ARTISTIC TRADITIONS OF CHINA

by Aurora Roxas-Lim
Chinese Studies Program
Ateneo de Manila University

Chinese Artistic Traditions are manifested in their daily life and their attitudes
towards life as well as the arts. Indeed the whole of Chinese civilization may
be characterized by the concept of harmony and order in the universe. The
operation of the universe is conceived of as the balance of all forces and
phenomena that affect human existence, thought and emotions. Thus earth
and sky, male and female, night and day, good and bad, positive and
negative, black and white, the beautiful and the ugly, life and death, existence
and non-existence, etc. are complementary and constantly inter-act in a state
of flux. The symbol of YIN-YANG encapsulates the inter-acting forces of all
opposites and remains one of the most potent images that spread from
China, to Korea, Japan, Vietnam and parts of Southeast Asia. The aim of
human existence is to achieve harmony and unity of all opposites for
opposites are believed to be complementary and inextricably linked together.
During the Warring States Period (403-221 BC) the book Dao de-jing (or Tao
te-ching) developed. The philosophy is attributed to Lao Zi (Lao Tse) ca. 5th C
BC. The concept of equilibrium of opposites is carried forward to
contemporary times and illustrates its pervasiveness.
Thirty spokes unite in one nave,
And because of the part where nothing exists,
we have the use of a carriage wheel.
Clay is moulded into vessels,
And because of the space where nothing exists.
we are able to use them as vessels,
Doors and windows are cut in the walls of the house,
And because there are empty spaces we are able to use them.
Therefore, on the one hand we have the benefit of existence, and on the other,
We make use of non-existence.

The complementarity of forces and phenomena is embodied in the symbols of

Yin Yang and the eight trigrams and in Chinese cosmology. (see: illustrations)
In Yin-yang black and white parts although they do contrast in color actually do
not oppose but are inter-linked and define, intensify and propel each others
identity and existence. The shapes flow and merge into each other, space and
form inter-change and unite into one whole and dynamic design. Similarly, the
eight trigrams composed of nothing more than variations of three lines in various
combinations or permutations are made to represent the complementary forces
of natural phenomena and human physiological, psychological and social states
and relationships. Like the Ying and Yang symbol, the trigrams are
understandable because of the empty spaces between them. Therefore, the lines
become meaningful due to their dynamic inter-action with space. As in the
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quotation from the Dao de-qing, forms attain meaning and function because of
emptiness. By the same token, in music, sounds become meaningful in relation
to and in inter-action with silence and duration (time). The inter-play of form and
space, of sound and silence creates not static balance but a sense of equilibrium
evoking what the Chinese call - Qi (chI) - air or spirit, the breath of life. This kind
of expressiveness is sought for in calligraphy, literature, painting, textiles,
ceramic, architecture, music, dance and numerous other forms of art including
human behavior and inter-action with each other and with the universe. Water
being formless, tasteless, odorless, that when heated evaporates into fog, mist or
freezes into ice when subjected to cold, is a most potent symbol in Daoism for
change, flux and non-aggression.
The highest good resembles the way of the water.
It rewards all but never contends.
In yet another verse, Lao Zi stressed generosity and selflessness:
Wise souls dont hoard,
The more they do for others the more they have,
The more they give the richer they are.
Daoist philosophy is closely linked with indigenous folklore, myths,
legends and family and village rituals primarily in rural agricultural areas.
Drawing from the wealth of beliefs and practices of the people including
beliefs in ghosts, spirits, and legends, Daoist philosophy is most
conducive to artistic creativity, experimentation and invention, by stressing
naturalness, innate proclivities unhampered by rules, regulations,
conventions and especially social hierarchies, governmental institutions
and strictures, especially stereotypes. Daoists seek intimate relation with
nature and natural phenomena to the point of mystical union and loss of
individual distinctions. This makes Daoism fit in with Buddhist concept of
release nirvana. In this manner, Daoism provided the impetus for artistic
creation that draws inspiration from nature and cosmic processes. This
creative impetus was to blossom under the influence of Mahayana
Buddhism. During the Song Period Mahayana Buddhism developed into
Chan Buddhism about which we shall discuss in the later section.

Confucian Traditions and the Arts

Confucianism is a civic philosophy concerned with cultivation of civic virtues.

