Wedi sicrhau bod arddangosfa Dazu yn dod i Gymru - y tro cyntaf erioed iddi fentro i’r Gorllewin – anfonodd yr Amgueddfa fi i Tsieina fel hwylusydd, wyneb cyfeillgar i gyfarfod â’r bobl ac adrodd ar y gofynion logistaidd llawn o gludo’r gwrthrychau sanctaidd yma yr holl ffordd i Gaerdydd.

Dyma ddyddiadur o atgofion y trip:

Po bellaf y teithiwch, y lleiaf y gwyddoch. Mae’r llinell honno o ddysgeidiaeth Tao yn fy atgoffa i anghofio unrhyw ragdybiaethau.

Rwy’n cyrraedd Dazu yn hwyr min nos ac wedi diwrnod cyfan o deithio mewn amrywiol seddi bychan anghyfforddus, rwy’n ddiolchgar i orffen fy nhaith o’r diwedd. Mae fy ngwesteiwyr wedi cyffroi fy mod wedi cyrraedd ac wedi paratoi swper croeso yn garedig iawn. Platiau mawr egsotig a lliwgar yw’r bwyd, prydau crefftus â garnais arbennig.

Platiau di-ri i Susan ddiog, cylch hud o aroglau a blasau anghyffredin sy’n gwneud i mi ddyheu am ollyngdod llwyr. Rwy’n cael fy helpu drwy bob cwrs gyda disgrifiadau manwl. Pryfed sidan, deintgig moch a chynffon rhywbeth! Mwynheais yn barchus fod yn destun digrifwch y noson, gwestai anrhydeddus y wledd gywrain.

Drannoeth dyma fi’n sefyll wrth droed y mynydd â’m gwadnau lledr ar risiau hynafol sydd wedi gweld sawl gwadn dros y canrifoedd. Mae llystyfiant trwchus yn gorchuddio’r copa sy’n gudd mewn mantell o niwl chwareus.

Yn Beishan mae pinacl cerfiadau carreg Tseineiadd, ac mae’r delweddau cyfarwydd o lyfrau bellach yn ddelweddau real artistig ac ysbrydol. Mae mawredd y cerfluniau rhagorol yma a’u hawdurdod cain yn neidio o’r waliau sy’n 10 metr o uchder, gyda phob cilfach yn gartref i olygfeydd gosgeiddig sy’n wych yn eu tywodfaen rhudd. Diwrnod i’w gofio heb os!

Mae’n bryd cwrdd â’r cyfryngau lleol y bore wedyn. Mae arogl gwniadur o wirod gwyn yn dweud cyfrolau am ei flas. Rwy’n gwybod bod yn rhaid i mi ei yfed ar ei ben. Fi yw’r atyniad pennaf heddiw ac mae pawb am gael gair â mi.

Ffilmio ar gyfer teledu Chongqing yw’r dasg gyntaf ac mae erthygl ar dudalen flaen papur lleol Dazu hefyd. Mae’n anodd cofio’r cyfweliadau, profiad swrreal braidd o ryddiaith Saesneg fratiog, drosgynnol wedi’i ddatgan gyda chyffro a syndod. Mae’n rhaid ei bod hi wedi mynd yn iawn a mod i wedi meithrin cyfeillgarwch wrth i giw trefnus ffurfio i rannu gwydryn arall o’r tân gwyn!

Heno yw fy noson olaf yn Tsieina yn anffodus. Rwy’n syllu drwy’r niwl parhaol ar nenlin tyrrau Chongqing sy’n taflu enfys neon dros afon Yangzi. Rwy’n gadael prysurdeb y strydoedd ac arogl huddygl a tofu’n ffrio, ac yn gweld y ddinas yn ei gogoniant o gwch pleser gorlawn.

