Essential Knowledge

• Artistic traditions were shared across Asia through the Silk Road trade routes.

• Laozi and Confucius greatly influenced Chinese thinking and art.

• Daoism encourages a meaningful journey of self-expression through living in harmony with nature.

  • Daoism and Confucianism both stress ethical living within societal boundaries.

• Buddhism stresses harmony with nature and others.

  • Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism can coexist and influence one another in Asian cultures.

• Calligraphy is a respected art form in Chinese culture.

• Artworks are usually in the form of handscrolls, hanging scrolls, fans, and album leaves, and are limited in color.

• Artwork is divided into periods defined by dynasties

• The typical Chinese home had a courtyard surrounded with the living quarters which expressed familial and social values and encouraged interaction.

  • Walls are built for privacy and protection from winds.

  • Courtyards were open spaces are used for trees, plants, and ponds; and its size reflected the family's wealth.

Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE)

• The Han Dynasty had a strong government that kept China stable for over 400 years.

  • They followed Confucianism and used civil service exams to pick government workers based on their skills and merit, not their lineage.

• The Han developed the Silk Road trade routes, which developed trade with other countries.

• They also developed inventions such as paper, compasses, and water clocks.

Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE)

• Qin Shi Huang unified China for the first time.

  • He standardized the Chinese writing system, established Chinas first governmental meritocracy, constructed the Great Wall of China, engineered an irrigation system, created the Terracotta Army at Xi’An at his mausoleum, and utilized advanced weaponry in the military.

Tang Dynasty (618-906 CE)

• The cultural development brought about a close relationship between the dynasty and poetry.

• The early Tang dynasty, founded by emperor Xuanzong, a patron of the arts, established a poet’s academy.

  • Celebrated poets include Li Bai and Du Fu.

  • It is a reflection of the cultural, social, and historial character of the era.

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE)

• Founded by a poor peasant, Zhu Yuanzhang, a member of the Red Turbans that opposed the Yuan Dynasty.

  • He rose through the ranks due to his leadership and military skills.

  • He staffed the government with educated officials.

• Emperor Hongwu I executed an estimated 100,000 people and Emperor Yongle III built the Forbidden City.

  • Yongle also led world exploration in the Indian Ocean with admiral Zheng He.

    • Technological advances were prominent.

• The population triples but faced natural disasters.

• Poor governance, corruption, misrule, and crises led to peasant rebellions and in 1644, fall to the Qing Dynasty.

• Advanced shipbuilding developed and navigation tools were improved upon; furthermore, agricultural innovations like crop rotation and silk production developed.

Required Works

193. Terra cotta warriors from mausoleum of the first Qin emperor of China. Qin Dynasty. c. 221–209 BCE. Painted terra cotta.

• Qin Shi Huang was the founder of the Qin Dynasty, the first emperor of a unified China.

  • He greatly expanded the Chinese state, enacted major economic and political reforms, and began many public work projects like the Great Wall.

  • Qin Shi Huangdi was as concerned with death as with life.

• Qin Shi Huangdi’s underground tomb city is guarded by a life-sized terracotta army of warriors, infantrymen, horses, and chariots all wearing armor and carrying weapons.

  • The army included over 7000 terracotta figures.

  • He also lined his burial complex with riches such as gems, which he chose to represent the Sun, moon, and stars.

  • His coffin is encased in a bronze sarcophagus.

  • The excavated area consists of 20,000 square meters or 4.94 acres.

• Each terracotta figure is estimated to weigh between 300 and 400 pounds, stand 6 feet tall, and have a realistic human face.

  • The soldiers are buried in pits that are between 15 and 20 feet deep.

  • Legs and feet are a sold base while the rest of the figure is hollow, each element from the torso up is individually molded, anatomically attached, and finally covered with a veneer of clay.

• Soil tests have revealed concentrations of mercury that verifies the claims by the historian Sima Qian; furthermore, remote sensing has confirmed underground chambers.

  • However, to this day, his tomb remains sealed.

194. Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) Han Dynasty, China. c. 180 BCE. Painted silk.

• Literati: artists that rejected the restrictive nature of court art and developed a highly individualized style.

  • These worked as painters, furniture makers, and landscape architects.

• The funeral banner of Lady Dai was found within a three-tomb encasement found in 1971 beneath a small hill outside Changsha, China.

  • The remains found were of Li Cang, a high-ranking Han official, his wife, Lady Dai, and their son.

  • Her corpse is perfectly preserved because of thick layers of charcoal and clay that insulated her from oxygen and bacteria.

• There were seven nested coffins, all with lacquer finishes, which may explain why the body was so well preserved.

