Chinese sculpture

[2] 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.

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.

[4] Small Buddhist figures and groups were produced to a very high quality in a range of media,[5] as was relief decoration of all sorts of objects, especially in metalwork and jade.

[8] In literary sources, there is only a single record of a possible earlier example: two alleged monumental statues of qilin (Chinese unicorns) that had been set up on top of the tomb of the First Emperor Qin Shihuang.

[15] The practice started in rock-cut cave temples where carvings, mostly in relief, of images enveloped chambers and complexes illustrating the beliefs associated to the Buddha's teachings.

Creating these temples and sculptures not only garnered merit aligned to their own personal growth, but gave devotees a reference for worship and meditative inspiration.