CHINESE ART

Chinese Jade ornament with flower design, Jin Dynasty (1115-1234 AD), Shanghai Museum.

'Chinese Art' (Chinese: 中國藝術/中国艺术) has varied throughout its ancient history, divided into periods by the ruling dynasties of China and changing technology. Different forms of art have been influenced by great philosophers, teachers, religious figures and even political leaders. Chinese art encompasses fine arts, folk arts and performance arts.

Contents
History
Types
See also
External links
References

History


A statue of a Bodhisattva from the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD).

''Green Hills and White Clouds'', by Gao Kogong, 1270-1310 AD.

Chinese variety art, also known in the west as "Chinese circus"

Main articles: History of Chinese art

Early forms of art in China were made from pottery and jade in the Neolithic period, to which was added bronze in the Shang Dynasty. The Shang are most remembered for their bronze casting, noted for its clarity of detail. Early Chinese music and poetry was influenced by the ''Book of Songs'', Confucius and the Chinese poet and statesman Qu Yuan. Early Chinese music was based on percussion instruments, which later gave away to string and reed instruments. Chinese furniture began its development around 1500 AD, generally made of softwood or bamboo.
In early imperial China, porcelain was introduced and was refined to the point that in English the word ''china'' has become synonymous with high-quality porcelain. Around the 1st century AD, Buddhism arrived in China, though it did not become popular until the 4th century. At this point, Chinese Buddhist art began to flourish, a process which continued through the 8th century. It was during the period of Imperial China that calligraphy and painting became highly appreciated arts in court circles, with a great deal of work done on silk until well after the invention of paper.
Buddhist architecture and sculpture thrived in the Sui and Tang dynasty. Of which, the Tang Dynasty was particularly open to foreign influence. Buddhist sculpture returned to a classical form, inspired by Indian art of the Gupta period. Toward the late Tang dynasty, all foreign religions were outlawed to support Taoism.
In the Song Dynasty, poetry was marked by a lyric poetry known as Ci (詞) which expressed feelings of desire, often in an adopted persona. Also in the Song dynasty, paintings of more subtle expression of landscapes appeared, with blurred outlines and mountain contours which conveyed distance through an impressionistic treatment of natural phenomena. It was during this period that in painting, emphasis was placed on spiritual rather than emotional elements, as in the previous period. Kunqu, the oldest extant form of Chinese opera developed during the Song Dynasty in Kunshan, near present-day Shanghai. In the Yuan dynasty, painting by the Chinese painter Zhao Mengfu (趙孟頫) greatly influenced later Chinese landscape painting, and the Yuan dynasty opera became a variant of Chinese opera which continues today as Cantonese opera.
Late imperial China was marked by two specific dynasties: Ming and Qing. Of Ming Dynasty poetry, Gao Qi was acknowledged as the greatest poet of the era. Artwork in the Ming dynasty perfected color painting and color printing, with a wider color range and busier compositions than Song paintings. In the Qing dynasty, Beijing opera was introduced; it is considered the one of the best-known forms of Chinese opera. Qing poetry was marked by a poet named Yuan Mei whose poetry has been described as having "unusually clear and elegant language" and who stressed the importance of personal feeling and technical perfection. Under efforts of masters from the Shanghai School during the late Qing Dynasty, traditional Chinese art reached another climax and continued to the present in forms of the "Chinese painting" (''guohua'', 國畫). The Shanghai School challenged and broke the literati tradition of Chinese art, while also paying technical homage to the ancient masters and improving on existing traditional techniques.
New forms of Chinese art was heavily influenced by the New Culture Movement, which adopted Western techniques, introduced oil painting and employed socialist realism. The Cultural Revolution would shape Chinese art in the 20th century like no other event in history with the Four Olds destruction campaign. Contemporary Chinese artists continue to produce a wide range of experimental works, multimedia installations, and performance "happenings" which have become very popular in the international art market.

Types


''A Thousand Peaks and Myriad Ravines'' by Wang Hui, 1693.

Chinese dragon sculpture

Traditional style Chinese concert

''Emperor Xuanzong's Journey to Sichuan'', a Ming Dynasty painting after Qiu Ying (1494-1552).

Art Type Main Art Major Category Start Era
Chinese Folk Art Papercutting Chinese Paper Cutting Eastern Han Dynasty
Chinese Paper Folding Eastern Han Dynasty
Puppetry Glove Puppetry -
Chinese Shadow Theatre Han Dynasty
Handicraft Chinese knot Tang Dynasty
Lyrical Poetry Chinese Poetry Spring and Autumn Period
Visual Art
Pottery Chinese Ceramic Palaeolithic
Chinese Painting Ming Dynasty painting Ming Dynasty
Tang Dynasty painting Tang Dynasty
Ink and wash painting Tang Dynasty
Shan Shui painting Song Dynasty
East Asian calligraphy Oracle Bone Script Shang Dynasty
Cursive Script Han Dynasty
Comics Lianhuanhua 1880s
Manhua 1880s, termed in 1920s
Film Cinema of China 1890s
Chinese Animation 1920s
Chinese Music
Traditional Instrumental Zhou Dynasty
Yayue Western Zhou Dynasty
Modern National Music 1910s
C-pop 1920s
Chinese Rock 1980s
Performance art Variety art Chinese variety art Han Dynasty
Chinese Opera Beijing Opera -
Kunqu -
Cantonese Opera -
Shuochang Narrative Quyi Dynastic times, termed in 1940s
Dances Dragon Dance -
Lion Dance -
Architecture Landscape Architecture Chinese architecture -


See also



Culture of China

Culture of Hong Kong

Longmen Grottoes

Four Olds

External links



88 mocca - The Museum of Chinese Contemporary Art on the web

ShangART Gallery Shanghai

The Saatchi Gallery

Chinese Contemporary Art

References



★ Lee Yuan-Yuan and Shen, Sinyan. ''Chinese Musical Instruments (Chinese Music Monograph Series)''. 1999. Chinese Music Society of North America Press. ISBN 1-880464039

★ Shen, Sinyan. ''China: A Journey into Its Musical Art (Chinese Music Monograph Series)''. 2001. Chinese Music Society of North America Press. ISBN 1-880464071

★ Shen, Sinyan. ''Chinese Music in the 20th Century (Chinese Music Monograph Series)''. 2001. Chinese Music Society of North America Press. ISBN 1-880464047

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