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Huang Ho (Yellow River) Valley Civilization
8000 B.C.E. small agricultural communities formed –wheat, millet, rice (labor intensive
2000 B.C.E. Bronze methods in use (Xiu dynasty, 2200 BCE, first described in historical records.)
1750 B.C.E. Shang dynasty –warrior aristocracy
Shang Dynasty 1750-1027 B.C.E
Extensive trading of jade, ivory, silk
Urban culture, Divine Right of Monarch
Chinese system of writing (pictograms) originated with the Shang
2 of the most important aspects of Chinese religion:
Fortune telling
Ancestor worship
Zhou (Chou) Dynasty 1027-221 B.C.E.
Iron tools/ Shift from hunting to agriculture
Political sophistication increased – “Mandate of Heaven”
Confucianism and Daoism
Qin Dynasty – 221-206 B.C.E.
Short lived Qin gave China its name
Emperor Shi Huangdi turned China into a dictatorial tightly
centralized nation
Standardized weights and measures
Modernized with iron weapons, crossbows, cavalry warfare
Forced labor to build thousands of miles of roads
Beginning of Great Wall
Strong Emperor/Legalism/ Bureaucracy
Han Dynasty –
Greater expansion
Postal service/taxation
Expand “Great Wall”
Monopoly in silk production
Ancient and Medieval China
Ancient Chinese believed that gods
and spirits controlled the universe
As in the ancient Near East, they
performed rituals to assure bountiful
harvests and material well-being
They inscribed question to the gods on
tortoise shells and bones of animals,
which they heated to produce cracks
to be interpreted
Tortoise shell divination device, 1250-1200 B.C.E.,
Shang Dynasty
topics in Chinese history
Minneapolis Institute of the Arts China Overview
Ritual Disk
Rulers claimed their authority
form the Lord on High
(Shang-di) symbolized by the
dragon- strength fertility and
life-giving water
may have been an icon for the
circle of heaven-patience,
diligence, beauty, and hard work.
The dragons are also symbols of
good fortune and a rulers ability
to meditate and thus transcend
between heaven and earth.
Melchior
Bi Disk
500 BCE - 400 BCE
China
Zhou Dynasty
Bronze Age
Jade 6.5"
Tomb Objects
Fang Ding 12th century BCE
Bronze, made in piece molds
Shang Dynasty famous for its bronzes
This fang ding was used to store food
and wine for ceremonies
Animal motifs are central/emphasis on
hunting (T’ao-t’ieh mask)
Shang kings conquered by Zhou
Zhou Dynasty: 11th c. B.C.E.- 221 B.C.E.
Established Feudal Society based on
agriculture
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Found buried in tombs from
the Shang Dynasty
The use and creation of
these vessels continued on
into the Zhou Dynasty
however, they were not
always used in burials
Used to hold or cook food
for a sacrifice.
The smoke rising off of the
vessel would have been for
the spirit of the dead and
then the cooked food would
have been eaten by the
living.
• 200 to 300 pounds
• complex and stylized imagery very similar geometricized
• Represent two stylized dragon or monster faces (called
t'ao-t'ieh ortaotie)
• the leiwen thunder design in turquoise and kui dragon in
yellow.
T’ao-t’ieh
Insatiable monster
Symmetrical
Often hidden within other
beasts
Bronze Casting Method
Ritual Objects – Kuang (wine mixer)
Shang bronzes are inscribed with fantastic beasts. The vessel forms the shape of a beast,
both front and back. Within these beasts are more beasts, with the chief motif – the T’aot’ieh- often hidden in design
Indiana U. PDF Shang Oracles and Ritual Bronzes
Similarities to Mesoamerican artifacts
Shang Kings believed to hold
the power of connecting to the
spirit world
Great expense in the creation
of ritual vessels
Shang Ceremonial vessel, 1000 BCE. Surface covered with dragons, birds and
geometric shapes arranged symmetrically. Reflects the Chinese perception of
the cosmos as animated and regulated by natural order. A History of the
World in 100 objects
• Rubbing from the
Fang Ding
• The pictogram
represents the
concept of the
mother or "good
wife."
• a child, a woman
and a broom, link
the idea of child
rearing and
cleaning as part of
the roles of
women in Shang
culture.
