CHINA ART IMAGES

By MONLLEOSPRING 2014

TIMELINE

Circular Hut, Banpo Village Neolithic Period (YANGSHAO) 5000-1700 BCE

Tregear #2

Reconstruction of a circular hut of the type excavated at Banpo, Shaanxi.

The huts were constructed on a system of posts, for which the holes have been found.

It is thought that the walls and roofs were of wattle and thatch.

• Trenching pounded earth (the flooring) easy to brush away. • KILN AREA // DITCH //• 1. Sloping entrance • 2. Plastered or daubed interior partition• 3. Central fire pit• 4. Plaster floor or bare earth.• 5. Let stalks reeds clay• 5. Straw thatch• 6. Brushwood• 7. A Rectangular pit house• 8. A Round hut• 9. A Wattle and Daub Construction• 10. Vines and saplings woven between supporting poles with mud

applied to create a protected place.

Painted pottery Basin from Banpo,Neolithic Period

(YANGSHAO) 5000-1700 BCE

Tregear # 4

• Painted pottery cultures • Usually buff to reddish clay with black painted

decoration. / Large use of “SLIP” liquefied clay, very typical of this type of this period.

• Probably of a symbolic significance, which can only be guessed at today, the fish and the human head with 3 pointed ‘halo’ motifs of Banpo move slowly towards abstraction. This movement from representation to abstraction is repeated in much of the other Painted Pottery decoration of north China. It can be seen, for instance, in the flower motifs of Henan.

• Here the sinuous movement of the motif complements the profile of the pot in a way, which makes it clear that it was deliberately chosen by the decorator.

Burnished Black Pottery Beaker, Neolithic Period

(Longshan) 5000-1700BCE

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• Black burnished pottery;• There is no painting involved;• Tall beaker of thin burnished black pottery. A shape

which is unique to the eastern area of the Black Pottery culture.

• From Weifang, Shandong. 3rd or early 2nd millennium BC.

• LONGSHAN artists seem to focus on the tactile aspect.

• It is a very fine wear, for some kind of religious ritual;• The shapes are very refined;• 2 or 3 pieces would be added to become one long

piece;

Bronze GU (goblet) Shang Dynasty 1766-1111 BCE

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• High –footed goblet, “GU”- Cast bronze. This trumpet-mouthed shape is a wine-drinking vessel; the hollow foot reaches up to the central zone. The rising blades are of cicada motif. 14th-13th C. BC.

• GU is a tall, trumpet-shaped vessel is a drinking cup, used for hot wine. Trumpet shape Siqueira design usually.

Bronze Ding (cauldron) Shang Dynasty 1766-1111 BCE

Tregear # 15

It is a square or rectangular container on four legs used for cooking, usually many bosses.

It looks like a barbecue set in old times.

DING = a four-legged vessel. Cast bronze. The human mask motif may refer to human sacrifice, but this vessel bears an inscription “large grain”.

The simplification of the surrounds and the enlarged flanges point to a late Shang date.

From Ningxian, Henan. 14th-12th C. BC.

JUE- 3-Legged Vessel for Heating Wine Cast Bronze, Shang Dynasty 1766-1111 BCE

Tregear # 38

• It is a 3 legged vessel for heating wine. Cast bronze. This shape is unique to the Shang period although it is a development of a Neolithic Black Pottery shape. 13th-12th C. BC.

• It is an awkward, spindly wine vessel; used for serving heated wine in rituals, like a decanter of these days, but in bronze.

Bronze Yu (bucket) (Early) Zhou Dynasty 1111-221 BCE

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• Bucket with swinging handle, YU.• Cast bronze.• A piece showing some of the

exaggeration characteristic of the early ZHOU period.

• The hooked and upswept flanges give a new profile to the vessel, although the decoration is still completely traditional.

• 12th-11th C. BC.

bronze Yu (bucket) in form of a monster (Late) Shang Dynasty 1766-1111 BCE

Tregear # 18

• It is a Bucket with swinging handle, YU. Cast bronze.