Mae’r newidiadau creadigol a masnachol anferth sydd ar droed yn Tsieina yn adrodd hanes y newid o wleidyddiaeth rymus i economeg ymarferol. Gall Tsieina a gweddill y byd ddysgu llawer o ddidwylledd China. Rwy’n gadael â lle yn fy nghalon i’r wlad a’i phobl.

Lee Jones, Uwch Dechnegydd, Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd

Parcha’r byd fel dy hun

Gall y byd fod yn hafan it

Car y byd fel dy hun

Gall y byd fod yn ymddiriedaeth it.

Gwelwch mwy o luniau Dazu ar Flickr, cewch y newyddion diweddaraf am Dazu ar Facebook a dilynwch @museum_cardiff ar Twitter  #dazucymru

Mae tro ar fyd wedi bod ers i mi ysgrifennu atoch o Eglwys Teilo Sant y tro diwethaf. Mae pethe wedi bod yn mynd yn eu blaen yn dawel bach yno, ac mae ymwelwyr o dros y byd yn grwn yn parhau i ddod i ymweld â'r tlws lliwgar yng nghoedwig Sain Ffagan.

Amser, felly, i roi hysbys bach ichi am beth sydd gennym ni ar y gweill ar gyfer 2011! Mae rhaglen flwyddyn gron gennym sy'n ymchwilio hanes 1500-1700 mewn ffordd unigryw a hwylus. Bydd arddangosfeydd byw, gwethgareddau a pherfformiadau yn dod â chyfnod y Tuduriaid, Stiwartiaid a'r Rhyfel Cartref yn fyw fel erioed o'r blaen.

Mi gyfeiriaf chi, felly, i dudalen ddigwyddiadau'r amgueddfa, lle cewch ragor o wybodaeth am ein digwyddiadau. Bydd pob digwyddiad yn rhad ac am ddim, a bydd rhan helaeth ohonynt yn rhan o'n prosiect Creu Hanes.

'Dyn ni wedi bod yn brysur yn gweithio ar arddangosfa arbennig i gyd-fynd â'r thema Creu Hanes. Bydd adeiladau hanesyddol y safle'n troi'n gefndir lliwgar ac addas i hanes byw o'r cyfnod 1500-1700. Bydd rhai o berfformwyr ac ymchwilwyr gorau'r DU yn ymuno â ni i roi bywyd a phersonoliaeth i'r hen lawysgrifau hanesyddol.

Fe rannaf restr llawn o'r digwyddiadau â chi maes o law. Yn y cyfamser, dyma flas o beth fydd yn digwydd. Mae'r llun ar ben y dudalen yn dangos y Tudor Group, fydd yn byw yn nhŷ-hir Hendre'r Ywydd, ac yn dathlu'r Pasg o amgylch Eglwys Teilos Sant. Oddi tanynt, mae llun o fois Brwydr Towton a'u cyfaill, fydd yn cymryd rhan mewn gŵyl ddrewllyd, waedlyd ac afiach i blant o'r enw Anrhefn! Ar hyd y flwyddyn, bydd sioe ffasiwn Duduraidd, coginio Canoloesol, cosbau oes y Tuduriaid, a llawer mwy, i'w gweld ar y safle. Mi wnai gloi drwy ddweud bod rhywbeth arbennig iawn am ddigwydd yma yn Sain Ffagan dros yr haf - rhywbeth at ddant pob un sy'n licio brwydrau a chwffio trwy hanes! Cadwch lygad ar y blog a mi wnai roi gwybod ichi yn y dyfodol agos.

Slowly, more and more schools are reporting shoot sightings! Cwm Glas Primary near Swansea have reported a few more shoots but still no sign at St. Mary's Catholic Primary School in Flint.

My daffodils are about 10cms tall now and my crocus have just popped through the soil. Even my mystery bulb is starting to grow and there are buds opening on my garden trees. A true sign that spring is coming!

Take a look at the pictures so you can be sure what bulbs you have growing. Send me some pictures of your shoots or how you collect your weather.

