CHINESE ART

INTRODUCTION

The original centre of Chinese culture was along the great

Yellow River which crosses the North China Plain, where
stable settlements have dated back to at least 4000 BCE.

Chinese artists mastered numerous forms ofvisual art,

including:

Chinese Pottery,jade carving,and

metalworking andjewellery art;

bronzes (mainly ceremonial vessels);

Buddhist
sculpture
and
secularterracotta
sculpture(exemplified by theChinese Terracotta Army);

Chinese paintingand

calligraphy; as well ascraftssuch as lacquerware.

other

types

of

China is dated by its Dynasties, a word which has been

coined by western historians from the Greek root for
"power, force or domination."

The differenttypes of artin China developed according to the interest and

patronage of each dynasty, as well as the whims of regional rulers. Trade
relations with its East Asian neighbours was also an important stimulus in the
development of Chinese visual arts, notably pottery and lacquerwork.

- Xia Dynasty (2100-1700 BCE)

- Shang Dynasty (1700-1050)
- Zhou Dynasty (1050-221) [inc. Warring States Period 475-221]
- Qin Emperor and 3-year Dynasty (221-206)
- Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE)
- Six Dynasties Period (220-589)
- Sui Dynasty (589-618)
- Tang Dynasty (618-906)
- Five Dynasties Period (907-60) [military rulers held power]
- Song Dynasty (960-1279)
- Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)
- Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
- Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

Metaphysical,
Daoist
Aspect
Chinese society has always placed great importance on
understanding the pattern of nature and co-existing
with it.

Nature was perceived as the visible manifestation of

God's
creativity,
using
the
interaction
of
theyin(female) andyang(male) life forces.

The main aim of Chinese art turned to the expression of

human understanding of these life forces, in a variety of
art
forms,
includingpainting(notably
that
of
landscapes, bamboo, birds, and flowers), pottery, relief
sculpture and the like.

Moral,
Confucian
Aspect
Chinese art also had social and moralistic functions. The
earliestmural paintings, for instance, portrayed
benevolent emperors, wise ministers, loyal generals, as
well as their evil opposites, as an example and a
warning to observers.

Inspirational But Not Essentially Religious

Court painters were frequently commissioned to depict
auspicious and memorable events, but high religious
painting is unknown in Chinese art.

Thus overly realistic subjects such as war, death,

violence, martyrdom or even the nude, were avoided.

Symbolism in Chinese Visual

Art

Chinese art is packed with specific symbols:

bamboorepresents a spirit which can be bent by

circumstance but not broken;

jaderepresents purity;

adragonoften symbolizes the emperor;

the crane, long life; apair of ducks, fidelity in

marriage.

Plant symbols include: theorchid, another symbol of

purity and loyalty; and thepine tree, which symbolizes
endurance.

Chinese Painting

Landscape painting was regarded as the highest form

of Chinese painting.

They also consider the three concepts of their

arts: Nature,
Heaven
and
Humankind (YinYang).

The Han court eunuch, Cai Lun, invented the paper in

the 1st Century AD it provided not only a cheap and
widespread medium for writing but painting became
more economical.

Chinese art expresses the human understanding of the

relationship between nature and human.

This might be called the metaphysical, Daoist aspect

of Chinese painting.

Painting subjects and Theme

1.

Flowers and birds

2. Landscapes
3. Palaces and Temples
4. Human Figures
5. Animals
6. Bamboos and Stones

Subjects
Traditional Chinese paintings can be classified
according to subject matter into

figure paintings,

landscapes

and

flower-and-bird

paintings.

Landscapes represent a major category in

traditional Chinese painting, mainly depicting
the natural scenery of mountains and rivers.

6 Principles

To make your painting interesting and realistic apply

these Six Principles of Chinese Painting established by
Xie He, a writer, art historian and critic in 5th
century China.
1. Observe rhythm and movements
2. Leave spaces for the eyes to rest
3. Use brush in calligraphy
4. Use colors correctly
5. Live up to tradition by copying the masters
artwork.
6. Copy the correct proportion of the objects and
nature.

Forms & Subjects

The principal forms of traditional Chinese painting are

hanging scroll ,

album of paintings ,

fan surface and

long horizontal scroll.

HANGING SCROLLS
Hanging

scrolls are both

horizontal and vertical
/ . They are
mounted and hung on the
wall.
For an album of paintings
the artist paints on a
certain size of xuan paper,
then binds a number of
paintings into an album,
convenient for storage.

FOLDING FANS
The surface of both folding fans and
round fans is painted.
they used fans made of bamboo strips
pasted with paper or silk.
In time this developed into a form of
painting that has been handed down to
the present. Folding fans, usually
made of paper, are used by men, while
round fans, generally of silk, are used
by women.