• The monster with terrified human being embodies much of the late Shang style.

• The elaborate surface decoration includes KUI, felines and serpents; a small deer forms the knob.

• Much use is made of leiwen to enrich the surface. 11th C. BC.

Bronze Ding (Early) Zhou Dynasty 1111-221 BCE

Tregear # 27 (wrong image, couldn’t find legs one)• 3 legged vessel with cover, DING.

Cast Bronze. • The cover can be reversed to make a

bowl. • At this period elegance of form

demanded subordination of the decoration, which is here abstract, with a quatrefoil motif in the centre of the cover.

• 6th C. BC.•

Funerary Banner, Mawangdui tombs (Han Dynasty) 206 BCE- CE 221

Tregear #40

• A symbolic painting found on the coffin of the lady portrayed in the center of the banner. Mid-2nd C. BC. 3 world levels…

• 1.TOP- Sky world with mythical inhabitants;

• 2.MIDDLE- Earth world with the marquise & female attendants;

• 3.BOTTOM- Neither world with groupings of ritual vessels + mourners;

Funerary Banner (detail), Mawangdui tombs (Han Dynasty) 206 BCE- CE 221

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• Lower portion of the banner. The style of painting in sinuous line and rich colour is probably close to the style of finer contemporary works on fabric, none of which have so far been found.

• The murky underworld or sea is again represented by mythological scenes.

• The sinuous line of serpentine dragons, entwined in the jade ring (BI) and encircling the humans, seems to link this composition to CHU art of a century earlier.

• However, the treatment of the humans and of the mythological scenes is conceived in the “new style”, in which painting unites the real and the imaginary worlds.

• The juxtaposition of real and imaginary, first seen in the Shang bronzes, is characteristic of the HAN period.

Battle Scene (rubbing), Wu Family Shrine (Han Dynasty) 206 BCE- CE 221

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• Rubbing of a stone relief from the WU LIANGZI shrine, Shandong.

• This section shows a battle scene on a bridge over a river.

• The scattered surface composition reads from the base line upwards. AD 147-68.

Incense burner in form of a mountain, Mancheng tombs (Han Dynasty) 206 BCE- CE 221

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• Incense burner in the form of a mountain.

• Cast bronze with gold and silver inlays.• The cover is pierced so that the incense

smoke wreathes out.• Small animals and humans wander

amongst the peaks.• It is from the tomb of Prince LIU SHENG.

Mancheng, HEBEI. Late 2nd C. BC.

Lamp in form of a girl, Mancheng tombs (Han Dynasty) 206 BCE- CE 221

Tregear #52

• Gilt bronze oil lamp in the form of a kneeling servant girl.

• Her right arm and sleeve form the chimney of the lamp, and the cylinder around the wick revolves to allow the light to be directed.

• From the tomb of Princess DOU WAN, Mancheng, HEBEI.

• 2nd C. BC.

“Flying” Horse (Han Dynasty) 206 BCE- CE 221

Tregear #54

• It is a cast bronze figure of a horse with one foot poised on a flying swallow.

• This famous piece comes from GANSU and represents a lively tradition of horse models in the area.

• HAN.

Detail from Murals in Tomb Chamber of Yong Tai near Chang-an

(Tang Dynasty) CE 618-906Tregear #65

• Detail from the murals in the tomb chamber of Princess Yong Tai, near Chang’an.

• A serene expression of gentle movement now complements the traditional linking of figures by facial expression and gesture.

• There is here a real representation of space and volume on the ground plane and around each figure.

• Dated 706.

Emperor Ming Huang Travelling in Shu color on silk (Tang Dynasty) 618-906

Tregear #68

• The Emperor MING Huang Travelling in SHU.

• Colour on silk. • The picture reads from left

to right and falls into 3 episodes.

• It is executed in the style of idyllic landscape painting of the Tang Dynasty.

• Later copy of 8th C. original.