Its highest goal is self-cultivation to shape ones personality as a cultivated,
educated and moral gentleman. It revered established social order and hierarchy
as the indispensable system to ensure social harmony, stability and continuity.
Hence, Confucianism propagated the four callings: shih scholar, nong
peasant agriculturist, kong craftsman-artisan, and last shang tradermerchant. Five hierarchical social political relationships were also established:
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the ruler subject; father son, elder younger brother, husband wife, and
friends - the latter is the only relationship of equals. Throughout history concepts
and practices were re-interpreted and changed but they stressed literary skills
primarily government service, the writing of history and the arts of calligraphy and
painting. Confucian philosophy produced the great bulk of historical texts and
government records. But its most important artistic creation is the wen jen hua
the Confucian highly cultivated and educated gentleman dedicated to serve
society if not in government in his private capacity by practicing moral
uprightness, the arts of calligraphy, poetry, painting, music as well as a
connoisseur of the arts.

Legalist School of Han Fei tzu and the book by Sun Tzu The Art of War.
Apart from the strategy of waging and winning wars, warfare necessitated the
production of wide array of tools, vehicles, weapons, protective armor,
fortifications like the Great Wall, and most of all attitude and values of the
Warrior class. It created the professional military elites with its own code of
values and conduct that stress seizure, maintenance and expansion of power
by the state. The state is embodied in a strong, unwavering and often ruthless
king whose exercise of force is justified in order to keep social order, peace,
security and prosperity of the realm. Qin Shih Huang Di (221-206 BCE) the
unifier of China is the historical embodiment of the Legalist or Rationalist
school of philosophy.
Buddhism and the Arts Although an imported religion from India in the early CE (AD) era, it became
widespread from the 3rd to the 10th C AD after members of the imperial
families were converted. Buddhism throughout its history in China merged
with indigenous Chinese folklore, mythology and cosmology, with
Confucianism and Daoism. The one concept that differentiates it from Daoism
and Confucianism is the introduction of nirvana (Sanskrit or nibbhana Prakrit)
salvation from the world of suffering as taught by Buddha Sakyamuni or
Amitabha, somewhat like a Savior in Christianity especially among the laity.
However, in terms of philosophy the Buddha is not considered as a God
(equivalent to Jesus Christ), but a historical figure and extraordinary teacher.
Although among majority of the laity, the Buddha is revered like a deity. This
aspect of Buddha worship is tolerated and even propagated by many different
sects of Buddhism. The concept of karma is the belief that good deeds in the
present life or existence guarantees a higher form of incarnation in the next
life. Karma is closely related to the concept of Samsara, the continuous
transformation of life and existence until one reaches the state of nirvana
when all transformation ceases and one is completely released from being reborn. Understandably, majority of the art forms under Buddhist influence
consisted of scriptures, paintings, and sculptures of the different
manifestations of the Buddha in human form. Indian and Greco-Indian models
were not just copied but were transformed into Kuan-yin and Lohan (arhat).
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Chan Buddhism:Synthesis of Daoism, Buddhism and Confucian Traditions

Chan Buddhism carried forward the artistic impetus provided by Daoism. It
stressed individual and unhampered pursuit of wisdom freed from the
confines of doctrinaire step-by-step instruction by studying Buddhist texts
under an experienced and learned master. Instead, Chan (from Sanskrit
dhyana, Zen, Japanese, Son in Korean -meaning meditation) practitioners
sought their own innate and individual inspiration not from written texts and
instruction but from the most unexpected sources, circumstances and stimuli.
The noted Chan patriarch Hui Neng (active 637- 713 CE) was greatly admired
in China, Japan and Korea because although illiterate and came from
humble social background he was able to gain wisdom directly like a bolt of
lightning. Chan practitioners were contemptuous of the display of erudition as
mere book learning, and pedantry, which they consider artificial, pretentious,
and obstruct the easy and spontaneous inspiration to reach enlightenment.
Instead they deliberately sought unconventional even eccentric methods to
reach enlightenment. They insist that one need not undergo rigorous study,
concentrating on book learning and studying under the tutelage of masters
from a great and famous temple. Wisdom could be obtained even in small,
insignificant things and undertakings like chopping wood, or even tearing up
pages of the sutra.
The art that ensued under the influence of Chan are characterized by
simplicity, rusticity, directness, naturalness, boldness to the point of being
iconoclastic, eccentric, humorous and may seem absurd to the Confucian and
believers of orthodox Buddhist teachings and social conventions. The 17 th C.
Chan monk and painter Pa Ta Shanren (Zhu Da) using simple black ink in
gradations of washes and strokes on a white surface portrays ordinary
seemingly trivial subjects like lotus on a pond, or a bird on the tip of a leaf. To
the Chan practitioner, one need not portray vast and awesome landscapes,
the momentous historical events, and the actions of important political and
religious personages to express profound wisdom. Wisdom can be portrayed
with simple themes and minimum materials and methods but with maximum
impact. There is greatness they say in simple, minute things.
Tibetan Buddhism developed sometime in the mid 8th CE. which was
based on combination of Indian Buddhist Tantric and indigenous Tibetan
beliefs and practices of Bon that included magic, sorcery, belief in
demons, ghosts and exorcism. Tibetan Buddhist stressed the prominence
of powerful mystics that could perform magic who have inherited the
secrets of former mystics. And they reversed the prohibitions on sex,
incorporating its experience as total unity with the divine and as profound
religious ecstasy.

