The Romance Of Chinese Art (art Ebook)

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THE ROMANCE OF

CHINESE ART BY THE FOLLOWING AUTHORITIES:

Hobson

•

Laurence Binyon

Oswald Sir6n

•

Benjamin March

R. L.

Lt

Col. E. F. Strange

Charles F. Kelley

George

F.

Kunz

Kojiro Tomita

•

•

•

•

A.

Harada

Jiro

F.

Carl

Kendrick

W.

Warren

E.

With *Many full Tage Tlates

Garden City

Cox

in fiolour

and

GARDEN CITY PUBLISHING

Bishop

^Halftone

CO., INC.

New York

COPYRIGHT IN ALL COUNTRIES SUBSCRIBING TO THE BERNE CONVENTION BY THE ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA COMPANY, LTD. COPYRIGHT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, I929, 1930, 1932, I936 BY THE ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, INC.

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PUBLISHER'S

.he material in this book lishers of the

many

s/ «/

FOREWORD

presented through the courtesy of the pub-

is

The text is composed of a selection editors we are indebted
Encyclopaedia Britannica.

of articles from of the

v

its

pages, and to

its

colour plates and other illustrations.

Warren E. Cox, Art Director of the Encyclopaedia Britannica,

in his

Preface explains the make-up and comments upon the scope and authority of this volume.

We

believe

it

to be the

most compact and comprehensive

reference book on the various branches of Chinese Art ever

made

generally

available to students and laymen.

We are proud of this opportunity to present such at a price

a valuable compilation

which nothing but the complete cooperation of the publishers of

the Encyclopaedia Britannica could have

made

possible.

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2011

http://www.archive.org/details/romanceofchineseOOgard

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PREFACE

A,

.s

a handbook and general guide

the exhibits in the

museums,

a simple and direct

manner one

curator himself would make,

this

if

for those

who enjoy browsing among

book should prove invaluable,

much

finds

for here in

same comment that the

the

chief

The

he were escorting one from case to case.

strange sounding names need no longer be meaningless and one can, with help,

know

exactly

when

the location of Ching-Te

its

the Ming or T'ang dynasties did occur as well as Chen where the beautiful white porcelain has been

made

ever since the 15th century, or any of the other dynasties, provinces or

cities

mentioned on the cards of the

The

exhibits.

charts under the general article "Periods of Art" should prove

particularly helpful, for one can rest of the

tell

at a glance

what was happening

in the

world at any given time, and trace the influences which spread

from one country to another.

Commencing with China, written by Carl

the brief article on the Aesthetic

W. Bishop

Development of

of the Freer Gallery at Washington, a

general survey can be had of the main influences, religious and other, which

changed the characteristics of art as a whole, and these characteristics should be borne in mind as one reads about each of the separate manifested themselves.

Not always were

fields in

which they

the various branches of art

equally affected by the invading influences; sometimes the changes were first in

on new

architecture and sculpture; sometimes life

and a

fresh outlook, to be reflected

But whatever the individual changes

felt

was painting which first took later in ceramics and lacquer.

it

in the arts

may have

been, they were vii

PREFACE may

of course dependent upon those major changes in what

be called the

great movements, and these should always be borne in mind.

As Chinese Architecture

chiefly

is

known

through photographs and small fragments,

to the student in the

it is

West

necessary to survey this art

with some care, the more so because Chinese Sculpture sprang from Chinese Architecture, and interest

Sculpture that

it is in

Museums

today.

we

and ever growing

find a large

are constantly adding to their collections of

Chinese figures, both stone and wood, and the western world

T'ang China.

equals in

many books on both

It will

now beginning

These two branches of Chinese Art have been

Museum, Stockholm, author

covered by Mr. Oswald Siren of the National of

is

masters of Greece and of the Renaissance had their

to realize that the great

subjects and one of the world's greatest authorities.

be found that he has told the story so simply and so directly that

it is

fascinating reading.

Everyone who has ever had any of Laurence Binyon and

many have

know, can be found,

else, so far as I

interest in Oriental

Art at

all

has heard

read some of his works, but nowhere

in so

few and so well directed words, the

Mr. Binyon has long been Deputy Keeper of Museum, and his writing tells

history of Chinese Painting.

Oriental prints and drawings in the British

not only of what was done in different periods but of

how

it

was done and

why.

The

reader will find the writers of the other articles, on Bronze and

Brass, Enamel, Iron, Ivory Carving, Lacquer, Jewellery, Textiles, etc., the

greatest living authorities, each of

which he knows best. arts

makes

its

the ages and

The

way through

fills

it

has always been such a

understanding

is

told of the arts

myth,

to

bound

for there

is

in

commanding is

mind

as

it

to

treats of that field

has come

down through

it

force in the lives of

is,

men.

To

under-

understand the hearts of a people and such

own life. and much that

Many myths

to enrich one's

is

have been

untrue has been passed

however, quite unnecessary to resort to fancy or

plenty of

human interest, a goodly supply of mystery and make the truth itself fascinating, and it U

Eastern Art, to

imple truth which you \iii

own way

that the great pageant of these beautiful

the reader's

of the Far East,

another;

ample beauty

is

in his

with that enthusiasm and love for the beautiful which

stand the arts of a people

from one

result

whom

will find in this

book.

PREFACE One

of the most mysterious of the arts, one which Europe has never

been able to country of

and one which derives

rival

its

—China—from the

very name

treated very fully in the article

by R. L. Hobson of the British Museum who has probably written more than any one other man on this subject. Every word in his article is worth the reading, first because most of the larger museums of the world contain examples of all the wares its origin, is

he describes, and secondly because the

more

told

and

artistic rises

clearly in this one field than in

any

other.

of China are

falls

From

the primitive

potteries of four or five thousand years ago, through the strong, sturdy

modellings of the

Han dynasty and

the delicate poesy of the

the

Sung and the

more

exquisite ones of the

T'ang

to

glorious burst of colour of the Great

Ming dynasty, and then on down the ever-declining, ever more refined art of the Kang Hsi, Yung Cheng and Chien Lung periods, there is a perfect reflection of the moods and characteristics of a marvellous people. We of the Western hemisphere have learned from French and English importations

of centuries back to enjoy the beauties of the porcelains of the later Chinese periods,

which have had such tremendous influence upon the

countries;

have

and now

in recent years

to strengthen that influence

less

hand of man,

is

Pottery, provided only

perhaps the most lasting of

all

even more, beautiful objects

come from Chinese tombs, which

being carefully excavated.

arts of

all

like those of

it

Egypt

are

has escaped the care-

the arts, and through the

medium of pottery we now know almost every detail of the lives of the Chinese who lived several thousand years ago: how they built their barns and houses, how they saddled their horses, how the ladies did up their hair, what musical instruments they used, and a thousand other interesting and intimate things.

Is this

not mysterious enough?

interesting story than that

we are now

Could one possibly read a more

finding about a strange

and fascinating

people of thousands of years ago ?

But

there are other mysteries which are interesting to the student of

Chinese Art.

It

must be remembered that though some people

land think of the Chinese as heathens of

little

originality

and

in

our

own

intelligence,

they have in fact often been leaders in thought and invention. To be sure they may find our Western ways difficult to copy or perhaps, to put it another

way, they

may

see little reason to

must not be forgotten the world have ever surpassed them in

copy them, yet

that in the field of art no people in

it

ix

PREFACE technical excellence, in beauty of conception, tive

and strong moods

A

in executions.

and

little

feeling of all of the sensi-

peach bloom vase, a tiny

lacquer box, or an embroidered screen offers a problem well nigh as difficult for a

Western

civilization to solve as the

Chinese when they

was

for the

Our

intelligence has

making of a

first laid

eyes on these Western inventions.

produced skyscrapers,

their intelligence has

fast boats, fast trains,

produced gun-powder, the glass

and many other things equally useful;

also they

huge guns;

lens, printing,

paper

have produced probably the

most beautiful paintings of nature, certainly the teries,

battleship or an airplane

finest porcelains

and pot-

superb sculpture, architecture which has stood for thousands of years,

and many other things which are an ever-increasing mystery to us as we cover more and more about them.

.

.

dis-

.

Warren

E.

Cox

Art Director^ Encyclopedia Britannica.

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CONTENTS

PAGE i.

PERIODS OF ART Warren

E.

i

Cox

Art Director of the Encyclopaedia Britannica i.

TEXTILES AND EMBROIDERIES

9

A. F. Kendrick, F.R.S.A. Keeper of Textiles 3.

in the Victoria

and Albert Museum, London

AESTHETIC DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA

12

Carl W. Bishop Associate Curator of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution,

4.

Washington

ARCHITECTURE

20

Oswald Siren Director, National

5.

Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

CHINESE PAINTING

52

Laurence Binyon, Hon. LL.D. Deputy- Keeper of Oriental 6.

Prints, British

Museum, London

WOOD CARVING JlRO

65

HA RAD A Imperial Household Museums, Japan

7.

CHINESE SCULPTURE

68

Oswald Siren Director, National

Museum, Stockholm, Sweden xi

CONTENTS PAGE 8.

SCREEN

101

KOJIRO TOMITA Keeper of Japanese Art, 9.

Museum

of Fine Arts, Boston

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN R. L.

109

Hobson

Keeper of the Department of Ceramics, British Museum, London 10.

JEWELLERY

137

Anonymous 11.

ENAMEL

140

Lt. Col. E. F. Strange, C.B.E. Victoria and Albert

12.

Museum, London

JADE AND OTHER HARD STONE CARVINGS

146

Geo. F. Kunz, Ph.D., Sc.D. Gem Expert, Tiffany & Co., New York 13.

IRON IN ART

159

Benjamin March Curator of Asiatic Art, Detroit Institute of Arts 14.

IVORY CARVING Jiro

161

Harada Imperial Household Museums, Japan

15.

LACQUER

164

Lt. Col. E. F. Strange, C.B.E. Victoria and Albert

16.

Museum, London

BRONZE AND BRASS ORNAMENTAL WORK Charles

F.

173

Kelley

Curator of Oriental Art, Art Institute, Chicago

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

xu

189

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ILLUSTRATIONS

COLOUR PLATES I

Chinese Bronzes

Frontispiece PAGE

Chinese Imperial Jade Screen of the Ch'ien-Lung Period (173695 a.d.)

106

III

Chinese Imperial Palace Screens

107

IV

Chinese Early Pottery Sculpture

7/5

T'ang Vase

779

II

V VI VII VIII

IX

X XI XII

Porcelain of the Sung Period

Chinese Porcelains of the Sung Dynasty

122 (a.d.

960-1260)

123

Ming Three-Colour Enamel Ware

126

Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

130

Chinese Vase, T'ang Dynasty

135

Chinese Porcelains of the K'ang Hsi (1622-1722) and Ch'ien Lung (1736-95) Periods

142

Chinese Bronze Incense Burner

178

HALFTONE PLATES Woven Brocade Hanging

8

Chinese Textiles

Great White Dagoba, Peking

9 12

The Great Wall

13

Two

of China

18

City Walls xi 11

ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE

at Si-an, Shen-Si

6.

Pagodas

7.

Examples of the Chinese Pagoda, or

8.

Buddhist Buildings

9.

10 1 1

.

12 13.

Temple-Tower

19 22 23

Japan and China

A

30 31

Chinese Towers and Pavilions Buddha's Perfume Tower, and

34 35 38

The Chinese

Style in

Gate and an Open Gallery, Peking Two Halls in Peking

Two Gateways

14.

Chinese Memorial Gateways

46

15.

Landscapes of the Sung Period (960-1280)

16.

Six Characteristic Paintings, 4th to 14th Century

54 55 62

18.

The Arhant Rakan Bestowing Alms A Snow Scene

17.

63

19.

Examples of Far Eastern Wood-Carving

66

20.

Animals

67

21.

Sculptures at the

22.

Monsters

23.

Large and Small Works of Chinese Sculpture

78

24.

Divinities in Chinese Sculpture

25.

Buddhas of the Early 6th Century Religious Sculptures of the 6th Century

79 82

26.

in

Early Chinese Sculpture

in

Tomb

of

Wu

Liang Tzu, Shantung

Chinese Sculpture

70 71

27.

Chinese Sculptures of the Sui Period

83 86

28.

Chinese Sculptures of the Sui and T'ang Periods

87

29.

Chinese Statues of the 7th Century

94

30.

Chinese Sculpture: 7th, 13th, and 14th Centuries

93

31.

A

Chinese and a Japanese Screen

in the

T'ang Style

102

32.

Early Pottery from the Province of Kansu, North China

23-

Chinese Mortuary Pottery,

34.

Pre-T'ang Potteries

///

35.

Group of T'ang Glazed Pottery Including Two Mortuary Figures Vases of the Sung Dynasty (960-1280) T/'u Chow Vase, Sung Dynasty (960-1280) Honan Tcmmoku Pottery, Sung Period (960-1280) Having Greyh White, Light Buff and Brown Bodies Pottery and Porcelain of the Sung Dynasty (960-1280)

11S

36. 37. 38.

i

39.

xiv

Han Dynasty

(206 B.C. to a.d. 220)

103

no

no 126

127 ij.}

ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE

40.

Chinese Porcelains

J35

41.

Chinese (Manchu) Head-Dresses and Jewellery

142

42.

Painted, Cloisonne and Champleve Chinese Enamels of the 1 8th and 19th Centuries

'43

43.

The Cloisonne

44.

Jade, Lapis Lazuli and Other Stones

45.

Chinese Cast Iron

46.

Group of Chinese Iron Pictures with Paper and Japanese Sword Guards

47.

Five Chinese Ivories

48.

Chinese Lacquer

49.

Chinese Bronzes of the Chou and

Process and Chinese Cloisonne Enamels of the Centuries I5th-i8th

*47 162

Work

Work

146

or Silk Backgrounds

i6j

166 of the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries

Han

167

Dynasties

174

xv

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PERIODS OF ART

A,

.n

fine

art period

is

that duration of time within which the

main

arts,

both

and applied, show a general recognizable trend or group of character-

istics.

These

human

characteristics, like those of the

them, are usually complex and

beings

who

created

to describe, often being wholly

difficult

unrecognizable until the observer has equipped himself with a considerable experience in the identification, comparison and classification of various

works of art and, even when he

so equipped,

is

these characteristics

are sometimes found to be the basis of irreconcilable discussion, so far as details are concerned, specific characteristics

by the greatest of

experts.

That

upon which the majority of

there are, however,

authorities agree

and

which clearly indicate the time and geographical location on the earth's surface wherein

denied.

It

is

some

certain

work of

on such expert

art

was conceived and made cannot be

classification quite as

tions of archaeological research that the

As

is

is

as

upon the deduc-

whole fabric of the history of

as well as our understanding of the extent cultural periods,

much

art,

and characteristics of the various

based.

pointed out in the notes under the

first

chart in the reference to the

period between 500 B.C. and 350 B.C., there seems to occur at times a nearly

world-wide stimulus or depression in the 1500 that great

movement called

field

of art.

Europe; at the same time the Gothic movement productive; western Asia saw perhaps

making, rug weaving and the other

Dynasty (1368

to 1644)

was

From

a.d. 1400 to a.d.

the Renaissance prevailed through southern

its

arts;

in northern

Europe was

still

highest pinnacle in painting, pottery

and

at its height.

in the It

Far East the great Ming

seems strangely inexplicable 1

CHINESE ART that though the individual causes seem to differ, in religious fervour, in others the

pomp

some

cases being due to

resulting from great wealth, the results

were nevertheless equally worthy.

Yet when we study that small part of the history of man of which we have records we find that the development of civilization has extended over only a comparatively brief period of time and that

may

look

down upon

the civilization of the Far East, perhaps because

the East did not produce such efficient battleships,

study that the Chinese are very

and used bronze the

same

at

has in the various parts

Thus, though we of the western

of the earth been parallel and consistent.

world

it

much like

it is

evident on closer

They understood

the Westerners.

about the same time and, though they have never taken

interest in iron

and

steel, it

was

their invention of the lens

powder which made possible these modern

and gun-

battleships.

number of cultures which originated at about the same time, but it must be kept in mind that from 2,000 years ago (at just the time these cultures began to take on marked individual characteristics) travel, inspired by commerce and war, commenced to bind together the

Not only were

man

races of

there a

with an ever stronger bond.

not so surprising

It is therefore

that at certain given times man's development in the various parts of the

world should be such as to produce simultaneously great

The tremendous wars which

artistic

achievements.

Mongols waged under Jenghis Khan and which influenced the East and West alike may have dammed the flood of production until in the courts

it

of the

Renaissance Italy.

was not dissimilar

the

rose to the irresistible pressure

which found expression

Ming Dynasty as well as in those so similar ones of The religious fervour which made Gothic art possible

to that felt in

western Asia and China and both were

probably the result of the oppressions of war and at the same time reactions against a too materialistic wealth.

This consideration leads us to question what now seems to be the world

What

trend. e

can be hoped for the immediate future?

ther the various peoples. as to

To

a remarkable

the improved methods of travel and communication are bringing

show

rigllfl

National characteristics are being so blended

of a loss ^f identification.

The Japanese

artist

is

like the

French, influenced by Cezanne, and there arc American sky-scrapers in

China.

Undoubtedly

this

is

going to prove

;»

happy

tiling for all art as well

PERIODS OF ART as for civilization is

though just now the process

is

a discouraging one.

There

bound, however, to emerge a functional art with a world-wide appeal.

A much

more threatening element is that easily perceived interest on man's part in the new toys provided him by a bountiful science. The publics of all countries are becoming so interested in the moving pictures that there is

little

time to spare for looking at paintings.

Similarly, the radio, the

automobile and a thousand other inventions bid for man's time,

and compete with

itself to this

melting

all artists.

down

How long it will

amusement and

take the world to adjust

of various characteristics, and to the building up

more profound characteristics; how long it will take artists to adjust themselves to the new competitive demands and learn to make use of the inventions of science rather than combat them or have them make use of wider and

of art,

a question that cannot yet be answered, but

is

it is

certain that until

these two obstacles are overcome there can never be great art such as there

has been in the past.

Thus we must There

best art.

as those of

modern,

is

get out of the habit of thinking that the last art

more

loss

Egypt or China or Greece are weighed

in spite of (or

perhaps because

of) all the

in the scale against the

new means

Thanks must be given

available to

for their kind assistance in providing the facts

upon which the following charts have been constructed Tozzer, Dr. Herbert

Alan R.

the

to-day which these earlier civilizations did not know.

artists of

W.

is

than gain to be seen when the earlier arts such

Priest.

J.

Spinden, Dr. Ananda K.

to Professor Alfred

Coomaraswamy and

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had been arrived at. had a definite beginning or end, such

epresents the consensus of the best founded opinions and has been carefully brought together by the authorities enumerated in the latter part of this article, as well as European cultural expressions Irrespective of their actual racial origins which are still a matter of great doubt; the common names for these cultures are therefore given. nets or similarities. ame earlier. It was not thought advisable to attempt to indicate the differing racial elements that created Chaldean and Sumerian culture or such racial questions as >een indicated in accordance with the dating of the Chinese chronicles while the heading "Central America" Is used In the broad sense to include also the earliest culture*

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he Greco-Scythian period in the territory now known as Russia, while In Greece the Periclean culture was at its height; in Italy, the Etruscan; in Spain, the Phoenician to-day. Thus, the reader will find it possible, through the use of this chart, to organize his studies and keep In mind the relative growth and decline of the arts of vari-

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owing to the continually increasing speed in the development of art periods throughout the world, but to alter and add to the geographical subdivisions because of more or less individual national development. England, starting with the Roman period, developed partly distinct from, but parallel with, the continent. Korea and united by Europeans who brought to It and developed an entirely new culture in this area. Many authorities include Carolingian and Romanesque under the general inder "North Africa" and the Syrian under "Western Asia" are sometimes considered variant forms of the Byzantine; even the widely divergent Armenian style is oc»th shores of the Adriatic. lies which felt its influence. With this section it may be seen that Gothic art started between a.d. iioo and a.d. 1200 in the "Early and Rayonnant" style in France ihort time, giving way to the Renaissance. In Germany perhaps because of the same national characteristics that made the Baroque so appealing, at a later date, Gothic ind later the "perpendicular" style. It may also be seen that there was a revival in Gothic art between A.D. 1800 and A.D. 1900 not only in Germany, France, and Eng>enods, can be traced In the various countries and the approximate dates easily fixed in mind.

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BY

COURTESY OF YAMANAKA AND COMPANY

WOVEN BROCADE HANGING wall hanging of woven silk brocade attributed to the Ming Dynasty. This hanging, woven entirely in one piece, is said to have come from Jehol, northern China

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TEXTILES AND EMBROIDERIES

Woven fabrics region of

myth

were

stuffs

of China.

—The origin of silk-weaving

and legend, and nothing remains to

like.

The

oldest Chinese patterned stuffs

unearthed by Sir Aurel Stein

The

site lay

in the

Lop

western Asia in the 2nd century

The stuffs

B.C.,

is

lost in the

known

earliest

to exist

were

desert, Chinese Turkestan, in 1914.

on the route opened out by the Chinese

4th century a.d.

China

in

show what the

for the silk trade

and replaced by an

with

easier route in the

are attributed to the 1st century B.C., during the

Han

dynasty, and they are undoubtedly influenced by earlier traditions.

The

patterns of dragons,

The next Chinese dynasty

to later work.

put of

artistic

animals, birds, scrolls and diapers are same time they have a remarkable resemblance

griffins,

archaic in form, though at the

wares

is

especially associated with the out-

the T'ang (a.d. 618-906).

textiles attributed to this period

Considerable numbers of

have been preserved.

The Chinese were

then in contact with Persia both by land and sea, and this western intercourse is

reflected in the art of the time.

said to have been used

It

is

conspicuously seen

by the Japanese Prince Shotoku

in a silk

banner

(a.d. 572-623),

and

now removed from Nara (the old imperial capital) to the Tokyo museum. The design is a typical Sassanian hunting-scene, with the king on horseback attacking a lion; the

manner of representation

Chinese characters are introduced.

Many

Nara

characteristic type of Chinese weaving,

in fine silks

and gold thread, and known

T'ang dynasty.

however, Chinese and

other silk weavings of this epoch

are preserved in the royal treasure-house at

A

is,

in

Japan.

done by the tapestry method

as k'o-ssu,

is first

The specimens which have been found

met with under the in the

Gobi desert 9

CHINESE ART region differ remarkably fine silk

warp

is

used, and the weft of bright coloured silk enhanced by the

On

use of gold thread.

the other hand there can be no reasonable doubt

woven more than

that these examples

a far greater antiquity

assumed a

first

archaic than those of the

similar in their scope

a thousand years ago were the heirs of

—perhaps assignable

when Chinese handicrafts less

The same very

from those of modern times.

little

"Han"

silks

in its origin to the

civilized form.

The

dim period

patterns are

already mentioned, but they are

— including dragons, symbolic "lions," phoenixes, and

various animals, birds and flowers.

Under the Yuan dynasty, founded by a Mongolian conqueror about 1280, Marco Polo (besides other travellers from Europe) found his way across the Asiatic continent to China. He speaks of the silk brocades woven in

many

Numbers

parts of that country.

of Chinese silk and gold fabrics were

brought to the West at that time and under the Ming dynasty which followed in

the 14th century.

Some

are at Regensburg

church treasuries of Europe. into these stuffs

medan

in

other

Occasionally Arabic inscriptions are inwoven

showing that they were intended

Moham-

for the use of a

ruler of western Asia.

With the for

and Danzig and

Chinese

arrival of the Portuguese at

textiles.

Canton

in

1

517 a new era begins

"Chinoiserie" soon came into vogue in Europe, and

the trading ships of Portugal, Spain, England, France, Holland and other countries brought

home

specially for export.

vast quantities of Chinese textiles often

During

this

time the weaving of fine

influenced in design by Western associations,

went on

made

silk fabrics,

un-

Dragons,

as before.

phoenixes, clouds, waves and symbolical ornaments were reproduced on official

garments, temple hangings and other

stuffs.

In China a landscape

or a figure subject becomes a "pattern" almost as naturally as

kind of ornamentation. ings, trees

and

described.

A

figures

Landscapes including rocks,

any other

rivers, boats, build-

were rendered by the tapestry-weaving process already

panel belonging to a series representing a popular

rative festival held annually

by the Chinese,

is

commemo-

here reproduced.

—

Woven Fabrics of Japan. Textile art in Japan owes a great deal to the Chinese. The ancient royal treasure at Nara, already mentioned, contains sonic of the most remarkable early Chinese stuffs in existence. that

The

inference

Japan was then very largely dependent upon the more ancient 10

civiliza-

AND EMBROIDERIES

TEXTILES

tion of her neighbours for the richer sort of textiles

general grounds.

is

confirmed on more

In the early centuries of the Christian era large numbers

of Chinese weavers settled in Japan.

They

usually worked under Japanese

became distributed through the country. In the year 1584 a Japanese embassy arrived in Europe,

control; they

Gregory XIII.

in

Rome, and King

Philip II. in Spain.

them

silk

From

this time onwards European influence

weavings as presents, receiving

in the textiles of

Japan.

visiting Pope They brought with

in return velvets

may

and brocades.

be discerned here and there

But before the 17th century was

well advanced,

Japan closed her doors entirely to the foreigner, until in 1858 the country was reopened to European and American trade by Com. Perry, U. S. Navy. Japanese

textile design displays

seizing the salient features fabric.

Ducks

are

shown

an acute perception of natural forms,

and transforming them with a floating

on the rippling water,

light touch to the irises

growing

in

the stream, fowls with their chicks, cranes on the wing; with these are land-

scape effects

—lakes

and streams, clouds, pine

trees, castles

and bridges.

Symbolic ornaments and small diaper patterns are also common.

methods of ornamentation are frequently combined stuff

may have

a

in

one

Different

fabric.

A

silk

woven pattern helped out by printing and completed with

few deft touches of embroidery.

II

a

MHLVflBJM^ JM J lUM^^ i

i

i

AESTHETIC DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA

I n northern china, mainly there slowly

emerged

eventually to

make

in the

basin of the

influence felt in

continental and insular.

or Yellow River,

times a focus of civilization destined

in late prehistoric its

Huang Ho

all

the neighbouring regions, both

Apart from certain well shaped stone implements

and fragments of a coarse, unglazed pottery, few vestiges of the Chinese Stone Age culture have thus

far

been found.

