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Chinese art
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Main page Chinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is
Chinese art
Contents practiced in China or by Chinese artists. The Chinese art in the Republic of
Current events China (Taiwan) and that of overseas Chinese can also be considered part
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of Chinese art where it is based in or draws on Chinese heritage and
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Chinese culture. Early "Stone Age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly
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Donate consisting of simple pottery and sculptures. After this early period Chinese
art, like Chinese history, is typically classified by the succession of ruling
Contribute dynasties of Chinese emperors, most of which lasted several hundred
Help years. Two flasks with dragons; 1403– Jade incense burner, 1736–
Learn to edit 1424; underglaze blue porcelain; 1795; 19.8 cm
Chinese art has arguably the oldest continuous tradition in the world, and is height (the left one): 47.8 cm,
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Recent changes marked by an unusual degree of continuity within, and consciousness of, height (the right one): 44.6 cm
Upload file that tradition, lacking an equivalent to the Western collapse and gradual
recovery of classical styles. The media that have usually been classified in
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the West since the Renaissance as the decorative arts are extremely
What links here important in Chinese art, and much of the finest work was produced in
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large workshops or factories by essentially unknown artists, especially in
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Chinese ceramics.
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Page information Much of the best work in ceramics, textiles, carved lacquer, and other
Cite this page techniques was produced over a long period by the various Imperial
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factories or workshops, which as well as being used by the court was
Print/export distributed internally and abroad on a huge scale to demonstrate the wealth Tray (pan) in the form of a plum Portrait of the Yuan dynasty
Download as PDF and power of the Emperors. In contrast, the tradition of ink wash painting, blossom with birds and flowers; Emperor Kubilai Khan; by
Printable version practiced mainly by scholar-officials and court painters especially of 1200–1279; carved lacquer; height: Araniko; 1294; colors and ink
2.2 cm, diameter: 18.8 cm; Los on silk; 59.4 × 47 cm;
landscapes, flowers, and birds, developed aesthetic values depending on
In other projects Angeles County Museum of Art National Palace Museum
the individual imagination of and objective observation by the artist that are (Los Angeles, USA) (Taipei, Taiwan)
Wikimedia Commons similar to those of the West, but long pre-dated their development there.
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After contacts with Western art became increasingly important from the
19th century onwards, in recent decades China has participated with increasing success in History of art
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worldwide contemporary art. Periods [show]
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Regions [show]
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Español Religions [show]
Bahasa Indonesia 1 Painting
Techniques [show]
Bahasa Melayu 2 Sculpture
Types [show]
Português 3 Ceramics
Русский V ·T ·E
4 Decorative arts
Suomi
5 Architecture
中⽂
6 Chinoiserie
27 more
7 History and development of Chinese art
Edit links 7.1 Neolithic pottery History of China
7.2 Jade culture ANCIENT

7.3 Bronze casting Neolithic c. 8500 – c. 2070 BCE

Xia c. 2070 – c. 1600 BCE
7.4 Chu and Southern culture
Shang c. 1600 – c. 1046 BCE
7.5 Early Imperial China (221 BC–AD 220)
Zhou c. 1046 – 256 BCE
7.5.1 Qin art
Western Zhou
7.5.2 Han art Eastern Zhou
7.6 Period of division (220–581) Spring and Autumn
Warring States
7.6.1 Influence of Buddhism
IMPERIAL
7.6.2 Calligraphy
Qin 221–207 BCE
7.6.3 Painting
Han 202 BCE – 220 CE
7.7 The Sui and Tang dynasties (581–960) Western Han
7.7.1 Buddhist architecture and sculpture Xin
7.7.2 Painting Eastern Han

7.8 The Song and Yuan dynasties (960–1368) Three Kingdoms 220–280
Wei, Shu and Wu
7.8.1 Song painting
Jin 266–420
7.8.2 Yuan painting
Western Jin
7.8.3 Pottery Eastern Jin Sixteen Kingdoms
7.9 Late imperial China (1368–1911) Northern and Southern dynasties
7.9.1 Ming painting 420–589
7.9.2 Early Qing painting Sui 581–618

