Site 6 C Lugu Lake, Yunnan Province

July 25
Lisa Horikawa accompanied Judy Chicago from Kunming to Lijiang. Friend of the Long March Megan Connolly also arrived from Beijing. Lu Jie went to the airport to meet the group, and helped them get settled into the Guanfang Hotel.

As soon as they entered the hall, Yang Yibo, assistant mayor of the Lijiang Special Region for Women's Affairs, greeted them dressed in native costume. When Chicago learned that Yang had risen to her position through a civil service examination, she grew very interested in China and its ruling party. As the descendant of Russian Jewish intellectuals, Chicago was interested in the reformation of Russia and China. During the meeting, Yang eagerly sang a Long March song for Chicago, quickly turning the two from strangers into friends. Chicago presented a copy of her autobiography to Yang after first asking Lu Jie if such a gesture was appropriate. Yang's response after flipping through the book was "How avant-garde!"

A dinner for Chicago was hosted by Yang and the leaders of the Lijiang Office of Foreign Affairs and the Lijiang Propaganda Office. Over chicken dumplings, pine nuts, and other dishes, including chicken and fish heads, which seemed to stare at her, Chicago was given another lively lesson on Chinese visual culture. Lu Jie assuaged her fears, saying that everything in China emphasized "completeness," and that it wouldn't be correct to leave out a head or a tail, only seeing one part of the food.

That evening, the group attended a concert of ancient Naxi music hosted by one of the "three eccentrics" of Lijiang, Dr. Xuan Ke. Moving to the concert venue in the pouring rain, everyone was thoroughly soaked. Judy Chicago was unable to relax, as thoughts of the upcoming event at Lugu Lake and discussions with the Chinese female artists had made her less than at peace.

Suddenly, Chicago needed to return to her barracks for a strategic meeting with Lu Jie and Qiu Zhijie, meeting the latter for the first time. After a heated discussion in Kunming with the participating female artists, she was anxious and eager to begin planning the events in Lugu Lake as soon as possible. While Chicago had done tremendous research on the historical background of Lugu Lake and the Mosuo culture, the specifics of its location remained unclear to her and to rest of the curatorial team, except for Lu Jie who had visited the place. Lu Jie described the site to everyone by drawing a map of Lugu Lake. At the same time, he explained to Chicago that they would not be able to decide upon the details of the exhibition until they actually got to the site. He asked for her understanding, explaining that this was part of the Long March methodology.

The original curatorial plan was to select twelve female Chinese artists to participate alongside Chicago in the If Women Ruled the World exhibition. Their proposals would be exhibited at Lugu Lake, and the works themselves would be realized later, in a museum. Lu Jie and Qiu Zhijie began to doubt their authority, as men, to pick twelve artists, and recommended to Chicago that the limit of twelve artists be removed and the proposal exhibition opened to the more than thirty artists who offered submissions, with the proposals to be printed on Tibetan-style prayer flags. This plan won Chicago's consent, and she quickly began making such a flag for her own work. Afterwards, some artists expressed their discontent that they could only display proposals at Lugu Lake, and their sincere hope that they could actually realize works on-site. Lu Jie and Qiu Zhijie decided to forgo their curatorial prerogative and allow all those artists who had submitted proposals and wanted to realize works to do so. Thus, a plan emerged from the meetings in Kunming. Nonetheless, the number and quality of the works, along with the non-artistic worries they brought, had made Chicago feel pressured.

At this point, Chicago and Lisa reported the concerns expressed by some participating artists back in Kunming to the two curators. The curators were stunned. Apparently, at the meeting with the female artists held the night before Chicago arrived in Kunming, none of these concerns had been mentioned. At this point, everyone reconfirmed the importance of communication while working in a cross-cultural and cross-gender environment. To make sure that each party was updated with every piece of information, they went over the list of participating artists and their projects one by one.

Chicago then opened up a package, which had not been opened until now. Unraveled were twelve beautiful flags, each bearing a question written in Chinese and English following the proposition of "What if Women Ruled the World?" and the sub-propositions of:
1. Would God be Female?
2. Would Men and Women be Equal?
3. Would Sexual Freedom Prevail?
4. Would there be Jealousy?
5. Would there be Equal Parenting?
6. Would Children Go Hungry?
7. Would Old Women Be Revered?
8. Would Buildings Resemble Wombs?
9. Would there be Private Property?
10. Would there be War?