An

important exception

the

is

recent discovery in northern China of a painted ware with analogies in

Turkistan and regions

still

Chinese Bronze Age.

—

farther west. It is

only with the acquisition of bronze that a

distinctly Chinese civilization first appears.

So

far

no trace has been found

of evolution out of an earlier copper period like that which took place in the

Occident.

On

the contrary, the bronze objects found in China are

sentially late forms, identical in principle with types

appear only toward the close of the Bronze Age. civilization

which

all es-

in other lands

This great advance

in

seems to have occurred under the mainly legendary Shang

dynasty, the date of whose beginning no one knows, but which terminated

about the end of the second millennium

Chou

ing largely historical

period, with

brilliant feudal aristocracy, that the

hi the present

millennium \ir\

man)

12

its

It

is,

however, with the succeed-

long line of priest-kings and

Chinese Bronze Age

is

B.C.,

it is

it

its

especially linked,

fragmentary state of our knowledge of China during the

imperfectly. respects,

B.C.

first

only possible to reconstruct the civilization of that time

It

may

be said, however, that although barbarous in

was distinguished

for colour

and richness and the lavish

PHOTOGRAPH. HERBERT PHOTOS,

INC.

GREAT WHITE DAGOBA, PEKING The great White Dagoba at Peking, China, built in 1652. Its shape is that of a Buddhist reliquary. Base, body, spire, crown and gilded ball are symbols of the five elements earth, water, fire, air and ether

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AESTHETIC DEVELOPMENT use not only of bronze but also of gold, ivory, jade, featherwork and orna-

mental

Its designs are pretty certainly a

textiles.

development of the old

Neolithic art, retained because of their traditionally sacred character and the belief that

any alteration

The high

in

them would diminish

their magical efficacy.

artistic quality of this civilization is best exemplified in the

great bronze ceremonial vessels used in connection with the ancestor worship

These, for grandeur of form, dignity and ornamentation,

of the nobility.

and mastery of technique, have never been surpassed, and command the admiration of students and art-lovers the world over.

The Ch'in Dynasty.

—The

later portion of the

Chou

period witnessed a

great social and economic development, which in time undermined the

The 3rd century

archaic feudal system.

with that of

its

B.C.

saw

its

entire overthrow, along

venerable but long since impotent hieratic dynasty, by the

vigorous western

fief

The

of Ch'in.

ruler of the latter forcibly united the

hitherto loosely federated States into a centralized empire, of which he declared himself

first

emperor.

Of

the artistic achievements of his powerful

but short-lived dynasty we know but states that large bronze statues

A

little.

were then

cast,

nearly contemporary work

and certain types of

vessels

of that material have been ascribed to the period, with hardly sufficient

That

reason.

The

doubt.

it

was an epoch of extraordinary magnificence, there

Ch'in dynasty collapsed

establishment, having

fulfilled,

little

however,

its

more than a decade

is

no

after its

historic mission of assuring once

for all the cultural unity of China.

The

Han

Dynasty.

—Out of the general

welter of war which followed,

there emerged in a few years the great dynasty of the

over the empire, with but one brief interval, from 206 period of over 400 years

Then

first

is

Han, which reigned

B.C. to a.d. 220.

This

a most important one, in art as in other respects.

appeared numerous hitherto unknown culture elements of funda-

mental importance to the Chinese civilization of later times.

Of

its

architecture the records have

much

to say, but nothing has sur-

vived save certain foundation mounds and city and boundary walls of

rammed

earth.

now first made its appearance, in the of men and animals set up about tombs; here

Sculpture in stone

reliefs and figures some connection with the art of western regions may be suspected, for it was just at this time that direct contact with the Occident was first estab-

form of low

13

CHINESE ART Painting underwent a great development,

lished.

its

materials, instruments

and technique becoming fundamentally what they have since remained. Of its achievements, only certain archaic delineations of human figures on funerary

tiles

known; but

are

would seem mainly

it

of battle, the hunt, and court and domestic

Only

landscape.

in the

2nd century

names of individual

did the

The

to

have depicted scenes

with but

life,

little

attempt at

toward the close of the dynasty,

a.d.,

artists begin to

be recorded.

pottery of this period also shared in the great aesthetic evolution Glaze,

then taking place.

known

appears in China, and the great

for

millenniums

Han mortuary

in the

Occident,

now

sometimes inspired

vessels,

by bronze forms or encircled by bands of vigorous naturalistic scenes in are well

known

The

to collectors.

first

light

on the

life

of the time.

and the lapidary,

also

may

it

other hard stone, long

known

of disunion and this,

of the

civil

The

Han

found buried

Clay

rich

seals, usually cut in

now

western lands,

dynasty,

in

made

men,

much

first

in con-

jade or some

appeared

in

China.

the 3rd century, led to a condition

war, which lasted for nearly 400 years.

great progress was

figures of

tombs, throw

and striking development;

be noted that in

in

decorative arts, like those of the jeweller

underwent a

nection with the latter

The downfall

utensils,

relief,

tentative essays in the direction of

porcelain are likewise to be ascribed to this period.

women, animals, houses and

first

in all the arts.

Yet, in spite of

In architecture, probably

toward the close of the period, arose the practice of uptilting the corners of roofs, regarded

on

by Westerners

silk, still chiefly

scape, are

known

improved and

of

to us

human

as so characteristically Chinese.

figures

but displaying attempts toward land-

through copies by later

diversified in form,

Paintings

Pottery was further

artists.

ornamentation and technique, and true

porcelain appears, apparently as a direct evolution out of the ware of the

Han

dynasty.

THE EFFECT OF BUDDHISM The

New

Religious Factor.

—

It

was, however,

secular art that the period achieved

uas due

to the introduction

its

calculable,

14

and may well be compared

rather than

greatest aesthetic triumphs.

of Buddhism from India.

China and her neighbours throughout

in religious

all

The effect

This

of this upon

subsequent history has been

to the effect

in-

on Europe of the introduc-

AESTHETIC DEVELOPMENT The famous

tion of Christianity. in

northwestern India, reached

century, but in

its

early Buddhist sculpture of Gandhara,

maximum development

its

about the 2nd

pure form spread only as far as eastern Turkistan.

The

art which now developed in northern China under the Toba Tatar or North Wei dynasty (a.d. 386-534) was no direct outgrowth of this. It must have flowered locally under the stimulus of the new religious faith, although

naturally finding inspiration for certain of

elements in Indian, Iranian or

its

even Hellenistic ideas which reached China by the great Central Asiatic caravan-routes.

It

is

best exemplified

by the remarkable

grottoes of Yiin-kang in northern Shansi and

Lung-men

where the North Wei power successively centred. ized

by

Honan,

Its best

work

is

in regions

character-

slimness of figure, rhythmic grace of curve and that passionless,

spiritual

calm and benevolence which are the essence of Buddhism.

Very

new

series of sculptured

in

little later,

mainly under the

influence also reached China

local

Liang dynasty (502-556), the

by the sea-route through the

This latter movement, originating chiefly

Malacca.

brought with

it

an art

little

rather that of the great the elements which

it

affected

southern India,

in

by that of Gandhara, but

Maurya dynasty of

Straits of

reflecting

Among

the 3rd century B.C.

introduced were the fluted column and great and

vigorously executed winged lions; examples of both these

survive,

still

much

mutilated, in the vicinity of Nanking, the capital of the Liang dominions. Little

is

yet

known

of this southern Buddhist art of China, partly because

of the tremendous destruction of

its

works wrought by the Taiping rebellion

of the middle of the 19th century, but partly too because

it

has hitherto

attracted less attention than that of the north.

The heterogeneous mass

of animism, folk-lore, and magic which formed

the religion of the masses in feudal days was liberated by the destruction of the nobility, and acquired great influence during dynasties.

much of the Ch'in and Han known as Taoism, it bor-

Gradually organized into the system

rowed from Buddhism not merely

its

temples, festivals and whole parapher-

nalia of worship, but also its art, notably its sculpture.

are

much

Its

works, however,

cruder in every way, and artistic merit of any sort

The T'ang Dynasty.

—After

this long period of disunion

is

exceptional.

and war, toward

the close of the 6th century, China was again united under the brilliant but short-lived Sui dynasty (a.d. 589-618).

This

in turn

was succeeded by that 15

CHINESE ART sway vied with that of the Han as one of the greatest epochs of Chinese history. Under its earlier rulers, China had nothing to fear from comparison with any realm on earth, whether that of Byzantium, of Sassanid Persia or the newly founded power of Islam. of the T'ang (a.d. 618-906), whose long

Intercourse with the Occident during

much

and ideas of every sort travelled both east and west.

close,

Buddhist sculpture now attained

its

conventionality, and heads, instead of ideal,

spiritual

became individual

To

noteworthy development. all

of this time was constant and

highest pitch; naturalism replaced

reflecting

an impersonal and purely

Painting also underwent a

portraits.

this period belongs

Wu

Tao-tzu, greatest of

Chinese painters, whose style has exerted enormous influence upon

later times, not only in

a northern and a southern,

Almost

Two

China, but also in Japan.

and landscape was now

all

schools appeared,

seriously developed.

the authentic existing T'ang dynasty paintings are religious in

all

character; but fortunately a very few secular examples survive, while others are

known through

copies

by

artists of later periods.

In pottery also the T'ang period reached a higher stage than hitherto.

Glazes were increased in range of colour and texture. are predominantly native, although in

some

fluences, especially that of Sassanid Persia.

known

The forms themselves

cases they reflect western in-

T'ang grave

figures are well

for their artistic merits as well as their great archaeological interest.

Bronze, long since displaced by iron for the manufacture of weapons and tools,

was

in greater

favour than ever in the arts, notably for the casting of

Buddhist statues and statuettes, often

richly gilt.

Ivory from southern

China and Indo-China and jade from Turkistan were carved into a variety of ornamental shapes.

Although probably already known

engraving on wood now makes period

is

also

noteworthy

its

for the great extension of

then took place into southern China, also into

came

Korea and Japan.

to an

end early

in

The Sung Dynasty.

and

I half.

16

its

till

in

principle,

The T'ang

Chinese culture which

then only partially assimilated, and

The dynasty,

after a long period of decadence,

the 10th century.

—After

lasted only half a century,

which maintained

appearance.

first definite

another period of turmoil, which however

China was again united, under the Sung dynasty,

sway over the whole country

Then, through Tartar aggression,

for slightly

its

over a century

power was

restricted for

AESTHETIC DEVELOPMENT a further similar period to that part of the country situated south of the

Yangtse River,

until

it

was

finally

overthrown by the Mongols about 1280.

During the Sung period the influence of Buddhism greatly declined, being replaced by Confucianism, and probably as a result of this, sculpture

became decadent. Painting, on the other hand, reached heights never Landscape underwent its greatest development, the effort

attained before.

being not to depict a scene exactly, but to reveal

Taoism, through

a corresponding emotion. plation, provided

Thus

Sung painting with many of

spirit

and arouse

its

most romantic concepts.

there arose in China an appreciation of the beauties of nature, later

imparted to Japan but unknown

in

thentic pictures of this period, while

Europe

until the 19th century.

Au-

more numerous than those of the T'ang,

During

are nevertheless very rare. also

inward

its

love of solitude and contem-

its

this

underwent a great development,

extremely

losing,

it

is

artistic

epoch, pottery

something of the

true,

strength and vigour of the best T'ang examples, but acquiring nevertheless

a characteristic tastefulness in form and delicacy of finish.

Northern China, controlled by successive Tartar powers during much of the

1

2th century, was conquered soon after the opening of the 13th by the

Mongols who overran later they also

so

much

of the Old

World

at that time.

Half a century

subdued the realm of the Southern Sungs, and China was thus

The

reunited under their rule.

art of their time has little to distinguish

from that of the periods before or their adoption of Lamaistic

after,

it

although perhaps in some instances

Buddhism has

left

a visible impress.

It

was

then that began that tendency to resort to antiquity for models which later

became

so pronounced.

Shortly after the middle of the 14th century an

outburst of popular fury drove out the decadent later Mongols and led to the accession of the

Ming dynasty,

the last native Chinese ruling house.

THE CONFUCIAN REVIVAL The Ming Period.

worthy

for its great

—The

Ming

achievements

ciated at their real worth.

in architecture,

Nearly

roads, bridges, palaces, temples

period (1368-1644)

all

is

especially note-

even to-day hardly appre-

the city and frontier walls, paved

and pagodas

still

existing in

China were

Ming builders. Next to its architecture, probably work of the Ming period, was that accomplished in pot-

constructed by the great the most important

17

CHINESE ART was sought from the earlier epochs, especially But original work was done, and Ming celadons, polythat of the T'ang. chromes and blue-and-white ware are well known. It was during the latter tery.

Here too

inspiration

was

half of the dynasty that porcelain

first

regularly exported to Europe,

although isolated examples had reached Mediterranean lands far earlier

The sculpture of this time is dull and uninspired, known examples, the colossal figures of men and animals Painting lining the famous avenue to the Ming tombs just north of Peking. but necessarily lacks much excellence, the interest not infrequently displays through Arab traders.

as

shown by

its

best

always aroused by original creative

Emphasis was placed

art.

landscapes and nature studies, and to the copied earlier works

we owe by

secular paintings of the

Ming

artists

far the greater part of

who

chiefly

upon

industriously

our knowledge of the

T'ang and Sung times.

In the realm of textiles, embroideries, brocades and damasks of high character were produced, and for the

first

time, perhaps as a consequence of

up with the Near East under the Mongols, Chinese rugs and carpets assume a place of importance. In the minor arts also developthe contacts opened

ment attained a high

Ming

level.

cloisonne

of design and depth of colour never excelled.

is

characterized by a boldness

Much work

of a high technical

order was done in the carving of jades and other semi-precious stones and ivory, in dignity

and beauty often

far superior to later examples.

In general,

the art of this time, perhaps largely owing to the revival of Confucianism

with

worship of antiquity,

its

falls far

below that of the

earlier

and truly great

These were spontaneous and creative and had a genuine message; while that of the Mings was consciously imitative and sought its mission in

periods.

trying to bring back to

Ming dynasty toward

life

its

a long dead past.

close

Like

all its

predecessors, the

underwent a rapid process of degeneration and

decadence, the central power becoming weaker and weaker until at last

overthrown

in a

The Ch'ing Dynasty. like

was

—The vacant throne was swiftly seized by the war-

Manchus, who proceeded

the I'.mpire an

it

great rebellion.

to overrun the entire country,

enormous expansion.

and who gave

Their dynasty, known as that of the

Ch'ing, produced several rulers of first-rate ability; but their genius displayed itself to better

the arts. 18

advantage

in statecraft

In architecture they did

but

and war than little in

in the

development of

comparison with their prede-

I.L.I

J

-

PHOTOGRAPHS, COPR. OSVALO SIREN

TWO 1.

CITY

Portion of the city wall of Peking; west side, outer view. It is provided with 44 bastions and coated with bricks. The battlements are

beginning to crumble. It had been constantly rebuilt or repaired from the end of the 15th to the middle of the 19th century. Its two gates are the Hsi Chih men (north) and Ping Jzu men (south), connecting city and suburbs

WALLS 2.

Portion of the city wall and the double bastion at south gate in Si-an, Shen-si, built at the end of the 14th century, and repaired in places. It encloses an almost square city, and has double gate-towers, square bastions and round corner-towers

PAGODAS AT 1th centurl.i

M«lng

ChUo

S.u pegnd* ne.r

Si

•«

SI

AN. SHEN-SI 4

Ta

Yen TV (he Great P« oda of the Wild Gee.e. founded 652; partly rebuilt in the 10th century

Sl-*n;

AESTHETIC DEVELOPMENT had

cessors the Mings, perhaps because the latter

In sculpture, China under their rule displayed

little originality,

development

and excess of

being mainly in the direction of grotesque perversion of taste

In painting almost no original work of consequence was

ornamentation.

done, although the copying of earlier works was continued. field

be done.

left so little to

It

was

in the

of porcelain that the most noteworthy aesthetic achievements of the

Manchu

period have occurred.

A

marked development took place

in fine-

The greatest work During the 18th century the

ness of texture and elaboration of form and decoration.

was done

in the

two decades from 1662

to 1683.

tendency toward elaboration of form and decoration became more and more

marked, and some of the pieces of the Ch'ien-lung period have never been excelled in these respects.

The weaving

of textiles and rugs, the execution

of objects of personal adornment and household decoration, as well as carving

With

of every sort, also display this elaborating tendency.

it

went a steady

deterioration in taste for which no intricacy of design could compensate.

Whether the present turmoil artistic greatness,

in

China

will lead to

only the future can disclose.

Other Regions.

—Chinese

culture spread to Korea and Japan

but these were not the only regions into which early centuries of the Christian era

gradually

made

another period of

it

it

was

carried.

{qq.v.),

During the

spread over southern China and

that region definitively Chinese.

Indo-China and Tibet,

although strongly affected, escaped such complete absorption, partly because of the presence in those countries of strong Indian cultural counter-currents.

During the T'ang period, and again under the dynasty of the Mings, the influence of China penetrated far and wide through the Indian Archipelago; Formosa was partially subdued and assimilated, Borneo and the Philippines underwent Chinese contacts of which traces still remain, and even distant Ceylon for a time was a tributary of the Ming emperors. As so often occurs in cases of culture diffusion, the influence of Far Eastern aesthetic development continues to be widely

felt,

although mori-

bund or dead in the lands which saw its birth. Interest in it grows apace, and collections, researches and publications are multiplied. In the light of recent critical study, largely by Chinese and Japanese scholars themselves, it is

being found necessary to reduce greatly the extravagant dates claimed

by most Far Eastern nations, with no support from contemDoraneous

history,

for the earlier periods of their culture.

19

BOKJAVAUWAU^^^

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE

T

1hhe

art of building

in

China has always been

closely

dependent on the

intimate feeling of the Chinese people for the significance and beauty of

They arranged

nature.

their buildings with special regard to the "spirits

of earth, water and air," their ambition being not to dominate nature by their creations, as

reach a perfect

Westerners mostly do, but to co-operate with

harmony or order of

in the creations

of nature.

It

was

the

same kind

less the

as that

which

so as to

it, is

reflected

outward forms that interested

them than the inner meaning, the underlying creative

forces.

This

is

most

evident in the arrangement of some of the great tombs and shrines or in open-air altars dedicated to the divinities of heaven and earth. also reflected in profane buildings such as the imperial palaces,

But

name used

Tzu Chin Ch'eng,

palaces:

for the present

and some

is

which were

planned and built according to sidereal or cosmological considerations. appears even from the

it

This

earlier imperial

the so-called Purple (or Violet) Forbidden City,

of astronomical origin: the Heavenly

Lord or Ruler Above was supposed

to

occupy a circum-polar constellation composed of 15 stars called the Purple Protected Enclosure, and as this was situated

in the

centre of the celestial

world, so was the palace of the emperor, the

human

representative of the

highest divine principle, supposed to be in the middle of the

The

indeed very applied

in

sophical

little in

common

world.

with such artistic points of view as have been

Western architecture; they

ideas which

have

result rather

their roots in

from religious and philo-

most ancient

RCCOtmtfl also for the uniformity, not to say

20

human

general arrangement and planning of the Chinese buildings have

traditions.

This

monotony, of early Chinese

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE The

architecture.

many

principles of construction

centuries, as

have

have remained the same during

also the plans of the temples

and palaces.

The

modifications of style which have been introduced are of comparatively small

importance.

It

relatively late

practically

thus becomes possible to draw some conclusions from

examples about the

all

earlier buildings,

which unfortunately are

destroyed; the wooden material has poorly withstood the

r»-»—t-«i

YU HUANG MIAO ON PIAO SHAN NEAR TSINANFU

Chinese temple plan Showing the usual arrangement of placing the main buildings in a row, the one behind the other.

ravages of

fire

and warfare, and the people have never made any serious

efforts to protect their old buildings.

It

was mainly

for the

dead that the

Chinese created more permanent abodes, and thus the tombs are the most

monuments still existing in China. Besides these there some cave temples hollowed out in the mountain sides and a few stone

ancient architectural are

and brick pagodas of early date which

will

be mentioned

later.

—

soil

The Walls of China. The earliest architectural monument above the in China is the "Great Wall," a massive fortification running along the

northern and northwestern frontier of the country.

It

was erected by the 21

CHINESE ART great

Emperor Ch'in Shih Huang Ti

shortly after he

ent parts of the country into an empire (228 B.C.).

had reunited the

No

differ-

doubt minor parts

of such a wall had existed before his time, but he planned his defence against the nomadic tribes on a very

much

larger scale than

had any previous

750 km. of the wall were built during his reign. statement may contain, the fact remains that he

What-

It is stated that nearly

ever truth this

laid the

many

foundation of one of the world's grandest constructions, which, after

enlargements and restorations tance.

The

in the

course of time,

structural character of the wall

mainly of earth and stone, varies

in

is

is still

ruler.

of great impor-

quite simple.

It is built

height between 6 and 10 metres and

On

mostly covered by a coating of bricks.

is

the ridge of the wall runs a

passage three or four metres wide between crenellated parapets, and at regular intervals square watchtowers rise above the ridge on which fires were lighted as soon as

any danger was sighted.

In spite of this uniformity, the

intimately connected with the landscape, rising in

many

parts almost

wall

is

like

one of nature's own creations, accentuating the sharp ridges of the

mountain chains and winding according It is the greatest

to the undulations of the ground.

and most monumental expression of the absolute

faith of

the Chinese in walls.

Walls, walls and yet again walls, form the framework of every Chinese

They surround it, they divide it into lots and compounds, they mark city. more than any other structures the basic features of the Chinese communiThere is no real city in China without a surrounding wall, a condition ties. which indeed

is

expressed by the fact that the Chinese used the same word

cfieng for a city wall.

It

is

and a

city wall; there

is

no such thing as a city without a

just as inconceivable as a house without a roof.

These walls

belong not only to the provincial capitals or other large

cities

community, even

hardly a village of

any age or

size in

of a wall around

to small

towns and

villages.

There

is

but to every

mud wall or remains No matter how poor and inconspicumud house, however useless the ruined

northern China which has not at least a its

huts and stables.

ous the place, however miserable the

temples, however dirty and ditch-like the sunken roads, the walls are there and as a rule kept in better condition than a city in northwestern

famine and 22

fire

any other building.

still

Many

China which has been partly demolished by wars and

and where no house

is left

standing and no

human

being

lives,

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE still

retains its crenellated walls with their gates

and watchtowers.

These

bare brick walls with bastions and towers, sometimes rising over a moat or again simply from the open level ground where the view of the far distance is

more of the ancient greatness of the city Even when such city walls are not of a very

unblocked by buildings, often

than the houses or temples. early date (hardly

tell

any walls now standing are older than the Ming dynasty)

they are nevertheless ancient-looking with their battered brickwork and

Repairs and rebuildings have done

broken battlements.

them or

change

to

ramparts round a good

many

little

to refashion

Before the brick walls there were

their proportions.

of the cities and towns as

still

may

be seen at

some out-of-the-way places; before the towns were built there were villages or camps of mud and straw huts surrounded by fences or ramparts of a temporary character.

—

Types and Construction of Buildings. Whether the buildings were imperial tombs, Buddhist temples or memorial shrines dedicated to great philosophers or, on the other hand, of a profane nature, such as imperial palaces, dwelling-houses or administration offices,

and

walls istic

of

all

in closed

all

were arranged within

compounds according to similar principles. Charactercompounds is the clear development of a main

these extensive

central axis running from north to south.

courts and gateways are

all

The

principal buildings, their

placed in a row, one behind the other, while the

secondary buildings are arranged at the sides of the courtyards, the facades, the doors and the gates of the principal buildings tion

which evidently was based on

to the height of the buildings but

all

facing south, an orienta-

religious traditions.

It

by joining more courts

that these architectural compositions could be enlarged.

palaces in Peking which have as

many

temples or monasteries have a

still

compound

is

enclosed by a high wall

as 20 courtyards

larger it is

number

was not by adding to the

compounds

There are princes'

and some of the large

of such units.

As each

quite impossible to obtain any idea

of the arrangements from the outside, and at the larger palaces the different

courtyards are also divided the one from the other by secondary walls with

The courts vary in size and the streets follow along the Through such an arrangement the inner portions of the Purple Forbidden City of Peking became almost labyrinthine.

decorative gateways. walls.

The

types of the principal buildings also remain the same, independently

23

CHINESE ART The most common

of their use as temples, palaces or dwelling-houses.

among

these types

is

the hall, tien>

i.e.,

an oblong, rectangular room, usually

divided by rows of round pillars or columns into three or more naves of which usually arranged as an open portico; in other cases the open

the foremost

is

colonnade

continued

is

The

around the building.

all

interior

is,

as a rule,

by small windows placed quite low, but exceptionally there may be

lighted

a second row of windows, giving a brighter effect; these are at a higher level.

Very important

for the decorative effect of the buildings

structure, the terrace

Wl is

made

-I

and the

far projecting roof.

When

is

IANG TIEN, SUCHOW, A 2-STOREYED HALL WITH BARREL VAULTS

higher, a so-called fat

is

created,

i.e.,

a shorter hall or a centralized

building in two storeys on a high terrace with battered walls. often mentioned in the old descriptions of palaces

have been quite common since Peking

this

the broad sub-

the substructure

type of building

is

and

cities.

Such fat are

They seem

to

In the Forbidden City of

earliest times.

beautifully developed at the outer gates as, for

instance, Wu Men, where the great pavilion rises on a monumental terrace. Other characteristic examples of fat are the drum and bell towers which rise in

the centre of many of the old cities in northern China, but similar buildings

have also been used as storehouses, watchtowers and observatories.

The

general

name

ever,

not used for the pagodas, whereas small buildings of two or more

is

for larger,

many

storeyed buildings

is

lou, a

name which, how-

storeys often are called ko, and the open small pavilions ting.

