Chinese art

Much of the best work in ceramics, textiles, carved lacquer were produced over a long period by the various Imperial factories or workshops, which as well as being used by the court was distributed internally and abroad on a huge scale to demonstrate the wealth and power of the Emperors.

[5] Many bronze vessels excavated from tombs in Jiangsu Province, China, have various shapes like Ding, Hu, and Xun which represent traditional Chinese aesthete.

Being able to put a full set of Bianzhong in ones tomb signifies his or her status and class in the Han dynasty since this particular type of instrument is only acquired and owned by royal and wealth families.

[8][9] Among the very few such depictions known in China before that date: four wooden figurines[10] from Liangdaicun (梁帶村) in Hancheng (韓城), Shaanxi, possibly dating to the 9th century BCE; two wooden human figurines of foreigners possibly representing sedan chair bearers from a Qin state tomb in Longxian (隴縣), Shaanxi, from about 700 BCE; and more numerous statuettes from around 5th century bronze musicians in a miniature house from Shaoxing (紹興) in Zhejiang; a 4th-century human-shaped lamp stand from Pingshan (平山) county royal tomb, Hebei.

One of the earliest known depictions of a landscape in Chinese art comes from a pair of hollow-tile door panels from a Western Han dynasty tomb near Zhengzhou, dated 60 BCE.

[20] In literary sources, there is only a single 3rd–4th century CE record of a possible earlier example: two alleged monumental stone statues of qilin (Chinese unicorns) said have been set up on top of the tomb of the First Emperor Qin Shihuang.

In the fifth to sixth century the Northern dynasties, rather removed from the original sources of inspiration, tended to develop rather symbolic and abstract modes of representation, with schematic lines.

In ancient China, painting and calligraphy were the most highly appreciated arts in court circles and were produced almost exclusively by amateurs, aristocrats and scholar-officials who alone had the leisure to perfect the technique and sensibility necessary for great brushwork.

In the year 845, the Tang emperor Wuzong outlawed all "foreign" religions (including Nestorian Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism) in order to support indigenous Taoism.

During the Song dynasty (960–1279), landscapes of more subtle expression appeared; immeasurable distances were conveyed through the use of blurred outlines, mountain contours disappearing into the mist, and impressionistic treatment of natural phenomena.

This is a large horizontal handscroll of a domestic scene showing men of the gentry class being entertained by musicians and dancers while enjoying food, beverage, and wash basins provided by maidservants.

His rejection of the refined, gentle brushwork of his era in favor of the cruder style of the 8th century is considered to have brought about a revolution that created the modern Chinese landscape painting.

[27] Dong Qichang (1555–1636) further influenced East Asian art history by absorbing Chan Buddhism ideas and putting forward the "Southern and Northern Schools" theory.

[29] The early Qing dynasty developed in two main strands: the Orthodox school, and the Individualist painters, both of which followed the theories of Dong Qichang, but emphasizing very different aspects.

In the north, artists such as Jing Hao, Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, and Guo Xi painted pictures of towering mountains, using strong black lines, ink wash, and sharp, dotted brushstrokes to suggest rough rocks.

In the south, Dong Yuan, Juran, and other artists painted the rolling hills and rivers of their native countryside in peaceful scenes done with softer, rubbed brushwork.

[40] Native Chinese religions do not usually use cult images of deities, or even represent them, and large religious sculpture is nearly all Buddhist, dating mostly from the 4th to the 14th century, and initially using Greco-Buddhist models arriving via the Silk Road.

Imperial tombs have spectacular avenues of approach lined with real and mythological animals on a scale matching Egypt, and smaller versions decorate temples and palaces.

[43] Chinese jade was attributed with magical powers, and was used in the Stone and Bronze Ages for large and impractical versions of everyday weapons and tools, as well as the bi disks and cong vessels.

[46] Folding screens (Chinese: 屏風; pinyin: píngfēng) are often decorated with beautiful art; major themes include mythology, scenes of palace life, and nature.

In historic China, architectural emphasis was laid upon the horizontal axis, in particular the construction of a heavy platform and a large roof that floats over this base, with the vertical walls not as well emphasized.

The vocational trade of architect, craftsman, and engineer was not as highly respected in premodern Chinese society as the scholar-bureaucrats who were drafted into the government by the civil service examination system.

The height of the classical Chinese architectural tradition in writing and illustration can be found in the Yingzao Fashi, a building manual written by 1100 and published by Li Jie (1065–1110) in 1103.

Chinoiserie is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and East Asian artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden design, architecture, literature, theatre, and music.

Leading contemporary visual artists include Ai Weiwei, Cai Guoqiang, Cai Jin, Chan Shengyao, Concept 21, Ding Yi, Fang Lijun, Fu Wenjun, He Xiangyu, Huang Yan, Huang Yong Ping, Han Yajuan, Kong Bai Ji, Li Hongbo, Li Hui, Liu Bolin, Lu Shengzhong, Ma Liuming, Qiu Deshu, Qiu Shihua, Shen Fan, Shen Shaomin, Shi Jinsong, Song Dong, Li Wei, Wang Guangyi, Wenda Gu, Xu Bing, Yang Zhichao, Zhan Wang, Zheng Lianjie, Zhang Dali, Zhang Xiaogang, Zhang Huan, Zhu Yu, Wu Shaoxiang, Ma Kelu, Ding Fang, Shang Yang, Gao Minglu and Guo Jian.

Beginning in the late 1980s, there was unprecedented exposure for younger Chinese visual artists in the west to some degree through the agency of curators based outside the country such as Hou Hanru.

Local curators within the country such as Gao Minglu and critics such as Li Xianting reinforced this promotion of particular brands of painting that had recently emerged, while also spreading the idea of art as a strong social force within Chinese culture.

[61] The Economist reported that Chinese art has become the latest darling in the world market according to the record sales from Sotheby's and Christie's, the biggest fine-art auction houses.

New fortunes from countries once thought of as poor often prefer non-Western art; a large gallerist in the field has offices in both New York and Beijing, but clients mainly hailing from Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.

Sotheby's and Christie's act as major market platforms for classical Chinese porcelain art pieces to be sold, including Ming dynasty, Xuande mark and period (1426–35) Blue and White jar (Five-Clawed Dragon Print), which was auctioned for Approx.