Lu Jie, though taken by the beauty of the flags, expressed his concern about their high visibility, stemming from their large size and vivid colors. In the end, he promised to Chicago that he would make sure to find a way to present them by implementing a Long March approach. The meeting ended on a good note.

Earlier in the day, in order to prepare for the exhibition at Lugu Lake, Qiu Zhijie found time to call on the Dongba Cultural Research Institute located at Black Dragon Pond. He asked teachers and students of the Dongba language to help him translate the important menus in the Microsoft Windows operating system into Dongba. This historically unprecedented translation project seemed quite difficult to the teachers and students. This was the first time that ancient Dongba pictographs had been used to write such expressions as "My Documents" or "Modem." The students and teachers entered into heated debate, which was often resolved only by using homophonic characters. For example, the "yin" sound that begins the Chinese expression for "adjust volume" was rendered as the Dongba pictograph for "eagle," which is pronounced "ying" in Chinese. This method had Qiu Zhijie very excited; a task that he had previously deemed impossible was in fact a way for these two cultures to interact. At last, Qiu snuck off to buy a few works of calligraphy to give to the students and teachers as gifts, and returned home, hands full of Dongba translations of Windows.

July 26
The curatorial team split into two groups. Lu Jie led several comrades to see the famous dance Ten Farewells to the Red Army, which required a two-hour drive into the mountains outside the city of Lijiang. During the drive, the troops passed Golden Sand River, the area where the Red Army originally crossed the Yangzi River for the first time. Finally, the curatorial crew reached the famous Stone Drum Village. The Red Army used door panels from nearby homes as paddles to reach this village during the original Long March. Ezra Pound has also written a poem, "Stone Drum Village" based on his interpretation of the place. Pound never visited the site.

The curatorial crew and comrades climbed a steep slope to reach the peak of the city, overlooking the mountain landscape and streets below. This is where the annual Red Army dance takes place. Women from mixed generations - the oldest dressed in traditional costume, the youngest dressed in jeans and sweaters - dance together while a thirteen year-old boy plays a traditional wooden flute in the center. The women dance before lush mountains juxtaposed with the city below, and framed by a monumental fifty-foot high Cultural Revolution-era bronze sculpture. During the dance, the curatorial crew erected a Long March flag that bore the New English Calligraphy logo designed by Xu Bing. After the dance, Lu Jie distributed propaganda to the dancers. Town officials quickly intervened so Lu Jie quickly collected the propaganda and the troops headed back to Lijiang.

The curatorial team led by Qiu Zhijie met comrade Judy Chicago and Donald Woodman at Muwangfu, located deep inside the old town of Lijiang. As a hotel and alternative art space founded by two artists this past February, it is one of many recent attempts in China to bring art and community together. They planned on realizing an artist-in-residence program by the end of 2002. Their emphasis on locality was evident in their planned policy of bringing invited artists directly to Lijiang, without the usual stop in Beijing or Shanghai. Judy Chicago was stunned by such a grassroots approach thriving in this small regional tourist town of Lijiang. She took it as a sign of the innate energy of the contemporary Chinese art scene.

After an introduction to the space, Chicago met Guo Fengyi in the hotel lobby, where the walls were brightened by Guo's paintings. Born in 1942, Guo is a self-taught artist who began painting in 1989. Since hearing about the Lugu Lake project and If Women Ruled the World, Guo had been engaging herself, through her paintings, in a dialogue and an imaginary journey to Lugu Lake with Chicago. The ten paintings exhibited bore titles such as Lugu Lake, Lijiang, The Mosuo, Kunming, and If Women Ruled the World. Guo expressed her vision of a world ruled by women to Chicago as "beautiful and complete."

