Chinese Period of Division Art

Influence of Buddhism

Buddhism arrived in China around the 1st century AD (although there are some traditions about a monk visiting China during Asoka'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.

In the fifth to sixth century the Northern dynasties, rather removed from the original sources of inspiration, tended to develop rather symbolic and abstract modes of representation, with schematic lines. Their style is also said to be solemn and majestic. The lack of corporeality of this art, and its distance from the original Buddhist objective of expressing the pure ideal of enlightenment in an accessible, realistic manner, progressively led to a research towards more naturalism and realism, leading to the expression of Tang Buddhist art.

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, made of animal hair, and black ink 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. Original writings by famous calligraphers have been greatly valued throughout China's history and are mounted on scrolls and hung on walls in the same way that paintings are.

Wang Xizhi was a famous Chinese calligrapher who lived in the 4th century AD. His most famous work is the Lanting Xu, the preface to a collection of poems. The script was often celebrated as the high point of the semi-cursive "Running Style" in the history of Chinese calligraphy.

Wei Shuo was a well-known calligrapher of the 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 ( Wei-shi He'nan Tie).

Painting

Gu Kaizhi is a celebrated painter of ancient China born in Wuxi. He wrote three books about painting theory: On Painting (), Introduction of Famous Paintings of Wei and Jin Dynasties () and Painting Yuntai Mountain (). He wrote, "In figure paintings the clothes and the appearances were not very important. The eyes were the spirit and the decisive factor." Three of Gu's paintings still survive today: Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies, Nymph of the Luo River (), and Wise and Benevolent Women.

There are other examples of Jin dynasty painting from tombs. This includes the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, painted on a brick wall of a tomb located near modern Nanjing and now found in the Shaanxi Provincial Museum. Each of the figures are labeled and shown either drinking, writing, or playing a musical instrument. Other tomb paintings also depict scenes of daily life, such as men plowing fields with teams of oxen.

Museums

• National Art Museum of China (Beijing)
• Palace Museum (Forbidden City, Beijing)
• China Art Museum (Shanghai)
• Power Station of Art (Shanghai)
• National Palace Museum (Taipei, Taiwan)

See also

• 798 Art Zone
• Chinese fine art
  • Chinese ceramics
  • Chinese painting
• Chinese folk art
• Eastern art history
• History of China
  • Four Olds
• List of Chinese cultural relics forbidden to be exhibited abroad
• List of Chinese women artists
• Fruit pit carving

References

Additional sources

• Edmund Capon and Mae Anna Pang, Chinese Paintings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Catalogue, 1981, International Cultural Corporation of Australia Ltd.
• Rawson, Jessica (ed). The British Museum Book of Chinese Art, 2007 (2nd edn), British Museum Press, ISBN9780714124469
• Sickman, Laurence, in: Sickman L. & Soper A., The Art and Architecture of China, Pelican History of Art, 3rd ed 1971, Penguin (now Yale History of Art), LOC 70-125675
• MSN Encarta (Archived 2009-10-31)
• The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia
• SHiNE Art Space Gallery

Further reading

• Barnhart, Richard M., et al. Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art: 2002. ISBN0-300-09447-7.
• Chi, Lillian, et al. A Dictionary of Chinese Ceramics. Sun Tree Publishing: 2003. ISBN981-04-6023-6.
• Clunas, Craig. Art in China. Oxford University Press: 1997. ISBN0-19-284207-2.
• Fong, Wen (1973). Sung and Yuan paintings. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN978-0870990847.
• Gesterkamp, Lennert. The Heavenly Court: Daoist Temple Painting in China, 12001400. Brill 2011. ISBN978-90-04-18490-9.
• Gowers, David, et al. Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing. Art Media Resources: 2002. ISBN1-58886-033-7.
• Harper, Prudence Oliver. China: Dawn Of A Golden Age (200750 AD). Yale University Press: 2004. ISBN0-300-10487-1.
• Koon, Yeewan (2014). A Defiant Brush: Su Renshan and the Politics of Painting in Early 19th-Century Guangdong (PDF). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. ISBN978-988-8139-61-3.
• Leidy, Denise Patry; Strahan, Donna (2010). Wisdom embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN9781588393999.
• Little, Stephen, et al. Taoism and the Arts of China. University of California Press: 2000. ISBN0-520-22784-0.
• Mascarelli, Gloria, and Robert Mascarelli. The Ceramics of China: 5000 BC to 1900 AD. Schiffer Publishing: 2003. ISBN0-7643-1843-8.
• Sturman, Peter Charles. Mi Fu: Style and the Art of Calligraphy in Northern Song China. Yale University Press: 2004. ISBN0-300-10487-1.
• Sullivan, Michael. The Arts of China. Fourth edition. University of California Press: 2000. ISBN0-520-21877-9.
• Tregear, Mary. Chinese Art. Thames & Hudson: 1997. ISBN0-500-20299-0.
• Valenstein, S. (1998). A handbook of Chinese ceramics, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. ISBN9780870995149 .
• Watt, James C.Y.; etal. (2004). China: dawn of a golden age, 200750 AD. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN978-1588391261.
• Wang, Jianjiang, and Wynn, Keaton. Bie-Modern: Works and Commentary. China Social Science Press: 2018
• Watson, William. The Arts of China to AD 900. Yale University Press: 1995. ISBN0-300-05989-2.
• S. Diglio, Urban Development and Historic Heritage Protection in Shanghai, in Fabio Maniscalco ed., "Web Journal on Cultural Patrimony", 1, 2006

External links

• The Final Frontier Chinese contemporary art at LUX Mag
• Chinese art, calligraphy, painting, ceramics, carving at China Online Museum
• Art History of Chinese calligraphy, painting, and seal making
• China the Beautiful Chinese Art and Literature Introductions & art classics texts
• Gallery of China Traditional Chinese Art Essay on Chinese art from Neolithic to communist times
• Fine Chinese Art And Chinese Painting The Chinese Ancient Paintings