Zhou Dynasty Bronzes
More primitive people from the west
Bronzes took on the bolder spirit of
the conquerors
Aggressive spikes and projections, with
motifs in high relief, distinguish the
ferocious style that appeared at the
beginning of the Zhou dynasty around
1050 BCE.
Early Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 10501000 BCE
Bronze
Spirits, Gods and the Natural Order
• Agricultural commities of ancient China
venerated an assortment of local spirits
associated with natural forces, rivers,
mountains and crops
• The Lord on High/Shang-di or Heaven”Tian
regulatied the natural order of the universe
and was the creative principle
• Ancestor worship-mediators between heaven
and earth
Rich is the year with much millet and rice;
And we have tall granaries
With hundred and thousands and millions of sheaves.
We make wine and sweet spirits
And offer them to our ancestors, male and female;
Thus to fulfill all the rites
And bring down blessings in full.
from the Book of Song (Shi jing)
I-jing or The Book of Changes
• The inviolable natural order dominated all aspects of Chinese
culture
• Earliest expression found in China’s oldes known text, The Book
of Changes (I jing)
• I jing originated in Shang, recorded in 6th c. bce.
• Text with cosmological diagrams
• Goal- interpretation of workings of cosmos
• Maintain natural order- balance
• Balance between 5 elements-wood, fire, earth, metal and
water
• And 5 creative powers –hot, cold, dryness, moisture and wind
• Qi-universal energy, pervades all things
• All nature is the dynamic product of two interacting cosmic
forces- yin/yang
Confucianism and Taoism- Zhou Dynasty
Confucius 551-479 B.C.E
Laozi 604 B.C.E.
Practical/this world
Duty, Piety, Self-control
Tao/Dao is ultimate reality
“behind” existence- the “way”
Anarchy overcome
Social cohesion restored
Importance of family
Respect for elders
Arts should be part of moral
education
Mysterious, vague,
transcendent spirit
Te- characteristic nature of
each thing, integrity, identity
Wu-wei –non-action
simplicity
Dao de jing
(Daoism existed as early as 1000 BCE, the text written in 6th c.
Tao Te Ching: Chapter 11
translated by Ursula K. Le Guin (1998)
Thirty spokes
meet in the hub.
Where the wheel isn't
is where it's useful.
Hollowed out,
clay makes a pot.
Where the pot's not
is where it's useful.
Cut doors and windows
to make a room.
Where the room isn't,
there's room for you.
So the profit in what is
is in the use of what isn't.
Ch’in and Han Dynasties
Powerful armies of Chi’in
(China) conquered all rival
states
Totalitarian control between
221-210 B.C.E. Legalism
Great Wall/ eradicated old
traditions by destroying
Confucian writings, burying
Confucian scholars alive.
In 1974 the immense tomb
mound of Shih Huang Ti was
discovered
More than 6000 life-size clay
soldiers
Quin Shi Huang
While the previous Warring States
era was one of constant warfare, it
was also considered the golden age
of free thought. Qin Shi Huang
eliminated the Hundred Schools of
Thought which incorporated
Confucianism and other
philosophies.
Legalism established
Quin Shi Huang established China’s
“army of 1 million”
Standardized writing/coins
Saw the development of efficient
chariots.
No two faces were alike
Traces of pigment
suggest they were
brightly colored
Han Dynasty Stone Relief depicting a Qin Dynasty event
The first emperor of the Qin dynasty learned that a ritual tripod bronze vessel (a ding) from the Zhou dynasty had been cast into a river at a
certain place. He determined to recover it because the bronze tripod was a prominent symbol of dynastic legitimacy. The Qin emperor
assembled a crew of workers, some of whom dove into the water and secured a ropes around the bronze vessel ,erecting a wooden
structure over the spot to pull it up. A dragon rose up and bit the ropes in two. In Chinese lore, dragons were associated with water and
were a common symbol of "the cosmic forces.“ The cosmic forces have spoken, saying that the first Qin emperor is not the one who should
be ruling the empire. Obviously, this is a self-serving point made often during the Han dynasty, which succeeded the Qin.
Death of Shih Huang Ti –revolt of people and new dynasty established
Han Dynasty-206 B.C.E. 220 C.E.
Increased territory
Trade with Rome/Silk Road/trade for horses
Confucians and Taoists fought for governmental power
Confucian Academy for civil servants
2nd c. C.E. Bronze
Han Dynasty comparable to Roman Empire
Period of centralized bureaucracy that would define future of China
Tang Dynasty – China’s Golden Age
The Tang dynasty (618-907) reunified China after almost 400
years of political disunity that followed upon the dissolution of
the Han dynasty in 220.
