Chinese art is
visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China or by Chinese artists. The Chinese art in the
Republic of China (Taiwan) and that of
overseas Chinese can also be considered part of Chinese art where it is based in or draws on Chinese heritage and Chinese culture. Early "
Stone Age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly consisting of simple
pottery and sculptures. After this early period Chinese art, like Chinese history, is typically classified by the succession of ruling
dynasties of
Chinese emperors, most of which lasted several hundred years. Chinese art has arguably the oldest continuous tradition in the world, and is marked by an unusual degree of continuity within, and consciousness of, that tradition, lacking an equivalent to the Western collapse and gradual recovery of classical styles. The media that have usually been classified in the West since the
Renaissance as the
decorative arts are extremely important in Chinese art, and much of the finest work was produced in large workshops or factories by essentially unknown artists, especially in
Chinese ceramics. Different forms of art have swayed under the influence of great philosophers, teachers, religious figures and even political figures. Chinese art encompasses all facets of
fine art,
folk art and
performance art.
Porcelain pottery was one of the first forms of art in the
Palaeolithic period. Early Chinese music and poetry was influenced by the
Book of Songs, and the Chinese poet and statesman
Qu Yuan.
Chinese painting became a highly appreciated art in court circles encompassing a wide variety of
Shan shui with specialized styles such as
Ming dynasty painting. Early
Chinese music was based on percussion instruments, which later gave away to stringed and reed instruments. By the
Han dynasty papercutting became a new art form after the invention of paper.
Chinese opera would also be introduced and branched regionally in addition to other performance formats such as
variety arts.
Chinese lantern The Chinese paper lantern (紙燈籠, 纸灯笼) is a
lantern made of thin, brightly colored paper. Paper lanterns come in various shapes and sizes, as well as various methods of construction. In their simplest form, they are simply a
paper bag with a
candle placed inside, although more complicated
lanterns consist of a collapsible
bamboo or metal frame of hoops covered with tough
paper. Sometimes, other lanterns can be made out of colored silk (usually red) or vinyl. Silk lanterns are also collapsible with a metal expander and are decorated with Chinese characters and/or designs. The vinyl lanterns are more durable; they can resist rain, sunlight, and wind. Paper lanterns do not last very long, they soon break, and silk lanterns last longer. The gold paper on them will soon fade away to a pale white, and the red silk will become a mix between pink and red. Often associated with
festivals, paper lanterns are common in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and similarly in
Chinatowns with large communities of
Overseas Chinese, where they are often hung outside of businesses to attract attention. In Japan
the traditional styles include
bonbori and
chōchin and there is a special style of lettering called
chōchin moji used to write on them. Airborne paper lanterns are called
sky lanterns, and are often released into the night sky for aesthetic effect at
lantern festivals. The Chinese sky lantern (天燈, 天灯), also known as
Kongming lantern, is a small
hot air balloon made of paper, with an opening at the bottom where a small fire is suspended. In Asia and elsewhere around the world, sky lanterns have been traditionally made for centuries, to be launched for play or as part of long-established festivities. The name "sky lantern" is a translation of the
Chinese name but they have also been referred to as
sky candles or
fire balloons. The general design is a thin paper shell, which may be from about 30
cm to a couple of
metres across, with an opening at the bottom. The opening is usually about 10 to 30 cm wide (even for the largest shells), and is surrounded by a stiff collar that serves to suspend the
flame source and to keep it away from the walls. When lit, the flame heats the air inside the lantern, thus lowering its density and causing the lantern to rise into the air. The sky lantern is only airborne for as long as the flame stays alight, after which the lantern sinks back to the ground.
Chinese hand fan . The oldest existing Chinese fans are a pair of woven
bamboo, wood or paper side-mounted fans from the 2nd century BCE. The
Chinese character for "fan" (扇) is etymologically derived from a picture of feathers under a roof. A particular status and gender would be associated with a specific type of fan. During the
Song dynasty, famous artists were often commissioned to paint fans. The Chinese dancing fan was developed in the 7th century. The Chinese form of the hand fan was a row of feathers mounted in the end of a handle. In the later centuries, Chinese poems and four-word idioms were used to decorate the fans by using Chinese calligraphy pens. In ancient China, fans came in various shapes and forms (such as in a leaf, oval or a half-moon shape), and were made in different materials such as silk, bamboo, feathers, etc.
Carved lacquer period,
Qing dynasty.