One finds

in

some of the

palatial

compounds

as well

U

at

Furthermore,

many

private

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE dwelling-houses, particularly where they are connected with gardens, socalled langy

i.e.,

long open galleries which serve to connect larger buildings.

common

Considering the most

Chinese buildings such as the

tien> the

we may be struck by the fact that the main appears much less than in Western buildings. It is,

fat and the fing in their entirety,

body of the structures figuratively speaking,

pushed into the background by the broad terrace and

the far projecting roof which throws a broad

shadow over the fagade. These

two elements are of the greatest importance

The

structure.

terrace

may

for the general effect of the

be developed in various steps and provided

with marble balustrades and decorative staircases, imperial palace and

many

large temples, or

substructure with one or two steps; but

it

it

may

as, for instance, at

the

be simply a stone-lined

always contributes to

lift

building and to form a kind of counterbalance to the projecting roof.

the

It

is,

however, at the fat that the substructures become of greatest importance.

They may reach

a height of 10 or 12 metres and be covered

by a

hall or

pavilion of tower-like effect.

The buildings which ral

frame

is

rise

on the terraces are made of wood; their structu-

pure carpenters' work.

The

walls

may

to support the roof but, practically speaking, they

tance.

They

columns.

have no structural impor-

are simply filled with brick or clay between the supporting

In the larger buildings the outer wall on the facades

placed in the foremost row of columns but this In

look massive and appear

some instances the portico

intercolumns in the middle.

is

is

reserved as an open gallery.

double, in other cases

The

usually not

is

it is

reduced to a few

building thus consists of a nave and aisles

some of which might be completely or partly divided by filled-in walls, by which various rooms are created which indeed may be quite freely increased or decreased, the middle one being, as a rule, the broadest.

The

between the columns are on the whole quite wide, and sometimes that

intervals

it

happens

some columns are excluded in the midst of the building in order to more free space. But the Chinese hall is not a longitudinal structure the Greek temples (which also originally were built of wood) it expands

create like

;

transversally to the central axis which

the middle of the facade.

The two

is

indicated

by the entrance door on

short sides with the gables serve no

other purpose than to end the hall; they have no decorative importance and

no such emphasis as

in the classic

temples; sometimes they are hardly meant

25

CHINESE ART to

The

be seen.

or the corners

side walls

may

may

The Chinese

be accentuated by columns.

never so particular or consistent

They employed

architects.

project as a kind of ante-room to the portico

in the placing of the

builders were

columns as the

classical

a material which allowed greater freedom than

beams and they yielded less to purely artistic considerations than The beauty and strength of their architecture depend practical wants.

the marble to

mainly on the

logical clearness of the constructive

This comparative freedom

by the

possible also

They

buildings.

framework.

in the placing of the

columns

is

rendered

fact that they are not supporting posts as in the classical

are not provided with capitals and they do not support the

entablature, but they are tied both longitudinally and transversally by

beams which may cut

into, or

beams often project

transverse

The ends

run through, the posts.

in front

of the

of the columns, and the longitudinal

beams form a kind of architrave which keeps the outer colonnade together. In larger buildings of comparatively late periods brackets or cantilevers are

sometimes introduced on the columns below the

tie

beams but the

bracketing system which serves to support the eaves of the roof

above

The

these.

is

real

situated

roof brackets are, in their simplest form, two-armed and

project in the earlier buildings only from the heads of the columns; but in the later buildings they

as on the posts,

of a cornice.

one

become manifolded and are placed on the beams

sometimes so close together that they create the impression

It is

mainly

in the modifications of the

may

trace an evolution of Chinese architecture.

The

constructive system

demanded

large halls are erected in

bracketing system that

that the buildings should be de-

veloped horizontally rather than vertically.

more than

as well

Nevertheless,

two storeys, though the second

is

many

of the

often nothing

a decorative superstructure without floor or windows.

lower storey forms a kind of outer compartment to the building and

is

The

covered

by a lean-to shed roof while the main span or saddle roof covers the central portion of the building which rises to a greater height. a coffered or painted ceiling over this portion but

the temples, the trusses and

more

Sometimes there

is

often, particularly in

beams of the roof construction are

left entirely

uncovered. Roofs.

buildings

26

—

is

It is

evident that the development of the roof on the Chinese

closely connected with the placing of the entrance door.

This

is

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE not to be found on the short (gable) ends of the building but in the middle of the southern facade, which usually has also a free-standing row of columns.

Most

of the important buildings are indeed placed so that they can be ap-

preciated only in full-front view, and their peculiar decorative effect thus

Whatever the original kind of roof may have been, it was gradually more

becomes dominated by the broad high-towering reason for this particular

roof.

and more developed from a decorative point of view. felt

The

builders

may have

the need of modifying the impression of weight and breadth, inevitably

adhering to the enormous roof masses, and this was most successfully done

by curving the lines.

sides

and accentuating the tension and rhythm of the

This tendency becomes perhaps more evident

rising

minor decorative

in

buildings such as pavilions and pagodas, not to speak of small ornamental

works

in clay

common

and metal on which the roof appears almost as a crown.

dwelling-houses in northern China have, on the contrary,

smaller and less curving roofs and, earlier buildings,

such as the

if

reliefs

The much

we may judge from reproductions

from the

Han tombs

in

of

Shantung and

some small clay models dating from the Han and Wei dynasties, it seems In the T'ang time that the curved roof was then not very far developed. (7th to 9th century) the characteristic shape of the roof was, however, fully

developed. It

roof

is

may

possible that the origin of the far projecting

be looked for

those which first

still

in

primitive thatch-covered huts of a kind similar to

are to be seen on the Indo-Chinese islands.

have been introduced

in

projecting roof always was later on,

northern provinces. effect of these roofs,

building.

When

If so,

it

would

southern China (where indeed the curving and

more strongly developed than

when the whole country became more of

body of the

and strongly curved

in the north),

and

a cultural unit, in the

the Chinese once had realized the fine decorative

they developed them freely at the expense of the main

The

larger the roofs, the stronger

of shade under the eaves and the

more they seem

supporting framework and to soar in the

crown the building rather than cover

it,

air.

and

In

becomes the

to be disengaged

many

effect

from the

instances the roofs

their decorative

ornamentation

with figures and animals on the ridges and on the corner ribs serve also to strengthen the impression of a decorative superstructure.

When

the building has a roof in two storeys the lower one

is

a lean-to

27

CHINESE ART shed roof; the upper one, a span-roof

down

— but

the gables of this do not reach

to the eaves: they are cut at one-half or three-fourths of their height.

This peculiar combination of the gabled and the hipped-roof both

China and

in

roofs sloping to

form.

Tai

It

Ho

in

four sides.

all

Tien

This

is,

found on ceremonial

to be

is

in the

is

very

common

Japan, but there are also buildings with complete hipaccording to the Chinese, the finest edifices

such as the big central hall

Forbidden City, Peking, and some of the

sacrificial halls

at the imperial tombs.

if-A-?^~^

Roof construction according to ying tsao fa shih (h03)

Roof

tiles on a hall in the forbidden city, peking

Buildings consisting of two superimposed halls have been in use since

very early days, as

may

be seen on some

they are also mentioned in palaces,

many

reliefs

of the

where such buildings sometimes were connected by

to be seen at

Yung Ho Kung

dynasty, and

of the old descriptions of the imperial

Very characteristic and well-developed examples of still

Han

(the Yellow

this

Temple)

flying bridges.

type of structure are in

Peking, which was

erected in the 17th century as an imperial residence but afterwards conse-

Llama temple. Later Llamaistic buildings (from the Ch'ien show at times an even further development in height, as for in-

crated as a

Lung

era)

stance the

Yu Hua

Forbidden City.

have been

imposed

still

halls

which indeed

Ko, a temple standing

at the northwestern corner of the

In southern China the distribution of storeys seems to

freer; there are large

temples

in

Suchow with

and other more centralized structures

may

be called towers, particularly

The constructive framework of

if

three super-

built in the

they are placed on terraces.

the main root consists generally of various

beami arranged step-wise one above the other and supporting on the purlins

28

(q.v.).

same way,

In smaller buildings

all

the transversal

their

ends

beams may be

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE supported by columns which increase in length towards the middle of the

room, the central one reaching up to the main ridge.

common

that only the lowest or the two lower

beams

It

is,

however, more

rest directly

on

pillars,

while the upper ones are carried by brackets and small posts rising from the

The

lower beams.

purlins laid on these supports are arranged rather closely,

so that the rafters spliced

may

be stretched in curves, the projecting ones being

The well-developed system

and bent upwards.

of brackets and

cantilevers which support this projecting part of the roof will be specially

discussed later because

this that

it is in

one

may

follow the development and

decay of Chinese architecture.

Bracketing system from a pavilion at the confucius temple in chufu. yuan period

The

outer aspect of the roof

and concave

tiles

is

determined by the alternatively convex

and the strongly accentuated corner ridges which curve

at the ends in a kind of snout

human and animal

and often are provided with

figures, called k'uei

lung

tzu.

series of fantastic

The main

ridge-post

is

very high and decorated at both ends with a kind of fish-tailed owl, called cJiih wen,

which had a symbolic significance and served

ing against

On

and other calamities.

fire

to protect the build-

ordinary buildings the roof

tiles

are of unglazed, lightly baked grey clay, but on the present imperial buildings all

the roofs are laid with yellow glazed

smaller buildings erected for various

deep-blue roof

tiles.

Green

tiles

tiles,

while some of the temples and

members of

the imperial family have

are sometimes used on pavilions, gates

walls.

29

and

CHINESE ART The columns as well as the filled-in walls between them have usually a warm vermilion tone which becomes most beautiful when softened by dampThe beams and the brackets below the eaves are painted ness and dust. with conventionalized flower ornaments

The door

white contours.

with ornaments

but their upper part serves as windows and

in gold,

On

the whole

it

seems as

if

Pavilions

is

fitted

later times

by decorative elaboration whatever of constructive

and beauty had been

Minor

and green, sometimes with

panels of more important buildings are provided

only with open lattice-work. tried to gain

in blue

significance

lost.

and Gateways.

— Besides the longitudinal

halls in right

angle to the central axis, indicated by the entrance door, there are

more

centralized structures on a quadrangular, polygonal or round plan,

pavilions or towers, which

may

primitive type of pavilion

is

flat

a square hut with corner posts which carry a

ing famous philosophers meditating on nature.

may

be

made

bamboo

of

i.e.,

The most

be more than two storeys high.

Such pavilions are often seen

or tent-shaped roof.

the walls

had

in pictures represent-

Unless they are quite open

or basket-work.

The more

elaborate

pavilions on a polygonal or round plan developed in connection with the

Chinese garden and have been abundantly used

with historical associations or on particularly beautiful. to the rockeries

roundings in

Peking.

in the imperial

parks since

Such kiosks, tea-houses and pavilions were placed on spots

early times.

may

or promontories where the view

was

Their shape and style were developed with a view

and the growing

still

hills

be seen

in

trees;

how

well they fitted into such sur-

the wonderful gardens around the sea palaces

These small pavilions, half hidden between the

trees, clinging

on the rocks or rising on stones out of the mirroring water, often give us a

more vivid and immediate impression of the charm and naturalness of

Chinese architecture than the larger buildings.

It

was

also pre-eminently

through such small decorative structures that Chinese architecture became

known and appreciated

On

in

the 18th century in Europe.

the larger pavilions the roofs are usually divided into two or three

storeys, thus adding greatly to the picturesque effect of the building, particularly

when

it is

erected on a polygonal plan which gives

projecting corner snouts.

be seen at the "Coal Hill"

30

it

a

number

Beautiful examples of this kind of pavilion in

Peking as well as

in Pei

of

may

Hai and other imperial

>

•

•->••

HOTOGRAPH. COPR. OSVALD SIREN

THE CHINESE STYLE 1.

Kodo

2.

Wooden pagoda,

of Toshodajij, Nara, style of

T'ang period; 8th century

Hokiji, Nara, Japan; erected in 7th century

IN

JAPAN AND CHINA

3.

The Drum Tower,

4.

Stone

relief

Lung Men

of

c.

1300, on Sung Shan, Hsiao Lin Ssu, Hon-an of Northern Wei dynasty (6th century),

pagoda

*t- tl {-^\ l

A

GATE AND AN OPEN GALLERY. PEKING

.1

Wan

T;>,

L«n: «n op«n nailery .lonq •

1801

!<•

of

i

canal

IN

in ,v..n.l,k»

tw»

D.-*.i

totm. •« JM S«« P»l19lh century

or.

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE They have no

parks.

which

may

walls, simply

open colonnades supporting the roof

give the impression of hovering in the

When

air.

the portions

between the successive roofs are enlarged and provided with balconies or colonnades the pavilion becomes a real tower, such as for instance the Fo

Ko (Buddha's Perfume Summer palace.

Hsiang

Tower), which

above the lake at the

rises

Related to the pavilions by their open decorative architectural group of their own, are

the^>W

lou,

effect,

yet forming an

free-standing gateways

i.e.,

with three or more openings, which span the streets in

many

Chinese

cities

mark the entrance to some sacred precincts, such as tomb or temple areas. The object of their erection was often to commemorate some outstanding local character or some important event in the history of the place or simply The earliest p'ai lou to mark a spot notable for its beauty or its sacredness. were, no doubt, simply large gateways made of wood and provided with These could easily be developed into more important inscribed tablets. structures by adding at the sides more posts and gateways, and they were soon executed in stone as well as in wood. From an architectural point of or

view they

may

be divided into two principal groups: the one consisting of

p'ai lou with very

(which

may

be covered by small roofs)

side posts covered to a fagade or

4 or

8 or 12

side posts reaching

tall

by the

an open

;

the other, of p'ai lou with shorter

roofs, so that the

flat pavilion.

whole gateway has more likeness

The supporting

may

masts, which

be

according to the size and importance of the structure, are placed

on stone plinths, sometimes decorated with

by cross-beams

in

lions,

and

two or three horizontal rows, but

panels or, in the case of stone p'ai lou, by

Over each one of the openings ets

above the transversal beams

is

tied together not only

also

flat slabs

by carved or painted

decorated with

reliefs.

a separate small span-roof resting on brack-

and usually covered with glazed

pan-tiles.

The p'ai lou

thus contain some

of the most characteristic features of traditional Chinese architecture, viz.,

the supporting posts, the curving saddle-roofs on double or triple rows of brackets, and the carved or painted friezes. structures.

The whole

They

are essentially

wooden

character of these buildings as well as their decora-

tion has been developed with a

view to the special requirements of the

material, but that has not prevented the Chinese from executing the

type of structure also

in brick

and

in stone.

The

largest

same

among them stand 3i

CHINESE ART Ming tombs near Nankow and at the tombs of the Ch'ing emperors at Hsi Ling and Tung Ling, but the most elaborately decorated marble p'ai lou may be seen in some of the old cities in Shantung, such as Chufu and Weihat the

sien.

sham They also

Closely connected with the p'ai lou are those highly decorative fagades which

used to be erected in front of important shops.

consist of tall masts tied

by cross-beams with manifold rows of brackets

which support small roofs decorated with

human

in

one or two storeys.

Bracketing system on bell-tower at shao lin

in

Under

ssu.

yuan period

open-work into which the signboards of the shops are

masts or

pillars are

indeed

much

in

gateways of the dwelling compounds. quite

common tiles,

consists of broad pillars

High

hua piao) or at the

Another type of gateway which

made

of

is

masonry and coated with

often with ornaments in various colours.

connects the deep pillars a kind of small gatehouse

Of

inserted.

favour in China; they are mostly used

pair-wise, either free-standing in front of palaces (as the

glazed

these are panels

figures in relief or with brightly coloured floral designs

may

When

a span-roof

be created.

considerable importance also for the outward effect of the Chinese

buildings are the balustrades which line the terraces and staircases in front of the buildings.

They

are in northern China mostly

and composed of square posts ending

ornamented panels and moulded trades

may 32

in

sculptured

railings are inserted.

made

of white marble

finials

between which

Such marble balus-

he seen at most of the important temples and, in their richest

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE development, on the terraces of the Three Great Halls (San

Forbidden City

and broken

in

in Peking.

many

Here they are repeated

Ta

T'ien) in the

in three different tiers

angles, according to the shape of the terraces, producing

a splendid decorative effect, particularly as the white marble stands out in

contrast to the red colour of the buildings.

Stone and Brick Buildings. pally

wood

construction,

it

—Although

Chinese architecture

is

princi-

should not be forgotten that a great number of

stone and brick buildings have been

made

which the Chinese since

have used brick and stone.

earliest times

in

China, including bridges, for

The

great

RACKETING SYSTEM FROM THE CH U TZU AN, SHAO LIN SSU, SUNG STYLE

majority of the

still

existing buildings in

masonry are of comparatively

periods; very few indeed can be dated before the

Wan

Li era

(i

late

573-1619).

The only important exceptions to this general rule are the pagodas made of brick and mud, several of which may be ascribed to the T'ang period (618— 906) and a few to even earlier times.

On

the Chinese regarded brick and stone

work

walls, substructures

sense as

wood

and the

construction.

like,

the whole,

it

seems, however, that

as material fitted for storehouses,

but hardly for real architecture

in the

same

It is a characteristic fact that brick buildings

work on architecture which was title Ying Tsao Fa This beautifully illustrated work in

are not even mentioned in the standard

published by imperial order in the year 1103 under the

Shih (The

Method

of Architecture).

eight volumes (which has been issued in a practical experience of architects

modern

reprint)

is

founded on the

and decorators, which the author, Li 33

CHINESE ART Chieh, collected from various sources.

It gives

everything that an educated

Chinese towards the end of the Sung period considered the fundamentals of architecture.

No

stone or brick houses are mentioned, not even columns,

The only stoneworks

door-frames or floors of stone.

particularly described

are the plinths and corner pilasters, stairs, balustrades, dragon heads on

and stones

staircases, thresholds

The measures and

platforms, terraces, etc. of

for the door-posts, besides canals, sluices,

instructions for the execution

these various kinds of stonework are very accurate, but they are of

all

no great importance

The

for the architectural style.

constructive methods

are treated only in the third part of the book, which contains

framework of buildings,

large

work

Then

follows a chapter called

in

wood,"

i.e.,

"Rules

windows, partition walls, coffered

for smaller

Fa

in

wood,"

i.e.,

doors,

Buddhist and Taoist house shrines, important houses,

follow "Rules for works in carved wood," concerning decorative

and at the end of the book, "Rules

details,

for exterior roofing," also con-

cerning the ornamental figures on the roofs, etc.

paragraphs to bricks and to roof in

works

yiieh, decorative gate-facades erected in front of

Then

etc.

for

ceilings, screens, cornices, gutters, stair-

cases, door-panels, balustrades, besides

or

"Rules

posts, trusses, rafters, etc.

tiles

The author devotes some

but he gives no rules for construction

such materials.

Turning

Men

monuments in China, we may notice the Ssu Tung Ssu in Shantung, as the earliest and most architectural masonry work. The building, which

to the existing

Ta, at the temple Shen

important example of of

in spite

its

name

— the Four-Gate pagoda—

is

no tower but a one-storeyed

square house (each side about 7.35 metres), was erected a.d. 534.

It

is

coated with finely cut and fluted limestone slabs, but the interior body of the walls

may

be partly of mud.

It

has an arched entrance on each side and a

cornice consisting of five corbelled tiers but no other architectural divisions.

The pyramidal roof

is

made

of corbelled stone slabs and supported by a large

square centre pillar crowned by a small stiipa. aspect of the building together with

its fine

The

solid

proportions

most remarkable of Chinese architectural monuments. similar buildings existed in earlier times

been more freely used; the type less

house-shaped tomb 34

may

and self-contained

make

Han dynasty

in

one of the

It is possible that

when stone and

brick

be observed, for instance,

pillars of the

it

in

may have the

more or

Szechuan and Honan.

^jif^^JV^^ "*

-»

i'i«H

—» •—

.—

S#*4

.w**

ZjM

1 pi

m fr •r J*ft *Tfif

r? -

PHOTOGRAPHS, CQPR. OSVALD SIREN

TWO HALLS 1.

2.

Pao Ho Tien, one of the Three Great Halls, in the Purple Forbidden City, Peking; built 1627, repaired 1765 The Hall of Classics, at the Confucius Temple, Peking. The upturned

IN

PEKING corners suggest aspiration, as, in another form, the to do. The tent form is sometimes regarded as the possible origin of the characteristic shape of Chinese roofs

lines

roof

of

Gothic

is

said

"•I, tori. OIVA1.0

IHN

CHINESE TOWERS AND PAVILIONS 1.

2.

One of the pavlliont on (ho Coul HIM, Peking Yu Him Ko, • Tunlillo building In the Forbidden

3.

City. Peking

The Drum Towtr, Haicn Yang. Shen-tl. Dfumt were ordinarily beaten to give dire. Iloni fof the change o( nighl »at. fr< end. In rere Instenrei, to warn the citiieni of tome ditatter

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE The next

date

in

among

masonry buildings are some

the

pagodas of the Sui and T'ang periods which

them are made of packed clay or Still

more common

can be carried out

is

dirt in

will

real towers or

be mentioned later; most of

combination with stone or brick.

the combination of brick and

wood

construction.

It

ways, either by lining a real wooden structure

in different

with brick walls or by placing a bracketed span-roof on strong brick walls, eventually adding pillars for interior support

This method of construction has been used towers, of which the oldest

Ming

period,

and

now

if

the walls are too wide apart.

most of the outer

in

numerous watchtowers and storehouses on the walls

also in

that enclose the cities of northern China.

A

particularly fine example

the famous bell tower at Peking, often considered as a

Yuan dynasty, though Lung.

city gate-

preserved are from the beginning of the

it

is

of the

was completely renewed during the reign of Chi'en

All these buildings exhibit

or less regularly divided

monument

on the outside massive brick walls more

by windows or by rows of square loopholes which

give to the battered facades of the big gate-towers a fortress-like appearance.

The shape

of the high roofs

structures,

and

usually finds

if

is,

however, the same as on ordinary wooden

one examines these masonry buildings more

wooden columns

closely,

one

inserted in the walls as well as detached in

the interiors.

The

substructures of the gate and bell towers are in most cases pierced

by tunnels or barrel vaults serving or

somewhat pointed,

actually dates from the

as for instance on the

Yuan

These

as passages.

period.

The

may

drum tower

be either round

in

Peking which

vaults are constructed with great

care and precision, sometimes reaching a span of nearly 15 metres.

(but not the system of voussoirs) was undoubtedly times;

it

was used

known

in

Vaulting

China

in early

tomb chambers which were covered with bricks, when heavy brick walls were erected around followed suit for the entrances. The step from such

in the

in the tunnels leading to these;

the

cities, barrel

vaults

constructions in brick to the building of cupolas

is

not a very long one.

We do not know exactly when cupolas first came into use, but we have reason to

As an

evi-

Hangchow may be mentioned because

the

assume that they were well developed

dence of this the mosque in farthest {q.v.).

rooms of

this building are

in the

T'ang period.

covered by three cupolas on pendentives

The mosque may have been renewed

in later times

but in close

35

CHINESE ART adherence to the original model which, of course, was of Persian origin.

Another kind of cupola

is

Omi mountain

on the

(1573-16 1 9).

The

to be

in

found over the

Szechuan erected during the reign of

transition of the square

One

covered by a tent-shaped roof. is

room

Wan

into a round cupola

is

Li

here is

of the small sanctuaries on Piao Shan

an example of a more pointed cupola.

Bracketing system of chien ch'ing kung, forbidden

At

bronze elephant

by means of pendentives but outwardly the building

also accomplished

near Tsinanfu

hall of the big

Peking

Ming

period buildings with classical orders in one or

to appear.

Internally these were covered by longitudinal

the end of the

two storeys began

city,

or transversal barrel vaults, but outwardly they were provided with the usual

span and shed-roofs.

may

Among

the best examples of this kind of building

Wu Liang Tien in Suchow and Shuan Ta Ssu in Taitwo halls on Wu Tai Shan. The facades are divided by

be mentioned the

yuanfu, besides the

arches and columns, but these are partly inserted in the wall and the capitals are stunted or turned into cantilevers, the entablature reduced to an architrave, the cornice replaced

by rows of brackets above which the upturned

eaves project in the usual manner.

Chinese brackets ples of

is

This combination of classical orders and

indeed characteristic evidence of

Greek architecture always remained

may have

how

foreign the princi-

to the Chinese.

Such buildings

been inspired by Indian models, but the Chinese modified them

quite freely by grafting on the pseudo-classical models elements inherited

from their indigenous wooden architecture.

An made

entirely different type of

after Tibetan

towers and

sham

fortresses

which were erected 36

masonry work

models mostly as late as

in

is

in

illustrated

by the buildings

Ch'ien Lung's reign.

on the slopes of the Western

hills in

The

Peking,

order to give the Chinese soldiers an opportunity to

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE known by

practise assaults, are well

may

important Tibetan buildings of the

Manchu emperors

was erected

must

in its

windows with and

and more

summer resort Llama cloister

in Lassa, the residence of

This enormous brick facade

in

some nine or ten

absolute bareness have appeared quite dreary to the

They have

Chinese.

larger

Still

northern Chihli, where an entire

in

model of the famous Potala

after the

the Tibetan pope-kings. storeys

tourists.

all

be seen at Jehol, the famous

tried to give

some

or colour by surrounding the

life

and canopies made of glazed

pilasters

solid character

it

tiles,

but the sombre

dominates, giving evidence of a foreign culture

still

transplanted into Chinese surroundings. Historical Development. in

— Buddhist

temples and pagodas have existed

China since the end of the Han dynasty, and though the

may

no longer preserved, we

obtain some idea about them from old repro-

ductions and contemporary Japanese buildings

The

first

more widely spread, religion

it

was not

after Chinese models.

due

largely

2nd century

until the

to the pilgrims

They brought news not only

China and India.

new

made

messages of the new religion were brought to the Chinese at the

beginning of our era, but

the

earliest ones are

but also of

its

buildings.