Islamic Art Islam spread into China sometime in 850 with the rise of
the Muslim Sassanid Dynasty at Khorasan (Persia or Iran). Islam
spread through what is now Khazakstan, and Chinese province of
Xinjiang by the 10th to 11th C. There are about 15 million Chinese
citizens who profess Islam who study the Arabic language but are
literate and
conversant
in Chinese. The Hui in Ningxia-Hui
Autonomous region are Muslim, but others are mostly in Xinjinag and
many more are dispersed in the Southwest and eastern seaboard.
Islam is a strictly monotheistic religion and its tenets and rituals are
simpler compared to Hindus, Daoists, Buddhists and Christians.
Muslim profession of faith consist of reciting the Shahada - belief in
one and only God Allah and that Mohammad is His prophet. Muslims
are obliged to perform acts of devotion Ibadat - pray at least five
times a day and if possible attend congregational worship in a mosque
Masjid on Friday noon. They also are obliged to support the Islamic
community Immamate by giving alms and other offerings; and if
possible to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca perform the Haj in ones
lifetime. Thus the art of Islam centers on the reading of the Koran
which is written in Arabic that set literary standard and calligraphy.
Because Islam is uncompromisingly monotheistic the representation of
human or any other life-like figures is forbidden. The art forms in Islam
consist of architecture, the masjid is embellished with geometric,
abstract forms as well as calligraphy. Recitations of the Koran and
other teachings (hadith) and prayers are virtually poetic songs.

Materials and Technical Processes of Art See Aurora Roxas-Lims essay on

the Principles of Chinese Painting.

Natural Materials in Natural State is a high form of art Artistic sensitivity to

the wondrous art of nature the landscape; changes of climate, and weather
Rocks and rock formation Jade is highly prized but unusual natural
rocks are also considered art (mei shu).
Fauna various species of mammals (horse, dog, cattle, sheep,
camel, and goat, etc. whose bristles are used for paint brushes and
skin and fur for clothing); animals for food: chicken, pig, cattle, etc.).
Animals form the zodiac signs of the Chinese calendar of 60-year
cycle. Each animal in the lunar calendar are interpreted as
representative of personal qualities and as signifiers of the most
auspicious times to effect the best results for ones endeavors.
Pisces: gold fish, carp, etc. for garden ponds and aquarium fishes.
Flora aside from food crops such as rice and wheat,and tea, flowers
and other ornamental planys are also considered art. lotus,
chrysanthemum, peony, plum, orchids; trees: pine, bamboo, banana,
etc. Flowers and other plant arrangements are also considered art