7.9.3 Late Qing Art Tang 618–907

Five Dynasties and Liao 916–1125
7.9.4 Shanghai School
Ten Kingdoms
7.10 New China art (1912–1949) 907–979
7.10.1 Modern Art Movement[36][37] Song 960–1279
7.11 Postwar Chinese Art (1949–1976) Northern Song
W. Xia
Southern Song Jin W. Liao
7.11.1 The Mainland
Yuan 1271–1368
7.11.1.1 The 17 Years
Ming 1368–1644
7.11.1.2 The Cultural Revolution
Qing 1636–1912
7.11.2 Taiwan
MODERN
7.11.2.1 Fifth Moon Group五⽉畫會 Republic of China on the mainland 1912–1949
7.11.2.2 Ton-Fan Art Group東⽅畫會 People's Republic of China 1949–present
7.11.3 Hong Kong Republic of China in Taiwan 1949–present
7.11.4 Overseas[39] Related articles [show]

7.11.4.1 Paris view · talk · edit

7.11.4.2 United States

7.12 Redevelopment (mid-1980s – 1990s)
7.12.1 Contemporary art
7.12.2 Visual art
8 Art market
9 Museums
10 See also
11 References
12 Additional sources
13 Further reading
14 External links

Painting [ edit ]

Main article: Chinese painting

Traditional Chinese painting involves essentially the same techniques as

Chinese calligraphy and is done with a 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:

Part of Eight Views of Xiaoxiang, an imaginary tour through Xiao-
Gong-bi (⼯筆), meaning "meticulous", uses highly detailed xiang by Li Shi (李⽒); 12th-century; scroll, ink on paper; 30 × 400
brushstrokes that delimits details very precisely. It is often highly cm; Tokyo National Museum
coloured and usually depicts figural or narrative subjects. It is often
practised by artists working for the royal court or in independent
workshops. Bird-and-flower paintings were often in this style.
Ink and wash painting, in Chinese Shui-mo or (⽔墨[1]) 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.[2] In theory this was an art practised by gentlemen, a
distinction that begins to be made in writings on art from the Song dynasty, though in fact the careers of leading exponents could benefit
considerably.[3] This style is also referred to as "xie yi" (寫意) or freehand style.

Artists from the Han (202 BC) to the Tang (618–906) dynasties mainly painted the human figure. Much of what is known of early Chinese figure
painting comes from burial sites, where paintings were preserved on silk banners, lacquered objects, and tomb walls. Many early tomb
paintings were meant to protect the dead or help their souls get to paradise. Others illustrated the teachings of the Chinese philosopher
Confucius, or showed scenes of daily life. Most Chinese portraits showed a formal full-length frontal view, and were used in the family in
ancestor veneration. Imperial portraits were more flexible, but were generally not seen outside the court, and portraiture formed no part of
Imperial propaganda, as in other cultures.

Many critics consider landscape to be the highest form of Chinese painting. The time from the Five Dynasties period to the Northern Song
period (907–1127) is known as the "Great age of Chinese landscape". In the north, artists such as Jing Hao, Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, and Guo Xi
painted pictures of towering mountains, using strong black lines, ink wash, and sharp, dotted brushstrokes to suggest rough rocks. In the south,
Dong Yuan, Juran, and other artists painted the rolling hills and rivers of their native countryside in peaceful scenes done with softer, rubbed
brushwork. These two kinds of scenes and techniques became the classical styles of Chinese landscape painting.

Early Autumn; by Qian Xuan; 13th Lohan manifesting himself as an Parrot and insect among pear Wang Xizhi watching geese; by
century; ink and colors on paper eleven-headed Guanyin; circa blossoms; by Huang Jucai; Qian Xuan; 1235 – before 1307;
scroll; 26.7 × 120.7 cm; Detroit 1178; ink and color on silk; 111.5 second half of the 13th century; handscroll (ink, color and gold on
Institute of Arts (Detroit, USA). × 53.1 cm; Museum of Fine Arts ink and colour on silk; 27.6 × paper); Metropolitan Museum of
The decaying lotus leaves and (Boston, USA) 27.6 cm; Museum of Fine Arts Art (New York City)
dragonflies hovering over (Boston)
stagnant water are probably a
veiled criticism of Mongol rule[4]