It

a.d. that

it

became

who journeyed between

of the writings and images of

has been reported that small

bronze models of the famous stupa of Kanishka at Peshawar (erected in the 1st

century a.d.) were brought to China by Hui Sheng, a

part in a mission to India in the year 518. the same, and there religious

monument

may have in

reproductions, reverting

Kanishka, to

it

was

built

been

China.

many

As

more or

one

took

doubt other pilgrims did

small models of this

far as less

No

monk who

may

much admired

judge by later Indian

directly to the

famous pagoda of

on a square platform, but the main section of it seems

have been round or bottle-shaped and divided by projecting cornices

into three or

mast with

more

its

storeys.

Very

characteristic of this

pagoda was the high

nine superposed metal disks and crowning lotus bud.

At

present there are no such pagodas preserved in China, but ancient engravings

on stone give us reason to believe that they have

The

oldest

pagoda

in

China

still

standing

on the sacred mountain Sung Shan

in

is

existed.

at

Honan.

Sung Yiieh Ssu, a temple According to historical

about 523, when the palace previously existing here was consecrated as a temple. The tower is made of mud and brick on an ocrecords,

it

was

built

37

CHINESE ART The

tagonal base and reaches a height of nearly 30 metres. consists of a plain plinth lasters

and windows

in a

lowest section

above which follows a main storey divided by kind of aedicula

The upper

{q.v.).

pi-

section of the

tower has the shape of a convex cone, divided by narrow cornices into 15 low, blind storeys.

It

is

crowned by a large bud or cone with nine

equivalent to the mast with the metal disks which

The

wooden pagodas.

early date of the building

the lion reliefs and the mouldings of the

The

main

character of the whole structure

is

is

is

rings,

an

usually found in the

verified

by the

style of

storey.

solid

and severe,

same

at the

time the incurvation of the outline prevents any impression of rigidity.

There

is

no other pagoda of as early date but the type returns with some

modifications in

some

tower) and the

Nan T'a

later pagodas, as for instance, the Pei

(the

South tower) at Fang Shan

T'a (the North

The

in Chihli.

more

former, which was built at the beginning of the 8th century, shows a typically Indian style with

bottle-shaped top, part being on a terraced

its

substructure while the latter, which was built at the beginning of the 12th century, has a stiffer appearance without any incurvation of the outline or

narrowing towards the top. storeys and reveals

by

its

To

godas at Chengtingfu,

Mu

period,

wooden

is

divided by bracketed cornices into 11

form and details a closer connection with traditional

Chinese constructions.

storeys with

It

same group of buildings belong also the paT'a (T'ien Ning Ssu) built about 1078 in nine the

cornices,

and the Ching T'a

built at a

somewhat

and furthermore the two big pagodas near Peking, known

Chuan and T'ien Ning dynasties (in

Nan T'a

at

Ssu, which were erected during the Chin and

the 12th and 13th centuries).

Fang Shan, but

their

make

later

Pa

Li

Yuan

They show some likeness to the much larger and their high

dimensions are

plinths are richly decorated with figure reliefs in

low blind storeys and

as

baked

clay.

Both have

13

quite an imposing effect by their great height,

but they lack the elastic incurvation which gives to the pagoda at Sung

Yueh Ssu such an harmonious

Many

wood and have

perished, because of the unresisting material.

records of a very large the order of the this

was 1,000 38

character.

of the early pagodas in China were, no doubt, constructed of

ft.

wooden pagoda erected

Empress Dowager Hu.

in a.d.

There are

516 at Lo-yang at

According to Chinese chronicles

high (a statement which must not be taken literally but

PHOTOGRAPHS, COPR. OSVALO SIREN

BUDDHA'S PERFUME TOWER, AND 1.

View in

Fo Hslang Ko (Buddha's perfume tower) and the buildings front of it at the Summer Palace, Peking; 19th century of the

TWO GATEWAYS

Portion of the bell tower in Si-an, Shensi; erected 15th century 3. Portion of Nandaimon gate, temple of Todai-ji, Nara, Japan; c. 1199 2.

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE merely as a general indication of unusual height) and consisted of nine storeys.

Above

the tower rose a mast ioo

discs which, as well as the chains

corners, were

hung with no

less

came, however, the prey of based on hearsay, but existence of

it

by which the mast was

than 500

fire in

534.

nevertheless has

wooden pagodas

in

high carrying 30

ft.

China

The

metal

tied to the four

This noble edifice be-

gilt bells.

description

some

gilt

must have been

interest as testimony of the

at an early date.

It

is

also confirmed

by several reproductions of pagodas found among the cave sculptures from

Yun Kang and Lung Men.

the beginning of the 6th century at

Bracketing system on the kondo of toshodaiji.

may

see executed in relief

illustrating exactly the

t*ang style

pagodas with three as well as with

same

five storeys

architectural type as found in the earliest

Japanese pagodas from the beginning of the following century. built

Here one

They

are

on a square plan with corner posts and projecting roofs over the suc-

cessive storeys

and crowned by high masts carrying

form of large buds or small stupas.

discs

and ending

in the

In the successive storeys on some of

these pagodas are placed Buddhist statues.

Excellent examples of the same type of pagoda the old temples near

Nara

in

Japan,

may

as, for instance,

which were erected at the beginning of the 7th century

by

builders from

Korea or China.

The pagoda

be seen at some of

Horyuji and Hokkiji in the

Suiko period

at Hokkiji has five storeys;

the bracketed roofs project quite far but narrow gradually towards the top so that the appearance of heaviness

is

avoided.

Each

side has four carrying

39

CHINESE ART posts with projecting cantilevers, which at the corners are placed diagonally

and cut into the shape of clouds, a motif which

The

of this period.

jection of the eaves

was developed

is

particularly characteristic

and rather substantial; the

rafters are square

far pro-

produced by a very clever construction which no doubt

China before

in

is

was introduced

it

The

in

Japan, although the

earliest

Chinese examples no longer

sists in

the redoubling of the rafters below the eaves: instead of placing the

exist.

principle of this system con-

outermost purlins directly on the cantilevers, which project from the posts, supporting shorter rafters are introduced which are fastened in the beams

and trusses of the roof and which carry by means of vertical struts or cushions These may be made longer and the

the further projecting upper rafters.

roof

is

becoming

lifted higher, the effect

lighter than in buildings

purlins rest directly on cantilevers or beams.

with redoubled rafters remained later,

in

use until the

Yuan

period, perhaps even

though the form of the lower rafters as well as other details becomes

may

Furthermore one

modified.

notice in these early buildings the very

and broad shape of the various members,

solid

where the

This constructive system

tively short

columns with entasis

(q.v.)

as, for instance,

and the very broad and heavy canti-

levers cut into the shape of clouds at their lower side.

beams of the

roof, to

which the

the compara-

The

rafters are tied, are solid

trusses

and

and strong, the

consummate skill. parts of the buildings and the method of construction

various parts being tied together with

The the

essential

same

in the

pagodas and

in the

temple halls of

learned from a closer study of the Golden Hall or

this period, as

Kondo

are

may

be

of Horyuji, an

oblong, quadrangular room with a colonnade and a roof in two storeys.

A very

important member added to the pagodas

runs through the whole height of the tower.

is,

however, the mast which

The purpose

of this mast

is

not meant to support the tower, but simply to

not really constructive,

it is

form a spire

above the roof and carrying the nine metal rings or

discs.

The

rising high

builders usually did not tie the

work of the tower, because

if

mast very

tightly to the frame-

the whole structure were suspended on the

mast, the security of the tower would be jeopardized by the unavoidable

swaying of the mast.

In

some comparatively recent examples one may

the mast suspended in the

dently was to

40

lift it

a little

beams

find

of the tower, but here the intention evi-

above the ground

in

order to avoid the

still

greater

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE danger that might

would then,

arise

through the gradual sinking of the tower which

so to speak, be carried

by the mast or hang on

it.

In the oldest

pagodas which for the longest time have withstood storms and earthquakes the mast

is

a relatively free-standing post within the structure, always with

plenty of room for

its

swayings, which thus do not really affect the security

of the tower.

Quite a number of pagodas and temple halls of the 7th and 8th centuries are to be found in Japan, but

it is

our purpose here simply to point out cer-

tain general principles of construction

storeyed pagoda at Horyuji later tic

is,

borrowed from China.

in spite of the

five-

round the ground storey, the most important example, but characteris-

of the

same

style (which

Wei dynasty and

was developed

in

China, during the northern

Japan during the Suiko dynasty) are also the Hokkiji and Horinji, which remind us of the stone

in

storeyed pagodas at

representing pagodas in the grottoes at

threereliefs

Lung Men and Yun Kang.

Important modifications of the old style ful

The

verandah which was added

pagoda of Yakushiji which was erected

may

be observed on the beauti-

at the beginning of the 8th cen-

tury in close adherence to Chinese constructions from the beginning of the

T'ang period.

It

is

a three-storeyed tower, but each one of the storeys

is

provided with a closed balcony carried on cantilevers, so that the pagoda at

first

sight gives the impression of a six-storeyed building.

The

inter-

mediate shed-roofs are of the same shape, though smaller than those which cover the main storeys; a kind of rhythmic division

is

thus created, and the

Of

decorative effect becomes more interesting than in the earlier pagodas.

great importance for the horizontal articulation are also the far-projecting

carrying beams of the balconies, as well as the repetition of the three-armed

The

brackets in double tiers under the eaves of the six successive roofs.

bracketing system has here attained

its

highest development, the lower

brackets being used as supports for the upper ones which reach farther out

and are provided with cushions.

Their transversal arms replace the

for-

merly used cantilevers, and on the top of them may be one more tier of simiIt should larly shaped brackets, as on other buildings of the same period. be observed that

all

the brackets are complete, the lower ones being so

arranged that they carry a continuous

beam and

also the transversal

arms

of the upper brackets, while these serve as supports for the upper beams 4i

CHINESE ART under the eaves and

for the rafters.

In order to strengthen the vertical

hammer-beams

construction, struts with cushions are often placed on the in the intervals

The same

between the brackets.

characteristic forms

and constructive features return

contemporary temples and pagodas which thus also

in

some

testify that the parts to

which we have paid special attention are typical features of the architecture of this period.

Interesting in this connection are the two large temple halls

at Toshodaiji, another temple not far from Nara,

i.e.,

the

Kodo

(Hall of

The former once formed a Nara but was moved to its present place when 759. The building is quite simple, an oblong, one-

Teaching) and the Kondo (the Golden Hall). part of the imperial palace at the temple was erected in

storeyed hall with double rows of columns free in the

room, the outer being

are not quite as

heavy

as

tier

around, the inner row standing

The columns

out to form a wall.

on the buildings of the preceding period and

the inter-columns are very long.

one

filled

all

The

brackets are introduced only in

but between them are struts which contribute to support the

roof.

The same principles of construction are still further developed on the Kondo of Toshodaiji which, with the exception of its entirely rebuilt roof, is an unusually imposing example of T'ang architecture. The building stands on a comparatively broad and high platform, but a colonnade only on the front.

on moulded plinths.

They

The columns have

provided with

it is

a slight entasis

and

rest

by a long architravebeam and provided with quadrangular cushions from which the three-armed brackets project. These carry the upper longitudinal beam and a second tier of brackets. Above this follows a third row of brackets which is almost are tied together, as usual,

hidden below the far projecting eaves.

The rafters project between the arms of the uppermost brackets and abut against the tranversal arms of the second row of brackets. The rafters are doubled, the upper ones being supported by struts which also carry the outermost purlins, and the two layers are furthermore tied perfect logic in a

by braces.

The whole system

is

carried out with

method which may be termed the highest

perfection of

wooden construction.

How

closely this building

depends on Chinese models

is

proved by the

reproduction of a similar temple hall on a large stone gable above one of the

42

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE gateways to the

Ta Yen T'a pagoda

This remarkable engraving

at Sianfu.

which we reproduce from a copy executed by a Japanese Sekino,

is

of great historical importance, because

may

Chinese temple on which we pointed out on the

Kondo

evidently reproduces a

it

observe the same constructive details as

of Toshodaiji.

It

matters

principle of the whole constructive system,

i.e. t

that the columns

little

have been made spiky and the roof too small, as long of which the lower ones have the

artist for Prof.

we

as

recognize the

the brackets and the struts,

same kind of curving

legs as

may

be seen

on some Japanese buildings of the 9th and 10th centuries. Before following the further development of the traditional wooden construction during the Sung and the tion a

group of buildings which

These are pagodas say, buildings

square plan.

what

in

Yuan

illustrates

dynasties

it is

necessary to men-

another side of T'ang architecture.

popularly called the "Indian style," that

is

made of packed mud and brickwork which rise in The most important among these pagodas stand

bourhood of Sianfu within or just outside the

which was founded teacher,

though

still in

the T'ang period,

which has building.

in the

five storeys,

It stands

metres square,

was

Pagoda of the Wild Geese)

rebuilt

Ming and Ch'ing

periods.

The

after

Later repairs

present pagoda,

fairly

high terrace and

is

at the base about 25.5

height being almost 60 metres.

Its general

The

shape

successive

which are accentuated by corbelled cornices, grow lower and nar-

rower towards the top.

which

is

coating of the walls

is

a glazed cone

quite plain except for a

in five storeys;

some storeys were added, and

between 931 and 933.

reminds us of an elongated pyramid with truncated top. storeys,

place

first

seems however to correspond quite well to the T'ang

on a

its full

In the

was then made of clay and brick

It

vicissitudes, the tower

have been carried out

(the Large

on a

in the neigh-

652 by the great Buddhist pilgrim and

in the year

Hsuan Chuang.

later on,

some

Ta Yen T'a

terraces

to

which once was

district

occupied by Ch'angan, the capital of the T'ang emperors. should be mentioned the

is

window on each

some very

side.

floors

and the

top.

The imposing

The uppermost has a pyramidal roof crowned by now well covered by small trees and bushes. The made of yellowish, lightly burnt bricks. They are

staircase

The

thin pilasters

interior division

which

still

effect of this

exists

and the arched gateways and is

makes

made by beams and wooden it

possible to ascend to the

tower depends on

its fine

proportions and

43

CHINESE ART well balanced, massive form, which

is

strengthened by

its

position on a

natural elevation.

Not

from

far

this stands a smaller

pagoda

Small Tower of the Wild Geese), erected 707-709. 15 storeys but of these hardly 13 are

now

called

Hsiao Yen T'a (the

This tower had originally

preserved.

The

storeys are very

low but, as in the previous instance, accentuated by corbelled cornices.

P'lNG TZU MEN, INNER GATE-TOWER, TEKING

Only the ground

floor

is

a little higher

and on the northern and southern side

The upper storeys have small vaulted windows on the faqade but otherwise no openings or divisions, and it is impossible to know whether they ever had any floors because there is no longer any staircase. Externally the tower differs from the Ta Yen T'a by

provided with vaulted entrances.

the fact that

curve on In

its

still

44

it

is

not a stepped pyramid but a square tower with a slight

middle part. worse repair

is

the Hsiang Chi Ssu, situated a

little

farther south-

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE ward from Sianfu.

It

was erected

in 68 1

according to the same general

Yen T'a, probably in 1 1 or more storeys, of which, however, The outline is not curved but rises straight towards the largely ruined. The storeys are quite low but provided with

design as Hsiao

only ten remain. top which

is

an horizontal and vertical moulding possibly suggested by wooden buildings.

The dependence on wooden pagoda situated

was erected

in

more evident in another the same neighbourhood called Hsing Chiao Ssu, which

in

architecture

measuring only about 20 metres

It is a

in height

sents an unusual historical interest

by the

comparatively small tower

and 5.35 on each side, but it presome of the most charac-

fact that

elements of wooden architecture have here been faithfully reproduced

The

in brickwork.

also with

storeys are not only

marked by

rows of three-armed brackets which

beam and provided furthermore, posts in the shape of half columns. tions

still

839 at the place where the remains of the great pilgrim,

Hsiian Chuang, were removed in 669.

teristic

is

may

also be taken as

in the

rise

corbelled cornices but

from a kind of horizontal

two upper storeys, with carrying

This close adherence to wood construc-

an evidence of the greater age of the wooden

China as compared with the brick pagodas, which probably were developed through influence from India. pagodas

On

in

each side of the Hsing Chia Ssu are smaller three-storeyed pagodas

erected to the

any

memory

of other monks, both having three divisions without

Such minor quadrangular towers of three

cornices.

to five storeys

Yuan dynasties are often to be found on memorable places. One of the largest and most beautiful

dating from the T'ang, Sung and

tombs or other

among them

is

others are to be found at Chihli.

The same

brated pagoda Pai period, though

same neighbourhood south of Sianfu; Shen Tung Ssu in Shantung and at Fang Shan in

the Pai T'a Ssu in the

it

architectural shape

Ma Ssu near Honanfu

may

also be observed in the cele-

which was not

built until the

often has been mentioned as one of the oldest pagodas in

China, probably owing to the legend connected with the Pai It

is

first

Sung

Ma Ssu

temple.

supposed to have been founded by Indian missionaries, who carried the sutras to China, but as a matter of fact, the present

ceded by an earlier one in wood, which perished by

pagoda was pre-

fire in

11 26.

Other

characteristic buildings are the Chiu T'a Ssu, or Nine-towered Pagoda, near

Lin Cheng in Shantung, and the Lung

Kung T'a

at

Shen Tung Ssu, an 45

CHINESE ART impressive square tower in three high divisions, which are encumbered by sculptural decoration.

Although the greater part of the buildings which

still

remain

from the T'ang and Sung dynasties are pagodas made of

Cross section and elevation ok yakishiji paooda.

46

in

mud and

8th century

China brick

PHOTOGRAPH, COPR. OSVALD SIREN

CHINESE MEMORIAL GATEWAYS memorial gateway built of wood, at the lake of the Summer Palace, Peking. These characteristic structures, usually of wood,

1. P'ai-lou or

mark the entrance to some event or person 2.

a

Marble P'ai-lou at the Altar

sacred

of

or

beautiful

spot or

commemorate

Heaven, Peking. This Illustrates the type

of p'ai-lous

3.

with

tall

side-posts reaching above the transverse

beams

Marble P'ai-lou over the main street in Wei-hsien, Shantung. In this type of p'ai-lous, the shorter side-posts are covered by roofs, making the gateway resemble an open pavilion. This is one of the more elaborate examples, with three openings and storeyed roofs

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE some examples of temples constructed

there are also

The most

dating from the end of the Sung period. of these

is

slope of

the Ch'u

11

1

hall at Shao Lin Ssu, the famous temple on the Honan, where the miraculous Bhodidharma, the

in

Dhyana

or

Zen Buddhism,

is

said to have remained several

According to an inscription, the Ch'u Tzu

years.

year

wood,

Tzu An

Sung Shan

founder of the

at least in part of

authentic and important

125 or shortly before.

It is a small,

An was

erected about the

square building (measuring about

metres on each side) standing, as usual, on a stone terrace.

Each

side

has four hexagonal stone pillars but only those of the facade are even partly visible, the others

room

being completely embedded in the brick walls.

two pairs of smaller and two pairs of larger hexagonal

are

decorated with Buddhist

Thanks

beams.

the roof, which

reliefs,

and the gateway

is

made

of wood, threatens to

pillars, all

framed by carved stone

to these solid stone supports the building

is

In the

fall in (if it

still

stands, but

has not already

At the writer's visit to the place in 1921 large pieces of the eaves were missing, and perhaps now the building has no other roof than the sky. The most interesting parts of this structure, however, are not the carved done

so).

stone pillars but the brackets under the eaves which illustrate

were used

in the

Sung

period.

The

how

these

modifications in comparison with the

bracketing system of the T'ang dynasty are quite noteworthy.

Thus we

find that the brackets emerge not only from the pillars but also, between these,

from the horizontal beam.

They

are placed

than previously, forming a kind of cornice.

In the lower

have three arms but

in the

by the under

which are pointed and project

They

rafters,

are tied

upper

by means of braces

struts (vertical posts)

tier

more

closely together tier

the brackets

the transversal arms have been cut

to the brackets

like

beaks or long paws.

and carry at both ends

on which the purlins or corresponding beams

rest.

may

be said to imply that the lower rafters have lost their

original character

and become a sloping cantilever transversing the lower

This change

brackets which they lengthen, thus making them better fitted to support the far projecting roof.

though

The

modification has evidently a practical purpose,

hardly improves the original bracketing system, as exemplified

it

on the T'ang buildings.

The

evolution continued in this same direction; the three-armed con-

structive brackets gave place to

two-armed ones transversed by thin sloping 47

CHINESE ART beams or

rafters, cut like

These project successively,

beaks at the end.

the one tier reaching beyond the other, each one carrying

which serve purlins.

to support the longitudinal

beams or

The former system may be observed on

row of brackets

its

a kind of struts for the

Tower

the Bell

at

Hsiao

Lin Ssu, which according to an inscription was erected about the year 1300, where the third storey has no less than four tiers of* gradually projecting

The

brackets with beaks.

may

method

latter

is

quite

common;

as an

example

be mentioned one of the pavilions at the Confucius temple at Chiifu,

also of the

Yuan

dynasty, where the horizontal pieces form a support for

'"

^r^~jgi

1»

[o-j^

:

^^ f

-^V

l '

^

h»L=*"

_y

"

v_

Cross section of the kondo of horyuji, built in 7TH century

several sloping cantilevers (or rudimentary lower rafters) which have been

joined into a kind of bed for the struts and purlins of the roof.

Chinese buildings dating from the Sung and

Yuan

dynasties are scarce

indeed, but our knowledge of the architecture of these times

may

be supple-

mented by observations on Japanese buildings from the 12th and 13th centuries, i.e., the Kamakura period. In Japan this was a time of great building activity,

and according

to the best

for its close imitation of the in this respect is the in

Kamakura,

Chinese

hall,

with straw.

informed Japanese authorities, remarkable

contemporary Chinese models.

Quite important

Shariden (Chu Tsu An) of the Zen temple Engakuji

built according to the

same

principles as the above-mentioned

though with an extraordinarily large and high roof covered This

were observed at

is

carried

Chu Tsu An

by brackets of the same type of Hsiao Lin Ssu.

The

as those which

brackets are placed so

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE closely together that they

origin of the constructive

The

form a continuous cornice.

purely Chinese

system of the Shariden of Engakuji

may

be con-

firmed through a comparison with some of the illustrations in the above-

mentioned architectural

treatise

Ying Tsao Fa Shih published

the buildings or schematic designs reproduced here

exactly the

same type

as those described above,

partly obscured by the addition of

some

we

though

in 1103.

On

find brackets of

their significance

large transverse

is

beams which prob-

ably have their origin in the imagination of the draughtsman.

The Japanese

called this constructive

system which they have borrowed

from northern China, "karayo," while another somewhat different contem-

A

STONE ENGRAVING ON THE DOOR GABLE AT TA YAN

porary method was called "tenjiku," because derived from India via southern China.

it

T*A,

SIANFU

was considered

to

have been

was used principally

It

at large

gates and temple buildings, to which one desired to give a particularly im-

posing appearance by the development of their upper portions.

This was

achieved by multiplying the brackets and transforming them into straight

arms or cantilevers projecting stepwise from the the tenjiku style 1

199.

It

has

five

is

the

Nandaimon gate

posts.

A

good example of

at Todaiji, which

was erected

in

spans of columns on the long sides and a roof in two storeys,

of which the lower one

is

supported by seven

tiers

of cantilevers projecting from each column.

and the upper by

At

six tiers

the corners are added

diagonal cantilevers to form a support for the corner beaks.

This kind of

construction seems, however, never to have

won much

China;

hardly can be credited with par-

it is

so simple and natural that

it

popularity in northern

49

CHINESE ART Projecting roof beams have indeed been used

ticular artistic importance. in

many

countries to support the eaves, but the characteristic feature of the

tenjiku buildings

that the cantilevers are multiplied or massed together

is

insertion of intermediate pieces into large composite brackets.

by the

The

further development of the

end of the Yuan dynasty

is

wood construction

in

China

after the

a question which hardly needs to be discussed,

because no real progress can be observed, but rather a gradual decline, which

becomes evident

more and more arbitrary treatment of the bracketing

in the

Door panel according to ying tsao fa shih

Outer gateway according to ying tsao ta shih

(i

io3)

(1103)

At the beginning of the Ming dynasty one may still find buildings constructed in the same style as those of the Yuan period, i.e., with beak-

system.

formed pieces

transversally across the brackets, but the projecting

laid

become often clumsy and out of proportion to the brackets. A fine example of early Ming architecture is the Bell Tower in Sianfu, the lower pieces

roof of which rests on a double row of brackets of the the I"a

Yuan Tung

buildings.

same type

as those of

On

the other hand, the tower of the eastern gate of

in

1371, shows beak-shaped pieces projecting from

Fu, erected

very feeble brackets.

The mained

question

in

tions than

SO

how

use in China

is

long a really constructive bracketing system difficult to

re-

answer without more detailed investiga-

have hitherto been made.

It is

evident however, that already

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE during the latter half of the

may

Ming

period simpler methods were applied, as

be seen for instance on the earliest buildings in the Forbidden City in

Peking.

It

is

true that the outer appearance

was kept up by

fixing multiple

rows of brackets and pointed beaks below the eaves, but these have no

real

The purlins rest on projecting beams or on struts standing on the columns. The closely arranged and freely multiplied brackets and beaks which we find on the big palace halls and imposing gate towers constructive function.

in

Peking are nothing but ornamental cornices, the decorative

nobody even

if

will

these

deny.

inner necessity. ture of

have

The

much

lost

China depended on

its

art,

Each part had a

it

The forms

are

still

the

same

and importance of the old architec-

firm and clearly developed

wood

construction.

and based on the special requirements of the

definite function

any superimposed decoration.

and

which

of their significance because they lack

particular quality

was purely carpenters'

material.

effect of

roof would indeed rest just as well on the building

sham brackets were taken away.

as before but they

It

The

which was not concealed by

This architecture was logical and purposeful

remained a living art as long as the original principles of construction

were kept up, but once these were encroached upon by purely decorative tendencies, both vitality and further growth were at an end.

51

'

w \v %> w. w ww.w.w.wwm ww. mw>Juw.mMW.mw.mwmmmm&.w.w.wwm ww. w

CHINESE PAINTING

T

.he first thing to be said about Chinese painting

known lives

of

We

actual achievements.

its

quantities.