Cosmopolitanism due to expansion, travel and trade- Silk Road
Buddhism had become a tool of the state/monks brought back
new form of Buddhism from India that was more mysterious and
ritualistic- “Esoteric Sects.”
Important developments in figure painting, pottery and poetry.
The Three Teachings
During the Tang era, Buddhist teachings were translated and
increasingly taught and followed.
Buddhism became the third strand of China's philosophicalreligious braid. Buddhism emphasized the transience and
impermanence of life, while Daoism emphasized
abandonment to the Way found in nature. Confucianism
stressed moral responsibility and service to the state.
These were the "Three Teachings" that informed the thought
and behavior of not only the emperors of the Tang but also of
the Chinese literati.
Tang Dynasty Figure Painting
Development of refined figure painting
Reflected court life
Popular “palace ladies” theme
Use of negative space, fluid line
Positioning of trees to define shallow depth
Zhou Fang, fl. 766-796 Palace Ladies Tuning
Colored ink, silk
Use of framing figures
Psychological relationships
Composition that is both simple and complex
Body types- consort and princesses usually heavier
Attendants are slimmer
china online museum
Zhou Fang, fl. 766-796 Ladies with Flowers in their Hair
Gu Hongzhong 943-960, The Night Revels of Han Xizai
The Tang dynasty and later 5-dynasty
figure painting was the height of this
genre, with increasing complexity in
the relationship between figures and
believability of space.
Tang Dynasty
Figure Painting
"A group of
palace ladies in
the gardens
while a hoopoe
flies by. Mural,
tomb of
Gaozong's 6th
son, Li Xian,
Qianling,
Shaanxi, 706."
Paludan, Ann. (1998).
Chronicle of the
Chinese Emperors: the
Reign-by-Reign Record
of the Rulers of
Imperial China.
Blog China
Lecture Tang Painting
Chinese painting
Blue Heron Arts
Tang Dynasty Poetry
Poetry reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty and was the most
important literary and social genre.
Civil Service Exam required the composition of poetry/ social
mobility
Both social and personal
Nature, man in nature
Philosophical
Celebrate occasions of court
Highly regulated verse
4 couplets, each couplet expresses a distinct idea or image
Columbia Asian Topics
Asia for educators
Wang Wei
Wang Wei carried on many of the
earlier poetic traditions- the poetic
traditions involved writing about
living in retirement, living in
reclusion and carried them one step
further, sometimes by including the
ideas of Buddhist quietism, the idea
of stilling the heart of passions when
you lived in reclusion.
Thus, Wang Wei in many ways
combined a lot of the philosophical
ideas common in Tang dynasty
China.
The idea of Daoist reclusion, of living
away from society in order to
cultivate personal values; the
continuing idea of the human
community which he derived from
Confucianism; and the idea of stilling
the passions that he derived from
Buddhism.
Wang Wei and Regulated Verse
"Fields and Gardens by the River Qi"
by Wang Wei
I dwell apart by the River Qi,
Where the Eastern wilds stretch far without hills.
The sun darkens beyond the mulberry trees;
The river glistens through the villages.
Shepherd boys depart, gazing back to their hamlets;
Hunting dogs return following their men.
When a man's at peace, what business does he have?
I shut fast my rustic door throughout the day.
Tu Fu
712-770
the Confucian Moralist
Often called China’s greatest poet, Tu Fu
wrote poems reflecting his political
commitment, his social concerns, and his love of
family.
Spending the Night in a Tower by the River ( Du Fu)
A visible darkness grows up mountain paths,
I lodge by river gate high in a study,
Frail cloud on cliff edge passing the night,
The lonely moon topples amid the waves.
Steady, one after another, a line of cranes in
flight;
Howling over the kill, wild dogs and wolves.
No sleep for me. I worry over battles.
I have no strength to right the universe
Li Bai - outsider
Not well educated or accepted at court
Had to travel around the country, selling himself
He played up the notion of the “outsider”
He rejected Confucianism and embraced Daoism, popular
culture, all that an educated man of the court would
have though most important
He wrote in a rambling “unregulated” style
"Drinking Alone Under the Moon"
by Li Bo Translation River Merchant Wife
Among the flowers, a single jug of wine;
I drink alone. No one close to me.
I raise my cup, invite the bright moon;
facing my shadow, together we make three.
The moon doesn't know how to drink;
and my shadow can only follow my body.
But for a time I make moon and shadow my companions;
taking one's pleasure must last until spring.
I sing--the moon wavers back and forth.
I dance--my shadow flickers and scatters.
When I'm sober we take pleasure together.
When I'm drunk, we each go our own ways.
I make an oath to journey forever free of feelings,
making an appointment with them to meet in the Milky Way afar.
Song Dynasty 960-1279
Closer to the modern period in world view
Distrust of militarism/Tang fell apart because of court rivalries
Aims of gov’t: benevolent rule, efficiency
Civil service exams expanded, true meritocracy
Proliferation of schools/ secular education
Neo-Confucianism blends with Daoism and Buddhism- respect for all
living things, interconnectedness
Song Dynasty 960-1279
Technological revolution transforming China
move from Tang feudalism, few urban centers, majority
rural and illiterate
to many market centers, production centers
paper money/ printing
higher literacy
beginning of market economy
Song Dynasty Painting- landscape
painting comes into its own-
Monumental hanging scrolls
Professional court artists
Technique departs from the "calligraphic" skills
common to all literate people
Attempts to use a very complex array of brush
strokes to convey an effect of "verisimilitude"
(that is, the landscapes seem "real").
Chü-jan, fl. 960-980 Seeking the Tao in Autumn
Mountains
Guo Xi, 11th c. Early Spring
Detail Chü-jan, fl. 960-980 Seeking the Tao in
Autumn Mountains
No single view point
“Angle of Totality”- looking down on some things, up at
others.
Each area of the landscape painted with equal precision
A solitary Temple Amid clearing
Peaks, attributed to Li Chaeng (940967)
Southern Song/Lyrical
Ma Yuan was influenced by the
academic style of Li Tang but soon
developed his own personal style
Importance of the figures dwarfed by
nature
Ma Yuan specialized in pines
The graphic strength of the pines
contrasts with the hazy mountains in the
back ground
Southern Song/Lyrical
Ma Yuan, 12th-13th c.
A characteristic feature of many
paintings is the so-called "one-corner"
composition, in which the actual
subjects of the painting are pushed to a
corner or a side, leaving the other part
of the painting more or less empty. Ma
Yuan’s lyrical and romantic
interpretation became the model for
many later painters.
Three Friends of Winter refer to the pine, bamboo,
and plum.)
Song Dynasty Literati
Painting
Landscape cannot be achieved by
imitation
Break with past
“Mi-dots”
Important theorist of the Literati
His writings about painting in the Shu-shi
were critical of academic painters
Tower of Rising Clouds (雲起樓圖)
Attributed to Mi Fu (米芾, 1051-1107), Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Chinese Painting and Daoism
Song Dynasty saw the culmination of the practices
of Daoism and Confucianism as they relate to
painting
Courts looked for scholar painters who became
the official painters associated with individual
emperors
Wen Tong (10181079)
pioneer in painting
bamboo with the
techniques of
calligraphy.
As corruption and scandal ravaged the Tang and
Song Dynasties, scholars became distanced and
looked for other ways to continue practice
The literati were a network of scholars who
continued the practice of Daoist painting and did
much to promote landscape painting as the major
genre
Wen Tong (1018-1079)
The s- curve pattern of
the bamboo becomes
a formula to be copied
As well as the
branching out of the
bamboo to fill the
surface
The hooks on the
stalks are like the
hooks in calligraphy
Each leaf must be
achieved with one
stroke
Literati break with Academic Painters
During the late Song, literati and academic
painting become two distinct
streams. Interestingly, although academic
paintings were often far more skilled in
technique, many felt -- and still feel -- that
the "amateur" ink paintings of the literati
are the highest form of art in China.
The "album leaf," Ma Yuan, "handscroll," Xia Gui. Handscrolls, unlike hanging scrolls, were not meant for
display. They were stored rolled in wooden boxes, and were only removed and viewed, section by section,
when the owner wished to enjoy the painting or to share it with intimate guests.
Chinese Painting and Daoism
6th c.BCe Chinese philosopher Laozi
Dao De Jing
Daoism grew quickly from 200-700 CE where more
rituals and practices emerged.
Daoism faced competition from Buddhism brought
by Indian missionaries
Official religion of the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD)
The Dao: ultimate truth - The Way
Basis of all living things, it governs nature, and it is a
method to live by. Daoists do not believe in
extremes, instead focusing on the interdependence
of things. There is no total good or evil or negative
and positive. The Yin-Yang symbol exemplifies this
view.
