Author: Shenzhan/申展Title photo: Shadakshari Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Tibet, 1300- 1500, Distemper on clothPhoto by Shenzhan/申展， the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, January 12, 2025If you can make it in NYC, you can make it anywhere. They say.
I saw the phrase, or something similar the first year I came to NY for graduate school. A struggling student from China trying to find odd jobs paid in cash to keep my head above water, I thought first that it meant if I could make a living in New York City, one of the most expensive, toughest cities in the world, you'd make a living anywhere.
This weekend after a visit to “Mandalas: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet”, an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the MET), I was on the R train home, and a new understanding of the phrase struck me:
I no longer feel out of place among strangers, whether they speak my language or not; I am not intimidated to ask a question when I don't know a word, a dish on the menu, or a name I have never heard of. I no longer feel timid when I go to another place, familiar or not.
It’s the last weekend of the exhibition, so I decided to visit the MET, which I haven’t been to for a while. The air was cool but not as freezing as a few days ago. With a warm winter coat, I could even say it was pleasant with the sun on my face. I went alone and walked very fast crossing the avenues from Lexington to 5th. There was no line in front of the grand entrance of the MET, so I went straight in and showed my NYC ID at the admission office.
“How much do you want to pay today?”
“None.” for NYC residents, the MET is essentially “pay at your wish”.
“You must pick any amount you want to pay. You can’t pay nothing.”
“OK. One dollar then.”
I got my ticket, and went upstairs to Gallery 207 to see “Celebrate Year of the Snake”. In recent years, the Chinese gallery has put together a small exhibition to highlight the zodiac animals when the Lunar New Year is coming. Between Western Zhou and Han galleries, a set of Qing Dynasty ( 1644-1911) twelve zodiac animals, made in jade and half-human, are on display. Next to them is a set of twelve pottery animals wearing official robes from the Tang Dynasty ( 618-907). The centerpieces are surrounded by all kinds of artifacts related to the snake: a small statue of Zhenwu (真武）, a Daoist deity representing the north, symbolized by an intertwined snake and tortoise; a Shang bronze water container with an open-mouthed serpent as its sprout; A Song Dynasty (960-1279) Daoist deity holding a tiny snake in his hands……A Chinese girl wearing Han Fu was walking by. A father carrying his baby in front of the jade animals was talking to his other kid,
“It’s the year of the snake. See the snake is singled out in the front.”
The baby, probably only a few months, was more interested in looking at me.
The Twelve Zodiac Animals at the Chinese Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, January 11, 2025
Photo by Shenzhan/申展
Before I left the Chinese gallery, I made a point to see the seated Tang court lady. I love this small figure made of earthenware with glazed tricolor (三彩）, with her chubbiness and relaxing gesture, enjoying an eternal cup of tea.
Figure of a seated court lady, Tang dynasty (618-907), 8th century
Photo by Shenzhan/申展, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, January 11, 2025
To get to the closing mandalas exhibition today, I had to ignore the rest of the asian gallery, take the steps to the ground floor, only snap one photo of a Byzantin lamp handle with a Griffin’s head, and Saint Blasien Psalter, the most meaningful book of the Bible in the Medieval time, before I reached the special exhibition gallery.
Lamp Handle with a Griffin’s Head, Copper alloy, Byzantine, Made 500-700
Photo by Shenzhan/申展, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, January 12, 2024
The gallery was packed and the artworks were breathtaking. I stood in front of a monumental applique of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Transcendent Wisdom from the 17th to 18th Centuary, completely amazed by its intricacy, magnificent details, and variety of techniques on silk, satin, damask, leather, and more. Manjushri appears to be larger than a human, riding a blue lion, surrounded by deities in the sky and at his feet, decorated by halos, flowers, deer, peaches, and persimmons…..every inch of the large applique is covered by some intricate details.
I was looking so closely as if I was about to dive into it.
So as an older woman with blond hair next to me.
“The details are mesmerizing!” I exhaled.
“That is right!” She responded almost instantly.
“I wonder how the folds are made.” A man on my other side uttered. We looked at the spot he referred ——next to the tail of the lion, there are folds of fine lines creating swirling patterns like water ripples, with circles formed by the same lines in the middle.
“It is probably a technique of applique.” the woman looked closely at the introduction panel, speaking with a certain level of confidence.
“What is an applique?”I asked. I have never heard of the word before.
“Oh, this is a piece of applique.” She pointed to the panel again, “I didn’t know it was a lion he was riding. I thought it looked like a tiger.”
The well-decorated animal honestly could be mistaken for anything.
“Right. For Tibetan Buddhism, it has to be a lion.” I happened to travel to the Tibetan area before.
The conversation flowed and faded. We went on our separate ways to dive into other deities and mandalas.
Manhushiri, the Bodhisattva of Transcendent Wisdom (part)
China, Qing dynasty ( 1644-1911)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Photo by Shenzhan/申展， January 12, 2025
I could have stayed the entire day in that one gallery, but I was getting so hungry by 1:30 pm and decided to step out for lunch. As one of my habits, I stopped by the MET shop to purchase the catalog of the mandala exhibition. As I glanced through the jewelry section, a pair of beautiful blue earrings caught my eye. They were in the same shape a pair of earrings given to me by Tuzi, my best friend. It would be a perfect gift for her for the Lunar New Year. She is a snake, like me. The shop staff was a cheerful young lady. She spoke of the earrings with genuine enthusiasm while taking them out from the case and placing them on a velvet plate.
“They are made of lapis.” She said with a certain level of pride.
“What is lapis?”
“Oh, it is a type of stone that naturally is in this kind of navy blue color.”
When I carried the catalog and earrings out of the MET, I felt the day was very well spent. And I thought of the phrase on the train back home:
“If you can make it in NYC, you can make it anywhere.”
New York humbles me every day I walk into its street, and it will continue to be that way. At the same time, the city changes me and makes me until I "make it".
Astoria, New York
January 12, 2025