The meeting reaches a climax when Guo presented a painting especially done for Chicago. Chicago warmly accepted the work and commented, "The work makes me think of a woman powerfully emerging from underneath the shoes which have been stepping upon her." Before closing the meeting, Guo gave a demonstration of her painting in public, revealing the fascinating creative process behind her work. In the middle of a blank sheet of paper, she first wrote the title of the work, Black Dragon Pool in calligraphy. The work then spread outward with this word as its center. Chicago saw a parallel with many other works by women artists in other parts of the world that position the center of the work as its centripetal force. After the painting demonstration, the two artists exchanged a warm hug, a moment which connected an internationally renowned artist from the United States, who has been working strenuously on cultivating a new horizon for women, with a regional artist from Xi'an, China.

July 27
The troops split into two divisions and traveled the dangerous road to Lugu Lake. After eight hours on bumpy roads with steep elevation, the crews arrived, tired and cold.

Come evening, Judy Chicago met with the female Chinese artists for a strategic planning session. Aside from the artists whom Chicago had already met in Kunming, there were others who had come directly from Beijing and Chongqing, numbering fourteen altogether. Chicago and the curatorial crew found the new barracks space to be perfect for creating "A House for Chinese Women," the planned center of the exhibition at Lugu Lake. Each artist expressed her concerns, and their desire to arrive at the barracks the following morning at 10:00 to start installing. Chicago reminded everyone of the important task ahead: through this project, they were to demonstrate how women could collaborate and that the world ruled by women is indeed a peaceful and creative one.

July 28
Morning.The weather turned foggy and many of the troops, including Judy Chicago, grew sick from fatigue and lack of nutrition. At 09:00, the curatorial crew started to transform the barracks into "A House for Chinese Women." Donald Woodman and Shen Meng worked together installing Chicago's twelve flags, each posing a question related to the concept "If Women Ruled the World." Each flag bore a question written in Chinese with an illustration on the back. The flags were installed diagonally in the entrance to the barracks with the questions facing outward, welcoming visitors and sparking interest. The proposals from thirty-three artists from all areas of China were installed on the walls outside each room, creating a home for Chinese women and their art. The brigade of female artists arrived at noon for another struggle session. Chicago remained in her barracks resting while Lu Jie met with the artists.

The participating Chinese women artists submitted a list of three terms for the Lugu Lake project:
1. The name and concept, "A House for Chinese Women," should be changed to "A Dialogue with Judy Chicago at Lugu Lake."
2. Participants shall hold all copyrights to the works they realize at Lugu Lake.
3. A written agreement on the two points above shall be signed by both parties.

Lu Jie agreed to the terms, but the struggle goes on. Chicago entered the struggle session for fifteen minutes, making the point that she was here to work with the artists collectively, encourage them, and create art. Chicago was disappointed when a few of the artists implied that her work overpowered the works by the Chinese artists. The curatorial crew and brigade of artists were touched by her comments and decided to work together. Six women artists would work at another location to carry out their performances and installations while the rest would install their work in the barracks under the title "A Dialogue with Judy Chicago at Lugu Lake."

Midday. Several members of the artist brigade installed their work in the barracks near Chicago's flags. Kunming-based artist Sun Guojian realized her installation work Following You. Lei Yan, another Kunming-based artist, installs her photographic works If They Were Men and If the Long March Were a Women's Art Movement. Lei Yan's work consisted of two black-and-white photographs: one with the male leaders of the Long March dressed as Red Army guards with ponytails added onto their heads; another with famous female Red Army guards followed by a brigade of women soldiers. In each photo, Lei Yan is in the frame dressed as a tourist taking photos of the Red Army guards. Beijing-based artist Xu Sa (Sasa) installed six works depicting different scenes addressing sex, love and modern life. Huang Ying of Chongqing installed her photographs of writings and drawings she observed on the walls in female restrooms around that city. She hung the photos outside the bathroom in the barracks. Chicago met with each artist for a constructive criticism session after the works were installed. Chicago singled out Huang Ying for lack of research, and for presenting a work from a male point of view rather than truly addressing the topic, "If Women Ruled the World."

