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Chinese fine art was traditionally made for imperial purposes, and has a long history in China. This is in comparison to Chinese folk art.

Calligraphy
The Chinese imperial court collects the most valuable calligraphy pieces. They done by the most talented calligraphers of each century. Every emperor, as an enthusiastic collector carried on their ancestors' tradition of adding their own seal mark on to the calligraphy pieces. These tradition made all of the pieces extremely valuable and collectible.

Ceramics
Chinese ceramics, which began in the pre-dynastic periods, has continuously improved since then. it is one of the most significant forms of Chinese art.

Snuff bottle
When opium was introduced to China, Snuff bottles then became popular. The Chinese royalties were addicted to it as well, and they used it as a long-life medicine. The design of the snuff bottles flourished because the money that was poured into the industry was by the rich. Many snuff bottles were made by talented artisans, using tiny paint brushes, and painted from inside of the bottle reaching down from the top of narrow neck. They are highly collectible still to this day.

Lacquer
During the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600–1046 BCE), the sophisticated techniques used in the lacquer process were first developed and it became a highly artistic craft, various prehistoric lacquerware have been unearthed in China dating back to the Neolithic period. The earliest extant lacquer object, a red wooden bowl, was unearthed at a Hemudu culture (ca. 5000-4500 BCE) site in China. By the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), many centers of lacquer production became firmly established. The knowledge of the Chinese methods of the lacquer process spread from China during the Han, Tang and Song dynasties. But, eventually it was introduced to Korea, Japan, Southeast and South Asia.

Photography
Photography was used in several China's cities soon after the invention of photography in 1839 and the arrival of European photographers in Macao. At first, people who were superstitious, thought having the camera take a picture of them would result in their spirit being taken away. By the end of the nineteenth century, all major cities had photographic studios. Some affluent Chinese people adopted photography as a hobby. Western and Chinese photographers documented ordinary street life, major wars, and prominent figures.

The Empress Dowager Cixi had her portrait taken repeatedly.

Sculpture and carving
The 18th Century Qing dynasty covered vase depicts a woman who is holding lingzhi fungus and a peony branch. See is accompanied by a boy, crane, and a deer.

Ivory Carving
Ivory was not a prestigious material in the rather strict hierarchy of Chinese art, where jade has always been far more highly regarded, and rhinoceros horn, which is not ivory, had a special auspicious position. But ivory, as well as bone, has been used for various items since early times, when China still had its own species of elephant — demand for ivory seems to have played a large part in their extinction, which came before 100 BC. From the Ming Dynasty ivory began to be used for small statuettes of the gods and others (see gallery). In the Qing Dynasty it suited the growing taste for intricate carving, and became more prominent, being used for brush-holders, boxes, handles and similar pieces, and later Canton developed large models of houses and other large and showy pieces, which remain popular. Enormous examples are still seen as decorative centrepieces at government receptions. Figures were typically uncoloured, or just with certain features coloured in ink, often just black, but sometimes a few other colours.

Governmental seals
Seal sculpture (紐刻), is an art that originated in ancient China and is mainly popular in East Asian countries. It focuses or decorates on the head-part or the top-side of a seal. It is a kind of sculpture or mini-sculpture. In China, the utmost important seal of all is the imperial seal called 'He Shi Bi', now lost, it was said that the green jade took a form of a round shape with inscriptions read "Having received the Mandate from Heaven, may (the emperor) lead a long and prosperous life." (受命於天，既壽永昌) written by the Primer Li Si for Qin Shi Huang Zhao zheng, the Augustus Emperor of The Chinese Empire.

Ruyi
Ruyi is a scepter that serves primarily as a decoration. Its history began in the Qing Dynasty when the Ruyi sceptors given to noted visitors of the emperor. Now they're given as birthday presents. It is made of different materials, including porcelain and jade. The term Ruyi means "may your wish be granted" or "as you wish". The unusual shape is meant to imitate the shape of a stemmed lotus flower.

Embroidery
Chinese embroidery is some of the oldest extant needlework. The four major regional styles of Chinese embroidery are Suzhou (Su Xiu), Hunan (Xiang Xiu), Guangdong (Yue Xiu) and Sichuan (Shu Xiu). All of them are nominated as Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage.