Vistopia
Cover of Roaming the World’s Museums: Civilizations in 100 Objects
Roaming the World’s Museums: Civilizations in 100 Objects
One object can reflect an entire world
Completed · 192 episodes
Buy for ¥198.00
Audio in Chinese
Intel Global Vice President Yang Xu: Jiang Song's Brain Seems Fitted with a Museum Chip China Philharmonic Director Li Nan: General Museum Education Is Essential Art Museum Magazine Editor Li Wanwan: Let Us Build China's Museum Age Together Leung Man-tao: Place Every Artifact within the Larger Picture of Human Civilization Jiang Song: Why Did the Forbidden City's 600th Anniversary Exhibition Choose the Obscure Su Shi Show? 1. The Preface to the Sacred Teachings Stele: Xuanzang's Strategy and Emperor Taizong's Preface 2. The Holy Lance: A “Medieval Nuclear Weapon” Desired by Napoleon, Hitler, and Patton Guide | Xi'an Beilin Museum: Li Si, Xuanzang, Yan Zhenqing, and Zhao Mengfu Await Guide | Vienna Hofburg: Austria's “Forbidden City” and the Empress Sisi Exhibition 3. Scrovegni Chapel Frescoes I: Giotto's Way of Cleansing His Banker Patron's Reputation 4. Scrovegni Chapel Frescoes II: “Is This Chapel Enough for a Ticket to Heaven?” 5. Mogao Cave 220 Murals I: Buddha, How Can I Reach the Pure Land? 6. Mogao Cave 220 Murals II: “Just Recite Amitabha's Name a Few More Times” Guide | Scrovegni Chapel: Perhaps One of the Hardest Churches to Book Guide | Mogao Cave 220: Art as Brilliant and Fleeting as Fireworks 7. Treaty of Kadesh: Handsome Pharaoh Ramesses II and His Armistice 8. Li Gui I: Reading Bronze and Oracle-Bone Script Reveals an Astonishing Secret 9. Li Gui II: It Records the Battle of Muye! Guide | Istanbul Archaeological Museums: Former Glory of the Ottoman Empire Guide | National Museum of China: One of the World's Most Visited Museums 10. Suzhou's Master of the Nets Garden: “Made by Human Hands, Yet Seemingly Opened by Nature” 11. Villa d'Este: “A Room with a View” Bonus | Visual Deception in Gardens: Brilliant Art—or No Money to Keep Building? Bonus | Jiang Song × Leung Man-tao: Museums Are Booming, but How Should We Look? Bonus | Wang Hailing: Make Exhibition-Going a Way of Life! 12. Playing Go before Double Screens: Pictures Nested within Screens 13. Las Meninas: What Hides inside a Painting within a Painting? Guide | Madrid's Prado Museum: A Collection Born from the Habsburgs 14. Along the River during Qingming I: A Painted Dream of Splendor at the Eastern Capital 15. Along the River during Qingming II: Zhang Zeduan's Camera-Like Eye 16. Along the River during Qingming III: Neon Lights in a Northern Song City 17. Along the River during Qingming IV: Whistleblower or Painter of Ordinary People? 18. Netherlandish Proverbs I: Landscapes and People of the Low Countries 19. Netherlandish Proverbs II: Why Is Someone “Defecating on the World”? 20. Netherlandish Proverbs III: An “Angry Young Painter” Sounds Society's Alarm 21. Egyptian Book of the Dead I: Spell Collection or Guide through Hell? 22. Egyptian Book of the Dead II: Your Soul Will Reach the Field of Reeds 23. T-Shaped Silk Painting from Mawangdui Tomb No. 1 I: An Ancient Guide to Immortality 24. Mawangdui Silk Painting II: “Heaven” Lies atop Mount Kunlun 25. The British Crown I: The Queen Says Never Bow—the Crown Is Too Heavy 26. The British Crown II: A Brief History of Britain 27. Wanli's Gold-Mesh Dragon Crown I: Who Disturbed My Coffin? 28. Wanli's Crown II: Status through Headwear and Chinese Ritual Culture Bonus | Why Did Archaeological Excavation of the Ming Tombs Stop? 29. Capricorn I: Where Did the Goat-Fish Monster Come From? 30. Capricorn II: Are Capricorns Universally Ill-Fated? 31. Buddhist Pagodas I: Where Did the Fascination with Ruined Pagodas Begin? 