The eight hosts of Deva, Naga
and Yakshi; 1454; hanging scroll,
ink and color on silk; dimensions
of the painting: 140.2 × 78.8 cm;
Cleveland Museum of Art
(Cleveland, Ohio, USA)
Portrait of Zhu Youjiao; after
1620; painting; National Palace
Museum (Taipei, Taiwan)
Landscape, part of an album of
eight leaves; by Lu Han; 1699; ink
and color on paper; image: 30.5 ×
22.9 cm; Metropolitan Museum of
Art
Another landscape, part of the
same album of eight leaves; by
Lu Han; 1699; ink and color on
paper; image: 30.5 × 22.9 cm;
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Landscape; by Dong Yuan; turn of Portrait; early 20th century (?); Chinese Painting- Traveling on Northern Song Dynasty-Finches
the 18/19th century; handscroll, album of twenty leaves, ink and the Road. and bamboo
ink on silk; 39.1 × 717.6 cm; color on silk; 28.3 × 22.2 cm;
Metropolitan Museum of Art Metropolitan Museum of Art

Strolling About in Spring, by Zhan Court Ladies of the Former Shu Tang Yin - The Gathering at the Tang Yin - A beauty - Rhode
Ziqian, artist of the Sui dynasty by Tang Yin Orchid Pavilion Island School of Design Museum
(581–618).

Tang Yin - Making the Bride's Brooklyn Museum - The Chinese China, Qing dynasty - Portrait of
Gown - Walters Buddhist Pilgrim Hsuan-Tsang Buddhist Monks of Obaku Sect -
Cleveland Museum of Art

Sculpture ​[ edit ]

See also: Chinese Buddhist sculpture

Chinese ritual bronzes from the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties come from a period of over a thousand years from c. 1500 BC, 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.[5] The spectacular Terracotta Army was assembled for the tomb of Qin Shi
Huang, the first emperor of a unified China from 221 to 210 BC, 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.[6]

Native Chinese religions do not usually use cult images of deities, or even represent them, and large religious sculpture is nearly all Buddhist,
dating mostly from the 4th to the 14th century, and initially using Greco-Buddhist models arriving via the Silk Road. Buddhism is also the
context of all large portrait sculpture; in total contrast to some other areas in medieval China even painted images of the emperor were
regarded as private. Imperial tombs have spectacular avenues of approach lined with real and mythological animals on a scale matching
Egypt, and smaller versions decorate temples and palaces.[7] Small Buddhist figures and groups were produced to a very high quality in a
range of media,[8] as was relief decoration of all sorts of objects, especially in metalwork and jade.[9] Sculptors of all sorts were regarded as
artisans and very few names are recorded.[10]

Ritual tripod cauldron (ding); circa
13th century BC; bronze: height
with handles: 25.4 cm;
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New
York City)
Wine vase (zun); 13th century
BC; bronze inlaid with black
pigment; height: 40 cm;
Metropolitan Museum of Art
One of the warriors of the
Terracotta Army, a famous
collection of terracotta sculptures
depicting the armies of Qin Shi
Huang, the first Emperor of China
Changxin Palace lamp; circa 172
BC; bronze and gold; height:
48 cm; Hebei Provincial Museum
(China); excavated from the tomb
of Dou Wan

The Flying Horse of Gansu; circa
300; bronze; height: 34.5 cm,
length: 45 cm; width: 13.1 cm;
Gansu Provincial Museum
(Lanzhou, China)
Votive stele with Buddha Sculpture probably of Amitābha; The Leshan Giant Buddha, a 71
Shakyamuni; dated 542 (Eastern early 7th century; hollow dry m tall stone statue, built between
Wei Dynasty); limestone; Museum lacquer with traces of gilt and 713 and 803, Tang dynasty
Rietberg (Zürich, Switzerland) polychrome pigment and gilding;
height: 96.5 cm, width: 68.6 cm,
depth: 57.1 cm; Metropolitan
Museum of Art

Statue of a monk; 8th century; Statue of the luohan Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara in Seated luohan; 18th–19th
limestone with pigment; limestone Tamrabhadra, one of the group of water moon form (Shuiyue century; lapis lazuli; height:
with pigment; height (including the glazed pottery luohans from Guanyin); 11th century; wood 18.1 cm, width: 25.4 cm;
stone dowel): 175.3 cm; Yixian; 10th–13th century; glazed (willow) with traces of pigment, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art terracotta; height: 123 cm; Guimet multiple-woodblock construction;
Museum (Paris) height: 118.1 cm, width: 95.3 cm,
depth: 71.1 cm; Metropolitan
Museum of Art

Ceramics [ edit ]

Main article: Chinese ceramics

See also: Chinese influences on Islamic 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.

