#art

Wendy Soong

Salt Lake City, UT · a month ago

🧊The Great Cold🧊 The Great Cold is the final chapter of the solar term cycle and winter's most solemn curtain call. As recorded in the Shoushi Tongkao, "When the cold reaches its extreme, it is called the Great Cold." This ancient notation provides a powerful footnote to the coldest period of the year. At this moment, the chill in heaven and earth peaks—river ice is thick and solid, mountains and forests fall silent, and all living things seem to hold their breath in the intense freeze. With the arrival of the Great Cold and the year's end bringing solid ice, it was the very time for the Qing Dynasty "Bingxi" Ice Play Ceremony. This custom was revered as a "state tradition," and the Qianlong Emperor himself declared in his Ode to Ice Play: "Ice play is of great importance to the state system." Each year, the court selected skilled "ice-runners" from the Eight Banners soldiers for palace training, culminating in the grand "Ice Play Ceremony" held on the frozen waters of the Western Gardens. The most spectacular event within this ceremony was named "Shooting at the Ball." The athletes would divide into two lines, speeding out along a winding, dragon-like ice track. Their target was a colorful ball suspended high on a banner gate ahead. They had to draw their bows, shoot upward while racing at high speed, and hit the target with a single shot. This was not merely a test of skill but also an embodiment of the spirit to "train willpower, express bravery, and combat cold with movem