32. Buddhist Pagodas II: Can a Pagoda Really Subdue a River Demon? 33. Wine and Dionysus I: A Vine Crown May Belong to a Wine God, Not a Fairy 34. Wine and Dionysus II: From Platonic Love to Dionysus, Fitness Is Beauty 35. Wine and Civilization I: Brewing, Vessels, and Prohibition 36. Wine and Civilization II: Did Bronze Jue Spill Half of What They Held? 37. Tsinghua Bamboo Slips I: Warring States Texts Even Sima Qian Would Have Wanted 38. Tsinghua Bamboo Slips II: What If a Copyist Made a Mistake 2,300 Years Ago? New Year Bonus | Shen Yuan × Jiang Song: Can Music and Painting Be Told in Words? 39. Dead Sea Scrolls I: The Mysterious Jewish Texts All over The Da Vinci Code 40. Dead Sea Scrolls II: A Hymn to Jewish Perseverance 41. Cellini Salt Cellar I: The Thief Wanted Only This—not Even the Raphael? 42. Cellini Salt Cellar II: Why Did Voltaire Say Every Peppercorn Was Stained with Blood? 43. Bronze Ding from the Marquis of Haihun's Tomb I: Ancestor of Hot Pot or Feast of Seasonings? 44. Haihun Ding II: Wheat, Maize, Chili—Which Won Plant History? 45. Export Porcelain I: A Natural Barometer of Social Development 46. Export Porcelain II: Ceramics, Maritime Bans, the Thirteen Factories, and National Fortunes 47. Raphael's Vatican Frescoes I: Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude in Images 48. Raphael's Vatican Frescoes II: Faith, Hope, and Charity in Images 49. The Oxherding Pictures at Dazu: Leaving Greed, Anger, and Delusion behind 50. A Codebook for Western Art I: Trinity, Four Elements, Seven Liberal Arts, Ten Saints 51. A Codebook for Western Art II: Decoding The Life of Marie de' Medici 24 Times 52. A Codebook for Chinese Motifs I: Where Do Auspicious Blessings Come From? 53. A Codebook for Chinese Motifs II: New Year's Offerings across Three Centuries 54. From Hōryū-ji to the Forbidden City: Why Did Itō Chūta Come to China? 55. From Mogao Cave 61 to Foguang Temple: Liang Sicheng Finds Tang Architecture in China 56. From Itō Chūta to Liang Sicheng: Chinese Architectural History and Preservation Bonus | A Grand Domestic Museum Tour for the Holiday—Jiang Song's Sweaty Recommendations 57. Rosetta Stone I: Egypt's National Treasure Contested by Britain and France 58. Rosetta Stone II: Why Did Deciphering Egyptian Seem a Task Only a God Could Do? 59. Stone Drums I: Kang Youwei Called Them “China's Foremost Antiquity” 60. Stone Drums II: The Evolution of Chinese Writing and a “Documentary” on Stone International Museum Day: China's Most Overlooked Local Museums 61. Chengjiang Fossils I: If Life on Earth Were 24 Hours, Fossils Would Be Time Capsules 62. Chengjiang Fossils II: Where Did Cambrian, Permian, and Cretaceous Get Their Names? 63. Human Evolution I: Food and Sex, Evolution's Invisible Hands 64. Human Evolution II: How Is “Grandmother of Humanity” Lucy Connected to the Beatles? 65. Painted Pottery Jar with Stork, Fish, and Stone Axe: This Jar Was a Coffin? 66. Greek Amphorae: The Ancient “Shipping Container” 67. Franks Casket I: The Origin of the Bluetooth Symbol 68. Franks Casket II: Even the Dark Ages Had a Dawn of Renaissance 69. Lacquer Screen from Sima Jinlong's Tomb I: What Style for a Han-Xianbei Burial? 70. Sima Jinlong Screen II: Were the Northern and Southern Dynasties China's “Middle Ages”? Bonus | Holiday Time: The Right Way to Visit a Museum 71. Sanxingdui Bronze Sacred Tree I: Was Pin-Sticking Magic Practiced Here Too? 72. Sanxingdui Bronze Sacred Tree II: Did Li Bai Tell the Shu Story Wrong? 73. Denmark's Trundholm Sun Chariot: Not a Chariot, but a Calendar? 74. The Ambassadors I: How Did Holbein Slip Hidden Messages into the Painting? 75. The Ambassadors II: Why Flaunt a Mathematics Book and Compass? 76. The Ambassadors III: Is There a Skull in the Painting? 77. Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers I: Why Paint Eyebrows Like 8:20 on a Clock? 78. Court Ladies II: Why Use a Fan as a Metaphor for People? 79. Olympic Artifacts I: Did Ancient Olympians Have to Compete Naked? 80. Olympic Artifacts II: Was the Marathon Not an Ancient Olympic Event? Bonus | Ideal Youth Dialogue: A Deeply Loved Hobby Is a Wonderful Way to Heal Yourself 81. Olympic Artifacts III: Still Want More? See Ancient Chinese Sports at Dunhuang 82. Leo's Artifact Stories I: Beginning with the Greek Hero in a Lion-Skin Headdress 83. Leo's Artifact Stories II: Did Silver Coins Become Hard Currency for Promoting Greek Culture? Bonus | At Civilization's Crossroads: The Colorful History of Afghan Artifacts 84. Leo's Artifact Stories III: Why Is Huangze Temple Filled with Strange Deities? Feature | “Only When Civilization Lives Does a Nation Live” 85. Leo's Artifact Stories IV: Did the “Path of Heracles” Overlap the Silk Roads? 86. Mandarin Squares I: Which Official Ranked Highest—Purple, Crimson, Green, or Blue? 87. Mandarin Squares II: Why Did Civil and Military Robes Bear Birds and Beasts? 88. Giotto's Five-Panel Altarpiece: Mongol Elements throughout Thirteenth- and Fourteenth-Century European Art? 89. Buddha's Finger Relic: A Link between Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West 90. Shroud of Turin I: Did This Linen Wrap Jesus Christ? 91. Shroud of Turin II: Does It Have Supernatural Powers? 92. Brick Relief of the Seven Sages I: How Does One Become a Recluse? 93. Seven Sages II: Wei-Jin Figures Pursuing Truth and Freedom in A New Account of the Tales of the World 94. Seven Sages III: Whistling, Qin, Wine, and Poetry—Why Did Brilliant Figures Withdraw? 95. Seven Sages IV: “Heaven and Earth Are My House; Bury Me Where I Die” 96. Seven Sages V: Reclusion as a Code of Chinese Culture 97. Basilica of St. Francis Frescoes I: Is Humanity's Primal Material Desire the Root of All Evil? 98. St. Francis Frescoes II: Why Did Tonsured Clergy Advance Fresco Painting? 99. St. Francis Frescoes III: Recording the Saint's Supernatural Miracles 100. Shimao's Imperial Platform: The “Pyramid of Ancient China” 101. Ziggurat of Ur: Witness to Sumer and “Sculpture” by Bullet Scars 102. Conversation: Chinese Gardens Extend Landscape Painting | Liang Jie × Jiang Song I 103. Conversation: “Western Gardens Have Profound Conception, Yet We Know Little” | Part II Bonus | “Humanity's Great Spiritual Creations Are Like Fireworks”: The Proust Questionnaire 104. China's Top 100 Archaeological Discoveries I: How Were They Chosen? 105. Top Discoveries II: Text-Related Archaeology as a Corrective to History 106. Top Discoveries III: How Was the “Pompeii of the East” Formed? 107. Top Discoveries IV: How Was the 4,000-Year-Old Beauty of Xiaohe Preserved? 108. World Archaeology I: Did Darwin's Origin of Species Establish Archaeology's Year One? 109. World Archaeology II: Was Tutankhamun's Curse Real? 110. World Archaeology III: In Mesopotamia, Every Mound May Be an Ancient Site 111. World Archaeology IV: Can Homer's Epics Recreate Ancient Greece through Treasure Hunts? 112. The Garden of Earthly Delights I: Where Did Bosch's Ideas Come From? Live Bonus | Duan Zhiqiang × Jiang Song: How to “Fake Expertise” in a Museum 113. The Garden of Earthly Delights II: Are Icarus's Wings Here Too? 114. The Garden of Earthly Delights III: After Hell's Seven Deadly Sins, Does the Cycle Repeat? 115. Portrait of Rongxizhai: Why Paint with Red Bamboo? New Year Message | Work to Make the Ideal Ever Clearer (with Jiang Song's 2021 Reading List) 116. Pictures of Tilling and Weaving: How Did Kublai's Needed Primer Travel the World? 