Tomb guardian; early 700s;
glazed earthenware, sancai
(three-color) ware; Cleveland
Museum of Art (Cleveland, Ohio,
USA)
Statuettes of dancers; 8th century
(Tang Empire); ceramic; Historical
Museum of Bern (Switzerland)
The David Vases; 1351 (the Yuan
dynasty); porcelain, cobalt blue
decor under glaze; height:
63.8 cm; British Museum
(London)
Two flasks with dragons; 1403–
1424; underglaze blue porcelain;
height (the left one): 47.8 cm,
height (the right one): 44.6 cm;
British Museum

Buddhist figurines; by Qiao Bin;
circa 1503; glazed pottery;
various dimensions; Metropolitan
Museum of Art
Figure of an assistant to the
Judge of Hell decorated in
polychrome enamels with cold-
painted details; 1522–1620;
painted and glazed earthenware;
height: 136 cm, width: 39 cm;
British Museum
An assistant to the Judge of Hell,
figure from a judgement group;
16th century; glazed earthenware
and painted decoration; height:
148 cm, width: 36 cm, depth:
20 cm; British Museum
Jar: 18th century; porcelain
painted in overglaze famille rose
enamels; height: 61 cm;
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New
York City)

Vase; last quarter 18th century; Vase with cover; 1662–1722; Republic of China Porcelain Vase Chinese Porcelain Ewer, 17th
porcelain with openwork porcelain with underglaze blue Century
medallions, painted in overglaze decoration; overall: 46.2 cm;
famille rose enamels, with Cleveland Museum of Art
engraved design: height: 29.8 cm,
diameter: 19.1 cm; Metropolitan
Museum of Art

Chinese Porcelain Guanyin, 17th- Chinese vase, Ming dynasty, Erotic Chinese porcelain plate
18th Century porcelain with celadon glaze

Jin Porcelain Pillow Qing Tablet with Map of Imperial

Porcelain Factory

Decorative arts [ edit ]

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.[9] 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.[11] 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 and carved lacquer, cloisonne
enamel and many other materials had specialist artists working in them.

Folding screens (Chinese: 屏⾵; pinyin: píngfēng) are often decorated with beautiful art; major themes include mythology, scenes of palace life,
and nature. Materials such as wood panel, paper and silk are used in making folding screens. They were considered ideal ornaments for many
painters to display their paintings and calligraphy.[12][13] Many artists painted on paper or silk and applied it onto the folding screen.[12] There
were two distinct artistic folding screens mentioned in historical literature of the era.

Covered box with pavilion and
figures; 1300s (the Yuan
dynasty); carved lacquer; Tokyo
National Museum (Tokyo)
Chinese low-back armchair; late
16th–18th century (late Ming
dynasty to Qing dynasty);
huanghuali rosewood; Arthur M.
Sackler Gallery (Washington
D.C.)
Cup; early 17th century; Folding screen; circa 1690;
rhinoceros horn; height: 10.2 cm; lacquered wood and paper;
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
York City) (Lisboa, Portugal)

Plate; late 17th–early 18th Incense burner in the shape of a Vase; 18th century; cloisonné Chinese moon-gate bed; circa
century; cloisonné enamel; rooster; 18th century; cloisonné enamel; height: 36.8 cm, width: 1876; satinwood (huang lu), other
height: 4.4 cm, diameter: 25.7 cm; enamel on copper; height: 17.8 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Asian woods and ivory; Peabody
Metropolitan Museum of Art 19.4 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art Essex Museum (Salem,
Art Massachusetts, USA)

Architecture [ edit ]

Main article: Chinese architecture

Chinese architecture refers to a style of architecture that has taken shape in East Asia over many
centuries. Especially Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Ryukyu. The structural principles of Chinese
architecture have remained largely unchanged, the main changes being only the decorative details.
Since the Tang Dynasty, Chinese architecture has had a major influence on the architectural styles of
Korea, Vietnam, and Japan.