Colossal Amitabha Buddha (Sui Dynasty) CE 581-618

Tregear #70

• Colossal standing Amitabha Buddha.• Marble sculpture in the calm style of Sui. • The Buddha is now much more fully

clothed, and the treatment of the folds and threads of the drapery has become an important part of the sculptor’s expression of form.

• From Hebei. Dated 585.• Turbulent movement in sculpture.

Rubbing of Princess Yong Tai tomb, Chang’an (Tang Dynasty) CE 618-906

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• Rubbing of incised decoration from the sarcophagus of the Princess Yong Tai tomb, Chang’an.

• This carving indicates the style of figure painting in the 8th C. : a flowing line and simple composition expressing both space and volume. Dated 706.

Ceramic figure of a Camel (Tang Dynasty) CE 618-906

Tregear #86

• Tomb model of a saddled camel. Cream, green and yellow glazes over a white earthenware body.

• Such models of animals, servants, entertainers and household goods were produced in quantity in the 8th C.

• Cast from moulds and assembled in sections, they achieve many lively poses.

“Traveling in Streams and Mountains” (by FAN KUAN) Northern Song Dynasty CE 960-1279

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*HE DISCRIBED clearly the landscape, you can enter the landscape painting. *The horses are passing at the bottom of the piece. *There is a great space in between, all white to give a distance to the back ground.*There is some architecture in the end it is probably a Buddhist temple. *Pure nature at the top.*It’s were we go when we are completely evolved.*It has to be realism. *The begin to follow a guide book, and there are many books. *If it’s a pine tree, it has to have a specific look. * It has to be described in a certain way.

Early Spring (by GUO XI) hanging scroll Northern Song Dynasty CE 960-1279

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• About 50 years later, Guo X painted Early Spring. • This artist also painted at court, by now that of

the Northern Song at Kaifeng. • He was not only a court painter – which implied

portraiture, decoration and religious painting – but also the head of the Imperial Academy.

• He must, therefore, have been an artist of considerable standing amongst his contemporaries.

• There are, indeed, records which confirm that he was a good painter in many fields, who painted landscapes for his own satisfaction.

• Few of his works have survived, and of these EARLY SPRING is probably the best known.

“On a Mountain Path in Spring” (by MA YUAN)

SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY CE 1128-1279

Tregear #101

• Ink & light color on silk.• An album leaf in which MA YUAN

uses surface compositional devices close to HUI ZONG but adds the illusion of space and depth with the hill to the left and the flying bird.

MU-QI Persimmons (Ink on Paper) Southern Song Dynasty CE 1128-1279

Tregear #104

• This small painting epitomizes the CHAN ideal with its subtle evocation of colour in tone and its witty brushwork.

Wandering in the Fuchun Mountains (by HUANG GONGWANG) Yuan Dynasty

CE 1260-1368

Tregear #112

• Hand scroll, ink on paper, 1350.

• Comparison both with the early masters whom Huang admired and with the contemporary paintings by ZHAO MENGFU and QIAN XUAN show the strength of this master’s work.

The Rongxi Studio (by NI ZAN) Yuan Dynasty CE 1260-1368

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• NI ZAN• came from a comfortably well-off family which owned a fine house and a famous

library.• He was an educated man who chose not to take up the office for which he would

have been fitted.• During the period of national troubles, both taxation and local unrest hit his family

and eventually he sold up the family estate and, to avoid having to submit to the local ruler, he and his wife lived on a boat on the lakes.

• It seems that his highly personal landscapes, variations on the same lakeside subject, date from this period.

• His vision is one of calm waters and of uninhabited land in a silvery light.• Painted in light ink on paper, Ni Zan’s paintings are executed with light, staccato

brushwork and in a very narrow range of tone.• The artist has a sure eye for expressing space across water.• He uses a vertical hanging scroll format and he is the finest exponent of the

“stretched” composition: whereas the 11th C. landscape painter bound his painting to the edges of the fame and related one eye level to another by interlocking units within the composition.