works. Pan Jing (literally means a landscape on a tray; bonsai in

Japanese became a form of high art during the 10 th C.
Pottery and Ceramics Earliest pottery ca. 10,000 to 5,000 BC; recent
archaeological excavations unearthed pottery shards datd to 20,000 BCE.
Painted Yanghao and black Lungshan pottery ca. 3,500 2,500 BC. up to
high-fired stoneware of the Han Period (200 BCE) to multicolored export
wares in the 17th to 20th C. Major kiln sites that produced art pieces as well as
utilitarian and architectural ceramics like bricks, roof, floor and wall tiles,
drainage pipes, furniture, pillows, etc. See: Aurora Roxas-Lims essay on
Pottery Tradition of China.
Fibers and weaving techniques: cotton, hemp, silk (cultivation of mulberry
trees and silkworm), ramie, and weaving and dyeing technology; looms &
weaving technology. Weaving methods, templates, designs, etc.
Lacquer obtained from rhus vernicefera, or toxocodendron varcifaluum
earliest dated from excavated sites from Hemudu (near Shanghai) ca. 2500
BP. Lacquer is a non-toxic preservative like shellac or varnish and resistant to
termites (anay) and bukbuk.
Metals Gold, Silver, Bronze, Iron and other alloys mirrors and coins; tools
and weapons. Chinese metallurgy begun about 6,000 5,000 before the
present era. China was the largest producer of metal tools and equipment by
the last hundred years of the common era.
We must also bear in mind that there are many art forms today that use manmade materials like various types of polymers and carbon that are used in
modern industry which should fall into a separate category.
Architecture materials and construction methods; symbolism of forms and
space. Feng-shui the art of harmonizing man-made structures with the
nature and natural processes. See Aurora Roxas-Lims essay on Architecture.
Cave dwellings carved onto mounds of loess soil in north China.
Hutong walled courtyard family residences mostly in towns and cities
Temples Pagoda as Buddhist towers served as beacons and lighthouses
Temple of Heaven served as imperial and national ritual center
Palace Museum, (Forbidden City) central imperial government center and
Residence 14th to 20 to th C.
Dun Huang Buddhist sites, composed of hundreds of cave chapels and
Temples were constructed from about the 3rd 17th C CE.
Gateways Pai Lou memorial arches & monuments
Gardens from large gardens and parks to miniature gardens called pan jing
bonzai in Japanese). Gardens could be as large and complex as the royal
pleasure gardens like the Summer Palaces in Beijing and Chengdu, or
private retreats of government officials and wealthy business families as
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those in Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai.

Village and City planning and organization including agricultural
infrastructure such as terraces, irrigation works, dams, flood control
systems, etc.
Boats and ships used for transport and dwellings
Bridges, fortifications, fortresses, etc.
Tombs and burial places the most spectacular is the burial the burial site of
Emperor Qin Shih Huang of the Qin Dynasty (221 207 BCE) and
Mawangdui burial site ca. 200 BC to 100 BC in Changsha, Hunan.
Contemporary architectural complexes and engineering structures like the
Three Gorges Dam, Airports, harbors, highways, railways, scientific,
Industrial & manufacturing centers, sports complexes for the 2008 Beijing
Olympics, and the Shanghai Expo of 2010. Universities, libraries,
archives, museums, art galleries, hotels, resorts, fortifications and military
and defense structures, etc.
Paper invented in the first CE attributed to Cai Lun (d. 124 CE). Earliest
Chinese paper dates from the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE 8 CE) made
from the combination of bamboo fibres and silk. In the Eastern Han (25 220
CE) less expensive and more practical method was used. Cai Lun, who came
from Hunan Province and served as an official in charge of producing
decorative objects for the Emperor He Di, refined the method. In 114 CE; Cai
Lun rose to become Duke in Kaifeng. Cai Lun developed a new formula of
paper making using bark, hemp and cotton rag known as Duke Cais Paper,
that became standard formula for paper making. Paper became known
outside China when a group of skilled Chinese paper makers was captured in
Talas, Samarkand by Arab traders in 751 CE. From Central Asia, the
technology spread to West Asia, to Spain 1150 and throughout Europe.
Paper mills were established in France 1189, Italy 1276 and Germany in
1391.
Printing techniques developed in China by Taoist monks in the form of both
wooden and stone relief seals carved in reverse, earliest designs were based
on celestial constellations and used for divination and as talismans. Earliest
surviving example of woodblock print on paper is the Jin Gang Jing (Diamond
Sutra) 868 AD. It was discovered in 1899 the Thousand Buddha Cave in
Dunhuang, Gansu Province. The book was printed in the form of scroll and
depicts a sermon by Sakyamuni in which he extols the importance of
tranquility in body and soul.
Tremendous social impact of paper manufacture and printing is shown by
wider diffusion of printed materials and its commercial uses. Tang Shu (The
History of the Tang Dynasty) mentions a petition submitted to the Emperor in
835 CE asking that the court forbid the printing of almanacs by private
presses until all imperial imprints were sold out. This indicates that printing
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with woodblocks was already widespread so that the imperial printing press
faced a lot of competition from private presses.
From the 9th-10th CE marked the height of sophistication and flourishing
printing trade. Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) new standards were set for
quality materials and creation of designs marked by simplicity, elegance and
honesty. Wider use of paper money. Secular subjects also predominated.
Clothbound books were plain emphasizing calligraphic simplicity and
elegance. Woodcuts still in use based on originals carved on stone tablets
were manufactured in great numbers and were widely disseminated that led
to the spread of literacy among the people.
Between 1101 1125 Emperor Hui Zong commissioned the first woodcut
catalogue documenting the bronze collection of the imperial palace. It
included pictorial inventory and instructions for art education. Southern Song
(1127-1279) Emperor Ning Zong sponsored a series of woodcut texts
describing a variety of labors and commercial activities, the most famous was
The Pictures of Tilling and Weaving illustrated by Liu Song-nan and Lou
Shou. It illustrated the growing of rice and silk weaving and the labors of
peasants and artisans.
Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) wood block printing further developed in technical
sophistication. Polychrome prints using several colors printed from the same
block. This technique advanced further with the use of multiple block printing
that further developed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) that made
possible printing with more variable and subtle tones.
During the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of
Materia Medica; Tiangong Kaiwu (Exploration of the Works of Nature), Xu
Xiake Youji (Travels of Xu Xiake); Nongzheng Quanshu (Complete Treatise
on Agricultural Management) were produced. The texts were all very well
illustrated and expounded on government policy of production methods and
management. Also of great significance is the compilation, editing and printing
of the classics, literary and classical texts the Chinese Encyclopedia (Yong Le
Da Dien) under the patronage of Emperor Yong Le.
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) printing of fine books in color proliferated such as
the Mustard Seed Garden of 1679.
Etched bronze plates that started from the Song period became widespread
in later periods due to the heavy demands for printed materials by commercial
and business establishments so that advertisements and handbills were
printed by the thousands that served the advertising needs of thousands of
private business enterprises.