Evening. At dusk, Chongqing-based artist Pang Xuan installed her work Pan Wei Ne Zhi near the lake. Nine-hundred red paper boats were arranged in the shape of a Mosuo pictographic symbol representing January 1, the luckiest day of the year. Mosuo people did not traditionally use Chinese characters so Pang Xuan used this concept to create the symbol for the most fortunate day in the Mosuo language. As the sun was setting, the troops gathered around the structure and placed one candle in each of paper boats. Unfortunately, supplies ran out and the group had to make due with the conditions. Due to the torrential downpour, the candles would not stay lit, leaving the troops frustrated and fatigued. Luckily, the troops persisted and marched forward. They ultimately succeeded, and the bright symbol could be seen for miles.

Chongqing-based artist Huang Ru created an outdoor movie theatre in the courtyard of the hotel where she was living. The title of her project was A Story of His Hometown. She showed two films free of charge by projecting them onto a white bed sheet pinned to a wall of the complex. She selected a Hong Kong film from the 1980s, in which the heroine is confident, strong, and unafraid. She also showed Sister Jiang, an underground film from the 1960s. Sister Jiang is a biographical film about the real "Sister Zhang," a radical woman in the underground circle who challenged Chinese policy and was killed in 1949. Due to bad weather conditions, the turnout was less than expected. Still, several people sat in the cold watching the films with interest. After viewing the films, the troops, including deputy commander Qiu Zhijie, sat by the fire to dry off, feasted on barbecue, and marched two kilometers back to the barracks in the cold, rainy night.

July 29
Donald Woodman was possessed during the evening by the goddess of Lugu Lake. At 04:00, Lu Jie and Qiu Zhijie rushed to Woodman's aid. Due to lack of oxygen, Woodman laid unconscious for thirty minutes. A local shaman was called in, the troops performed massage and acupuncture, and finally Woodman woke up. The locals were convinced that the goddess of Lugu Lake had been watching him during the past few days, and had decided to take him due to his good looks. Chicago remarked, "This place is powerful."

Morning. After the evening run-in with local ghosts, Woodman was exhausted and Chicago was still recovering from her illness. During the afternoon Chicago and Woodman visited a local village and interviewed Mosuo women of several generations. Chicago was shocked to learn that Mosuo people over the age of thirty are totally illiterate. She realized that this society is a tourist trap; women are not the real rulers here. Women own land, but they are also the hardest working people in each village. Women cook and clean all day while the men rest. In the evenings the men appear to present the traditional courting dance.

Afternoon. Chongqing-based artist Li Shurui installed her work in the lake. Her concept had three parts: when first looking at water and mountain, they look like water and mountain. When looked at more closely, water and mountain are no longer water and mountain. Finally, when looked at further, the water and mountain reemerge as water and mountain. Li Shurui erected twenty tents made of white mosquito net fabric in a horizontal row on the water. The effect was romantic, peaceful, and balanced.

Evening. Performances by Fu Liya, Song Yanping and Su Ru Ya were held at 18:00. After resting, Chicago trekked to the performance site where the three artists were preparing their works. Inner Mongolian artist Su Ru Ya placed rose petals in the lake water near a boat. The boat is one place where Mosuo women bring the men they select for intercourse. Song Yanping stood in a boat spreading petals along the water. The petals drifted off slowly into the distance.

Fu Liya invited a seventy year-old local Mosuo woman to sit on the ground with Chicago. There were two local Mosuo men dressed as mermaids. Fu Liya posed the question "If Women Ruled the World" to the men and women who attended the opening of Liu Hong's exhibition on July 19, collecting answers in a glass jar. She now threw the glass jar into the lake, yelling out to the gods the question "What if women ruled the world?" and sending the male mermaids to run into the water and fetch the bottle. They deliver the bottle to the Mosuo women and Chicago. Each selected a response from a man and a woman providing the answer to the question.

Meanwhile Song Yanping had erected a structure made of wood. She had filled white embroidered bags with sand and rice. Below each bag, she lit a small fire. After poking holes into each bag, the contents fell to the ground, extinguishing the fire. Chicago was moved by her work and gave her advice on how to strengthen her installation.