Watch your crocus very carefully now because once they start grow they can flower very quickly. As soon as they flower, send in your record so we can see on the map where the bulbs are opening first.

Competitions. Don't for get we have two fantastic competitions this year. The Daffodil Drawing Competition and the Win a trip competition. I've already recieved some very nice drawings from Bishops Childs Church in Wales School. I look forward to seeing some more from other schools soon...

Weather wise it's been very windy for most of us - so please check that your pots haven't fallen over.

Professor Plant

An article by me, published on the website Waleshome today:

Connecting Cultures

TODAY is the Chinese New Year, and we enter the year of the Rabbit.

Although we have been celebrating the Chinese New Year for a number of years at Amgueddfa Cymru –National Museum Wales, this year is extra special for us as it coincides with the unique exhibition that we are currently hosting at National Museum Cardiff – From Steep Hillsides: Ancient Rock Carvings from Dazu, China. This exhibition has been a coup, not only for Amgueddfa Cymru but also for Wales as these sculptures have never before been seen outside of China. We feel very privileged to have been chosen as the first ever venue to host them outside of their homeland and I’m confident that this free exhibition will be popular with our visitors.

If you have not yet had the opportunity to visit the exhibition, then it is difficult to convey in words just how magical they are. The carvings originate from the steep hillsides of the Dazu World Heritage site near Chongqing, which contain an exceptional series of rock carvings dating from the middle of the 7th century and developed between the 9th and the 13th centuries. The carvings comprise some 50,000 figures in total, and are remarkable for their aesthetic quality, their rich diversity of subject matter, both secular and religious, and the light that they shed on everyday life in China during this period. By a happy coincidence, a few years ago I was lucky enough to visit Dazu and see them for myself. It was an unique experience, and I remember being blown away by them. Obviously, we couldn’t bring all 50,000 figures to Wales, but this exhibition contains superb examples that have become detached from their original setting, along with accurate replicas of some of the most important sculptures still in situ and dramatic large-scale images, to give some idea of what it is like to visit these spectacular places.

Dazu is a real treasure house of Chinese art history and an important expression of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism, as well as a fascinating insight into Chinese daily life. I cannot overemphasise how remarkable these carvings are, and certainly, this exhibition would not be out of place at any world-class museum. A question that I have been asked since the exhibition opened has been why was Wales selected as a venue for this stunning exhibition rather than somewhere like the British Museum or the Victoria and Albert? The answer lies in the blossoming relationship between Wales and the Chongqing region in China, which has been led by the Welsh Assembly Government.

The origin of the relationship was a recommendation from Premier Wan Jiabao during his visit to Wales in 2000, which resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding between the Chongqing Municipal Government and the Welsh Assembly Government, agreeing to collaboration and co-operation in a number of areas, which was signed during First Minister for Wales Rhodri Morgan’s visit to Chongqing in March 2006. Since then Wales has welcomed a number of visitors from Chongqing and delegations from Wales have visited Chongqing. The Welsh Assembly Government also funds a schools project, managed by British Council, which links more than 50 Welsh schools with schools in Chongqing. There have been several exchange visits by the schools to Chongqing and to Wales.

This relationship has also extended into culture, and National Museum Wales has established a relationship with several cultural organisations in Chongqing. It is hoped that this exhibition is the first of many such exchanges, which will in future include sending some of our own collections to China. Not only will we be able to continue to showcase Chinese culture in Wales but we will also be able to showcase Wales to the world. Both countries are steeped in history and culture, and it is a fantastic opportunity for us to share our national stories.

Establishing strong links between Wales and China is obviously of great importance to the Welsh Assembly Government, and it was widely commented upon that Wales had been excluded from the itinerary of a recent Chinese trade delegation that visited the UK. But those critics should not despair. I believe that the Welsh Assembly Government is laying the foundations for a successful long term friendship between the two countries, not just a relationship based on business and economics. This exhibition is a small but not insignificant part of that burgeoning friendship which will hopefully evolve over time.