The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in
southern Xi'an (Shaanxi province,
China), built in 652 during the Tang
dynasty
The Great Wall of China, near
Jinshanling
From the Neolithic era Longshan Culture and Bronze Age era Erlitou culture, the earliest rammed earth
fortifications exist, with evidence of timber architecture. The subterranean ruins of the palace at Yinxu
dates back to the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC–1046 BC). In historic China, architectural emphasis was
laid upon the horizontal axis, in particular the construction of a heavy platform and a large roof that
floats over this base, with the vertical walls not as well emphasized. This contrasts Western
architecture, which tends to grow in height and depth. Chinese architecture stresses the visual impact
of the width of the buildings. The deviation from this standard is the tower architecture of the Chinese
tradition, which began as a native tradition[citation needed] and was eventually influenced by the Buddhist
building for housing religious sutras — the stupa — which came from Nepal. Ancient Chinese tomb
model representations of multiple story residential towers and watchtowers date to the Han Dynasty
(202 BC–220 AD). However, the earliest extant Buddhist Chinese pagoda is the Songyue Pagoda, a
40 m (131 ft) tall circular-based brick tower built in Henan province in the year 523 AD. From the 6th
century onwards, stone-based structures become more common, while the earliest are from stone and
brick arches found in Han Dynasty tombs. The Zhaozhou Bridge built from 595 to 605 AD is China's
oldest extant stone bridge, as well as the world's oldest fully stone open-spandrel segmental arch
bridge.

The vocational trade of architect, craftsman, and engineer was

not as highly respected in premodern Chinese society as the scholar-bureaucrats who were drafted
into the government by the civil service examination system. Much of the knowledge about early
Chinese architecture was passed on from one tradesman to his son or associative apprentice.
However, there were several early treatises on architecture in China, with encyclopedic information on
architecture dating back to the Han Dynasty. The height of the classical Chinese architectural tradition
in writing and illustration can be found in the Yingzao Fashi, a building manual written by 1100 and
published by Li Jie (1065–1110) in 1103. In it there are numerous and meticulous illustrations and
diagrams showing the assembly of halls and building components, as well as classifying structure Inside the Forbidden City, an
types and building components. example of Chinese architecture
from the 15th century
There were certain architectural features that were reserved solely for buildings built for the Emperor of
China. One example is the use of yellow roof tiles; yellow having been the Imperial color, yellow roof
tiles still adorn most of the buildings within the Forbidden City. The Temple of Heaven, however, uses blue roof tiles to symbolize the sky. The
roofs are almost invariably supported by brackets, a feature shared only with the largest of religious buildings. The wooden columns of the
buildings, as well as the surface of the walls, tend to be red in colour.

Many current Chinese architectural designs follow post-modern and western styles.

Relief from the Wu Family Shrines The Guanyian Pavilion of the The Songyue Pagoda (Henan, Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests,
(Jiaxiang, Shandong, China) that Dule Monastery (Jixian, China), China), 523 the main building of the Temple of
shows Han dynasty architecture, 984 Heaven (Beijing), 1703-1790
151 AD

The Longxing Temple in Hebei Pagoda of Fogong Temple The Dacheng Hall of the Temple
(Zhengding, China), 1052 (Shanxi, China), 1056 of Confucius (Qufu, Shandong,
China), 1499

Chinoiserie [ edit ]

Main article: Chinoiserie

Chinoiserie is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and East Asian artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden
design, architecture, literature, theatre, and music.[14] The aesthetic of Chinoiserie has been expressed in different ways depending on the
region. Its acknowledgement derives from the current of Orientalism, which studied Far East cultures from a historical, philological,
anthropological, philosophical and religious point of view. First appearing in the 17th century, this trend was popularized in the 18th century due
to the rise in trade with China and East Asia.[15]

As a style, chinoiserie is related to the Rococo style.[16] Both styles are characterized by exuberant decoration, asymmetry, a focus on
materials, and stylized nature and subject matter that focuses on leisure and pleasure. Chinoiserie focuses on subjects that were thought by
colonial-era Europeans to be typical of Chinese culture.

