History of Chinese Art

Contents
Painting
Sculpture
Pottery
Decorative Arts
Historical development to 221 BC
o Neolithic pottery
o Jade culture
o Bronze casting
o Chu and Southern culture
Early Imperial China (221 BCAD 220)
o Qin sculpture
o Pottery
o Han Dynasty Art
Period of division (220581)
o Influence of Buddhism
o Calligraphy
The Sui and Tang dynasties (581960)
o Buddhist architecture and sculpture
o Painting
The Song and Yuan dynasties (9601368)
o Song painting
o Yuan painting
Late imperial China (1368-1911)
o Ming painting
o Early Qing painting
o Late Qing Art
o Shanghai School
New China art (1912-1949)
o Transformation
o Painting
Communist and socialist art (1950-1980s)
o Selective art decline
o Painting
Redevelopment (Mid-1980s - 1990s)
o Contemporary Art
o Visual art
The Foot Binding(lotus feet), Yellow River(huang he),Yangtze River, Great Wall
of China, Calligraphy, Chopsticks and Flag of China (with pictures & also details).
History of Chinese Art
Chinese Art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced
in China or by Chinese artists or performers. Early so-called "stone age art" dates back to 10,000
BC, mostly consisting of simple pottery and sculptures. This early period was followed by a
series of art dynasties, most of which lasted several hundred years. The Chinese art in
the Republic of China (Taiwan) and that of overseas Chinese can also be considered part of
Chinese art where it is based in or draws on Chinese heritage and Chinese culture.
Painting
Traditional Chinese painting involves essentially the same techniques as Chinese
calligraphy and is done with brush dipped in black or colored ink; oils are not used. As with
calligraphy, the most popular materials on which paintings are made of paper and silk. The
finished work can be mounted on scrolls, such as hanging scrolls or handscrolls. Traditional
painting can also be done on album sheets, walls, lacquerware, folding screens, and other media.
The two main techniques in Chinese painting are:
Gong-bi , meaning "meticulous", uses highly detailed brushstrokes that delimits details
very precisely. It is often highly coloured and usually depicts figural or narrative subjects.
It is often practised by artists working for the royal court or in independent workshops.
Ink and wash painting, in Chinese Shui-mo, also loosely termed watercolour or brush
painting, and also known as "literati painting", as it was one of the "Four Arts" of the
Chinese Scholar-official class
Sculpture
Chinese ritual bronzes from the Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties come from a period
of over a thousand years from c. 1500, and have exerted a continuing influence over Chinese art.
They are cast with complex patterned and zoomorphic decoration, but avoid the human figure,
unlike the huge figures only recently discovered at Sanxingdui. The spectacular Terracotta
Army was assembled for the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China from
221210 BCE, as a grand imperial version of the figures long placed in tombs to enable the
deceased to enjoy the same lifestyle in the afterlife as when alive, replacing actual sacrifices of
very early periods. Smaller figures in pottery or wood were placed in tombs for many centuries
afterwards, reaching a peak of quality in the Tang Dynasty.
Pottery
Chinese ceramic ware shows a continuous development since the pre-dynastic periods,
and is one of the most significant forms of Chinese art. China is richly endowed with the raw
materials needed for making ceramics. The first types of ceramics were made during
the Palaeolithic era, and in later periods range from construction materials such as bricks and
tiles, to hand-built pottery vessels fired in bonfires or kilns, to the sophisticated Chinese
porcelain wares made for the imperial court. Most later Chinese ceramics, even of the finest
quality, were made on an industrial scale, thus very few individual potters or painters are known.
Many of the most renowned workshops were owned by or reserved for the Emperor, and large
quantities of ceramics were exported as diplomatic gifts or for trade from an early date.
Decorative arts
As well as porcelain, a wide range of materials that were more valuable were worked and
decorated with great skill for a range of uses or just for display. Chinese jade was attributed with
magical powers, and was used in the Stone and Bronze Ages for large and impractical versions
of everyday weapons and tools, as well as the bi disks and cong vessels. Later a range of objects
and small sculptures were carved in jade, a difficult and time-consuming technique. Bronze, gold
and silver, rhinoceros horn, Chinese silk, ivory,lacquer, cloisonne enamel and many other
materials had specialist artists working in them.