But

it

must be

that very

little is

have indeed ample records of the

and works of innumerable painters, from the

onwards, and a mass of criticism.

is

first

centuries of our era

Chinese paintings also exist in vast

realized that of genuine, or probably genuine,

works of the great masters of the best periods, very few indeed remain. is

It

impossible to doubt, from the evidence of what has survived, and from

literary records, that

tradition of

Chinese painting, with

more than 1,500

that the world has seen.

years,

is

But we

its

majestic and continuous

one of the greatest schools of painting are without the

means of comparing

Chinese painting as a whole with the paintings of Italy, or other European schools, the successive masterpieces of It is true that

which are known and

accessible.

during the 20th century the almost complete ignorance

which prevailed on the subject

till

the end of the 19th century has been

greatly lessened.

Important discoveries have been made, and

possible to predict

what may yet be discovered.

ties,

it

The fundamental

is

im-

difficul-

however, of the study of Chinese painting are likely to remain; the

extreme rarity, namely, of certain and documented works, on which an accurate conception of the greater masters' style can be based.

The

practice

of repeating famous designs with variations, of copying ancient works, which

has prevailed

in all ages,

styles of certain periods

makes

it

possible to

and certain masters.

have a general idea of the

But immense and repeated

destruction accounts for the rarity of ancient pictures in China

Japan collections have been made, centuries ago, and 52

itself.

In

religiously preserved;

CHINESE PAINTING and these paintings form the best foundation cases the traditional attributions have been

General Characteristics. is

—Painting

abandoned by modern

in

many

criticism.

the pre-eminent art of China.

is

not merely from a national point of view.

Chinese painting takes

of the world, for there

though

It

any nation should be judged by a world standard,

right that the art of

peculiarities,

for study,

is

In spite of

differences

all

and

place with the other pictorial arts

its

a fundamental affinity between

all

successful works

of art. Painting, for the Chinese,

and painting a brush

is

is

a branch of handwriting.

is

attain.

Ink

is

Many

its

demands

strokes such as few

medium; but Chinese ink

the favourite

immense range and an extraordinary

a wonderful substance, capable of an

beauty of tone.

for writing

used; and to acquire a fine hand in writing

a mastery in manipulating the brush and modulating

European painters

Both

Chinese masterpieces are in monochrome.

Coloured

paintings are either light-coloured or full-coloured; but the ink-drawing

remains almost always the foundation of the design. technically

a different

Fresco-painting,

method from the fresco-painting of Europe

{see

Church's Chemistry of Paints and Painting, p. 307, 1915), was largely practised and probably the grandest art of China was in this form but the

—

—

frescoes of the finest period

mass of Chinese

seem

all

to

have been destroyed.

pictures, however, are paintings

on

silk, or, less

The

great

commonly,

absorbent paper, the pigments being water-colours or body-colours

R. Petrucci, Encyclopedic de

{see

la Peinture Chinoise, 191 8, a translation of a

well-known treatise illustrated with woodcuts called the Mustard Seed Garden.

See also Ferguson's Chinese Painting).

Paintings are usually in

the form of hanging pictures or of horizontal scrolls, in both cases normally

kept rolled up. to Chinese art,

The

latter

form involves a mode of composition peculiar

though imitated by the Japanese.

These paintings, often of

great length, are unrolled bit by bit and enjoyed as a reader enjoys reading

a manuscript. is

A succession of pictures

is

presented, though the composition

continuous. Thus, in the case of landscape, for which this form has been

used with most

felicity,

one seems to be actually passing through the country

depicted. Other forms are the framed picture and the small

Chinese technique admits of no correction.

and

stores his observations in his

memory.

He

The

album

picture.

artist closely observes

conceives his design, and

53

CHINESE ART having completed the mental image of what he intends to paint, he transfers it

and with sure strokes

swiftly

The communication through

to the silk.

the sensitive and powerful strokes of the brush of something personal and

unique must,

The

in

such an art, count for

qualities prized

by the Chinese

much

in the spectator's appreciation.

in a small ink-painting of

bamboos,

a favourite subject alike with beginners and masters, are those prized in a piece of fine handwriting, only there

simultaneous seizure of

Mustard Seed Garden "the idea

life

added a keen appreciation of the

is

and natural character

treatise cited above,

it is

phasis on the value of suggestion, of reserves and silences, notice, because no other art has understood,

empty space a potent

much on

too

relies

factor in the design.

And

may

em-

this

important to

is

how

like the Chinese,

It

work

said that in a master's

present even where the brush has not passed."

is

In the

in the subject.

to

make

be that Chinese painting

suggestion, presuming in the spectator a sensibility and

a fineness of organization which are found but in choice societies; on the

other hand

which

avoids that laborious accumulation of unessential

it

European

in

A

plished hands. in

art has

proved the death of so

many

phenomena

pictures

certain slightness, comparatively speaking,

is

by accominevitable

Chinese paintings, partly because of the water-colour medium, partly

because suggestion

solid

is

preferred to statement, partly because so

were amateurs and not professionals.

It

and structural a Chinese landscape can

be.

artists

much thought and

is

many

of the

remarkable, however,

The

how

greater painters gave

pains to elaborating a convention by which the sense of

shape and mass can be given to rock forms, for instance, without losing rectness cessful

and

vitality of

brush stroke, the sense of handwriting.

convention was preserved, handed down and imitated.

could be painted in the manner of this old master or of that.

Each

suc-

Mountains

And

Chinese, with their passion for codification, have carefully tabulated these various methods.

The

painter's art

is

di-

the all

also saturated with literary

associations.

Certain flowers and birds are painted together because their

association

consecrated by a poem.

like

Wang

tion of a

mood

is

Wei, distinguished

poem

or story that

in is

both

54

But

normally aimed

similar to that expressed in the

When we

Many

arts.

painters were poets; some, it is

at,

less

the direct illustra-

than the evocation of a

poem.

turn to the subject-matter of Chinese painting,

we

are struck

O

"O

-

—

c

.

o

2

=

2

0.

o «>

.

1

"5*

o

£3-°>• O 00

. vi

B ° h- ,2

f

3 «

.0

"a

E


pi

.

H£9Q

j

v

7v _3S»-

*",-

*

3

I

,

ttiti

.,•

mi

SIX

iuiium or

—

as

-fTiii

riNi

*itt,

CHARACTERISTIC PAINTINGS, 4TH TO 14TH CENTURY

Chinese herdsman, * painting of the mid-12(h century, Sung 2. A man on a water-buffalo attribulad lo Li Tang (r. of In* Norlhtrn Sung ichool. 3. Landscape with bridge and willnwi. hy Ma Yuan, a landtcapa painltr of tha lata 12fh and early 1 31 h century. Hit wo'k shows the vigor of tho Northern Sung "cd »llh dalicacy and sensitiveness. 4. Detail, from 1.

period.

lloni.

"Ladles Beating and Preparing Silk." a genre painting attributed It to the artist-emperor. Hul Tiling (1082-1135). Sung dynasty. probably preserves a T'ang design. 5. Portrait of l Buddhist priest, a Chinese fresco of the 14th century. 6. "Harmonious Family Life." part of "The Admonitions of the Instructress in the Palace." attributed to Ku K'ai-chlh (4th century), one of China's earliest painters

CHINESE PAINTING by the early appearance of landscape art and its actual predominance. Landscape is accounted the most important of subjects because it includes

man and

living things; the

all

whole

is

Man

greater than the part.

does not

play the central and heroic part that he plays in the art of Europe, for which

human form

the nude

is

the most significant and expressive of motives.

Flowers are quite as important as

This difference

figures.

funda-

in the

life and the universe makes itself felt in design. Insymmetry which contemplation of the human body has made

mental conception of stead of the

the basis of Western composition, the Chinese prefer the principle of balance.

They contemplated trees and saw that they were unsymmetrical but perfectly poised. Where in Europe we have Christian themes, in China we have Buddhist themes; instead of the stories of classic mythology we have the stories of Taoist legend and the fairy tale.

common

as in the

always the

life

West, though portraiture

of the world outside

—plays a much larger part than for less,

and the contemplative

Early Periods.

—From

man for

perhaps

life

Western

in

life

is

— the

Genre-painting less

as

(q.v.) is

common.

But

of animals, birds and plants

The

art.

life

of action counts

more.

we can

literary references

was

infer that painting

practised in China several centuries at least before Christ, chiefly in the

form of portraiture.

It is

not

we come

till

to the

have any more tangible evidence, though there red on jade which

may

be a thousand years

date, give

tiles

Han

in the

Chinese

(Eumorfopoulos

period was

that a Chinese type of decorative design, animated by

forms, was already matured.

The

clearly translations of paintings, pictorial design

Museum;

see

in the

—

all

the fairy world of Taoism.

In the 4th century, however, flourished an artist

uted to him: one, The

We

like.

movement

and these give an idea of the character of scenes from history and legend,

and the range of subject

China's most famous masters:

later

incised stone friezes of the period are

ceremonies, dances, mythical creatures, and

the British

in

and other decorations; outline drawings on vases of rather

some hint of what painting

in

Designs on lacquer of

Umehara, and

Turkistan by Sir Aurel Stein; some rough paintings on collection),

dynasty that we

some rude designs

exist

earlier.

the ist century a.d., found in Korea by Mr.

Han

Ku

K'ai-chih.

There

who ranks among

exist

two

rolls attrib-

Admonitions of the Instructress in the Palace,

the other, illustrating a

poem on

a river

nymph, 55

is

in

is

in

CHINESE ART These paintings are by

the Freer collection at Washington.

The one a

the Freer collection

in

The

Sung copy.

British

distinction; the line

but

it is

Museum

generally thought to be,

case there

is

altogether drier in handling, and

is

documents, and their value roll

roll is

Its actual

date

disputed,

is

not an original, a T'ang copy.

if

be

and

In any

no doubt that both of these paintings represent the design of

the Chin dynasty (a.d. 265-420).

Museum

may

of a marvellous subtlety

intimately expressive.

is

different hands.

is

They

are, therefore,

extremely precious

increased by the fact that while the British

depicts scenes of court

with

life,

all

the details of dress and

accessories df singular refinement, the Freer roll, with its dragon chariot

and floating

fairies,

gives the imaginative or fanciful side of the art of the

In both cases the landscape element

period.

scape introduced into the London painting

is

The

quite primitive.

land-

indeed in strong contrast with

is

consummate grace and expressiveness of the tall and slender figures, and the air of a mature and fine civilization which they seem to breathe. the

Far from being primitive, the figure-drawing seems of a tradition rather than

its

the ruder, masculine style of

beginning; and

Han

all

conjecture behind

it

gradually subtilized and transformed in

Ku

the direction of elegance and charm. portraits, painted

to belong to the close

we may

K'ai-chih,

famed especially

kinds of subjects, including Buddhist themes.

for his

But

if

we may take these two pictures attributed to him as typical of the period, we find no trace of Indian influence in them. Of about the 6th century are some of the earliest wall paintings in the rock temples at Tun-huang, on China's western frontier {see Pelliot, Grottes

de Touen-houang, vol. the

iv.) full

same elegant type

of animated

as those in the

movement, containing

Ku

K'ai-chih

roll.

figures of

But these are

provincial in manner. It

was

in

the 6th century that the famous six canons of Hsieh

The

himself a painter, were formulated.

exact meaning of the

most important of these has been disputed, but is

laid

movement

The >f

clear that the

on creative inspiration, conceived not as a personal

spirit of the

1

it is

reftlit)

56

cosmos entering into the

of

artist

and enabling him

gift

to

first

Ho, and

emphasis

but as the

produce the

life.

legends of the great masters in their

tell,

not of the deceptive appearance

paintings, but of their being so informed with passionate

CHINESE PAINTING life

The emphasis on

that they assumed material existence and motion.

Even

movement is significant. move and flow. The T'ang Dynasty

forms seem to

in decorative designs the

(a.d. 618-905).

— In

the 7th century the empire,

was consolidated under the great T'ang dynasty, 300 years. This was undoubtedly the period of China's

after a period of division,

which lasted grandest

but

all

rians

for It

art.

is

true that almost

all

the painting of the time has perished;

the available evidence confirms the testimony of the Chinese histo-

and

critics to the

greatness of the T'ang masters.

a painting of a spring festival, found

by

and some other paintings found

same

in the

T'ang

are precious relics of early

of feminine beauty: a

above the head, and an pictorial

period in Japan. elled

Here we

full,

air

rounded

ideal

And

with hair heaped around and

face,

of smiling health.

motives are found it is

in the

Precisely the

same types and

few pictures surviving from

this

from the early painting of Japan, closely mod-

This kind of painting

is

infer the great style of

mostly Buddhistic, and the grandest T'ang

works were of Buddhist inspiration. testimony, were the works of

greatest of

new T'ang

find the

on Chinese prototypes, that we can most safely

T'ang.

all

by the Otani expedition,

locality

more massive form, compared with the slender elegance

of preceding periods; a

the same

of

they show us something of the

art, for

pictorial style of the early 8th century.

Some fragments

Aurel Stein in 19 14 at Turfan,

Sir

Supreme among them, according

Wu

to

Tao-tzu, acknowledged to be the

Chinese painters.

all

China, during this epoch, was open to foreign influences as she has never

Her empire expanded westward; her suzerainty extended Caspian. Envoys and tribute-bearers were constantly coming

been since. far as the

was a great

going; there

interest in foreign ways, dresses

Indians, Persians, Turks and Syrians

world centre.

But the

accepted with fervour.

met

in the capital,

influence of greatest

which was truly a

moment was Buddhism, now

Chinese pilgrims journeyed to

But Chinese

art,

to assimilate the Indian formulae

and

India and brought back sacred manuscripts and images. its

own

traditions,

was able

create a Buddhist art of extraordinary splendour.

T'ang masters

may

or

and customs;

Great numbers of Indian monks, some of them

doubtless artists, were settled in China.

strong in

as

Among

be mentioned Wei-ch'ih I-seng,

the earliest of the

who came from Khotan 57

CHINESE ART to

A copy of a picture of Vaisravana by this artist is in

China about 630.

Freer collection at

Washington; and

remarkable

Mr. Berenson's

famous

roll in

his style

Yen Li-pen (born

collection.

for his portraits of national worthies, foreign

We know

pictures.

work only through

his

T'ang painting underwent a transformation. delicate; later,

it

copies.

c.

envoys and Buddhist

Wu

With

Tao-tzu,

His early style was

He

became broad and of amazing power.

One

have perished.

and

fine

painted over

on

silk.

or two of his designs have been preserved by being

may

engraved on stone, and some paintings and drawings are extant which

The

be copies from his work. the British

Museum by Mr.

majestic fresco Three Bodhisattvas, given to

Eumorfopoulos, dating probably from the 12th

century, presumably preserves the T'ang tradition, and from the yet grander and

All records agree in emphasizing the

tions

and

we may

overwhelming power of

Of

also the almost sculptural character of his figures.

known T'ang

it

artist

infer

Wu Tao-tzu and his follow-

more magnificent creation of

ers.

authenticated work by a

the in a

600) was

frescoes, as well as paintings of all kinds of subjects

300 Buddhist All

perhaps to be discerned

is

we have only

his crea-

actual and

five portraits of

(much damaged) painted about 800 by Li Chen and preserved in Japan. These are in a contained and rather austere style. But our chief documents for T'ang Buddhist painting are the pictures recovered from Tun-huang, on the western frontier of China, by Sir Aurel Stein and Prof. priests

These are now

Pelliot.

certain

number

which are

in

in the British

Chinese style

Buddhist painting, though

same character

Museum,

are dated, with dates of the 9th

is

may in a

be taken to

more or

at Delhi

and 10th

and

in Paris.

centuries.

A

Those

reflect the central tradition of

less provincial

form.

Of much

the

a large Buddhist picture of the 9th century in the Boston

Museum. The Tun-huang pictures are largely devoted to the cult of Amitabha Buddha, who presides over the Western Paradise, and of his spiritual son Avalokitesvara, or Kuan-yin, the genius of Compassion, who in later times assumes a feminine form.

There are many pictures of the Paradise,

in

which we see a host of blessed beings presided over by a Buddha (usually, but not always, Amitabha) gathered round a sacred concert, where a dancer

performs to music on a terrace raised above the lotus-lake.

complex compositions, containing a great number of 58

Some

figures, are

of these

remarkable

CHINESE PAINTING for the

harmonious serenity of the design

ness in the arrangement

— and

— there

no confusion or awkward-

is

the varied beauty of the colouring.

Other

votive pictures portray the great Bodhisattvas, especially Kuan-yin, or scenes from the

Buddha

In the former case, the forms, draperies

legend.

and ornaments are closely modelled on Indian prototypes;

in the latter,

From the small scenes sometimes painted at the sides of the large pictures we get a hint of the secular style of the period both in figure and landscape. The figures of types, dress

and architecture are purely Chinese.

donors, which are also fairly frequent, give us contemporary costume.

Though mostly

the

work of

paintings as documents

artisans rather than artists, the value of these

very great, and a few are of real beauty.

is

In this era landscape became important as an independent character of Chinese landscape

mountain and water.

who devoted

seen in the

Li Ssu-hsiin

(b.

None

of his style.

word

He

The

art.

for landscape, shan-sui,

651) was the

himself mainly to landscape.

with gold outline. teristics

is

first

eminent painter

painted in greens and blues,

of his works exist, but copies preserve the charac-

His son, Li Chao-tao, developed

small picture in the Boston

Museum,

ascribed to

this technique.

him but probably of

date, gives a good idea of this "miniature" kind of landscape-painting.

very different tradition

who was

in

landscape was founded by

He matured

equally famous as a poet.

Wang Wei

A

later

A

(b. 699),

a style of ink-painting, in

which the landscape became the counterpart of an emotion, more subjective

and more "impressionist" Copies exist (one

school.

in is

method than the work of Li in the British

Ssu-hsiin and his

Museum, and an

earlier

roll by Wang Wei, CKuan. The painting was engraved on stone when it began Rubbings have been published by Dr. B. Laufer in Ostasiatische

the Freer collection) of a famous

(April

1

Scenery of the

one

in

Wang

to decay. Zeitschrift

91 2).

Ts'ao Pa and his greater pupil, their paintings of horses.

Han Kan

Han Kan,

were especially famous

for

found endless subjects in the fine horses

He worked in the 8th century for the A contemporary, Han Huang, painted buffaloes and

sent as tribute from central Asia.

emperor Ming Huang. rustic scenes.

found

in

The

splendidly modelled pottery figures of horses and camels

T'ang tombs give us a clue

to the vigour

and breadth of the animal

painting of these masters, whose work has perished.

59

CHINESE ART Admirable genre pictures and scenes from court

Chou Fang

in this era.

New York

is

known by

were also painted

versions (one in China and one in a

private collection) of his Listeners to Music, a design in which the

Chinese genius for eloquent spacing in the

life

Boston

Museum

The

conspicuous.

is

beautiful picture

of Ladies Beating and Preparing Silk probably pre-

serves a T'ang design.

The Five Dynasties

(a.d. 900-960).

whom Hsu

artists are recorded, of

— In

this short period a great

many

Hsi was famous as a flower-painter and

Chou Wen-chii for his pictures of women. Still more celebrated was Huang Ch'uan, who painted landscape, birds, flowers, etc., and who is said to have what

started

is

called the "boneless

method";

painting without a drawn

i.e.,

outline.

The Sung Period

(a.d. 960-1260).

and a great

—Under

In his reign the

collector.

prominent and attracted

artists

from

Academy

all

similar paintings in to

Hui Tsung,

existent in the like

in a

bough

famous albums

in the

in

was

of Painting became very

A

parts.

culcated, but in style a fastidious simplicity

album-painting of a bird

the emperors of the Sung

The emperor Hui Tsung was himself a painter

dynasty China was re-united.

certain realism

to be

aimed

at.

Eumorfopoulos

was

The

in-

small

collection,

and

Japan, some of which are attributed

illustrate the ideals of the time.

Flower-painting, hardly

T'ang period, was now a favourite theme, and some painters,

Wen Tung,

specialized in ink-painting of the

Of

bamboo.

the flower-

Chao Ch'ang was the most celebrated. The most eminent master landscape of Northern Sung was Kuo Hsi, who wrote an essay on land-

painters in

by YValey {Chinese Painting, pp. 189-194). Mi Fei landscape, without outline and with boldy brushed-in

scape, partly translated

invented a new style

wooded peaks

in

rising

above rain and mist.

pictures, though again few or

painted

autumn and winter

His style

none are actually by scenes;

his

is

preserved in

many

Chao Ta-nien

hand.

Fan K'uan was famous

for his

snow-

scenes.

But the most famous name (r.

lie

1040-1106).

had

Much

a reverential

of his

in

the art of Northern

work consisted of copies from

passion for tradition.

At

first

he drew with a delicate, nervous

line.

Copies of

is

Li Lung-mien

earlier masters.

he painted horses, but

soon abandoned such subjects tor Buddhist themes.

60

Sung

his

Rarelv using colour,

works are numerous,

CHINESE PAINTING and a few

have been reproduced

originals

in the

He

Kokka.

is

revered by

the Chinese as a perfect type of Chinese culture; judged purely as an artist,

he would not have so great a fame. In

1 1

was taken prisoner and died of what

The emperor Hui Tsung Hang-chow became the new capital The changed temper of the times is

27 the Tatars occupied northern China.

is

known

in exile.

as Southern Sung.

reflected in the art of a people

which they were helpless for soaring

no longer greatly interested

The

to transform.

passion for romantic solitudes,

peaks and plunging torrents, which had always haunted certain

minds, eager to escape from the pressure of routine,

in external events

became a mastering

dominant, with

its

reliance

The Zen

inspiration.

on intuition,

sect of

contempt

its

and ceremonious

official life

Buddhism, now

for all

outward forms,

replaced the votive picture of single or assembled Bodhisattvas, glowing with

by pictures of Arhats, in intense contemplation, or by swift ink-sketches of Zen saints; even a poising bird or blossoming spray could

colour and gold,

become

mode of thought as The emphasis was all on

which Taoist love of freedom and

the interior mind.

fluidity contributed

poetic character to the art of Southern Sung.

Sung-nien,

who kept

and legend, and of the age

is

still

more

whom

famous pupils, Hsia Kuei and

enthusiasm with which the landscapes of

we

are able to

this school

soon

landscape at it

judge of fell

its

to the feeling of aversion or disgust to so late a period. it is

Boston Museum),

Owing

were collected

it

in

to the

Japan,

Though

represents to Europe Chinese

synthetic in conception, impassioned in execution,

and high places had always been

Hills

regarded with reverence as the abode of

agricultural people,

in the

Ma Yuan.

productions from concrete examples.

unites simplicity with grandeur.

down

But the genius

are attributed a roll in a

this school

out of favour in China,

its finest;

there were, like Li

on weaving and agriculture.

seen rather in Li T'ang (to

in his

much, gives a peculiar

Some

Japanese collection and a beautiful small picture

and

as the glorified

This temper, to

and painted scenes from history

to the older traditions

sets of pictures

theme

"religious" a

in this

Buddha.

spirits.

And though

find

no counterpart

which inspires their typical landscape

human

in

Europeans

the Chinese have always been an

not the relation of toiling

a feeling of affinity between the

We

which the Alps inspired

man

to the fruitful earth

more cosmic

inspiration;

art.

It is a

spirit

and the energies of the elements, 61

CHINESE ART

— the

winds, the mists, the soaring peaks, the plunging torrents.

Tech-

The high

horizon

nically,

Chinese landscape design

differs

from European.

precludes the need for uniting sky and ground, divided by the natural horizon

of sight, by

means of

vertical lines

foreground, so often a source of

and masses.

trial to

The eye

passes from the

the European painter, to the central

motive, usually a mountain form.

The Yuan or Mongol Period

(a.d. 1260-1368).

— In

this

comparatively

short period there was a tendency to go back to the style of ancient masters.

Chao Meng-fu

perhaps the most famous painter of the time.

is

pictures of horses

now

Western

in

Countless

collections are attributed to him, few of

He also painted landscapes and flowers. Another

them with any probability.

was Jen Jen-fa, of whom there is a good example in the Eumorfopoulos collection, and others in Japan. The four chief landscape masters fine painter

were:

Huang Kung-wang, Wang Meng, Ni Tsan, and roaming

latter led

lives

Ni Tsan painted suggestions of landscape ner.

Wu

Wu

The two

Chen.

and had nothing of the professional about them. in ink, in a reticent, delicate

man-

Chen, known as the "Priest of the Plum-blossom," excelled

paintings of bamboos.

Ch'ien Hsiian

is

a master whose

name

is

very

quently forged on paintings; he painted birds, flowers, also figures.

Yo-shui was famous for flowers. sages, but

is

less

known

The Ming Dynasty

in

Yen Hui

is

admired

in

Japan

in

fre-

Wang

for his Taoist

China.

(a.d. 1368-1644).

—The

art of the

Ming

period

is

characterized as a whole by a gradual fading out of the interior glow which

under Buddhist and Taoist inspiration had suffused the creations of periods.

Concentrated

in

herself,

earlier

China had no longer any stimulating

contact with the world without; and her art became concerned rather with the beauty of material things than with the expression of the interior spirit.

At the same time a reverential conservatism prescribed for the painter both subject and manner of treatment. The painters of this period are so numerous that only a few outstanding masters can be mentioned.

The

first

Ming

emperor re-established the Academy of Painting, with the aim of emulating the glories of

Sung

art.

Gifted painters flocked to his court.

painted ink-pictures of eagles, wild geese, flowers,

dinary breadth and power.

which also

62

lias a fine

A

good example

is

Lin Liang

etc., in a style of extraor-

in

Fairy and Phoenix ascribed to

Museum, master who

the British

Wu

Wei, a

BY COURTESY OP THE

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON

THE ARHANT RAKAN BESTOWING ALMS Sung painting, 12th century, one of a Arhant. It was executed at Ming Chao colours on silk and mounted as panels

of one hundred, representing the Five Hundred 1178, as a pious dedication. The paintings are In

set in

A

SNOW SCENE

Pilntlno. probably tarly Ming p.riod, by «n

unknown irtiit— a

typical

landt:ap« compoiilion

CHINESE PAINTING Wu

strove to recapture something of the strong brush-work of

Very typical of early Ming

art are the bird

chao (Pien Wen-chin) and of Lii Chi, tive richness of colour

in

and flower pictures of Pien Ching-

which a certain

combine with powerful drawing

Of this

mental use of colour, especially a rich blue.

and T'ang Yin, who

and

He

(i

554-1636), eminent as a

associated with the "Learned

is

refined taste

and

with

new

little

with an orna-

detail,

Chou Ch'en

school were

Tung

critic as well as

and

a painter

their laborious tech-

Man's Painting,"

counted for

literary associations

accomplishment.

