| ARTS & THE HISTORY OF OUR PRODUCTS OUR BROCHURE IS ABOUT THREE CULTURES, THEIR HISTORY, THEIR PEOPLE, AND IN PARTICULAR, THEIR ART. DISTANCE, MOUNTAIN RANGES AND RIVERS MAY PROVIDE BARRIERS BUT CULTURES STILL MIX AND ARTISTIC STYLES ARE STILL INFLUENCED. In the seventh century, Tibet’s great king Songsten Gampo took three wives, one Tibetan, one Nepalese and one Chinese. Symbolically at least this initiated the flow of artistic influence. This manifested itself in many ways, including the use of Hangzhou silk scrolls for Tibetan thangkas, and an early Ming emperor inviting Tibetan artists to practice their art at the Chinese royal court. Similarly, Lijiang art has been influenced by both Chinese and Tibetan culture, with the presence of Chinese bats and fish, and images of the Tibetan death god Yama. Such influence will continue and is likely to accelerate in the future. Arts of the Dragon therefore hopes to play a small role in encouraging artisans to continue their work in the time honoured way. 
MOST OF THE PROVERBS HAVE COME FROM “THE LITTLE BOOK OF CHINESE PROVERBS”, BUT OUR MAIN THANKS GO TO THE PEOPLES AND ARTISANS WE HAVE MET ON OUR TRAVELS, FOR IT IS THEY, WHO PROVIDED US WITH THE INSPIRATION TO LAUNCH ARTS OF THE DRAGON, AND WITHOUT WHOM THE COMPANY WOULD NOT EXIST. |  
| ARTS OF THE DRAGON IS ABOUT MUCH MORE THAN THREE CULTURES, WITH THE DRAGON AN AUSPICIOUS SYMBOL FOR MOST COUNTRIES IN EAST ASIA FROM INDIA TO JAPAN, SELECTED AS OUR LOGO. | The dragon logo expresses our long term wish to expand our area of interest to other regions and cultures in East Asia. We also try to be creative, hence, the use of traditional cloth scrolls rather than Hangzhou silk scrolls in our thangkas, and the development of our own version of Sudoku. Wherever possible, the company aims to conduct business directly with the individual artisan. By sourcing products directly from them, we are able to offer you our customers a competitive price, and at the same time provide a fair income to the artist. We also feel that it would be unfair to discriminate against anyone, on the basis of government policies over which they have no control. Arts of the Dragon is managed by Pat & John. Pat (Yeuk Ling Ho) from Hong Kong plays the key role; she has degrees in both East Asian History and Fine Art, and has 18 years experience in the tourist industry, with specific emphasis on Asia. Through her travels and experiences she has gained an appreciation of the lives of the people in East Asia, and the hardships that many of them undergo. For this reason, she has selected the non-political organisation Kham-Aid to be our sponsored charity (www.khamaid.org). | | | | |
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