 The most complex of early printed texts was The Complete Collection of
Buddhist Scriptures (Da Zang Jing) begun by Zhang Tu-xin in 971. It took 12
years to complete comprising 5,048 individual volumes printed from 130,000
carved wood blocks. This project showed the necessity of developing a less
cumbersome and more efficient method of printing.
Invention of movable type is credited to Bi Sheng ca. 1041 and 1048 using
carved clay blocks affixed to a metal plate coated with wax. After each use,
the clay bocks could be disassembled and composed for another text. This
technique was soon followed by using wood and bronze. .
Chinese language has at least 47,000 characters and minimum number
needed for any text is about 3,000. The problem is how to provide individual
characters that are needed several times and also make them visually
pleasing. They invented the wheel pan used for sorting and storage of
characters needed for printing.
Chinese calligraphy is considered the most sublime of the arts
Types of Chinese Calligraphy
In China the art of writing is considered a very important form of art and is
inseparable from the art of painting. Most Chinese even consider it as the most
sublime of the arts. Since it expresses thoughts, emotions through the skillful use
of the brush and ink, or carvings on any surface, calligraphy also conveys bodily
motions of the calligrapher simultaneously revealing the process of creation.
There are generally classified in seven (7) types with many variations. The dates
given are those periods when the script was first recorded on numerous
examples but continued beyond that period and up to the present. The first two
types were historical records and divinations written in more angular pictographs.
The clerical and official scripts are more regular, symmetrical and compared to
the small curly, moving and grass scripts are relatively more angular and precise.
Grass writing is so freely written that individual characters are often connected to
each other and abbreviated making the writing often incomprehensible to the
average reader of Chinese.
Oracle bone script (chia ku wen) written or carved on scapula of oxen and on
carapace of turtles; started from the Shang Period 1600 to 1000 BCE
Bronze script (chin wen) carved on the surfaces of bronze vessels from Shang to
Zhou Period 1000 to 500 BCE
Small curly script (hsia chuan) 500 BCE to 200 CE
Clerical script (li shu) from 1 to 500 CE
Official script (kai shu) from about 1 CE onward
Moving script (hsing shu) from about 1 CE to the present
Grass writing (tso shu) from about 1 CE to the present