Wang Wei

free,

In

also excelled in figures.

Ch'i-ch'ang

calligrapher, despised these "professionals"

nique.

painters, led a

His style was broad and

followers.

and a decora-

in a large design.

Another school preferred minuteness of

or no colour.

Tung

solidity

Ming

landscape, Tai Chin, accounted one of the foremost

movement and had many

Tao-tzu.

in

which

much more than mere

Ch'i-ch'ang claimed that this style originated with

in the 8th century, the

founder of the Southern school.

(In

distinguishing the Northern and Southern schools, he tried to give these

rather

shadowy terms

ever, as a fine

a geographical foundation

Southern school, adorned

Wen

in the earlier part of this period

really,

how-

The

exist.)

by Shen Chou and

Cheng-ming, two much-admired masters, had by the close of the dy-

Among

nasty become triumphant and supreme. of the

1

6th century,

work

is

8th centuries

is

in the later

loose, slight, capricious

of the beginning of the dynasty, of flowers, rocks, etc.

"the four Wangs,"

(a.d. 1644-1911).

one of the most

in the

17th

in the style of the

developments of the literary man's style

and

eccentric.

Chu Ta

More important

Wang

as

— Painting

very largely devoted to landscape

Southern school, which

becomes

and flower painters

rare.

The CKing {Manchu) Dynasty 1

bird

Chou Chih-mien may be mentioned

distinguished, though his

and

which does not

example of early Chinese animal sculpture,

Shih-min,

is

Among

much admired

artists of the

Wang

Chien,

gifted amateurs

for his ink-sketches

K'ang Hsi period are

Wang Hui

and

Wang

Yuan-ch'i.

Another great

figure in the 17th century

is

Yiin Shou-p'ing, also called

Nan-t'ien, the most famous flower painter of the Ch'ing period.

was converted landscapes.

to Christianity

The

Wu Li, who

and became known as Father Acunha, painted

influence of the Jesuits

was considerable

for a time in

63

CHINESE ART China, but had no lasting effect on the

was made

The Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione name Lang Shin-

Chiao Ping-cheng, however, learnt something of European perspec-

ning. tive

arts.

to learn the Chinese style of painting under the

and taught

it

to

Leng Mei and other

artists.

Chiao Ping-cheng's

of pictures of agriculture and weaving were engraved in 1696.

went

sets

Shen Nan-pin

Japan and stayed at Nagasaki (1731-33); his work had a very stimuApart from this effect on the naturalistic movement in Japan.

to

lating

movement, the modern painting of China seems to show little new life, and though good painters flourished in the 19th century, they were mostly content with exercises in the various manners consecrated by the naturalistic

past.

64

'wwmmw.MMMMWwmmmmw.mwmm

WOOD-CARVING

Oplendid examples in the

of Japanese 8th century wood-carving

phoenix and musical angels adorning the canopy hung

of Horyuji and in

may

be found

in the

Kond5

the gigaku masks carved in paulownia wood and preserved

in the Imperial treasure-house Shos5in, the

ancient temples in Japan.

Horyuji monastery and other

The gigaku masks

in the Shosoin,

numbering

164, the majority of which are in wood, the most or which are in paulownia, if

not

all,

the rest being in dry-lacquer, are believed to have been used in

connection with religious services observed at Todaiji, especially at the inauguration ceremony of the Great

The

752.

belief

is

Inscriptions on

also

on the original bags which contained

some of the masks

mask, some being

masks used

bugaku, the music of which

performed

5

in the Palace, are smaller

indicate the

and 7 and others

in carving the in

place on April 9,

substantiated by the carvers' signatures and dates written

on the inside of the masks, and them.

Buddha which took

and

is still

less

number of days spent The wooden 9 days.

preserved and occasionally

grotesque in appearance, as

may

be seen from the old masks scheduled as "national treasures" and preserved in

some temples.

The no masks,

all

carved in wood, which came into exist-

ence in the 16th century, taxed the resources of the talented carvers, and a large

number of masterpieces

are

now

in possession of the

head families of

the different schools of no drama.

Up

to the 15th century, the

work of the wood-carver was confined

to the

embellishment of the temples: carvings on the pedestals, nimbus, and baldachins of Buddhist figures, and itself,

some

slight

ornamentations on the building

such as the carving of the beam-ends into animal heads and the use

65

CHINESE ART But in the second half of the 16th century, the decorative wood-carving came to assume an importance in palatial mansions of the shoguns and in shrines where woodof the kaeru-mata^ a simple decoration between the beams.

carvings were inserted into the kaeru-mata between the beams, attached

under the

rafters,

used as the panels of the gate,

etc.,

a large

number of which

may still be seen at Kitano Jinsha and Nishi Hongwanji of Kyoto, Chikubushima Jinsha in Lake Biwa, etc. The predominance of wood-carving as an architectural decoration

in the 17th

century

may

be seen at the mauso-

leums of the Tokugawa shoguns at Shiba, Tokyo, and at Nikko, where both the interior and exterior of the buildings are profusely covered with wood-

carvings ranging over a wide variety of subjects faithfully executed and realistically coloured.

The

taste for simplicity has not tolerated wood-carving in the architec-

The

ture of dwelling houses.

was

in

sliding

has

made

flowers

only place the carver could display his art

ramma, the ventilating panel in the narrow partition wall over the screens that separate one room from another. The ramma carving a special development of

and

birds, animals

and

its

own,

all

sorts of subjects being treated:

insects, figures in history

and romance, land-

scapes and mists, etc., carved on board to give, together with the decoration

on the

sliding screens, a character to the room.

Some

may

fine

carving in wood, the temple decoration in miniature scale,

be seen in the family shrine {butsu-daii) where the ancestral tablets are

kept, generally fitted into a recess in the room.

In their profuse and minute

decoration some of the portable shrines (mikoshi)> used in the procession at

So

the festival, are also beautiful examples of the art of wood-carving.

also

are the small ornaments for cabinet decoration or for the tokonoma, the recess in

the guest

room

for objects of art.

Some wonderful workmanship

in

wood

has been produced by the netsuke (ornamental button for suspending a pouch or medicine case) carvers

when many of the

talented sculptors in

from carving Buddhist figures to smaller objects

The Chinese have Japanese in their home

utilized the

architecture.

in

wood turned

greater demand.

wood-carving more lavishly than the

They have carved

their

heavy beams

The pillars as well with delicate tracery. simplest of their chairs and tables are invariably carved in the " key"-pattern, on the ceiling and the massive

some simpler than 66

others,

and the doors are

in delicate trelliswork

design or

COURTESY OF

(I,

2,

3,

5,

6)

THE DIRECTOR OF THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM

EXAMPLES OF FAR EASTERN WOOD-CARVING 3.

Chinese shop front

A

Chinese temple

1,

2,

4.

Carved

5,

6.

7.

Wood-carving under the eave of Kitano Jinsha, Kyoto

12. Sleeping cat at the Nikko Shrine carved by the left-handed Jingoro

8.

Chinese screen with carving

13. Carved

ramma

in

the crane room of the Nishi Hongwanji, Kyoto

Carved beam from a Chinese house

9.

10.

Wood-carving on the famous gateway Shrine, Japan

(Yomeimon)

of

the Nikko

11. Wood-carving on the wall of the Nikko Shrine

ramma

in

the

wave room

of

the Nishi

Hongwanji, Kyoto

c

CD

=

rH

c II

cm

a.

> 3 -I oc

-

<

£

>.

5

i

J.

r

S

£

3

¥

WOOD-CARVING ornamented with carvings

in

low

interesting designs in pierced

Lanterns with diapers or some other

relief.

work are held by brackets

Although rich

forms of dragon heads.

or arms carved in

in variety, the designs

wood-carving show a fondness for geometric patterns that

The

used in the distinctly

is

some of the other motives resorted to by the wood-carvers emblems of richness and happiness, clouds and thunder patterns, the curious mask of a creature "TaoTieh," "The Eight Trigrams" or Chinese.

following are

"Pa Kwa," "The Four Quadrants," "The Five Elements," scenes and

ventional in

Sacred

etc.

figures incised in floral scrolls, intermingled with series of con-

emblems of one

religion or another,

form subjects

for

wood-carvers

decorating the Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian temples.

Buddhism emblem of

are the eight symbols, the chief purity, chosen because the lotus

among which lifts

is

mud

out of the

Sacred to

the lotus, an its

rosy or

white blossoms unsullied, forming a fitting resting place for the Buddha. Taoists have their symbols of eight immortals and derive

many

floral

em-

blems of longevity from sacred plants, the most prominent among which the peach, the tree of

3,000 years which confer immortality to those

Confucianism has no distinct emblem of examples of

filial

piety, such as the well

sometimes attributed to

is

of their paradise, bearing fruits ripening but once in

life

its

who partake

of them.

While

own, the symbol of culture and

known 24 examples

of

filial

piety, are

it.

Artistic vitality characterizes even the highly conventionalized designs

of the Japanese wood-carvers, but the bulk of the Chinese

sense of laborious and mechanical execution.

On

work

reveals a

the whole, the Chinese

wood-carvings are more effective as a design and ornament compared with the Japanese work, which, while the thing carved on

The former aims more attention to the mode of

a far less decorative value. latter skill.

much greater The former covers

pays

is

well decorated, carry

for the effect, while the

execution and technical

the carving with paint or lacquer, while the latter

whenever possible, the clear-cut chisel marks in Even the decorative panels in the temples and shrines which show traces of the Japanese wood-carver's pleasure derived

delights in appreciating,

natural wood. are coloured,

from the clear cuts of to

surmount

with

little

his chisel.

difficulties in

There

is

a tendency in both for an effort

design and execution, defying time and labour,

regard for the artistic merit in the result achieved.

67

jmmwmmmww.w.wmmmmw.wmmwmmm

CHINESE SCULPTURE

.he historical records about sculptural works in China do not begin

Ch 'in dynasty (221-206

until the

statues of "the giant barbarians"

"with

sters

Ch'in Shih

stags'

B.C.); the earliest refer to the 12 colossal

and the bell-frames

shape of mon-

in the

heads and dragons' bodies," which the great emperor

Huang Ti

ordered to be cast from the weapons of war collected

These enormous bronze statues which were placed

throughout the kingdom.

before one of the imperial palaces near Hsien Yang, on the Shensi, are mentioned by

Lu

Chia, an author

who

Wei River

lived from the Ch'in to the

Han

dynasty, and by several later chroniclers such as Chang

Heng

139)

who

At

the later

speaks of "the metal barbarians sitting

Han dynasty Tung Chow melted "ten

also the bell-frames"; the

Ming gate

at

a local ruler tried to

row."

set

men up

Nothing

is

(d. a.d.

the end of

into small cash,

inside the Ch'ing

also lost during the 4th century,

remove them but found them too heavy

roads, the result being that one into the river.

in a

bronze

two remaining ones he

Ch'angan but these were

in

for the

when

muddy

was melted down into cash, the other thrown

known about

the artistic character of these

statues, but their recorded history proves that they were considered extraor-

dinary for their motives and Ch'in Dynasty.

—The

size.

only sculptures

now remaining which

possibly

might be attributed to the Ch'in dynasty are some decorative animals in

Most of

bronze.

but nevertheless with a well developed sculptural character.

vessels,

larger

these are of small size and placed on the lids of sacrificial

example

—sometimes

ascribed to

that represents a reclining bull

68

(now

in

the Ch'in

period

—

is

a

A

statuette

the possession of L. Wannieck, Paris).

CHINESE SCULPTURE have been found together with some bronze

It is said to

in

vessels, decorated

Ch'in style, at Li Yii in northern Shansi, but to judge by

its style, it

hardly have been executed before the 6th century a.d. (Northern

We illustrate it, however,

nasty).

as a fine

can

Wei dy-

example of early Chinese animal

sculpture.

Among

other bronze animals which have been ascribed to the Ch'in

period should be mentioned a large dragon or hydra with crested neck and

and the loins, in the collection of A. Stoclet, marked contrast to the bull, fierce, fantastic, grotesque to the utmost without any connections with nature, and must, indeed, be earlier

flame-like wings at the shoulders Brussels.

in date,

It

is

in

though hardly of the Ch'in period.

some

at the handles of

New efforts were

Other fantastic animals appear

large bells in Ch'in style.

evidently

made

during this short

in different directions

period which, in the field of art, was simply an introduction to the classic age

The

of the Hans.

by a more

direct

rigid ceremonial art of earlier times

and vivid

gradually modified

is

The Chou art (1122-256 The art of the Ch'in

interest in nature.

was preeminently symbolic and geometrical.

B.C.)

and the Han periods aimed the inherent

The

life

Han

and

at the presentation of the actual

rhythm of things,

significance of the artistic forms.

Dynasty.

— Most of the Han monuments have evidently been

destroyed; yet, to judge from those which remain as well as from minor plastic creations in bronze

period is

much

only in the

and

clay, Chinese sculpture

better fitted to treat animal motives than reliefs

that the

to that of the animals,

human

and these

are,

figures reach an

statuettes

made

quite rare and artistically

but simply used

They have taken

it

much

human

shapes.

It

like paintings trans-

the exception of the small

human

as substitutes for real people,

The Chinese have never itself,

With

at this early

importance comparable

on the whole, more

lated into stone than real sculptures.

was

tomb

representations are

inferior to the representations of animals.

considered the for expressing

human

figure an artistic

motive

in

an action or a state of consciousness.

greater interest in types, postures and motives of drapery

than in the bodily form or the muscular organism.

The

with the animal sculptures.

They may adhere

characteristic of the period to

which they belong but

case

is

quite different

to certain types or

their artistic

depends mainly on the rendering of their organic form and

formulae

importance

vitality.

69

The

CHINESE ART among them

best

tures of

are

monumental

creations, hardly inferior to animal sculp-

The

any other period or nation.

conventionalization, which

is

more

or less preponderant during the early epochs, does not convey an element of

immaterial abstraction but serves to accentuate the muscular organism, the

energy of movement, the monumentality of the form, animals great and convincing as works of

Work

Bronze, Clay and Stone

of the

all

makes the

that

art.

Han.

—Among the great number of

wild and domestic animals represented in bronze, clay and stone during the

Han

period

we may choose

as

examples some bears executed

in bronze.

majority of these bears are quite small, intended to serve as feet for

The two

standing sculptures.

These are represented

Boston.

forward with a friendly roar. far,

sacrificial

but there are also some of a larger size which have the character of

vessels, free

The

yet

it is

in a

best are in the Gardner

in

squatting posture, stretching their heads

The modelling

of the limbs

is

not carried very

awake an impression of suppleness and

sufficient to

Museum

force.

The

has not been afraid of exaggerations in the characterization of the

artist

lumpy forms

or the telling postures.

The heavy weight

of the body sup-

ported by the broadly placed forepaws, the elastic power of the enormous legs, the softness

of the bulky paws and the long nose which seems to form a

direct continuation of the ears, are rendered with a

sense of It

monumental unity that

power of conviction and a

are rarely found in later animal sculptures.

should also be noticed that in their representations of animals the

Chinese have quite often combined two or more into a group.

composed them

in

Most of

satisfy the highest requirements of plastic art.

They have

up groups which

the most intricate positions and built

these groups are on

a relatively small scale, but they are nevertheless truly monumental. finest results are

achieved

in

are here represented in their highest tension, in the

muscular

effort,

and so

full

development of

The same

pillars in

Statuettes of the

Han.

Szechuan (which

will

was most 70

easily

also true of

be mentioned below).

—The greatest variety of animal types may

however be found among the clay statuettes made terial

some unity with monu-

is

of the animals which are composed into an architectural

Tomb

their

closely interlaced that they complete each other

perfectly in the expression of the plastic idea.

ments such as the tomb

The

groups of fighting animals, because the bodies

handled and thus invited

all

for the

tombs.

The ma-

sorts of individual vari-

PHOTOGRAPHS, COPR. OSVALD SIREN

SCULPTURES AT THE TOMB OF WU LIANG TZU, SHANTUNG 1.

Men coming

in carts

tomb

shrine of

Wu

same tomb

festival in a house;

2.

Two

Liang Tzu; A.D. 147

3.

Statue of a guardian lion at entrance of the same tomb

and on horseback to a

stone relief from the

tigers; stone relief from the

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J

CHINESE SCULPTURE and

ations,

as these clay sculptures

were executed as substitutes

for living

animals, which in earlier times followed their dead masters into their tombs, it

was natural that they should be made

The majority

as lifelike as possible.

are domestic animals such as horses, sheep, dogs, pigs, hens

various sizes, the smallest hardly

more than two or three inches

They were

measuring a foot or more.

largest

and ducks

in

high, the

usually executed in clay

moulds but sometimes modelled by hand, and the best among them have retained a spontaneous freshness and vivacity which taining.

The dogs have enormous arches,

make them very

enter-

Proportions and shapes are treated with a great deal of freedom. heads, the horses have necks which curve like high

and the pigs have snouts

like bowsprits, yet the exaggerations serve

simply to accentuate the typical features of the various animals. Besides the animals there are

human ming cJii> or tomb

as substitutes for living people, such as servants,

Most common amongst

were buried alive with the husbands.

from the

ettes

Han

statuettes,

made

and wives who formerly these statu-

period are the slender ladies in long robes with wide

sleeves reminding one of the Japanese kimonos.

They stand

usually in very

quiet postures simply with a slight inclination of the large round head, but occasionally

we

find

them represented

closed feet, swinging their bodies

Stone Sculptures of the Han.

and

in a

their

dancing movement, though with

arms

in a

rhythmic fashion.

—Stone sculptures on a large scale were, no Han Among the

doubt, also executed in steadily increasing numbers during the

period,

though comparatively few of them have been preserved.

earliest

which can be approximately dated are the animals at the tomb of General

Ho Ch'u

Ping, situated at the

Wei River some 20 m. N.W. of Sianfu.

were discovered by Segalen and Lartigue during their explorations

and more completely dug out by the lished

them

in

an

article in the

which he presents some evidence executed about 117

B.C.,

They in

1914

latter in 1923.

Lartigue has also pub-

German magazine

Artibus Asiae (1927) in

for the supposition that these statues

were

the year of the death of the famous general.

He

thinks that the statues, which represent a horse standing over a fallen warrior,

a reclining horse and a buffalo, were placed in front of the

mound, and

that their present quite irregular positions have been caused by the shifting of the

mud.

Besides these, complete sculptures may, however, be seen in

the neighbourhood of the

mound, a

large block with a mythological figure,

7i

CHINESE ART executed in

relief,

indicate that this difficult to

and fragments of some animal sculptures which seem It large composition never was completely finished.

appreciate the artistic

seeing the originals, but

if

to is

importance of these large statues without

we may draw some

conclusions from the repro-

ductions, the sculptures are comparatively undeveloped from an artistic

This

point of view.

is

particularly true of the

The composition

ing over a fallen warrior.

main

statue, the horse stand-

indeed significant but the

is

formal treatment does not seem to do justice to the motive.

the figure under trinsic

its

energy which

belly is

so

This impression

mentioned.

legs, reveal a

is,

however, to some extent counteracted by

very sensitive

if

they are heavy and bulky

artistic

treatment, particularly in

Here one may discover a touch of that excellent

their expressive heads.

animal psychology which

is

some

ization which, to

short-

is

the reclining horse and the buffalo which, even

with stumpy

The

more bulky than monumental, and Here is little of that inis simply a large block. the minor prominent in some of sculptures already

legged horse with an enormous head

one of the greatest assets of Han

makes up

extent,

for the

art, a character-

shortcomings

in other

directions.

Sculpture Developed for the Dead.

come

to light,

—Other

Han dynasty which might

beginning of the

though

it is

stone sculptures from the

serve for comparison have not

more than probable that they have

existed, be-

cause this tomb was hardly an isolated case, and broadly speaking sculpture in stone as well as in clay

of the tombs.

It

was

had

for the

its

origin in the decoration

dead rather than

developed their creative activity this

may

in the field

and the arrangement

for the living that the

of the plastic arts.

Chinese

As proof of

be quoted not only the various classes of clay and stone sculptures

mentioned above, but also numerous

reliefs

executed for the decoration of

the "spirit chambers" of the tombs and the sculptural pillars placed in front of the mounds.

"shen tao"

These monuments marked

(spirit

was farther and farther extended the south. (as also

The

may

as a rule the beginning of the

path) which led up to the tomb and which in later times

interior of the

be observed

in

in a straight line

tomb

from the mound towards

consisted often of two or

more chambers

contemporary Korean tombs), the

first

being a

kind of ante-room called the "spirit chamber," where the soul of the deceased

was supposed 72

to dwell, while the coffin

was placed, together with various

CHINESE SCULPTURE vessels

and other paraphernalia of bronze or

clay, in the

back room.

The

main decoration, be

it in sculpture or painting, was concentrated in the anteroom where the walls often were covered with representations from ancient history and mythology or with illustrations with a moral import.

Tomb

Pillars.

—Quite a number of the decorative

the gateway to the "spirit road" are particularly the provinces of

known from

pillars

central

which formed

and western China,

Honan, Shantung and Szechuan.

They

are

usually constructed on a rectangular plan of large and well-fitted stone blocks

reaching a total height of 15 to 18 consist of a

moulded pedestal,

When

feet.

a very

completely preserved they

broad shaft and a cornice over which

is

Sculpture op the northern wei period

Sculpture of the

sui

period

the roof projects quite

far.

But the form

varies

somewhat

in the different

Honan, of which the best known stand at Teng Fung Hsien on Sung Shan, are very broad and provided with projecting

provinces; thus the pillars in

Otherwise they are quite simple without any particular develop-

buttresses.

ment of the relief.

The

cornices

and decorated with ornaments and

earliest of these

Honan

pillars is

figures in very

low

dated a.d. 118, the latest a.d.

175.

The

pillars in

Szechuan have usually no buttresses, but they are higher

and characterized by a richer architectural composition;

their

upper parts,

the cornices and friezes under the projecting roof, are particularly well de-

veloped.

We find

here, reproduced in stone, the

beam ends and brackets 73

so

CHINESE ART wooden

characteristic of Chinese

architecture,

tural decorations executed in high relief,

These

from the later

pillars are all

pillar of

Fung Huan

at Ch'iu Hsien,

Han

and between these are sculp-

sometimes almost

in the round.

dynasty, but only one of them, the

dated by an inscription which contains

is

the year a.d. 121.

Symbolic Decorations of the Han.

— More important

decorations are, however, two pillars in the at the

tomb of

a

man

On

called Shen.

the symbols of the four directions;

for their sculptural

same neighbourhood erected

their shafts are representations of

the red bird of the South, the white

i.e.,

dragon of the West and the black tortoise of the

tiger of the East, the blue

North, animal representations which, with regard to energetic rhythm of line

and grand decorative

bronze or clay

stylization,

may

be compared to the best works in

known from this classic epoch. At the corners of the entablahuman figures which seem to carry the projecting beams on

ture are seated

their shoulders, and,

on the middle of the south

(glutton) appears between the beams. tically

of which the lower one

t'ao t'ie

All these figures are executed prac-

The very

high frieze

is

divided into two sections,

decorated with hunting scenes in quite low

is

and the upper one with some larger

men

kind of

the round and most skilfully composed into the architectural

in

scheme of the monument.

here

side, a

figures in high relief.

One may

relief

observe

riding on stags, horse-like animals running along with the swiftness

of the wind, and hunters the passing leopard by

human forms the glazed

as

Han

reference to the

may

who aim with

its tail.

relief friezes.

the

same

their heads or grasp

free-play with animal

The motives seem

to

beyond the tomb, though they represent

naturalness and an intensity of scenes from real

is

bows above

and

be observed on some of the inlaid bronze vessels or on

urns with life

Here

their

life.

The

have some this

with a

movement which make them appear

style reveals

like

something of the same energy and

nervous tension that characterizes the small bronze ornaments of this period,

and

it

can hardly be explained without accepting an influence from west

Asiatic sources, though tradition

is

the Chinese transformation of the west Asiatic

more complete

in the large

stone sculptures than in most of the

minor bronze ornaments. Dramatic Expression of the Pillars.

—The majority of the tomb

pillars in

Szechuan, of which at least a score were discovered by Segalen and Lartigue

74

MH

CHINESE SCULPTURE during their exploration in 1914, show the above-mentioned combination of friezes

with

human

figures

flat reliefs

and tri-dimensional representations of animals and

The motives

on the entablature.

vary,

some being

or legendary, others religious or mythological, but they are

imbued with

a dramatic expression,

and executed

in a

all

historical

more or

less

form of high decorative

beauty.

Much the

simpler than these are the pillars whcih stood at the entrance to

tomb of the

Wu family at Ch'ia Hsiang in Shantung.

about the year a.d. 147 and they are tomb-area has become a large

pit,

still

They were

usually

filled

The

with water.

erected

although the

in their original place,

pillars are

provided with buttresses and a small superior storey on the projecting roof,

but their sculptural decoration consists simply of quite low

and

ing dragons, tigers

birds, in decorative translation, besides legendary

lustrations with a moral import,

same kind

may

as

Reliefs of the

reliefs represent-

be found for instance on the mirrors of the

Han.

il-

framed by geometrical ornaments of the

—The same kind of motive, executed

Han

period.

in a strictly con-

ventionalized linear style, appears also on the large stone slabs which used to be arranged along the walls of the

are

now

transferred to a primitive

any kind of order.

known

all

These

in the

tomb, but which

store-room where they stand without

from the

Wu Liang Tzu

tomb have become

over the world through numerous series of rubbings taken of them

since the 18th century,

Two

lications.

collections,

said to

reliefs

ante-chamber

little

and reproduced

in

many

Chinese and European pub-

or three of the reliefs have found their

though

come from

it

way

into

Western

should be noticed that the majority of the stone

Wu

reliefs,

Liang Tzu, are simply modern imitations, made on

the basis of rubbings.