117. Allegory of Good and Bad Government: Ten Hand-in-Hand Dancers Show Cultural Exchange 118. Stone Relief of Twenty-Four Musicians: Hear Silk and Bamboo, See Ancient Chinese Instruments 119. Stradivarius Violin: Life's Spirit Awakens When the Strings Are Touched 120. Fra Mauro Map I: Did It Launch the Age of Discovery? Bonus | Why Was LACMA Named One of the World's Most Famous Museums? 121. Fra Mauro Map II: Its Appearance Also Created Europe's Maritime Center 122. Southern Changsha Kingdom Map from Mawangdui Tomb No. 3: Ancient Military Intelligence 123. Valentine's Day I: “Love Is an Agonizing Delight” 124. Valentine's Day II: Capturing Human Emotion on Canvas 125. Mona Lisa: Where Did Her Eyebrows Go? 126. Vimalakīrti Teaching: Why Does Line Drawing Use Such a Complex System? 127. Brera Madonna: How Did Renaissance Artists Create Three Dimensions? Perspective! 128. Early Spring: Three Distances Let Us Float through the Landscape Like a Kite 129. Spica I: Why Does the Dragon Raise Its Head on the Second Day of the Second Month? 130. Spica II: Find It by Starting from the Big Dipper 131. Virgo I: Does Brilliant Spica Represent Extraordinary Beauty? 132. Virgo II: Seeking Its Origin in Bernini's Subtle Rape of Proserpina 133. Virgo III: Did Halley Make Le Gentil Wait Abroad Ten Years to Measure the Sun's Distance? Bonus | Bernini Made Rome More Eternal 134. Portraits and Figure Painting: Formalization or Individualization? 135. The Arnolfini Portrait: Layers of Mystery behind a Calm Scene 136. Spring Walk on a Mountain Path: Breeze, Birds, Water, and Wildflowers 137. The Making of China Exhibition: How Did Chinese Civilization Flow? Over 130 Provincial Treasures 138. Jan van Eyck's Optical Revolution: The Northern Renaissance at a Glance Bonus | Jan van Eyck: The Man with a Ring in One of the Earliest Secular Oil Portraits 139. Conversation: Leveling and Rebuilding an Old City Destroys Historical Information | Liang Jie × Jiang Song I 140. Conversation: “Is Restoration the Most Thorough Destruction of a Building?” | Part II Call for Ideas | What Would You Like to Hear? 141. Flying Apsaras at Gongxian I: Where Did the Finely Adorned Dancers Come From? 142. Gongxian Apsaras II: How Were They Sinicized over a Long Journey? 143. Wilton Diptych I: Did Angels Have Ranks? 144. Wilton Diptych II: Shakespeare's Army of Angels, Clearly Visible International Museum Day II: Tang Art's Splendor and Majesty | A Museum Tour 145. Tang Decorative Arts: Tracing the Origin of Rules through Rulers | Shōsōin and Mogao 146. Tang Buddhist Culture: Natural and Cultural Wonders | Caves, Temples, Pagodas, and Statues 147. Tang Archaeology: From Daily Life to Royalty, a World Recreated | Sites, Library Cave, and Belitung Wreck 148. A Journey Beginning in Florence, Birthplace of the Renaissance Bonus | Twenty Hours of Conversation in Japan: Are Living National Treasures Concrete Individuals? 149. Second Stop: Rome, Center of Catholicism and the Eternal City 150. Third Stop: Venice, a Passionate and Luxurious Commercial Metropolis 151. Fourth Stop: North across the Alps to France and Germany 152. Final Stop: Renaissance Traces Worldwide, from Britain Back to Germany and France 153. Ten Key Links across Global Museums | Cattle, Hierarchy, Lapis Lazuli 154. Love and Beauty Displayed Here | Venus, the Nude, Reclining Poses, Impressionism 155. Connections That Keep the Journey Going | Ukiyo-e, Sino-Japanese Exchange, Four Great Discoveries 156. Conclusion: I Made This Program to “Seduce” Everyone into Visiting More Museums Shen Yuan × Jiang Song: How Do We Find Freedom within Art's “Order”? Vistopia New Year Concert: What Is Art? | Shen Yuan × Jiang Song Bonus | Gandharan Art Let Buddhist Culture Blossom Everywhere Vistopia Roundtable: Even Museum Tickets Are Becoming Impossible to Get | Xue Zhou × Jiang Song × Diandian