 Robert Morrison, a Christian missionary in Macao introduced the British-made

press in 1814 that led to the publication of an English-Chinese dictionary.
Western foreign enclaves in Shanghai introduced western publications and
the western printing techniques. Commercial advertisements requiring artistic
designs and techniques proliferated. This trend accelerated following the fall
of the Qing Dynasty and the founding of the Republic Under Kang You-wei
and the May Fourth Movement (1919). Liu Hai-su from Jiangsu founded the
Shanghai Institute of Fine Arts that used western artistic techniques and
ideas. Lius Institute accepted male and female students and employed nude
models combining western and Chinese art techniques and traditions.

May Fourth Movement of 1919 that started as a protest against the

submission or acquiescence of the Qing government to the onerous terms of
the Versailles Treaty after WW I It led to political, social and cultural uprising
against the old order. Intellectuals debated the value and significance of
ancient Chinese traditions that seemed to them anachronistic and no longer
suitable to the 20th C. The impact of western concepts provoked writers,
scholars and other intellectuals on how to use western ideas and technology
as the means for strengthening the nation.

Lu Xun was at the forefront of the modernization movement in literature and

art. Lu Xun advocated and practiced portrayal of the social conditions of
contemporary China, the plight of the common Chinese using artistic
principles and practices drawn both from the west and from Chinese native
traditions. While they were imbued with western political ideas like
democracy, and science and technology, artists also drew from ancient
Chinese bronzes, rubbings, ceramics, sculptures and architectural designs.
Increasing numbers of publications necessitated illustrations and designs,
one of the most creative was Tao Yuan-qing (in the 1920) who drew from his
own personal experience combined with western Art Nouveau techniques and
Chinese tradition of evoking - qi (breath or spirit).
Contribution Magazine, was a bi-monthly collection of articles literature, art,
education, culture, and politics that tried to balance traditionalist with reformist
perspectives. It was an offshoot of the popular uprising known as the 1925-27
Revolution. The magazine served as a forum for diverse but informed points
of view. Magazine cover designs show the influence of Art Nouveau in the use
of decorative but simplified designs.
Shanghai Style designs show the influence of western modernist art such as
Art Nouveau, Cubism, Matisse, and Italian mechanistic designs. The latter
influenced Hong Qings designs of the covers of Science and Engineering
Magazine. These styles were employed in advertisements, posters and
covers of magazines and books. Among the most active Shanghai artists who
veered toward western designs were Qian Jun-tao and Gao Kui-zhang. Chen
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Zhi-fo on the other hand sought inspiration from Chinese traditional

architectural decorations for his book designs. Most noteworthy were designs
drawn from carved open woodwork, grilles, and latticework that have been
used in buildings and other structures for centuries utilizing varied materials
from wood, ceramic, bronze and iron. Some of these iron grilles were
imported in the Philippines in the late 19 th to early 20th C.
Photography widened the scope of artistic techniques and introduced novel
designs and messages as in the photographs by Wang Yu-kui, Mu Yi-long
and Chen Wei-chuang. Not only did photography made possible a higher
degree of realism, but allowed more opportunities for experimentation of
multiple imagery, tonality, spatial arrangement, and photomontage and mixed
media. The magazine, The Ark, published in Tianjin by the Mid-China Printing
Company is an excellent example of the creative innovation in design using
multi-media and in exploiting the artistic possibilities of Chinese characters
and calligraphy.
Creative use of calligraphy translated into typography for printing, was one of
the principal motifs in posters, magazine and book designs by Qian Jun-tao
who was able to employ with creative skill the possibilities of Chinese
characters by the combination of varying sizes, colors, textures, spatial
arrangement, overlaps, and novel composition of characters combined with
simplified geometric shapes.