Evening tea ceremony
Chongqing-based artist Zhang Lun invited Judy Chicago to pour tea for fifty local Mosuo. After entering the local museum, which was filled with Mosuo performing the fire dance courting ritual, Chicago entered a small tearoom. The smoke was overwhelming and she entered hesitantly. Suddenly, Mosuo people begin lining up to register for the tea ceremony. At the entrance, each one of them was asked to complete a form with their age, sex, and answers to questions such as "do you wish people from other ethnic groups would also carry out the 'roving marriage' custom?" and "what is your dream?" After twelve people were served, Chicago left, exhausted from a long day. Zhang Lun was disappointed but continued the ceremony with Mosuo people pouring tea on their own. During the critique, Chicago told Zhang Lun that she enjoyed the work and found her painting, used as the backdrop of the tearoom, to be especially strong. Nonetheless, Chicago was a bit disappointed that the artist created forms for the Mosuo people to complete without knowing they could not read.

Final meeting between Chicago and the artists
Lu Jie and Qiu Zhijie arranged a debriefing session for Chicago and the Chinese artists. After viewing images from earlier Long March sites and hearing reports, the artists viewed their work in Lugu Lake together with Chicago. Everyone was happy with the end result, and the initial miscommunications were all put to rest. Lu Jie offered to create a written form of the agreement with the artists, which they had initially demanded. However, one by one the artists withdrew their demand and realized a contract was unnecessary. Chicago's closing remarks were positive and insightful; she wished the best for each artist in the future and informed them that she had learned a lot. After all the struggle sessions, the Lugu Lake project "A Dialogue with Judy Chicago" had ended successfully.

July 30
Chicago and Woodman planned to leave Lugu Lake early, but due to flooded roads, they were stuck there for the morning. During an early morning dialogue with Lu Jie and Qiu Zhijie, Chicago confessed her disappointment with many of the artists. She was hoping to have more interactive dialogue and debate, but the artists did not engage her efforts. Although this was the case, she felt that she had learned a lot and had grown from the project, and that the same could be said of the participating artists.

Lu Jie, along with the other troops and comrades, escorted Chicago and Woodman to the town center. The weather cleared for a moment as Chicago and Woodman began the 8-hour trek back to Lijiang. Qiu Zhijie and others attended the performance on the lakeshore by Wu Weihe and her husband. They had created two burial platforms with a seven-color pattern based on Mosuo custom, placing two sculptures of babies on each platform, setting each figure on fire, and placing each platform on the lake. Her response to Chicago's call is that if women ruled the world, it would be filled with the kind gaze of a mother. In Mosuo funerary custom, a dead person is covered in white clothes like a newly born baby, symbolizing a return to the place from which they originally came. The juxtaposition between fire and cold water, the white cloth covering the baby sculptures and the colorful base created a sense of mystical tension. The curatorial crew and troops spend the day compiling reports from the road in preparation for the long trek back to Lijiang. "Qu Guangci" opened the ballot box for the "New Model Long Marcher" for the first time. Cameraman Shen Xiaomin was the winner.

July 31
The Long Marchers left Lugu Lake early in the afternoon amidst worries about their accommodations back in Lijiang. By the time they got back it was already early evening. Because they would be holding a Long March exhibition at Muwangfu Guesthouse the following evening, the marchers set down their luggage and went immediately to inspect the space. It was located in a bar on the second floor of Muwangfu, and had a bourgeois-bohemian feel to it. The group decided immediately that this was the perfect spot for tomorrow's exhibition. They measured the corner of the room in which sat the television, making sure it was suitable for projecting a video installation work. After everyone had offered their opinions, Qiu Zhijie grabbed a marker and some paper and made six large posters to be hung throughout the old town. The rest of the marchers took to writing the details of the exhibition on the back of Long March postcards, turning them into invitations, keeping themselves busy late into the night. Qiu Zhijie stayed up through the morning putting the final touches on his "Microsoft Windows-Dongba Version," while the other marchers slept.

That night, Lu Jie and his family ate a candlelight dinner with Chicago and her husband. Beside the canal and beneath a willow tree, he conducted an hour-long extemporaneous interview. They talked of art, and when dinner was finished, said farewell in the rain. So much rain had fallen that the bridges and stones were nearly submerged.

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