Chinese And Korean Art Slides [1]

Chinese & Korean ArtBefore 1279

By Mark Wesolowski, Sam Schnittman, & Rachael Garcia

History of China:• Yellow, Yangzi, Songhua, and Pearl Rivers.– Floods and Travel.

• Xia Dynasty (5000 -1700 BC) – Farming Villages with Pottery.

Xia Dynasty: Painted Pottery Cultures• Distinctive forms of Neolithic pottery identify different

cultures• Yangshao culture-near Yellow River– Perfectly round bowls, highly polished surfaces– All without pottery wheel advanced technology– Marks on rims-beginnings of Chinese writings potentially– Carved scenes into bottom of bowl—important activities

• Liangzhu culture-800 miles from Yangshao

• Half-human and half-animal images• Large round eyes, flat nose,

rectangular mouth• Carved into a cong-object resembling

a cylindrical tube encased in a rectangular block

• Object of importance-found near head of a buried person in a large tomb—served as an altar

• Technical sophistication evident through intricacy

Xia Dynasty: Painted Pottery Cultures

History of China:• Shang Dynasty (1700-1100 BC)• First unified Chinese Empire.– Bronze Age, military expansion.

Culture of China:• Ancestralism:– Shangdi = Great Ancestor.– Tombs and Ritual Burial.– Oracles read bones and made offerings.– Pictographs and Chinese characters developed

• Piece-mold casting– Model of the bronze-to-be made of clay and dried– Clay pressed onto model and broken off at different times– Mold eventually created molten bronze poured in

Bronze Age China

• Shang tombs reveal a warrior culture• Many humans and animals sacrificed

to accompany the dead• Bronze vessels are the most admired

and studied• Connected with ritual practices—

served as containers for food or wine• Decorated with complex array of

animal-like images– Seem to be related to hunting life– Creatures appear strange and fearsome-

sense of mystery

Ritual Bronzes

History of China:• Zhou Dynasty (1100-221 BC)– Relative Peace under Feudal Government.– King Ruled as Son of Tian (Heaven).

• Ritual bronzes continued to play important roles– New forms also developed

• Some bells placed in tombs

• Bells precisely calibrated to sound two tones

• Arranged in scale patterns in variety of registers

• Music played part in rituals supernatural

• Taotie-ancient mask motif-appears on front and back

Bronze Bells

History of China:• Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC)• Totalitarian Military Regime.– Legalism = Harsh Laws, No Philosophy Allowed.

Qin Dynasty• Single ruler mausoleum• Army of terracotta soldiers and horses– Individualized faces, meticulously rendered uniforms

History of China:• Han Dynasty (206BC – 220AD)• Peaceful and Prosperous

Painted Banner• Highlights the mythocentric age– People believed in a close

relationship between the human and supernatural worlds

• T-shaped silk banner—summarizes this early view

• 3 scenes of universe: heaven, earth, and underworld

• Heavenly realm shown at the top-in crossbar of the T

• Sun in upper-right corner, inhabited by a mythical crow

• Upper left-mythical toad stands on a crescent moon

• Between the two- primordial deity shown as a man with a long serpent’s tail– Han image of the Great Ancestor

• Dragons and other celestial creatures swarm below

Painted Banner

• Gate guarded by two seated figures stands where the horizontal of heaven meets the banner’s long vertical

• Two intertwined dragons loop through a circular jade piece known as bi– Usually a symbol of heaven-

divides space into two areas– Above the bi-earthly realm

• Deceased woman and her three attendants stand on a platform while two kneeling figures offer gifts

Painted Banner

Painted Banner: Underworld• Beneath the bi-represents the

underworld• Silk draperies and a stone

chime hanging from the bi form a canopy for the platform below– Stone chimes-ceremonial

instruments• Ritual bronze vessels with

food and wine• Fish and other strange

creatures-inhabitants of the underworld

Culture of China:• Daoism:– Developed from Ancestralism. (Immortality)– Harmony between humans and nature.

• Confucianism:– Self Discipline and Duty. (Ethics)

Daoism: Sculpture

• Incense Burner- bronze-cast from prince’s tomb

• Legend-Isles of the Immortals in the Eastern Sea

• Gold inlay outlines stylized waves of the sea

• Birds, animals, and people who had discovered secret of immortality

Confucianism: Carved Reliefs• Rubbing of a Stone Relief in the Wu Family Shrine• Two-story building-women on upper, men on lower• Homage to first emperor of Han dynasty-hieratic scale• Birds on roof-represents immortals• Lower register-procession brings dignitaries to reception

• Compared with Han dynasty banner, this late Han relief shows the change that took place in their worldview in just 300 years

• Banner-equal emphasis on heaven, earth, and underworld; humans dwarfed by supernatural

• In this relief-focus clearly on the human realm– Importance of emperor as holder of the mandate of Heaven– Illustrates fundamental Confucian themes:

• social order and decorum

Confucianism: Carved Reliefs

Culture of China:• Silk Road:– First opened under Han Dynasty.– Trade of Silk and Spices with world.– Buddhism comes to China via Silk Road.