Chinese cuisine along with the crafts are practiced by the vast majority of the
people. Crafts like weaving and plaiting, lanterns, kites, paper cuts, etc. serve
decorative and ritual functions as well as entertainment for the family and
villages. These crafts inspire professional artists in fine arts colleges and in
metropolitan centers because these crafts also symbolize family and
collective beliefs. At the height of the modernization movement in the late 19 th
to the early 20th C western ideas were generally accepted. But many artists
sought inspiration from the ancient village crafts as well as from the minority
nationalities like the Mongols, Uyghur, Kazakhs, from the northwest, from
Tibet in the south west and the Dai,Yi Bai, Zhuang, etc. nationalities in the
South. The fascination with the art of the minority nationalities was intensified
by the progressive and radical artists from the May Fourth Movement and the
mobilization of writers and artists by the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Having identified peasants, workers and soldiers as the vanguards of the
revolution, writers and artists appealed to these sectors of Chinese society.
Paper cuts and woodblock prints were most suitable for Communist
propaganda purposes since these were readily available, easily made with
least cost, portable and practiced widely in rural villages. Moreover, the
tradition of woodblock prints and paper cuts have rich repertoire of
symbolism widely known and cherished by the common people.

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 Style of paper cuts influenced thousands of wood block prints made under the
direction of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and their sympathizers. The
wood block prints are characterized by clarity of forms, stark contrasts, simple
and direct images and themes that are didactic and optimistic. They portray
strong, unmistakable facial expressions and gestures to quickly identify
heroes and villains. The entire composition is intended to arouse intense
emotions and predispose the viewer to take sides if not take direct action.
Cartoons, Caricatures, Lampoons and Satire
The proliferation of publications in various forms from newspapers, weekly
and monthly magazines, posters and advertising, and in the Communist-held
areas (1938-1949) brought in their wake cartoons, caricatures, lampoons and
satirical writing. Many portrayed bitter anger although some were quite
humorous. Along with more academic, literary and technical texts the more
ephemeral dailies and weeklies served as the hot bed for ventilating critical
opinions against foreign intervention and abuses. Japanese imperialists,
foreign capitalists, Chinese compradors (agents of foreign business interests)
and of course oppressive classes (big capitalists and landlords) were targets
of attack.

Art during the Cultural Revolution

The Communist Party of China (CPC) organized the association of artists in
the 1930s as a response to the need to educate and draw the support of the
people to change and improve social, political and economic problems of the
nation and defend the country from hostile foreign powers. To the
Communists, it was not enough just to inform. They utilized the arts in order
to arouse strong emotional response to the issues raised by the central
government. Under the tight control of the Gang of Four, art was used to
inspire people to work harder, produce more, sacrifice individual interest for
the sake of the of the nation. During the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
Chairman Mao Dzedong was portrayed as the idealized helmsman of the
nation. Artists, writers, musicians, dancers, performers, and art critics were
pressed into the service of advancing cultural revolution to the extent of
suppressing all other art forms most o f all dissenting views and
Western capitalist ideas.

Contemporary Chinese art Photography, Movies, rise of private art galleries

and schools. Participation of Chinese artists in international film and art
festivals. Emergence of new literary art genres literature of bitter
experiences (the writings of Nobel Laureate for Literature Gao xingjian and
Ha Jin) and aesthetism (art for arts sake) who cater to western audiences
and are critical of socialist and Marxist philosophy. Participation of Chinese
artists in international cultural events using experimental modes of expression
and avant-garde art drawn from the west. At the same time other artists
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search for cultural roots and the authentic components of being Chinese by
probing ancient art and the culture of minority nationalities. China today
exhibits various, contrasting art and aesthetic orientations. Chinese identity
no longer focused on the collective sense of nationhood, historical
experiences, is dynamic and highlights social-psychological conflicts. Many
Chinese artists especially those who regularly exhibit abroad and are
celebrated in the west engage in agonizing process of self-definition,
individualism, alienation, neurosis, they often portray the futility of all socialpolitical principles and resort to the absurd.
Since the 1990s Chinese government cultural policy is more open, liberal
and encourages all types of cultural activities especially traditional art
forms, visual arts, handicrafts, theater, drama, Peking Opera, musical
performances alongside foreign and other western art forms. Revival of
traditional arts is particularly of the Minority Nationalities is encouraged
and supported by the government under the auspices of the Institute of
Nationalities. Chinese art and cultural exhibits are held regularly at home
and abroad, and many artists participate in international art exhibits and
competitions abroad. Art in all types, forms genres and styles from
traditional, modern, avant garde, in many varied techniques and media are
flourishing in China and Chinese writers, artists, musicians, dancers, film
makers, etc. are supported by the government and many of them make
good living from art.

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