The Chinese House, a chinoiserie
garden pavilion in Sanssouci
Park, from Potsdam (Germany)
Kneehole writing table; circa
1760; mahogany, mahogany
veneer and gilt bronze; 88.9 ×
97.8 × 62.2 cm; Metropolitan
Museum of Art (New York City)
Audience of the Chinese
Emperor; 1766; hard-paste
porcelain; overall: 39.8 × 33.2 ×
21.7 cm; Metropolitan Museum of
Art
Drop-front secretaire (secrètaire à
abattant); 1770–1775; painted
and varnished oak, mahogany,
purplewood and gilt-bronze
mounts; 152.4 × 67.9 × 34 cm;
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ornamental Design from
"Nouvelle suite de cahiers chinois
a l'usage des Dessinateurs et des
peintres"; after 1775; etching with
colored inks à la poupé on off-
white laid paper; Cooper Hewitt,
Smithsonian Design Museum
(New York City)
The Chinese Room in the Royal
Palace (Berlin); 1850; brush and
watercolor and gouache, graphite
on white wove paper; Cooper
Hewitt, Smithsonian Design
Museum
Pair of round and flat bodied The Tea House at Myasnitskaya
bottles; 1870–1880; porcelain; Street in Moscow (Russia)
first bottle: 26.4 × 21 × 10.6 cm,
second bottle: 25.7 × 20.2 ×
10.2 cm; Metropolitan Museum of
Art

History and development of Chinese art [ edit ]

Neolithic pottery [ edit ]

Main articles: Yangshao culture and Peiligang culture

Early forms of art in China are found in the Neolithic Yangshao culture, which dates back to the 6th millennium BC. 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.

The most distinctive feature of Yangshao culture was the extensive use of painted pottery, especially human facial, animal, and geometric
designs. Unlike the later Longshan culture, the Yangshao culture did not use pottery wheels in pottery making. Excavations have found that
children were buried in painted pottery jars.

A red pot with two "ears"; by
Peiligang culture; 6000–5200 BC;
ceramic; Shanghai Museum
(Shanghai, China)
Dotted pottery pot, semi-mountain
type; by Yangshao culture from
China; 2700–2300 BCE; Gansu
Provincial Museum (Lanzhou;
China)
Jar; 2650–2350 BC; earthenware Pot with geometric lattice pattern;
with painted decoration; height: by Majiayao culture; 2600–2300
34 cm; Metropolitan Museum of BC; painted potter; Shanghai
Art (New York City) Museum

Jade culture [ edit ]

Main article: Liangzhu 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.

Bronze casting [ edit ]

Main article: Chinese ritual bronzes
Further information: Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng

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 bronze casting, 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 an "air of
Rectangular cauldron (fangding); ferocious majesty".
12th–11th century BC; bronze;
It is typical of the developed Shang style that all available space is decorated, most often with stylized
height: 22.9 cm, width: 15.2 cm,
depth: 17.8 cm; Metropolitan forms of real and imaginary animals. The most common motif is the taotie, which shows a mythological
Museum of Art (New York City) being presented frontally as though squashed onto a horizontal plane to form a symmetrical design.
The early significance of taotie is not clear, but myths about it existed around the late Zhou dynasty. It
was considered to be variously a covetous man banished to guard a corner of heaven against evil monsters; or a monster equipped with only a
head which tries to devour men but hurts only itself.

The function and appearance of bronzes changed gradually from the Shang to the Zhou. They shifted from been used in religious rites to more
practical purposes. By the Warring States period, bronze vessels had become objects of aesthetic enjoyment. Some were decorated with
social scenes, such as from a banquet or hunt; whilst others displayed abstract patterns inlaid with gold, silver, or precious and semiprecious
stones.

