User:Johnnyxie168/Chinese art

Chinese Art (Article Draft)
Chinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China or by Chinese artists. Chinese art is also a visual representation of Chinese history and culture. Many ancient Chinese artists are referencing the natural environment such as the mountains, forest and waterfall as an inspiration for their artworks.

There are eight important time periods that made a significant contribution to the historic development of Chinese art. These eight time periods are Early Imperial China, Period of Division, The Sui and Tang dynasties, Song and Yuan dynasties, Late imperial China, New China Art, Redevelopment, and Communist art. Chinese art is unique in terms of its long stabilized art history and arguably the oldest continuous tradition in the world. The history of Chinese art can be traced back to the ancient Chinese Neolithic period. Throughout the ancient Chinese Neolithic period, there are many different stylized artworks and ancient cultures have been discovered. One of the most significant discoveries of the Chinese Neolithic period is potteries. These Neolithic pottery were made during the Yangshao period (5000 BC to 3000 BC). Most of these Yangshao style ceramic pottery have decoration features such as fish and human faces, and also these pottery have geometric based shapes and abstract designs. Second significant discovery is jade decorations created during the Liangzhu period (c. 12,000 – c. 2,000 B.C.E.). The raw material of jade comes from the Yangtze River as the jade from the Liangzhu period has the characteristics of white, milky bone-like aspect due to its origin as Tremolite rock. Jade decorations are very important because the material of jade has symbolic representation of military and wealth. Third significant discovery is the bronze decorations beginning from the Xia Dynasty (ca. 2100 – 1600 B.C.E.). The idea of bronze decorations has influenced other dynasties such as the Shang Dynasty and the Yin Dynasty. People remember these bronze decorations by its advanced carving technique in which all the details are still clear and visible even though it had been passed on for centuries. Moreover, during the Shang dynasty the images that are illustrated on the surface of these vessels are mainly related to the imaginary animals. In the Zhou dynasty bronze vessels served as practical purposes as well as in religious rites. For example, the bronze vessels are decorated with scenes of people’s social life such as banquets or hunts. While other bronze vessels are being decorated with materials such as gold and silver to demonstrate the person’s social status, wealth and power.

Chinese art is not only limited to the Neolithic period ceramic, bronze, and jade decorations. There are also many other innovative art pieces being discovered for example textiles, carved lacquer, calligraphy, and ink wash paintings of landscapes and animals. The development of Chinese decorations is similar to the evolution of the western art. As in the western prehistoric period people are making cave paintings and Stonehenge. Later the westerns are making ceramic, figurative drawings and stylized painting which is very similar to the development of Chinese art.