  • The airtight tomb buried 36’ deep and the body was wrapped in twenty layers of sild.

  • The skin was still elastic, joints flexible, even the eyelashes and nostril hair remained; there was also blood in her veins and all her organs were intact.

• It is a six feet long and three feet wide T-shaped banner, and three horizontal registers illustrate her ascent to the heavenly realm.

  • The bottom register depicts the underworld where the soul undergoes the first change; a watery real, the subterranean world is inhabited by serpents and turtles.

    • There is a muscular central figure that stands on the back of fish and serpents, and he holds a white rectangle thought to be the earth.

  • The middle register is the Mourning Hall scene, the earthly realm that holds to rituals; it depicts five men in two rows of a mourning hall that face an object placed on a low stand.

    • Her funeral feast is complete with vessels for food and drink, the second ritual, an offering to her soul.

    • The mourners overlapping the body gives the banner a sense of depth.

  • The departure register has Lady Dai leaning on a cane, three maids attending to her, and two kneeling in front of her from the heavenly realm.

    • Two intertwined dragons are depicted, mythical creatures that for the Chinese can move freely between heaven and Earth.

  • Heaven is represented in the top register where two deities appear known as the Greater and Lesser Lords of Fate, standing as guards to the entrance.

    • We can see Lady Dai at the top successfully entering heaven as she rides on the wings of a dragon.

    • There is a large red sun that contains a black raven in the top corner.

    • The left side depicts a crescent moon with a toad and jade rabbit, representing yin, and the right side depicts a sun crow, dragon, and ten suns, representing yang.

      • Yin yang describes the two complementary forces, yin and yang, that make up all aspects and phenomena of life. It encompasses the actual process of the universe and all that is in it. Yin and yang are depicted as the light and dark halves of a circle.

195. Longmen caves Luoyang, China. Tang Dynasty. 493–1127 CE. Limestone.

• The patroness was Empress Wu Zetian, who used her private funds to finance the project known as the Fengxian Temple.

  • The Tang Dynasty asserted its authority through Buddhist iconography.

• Early carvings in the surrounding caves were patronized by individuals.

• More than 2300 caves are set along the banks of the Yi River containing 110,000 Buddhist sculptures, 60 stupas, and 2800 inscriptions on steles.

• The Vairocana Buddha is depicted in one of the caves, different from the Shakyamuni (historical) Buddha, the Vairocana Buddha who lived a merciful, godlike figure who can help the entire human race achieve salvation.

  • This Buddha is the result of Buddhism’s spread to China via the Silk Road resulting in different interpretations of the religion.

  • The Vairocana Buddha is the largest statue in Longmen Caves, standing at 17.14 meters (56.23 feet) tall, with a 4-meter (13.12 feet) high head and 1.9-meter (6.23 feet) long drooping ears.

  • It is made of limestone and flanked by a monk, bodhisattva, and a heavenly king.

    • Bodhisattvas are individuals who reach nirvana but choose to delay it out of compassion to help others.

  • The Vairocana Buddha sits in a lotus pose with a calm demeanor that encourages meditation.

  • He has a topknot, or Ushnisha, symbolizing his enlightenment.

  • His elongated earlobes allow him to hear human suffering.

• Additionally, two 17.4-meter (57.09 feet) high figures can be found at Fengxian temple in Longmen Caves, dating back to 675 CE, representing a Buddhist Heavenly King and demon guardian figures.

  • The Fengxian Temple makes a political statement. After the death of her husband the emperor from a stroke, Empress Wu Zeitan became the ruler. The image of Buddha as a supreme deity surrounded by a loyal court provided a model that legitimized her position within the Tang government.

  • Documents attest to the fact that over 800,000 workers created the site.

201. Travelers among Mountains and Streams. Fan Kuan. c. 1000 CE. Ink and colors on silk.

• It is a hanging scroll not meant for decorations, but for analysis and study.

• The scroll follows Daoist philosophy; the artists isolated himself to be one with nature and created complex landscapes.

  • Fan left his urban life and retreated to the rugged landscape that surrounds Mount Hua, China

• The waterfall accents the mountain and emphasizes its height,

• It includes donkeys and men at the bottom and a small temple in the mountain as well as represents the dominance of nature over man.

• It was created during the Song Dynasty and is considered one of the greatest works in Chinese art.

  • Fan Kuan is a master of mountain-water painting (shan shui hua); he uses a single color palette and a unique perspective technique.

    • His paintings are rich in intricate and meaningful details.

  • The shifting perspectives in Chinese landscapes separate the foreground from the background.

    • The foreground is detailed and extends to the middle ground, creating a sense of vast space.

