Phoebus 9: A Journal of Art History - Table of Contents

“Preface” by J. Robert Wills, p. 9-10.

“Collecting Chinese Art” by Roy and Marilyn Papp, p. 13.

“Catalog of the Inaugural Gift from the Roy and Marilyn Papp Collection to Phoenix Art Museum” p. 15-43. 

“Exhibitions From the Roy and Marilyn Papp Collection” p. 44-45. 

“Additional Publications” p. 47.

“Romanization Note” p. 48.

“The Daoist Symbolism of Immortality in Shen Zhou’s ‘Watching the Mid-Autumn Moon at Bamboo Villa’” by Chun-yi Lee, p. 49-78.

“Wu Shi'en's ‘Liang Hong and Meng Guang’: A Misreading” by Xiaoping Lin, p. 79-99.

“From the Profound to the Mundane: Depictions of Lohans in Late Ming China” by Janet Baker, p. 101-116.

“Glimpses of the Duanwu Festival by Fang Xun (1736-1799): Commemorative Painting or Private Souvenir?” by Anne Kerlan-Stephens, p. 117-141.

“Pleasure and Pain” by Marion S. Lee, p. 143-165.

“From Narrative to Transformed Narrative: Visualizations of the Heavenly Maiden and the Maiden Magu” by Chen Liu, p. 167-182.

“Glossary of Chinese Names and Terms” p. 185-195

An integrated experimental and numerical investigation for laser-generated optoacoustic wave propagation in structural materials is performed. First, a multi-physics simulation model is proposed to simulate the pulsed laser as a point heat source which hits the surface of an aluminum sheet. The pulsed laser source can generate a localized heating on the surface of the plate and induce an in-plane stress wave. ANSYS – a finite element analysis software – is used to build the 3D model and a coupled thermal-mechanical simulation is performed in which the heat flux is determined by an empirical laser-heat conversion relationship. The displacement and stress field-histories are obtained to get the time of arrival and wave propagation speed of the stress wave. The effect of an added point mass is investigated in detail to observe the local material perturbation and remote wave signals. Following this, the experimental investigation of optoacoustic wave is also performed. A new experimental setup and control is developed and assembled in-house. Various laser firing parameters are investigated experimentally and the optimal combination is used for the experimental testing. Matrix design for different testing conditions is also proposed to include the effect of wave path, sampling procedure, and local point mass on the optoacoustic wave propagation. The developed numerical simulation results are validated with experimental observations. It is shown that the proposed experimental setup can offer a potential fast scanning method for damage detection (local property change) for plate-like structural component.

The Vimalakirti Sutra is one of the classics of early Indian Mahayana Buddhism. The sutra narrates that Vimalakirti, an enlightened layman, once made it appear as if he were sick so that he could demonstrate the Law of Mahayana Buddhism to various figures coming to inquire about his illness. This dissertation studies representations of The Vimalakirti Sutra in Chinese painting from the fourth to the nineteenth centuries to explore how visualizations of the same text could vary in different periods of time in light of specific artistic, social and religious contexts. In this project, about forty artists who have been recorded representing the sutra in traditional Chinese art criticism and catalogues are identified and discussed in a single study for the first time. A parallel study of recorded paintings and some extant ones of the same period includes six aspects: text content represented, mode of representation, iconography, geographical location, format, and identity of the painter. This systematic examination reveals that two main representational modes have formed in the Six Dynasties period (220-589): depictions of the Great Layman as a single image created by Gu Kaizhi, and narrative illustrations of the sutra initiated by Yuan Qian and his teacher Lu Tanwei. The latter mode, which became more popular than the former in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), experienced adaptation from handscroll to panoramic mural. It is also during this period that a minor scenario, the Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers, became a necessary vignette for representation of the sutra. Since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers gradually became an independent theme. This author investigates the thematic shift caused by various factors. These include the transformation of later Chinese narrative painting and the prevalence of shinu hua 仕女畫, painting of beauties, in later Chinese painting. There is also a change in the role of the Heavenly Maiden from one of many maidens to the only and necessary partner of Vimalakirti. Ultimately, the image of the Heavenly Maiden evolves from a Buddhist heavenly being to a Daoist fairy and later to a symbol representing auspicious meanings.