Historical development to 221 BC
Neolithic pottery
Early forms of art in China are found in the Neolithic Yangshao culture, which dates back to
the 6th millennium BCE. Archeological findings such as those at the Banpo have revealed that
the Yangshao made pottery; early ceramics were unpainted and most often cord-marked. The
first decorations were fish and human faces, but these eventually evolved into symmetrical-
geometric abstract designs, some painted.
Jade Culture
The Liangzhu culture was the last Neolithic Jade culture in the Yangtze River delta and was
spaced over a period of about 1,300 years. The Jade from this culture is characterized by finely
worked, large ritual jades such as Cong cylinders, Bi discs, Yue axes and also pendants and
decorations in the form of chiseled open-work plaques, plates and representations of small birds,
turtles and fish. The Liangzhu Jade has a white, milky bone-like aspect due to its Tremolite rock
origin and influence of water-based fluids at the burial sites. Jade is a green stone that cannot be
carved so it has to be ground.
Bronze Casting
The Bronze Age in China began with the Xia Dynasty. Examples from this period have been
recovered from ruins of the Erlitou culture, in Shanxi, and include complex but unadorned
utilitarian objects. In the following Shang Dynasty more elaborate objects, including many ritual
vessels, were crafted. The Shang are remembered for their bronzecasting, noted for its clarity of
detail. Shang bronzesmiths usually worked in foundries outside the cities to make ritual vessels,
and sometimes weapons and chariot fittings as well. The bronze vessels were receptacles for
storing or serving various solids and liquids used in the performance of sacred ceremonies. Some
forms such as the ku and jue can be very graceful, but the most powerful pieces are the ding,
sometimes described as having the an "air of ferocious majesty."
Chu and Southern Culture
A rich source of art in early China was the state of Chu, which developed in the Yangtze
River valley. Excavations of Chu tombs have found painted wooden sculptures, jade disks, glass
beads, musical instruments, and an assortment of lacquerware. Many of the lacquer objects are
finely painted, red on black or black on red. A site in Changsha, Hunan province, has revealed
some of the oldest paintings on silk discovered to date.

Early Imperial China (221 BCAD 220)
Qin sculpture
The Terracotta Army, inside the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, consists of more than
7,000 life-size tomb terra-cotta figures of warriors and horses buried with the self-proclaimed
first Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huang) in 210209 BC. The figures were painted before being
placed into the vault. The original colors were visible when the pieces were first unearthed.
However, exposure to air caused the pigments to fade, so today the unearthed figures
appear terracotta in color. The figures are in several poses including standing infantry and
kneeling archers, as well as charioteers with horses. Each figure's head appears to be unique,
showing a variety of facial features and expressions as well as hair styles.
Pottery
Porcelain is made from a hard paste made of the clay kaolin and
a feldspar called petuntse, which cements the vessel and seals any pores.China has become
synonymous with high-quality porcelain.
Han Art
The Han Dynasty was known for jade burial suits. One of the earliest known depictions of a
landscape in Chinese art comes from a pair of hollow-tile door panels from a Western Han
Dynasty tomb near Zhengzhou, dated 60 BCE. A scene of continuous depth recession is
conveyed by the zigzag of lines representing roads and garden walls, giving the impression that
one is looking down from the top of a hill.
Period of division (220581)
Influence of Buddhism
Buddhism arrived in China around the 1st century AD (although there are some traditions
about a monk visiting China duringAsoka's reign), and through to the 8th century it became very
active and creative in the development of Buddhist art, particularly in the area of statuary.
Receiving this distant religion, China soon incorporated strong Chinese traits in its artistic
expression.
Calligraphy
In ancient China, painting and calligraphy were the most highly appreciated arts in court
circles and were produced almost exclusively by amateurs, aristocrats and scholar-officials who
alone had the leisure to perfect the technique and sensibility necessary for great brushwork.
Calligraphy was thought to be the highest and purest form of painting. The implements were the
brush pen, made of animal hair, and black inks, made from pine soot and animal glue. Writing as
well as painting was done on silk. But after the invention of paper in the 1st century, silk was
gradually replaced by the new and cheaper material
Wang Xizhi was a famous Chinese calligrapher who lived in the 4th century AD. His most
famous work is the Lanting Xu, the preface of a collection of poems written by a number of
poets when gathering at Lan Ting near the town of Shaoxing in Zhejiang province and engaging
in a game called "qu shui liu shang".
Wei Shuo was a well-known calligrapher of Eastern Jin Dynasty who established consequential
rules about the Regular Script. Her well-known works include Famous Concubine
Inscription (Ming Ji Tie) and The Inscription of Wei-shi He'nan.

