Creating a Perfect Art - From Imperfection

During my stay in Taiwan a few years back, I happened to visit the National Palace Museum of the country in Taipei. The Museum is one of the largest in the world, with over 65,000 ancient Chinese artifacts and, this is in fact, is the national museum of the Republic of China. Floors and floors of artifacts and relics, stand as a proof to that!

'Jadeite Cabbage' by ©© WikiCommons/Peellden
Derivative ©© Flickr/Seena Joy

Once while in the art gallery, I noticed a large crowd in front of something. I found a glass case that was the center of attraction and lots of 'ooh's and 'wow's. There it was a beautiful cabbage carved in green jade - a marvelous piece of art that captures anyone's eye.  And more than the art itself, I was mesmerized by the reading of it, on a nearby pamphlet.

Here it goes. “This jadeite, part green and part white, which is now a wonderful Chinese cabbage, would be considered mere second-rate material full of impurities if it was to be made into usual vases, jars, or ornaments, because of the cracks and blemishes that came with it. However, the artisan ingeniously transformed the rock into a lifelike vegetable of leafy green and white stems, with all unappealing rifts now hidden invisible amid the veins. And the discoloured spots take on the marks of snow and frost. So with a stroke of genius, defects turn perfect. Beauty is in the detail and creativity works wonder.” That is, by the magic wand of creativity, the clever craftsman turned the cracks and discoloured blotches to create a beautiful art. Anything can be made perfect by creativity, if one have it or utilize it.