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II.

Summary of Art

The Neolithic Period (6000 BCE 221 BCE) also called Ancient China showed advances in ceramics and metalworking. The pottery made of clay eventually gave way to the stronger green stone Jade and the metal Bronze. The Jade was used for Cong cylinders, Bi disc, and decorative pendents. These early attainments in jade reflect a technological competence with rotary tools and abrasive techniques, and a passion for subtieties of shape, proportion, and surface texture. The highly imaginative Bronze casting and proficient techniques of mold making characterize early Chinese metalworking. The piece-mold casting technique attained a un-paralleled level of excellence throughout china. Bronze bells, pouring vessels, and fang dings are examples of these castings. Imperial China Period (221 BCE - 220 CE): Art changed tremendously during this period because of a change in beliefs and religion. Trade had begun to open up, allowing silk to become a perfect canvas for a painting on. Each Banner or scroll told an elaborate story of the time period. It was also a time of new ideals with Daoism and Confucianism themes becoming predominant in the art work. The focus of the art, whether it was a ceramic piece of a silk canvas, became the human realm. Stone slabs engraved in low relief also helped depict these religious themes as well. Six Dynasty Period (220 CE 581 CE): During this troubled time, Buddhism became the new religion and quickly affected the art. Painting became the main art focus with a spiritual value that had emphasized arts moral and didactic uses. Silk and paper were used to document these pieces. The brushstroke became the bones of a picture, its primary structural element. Because of the emphasis of the brushstroke, calligraphy formed a relationship with painting. Buddhism also changed architecture with its promise of salvation after death. Many shrines, pagodas, and temples were built and carved to worship Buddha as a result of this change. The Sui, Tang, Song, and Yuan Dynastys (581 CE 1368 CE): Art during these dynastys consisted of silk, paper, and figure paintings. Many silk hand scrolls were painted during this period as well as many ceramic figures. Much of this cultural time was noted for its refined taste and intellectual grandeur. Much of this grandeur came in the forms of landscape paintings. Nature became a major theme again only this time with a passion for realistic detail in the picture. Thus Chinese artistic expression moved from the mythical in the beginning, through the religious and ethical in the middle, and finally to the philosophical and aesthetic. Marilyn Stokstad, Michael Cothren: Art History, 4th edition, Pg 325-350. Chinese Art: Wikipedia.org

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