The Sui and Tang dynasties (581960)
Buddhist architecture and sculpture
Following a transition under the Sui Dynasty, Buddhist sculpture of the Tang evolved
towards a markedly lifelike expression. As a consequence of the Dynasty's openness to foreign
trade and influences through the Silk Road, Tang dynasty Buddhist sculpture assumed a rather
classical form, inspired by the Greco-Buddhist art of Central Asia.

Painting
Beginning in the Tang dynasty (618907), the primary subject matter of painting was the
landscape, known as shanshui (mountain water) painting. In these landscapes, usually
monochromatic and sparse, the purpose was not to reproduce exactly the appearance of nature
but rather to grasp an emotion or atmosphere so as to catch the "rhythm" of nature.
The Song and Yuan dynasties (9601368)
Song painting
During the Song dynasty (9601279), landscapes of more subtle expression appeared;
immeasurable distances were conveyed through the use of blurred outlines, mountain contours
disappearing into the mist, and impressionistic treatment of natural phenomena. Emphasis was
placed on the spiritual qualities of the painting and on the ability of the artist to reveal the inner
harmony of man and nature, as perceived according to Taoist and Buddhist concepts.
Yuan painting
With the fall of the Song dynasty in 1279, and the subsequent dislocation caused by the
establishment of the Yuan dynasty by the Mongol conquerors, many court and literary artists
retreated from social life, and returned to nature, through landscape paintings, and by renewing
the "blue and green" style of the Tang era.[Wang Meng was one such painter, and one of his
most famous works is the Forest Grotto.

Late imperial China (13681911)
Ming painting
Under the Ming dynasty, Chinese culture bloomed. Narrative painting, with a wider color range
and a much busier composition than the Song paintings, was immensely popular during the
time.Wen Zhengming (14701559) developed the style of the Wu school in Suzhou, which
dominated Chinese painting during the 16th century.
Early Qing painting
The early Qing dynasty developed in two main strands: the Orthodox school, and the
Individualist painters, both of which followed the theories of Dong Qichang, but emphasizing
very different aspects.



Late Qing Art
Nianhua were a form of colored woodblock prints in China, depicting images for
decoration during the Chinese New Year. In the 19th century Nianhua were used as news
mediums.
Shanghai School
The Shanghai School ( Haishang Huapai or Haipai) is a very important Chinese school of
traditional arts during the Qing Dynasty and the whole of the 20th century. Under efforts of
masters from this school, traditional Chinese art reached another climax and continued to the
present in forms of "Chinese painting, or guohua for short.

New China art (19121949)
Transformation
With the end of the last dynasty in China, the New Culture Movement began and defied
all facets of traditionalism. A new breed of 20th century cultural philosophers like Xiao
Youmei, Cai Yuanpei, Feng Zikai and Wang Guangqi wanted Chinese culture to modernize and
reflect the New China. The Chinese Civil War would cause a drastic split between
the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China. Following was the Second Sino-Japanese
War in particular the Battle of Shanghai would leave the major cultural art center borderline to a
humanitarian crisis.
Painting
Ong Schan Tchow (Chinese: ) (19001945), artist and friend of Cai
Yuanpei accomplished the subtle integration of Western art techniques and perspectives into
traditional Chinese painting. Ong was one of the first few batches of Chinese scholars and artists
who studied in France in the early 20th Century.