HAND SCROLL
The

long horizontal scroll is also called a hand

scroll . It is less than fifty centimetres
high, but several to a hundred metres long.
A hundred or a thousand human figures can be
portrayed in one painting. After being mounted,
it can be appreciated section by section.
Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival (Qingming
Festival, when Chinese people visit ancestral
tombs, falls on April 5 or 6 each year) is a
famous horizontal scroll from the Song Dynasty
(960 -1279). The painting is 52.5 centimetres
long.

Brush techniques

The use of ink

The use of color

Tools & Materials

Brushes

Ink and Pigments

Paper and silk

Ink Slab

Color-mixing tray

Brush wash utensil

Celebrities

Gu Kaizhi -- Originator of Painting East Jin Dynasty

Wu Daozi, Sage in Chinese Painting

Gu Kaizhi

Gu Kai zhi(346-407), was a painter of the Eastern Jin

Dynasty. He was so talented that he was not only good
at poems but also at painting, especially the paintings
of portraits, historical figures, birds, animals and
landscapes as well.
He is considered by many the greatest and the father of
landscape painting ( ).

Admonitions of the Instructress to the Palace Ladies

( )

His famous works

Ode to the Luo Goddess

Ladies of Virtues

Ode to the Luo Goddess

The painting depicts the meeting between

Cao Zhi and the Goddess Luoshen at
Luoshui River, vividly capturing the mood
of their first meeting and eventual
separation.
Gu emphasized his subjects' expressions,
with the stones, mountains and trees
having an ornamental purpose. Gu's
paintings, which greatly influenced later
traditional Chinese paintings, are similar
in style to the Dunhuang murals.

Riverside Scenes at Qingming

Festival
Riverside Scenes at Qingming Festiva is a

marvelous hand-scroll of 5.25 meters in length

and 0.24 meter in height by Zhang Zeduan

, a master painter.
It is a minute depiction of the scenery and life
along a river in Bianliang , the capital of
Northern Song, on the day of Tomb Sweeping
Festival.
This masterpiece is painted in ink with light
colors and is full of surprising details.
This painting also vividly depicts water, bridge,
boats, streets, markets, carts, crowds and human
figures.
It is not only a wonderful work or art but also an
invaluable record of history.

Riverside Scenes at Qingming

Festival

Riverside Scenes at
Qingming Festival

Riverside Scenes at
Qingming Festival

Tang Yans Work

Tang Yans Work

CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY

Calligraphy, or the art of writing, was the visual art

form prized above all others in traditional China.

Thegenres of paintingand calligraphy emerged

simultaneously, sharing identical toolsnamely, brush
and ink.

Yet calligraphy was revered as a fine art long

beforepainting; indeed, it was not until theSong
dynasty, when painting became closely allied with
calligraphy in aim, form, and technique, that painting
shed its status as mere craft and joined the higher ranks
of the fine arts

Three main types of roofs in

traditional Chinese architecture
inclined -more economical for common
Chinese architecture .

Straight

Multi-inclined -Roofs with two or more sections

of incline. These roofs are used for residences
of wealthy Chinese.

Sweeping -has curves that rise at the corners of

the
roof.
These
are
usually reserved for temples and palaces.

Peking Opera

Peking opera face-painting or Jingju Lianpu is done with

different colors in accordance with the performing characters
personality and historical assessment.

Lianpu is called the false mask.

MEANING OF COLORS FOR FACE

PAINTING

Guan Ju - Red indicates devotion, courage, bravery,

uprightness and loyalty.

Huang Pang - Yellow signifies fierceness, ambition and coolheadedness.

Zhu Wen - A green face tells the audience that the character
is not only impulsive and violent, he also lacks self-restraint.

Zhang Fei - Black symbolizes roughness and fierceness. The

black face indicates either a rough and bold character or an
impartial and selfless personality.

Lian Po - Purple stands for uprightness and coolheadedness.

While a reddish purple face indicates a just and noble
character.

Cao Cao - white suggests treachery, suspiciousness and

craftiness. It is common to see the white face of the
powerful villain on stage.

Jiang Gan - The clown or chou in Chinese Opera has special

makeup patterns called xiaohualian (the petty painted
face). Sometimes a small patch of chalk is painted around
the nose to show a mean and secretive character.

Gold and silver colors are usually used for gods and spirits.

Paper Cutting

Chinese paper cuttings are usually symmetrical in design when

unfolded and adapt the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac as
themes and motifs and mostly choose the red color.

The earliest use of paper was made as a pattern for lacquers,

decoration on windows, doors, and walls.

Jianzhi is the first type of paper cutting design, since

paper was invented by the Chinese.

They are sometimes referred to "chung hu", meaning

Window Flower.

Chinese Kite

Chinese Kites originated in WeiFang, Sandong, China (City of

Kites)

Chinese kites may be differentiated into four main categories:

1. Centipede
2. Hard-Winged Kites
3. Soft-Winged Kites
4. Flat Kites

Knot Tying
Zhongguo

is the Chinese decorative

handicraft art that began as a form of
Chinese folk art in the Tang and Song
Dynasty (960-1279 AD) in China.