IN HARMONY

Jeff Dayu Shi, an internationally renowned Chinese American designer, has designed a mug for the Year of the Tiger, which started on Feb 1, although he is not on the Chinese mainland in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before the Renyin tiger mug, Shi had designed 11 other mugs based on the Chinese zodiac. His ancestral home is in Southwest China's Sichuan province. With this in mind, Shi has designed the "grand finale" of a zodiac mug series for Beijing Dragonfly Design Center, which he founded in 1996, according to managing director Jennifer Lin.

Hailed as the "king of all beasts" in China, the tiger is a symbol of ferocity and dignity in Chinese culture.

Unlike the dragon, an emblem of power worshipped by emperors and kings, the tiger is considered a protector of the people. And the most powerful and beloved tiger of them all is the white tiger, one of the "four guardians of the world" in Taoist mythology.

The white tiger is believed to possess a wide range of mythical powers: it helps to ward off evil spirits, avert disasters, bring good harvests and fortune, and create beautiful unions of love. In today's China, where people live better lives as a result of the country's development, these dreams are becoming realities, Shi says.

"Inspired by the backdrop of our times, I have designed the Renyin winged tiger mug," he adds.

The body of the mug features a winged white tiger and a bald eagle. In this vivid illustration, the tiger represents modern China-"powerful with inviolable dignity, its possession of wings signifies that it is getting stronger and that the Year of the Tiger is a year when China will soar to new heights", Shi says.

Additionally, the bald eagle can be seen as a metaphor for the ongoing pandemic. The Chinese people banded together and with incredible strength and faith, battled tirelessly against the pandemic, eventually enabling China to control it, he says.

For the last offering of his zodiac mug series, Shi incorporated the "oolong weave"－one of his most iconic design elements－into the design, particularly the lid. There are several major reasons, Shi says, behind the great significance of the "oolong weave".

First of all, the well-known Chinese tea would not have existed without the invention of the weave, an ancient bamboo-weaving technique used to construct sieves for oolong tea-rolling. Second, Chinese tea culture and bamboo culture are connected. Third, the "oolong weave" was born out of functionality, and therefore, the beauty that stems from the designs which it inspires is, ultimately, also a result of functionality, Shi says.

Devoted to using bamboo and other natural materials in his works, Shi says he believes "a good design is not merely about aesthetics, it should also be a carrier of creative wisdom."

In his search for a harmonized approach to material, craftsmanship and cultural essence at this time of resource scarcity, Shi boasts more than 30 works that have won top awards on the international design stage: such as the Red Dot Design Award, iF Design Awards and a German Design Award. His bamboo and ceramic designs in particular have won most of the awards, as well as the China Red Star Design Award and the Taiwan Golden Pin Design Award.

The Renyin tiger mug has a pendant around the mug designed in the shape of a "cloth tiger"－a popular traditional Chinese toy that symbolizes health, strength and courage. A cloth tiger is a type of handicraft and comes in various shapes and colors, but all possess a blend of realistic and fantastical features, resulting in their charmingly adorable and auspicious appearance.

The winged white tiger mug, like all Dragonfly Design's Chinese zodiac-based mugs, boasts a delicate balance between high functionality and poetic design.

Every element involved in the company's designs, from the winged white tiger and the bald eagle to the "oolong weave" and the traditional cloth tiger, is associated with the notion of harmony and bringing good fortune, thus making this mug a representation of the hopes for the Year of the Tiger, Shi says.

The exquisite strainer separates the liquid and the tea leaves, for example, making it easier for the user to drink the tea while maximizing the enjoyment.

Shi, a longtime Beijing resident before the outbreak of the pandemic, was born in 1964 to parents who went to Taiwan from the mainland in 1949.

At age of 21, he left Taiwan to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and later worked as a designer for the luxury jewelry company Harry Winston. In 1996, he won the De Beers Diamonds International Award, the equivalent of the Oscars in the jewelry industry.