Nanjing Museum Carved lacquer or
Qīdiāo () is a distinctive Chinese form of decorated
lacquerware. While lacquer has been used in China for at least 3,000 years, the technique of carving into very thick coatings of it appears to have been developed in the 12th century CE. It is extremely time-consuming to produce, and has always been a luxury product, essentially restricted to China, though imitated in
Japanese lacquer in somewhat different styles. The producing process is called
Diāoqī (/彫漆, carving lacquer).Though most surviving examples are from the
Ming and
Qing dynasties, the main types of subject matter for the carvings were all begun under the
Song dynasty, and the development of both these and the technique of carving were essentially over by the early Ming. These types were the abstract
guri or Sword-Pommel pattern, figures in a landscape, and birds and plants. To these some designs with religious symbols, animals, auspicious characters
(right) and imperial dragons can be added. Later Chinese writers dated the introduction of carved lacquer to the
Tang dynasty (618–906), and many modern writers have pointed to some late Tang pieces of armour found on the
Silk Road by
Aurel Stein and now in the
British Museum. These are red and black lacquer on
camel hide, but the lacquer is very thin, "less than one millimeter in thickness", and the effect very different, with simple abstract shapes on a plain field and almost no impression of
relief. The style of carving into thick lacquer used later is first seen in the
Southern Song (1127–1279), following the development of techniques for making very thick lacquer. There is some evidence from literary sources that it had existed in the late Tang. At first the style of decoration used is known as
guri (/曲仑) from the Japanese word for the ring-pommel of a sword, where the same motifs were used in metal, and is often called the "Sword-Pommel pattern" in English. This style uses a family of repeated two-branched scrolling shapes cut with a rounded profile at the surface, but below that a "V" section through layers of lacquer in different colours (black, red and yellow, and later green), giving a "marbled" effect from the contrasted colours; this technique is called
tìxī (/剃犀) in Chinese. This style continued to be used up to the
Ming dynasty, especially on small boxes and jars with covers, though after the Song only red was often used, and the motifs were often carved with wider flat spaces at the bottom level to be exposed.
Folding screen A folding screen () is a type of free-standing
furniture. It consists of several frames or panels, which are often connected by
hinges or by other means. It can be made in a variety of designs and with different kinds of materials. Folding screens have many practical and decorative uses. It originated from
ancient China, eventually spreading to the rest of East Asia, Europe, and other parts of the world. Screens date back to China during the Eastern
Zhou period (771–256 BCE). These were initially one-panel screens in contrast to folding screens. Folding screens were invented during the
Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE). Depictions of those folding screens have been found in Han-era tombs, such as one in
Zhucheng, Shandong Province. During the Tang dynasty, folding screens were considered ideal ornaments for many painters to display their
paintings and
calligraphy on. emerged during the late
Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and was applied to folding screens to create dark screens incised, painted, and inlaid with art of
mother-of-pearl, ivory, or other materials.
Chinese jade (璧) with a dual dragon motif,
Warring States period Chinese jade (玉) refers to the
jade mined or
carved in China from the
Neolithic onward. It is the primary
hardstone of
Chinese sculpture. Although deep and bright green
jadeite is better known in Europe, for most of China's history, jade has come in a variety of colors and white "mutton-fat"
nephrite was the most highly praised and prized. Native sources in
Henan and along the
Yangtze were exploited since prehistoric times and have largely been exhausted; most Chinese jade today is extracted from the northwestern
province of
Xinjiang. Jade was prized for its
hardness,
durability,
musical qualities, and beauty. caused it to become associated with Chinese conceptions of the
soul and
immortality. The most prominent early use was the crafting of the
Six Ritual Jades, found since the 3rd-millennium BC
Liangzhu culture: the
bi, the
cong, the
huang, the
hu, the
gui, and the
zhang. Although these items are so ancient that their original meaning is uncertain, by the time of the composition of the
Rites of Zhou, they were thought to represent the
sky, the
earth, and the
four directions. By the
Han dynasty, the royal family and prominent lords were buried entirely ensheathed in
jade burial suits sewn in gold thread, on the idea that it would preserve the body and the souls attached to it. Jade was also thought to combat fatigue in the living. These uses gave way after the
Three Kingdoms period to
Buddhist practices and new developments in
Taoism such as
alchemy. Nonetheless, jade remained part of
traditional Chinese medicine and an important artistic medium. Although its use never became widespread in
Japan, jade became important to the art of
Korea and Southeast Asia. == Mythological beings ==