  • Kuan was a Daoist, rejecting fame, riches, and power.

• The length of the scroll invites the viewer to take a visual journey through mountains and water than are in complete harmony.

• Beginning in the foreground, there are low-lying boulders, and for detail, Fan uses ink monochrome on silk.

  • The thickness of his brush determined the texture and nuance found in nature

204. The David Vases. Yuan Dynasty, China. 1351 CE. White porcelain with cobalt-blue underglaze.

• The David Vases are important white and blue vases, the earliest ones known.

  • The cobalt blue in the vase demonstrates interregional trade as the cobalt blue color is from Iran.

• The vases are modeled from original bronzes and depict dragons among clouds, floral motifs, and the foot and neck as well as contain elephant head-shaped handles.

• The vases were made for a Daoist altar with an incense burner, which is now lost, and contains a dedication written on it, dating to 1351 by Zhang Wenjin.

  • It is considered the oldest dated example of blue-and-white porcelain in the world.

  • The owner, Sir Percival David, had one of the world’s greatest collection of the Chinese ceramics.

• Because China has rich deposits of kaolin, they were able to produce a porcelain could be fired at a higher temperature producing a whiter, more translucent, and more glass like product.

  • Prized ceramics feature a blend of Chinese and Islamic designs.

  • In the 14th century, China began mass-producing delicate blue and white porcelain.

  • Valuable cobalt blue pigments from Persia became available due to Mongol rule in China during the 13th century, enhancing trade along the Silk Road.

206. Forbidden City Beijing, China. Ming Dynasty. 15th century CE and later. Stone masonry, marble, brick, wood, and ceramic tile.

• It is the largest Chinese architectural ensemble ever with 9999 rooms, 30 feet walls, and 4 corners representing the world.

• The focus of the city is the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the throne room and site for political and ritual gatherings for 5 centuries, home to 24 emperors.

• The contrast between the yellow time roofs and red beams represents unity.

• The massive complex construction originated with the Ming emperor Zhu Di in 1404 and consisted of palaces, administrative buildings, and residences.

  • During the next five centuries it was occupied by twenty-four emperors.

• The palace is split into two parts: inner and outer courts.

  • The outer court was for state matters, accessible only to men.

  • The inner court was for living and domestic life.

  • In the outer court, the Hall of Supreme Harmony was where state decisions were made.

  • In the inner court, there were the Emperor's residence (Palace of Heavenly Purity) and the Empress's residence (Palace of Earthly Tranquility).'

• The city took 14 years to build with more than 100,000 engineers, artisans, and workers.

• The Hall of Supreme Harmony is on a white marble terrace that overlooks a 600-foot-wide courtyard.

  • Nanmu tree trunks served as roof-supporting columns.

  • The emperor had a dragon throne in the audience chamber.

  • Gold and jade bells chimed when he arrived, and he wore a yellow silk dragon robe.

  • The emperor used the audience chamber for various events, including overseeing weddings, commanding the imperial army, and leading New Year's Day celebrations.

• Since 1925, the palace has effectively served as the national museum of China.

  • During his reign of secretary general of the People’s Republic of China, Chairman Mao hung his picture from the Gate of Heavenly Peace, one of the entrances to the city.

  • The portrait still hangs on the wall of the city today, emphasizing his despotic rule over China.

212. Chairman Mao en Route to Anyuan. Artist unknown; based on an oil painting by Liu Chunhua. c. 1969 CE. Color lithograph.

• This painting was painted during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), when high art was considered feudal or bourgeois and artists were not credited.

• This work is a piece of political propaganda, leading to 900 billion copies to be made.

• The subject matter is set in the 1920s when Mao Zedong went to Anyuan to lead a miner’s strike, a significant moment of the Communist Party.

  • The moment was iconic in Mao’s career.

• The color lithograph is based on an oil on canvas painting by Liu Chunhua.

  • The color lithograph is based on an oil on canvas painting by Liu Chunhua, but the artist of the lithograph is unknown.

  • A lithograph is a drawing using oil-based crayons done on a smooth flat stone or plate.

    • When the plate is washed, the grease drawing attracts the ink to be printed, and the water repels the ink.

• The communist party in China wanted to portray Chairman Mao as a new revolutionary leader and used the lithograph to inspire followers throughout all of China.

  • The painting shows a young Mao Zedong, who at the time of the painting was in his seventies.

  • As a youth, Mao looks has the determined face of a strong leader. Liu places him on the top of a mountain ready to conquer.

• This painting shows Mao on his way to lead the miners strike of 1922.

  • The miners were striking for better wages, better working conditions and education.

  • The event created a strong and lasting bond between Mao and the communist party.