Chinese Painting and Daoism
Form is means to capture spirit
Superficial likeness is secondary to
essence
Repeated practice is necessary to
understand the spirit of the thing you are
painting
A life time of practice is needed to gain
understanding of a pine tree
Practice is a way of finding the Dao
Daoist practices of meditation and
breathing exercises are necessary to good
painting
Song painter who went by the pseudonym of
Mu-qi, is celebrated as the ultimate in painterly
simplicity. Also considered Zen painting
Chinese Painting and Daoism
Fisherman, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), ca. 1350
Wu Zhen (Chinese, 1280–1354)
Handscroll; ink on paper 9 3/4 x 17 in. (24.8 x 43.2 cm)
Chinese Painting and Daoism
Specific objects came to behold certain moral and
spiritual characteristics
Line more important than color or dimensionality
(shadow and light)
Negative space allows the mind to wander and also
serves to feature the main object
Position of the artist- everywhere and nowhere
Everything in one/Largeness in smallness
Color is used to accent and call attention to main
object, to lend spiritual meaning
The Dao transcendent and immanent… unnamable,
ineffable, yet present in all things
Constant transformation/ imperfections/ traces
Wu Zhen
(1280-1354) Yuan Dynasty
Hanging scroll; ink on paper 109.0 x 32.6 cm (43 x 13 in.)
1279- China overrun by the Mongols
Many literati learned to live under Mongol rule and continued in the Confucian style
Many other alienated from state and freed from government responsibilities
Development of literati schools of free artistic expression
Focus on expressive brushwork
Expression of the individual/ paintings represent the “man” more than nature
Many stamps show that these paintings were highly collected
Handscroll, Yuan artist Zhao Mengfu scroll
literati lecture notes with images Indiana University Course
In the full literati style of Zhao Mengfu (Yuan Dynasty) the attempt at verisimilitude has
vanished
Nature -- and painting -- has become a means for expressing the artist's unique self and
perspective. Although this is a very Neo-Daoist idea, most literati artists
"Confucianized" it by laying emphasis on the notion that the aspect of the self that was
expressed also reflected one's moral self-cultivation and stance towards society.
Chinese painting
Blue Heron Arts
Mustard Seed Manual of Painting
Brooklyn Museum
Cahill Lectures
bamboo
Chinese Figure
Sculpture
U Penn Lecture Luohan Statues
The image of the Buddhist luohan
or “Worthy One”
Transfixed in meditations
Life size fired clay
Northern China (Mongolia)
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A luohan is one of the historical disciples
of Buddha. As Buddhism developed in
East Asia, the number of luohan
increased. They are close to being
bodhisattvas, fully enlightened beings
who choose to remain in the world to
help people.
According to Buddhist tradition, groups
of 16, 18 or 500 luohans awaited the
arrival of the Future Buddha. The full set
is thought by most scholars to have had
figures for the typical Chinese main
grouping of or 18 luohans.
This set is exceptional in its quality and
the individuality of each figure; it has
been suggested that they were also
portraits of notable contemporary
monks. The openwork bases were
intended to suggest mountains;
paintings of luohans often show them
perched on small peaks, indicating the
mountain retreats of the ascetic monk.
Traditional Chinese Music
Cantonese Opera
• Smithsonian recording- whole Fiero Playlist
• Guardian Film
Music of China—Traditional: “Ngoh Wai Heng Kong”
The Chinese musical genre known as Cantonese opera is generally believed to have originated in the thirteenth
century in Northern China. Like European opera, Cantonese opera is a blending of music-theatrical genres
assembled into a single performance event. Unlike European opera, Cantonese opera is not based on the
conscious revival of a historical dramatic genre, but rather a uniquely Chinese amalgam of music, theater, martial
arts, acrobatics, acting, history, and culture. Values associated with Cantonese opera performance can be
related to Confucian principles regarding music, such as the desire to shape the minds and character of citizens
through education, in which music, dance, and drama played important roles. Included in the artistic expressive
forms associated with Cantonese opera is an elaborate style of make-up that dramatically alters the appearance
of the actor/singers and, like the masks of ancient Greek theater, communicates information about the character.
One important distinction between Cantonese opera and European opera is the role of music in the
performance. While singing, melody, and the use of instruments are features of both, Cantonese opera is not a
composer’s genre. Consequently, much of the musical structure is more dependent upon performance and the
singer’s knowledge of an existing set of melodies to which the more important texts can be presented. The
musical style is to a significant extent improvisatory and the manner of melodic improvisation is intimately tied to
the tone and inflection of the language itself, a feature of the musical sound that can readily be detected in the
musical excerpt included on this recording.