Legendary Motives.

Chavannes

the aid of

—Nothing

is

more entertaining than

to follow, with

interpretations, the legendary motives represented in

these reliefs and thus to learn something about classical Chinese examples

of

filial

piety, matrimonial fidelity, the faithfulness of loyal citizens, the

valour of great heroes, not to mention the quasi-historical traditions about the great

Yu

and Ch'in Shih Huang Ti or the mythological

the king of the East,

Wang Mu.

Tung Wang Kung, and

Very common motives

stories

about

the queen of the West, Hsi

in these reliefs are the long processions

of riders and carriages and the rows of

men on horseback

escorting a

75

CHINESE ART carriage,

which

may

be representations of the journey of the deceased to

Hades.

The compositions

are arranged in horizontal storeys, with single rows of

houses and the

figures, animals, trees,

The

a neutral background.

and

engraved

in the

reliefs

may

like,

appearing as silhouettes against

artistic expression lies

modelling of the forms

lines; the

in the contours,

very

is

These

slight.

thus hardly be called sculpture in the real sense of the word, but

We have

rather paintings or drawings translated into stone.

pose that they were

made

paintings which existed in is

mainly

after such patterns

and reproduce popular wall

some contemporary

palaces, a supposition which

Wang Yen

supported by the poet

reason to sup-

Shou, who describes the wall paintings

in

the Ling Kuang palace executed about the middle of the 2nd century a.d.

He mentions in his description mythological illustrations of the same kind as may be seen in the Wu Liang Tzu reliefs besides "many riotous damsels and turbulent

lords, loyal knights, dutiful sons,

wives, victors and vanquished, wise

men and

respond more or less to those appearing on Tzu and other places in Shantung. Bactrian Types. liefs

—

motives which cor-

fools,"

the stone reliefs from

This

is

Wu

Liang

bronze, clay or textile.

re-

possible but the Chinese sculptors were

by observation of nature than by

definite type of horse

faithful

has been claimed that the proud horses of these

were of Bactrian origin.

certainly less guided in

It

mighty scholars,

They have accepted and

which probably existed

artistic

models, be

it

further developed a

of the Hellenized

in the art

west-Asiatic countries.

Less Hellenistic and more definitely Scytho-Iranian in character are the

winding dragons and heraldically placed of these

reliefs.

They belong

to the

which we also met on the stone

tigers

which appear

Still

lions

may

Szechuan, and

above-mentioned

76

common

lion

thus be said to

kind of animal

stylistic current are the

pillars)

Wu

two

family (at the sides

but which are now more or

The anatomical character of the only visible one

indeed, no

this

period.

more remarkable examples of the same

which stood at the entrance to the tomb of the

of the

mud.

Han

one or two

same great family of ornamental animals

pillars in

form some additional proofs of the general acceptance of sculpture during the

in

is

less

buried in the

rather free.

It is,

but a descendant of those proud animals which stood

CHINESE SCULPTURE at the royal palaces in Susa

and Persepolis and whose

be traced to Chaldean and Assyrian thin, the

whole animal

The form

art.

artistic pedigree is

supple, the

may

body

is

dominated by the broad curving neck which comes

is

so far to the front that the head almost disappears

and the neck continues

may

observe traces of small

in the

At

enormous jaws.

the shoulders one

wings, though they have been practically worn off by time.

Even

has hardly been shaped from nature.

if

single lions

Such

a creation

now and

then were

sent as tributes from western Asiatic nations to the Chinese emperor, these

were hardly known by the people lions in

may

China, we

in the provinces,

and as there were no other

well suppose that the inspiration for such animal

drawn from examples of Iranian

representation was

art rather than

from

living models.

Animal the

Statues.

—To the same group of animal statues from the end of

Han epoch may also be assigned two-winged tigers at the tomb of K'ao Ya Chou Fu in Szechuan, which have been published by Segalen and

Yi at

Lartigue, and the enormous seated lion pillar in the

Okura Museum

in

Tokyo.

—which has served

as a plinth for a

There are furthermore some minor

animal statuettes of the same type but they hardly need detain us as they only verify what has already been said about the artistic style and derivation

Nor do we need

of these sculptures. in stone

on a large

scale,

to stop at the

human

because their artistic importance

figures executed is

much

inferior

to that of the animals.

Animal

Sculptures of the Six Dynasties Period.

which followed the in

China

and

lost

political

fall

some of

of the Eastern its

upheaval.

intensity.

—During

the centuries

Han dynasty (a.d. 214) artistic activity The times were restless, filled with war

The empire was

again divided into several minor

Three Kingdoms, Wu, Shu and Wei, and later on, after 223, into a northern and a southern half, the former being under the domination of the Tartars, among whom the Toba tribe came out the strongest and took the name of the Northern Wei dynasty, while the latter was States, to begin with, the

—

by a number of short-lived native dynasties Sung, Ch'i, Liang We know very and Ch'en which had their headquarters at Nanking. ruled over

—

little

about the

artistic activity

stylistic traditions

of the

and 4th centuries of our

Han era.

during these times but

it

seems that the

period remained in force also during the 3rd

Some tomb

reliefs,

mainly from Shantung,

77

CHINESE ART executed

kind of coarser

in a

and the same

may

Han

style,

may

well be of this transition period,

be said of a number of minor plastic works in bronze and

clay.

The general evolution can be followed most closely through the small tomb statuettes; they reflect the variations in taste and fashion better than the large stone sculptures. in various occupations

"kimono"

are real genre figures represented

such as music-making, feeding the hens, or with

children in their arms, and

the simple

Among them

to

we may observe how

the fashion

is

changed from

an elegantly draped mantle over a tightly-fitting

undergarment and how the head-dress becomes higher and more decorative.

These tomb statuettes and minor animals

in terracotta originate

from Honan, whereas the larger stone sculptures of executed for the reigning dynasties

Nanking.

in

this

mainly

same period

are

These monuments which

form one of the most important groups within the domain of Chinese sculpture,

have been more or

The

largest

in length

and

ones, 4 to 6

ft.

among

may long,

still

less identified

and reproduced by various explorers.

these lions and chimaeras measure

have found

their

way

represent winged, lion-like animals but types,

i.e.,

and the scales

up

to 10 or 12

ft.

be seen at their original places, but some smaller to

it is

Western

They

collections.

possible to distinguish

all

two main

the chimaeras, which are a kind of cross between dragons and lions,

real lions

which have wings on

but no feathers or

their shoulders

on their bodies and no ornamental beard.

The former seem

to

have

been considered the nobler, because they were employed as guardians at the

tombs of emperors, whereas the

lions stood at the

tombs of princes and

dukes.

—

Early Chimaeras. The earliest chimaera which can be dated stands at tomb of Emperor Sung Wen Ti (d. 453). It is a colossal and, in spite of its dilapidation, still imposing animal, largely covered up by a heap of refuse, so that the statue had to be dug out whenever it was photographed. The upper part of the head is lost and the surface of the grey limestone is the

very legs

much worn but

it is still

possible to see that the

body

as well as the

have been covered by ornamental scales or feathers and that the animal

had wings not only at the shoulders but also at the

The second original sites

78

is

earliest in

ears.

date of the chimaeras which

the one at the

tomb of Emperor Ch'i

still

Wu

Ti

remain at their (d. 493).

The

:

_:

—

rv

mil

DIVINITIES IN CHINESE 2. Soat.rl Borihltattva.

Hindu

dlvlnllltt

end

)

Yun King. Shan-sl, 6(h century. Mrly 6lh century, from Yun Kang, Shan-sl. 3. guardian at WtlrilMt ' ave, Yun Kang, 6th

>«sal

statue

I

SCULPTURE

century. The sculptures of the cave temple! (5th-6lh centuries) ahow strong Influences from the art of Central and Western Asia. 4. Portion of a wall In the Lao Chun cave. Lung-Men. Ho-nan. early 6th century

CHINESE SCULPTURE dimensions are somewhat smaller but the animal served.

The

is

more completely

pre-

long body has a more dragonlike character, the legs are com-

paratively short and the

The most imposing

well developed.

tail

part

is,

however, the enormous head with the open jaws from which the ornamental beard hangs

One may

like a long tongue.

as well as feathers

drawn

in spirals

Sixth-century Chimaeras.

over the whole body.

—The

same proud bearing characterizes the

chimaera at the tomb of Emperor Liang the long and supple

body

moving forward

Wu Ti

it

most

receives a

of ef-

The animal

enormous curve of the neck.

an ambling fashion; we

in

The movement

(d. 549).

better developed and

is still

fective continuation in the

The wings and

here observe three pairs of wings

is

vigour and suppleness.

feel its

the feathers are indicated in quite low relief or simply en-

graved.

This nobility and energy are carried

maeras which now stand

University

in the

further in the two large chi-

still

Museum

have no information whence they come, but they tion of the style of the chimaeras at the

illustrate a further evolu-

tomb of Emperor Liang

Wu

which would date them shortly after the middle of the 6th century. possible that they stood at the

tomb of some of

Wen

Ti

(d.

the seething energy are here given free outlet.

into a large curve, lines

is

Wu Ti

(d. 559)

The fantastic wildness and The legs are stretched, the

wildly thrown backwards, the chest pushed forward

is

and

It

In comparison with these beasts, the earlier

566).

chimaeras appear almost like domestic animals.

bodies drawn, the head

Ti,

the emperors of the short

Ch'en dynasty which followed after the Liang, such as Ch'en or Ch'en

We

at Philadelphia.

all

these

movements

which give the impression of taut

ones several minor chimaeras are

are accentuated

steel springs.

known but none

by engraved

Besides these large

of them reaches the ex-

traordinary expressiveness of the last-mentioned.

Winged far

Lions.

—The largest of the winged

from Nanking;

their weight

and

lions

still

remain in

colossal dimensions

have made

removal impossible, but some of them are so far decayed that,

done to protect them, they

will

soon disappear.

The

situ,

if

Tan

(d.

Emperor

Wu

Ti, Prince

Hsiao Hsiu

522) and the cousin of the emperor,

(d. 518),

their

nothing

earliest

is

and most

important stand at tombs of various members of the Liang family, brothers of the

not

i.e.,

the

Prince Hsiao

Duke Hsiao Ching

(d. 523).

79

CHINESE ART Besides these, two or three pairs of large lions are in the same neighbourhood,

Yao Hua Men, to the east of Nanking, but they are later and artistically The anatomical difference between the lions and the chimaeras is, inferior. The former as well as the latter are as already said, not very important. at

animals with an enormous curving neck and wings, but they are not

feline

provided with scales or feathers, nor do they have any ornamental beard like the chimaeras, only a large tongue which hangs

over the projecting chest.

They

are

all

down from

represented in an ambling posture,

majestically walking or coming to a sudden standstill,

The head

strained and the hind-legs bent.

curving neck, the forms are

Their massiveness

the open jaws

is

lifted

when

the fore-legs are

high on the proudly

the limbs heavier than in the chimaeras.

full,

at least as imposing as the concentration of

is

power

in

Most eaten by frost and water are the lions at the tomb of Duke Hsiao Ching which is now covered by a watery rice field in which the lions sink up to their shoulders. Lions of Hsiao Hsiu Tombs. Better preserved and more completely visible are the two colossal lions at the tomb area of Hsiao Hsiu, now covered by the village Kan Yu Hsiang, and here remains one row of the other monutheir

enormous limbs.

—

ments which flanked the "spirit road," carried

by

dragons.

tortoises

and a

This seems to be the

i.e.,

two large

tablets with inscriptions

column on a plinth composed of winding

fluted

"tomb

earliest preserved

alley" in China,

an arrangement known from a great number of later tombs.

The

lions are

of the same family as those already described, the fact that they have wings is in itself

a proof of their dependence on Persian art.

It should,

however, be

remembered that the Achaemenian and Sassanian animals were descendants of the Assyrian which Asiatic

must be regarded

and a good many European

Chinese really knew such models here;

it is

freely,

in

lion sculptures.

not to say fantastically,

Han

fluence reached

period.

China

northwestern nomads.

To what

extent the

a question which cannot be discussed

in

harmony with

their native traditions.

stylistically a direct continuation of the plastic

Yet, they indicate that a new wave of Western

at this time

These

in-

on a more southern route than through the

lion sculptures

do not appear

provinces which were dominated by the Tartars.

80

the greatest

all

any case evident that they transformed the foreign models quite

These animal sculptures form art of the

is

as the fore-fathers of

in the

They belong

northern

to the

more

CHINESE SCULPTURE southern provinces where the old Chinese civilization and the creative spirit

"Han

of the

people" never were completely subdued by foreign elements.

Religious Sculpture of the Six Dynasties.

introduced into China

—When Buddhist sculpture was

had passed through a long evolution

it

and

in India

Central Asia; the principal iconographic motives, symbols and attributes

were

all

developed into definite forms; the Chinese took them over just as

they took over Buddhist scriptures; and whatever modifications they

have introduced concerned more the themselves.

artistic interpretation

may

than the motives

should never be forgotten that they were greater artists

It

than any other people of the Far East, and when Buddhist art took root in China, the country was by no means devoid of sculptural monuments.

There were

(as

we have

previously seen) artistic traditions which could not

be forgotten, only modified when applied to Buddhist motives.

dhas and Bodhisattvas were, of course, represented artists could

in

human

The Bud-

shapes but the

not enhance their significance by accentuating their physical

organisms or their likeness to ordinary

human

their general shapes or postures if they

iconographic rules are indeed

much more

Christian art, and the motives are Religious Symbolism.

beings, nor could they change

wanted

be understood.

The

exacting in Buddhist than in

more limited

—The great

to

in their artistic scope.

majority of the Buddhist sculptures

represent isolated figures, seated or standing in very quiet postures without

any attempt at movement, except certain symbolic gestures.

made and

The heads

are

according to quite definite types, somewhat changing with the periods

localities,

but

it

portraitlike features.

meet heads with individual expression or The bodies are as a rule entirely covered by long

is

rare to

mantles or rich garments according to the role or meaning of the figure; they

have hardly any importance of for the rich flow of the tures, conceal the forms

figures

their

own but

serve simply as a substratum

mantle folds which, particularly

much more than

which are represented almost nude, such

{Dvarapalas), the representation

is

in the early sculp-

they accentuate them.

Even

as the guardians at the gate

not really naturalistic; their Herculean

forms and muscular movements are altogether exaggerated and their cance

is

The

in

signifi-

symbolic. earliest

dated Buddhist sculptures

in

bronze statuettes of a greater historical than

China,

known

artistic

importance.

to us, are small

Some 81

of

CHINESE ART them are provided with

inscriptions

which make

it

possible to

fix their

the earliest being of the years 437 and 444, whereas the earliest dated in

stone

is

These small statuettes represent standing or

of the year 457.

Buddhas or Bodhisattvas against

seated

date,

Buddha

The

with engraved flame-ornaments.

a leaf-shaped

figures are

nimbus decorated

mostly of a very moderate

importance recalling by their types and draperies the Graeco-

artistic

The

Buddhist art of north India. constitute, however, a feature

Kang Cave

Yiin

sculptures in

China

which

Temples.

is

not

is

—The

known

in

Gandahara

sculpture.

greatest ensemble of early Buddhist

found at the Yiin Kang cave temples near

to be

Tung Fu in Shansi where 494, when it was removed

large nimbuses behind these small figures

Ta

Wei dynasty had its capital until Loyang in Honan. The work at these cave

the Northern to

sculptures started about the middle of the 5th century and was continued

Amongst

towards the latter part of the 6th century. played at this place one

may

observe different

the rich material dis-

stylistic currents,

some

origi-

nating from Central Asia and India, others more closely connected with

forms of Chinese

earlier

art.

Here are ornaments of a

character, and architectural forms of the

same type

as

on

distinctly Iranian reliefs

from Taxila

some decorative motives recalling the art of the Han Among the figures there are some curious examples which form a

and Peshawar, but period.

also

link with Central Asiatic art, e.g., the five-headed

and six-armed god who

on a large bird with a pearl

no doubt the Garuda-raja,

in its

the bird of Vishnu, which also

beak.

may

This

is

be seen in some paintings from

sits

Tun

This and other Hindu divinities of a similar kind, which appear

Huang.

in

the Buddhist pantheon at Yiin Kang, testify that artistic influence from

and western Asia reached China

central

connection with the introduction

in

of Buddhism.

—

Expression. Most famous among the figures here are the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas which, however, seem to us artistically

Artistic

colossal

least interesting.

figures

A

certain conventional type

fold design

have

in these

been enormously enlarged without any intensification of the rhythmic

motives or the

artistic expression.

may

some other

be found

to Indian 1

and

figures at Yiin

artistic expression

Kang which

and beauty

are less closely allied

models and more imbued with the traditional Chinese feeling for

h\ thmic lines

82

in

More

and elegant form.

The

figures themselves are quite thin

and

,^ BY COURTESY OF (1) THE

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON; PHOTOGRAPHS,

(2,

3)

COPR. OSVALD SIREN

BUDDHAS OF THE EARLY 6TH CENTURY 1.

Buddhist votive stela, dated A.D. 529. The interlacing dragons at the top are of the same character as those on the slabs raised at tombs in the Han period, but their fierceness and energy of movement reveal some influence from Sibero-Asiatic art

2.

Seated Buddha

3. Standing Yiin

in a

niche at Yiin Kang. Shan-si; early 6th century

Buddha accompanied by two Bodhisattvas;

Kang, Shan-si

early 6'.h cent-ii,.

^^

aiYtUm

I

Or r(NNtTlv«NI>

r»mr.nr«!,

(I.

4)

con

RELIGIOUS SCULPTURES OF THE 6TH CENTURY HI

Shen«l. middle 61' S«'

t"

,

'.00.

J.

Standing

Buddha;

-.'

-t

.rtle

Luna Shun.

marble In

it..'

gilt

bronia.

OtVAlO SIMN

AD

dated 537. 4. Guardian at entrance of Cave 8. T'ien Lung Shan. Chan-tl, N "(h Ch'l period, middle of lh« 6th century

CHINESE SCULPTURE flat,

sometimes hardly modelled into

full

cubic volume, and they are entirely

covered up by very long and heavy garments.

The

folds of these are pressed

and pleated on the very thin shapes and uniformly arranged on both sides of the figures in long concave curves, forming a kind of zigzag pattern at the border; the contours are very tense, with the elasticity of strings.

mantle

When this type of draping is folds may suggest wings.

Temple Grottoes at Lung Men.

Kang

Yiin

sculptures

may

in

as in the best

some of the statues

Honan which were begun

Northern Wei dynasty had transferred

During the

10%

—The same energetic style

Men

drawn bow-

developed the drawn-out, curving

also be observed in

famous temple grottoes at Lung after the

fully

its

capital to

in the

shortly

Loyang

(494).

decade these caves have been so badly destroyed that hardly

last

of the original sculpture

still

remains;

all

the rest

is

either

smashed or

beheaded, some of the heads being replaced by clay substitutes of a very

Lung Men Lao Chun Tung cave which is decorated from great number of niches of varying sizes in which

The most

provincial type.

beautiful and earliest sculptures at

are to be found in the so-called

with a

ceiling to floor

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

are grouped, either alone or together with adoring

bikshus or other attendants.

The majority

of these sculptures were executed

in the 3rd or 4th decade of the 6th century, but only

remain

still

in a fair condition.

Yet some

some of the minor

characteristic positions

reliefs

may

be

observed, for instance the cross-ankled Bodhisattvas which represent Maitreya, the

straight

coming Buddha, while the Buddha Sakyamuni

technique these

The

down.

same patterns is

stylization of the folds

as in the Yiin

Kang

is

seated with legs

is

carried out according to the

caves, but the stone

harder and the

is

Kang sculptures. Some been among the finest works

of

may

in

superior to that of the earlier Yiin

Lung Men

sculptures have certainly

of

their kind in China.

Another variation of the Northern Wei period style the sculptures which decorate the temple caves at Shih

Hsien

in

Men but

Honan.

The work was

the material

is

Ku

be observed

here started about the same time as

of a softer kind and the technique

is

not quite so

The large central Buddha at this place, which now stands up mud, is a broad and block-like figure modelled in very large remarkable cubistic tendency, which also

may

be observed

Kung at Lung

Ssu, near

fine.

to its knees in

planes, with a

in several

83

minor

CHINESE ART heads from the same place, now dispersed

in

various European and American

museums. Buddhist

Stelae.

— Besides

period should be mentioned a large

with figures small.

in

high

relief,

Wei

these cave sculptures of the Northern

varying in

number of Buddhist stelae, i.e., size, some up to 1 2 ft. high, others

slabs

quite

Their decoration consists generally of a combination of niches with

On

Buddhist figures and ornamental borders.

the back of these slabs are

often found long rows of figures in flat relief representing the donors of the

monuments.

This form of stelae was probably developed from the earlier

type of inscribed memorial stones, as used in China since the It is

worth noticing that

we

find at the top of the

Han

dynasty.

Buddhist stelae the same

kind of winding and interlacing dragons as on the slabs which were raised at the tombs; their fierceness and energy of

movement seem

to reveal their

derivation from the Sibero-Asiatic art, based on Scythian traditions which, indeed, had a great influence on the development of the ornamental style

of this period. Transition Period.

—The

stylistic ideals of the

Northern Wei period

About

this

of artistic influence reached China from northern India.

It

retained their importance until the middle of the 6th century.

time a

may

new wave

be quite clearly observed

in

some of the monuments which were executed

Chou

during the Northern Ch'i and Northern

dynasties (550-581).

The

best cave sculptures from this time existed, at least a few years ago, at T'ien

Lung Shan not

far

from Taiyuan-fu

in Shansi.

They were

started in the

Northern Ch'i period and continued, with some intermissions, during the Sui

and T'ang dynasties. Sculptures at T'ien

Shan are

to be

found

between 560 and 580. sists

Lung Shan.

in the

—The

caves no.

The system

earliest sculptures at T'ien

2, 3,

10 and 16, probably executed

of decoration in the

first

two caves con-

of three large groups, one on each wall representing a seated

accompanied by two Bodhisattvas and,

monks and donors, characterized with

in

Lung

some

Buddha

instances, also by adoring

striking realism.

The main

figures

are executed in very high relief, giving almost the impression of free-standing

forms, yet there

is

a certain flatness about them, noticeable particularly

the Bodhisattvas which stand turned half-way towards the central

and whose garments

84

— arranged

in

pleated folds

—

in

Buddha

spread out in wing-like

CHINESE SCULPTURE They

fashion at the sides.

are not very far

removed

from cor-

stylistically

responding figures on later Wei monuments, though their heads are

less

archaic both in shape and expression.

The maturest examples

— are

late as 580

—possibly executed

as

cave at T'ien Lung Shan, where

all

of this transition period

found

to be

in the 16th

the three walls are decorated with large groups of Buddhas with Bodhisattvas

and other attendants placed on raised platforms, the fronts of which were

The

decorated with representations of dwarf musicians. are lifted into

commanding

positions on high pedestals in the form of lotus-

flowers or altars; their shapes are full

and

and hands

cross-legged posture, with bare feet (gestures signifying "without fear"

made

well rounded, their heads

They

paratively small for the strong bodies.

are

are

all

com-

seated in the same

in the

abhaya and vara mudra

and "charity").

Their mantles, which

of a very thin material, are draped only over the left shoulder,

leaving the right bare, and the folds have practically no

clothed in this fashion are very rare in Chinese art; they

be found

Buddhas

central

in later

T'ang sculpture but

Buddhas

relief.

may

occasionally

at this early period they are certainly

surprises.

Foreign Influence.

anachronism

—The

most probable explanation of

in the style of the

Buddhas seems

from foreign models or by foreign were carved

in

artists while the less

made

important side figures

accordance with the indigenous principles of

figures are altogether Indian in spirit

apparent

this

to be that they were

and form.

It

is

The

style.

hard to believe that

Chinese artists would have been able to reproduce Mathura models so faithfully as

we

find

never done

it

them

here,

it

may

at least be claimed that they

better, either before or after.

well acquainted with the

Lung Shan. The same

and

Mathura

school,

Possibly some Indian artist,

worked

for

some time

Lung Shan may

coming from

or a similar centre of sculptural activity.

this

characteristic feature of

and arms,

all

also be

these figures

as well as in the

flat

is

found

in

some

isolated statues

The most

the cylindrical shape indicated

shape of the whole body, which often

stands like a column on the lotus pedestal.

comparatively

at T'ien

general types and principles of style which characterize the

sculpture at T'ien

in the legs

have

Nothing can be more unlike the

and angular shapes of the Northern Wei

figures,

85

which

CHINESE ART even when they have a more developed plastic form are linear rather than rounded. Sculptures

from

transition style

may

Chihli Province.

beautiful white marble is

provincial variation of the

and particularly from Ting Chou where the supply of a

politan province,

tures

—Another

be seen in the sculptures from Chihli, the present metro-

The

was abundant.

artistic quality of these sculp-

however quite uneven; the best of them stand on the highest

more than ordinary

of Buddhist art in China, while the poorest are hardly artisans' work.

said about the plastic formula during this transition

Their shapes are more or

period.

One may

and heavy.

group might be quoted as proofs of

Several figures of this

what already has been

less cylindrical, their

notice a general tendency to

make

heads mostly large the figures narrower

The

towards the feet and to broaden them towards the shoulders.

garments

fit

level

tightly over the bodies

and

thin

their softly curving folds are indi-

Good examples of such If we place such a statues are in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. figure beside some characteristic example of the Northern Wei art, we may cated in quite low relief or simply with incised

In the earlier works the mantle

observe two opposite tendencies of style. folds

lines.

and the contours are stretched and bent outward at the

shoulders are narrow, the heads small; the

ones the rhythm heaviness; there

is

is

rhythm

falling instead of rising, the

is

tempo

no bending of the contours, they are

down; the mantle hangs over the body and

it is

rising. is

feet,

In the later

slow, not without

falling

almost straight

only towards the

feet,

the circumference becomes smaller, that a certain acceleration of the is

the

where

tempo

noticeable.

