Ancient philosopher inspires modern designs

Shen Yanchen, a student at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, displays her lamp design at the former residence of Wang Yangming, China's leading philosopher. [Photo/UNNC]

To celebrate the 550th birthday of China's leading philosopher Wang Yangming (1472-1529), a lamp design exhibition was held at Wang's former residence in Ningbo, Zhejiang province on May 20.

The lamps were all designed by students at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), who were inspired by Wang's works.

Taking inspiration from Wang's poetry, Wang Yanjia, designed a lamp entitled Spiral, which takes the form of a sand clock.

Shen Yanchen was inspired by the windows of Wang's former residence and designed a lamp which produces different light effects when it changes its shape.

Wang was also a chess enthusiast, so Liu Qicheng designed a lamp for chess lovers. Chess pieces are stored in the bottom of the lamp and can be taken out and used at any time.

The lamp design exhibition is not only a celebration of the birth of the great philosopher, but also a part of the final assessment for the university's Industrial Design Professional Practice module.

Wu Jiang, the module instructor, said that an important idea in Wang's philosophy is the unity of knowledge and action, which is also an important part of the teaching philosophy at UNNC.