• Ni Zan and other 14th C. painters expanded the space between these units, daring almost to split the composition horizontally, but trying it by the use of vertical elements, such as tall tree in the foreground, to unite the surfice.

Imperial Palace, Forbidden City, Beijing (Ming-Qing Dynasty) 15th-17th cen. CE

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• General view of one of the inner courtyards of the Palace. 15th C. foundation.

• The grand plan includes ceremonial, religious, administrative & domestic quarters.

Temple of Heaven, Beijing (Ming Dynasty) CE 1368-1644 (15th cen.)

Tregear #122

• This circular building with violet-blue tiled roof and brilliantly painted woodwork faces the Altar of Heaven at which the Emperor performed seasonal rituals.

• Late Qing period.

Marble Camels on the Spirit Way to Ming Tombs of Nanjing (Ming) 1369-1644

Tregear #124

• It is a road flanked by animal sculpture which leads to the Ming tombs at Nanjing.

• The first two Ming emperors were buried at Nanjing, where the tomb site, though similar, is smaller than that at Beijing.

Returning Home at Evening (by DAI JIN) Ming Dynasty CE 1368-1644

Tregear #125

• It is a hanging scroll, ink & slight colour on silk.

• The scale of this large painting imparts a new dimension to a brush style which is clearly related to the 13th C. BC.

Fishing Boat by a Willow Bank (by QUI YING) Ming Dynasty CE 1368-1644

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• Colour on silk.• Using a high view and delicate composition, the

artist achieves a most poetic and decorative effect.

Autumn Landscape (by KUN CAN) Qing Dynasty CE 1644-1911

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• Obs. Couldn't find right picture• Ink and slight colour on paper.• The atmospheric effect of the distance is

enhanced by the colour.• The 3rd of the Individualist painters was

Kun Can, also a monk about whom very little is known, and from whose work only a few landscapes and album leaves survive.

• His compositions tend to be sprawling and anecdotal.

• The structure does not have any of the tightness of other classic style painters,

Kazaks Presenting Horses to Emperor (by LANG SHINING / CASTIGLIONE)

Qing Dynasty CE 1644-1911

Tregear #147

• Kazaks Presenting Tribute Horses to the Qian Long Emperor (detail). Handscroll, ink and color on paper. Another example of court taste, with its mixture of European and Chinese styles.

• His drawing, however, was Italian, as was his use of color, light and shade, modelling and linear perspective, all of which seemed exotic and fascinating to the Chinese. His style became popular at court and was adopted by several Chinese painters. The result was a new “realism” in painting which was at odds with all that Shi Tao, Badashanren or the Four Wangs stood for. Nevertheless, this type of realism become rooted I Chinese tradition and it further generated a school of decorative painting in the 18th & 19th C.

• Outside courts circles, life was rich and independent in spirit. In flourishing dstricts such as Yangzhou, Suzhou and Nanjing, artists and craftsmen found a ready market. A group of overtly commercially-minded painters, who were yet of the educated class, made their appearance in these centers. Advertising their work for sale and producing considerable quantities of small paintings, they made a good living from their work. These artists were grouped under the name of Eccentrics and were at some pains to create a memorable personal style. Although none of them was of the stature of Shi Tao or Badashanren, they were all to some extent innovators. Mei Qing (1623-97) was a friend and admirer of Shi Tao.

NEOLITHIC CHINA

SHANG DYNASTY – 1766=1111 BCE

ZHOU DYNASTY – 1111-221 BCE

QIN DYNASTY 221-206 BCE

HAN Dynasty 206 BCE-CE 221

NORTHERN & SOUTHERN Dynasties 219-580 CE

SUI Dynasty 581-618 CE (sway)

TANG Dynasty 618-906 CE

Northern & Southern SONG Dynasty 960-1279 CE

YUAN Dynasty 1260-1368 CE

MING Dynasty 1368-1644 CE

QING Dynasty 1644-1911 CE

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE

The End

By Andre MonlleoSpring 2014.