Communist and socialist art (1950-1980s)
Selective art decline
The Communist Party of China would have full control of the government with Mao
Zedong heading the People's Republic of China. If the art was presented in a manner that favored
the government, the artists were heavily promoted. Vice versa, any clash with communist party
beliefs would force the artists to become farmers via "re-education" processes under the regime.
The peak era of governmental control came under the Cultural Revolution. The most notable
event was the Destruction of the Four Olds, which had major consequences for pottery,
paintings, literary art, architecture and countless others.

Painting
Artists were encouraged to employ socialist realism. Some Soviet Union socialist realism
was imported without modification, and painters were assigned subjects and expected to mass-
produce paintings. This regimen was considerably relaxed in 1953, and after the Hundred
Flowers Campaign of 195657, traditional Chinese painting experienced a significant revival.
Along with these developments in professional art circles, there was a proliferation of peasant art
depicting everyday life in the rural areas on wall murals and in open-air painting exhibitions.
Notable modern Chinese painters include Huang Binhong, Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, Chang Ta
Chien, Pan Tianshou, Wu Changshi,Fu Baoshi, Wang Kangle and Zhang Chongren.

Redevelopment (Mid-1980s 1990s)
Contemporary Art
Contemporary Chinese art (Zhongguo Dangdai Yishu) often referred to as Chinese avant-
garde art, continued to develop since the 1980s as an outgrowth of modern art developments
post-Cultural Revolution.
Contemporary Chinese art fully incorporates painting, film, video, photography, and
performance. Until recently, art exhibitions deemed controversial have been routinely shut down
by police, and performance artists in particular faced the threat of arrest in the early 1990s. More
recently there has been greater tolerance by the Chinese government, though many
internationally acclaimed artists are still restricted from media exposure at home or have
exhibitions ordered closed.

Visual Art
Beginning in the late 1980s there was unprecedented exposure for younger Chinese
visual artists in the west to some degree through the agency of curators based outside the country
such as Hou Hanru. Local curators within the country such as Gao Minglu and critics such as Li
Xianting reinforced this promotion of particular brands of painting that had recently emerged,
while also spreading the idea of art as a strong social force within Chinese culture. There was
some controversy as critics identified these imprecise representations of contemporary Chinese
art as having been constructed out of personal preferences, a kind of programmatized artist-
curator relationship that only further alienated the majority of the avant-garde from Chinese
officialdom and western art market patronage.


The Yellow River or Huang He is the second-longest river in Asia. The Yellow River basin
has an eastwest extent of about 1,900km. (1,180 mi) & a northsouth extent of about 1,100 km
(680 mi). Its total basin area is about 742,443 square km. (286,659 sq mi). The Yellow River is
called "the cradle of Chinese civilization", because its basin was the birthplace of ancient
Chinese civilization, and it was the most prosperous region in early Chinese history.

The Yangtze River also called Chang Jiang is the longest river in Asia and the third-
longest in the world. It flows for 6,418 kilometers (3,988 mi) from the glaciers on the Qinghai-
Tibet Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, centraland eastern China before emptying
into the East China Sea at Shanghai.

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth,
wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical
northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against
intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces.

Calligraphy (from Ancient Greek kallos "beauty" + graph "writing") is a type of visual
art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a broad tip instrument or
brush in one stroke (as opposed to built up lettering, in which the letters are drawn.)

Foot binding (also known as "Lotus feet") is the custom of applying painfully tight binding
to the feet of young girls to prevent further growth. The practice possibly originated among
upper-class court dancers during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Imperial China
(10th or 11th century), but spread in the Song Dynasty and eventually became common among
all but the lowest of classes. Foot binding became popular as a means of displaying status
(women from wealthy families who did not need them to work could afford to have their feet
bound) and was correspondingly adopted as a symbol of beauty in Chinese culture.

Chopsticks originated in ancient China as early as the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 BCE),
replacing the fork.

Name: China, Chinese: ,
The People's Republic of
China (PRC)
Official language: Mandarin
Chinese
Capital of China: Beijing city
Flag of China
Bulacan Agricultural State College
Pinaod, San Ildefonso, Bulacan







Report in Humanities








Rischell N. Valmadrid
BSE I-A