Bronze artifacts also have significant meaning and roles in Han Dynasty as well. People used them for funerary purposes which reflect the
aesthetic and artistic qualities of Han Dynasty.[17] Many bronze vessels excavated from tombs in Jiangsu Province, China have various shapes
like Ding, Hu, and Xun which represent traditional Chinese aesthete.[17] These vessels are classical representations of Chinese celestial art
forms which play a great role in ancient Chinese's communication with spirits of their ancestors.[17] Other than the vessels, bronze weapons,
daily items, and musical instruments are also found in royal Han families' tomb in Jiangsu. Being able to put a full set of Bianzhong in ones
tomb signifies his or her status and class in Han Dynasty since this particular type of instrument is only acquired and owned by royal and
wealth families.[17] Apparently, Bianzhong and music are also used as a path for the Han rulers to communication with their Gods.[17] The
excavation of Bianzhong, a typical and royal instrument found in ancient China, emphasizes the development of complex music systems in
Han Dynasty.[17] The set of Bianzhong can vary in many cases; for example, a specific excavation of Bianzhong from Jiangsu Province include
different sets of bells, like Niuzhong and Yongzhong bells, and many of them appear in animal forms like the dragon, a traditional Chinese
spiritual animal.[17]

Shang bronzes became appreciated as works of art from the Song dynasty, when they were collected and prized not only for their shape and
design but also for the various green, blue green, and even reddish patinas created by chemical action as they lay buried in the ground. The
study of early Chinese bronze casting is a specialized field of art history.

Longshan goblet; circa 2500–
2000 BC; Excavated at Jiaoxian
(Shandong Province, in 1975)
Sanxingdui bronze head wearing
a gold foil mask
Standing statue, probably of a
king and shaman leader, that is,
the highest authority assumed the
triple status of god, shaman and
king; total height: 2.62 m, height
of the human part: 1.72 m; from
Sanxingdui
Altar set; late 11th century BC;
bronze; overall (table): height:
18.1 cm (71⁄8 in.), width: 46.4 cm
(181⁄4 in.), depth: 89.9 cm (353⁄8
in.); Metropolitan Museum of Art
(New York City, U.S.)

Houmuwu ding (Chinese: 后⺟戊 Da He ding (Chinese: ⼤⽲⽅鼎; Ritual wine server (guang); 1100 Da Yu ding (Chinese: ⼤盂鼎;
鼎; pinyin: Hòumǔwù dǐng), the pinyin: Dà Hé fāngdǐng); Shang BC; 21 × 22.9 cm (8.25 × 9 in); pinyin: Dà Yú dǐng); 1054 BC
largest ancient bronze ever found; dynasty; Hunan Museum. This Indianapolis Museum of Art (Western Zhou); height: 101.9 cm
1300–1046 BC; National Museum ritual bronze is one of the very (Indiana, U.S.). Adorning the (40.1 in), width: 77.8 cm (30.6 in);
of China (Beijing). This ding's rare vessels that is decorated with surface of the vessel are three discovered in 1849, at the Li
named is based on the inscription human faces primary decorative animal motifs, Village (Mei County, Shaanxi);
in the bronze interior wall, which including fifteen imaginary National Museum of China
reads Hòumǔwù, meaning creatures cast in relief along the
"Queen Mother Wu" sides[18][19]

Da Ke ding; Western Zhou
dynasty; height: 93.1 cm (36.7 in),
width: 75.6 cm (29.8 in) (bore) &
74.9 cm (29.5 in) (inside
diameter); discovered in 1890, at
Famen Town (Fufeng County,
Shaanxi); Shanghai Museum
(China)
Bell (lai zhong); 800–700 BC A bronze stand for ceremonial Shi zun; 1600–1046 BC; height:
(Western Zhou dynasty); 70.3 × vessels; excavated from the tomb 40 cm (16 in); discovered at
37 × 26.6 cm (275⁄8 × 149⁄16 × of the son of King Zhuang of Chu Chuanxingshan (Xiangtan
107⁄16 in.); from Meixian (r. 613–591 BC) County, China); Hunan Museum
(Shaanxi); Cleveland Museum of
Art (Ohio, U.S.). In ancient China
music and ritual had political
significance and were linked
inseparably to the power of states

Chu and Southern culture [ edit ]

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 BC–AD 220) [ edit ]

Qin art [ edit ]

During the Qin Dynasty, Chinese font, measurement systems, currency were all standardized in order to
bring further unification.[21] The Great Wall of China was expanded as a defensive construction against
the northern intruders.[21]

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 210–209 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