Search results
Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based on or draws on Chinese culture, heritage, and history. Early " Stone Age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly consisting of ...
- Overview
- Art as a reflection of Chinese class structure
- The role of linearity in Chinese art
Chinese art, the painting, calligraphy, architecture, pottery, sculpture, bronzes, jade carving, and other fine or decorative art forms produced in China over the centuries.
The following article treats the general characteristics of Chinese art as a whole. For a detailed discussion of each of the arts mentioned above, see Chinese painting, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese architecture, Chinese pottery, Chinese bronzes, Chinese lacquerwork, Chinese jade, and silk.
One of the outstanding characteristics of Chinese art is the extent to which it reflects the class structure that has existed at different times in Chinese history. Up to the Warring States period (475–221 bce), the arts were produced by anonymous craftsmen for the royal and feudal courts. It is believed that during the Shang and early Zhou periods the production of ritual bronzes was exclusively regulated under the authority of the court, which could grant or withhold authorization for production by regional workshops among the various states or others who paid fealty to the court. Under the careful regulation of court patrons in the Shang and Zhou periods, design features were shared among specialists working in the various media and were remarkably uniform from bronzes to lacquerwares to textiles.
During the Warring States period and the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce), the growth of a landowning and merchant class brought new patrons. After the Han there began to emerge the concept of cultural practice as the product of the leisure of the educated gentry, many of whom were amateur practitioners of the arts of poetry, music, calligraphy, and, eventually, painting. At this time a distinction began to arise between the lower-class professional and the elite amateur artist; this distinction would have a great influence on the character of Chinese art in later times. Gradually one tradition became identified with the artists and craftsmen who worked for the court or sold their work for profit. The scholarly amateurs looked upon such people with some contempt, and the visual arts of the literati became a separate tradition that was increasingly refined and rarefied to the point that, from the Song dynasty (960–1279) onward, an assumed awkwardness (zhuo) or understatement (pingdan) in technique was admired as a mark of the amateur and gentleman. As a medium of highly individual expression, painting and calligraphy also became important media of exchange in a social economy where the giving of gifts was central to the building of an interpersonal network. Like skill in letters, poetry, or music, skill and expressive quality in the practice of calligraphy and painting helped establish one’s status in a society of learned individuals.
Since the 3rd century ce, calligraphy, or writing as a fine art, has been considered supreme among the visual arts in China. Not only does it require immense skill and fine judgment, but it is regarded as uniquely revealing of the character and breadth of cultivation of the writer. Since the time when inscribed oracle bones and tortoise shells (China’s oldest extant writing) were used for divination in the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 bce), calligraphy has been associated with spiritual communication and has been viewed in terms of the writer’s own spiritual attunement. It is believed that the appreciation and production of calligraphy requires lofty personal qualities and unusual aesthetic sensitivity. The comprehension of its finer points is thought to require experience and sensibility of a high order.
Students save 67%! Learn more about our special academic rate today.
Learn More
The Chinese painter uses essentially the same materials as the calligrapher—brush, ink, and silk or paper—and the Chinese judge his work by the same criteria they use for the calligrapher, basically the vitality and expressiveness of the brush stroke itself and the harmonious rhythm of the whole composition. Painting in China is, therefore, essentially a linear art. The painters of most periods were not concerned with striving for originality or conveying a sense of reality and three-dimensional mass through aids such as shading and perspective; rather, they focused on using silk or paper to transmit, through the rhythmic movement of the brush stroke, an awareness of the inner life of things.
Nov 22, 2021 · A Historical Overview of China. Chinese art history goes back to its prehistoric roots in ancient China artwork. For us to have a better understanding of ancient Chinese art we will provide a brief historical overview starting from the Neolithic period all the way through the numerous Dynasties that shaped not only Chinese politics and society, but the Chinese art culture.
- ( Head of Content, Editor, Art Writer )
- Mark Cartwright
- The Purpose of Art. An important difference between China and many other ancient cultures is that a large proportion of Chinese artists were not professionals but gentlemen amateurs (and a few ladies) who were also scholars.
- Calligraphy. The art of calligraphy - and for the ancient Chinese it certainly was an art - aimed to demonstrate superior control and skill using brush and ink.
- Painting. Chinese painters painted on various materials in many formats. The most popular formats were on walls (from c. 1100 BCE), coffins and boxes (from c. 800 BCE), screens (from c. 100 CE), silk scrolls which were designed to be looked at in the hand or hung on walls (from c. 100 CE for horizontal and from c. 600 CE for vertical), fixed fans (from c. 1100 CE), book covers (from c. 1100 CE) and folding fans (from c. 1450 CE).
- Sculpture. Large-scale figure sculpture has not survived well but some monumental examples can still be seen such as those cut from the rock face at the Longmen Caves, Fengxian temple near Luoyang.
People also ask
Is Chinese art a part of Chinese art?
What art forms are produced in China?
How old is Chinese art?
What is ancient Chinese art?
pomo. cun. gongbi. baimiao. Chinese painting, one of the major art forms produced in China over the centuries. The other arts of China are treated in separate articles. These include Chinese calligraphy, which in China is closely associated with painting; interior design; tapestry; floral decoration; Chinese pottery; metalwork; enamelwork; and ...
Chinese art traditions are the oldest continuous art traditions in the world. Early so-called " stone age art" in China, consisting mostly of simple pottery and sculptures, dates back to 10,000 B.C.E.. This early period was followed by a series of dynasties, most of which lasted several hundred years.
Oct 12, 2022 · A succession of dynasties throughout Chinese art history would all preserve and adapt traditional Chinese art over the centuries. In China, art created by various dynasties can be distinguished by its distinct adaptations and characteristics. To learn more about ancient China artwork, let’s check out the most interesting facts about Chinese art.
