Tongxin : Chinese Wisdom in Winter Olympics Medals
Tongxin : Chinese Wisdom in Winter Olympics Medals
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The medals for the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games were unveiled on October 26, 2021 as the 100-day countdown to the Games started. Called “Tongxin,” meaning “together as one,” the medals feature five concentric rings embodying the traditional Chinese philosophy of seeking harmony among heaven, earth, and humans, merged with the Olympic spirit of uniting people all over the world through sports.
Concentric Rings
Professor Hang Hai from the School of Design of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) led the “Tongxin” medal design team. He has a deep connection with the Olympic Games. A key member of the medal design team for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, Hang and his teammates broke through the convention of using gold, silver, and bronze for Olympic medals by embedding Chinese jade in the Summer Olympics medals, which for the first time in history brought precious non-metallic qualities to Olympic medals.
On April 27, 2020, the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee openly called for proposals for medal designs for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games with the deadline of June 30. Upon hearing the news, Hang was much more relaxed than he was in 2008. “The first time, I was really eager to win the bid, but this time I was able to enjoy the process more.”
The front of the medal with patterns from jade discs of the Western Han Dynasty (202 B.C.–8 A.D.)unearthed at Nanyue King Tomb in Guangzhou. courtesy of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee
In May 2020, Hang recruited a medal design team featuring Li Wenlong, a product design teacher, and Liu Xiao, a jewelry design teacher, as well as over 10 students from the CAFA. A professional designer and educator, Hang has long been committed to disseminating and developing the traditional Chinese philosophy of creation and craftsmanship. In design work, he sees efforts to adapt traditional Chinese culture to the contemporary context as vital. Considering the relatively lenient requirements for Winter Olympic medals, Hang chose to set a bold tone for the design by developing the jade culture from the Beijing 2008 Olympics medals to under score Beijing’s singularity as a host city of both Winter and Summer Olympics while at the same time exploring new innovative designs.
The team started by researching the essence of Chinese culture because Hang insisted that rich traditional Chinese culture would provide constant inspiration. Hang was right: Brainstorming resulted in many promising design plans.
The reverse patterns originating from jade discs from 5,300 years ago discovered at the Lingjiatan ruins in Anhui Province. courtesy of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee
Among the proposals, Hang found two outstanding ideas that share certain similarities. One was a two-concentric-ring medal inspired by the doublering Chinese jade disc, conceived by PhD student Lin Fan. The other was a three-concentric-ring medal inspired by the concentric circles on ancient bronze mirrors designed by master’s-degree student Gao Yitong. Based on these two similar ideas, the team settled on using five concentric rings in the medal design after extensive reading and discussion.
After another month of design and prototyping, they submitted a total of eight proposals of medal designs to the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee at the end of June 2020. Two months later, they got the good news: The “Tongxin” design had been shortlisted as a candidate.
Dexterity and Devotion
Contrasting the expected technical difficulties in combining metals and jade when making the Beijing 2008 Olympics medals, the major challenge this time was refining the details through multiple revisions, according to Hang.
The tough task began with adjusting the pattern design. Under the guidance of relevant departments of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, the design team simplified the four patterns on the obverse into two: One is an auspicious clouds pattern, consistent with the core pattern of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, and the other is an ice and snow pattern inspired by traditional Chinese design “plum blossom in broken ice” but with plum blossom replaced by snowflake. The circles are concave in a nod to the traditional string pattern of Chinese jade disc. These details added a touch of Chinese elegance to the medals. Engraved on the reverse, the concentric rings with dots reflect the 24 stars and their trajectories inspired by ancient astronomical charts, which symbolizes that the athletes of the 24th Winter Olympic Games will shine like the stars in the sky.
Improving texture requires intense attention to detail. Li Wenlong noted that when setting the color of the medals, it was important to consider more scenarios than how it looked in the studio, like its appearance under the lights at the Olympic award ceremonies and in front of cameras. Liu Xiao, the jewelry artist, sought to achieve a soft shine on the medals’ surface supplemented by a glossy shine for the engraved text and motifs.
The medals were eventually pressed after extensive communication between the design team and the Shanghai Mint. On July 13, 2021, the design and production was confirmed by the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee.
“Our work happened at a special time during the COVID-19 pandemic, which drove us to ponder more about the relationship between humans and nature,” Hang said. “This design conveys the idea of interdependence between humans and nature. The concentric circles of Chinese round jade piece, a portrait of the sun’s trajectory as described by ancient Chinese, reflects ancient Chinese thinking on the relationship between astronomy and humanity, as well as humans and nature. Chinese people seek harmony among heaven, earth, and humans as well as unity of people around the world for common development.”