ANCIENT CHINESE ART
By: Christy, Mario, and Shota
ART…
Why is art so important…? Art, is a creative way of expressing
yourself. Without the art, everything would just be plain.
Art can have an impact on consciousness. It allows for ways of looking at and
thinking about life, allows artists to bring public attentions to areas of concern.
Art and artists can - and do - make contributions that help focus awareness on needed social changes.
Personal critical consciousness can be developed into the social life.
STONE AGE ART Stone age art the oldest art in the world and has its
origins in remote antiquity. “Stone age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly
consisting of simple pottery and sculptures. China is a culture based around respect, customs,
and traditions. The various kinds of visual arts in China have
developed under the direct patronage of different imperial dynasties.
The earliest art forms would use rock and stone for art because they didn’t know to use metal yet. Chinese art began more than 4000 years ago.
SUBJECT AND STYLE China has the following categories of visual arts to
express itself: -Calligraphy -Pottery -Jewelry-Painting -Architecture -Sculpture -Bronze casting
In paper cuts, they like to cut Buddha, opera faces, animals, flowers, children, and aerobics.
Sometimes in their painting, they would use black and white, having one object with each color.
One of their favorite subjects was nature. They believed that the spirit of nature gives life to
everything, the painter must capture the feeling of nature.
PROCESS AND MATERIAL
The Chinese used many materials such as medal, bronze, lacquer (a liquid painted onto metal or wood to form a hard shiny surface), jade (a liquid painted onto metal or wood to form a hard shiny surface), clay, silk, and cloth.
They made the most flexible of material -paper.
Chinese people used jade to make mirrors and clay and stone to make pottery and statues.
At a ceremony they would use bronze to make wine vessels in animal shapes.
JADE CULTURE
The Lanzhou culture was the last Neolithic Jade culture, and was spaced over a period of about 1,300 years.
Artists used the small birds, turtles and fish to make pendants.
Jade is a green stone that cannot be carved so it has to be ground.
Jades reflected many Chinese beliefs and values in ancient.
BRONZE CASTING
The Bronze Age in China began with the Xia Dynasty.
More elaborate objects, including many ritual vessels, were crafted.
The Shang are remembered for their bronze casting.
Shang bronzes became appreciated as works of art from the Song Dynasty, when they were collected and prized for their shape and design, and also for the various green, blue green, and even reddish patinas created by chemical reaction as they lay buried in the ground.
INFLUENCE
Chinese arts are influenced by three major religions: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.
Another major influence was nature. The three major kinds of subject they liked to
paint were birds, flowers, and landscapes from the countryside.
All the religions stress love for nature. All landscape painters tried to get a feeling of
the human spirit and the strength of the wind, water, mist and mountains.
Painting became an art form more than 2000 years ago then influenced the later painters.
CHINESE PAINTING
Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world.
Chinese painting was used on decorative bronzes, carved jade and lacquer ware such as figures of fish, frogs, deer, birds, flowers, tree leaves and dancing people which dates back to around 6,000 to 7,000 years old.
Early pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals.
It was only during the Warring States Period (403-221 B.C.) that artists began to represent the world around them.
TRADITIONAL PAINTING
Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese is guó huà (国画 ), meaning 'national' or 'native painting'.
Traditional painting is done with a brush dipped in black or colored ink; oils are not used, however.
The most popular materials on which paintings are made of are paper and silk.
The two main techniques in Chinese painting are: -Meticulous - gong-bi (工筆 ) often referred to as "court-style" painting
-Freehand - shui-mo (水墨 ) water color or brush painting.
By Lu Ji
Chinese paintings fall into several categories, such as figure paintings, landscapes, and flower-and-bird paintings .
Li Sixun's landscape portraits have a mood and a very unique style. He has beautifully captured the mountains and rivers with the strokes of his brush. Li Sixun had an equally excellent command of portraying both animals and landscapes. His son, Li Zhaodao, put more emphasis on technique in his paintings of mountains, rivers and wild animals, which decreased their artistic quality.
By Li Sixuan, an outstanding artist in the Tang Dynasty
CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY I
Ancient Chinese sculptures have attained great achievements in different sculpture branches and different historical periods.
They are rich in subject matter and presenting strong and vivid flavor of the country.
For instance, the sculptures in the Qin and Han Dynasties are rough and sturdy, the sculptures in the Wei and Jin Dynasties are vigorous and graceful, and the sculptures in Tang and Song Dyansties are rich and elegant...
CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY II The ancient Chinese sculptures are full of
expressionistic spirit. They are stress on the feeling and artistic
conception which is able to lead people to another artistic world.
The most representative of the pottery sculptures in the lower reaches of the Yellow River are pottery guis. (A gui is an ancient Chinese pitcher with three legs.)
The guis were made in the shape of animals, such as pigs and dogs.
The animals depicted in these sculptures are mostly domesticated livestock, such as pigs, sheep, dogs and chickens, used by people in the Neolithic Age.
CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY III There are seven standard strokes. The seven strokes or 'Seven Mysteries' as
they are called:
-Horizontal line
-dot
-sweeping downward stroke
-vertical line
-sharp curve and downward stroke
Calligraphy in Chinese is known as "Shufa" (书法 ) and it is a unique part of Chinese culture with a history of five thousand years.
The earliest form of Chinese writing, dates back to 28th century BC.
CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY IV Tools: Chinese ink- It is solid, and usually comes in the shape of sticks. Black
ink is made from the soot of pinewood or oil smoke. Chinese ink stone- Ink stones are made from stone or pottery. They
are flat and hard, and are sometimes shaped into beautiful objects. The calligrapher puts water on the ink stone, then grinds the stick of
ink against it. This makes ink that can be brushed on paper. It is important to
grind enough ink to finish what you start. If you have to grind more ink, you may not be able to make it the same shade.
Chinese brush- Brushes are made from animal hair that is bundled together and put on bamboo reeds. The Chinese use hair from wolves, sheep, rabbits, deer, foxes, or mice depending on the type of writing. For small delicate writing, use rabbit hair. For bold writing, sheep hair is good.
Brush rest- These stands are used to hold extra brushes. They are usually decorated. The stroke order of a character is important in mastering calligraphy. The stroke order creates the correct effect for the character.
Johnan-Sanjin’s Calligraphy Kingdoms
NEOLITHIC POTTERY
Early forms of art in China are found in the Neolithic Yangchow culture (仰韶文化 ); which dates back to the 6,000 BC.
Early ceramics (art objects such as figures) were unpainted and most often cord-marked.
The first decorations were fish and human faces, but these eventually evolved into symmetrical-geometric abstract designs, some painted.
ANCIENT CHINESE POTTERY I
The ancient art of pottery (ceramics) has a rich history.
Clay, jade, and bronze are the dominant materials used in the pottery of ancient China from around 4000 B.C. Of these, clay and bronze were the most important materials.
Both materials were used to make pots and containers in a variety of shapes, the best of which were buried with their owners.
ANCIENT CHINESE POTTERY II This pot was used as funeral urns. These pots make a statement about their use as well as their
function in the society.
Which pot do you think made earlier?
or
TAKE A LOOK INSIDE AND SEE 3 CHAMBERS
…?
ANCIENT CHINESE POTTERY III
It is from the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220) that the history of pottery making in China is ordinarily traced.
The ancient Chinese had a custom of burying the dead with pottery images of people, animals, and possessions dear to them during life.
CHINESE BRONZE CASTING I
Bronze is an alloy of copper and a variety of other elements such as tin, aluminum, and lead.
Bronze ware can be found in many ancient civilizations.
The Bronze Age in China began around 2000 B.C.
It saw the growth and maturity of a civilization that would be sustained in its essential aspects for another 2,000 years.
CHINESE BRONZE CASTING II
The early bronze item in China was a knife discovered in Gansu Province Majiayao site.
The bronze knife was dated to 3000 BC. Early days of Bronze in China, bronze was mostly used to make knives, mirror and other tools.
During Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, bronze production peaked.
Bronze was used to make musical instruments, weapons, and containers.
Bronze instrument and containers were wide used in sacrificial ceremonies.
CHINESE BRONZE CASTING III
Taotie was one of the most popular motifs (main material) for the bronze ware during that time.
Taotie is a Chinese mythical creature, said to have only head and no bodies.
Cicada patterns became popular in Shang and Western Zhou dynasties.
During the Spring and Autumn period, Dragon patterns were popular in bronze decorations.
At the beginning, the shape of the bronze items are very simple.
The items were hammered into shape. As the bronze gains popularity, more complex shapes needs to be made.
Ding is one of the most common bronze vessels. Ding started as a cooking device, and then became a status symbol, especially for burial. A King can have nine Dings in his tomb. Most Bronze Dings are three-legged, except some of the older Dings are square and have four legs.
The jue vessels are used for drinking as a modern day pint glass. Jue stands on three legs and fire can be placed under the legs for heating. Two short stubs on top of jue are called Zhu.
• Zun is a common wine vessel that has the most creative shapes. • It stores wine. You can also find Zuns in animal shapes such as sheep, elephant, and rhinoceroses.
CHINESE BRONZE CASTING IV The earliest Chinese bronzes were made by the
method known as piece-mold casting, which was used in all other Bronze Age cultures.
The piece-mold method was most likely the only one used in China until at least the end of the Shang dynasty.
The decorative patterns could be carved or stamped directly on the inner surface of the mold.
This technique enabled the bronze worker to achieve a high degree of sharpness and definition of the most intricate designs.
ANCIENT JEWELRY
Ancient Chinese Jewelry was produced during the following dates: 2200-300 BC.
Jewelry designs and fashion included scrolls, flowers, turtles, winged birds, dragons and the phoenix.
Dyed feathers were added to further enhance jewelry.
The dragon is a mythical beast symbolizing, intelligence and good will.
Turtles are regarded as divine animals in Chinese culture and symbolize longevity.
Such animals are carved in Jade.
THE INFLUENCES OF CHINESE ANCIENT JEWELRY
Many Chinese jewelry designs were religious, containing various Buddhist symbols, scrolls, flowers, winged birds, dragons and the phoenix.
Men and women wore items of jewelry as symbols of their wealth and status.
The most popular pieces included headdresses, necklaces, pectorals, temple and coin pendants, bracelets, rings, seal rings, head jewelry, anklets and diadems.
It was traditional for men wore one earring and women to wear a pair of earrings.
Jade is valued by the Chinese more than any other gemstone.
USING JEWELRY
Ancient Chinese people used the jewelry in many ways included headdresses, necklaces, pectorals, temple and coin pendants, bracelets, rings, seal rings, head jewelry, anklets and diadems.
Men wore one earring and women wore a pair of earrings.
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