ARH 2050: History of Visual Arts II
Dr. S. Bundrick
12 November 2002
THE ART OF CHINA
Shang Dynasty:
Gong of animal forms, from Anyang, 12th-11th c BC
Standing figure, from Guanghan Sanxingdui, ca. 1200 BC
Qin Dynasty:
Painted terracotta soldiers from the tomb of emperor Shi Huangdi,
Shaanxi province, ca. 210 BC
Han Dynasty:
Funeral banner, from Tomb 1 (tomb of Dai), Mawangdui, ca. 168 BC
Six Dynasties period (Period of Disunity):
Bronze Sakyamuni Buddha, late Zhau dynasty, AD 338
Lady Feng and the Bear, section of the Admonitions to Court Ladies,
attributed to Gu Kaizhi, late 4th c AD
Tang Dynasty:
Vairocana Buddha, Longmen Caves, Luoyang, , ca AD 670-680
Detail of The Thirteen Emperors, attributed to Yan Liben,
ca AD 650
Statuette of a neighing horse, 8th-9th c AD
Northern Song Dynasty:
The Five-Color Parakeet, attributed to emperor Song Huizong,
ca. AD 1100-1125
Foguang Si Pagoda, Yingxian, AD 1056
Southern Song Dynasty:
Ma Yuan, Bare Willows and Distant Mountains, 13th c AD
Stoneware meiping vase, 13th c AD
7.2
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7.12
7.16
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7.20
7.21–7.22
7.24
7.26
THE ART OF CHINA
Shang Dynasty (ca 1500-1050 BC):
-earliest traditional dynasty confirmed by archaeology—kings ruled from series of royal
capitals in Yellow River valley
-warlike, highly stratified society—walls of pounded earth
-graves at Anyang as major source of information—over 300 tombs at the site
Bronze gong
-Shang artists perfected casting of bronze vessels using piece molds—many vessels
serving as containers for ritual offerings in divination ceremonies—process cf lost wax
process but using bronze spacers to hold the space between model and mold rather than
wax—sectional molds assembled around a solid central core—legs and handles made
separately and soldered on
-at least 30 main types of ritual vessels
-most Shang sculpture cofined to smallr objects
-well organized workshops suggested by the large number of vessels, but details about
place of artists unknown
-motifs of animal forms as major decorative elements in Shang vessels, ranging from
abstract forms to specific rep’s
-gong: covered libation vessel
-integration of multiple designs and field of background spirals
-horned animal at front of lid—horned head with bird’s beak at back
-fish, birds, elephants, rabbits, and abstrct creatures
-profusion of animals cf early Chinese attitudes re power of nature and forces of the
cosmos?
-Shang bronze: 5-30% tin, 2-3% lead, rest copper
Standing figure of Sanxingdui
-1986-90: remains of a city wall together with foundations of buildings and four
“ceremonial pits” discovered—this bronze found in the richest pit, no. 2—included 41
masks and heads in bronze, elephant tusks, jade implements, etc
-more than 8 ft tall
-finds at Sanxingdui show aesthetic traditions developing outside Anyang
-human figure on thin platform supported by four leges formed of fantastic animal heads,
in turn resting on a thick square base
-figure tapers as it rises, becomes rouder—oversize hands must have originally ecicrled
another element of the work—reps onthis scale from this period otherwise unknown
-surface decoration—abstract rendering of the body and clothiing
Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC)
-armies of the ruler of th state of Qin conquered all rival states ending a period of
political chaos
-Shi Huangdi: First Emperor of China, r 221-210 BC, succeeded by his son (who was
assassinated)
-ordered building of the Great Wall
-centralized rule through centralized bureaucracy, adopted standardized writte language,
weights and measures and coinage—advocated strict laws and punishments
Painted terracotta soldiers
-1974:P excavations began at site of burial mound of Shi Huangdi in Shaanxi province
-mounds remains unexcavated but pits around it have revealed astonsihing collection of
artifacts—more than 6000 lifesize terracotta figures of soldiers and horses—immortal
bodyguard for the king in trenches near what is believed to be an underground funerary
palace
-the “army” includes cavalry, chariots, archers, lancers, hand to hand fighters
-subtle differences among figures with details of facial features, coiffures, and equipment