Architecture of China:• Bracketing:– Roof system with broad eaves and tiles– Employed to show aesthetic order. (Alberti)

History of China:• Six Dynasties (220 – 585 AD)• Warring States with regional rivalries.

Six Dynasties: Painting

• Few paintings survive• Literary sources important period for painting• Landscape first appears as a subject– Daoists-wandering through countryside = spiritual refreshment– Wandering in the mind through a painting could do the same

• First works on theory and aesthetics- Xie He

Xie He: 6 Principles

• 1-“Spirit consonance” imbues a painting with “life’s movement”– Spirit- qi-breath that animates all creation, the energy that

flows through all things• Must cultivate own spirit so this universal energy

flows through them and infuses their work• 2-brushstrokes are the “bones” of a picture, its

primary structural element– Painting is judged by the quality of brushstroke– Each stroke is a vehicle of expression; through these can

the first principle be achieved

Admonitions of the Imperial Instructress to Court Ladies

• Artist-Gu Kaizhi (344-407 CE)• Alternates illustrations and text to relate seven Confucian

stories of wifely virtue from Chinese history• Illustration-depicts courage of Lady Feng– Escaped circus bear rushes toward her husband, a Han emperor,

who is filled with fear– Behind his throne, two female servants turn to run away– Two male attendants try to fend off the bear with spears– Only Lady Feng is calm-rushes forward to place self between

beast and the emperor

• Figures drawn with a brush in a thin, even-width line• A few outlined areas are filled with color• Facial features are well depicted• Movements and emotions are shown through

conventions such as bands flowing from Lady Feng’s dress, indicating she is rushing forward– Upturned strings on sides of emperor’s head fear

• No setting—artist relies on careful figure placement to create a sense of depth

Admonitions of the Imperial Instructress to Court Ladies

• Painting done on silk• Early Chinese painters developed a format used

called the handscroll - long, narrow horizontal composition, compact enough to be held in the hand when rolled up

• Intimate works, meant to be viewed by only two or three people at a time

• Not completely unrolled—viewers would open a scroll and savor it slowly from right to left, only displaying a foot or two at a time

Admonitions of the Imperial Instructress to Court Ladies

Calligraphy• Emphasis on expressive quality and structural importance

of brushstrokes finds its purest embodiment in calligraphy• Same brushes used for both painting and calligraphy• Regarded as one of the highest forms of expression in

China• Only the few literate and Confucian scholars could

practice it

Feng Ju Album• Most important-Wang

Xizhi• A letter mounted as part of

an album• Relaxed, easy going

manner• Strokes vary in width and

length, creating vitality• Characters are distinct, but

within characters the strokes run together

Rock-Cut Caves of the Silk Road• Most impressive works of Six Dynasties• Buddhist sculpture-Seated Buddha• Done during a period of avid patronage to Buddhism– Buddhism made its greatest advances during this time

• 45-foot statue-elongated ears, monk’s robe, stylized hair—attributes of the Buddha

• Less human than other Buddhist traditions

• Purpose?

History of China:• Sui Dynasty (585 - 618 AD)– Short lived, but unified empire.

• Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD)– Buddhism is largest religion.

Architecture of China:• Nanchan Temple, Shanxi Province (782 AD):– Broad overhang with Han Bracketing.– Bay/Module Construction = Cubic Building Unit.

Architecture of China:• Pagodas:– Came to China via Silk Road.– Stupa model with Bracketing.– Symbolic Structures = Order.– Religious Sanctuary.

Architecture of China:• Great Wild Goose Pagoda, • Shanxi Province • (8th Century AD):– Built by Monk Xuanzang. –Model of Indian Architecture.– Simplicity, Proportion, Grace.

Culture of China:• Silk Road:– Expanded during Tang Dynasty.– Open and international mood, naturalism in art.

Tang Dynasty: Figure Painting• China’s great age of figure painting• Very few exist• Copies done by Song dynasty artists

Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk

• Attributed to Emperor Huizong (last of Northern Song)• Long handscroll; depicts activities of court women as

they weave and iron silk• Refined lines, bright colors• Share the grace and

dignity of Tang sculpture andarchitecture

History of China:• Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD)– Invasions from the North lead to a domestic mood.– Expansion in Arts.– Neo-Confucianism with metaphysical elements.

