Faces of Christ 3 - Asia

Continuing with our Faces of Christ, this is a picture which is clearly a depiction of Jesus entering Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, the last days before the crucifixion. The picture is from what was Peking (1938) and features the crowd of men, women and children clapping, waving palm branches and laying cloaks on the ground as Jesus enters the Holy City. Jesus is depicted in a well-to-do setting as it would be seen as irreverent to set this scene amid poverty.

The next picture – Jesus the Guru – has a familiar representation of a Hindu holy man changed into a representation of Christ using the marks of the crucifixion. This levitating Christ could also relate to the Ascension.

Our third picture has a Korean Jesus carrying his Cross, shown as a map of Korea nailed to the Cross with a fracture across the middle dividing the map into North and South. The Korean Christ carries both peoples of Korea to rise above the political divide.

The notes with this picture tell of a Korean story which is used to criticise the Church for holding up unjust societal structures.

The story is as follows:

“A beggar comes across a statue of Jesus outside a church. On the statue’s head is a golden crown. The beggar vents his anger and frustration at the world at the statue, and asks Jesus, ‘What good are you to me?’ He then decides to steal the golden crown, but just as he lifts it, the statue comes to life and speaks to him. Jesus tells him that he has been trapped in the statue by the crown of gold which the church has placed on his head and that he needs the people to free him. Just then a priest comes out of the church and, horrified at the beggar’s actions, takes the crown from him and returns it to Jesus’ head. At this the statue reverts to stone.”

The last picture today is a Chinese Nativity by an artist called He Qi

It is a modern papercut picture combining western and Chinese Symbolism. The paper used is red – the colour of joy and happiness. The birds across the top are kissing another sign of joy and happiness. In the middle of the horizontal lines is a diamond shape containing the ‘fo’ or ‘fu’ character which means ‘blessings’. The western symbols included are of doves for peace and hearts for love and a candle representing the Light of the World – Jesus. Mary and Jesus are dressed in rural clothing decorated with flowers, a symbol of good fortune. On the right hand side are the donkey and the gifts of the Magi.

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