-solid legs supporting hollow body, along with separate arms and head, formed of coiled
strips of clay over which a finer “skin” was smeared, with features stuck on or worked
with a tool
Han Dynasty (206 BC – AD 220)
-revolt against Qin leaders culminated in the founding of the Han dynasty in 206 BC—
ruled China for four centuries—new and powerful centralized government—borders
extended to south and west—trade with Rome via the Silk Road
Funeral banner
-excavated in 1972—example of Han painting on silk in tomb at Mawangdui in southern
China—belonged to the wife of the Marquis of Dai—two found draped over the corpses
of the Marquise and her son in their coffins—1000 yrs older than all known Chinese
hanging scrolls
-function unknown but may have been used in funeral ceremonies preceding the woman’s
burial—rigorous symmetry and stylized forms
-area within cross at the top of the T represents heaven—most of the vertical section
shows the human realm—the bottom is the underworld
-in heaven area: dragons and immortal beings between and below the red sun and the
raven at right and silvery moon and toad at left
-standing figure on first white platform near vertical section’s center if probably the
Marquise waiting for ascent to heaven to achieve immortality
-funeral at the bottom
-between these two sections is a form resembling a bi disk with two dragons, heads
pointing to heaven and tails to the underworld
-lavish funerary objects, complex funerary rites, and making offerings to ancestors show
importance of ancestor vneration and ideal of continuity
Six Dynasties Period (Period of Disunity)—220-589
-for three and a half centuries, civil strife divided China into competing states
-Buddhism had reached china from India in the first century AD
Sakymuni Buddha
-important early Chinese Buddhist image
-Sakyamuni Buddha = this historical Buddha—dated by inscrip to 338
-resembles prototypes of Gandhara through style and iconography
-flat relieflike handling of the robe, ushnisha on head, and cross legged position
-Chinese artists changed the meditation gesture to have the Buddha clasping hands on
stomach instead of having hands turned palms upward
-by earlyh sixth c, a thinner and more stylized image of the Buddha had emerged in India
and spread through Asia
Lady Feng and the Bear
-secular objects related to Confucianism and Daoism also flourished inthis period
-basic requirements for ptng: round tapered brush, soot-based ink, and a support (either
silk or paper)—also used richly colored minerals as pigments and washes of mineral and
vegetable dies
-handscroll as major format for painting—unrolled to the left and rerolled to the right
-Gu Kaizhi is one of the few individual artists from the period to whom paintings can be
attributed
-painted scenes between passages of explanatory text
-act of heroism: Lady Feng saves emperor’s life by placing herself between him and a
bear—blank background and minimal setting—fluid poses and fluttering drapery—
quality of animation
Tang Dynasty (618-906)
-emperors of short lived Sui Dynasty reunited China and paved the way for the Tang Dyn
-Chinese armies in central Asia—bringing influx of foreign peoples and ideas—
Christians, Arabs, and others came to the capital at Chang’an
Vairocana Buddha
-new dynasty continued to support Buddhism and sponsor great monuments
-Vairocana Buddha: personification of the cosmos—carved out of a cliff work at
Longmen had begun about two centuries earlier during Period of Disunity—1352 caves,
97,000 statues, 3600 inscriptions, 785 carved niches
-presides over infinite number of worlds, each with its Buddha symbolized in his throne’s
lotus petals—regularity of contour and smoothness of planes ephasizing volume—folds
of robe falling in concentric arcs—suppressing surface detail in interest of simplicity and
dignity
-Buddhist bronzes of the period have all disapepared and were melted down in
persecution of 845—only in cave shrines have sculptures survived in any quantity—in
845 all foreign religions were proscribed and Buddhist temples confiscated by imperial
edict—destroying 4600 Buddhist temples
-Buddha of Boundless Light—badly damaged
Detail of the Thirteen Emperors