Song Dynasty: Sculpture

• Changing political fortunes, political unrest, and religious questioning– Didn’t affect the creation of splendid works

• Many sculptures of Bodhisattvas– Beings who are close to enlightenment but who voluntarily

remain on earth to help others achieve enlightenment– Represented as young princes wearing royal garments and

jewelry– The finery indicates their worldly but virtuous lives

• Guanyin-Bodhisattva of Infinite compassion– Appears in many guises (Water and

Moon Guanyin)• Sits on rocks by the sea• Position-royal ease• Arm rests on his raised and bent

right knee and his left arm and foot hang down, the foot touching a lotus blossom

Seated Guanyin Bodhisattva

Landscape Painting with Neo- Confucianism:

• Realistic Landscape Scenes.• Balance of Natural Forces.• Not Actual Location, – Artist’s emotion and symbolism.

• Monochrome with Ink on Silk.• Western Landscapes = Scientific Mimicry.

Fan Kuan:• 990 – 1030 AD.• Travelers Among

Mountains and Streams• 9 Feet Long, 3 Planes,

Climbing Mountains• Texture & Contrast.• Hierarchy and Harmony.

Xu Daoning:

• 970 – 1052 AD.• Fishing in a Mountain Stream.• Mobile (Walking) Perspective = Acts of a Play.

Zhang Zeduan:• Spring Festival on the River.• Domestic Court Painting.• Encyclopedic View of Everyday Life.– Busy Commerce and Industry.

• Allegory of Good Government.

Xia Gui:• 1195 -1235 AD, Southern Song = Refined Style.• Intimate with Ink Washes = Simple.• Chan Buddhism i.e. Zen focus.

Sculpture: Guan Ware:• High Neck with Cracked Glaze Technique.

The Arts of Korea• Located China and Japan• Peninsula in Northeast Asia

History of Korea: The Three Kingdoms Period

• 57 BCE-668 BCE• In Korea there were 3 independent states:

Gold Headdress• An enduring monument of this

period:– Found in Large tomb mounds

• Crowns were most spectacular items found– Made specifically for burial

• Made from cut pieces of thin gold sheet and wire

• Comma-shaped ornaments of green and white jadeite

• Tall, branching forms resemble trees and antlers

• Appendages suggest wings or feathers

• Shows relationship with animals and natural world

High-Fired Ceramics• Important advancement at this time• Most containers are for offerings of

food placed in the tom to nourish the spirit of the deceased– Similar to Chinese

• Generally unglazed stoneware-impervious to liquids

• Most imposing-tall stands that were used to support round-bottomed jars– Long cylindrical shaft on a bulbous

base• Little surface ornamentation• Some wave patterns or circles

• Similar death-related purposes– Greeks used them as grave

markers• Actual depictions of scenes,

including funerary processions

• Greeks-geometric shapes• Koreans-geometric patterns

Bodhisattva Seated in Meditation• Buddhism introduced

around 372-384 CE• Buddhist art began in Korea

just as mere imitation• By late 6th century, Koreans

had style of own• Pose linked to Chine

sculpture (royal ease)• Differences: slender body,

elliptical face, elegant drapery folds, tri-lobed crown

History of Korea:The Unified Silla Period

• 660 CE-Silla kingdom conquered Baekje• 668 CE-defeats Goguryeo with help of Tang Dynasty• Buddhism prospers under Unified Silla• Many large, important temples erected• Lasts until

935 CE

Seokguram• Greatest monument of the period—artificial cave temple

atop Mount Toham• Modeled after Chinese cave temples• Small, rectangular antechamber joined by vestibule to

circular main hall with domed ceiling• Huge Seated Buddha dominates main hall– Similar to Chinese sculptures-full and taut forms, drapery

History of Korea: Goryeo Dynasty• Dominates until 1392 CE• Period of courtly

refinement• Best known for celadon-

glazed ceramics

Celadon-Glazed Ceramics• Celadon-high-fired, transparent glaze of

pale, bluish-green hue, typically applied over a pale gray stoneware body

• Invented by Chinese potters• Korean potters experimented with such

glazes• Best pieces went to palaces, nobles, or

Buddhist clergy• Little decoration in 11th century• Carved or molded decoration in 12th

century (mimicked contemporaneous Chinese ceramics)

• Mid-12th Century-begin to explore new styles– Inlaid decoration stamped into body– Black and white slips create contrasting colors

Buddhist Painting• Buddhism enjoyed patronage

under Goryeo Dynasty• Paintings were wrought in ink

and colors on silk• Hanging scrolls usually• Luxurious taste of the period:– Flesh tones used for its face and

hands– Rich colors and gold pigment used

for the deity’s clothing

Brief Review• China distinctive for its early advancement in ceramics,

metalwork, and jade• Technological advancement:– Potter’s wheel, reduction firing, bronze casting

• Profound passion for refinement and subtleties of shape, proportion, and surface texture

• Human relationships and heroic ideals– Confucian values and teaching standards of conduct—social order

• Later embrace of Buddhist tradition from India– Represent divine potential of humanity-princely representations

• Philosophical ideals through theme of landscape– Simple black ink ultimate medium for expressing the vastness,

abundance, and endurance of the universe