Arts of China From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chinese Jade ornament with flower design,Jin Dynasty (11151234 AD), Shanghai Museum. The arts of China (Chinese: /) have varied throughout its ancient history, divided into periods by the ruling dynasties of China and changing technology, but still containing a high degree of continuity. Different forms of art have been influenced by great philosophers, teachers, religious figures and even political leaders. The arrival of Buddhismand modern Western influence produced especially large changes. Chinese art encompasses fine arts, folk arts and performance arts. General history

A statue of a Bodhisattva from the Song Dynasty (9601279 AD).

Green Hills and White Clouds, by Gao Kogong, 12701310 AD.

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

"Children Playing in an Autumn Courtyard" (), close-up detail of a larger vertical-scroll painting on silk by Su Hanchen (, active 1130 1160s AD) Main article: 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 blue 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. 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 20th 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. Towards 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 () 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, one of the oldest extant forms 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 () greatly influenced later Chinese landscape painting, and the Yuan dynasty opera became a variant of Chinese opera which continues today in examples such as Cantonese opera. Late imperial China was marked by two specific dynasties: Ming and Qing. Of Ming Dynastypoetry, Gao Qi was acknowledged as the most popular 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 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, ). 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. Han Paper art The most notable invention of the Han period was paper which spawned two new types of arts. Chinese Paper Cutting became a new concept. The idea of expressing symbols and Chinese characters already a part of calligraphy was now extended to Han paper cut outs. Another art form was the Chinese paper folding. While it has its roots in the Han dynasty, later renditions would transform the art into origami, after Buddhist monks took paper to Japan. Contemporary arts New forms of Chinese art were heavily influenced by the New Culture Movement, which adopted Western techniques and employedsocialist realism. The Cultural Revolution would shape Chinese art in the 20th

century like no other event in history with the Four Oldsdestruction 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. Chinese paintings adopted Western techniques

Imperial Hunting painted by Giuseppe Castiglione(16881766), Emperors imperial palace Italian painter in Qing Dynasty China.

Types

A Thousand Peaks and Myriad Ravines byWang Hui, 1693.

Chinese dragon sculpture

Traditional style Chinese concert performance in China

Emperor Xuanzong's Journey to Sichuan, a Ming Dynasty painting after Qiu Ying (14941552).