-tradition of figurative painting developed at the Tang court—reflected the worldliness
and confidence of the emperors—early Tang period regarded by many as the golden age
of Chinese painting
-masterpiece of line drawings and colored washes—Yan Liben as celebrated painter and
statesman—each emperors stands and sits in an undefined space—greater size relative to
his attendants—simple shading in faces and roves gives sense of volume—pagaent of
majesty
-in the MFA Boston—bears portraits of 13 emperors—part of it is a copy from the Song
dynasty
Statuette of a neighing horse
-Tang potters produced fine wares for display—covering vessels with colorful lead
glazes—earthenware figs of people, animals, and fantastic creatures for burial in tombs
-lead glazes ran down sides of animal when fired
-popularity of the horse as a subject reflects importance emperors placed upon their
stables—more than 7000studs in the Tang kingdom—powerfully built horse—arched
neck terminates in small elegant head—richly harnessed and saddled
Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127)
-gradual disintegration of the empire during last centuary of Tang rule—civil war after
fall of the dynasty in 906—conflicting claims between rival states unresolved until Song
dynasty consolidated the country, court at Bianjing
The Five Color Parakeet
-emperor Song Huizong was an avid art collector and patron—important painter known
for pictures of birds—has poem and signature that the emperor handwrote—interest in
meticulous portrayal—feather and petals in sharp precise lines—emperor’s calligraphy
enhances the painting—little regard for animating a subject
-this emperor set up a School of Painting in 1104, but abolished the school in 1110—
painitng then under Hanlin Academy-very strict treatment of painters—required painters
to illustrate the line of a poem as an “audition”—favored play upon ideas—did not
encourage independence among artists
-painters modeled their work on the emperor’s—“palace style”
-“an anxiety to be correct at all costs”
Foguang Si Pagoda
-during Northern Song dynasty, the Liao dynasty briefly ruled part of China
-in 1056 the Liao rulers built the Foguang Si pagoda
-pagoda or tower of Chinese Buddhist temples is a distant descendant of Indian stupas—
many early pagodas housed relics—later pagodas had other functions eg housing sacred
images
-this pagoda is 216 ft tall and made entirely of wood—octagonal in plan
-typical construction—60 four tiered bracket clusters carrying floor beams and projecting
eaves of the five main stories—main stories alternating with windowless mezzanines
with cantilevered balconies, forming an elevation of nine stories altogether—the
balconies lighten the building’s mass—symmetrical placement of statues of the
Buddha—intricacy of the beam and bracket system
Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279)
-1127: capital moved south to Hangzhou because of conquests by seminomadic peoples
in the north
-neo-Confucianism became a leading philosophy—orthodox Buddhism declined
Ma Yuan, Bare Willows and Distant Mountains
-emphasis on the landscape—Southern Song landscapes basically asymmetrical,
composed on a diagonal—three levels: the foreground weighted in one corner, the middle
distance ,and far distance—field of mist often separating these parts—painter generally
marked foreground by a rock to emphasize distance from other parts—middle distance
may include flat cliff or include mist or water—far distance can have mountain peaks
suggesting infinity of space—using voids to hold masses in equilibrium
-sensitively balanced and half-seen shapes
-tall elegant trees with visible roots are a typical element in this artist’s work
Meiping vase
-elegant shapes with fluid silhouettes
-high shouldered shape is the meiping
-technique known as sgraffito—incising design through colored slip—cutting through a
black slip—twining vine and flower petal motifs embracing the vessel—harmonizing
surface design to vase shape—incising after vessels have partially dried
-Cizhou wares made for general use not for the court—Cizhou is the site, extensive kilns,
from which the ware gets its name although it was produced at several places