Glimpses 驚豔

Nara 奈良

Professor Hui Cheuk Kuen, Desmond (許焯權教授)

Nara, the ancient capital of Japan, was modeled after the city of Chang’an (now Xian) from ancient China. Today one can see some of the world’s oldest timber architecture still standing. The name Nara is believably derived from the fact that it is situated on a flat land gently sloping from nearby mountains – Kasuga and Wakakusa. This painting depicts the view from the top of Mt. Wakakusa on a nice day in October 2016 – a breathtaking panorama of Nara and the neighbouring cities stretching all the way to Kyoto in the north. This observation point reminds me of Bern in Switzerland, and the popular Rosengarten Restaurant overlooking the medieval city and the Aare River; the only difference being the absence of sika deer roaming around…

奈良是日本的古都，是按照中國古代長安城(即今西安)的設計來規劃，今天在奈良仍可看到世界上其中最早的木構建築，奈良這名字很可能與它的地理環境有關，意思是從附近的高山-即春日山和若草山-逐漸下降傾斜至平原。這幅速寫所描繪的是十月份一個風和日麗的下午，在若草山頂所看到奈良和周邊城市的俯瞰圖，畫面從左到右將奈良往北直至京都的景觀都收入眼簾。這個城市與其在東北角山上的觀景點的關係，令我想起瑞士的伯恩，其中世紀的古城和環城的阿爾河，也可以從城東北角的山上一所著名的玫瑰園餐廳往下觀賞，但與奈良不同的是，伯恩沒有遍地奔跑的梅花鹿...

October 10, 2016

Nara, Japan

Multicolored

Watercolors