Betwixt Reality and Illusion

When identifying different animals, the brain appears to have minimum discernable thresholds for each; for example, a sinuous body shape is sufficient to generate perception of a serpent body, but the addition of beast legs to the same sinuous serpent form is sufficient to transform it into a beast form. This suggests that the visual stimulation induced by a beast leg exceeds that of a serpent form. Isn’t that interesting?

Interesting peculiarities abound in visual perception, of which an example is presented here. According to gestalt psychology, when the eyes view images of different shapes, the resulting visual tension can vary. For instance, the image of a circle will induce an even tension that spreads outward in an annular fashion towards the perimeter, while the tension generated by an oval image will extend in both directions along the major axis, and a square image will project tension towards its four corners. When viewing these different rectangular forms, do you experience changes in visual tension?

Unbalanced images will create directional tension that draws vision toward a state closer to equilibrium. For example, the most stable and balanced point in an oval is where the major and minor axes intersect, while the ends of the major and minor axes form a second set of balance points. A circle depicted within the oval will therefore generate tension in the direction of the primary or secondary balance points.

The aesthetic goal of jades in both the Warring States period and the Western Han Dynasty was the pursuit of dynamism, and because wave-like sinuous body shapes induce strong visual dynamic effects, jade dragons, phoenixes, and sacred beasts were all designed with twisting body shapes for effect.

This jade bear has been twisted into an impossibly distorted body form, in order to convey a sense of muscle tension and dynamic strength. A closer look at the spine reveals its physiology-defying curvature, as it extends into the inner side of the bear’s left hind leg. The orientation of the left and right hind legs is similarly incongruous. However, although this design defies reason, it perfectly achieves its aesthetic objective in creating a strong sense of dynamic movement.

Why does the light, lifting dancer appear to step to the left? This is because the main form of the dancer is in the shape of a triangle, thereby producing an uplifting effect, while the sinuous, wavy line created by the long left and right sleeves induce a sense of flowing, undulating rhythm. In addition, the curves extending from the head and waist to the hem of the robe can generate directional tension towards the left. Thus, the light, narrow-waisted, willowy dancer appears to rise up in a flowing, airy dance.

Upon examination of the legs and claws near the center of the dragon’s body here, it can be seen that the body should be posterior to the legs and claws, while the neck and head should be anterior under natural circumstances; however, these positions have been reversed, and the legs and claws are attached to the dragon’s head and neck, while the body and the tail are posterior to the legs. Why would designers of the Western Han Dynasty create such unreasonable forms?

The three distorted divine beasts seen here have twisted body forms that completely defy physiological principles. The head, neck, front legs, torso, and hind legs of each beast point in opposing directions, and such a body position simply could not exist in real life. However, physicists suggest that this depiction may be a more accurate representation of the forms of these divine beasts when they enter a zone of curved space and time. So between the world that we perceive and the world that is “real”, which is real? And which is but an illusion?

These overlapping layers of cloud actually conceal ingenious creativity. This work was designed from a round piece of jade material, and among the misty clouds, two sacred dragons with fangs and long snouts are partly concealed. Towards the lower edge, legs and claws overlapping with long curved clouds can be seen, such that in the murky world of illusion and reality depicted, we cannot truly be sure how many dragons are concealed within the cloudy fog.

Visual perception is capable of uniting the bisected sections of a sinuous body shape into one continuous wavy form, and designs depicting appearing and disappearing dragons in layers of cloud made ample use of this principle. Using agate material with naturally formed red and white patches, with sacred dragons depicted on the red areas and the remaining white areas transformed into clouds bisecting the red dragons, this Han Dynasty work exemplifies this technique, and demonstrates how visual obstruction can preserve the sinuous form of the sacred dragons, while also softening the discordance caused by their distorted bodies.

Ambiguous stimulation is akin to a photograph with repeated exposures; although the same person is depicted, the two sets of arms in different positions creates a dynamic effect, as the brain oscillates between varying interpretations. The jade dragons of the Warring States period also employed this technique to great effect, and their two sets of opposite-facing legs and claws were capable of stimulating a strong dynamic illusion that alternated between movement and stillness.

To be perceived as natural and reasonable, the front legs of beasts must be joined to the chest, while the hind legs should extend from the abdomen. However, to create dynamic illusions using the principle of ambiguity, the beast body must be distorted, so that the front legs and hind legs can face in different directions. Although such designs succeed in achieving their aesthetic objectives, the resulting body shapes are unnatural and defy reason. How then, can this paradox be resolved?