The Sui Dynasty. stylistically, a direct

—The

the Northern Ch'i and

Chow

the transition style, but a few

works of

sculptures of the Sui period (581-618) form,

continuation of those of the transition period during dynasties.

may

Most

of them are

well be classified

religious statuary in China.

among

still

examples of

the most perfect

Conditions were particularly favour-

able for the flourishing of religious art, and the formal development had not

yet passed the point where

it

the whole, quite restrained in in

nature

is

slight,

but

it

its

in itself.

Sui sculpture

formal modes of expression and

marks nevertheless a

sentation of actual forms.

86

becomes an end

its

is,

on

interest

distinct progress in the repre-

.'H01OGKAPHS, COPS. OSVALD SIREN

CHINESE SCULPTURES OF THE SUI PERIOD Buddha accompanied by two Bodhisattvas and two monks, Cave 16 at T'ien Lung Shan; Sui period, end of 6th century

1. Seated

2. V. 584

Colossal

Buddha

in a

cave at T'o Shan, Shantung; end of 6th century

3.

4.

Seated Buddha accompanied by a Bodhisattva, Shan, Shantung

Upper part

of a Bodhisattva,

Yun

in

a niche at

Men Shan, Shantung

Yun Men

r AMI

A

I

PMOtOi.l APRS

(t

,

2)

<

Of

O'.VUO SHIN

CHINESE SCULPTURES OF THE SUI AND TANG PERIODS ClVl 8

at

Tim

I

ing Sh.t,

Fluddna In it ttona itatua o(

n«,

•

3.

Standing Bodhitattva,

•

I

I

Shan-il; Sul p«rlod

T'ang pr

Tang

ptrlod (A D.

906) pwiod.

619-

ihowing Indian influence. S. Standing Bodhitattva,

Statu* of a print ttona ilatue of the

4.

of

th«

T'ang

T'ang period

CHINESE SCULPTURE T'ien

Lung

Statues.

— Some good examples of the particular

style of this

Lung Shan which

period are to be found in the 8th grotto at T'ien

is

in part

worn by time and water and some of the statues have been smashed and decapitated. Coming to these statues from a study of the sculptures in cave 16 at the same place (mentioned preserved, although the soft material has been

above), the

first

thing that strikes one

their general appearance.

that they are not at

is

The Buddhas

are seated in the

all

Indian in

same postures

as

the earlier ones but vested in the Chinese fashion with an upper garment 1?

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SMP-J

BY COURTESY OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF A»T

Sculpture of the transition period of the northern DYNASTY

ch'i

covering both shoulders and with a less hieratic bearing of the

The

undifferentiated, but the heads have increased in size air.

stiff

bodies.

shoulders are not so broad, the waist less curving, the forms are quite

They

are certainly

are executed

by

more Chinese, though

inferior artists

with

and have a more human

in a provincial sense,

little feeling for

rhythmic

and they lines

and

decorative beauty.

Most this cave.

interesting are the

One

pair

side of a tablet near

is

two pairs of Dvarapalas (guardians) outside

placed at the sides of the entrance, the other at each

by which

still

contains traces of an inscription of the

Sui dynasty (said to have been dated 584).

The

figures are highly dramatic, not to say strained. is

attitudes of these guardian

The movement

of the arms

jerky, the turning of the heads, which are looking over the shoulder,

violent.

The impetuosity

is,

indeed,

much

is

greater in these figures than in

87

CHINESE ART the Dvarapala statues at the earlier caves, but whether they have gained in sculptural quality as

much

as in dramatic force

is less

certain.

Typical expressions of the plastic formula of the Sui period are also to be

found among the sculptures from Chihli, easily recognizable by their

material which

a micaceous white marble.

is

general shape which

The contours closer

and is

no longer simply

them

to

all is

feet

and over the head.

Thus

a general formula

often repeated on a smaller scale in the heads.

the

but ovoid.

pillar-like or cylindrical,

are swelling out over the hips and elbows and gradually

toward the

it is

is

Common

is

draw

created,

The same rhythm

taken up by the folds which in some of the figures form a succession of

curves over the front endowing them with a more complete repose than

may

be expressed by any other shape or formula

Shantung Sculptures.

—The

richest

of sculptures from the Sui period

and most varied provincial group

The

Shantung.

to be found in

is

harmony and known to us. religious

fervour and interest in establishing Buddhist temples and sanctuaries seem to

have been particularly great

the sculptures

still

in this part of the

country and, to judge from

preserved in several of these caves, there must have existed

an important tradition of religious art which was masters of no

Han Shan;

common

revived by various

The earliest caves are at T'o Shan and many of the figures are dated in the 4th, Huang era (584-586), but unfortunately they

ability.

at the latter place

and 6th year of the K'ai

largely restored with plaster

The

now

them bears a

same

stylistic

group as those at Yii

definite date, but, to

judge from their

Han

Shan belong

Shan.

style, they

been executed about the same time as those mentioned above, the middle of the '80s.

The

are

and crude colouring.

great sculptures in the second and third cave at T'o

practically to the

Yii

5th

None

of

must have i.e.,

about

typical Sui formula for single figures has been

enlarged on an enormous scale, not without some loss of plastic beauty and intimacy. a

The

great

Buddhas which

are seated in cross-legged position on

low pedestal impress us more as a kind of architectural monolith than as

plastically conceived sculptures.

over the pedestal, that have a characteristic

livelier

is

only the folds of the hem, fallinq

rhythm; here one may observe the ver\

meandering wave-line which returns

the Sui period, and

some overlapping

significant car-like curves.

88

It

in

most sculptures of

larger curves divided

by the no

less

CHINESE SCULPTURE Passing from the cave sculptures at T'o Shan to those at Yiin

which

situated across the valley,

is

some of these here a

is

means moving

Men Shan

and

No

doubt, these sculptures are

than those in the caves at T'o Shan, though hardly more than

ten years; the dates that are found in

some of the small niches

The

of the main figures range from 596 to 599.

caves but in

a quite different

are in a deplorable state of preservation, but whatever remains

of remarkably fine artistic quality.

little later

into'

There are only a few large statues at Yiin

artistic centre.

Men Shan,

and

flat niches,

cave sculptures

may

thus be seen to more advantage than most

in their original position; the actual

adds something to the plastic

at the side

figures are not placed in real

play of light and shade

effect.

—

The Yiin Men Shan Buddha. The principal group consists of a seated Buddha accompanied by a standing Bodhisattva and another figure which

may have another

been a Dvarapala (now practically destroyed).

still

large tablet,

flatter niche

which

is

Close to this

is

which never contained any central statue, only a

now removed, and on each

side of

it

two monumental

Bodhisattvas.

The

great

Buddha

legs crossed in front,

of the body

is,

is

seated on a dais in the traditional posture with the

and entirely covered by the wide mantle.

however, quite different; instead of the old

certain ease in the posture, a repose without

any

strain.

The

He

seems to lean

against the wall of the niche, moving the head slightly forward as

The upper garment which

looking at something in front. string knot

knees.

on the

The folds

but modelled with

left

shoulder

is

draped

in quite

bearing

stiffness there is a

is

if

intent on

fastened with a

broad curves between the

are not simply ornamental or expressive of a linear rhythm, fine

gradations of light and shade, sometimes even under-

They have become means of primary importance for creating a sculptural effect. The head is treated in a new individual manner with broad effects of light and shade. The eyes are not closed or half closed, as in most cut.

of the earlier Buddhas, but wide open, and the eyelids are undercut, which

adds greatly to the impression of

shadow, as

if

they were opening.

The lips are also separated by a deep The whole treatment is quite exceptional

life.

and bears witness to an impressionistic isolated

The

phenomenon

Tang

in

Dynasty.

style; strictly speaking,

it

remains an

Chinese sculpture.

—

It

would indeed be wrong

to imagine that there

89

CHINESE ART an absolute break or a deep-rooted difference between the sculpture of the Sui and that of the T'ang period; quite the opposite. T'ang sculpture is is

stylistically

an immediate successor to the art of the Sui period.

When

we,

for convenience sake, use the dynastic names and dates also in the domain

of art,

it

should be clearly understood that they do not signify here the same

kind of opposites or renewals as in the political history of the country.

China

Artistic evolution in

minor degree It

may

is

is

a slow and gradual process, which only to a

conditioned by the political events.

also be recalled that the

T'ang dynasty reigned during a longer

time than most of the preceding dynasties (619-960), and the plastic arts

remained by no means the same during

this

of sculpture was very intense during the

The production

whole period.

first

100 years of the period, but

became soon afterwards comparatively weak and insignificant. In speaking about T'ang sculpture we mean the art up to about 725, which may be considered the most mature and perfect kind of Buddhist sculpture in China.

something of the same creative and expansive power that we

It reflects

observe in other manifestations of T'ang culture.

Its best

may

products are

characterized by a plenitude, not to say magnificence, that can hardly be

found

in the art

of earlier epochs.

The forms grow

and strong, the

full

decoration becomes rich and exuberant, gradually approaching what

should

call

An

baroque.

important element

in this evolution

was due

to the

growing

communication between China and the western Asiatic centres of activity,

we

particularly

the Sassanian

empire.

Many new

inter-

artistic

impulses were

derived thence and grafted upon the old stock of Chinese art, modifying

more and more ing,

it

may

in the direction of

Western

it

Generally speak-

ideals of style.

be said that the current that came from India was of the greatest

importance for the Buddhist sculpture, while the influences from Persian art are

and

most plainly discernible

in the

ornamentation of minor objects

in

bronze

silver.

In order to illustrate these two main currents, as well as other important

elements of style

in

the plastic art of the T'ang period,

it

would be

well to

take into consideration other artistic products besides stone sculptures, such as objects in bronze, silver, clay

ideals of the time,

90

but

this

and lacquer, which

reflect the aesthetic

would carry us beyond the

limits of this short

CHINESE SCULPTURE Buddhist statues

study.

Tang

plastic arts of the

some

large

tomb

still

form the most important province within the

period, though

it

should also be remembered that

sculptures were executed at this time, including magnificent

representations of lions and horses at the tombs of the great emperors, T'ai

Kao Tsung (d. 683). The Shensi Sculptures. The early Tang sculptures from Shensi, which then was the metropolitan province, are made in a very hard, grey limestone or in a dense yellowish marble. The fine quality of the material demands a

Tsung

(d.

649) and

—

highly developed technique in order to yield good plastic effects and orna-

mental

many

details,

and

workmanship goes

well be admitted that as far as

of these statues stand on the highest level of Chinese sculpture, but

the artistic quality this period

known

is

draped

is

of the year 639;

it

represents a

is

in a

Buddha

is

back-

The

mantle which covers both shoulders, arms and

feet,

form of

altogether

thin,

The

folds are highly

rounded creases and arranged

more powerful and concentrated than

of a similar kind, and the execution the statue gives the impression of a is

seated in

in front of a

over the body, the legs and the upper part of the pedestal. effect

dated statue of

bordered like a nimbus with flame ornaments.

leaving only a small part of the chest bare. tionalized in the

earliest

on a high, draped pedestal placed

cross-legged position

is

The

often less remarkable.

to us

ground slab which figure

may

it

is

masterly.

work

conven-

in long curves

The

decorative

in earlier statues

Although made

in stone,

cast in bronze, an impression which

supported by the dark metallic hue of the hard stone.

— Some Bodhisattva statues, of which two may

Influence of Indian Art.

be seen

in the

University

Museum

in Philadelphia, illustrate still better

increasing influence from Indian art not only

by

their

an

costumes and deco-

and formal character. They stand no longer in stiff upright positions with the weight of the body evenly divided on both feet; the one leg is slightly curved and moved backward, rative

ornaments but

also

by

their bearing

body which consequently is curving, a the neck and in the more or less marked

the other serves as a support for the

movement which

is

continued in

inclination of the head.

The upper

part of the body

is

bare, except for the

jewelled necklaces and the narrow scarf draped over the shoulder; the chest is

well developed

and the waist rather narrow.

a sash round the hips,

falls in

The dhoti, which

is

a series of curving folds over each leg,

tied with

and these 9i

CHINESE ART same fashion

are indicated in the

above.

It

as the folds of the

Buddha mentioned

should also be noticed that these figures do not wear a crown or a their heads like the early Bodhisattvas,

diadem on

but a high head-dress

of thick, winding plaits, a feature which also adds to their feminine

made up aspect.

A

kind of masculine pendant to these Bodhisattvas

may

be found

the statues of bikshus or monks, executed either as individual -post

among

mortem portraits or as parts of altar groups (examples of such statues

They

be seen in the museums in Philadelphia and Boston). ventionalized, less dependent on foreign models and to actual

more or

natural fashion, thus, in

clay statuettes earlier times.

made Some

with the best

level

far individualized as in actual life.

for the

monk

Roman

sculptures.

Boston

Sculptures.

may

They

as well as in

indeed be placed on a

are character studies, not so

worth noticing how much in these statues.

Museum might have

—When

we

freer

A

and more

plastic the

figure such as the head-

been made by a

Roman

artist.

pass from the metropolitan province of

Honan we may

at once observe that

the general character of the sculptures becomes modified.

and

in a

instances, approaching the small

tombs during the T'ang period

Shensi into the adjoining province of

schools

adherence

Renaissance portraits, but very striking types, observed

It is also

in the

Honan

many

of these portrait statues

draping of the mantle becomes less

in closer

Their heads are portrait-like, their mantles arranged

life.

less

made

may

are less con-

stylistic differentiations

seem on the whole

developed at this time than at earlier epochs;

it is

to

now

The

provincial

have become more

easier to distinguish

the provincial currents.

The centre of

statues

made

in

Lung Men, where

Honan, and

particularly at the great artistic

the decoration of the caves was continued during

the 7th century, are generally

more elegant than those originating from

Shensi, though not always executed in such perfect technique. nately, the great majority of the early

partly or wholly destroyed so that of

it is

T'ang sculptures at Lung

— the heads being dispersed

all

Unfortu-

Men

are

over the world

now next to impossible to find there complete and good specimens size; we find them more easily in museums and private collec-

moderate

tions.

One 92

of

the finest examples

is

I large Bodhisattva statue, originally at

CHINESE SCULPTURE Lung Men, but now

hands

in private

in Peking.

It

may

be taken as a

representative of a large group of standing Bodhisattvas which

show the

all

Indian influence grafted in Chinese types and shapes, a combination which in this particular instance has led to a perfectly

whole figure from the head-dress down to the

movement

gliding

feet

result.

The

dominated by the

softly

harmonious is

of the double S-curve (as in some Gothic madonnas)

which would appear almost too accentuated,

if it

were not so perfectly bal-

The contemporary Bodhisattvas from

anced by the position of the arms.

Shensi, represented in a similar position, appear quite this elegant

and yet so

rises

—The

colossal statues

above the river at Lung Men,

form the religious pathos of the

on the open

reflect in the

developed T'ang

fully

particularly of the central figure, the great Vairochana figures,

and hard beside

dignified figure.

The Vairochana Buddha. which

stiff

two Bodhisattvas and two bikshus, are decidedly

terrace,

most monumental This

is

true

Buddha; the

side

art.

inferior.

The hands

are destroyed, the lower part of the figure has suffered a great deal, but I

doubt whether

it

ever

made

a stronger impression than to-day

high and free in the open air over the

time and

human

defilers

many

when

it rises

surrounding niches in which

have played havoc with most of the minor

figures.

The upper part of this giant is well preserved and more dominating now than ever. Long ages have softened the mantle folds and roughened the surface of the grey limestone which

is

impression of the plastic form.

cracking It

all

may

over, but they have not spoilt the

still

be

felt

under the thin garment:

a very sensitively modelled form, not a dead mass, though unified in a

mental sense.

monu-

According to the inscription on the plinth the statue was

made about 672-675. The great power which

is

here reflected in such a harmonious and well-

balanced form finds further dramatic expression in the Dvarapalas which stand at the entrance to the so-called "lion cave."

The

bestial

the figures are amazing and terrible, and even the naked form

is

heads of

by no means

represented from a naturalistic point of view, but as a symbol of strength and vigilance.

Other Dvarapalas of the same date are sometimes represented in bending sideways or lifting one hand to deal a killing blow

livelier postures,

to

any approaching enemy.

nature, a tendency which

is

The

plastic effect

characteristic of the

is

decidedly of a baroque

mature T'ang

art

whenever 93

CHINESE ART it

leaves the well-trodden path of the traditional religious imagery

and

ventures on more naturalistic and dramatic representations.

B A

-


S*L

PLAN OF THE PRINCIPAL CAVES AT YON KANG

nxc

HSICN ssu

KU TANS TUNS

Q>CT^N

PIN

LIEN

TANC TUNG

HUA TUNS

Pun

of the Principal Caves at lung men

A

Plan of the Caves at Tien lung Shan

Plans of the principal caves at yun kang, lung men and t'ien LUNG SHAN

Later T'ien

Lung Shan

group of T'ang sculpture

Lung Shan where

Sculptures.

may

the artistic activity

the middle of the 6th century.

Shan seems 94

to

—Another

be observed

in

fairly

some of the

homogeneous

must have been kept up ever

During

all

local

later caves at T'ien

these generations T'ien

have remained a special centre of Indian influence.

since

Lung

Unfor-

PHOTOGRAPHS, COPR. OSVALD SlfEN

CHINESE STATUES OF THE 7TH CENTURY Vairochana Buddha, colossal statue at Lung-Men, Ho-nan, about 676 2. Standing Bodhisattva from Lung-Men, Ho-nan, T'ang period, 619-906 1.

A.D.

3.

Seated Bodhisattva, T'ien Lung Shan, Shan-si, T'ang period

4.

Seated Bodhisattva, T'ien Lung Shan, Shan-si, T'ang period

•

'HON; PHUtOCa»rHI,

(1,

4.

»>

CWI

CHINESE SCULPTURE: 7TH, '•a.

"'""'

m», i,i, itatiM, end '«•«

of

Tang

period,

now

In

•

OIV110 IIHH

13TH. 4.

AND

14TH CENTURIES

Virudhaka, relief

MrtUr> "turf

S.

one of tha four Lokapalat (guardian o' th< univent), on the Chii Yung Kuan Gate. Nankou. ChlMI, dated 1345

Qlrl playing (he

lute,

marble itatue. end of

Tang

period

CHINESE SCULPTURE tunately, none of these sculptures

is

dated, and in some respects they

fall

Some of them show plastic

outside the general stylistic current of T'ang art.

motives which really did not come into vogue until some time after 700, but this may be due to the fact that they were made under foreign influence.

The

earliest

among

these sculptures are remarkably fresh and subtle while

The

commonplace works.

the later ones are comparatively heavy and

best

specimens of the earlier types are to be seen in caves 6 and 14, while the later ones are found in caves 17, 19, 20 and 21.

The main group on

the back wall of cave 6 consists of a

Buddha

seated

cross-legged on a high pedestal accompanied ever, are almost eaten

by two side figures, which, howaway by time and running water, but there is a

Bodhisattva on the side wall which can

still

The

be enjoyed.

figure

He

seated on a round lotus pedestal with the legs folded but not crossed. leans toward the right side

which left

and turns

is

placed on the leg in front as

and make the

free attitude

still

more

movement same direction. The

slightly in the waist, a

accentuated by the turning of the head in the

is

hand

if

added support

to give

restful.

The body

diagonal curve from the right shoulder.

The

hold

is

draped

in a

body endow

this figure

very seldom found in Chinese statues.

It

with

would

place beside the most exquisite French sculptures of the 18th century

its

and yet

A

is

body

ease of the posture in conjunc-

tion with the sensitive modelling of the youthful

charm which

to the

entirely bare,

is

except for a jewelled necklace and the narrow scarf which

a sensual

is

it

impresses us just as

much by

similar artistic conception

is

its

dignity and composure.

expressed in a

still

ampler form

in a

Bodhisattva statue in cave

16.

The

lalitasana (position of ease).

It

seated with the one leg pendant, the other

is

posture of the figure

bent crosswise over the seat, but the foot

The

left

elbow

is

The movement

a kind of

not placed on the opposite

practically touching the knee, as

which leans over toward the waist.

is

is

side, turning at the

if

leg.

to support the body

same time

slightly in the

of the head follows in the opposite direction, pro-

ducing thus a contraposto effect which, although not very pronounced, serves to bring out the beauty of the ripe

body and the supple limbs. It may it shows an astonish-

not have quite the charm of the one noticed above, but

ingly free treatment of the mantle, the material being a kind of draperie mouillee.

95

CHINESE ART Lung Shan contains statues of a corresponding importance, although there are some which reveal the strong

None

of the other caves at T'ien

Indian influence both in their general shapes and in the treatment of their

The

garments. all

heads, which in late years have been knocked off and spread

over the Western world, are sometimes beautiful, though

than the best heads from

Lung Men

less expressive

or earlier centres of Buddhist sculpture

China.

in

Changes in

Style.

may also be observed Among them may be

— Similar in

tendencies

toward a

freer

plastic

contemporary sculptures from Shensi and

style

Chihli.

seen beautiful Bodhisattvas which not only bend in

the waist but also turn on the hips, making thus quite complicated move-

ments, which tend to bring out the beauty and significance of their corporeal

By

form.

human beings beThey sometimes remind one of the complaint of the end of the T'ang period who said that the artists were

these freer postures their likeness to ordinary

comes more

striking.

philosopher from the

losing their reverent attitude

toward the

religious

motives and were repre-

senting the Bodhisattvas in the shape of court ladies.

The

difference

a matter

of fact, to

realistic

between the

become

less

religious

and

less

and the secular motives seems, as

important, and one meets with quite

genre figures not only in clay but also executed on a large scale in

much

according to the same formula as the Bodhisattvas.

As work may be mentioned a statue of a young lady (in the Academy of Art in Tokyo) who sits on a bank with crossed legs playing a lute, while a dog and a cat are frolicking at her feet, a statue withstone, very a

good example of

this class of

out any religious pretext, with the same amount of free and elegant realism

we know from the tomb statuettes in clay and from some T'ang paintings. Works of this kind indicate that the sculptors no longer remained satisfied as

with the purely religious inspiration but turned their attention towards nature

and human

plastic arts in

life.

If the evolution

had continued along these

China might have become just

their interpretations of purely artistic

lines, the

and varied

in

problems as Renaissance sculpture

in

as expressive

Europe, but the creative power turned more and more from sculpture to painting.

Quite interesting as examples of the new tendencies of style are certain statues

made 96

at

Ting Chou

in Chihli, a

centre of sculptural activity which, as

CHINESE SCULPTURE was important ever since the Northern Wei period. The best of these are surprisingly free and illustrate a new interest in movement and Among them may be menin the full development of the human figure.

we have

seen,

tioned a large statue of a headless Bodhisattva in the collection of Mrs. J. D. New York, which is represented in a forward stride. The

Rockefeller Jr. in figure

is

composed

in a similar

way

to

some

early Renaissance statues repre-

—

John the Baptist and shows the same shortcomings in the stiff limbs and the stilted rhythm, but also the same endeavour to treat the plastic form in the full round. sented in a walking posture,

e.g., St.

There are many other statues original

is

illustrating this tendency.

monk who

perhaps a bare-headed

The most

stands turned sideways with

hands folded before the chest and head thrown back, looking almost straight

upwards

(in

the collection of General

Munthe, Peking).

The movement

expresses an intense religious devotion, not in the usual restrained and well-

balanced form but with the flow of

human

feeling

which leads our thoughts

away from the Orient towards the most emotional religious art of Europe, know it from the late Gothic and Baroque periods. The impressionistic treatment of the soft and heavy mantle points in the same direction. The Post-T'ang Periods. The production of religious sculpture decreases more and more towards the end of the T'ang period. Very few dated specimens are known from the 9th century, while those from the 8th are

such as we

—

quite numerous.

During the following periods of the Five Dynasties and

Sung the creative energy of the nation, which in former times, when religious devotion ran high, had been largely directed to production of sculpture, turned to painting, which now definitely took

the Northern particularly

the

the lead

among

the fine arts in China.

tance of sculpture and painting

is

The change

also illustrated

in the relative

by the

impor-

fact that sculpture

responded more and more to the influence of painting, an influence which be-

came evident not only in the new impressionistic tendencies of style but also by the fact that other materials than stone and bronze came into vogue, particularly wood, clay, iron

treated with colour.

Many

and lacquer-work, and these were usually

of the

new compositions introduced about

time were derived from contemporary paintings. the very popular

Kuanyin Bodhisattvas

ease) executed in stone, clay

It

is

this

true for instance of

in the maharajalila (posture of royal

and wood, and

it

may

also be observed in the

97

CHINESE ART combination of the figures with backgrounds treated

like

rocky landscapes or

some kind of scenery with trees, buildings, animals and small human beings. This more or less pictorial kind of sculpture spread all over northern China udring the 12th and 13th centuries, when Buddhist art enjoyed a short period of reflorescence, and

A

high degree of perfection.

wooden sculpture

great

number

of

particularly reached a

wooden statues have

years been brought from China to various Western collections,

museums

in Philadelphia,

movement toward

One

in the figure in the

in

the

museums

is

said to

have been dated

Company

in

New

York, carries

Similar ones are to be found in the in

Guimet and Collection Jean Sauphar It

flutter-

year 1106, while one of the seated

Kuanyins, lately belonging to the Ton Ying

an inscription with the date 1168.

Museum,

of these represent

the feet, or Kuanyins on rocky seats in the maharajalila

of the standing figures in Toronto

by a tablet inserted

British

The majority

garments which often take on a

either standing Bodhisattvas in long

ing

Boston and Chicago,

in

the

Musee

in Paris, etc.

during this period that Kuanyin, the Bodhisattva of Mercy,

is

the

Chicago and Toronto which alone contain more

such statues than can be mentioned here.

posture.

in later

e.g. y

nitely changes into a feminine being usually represented in a free

defi-

and elegant

form, whether she be seated on a rock by the water in the maharajalila posture, as in so

ward

as

if

many

of these

wooden

figures, or

is

standing, bending for-

The much more accentuated in these figures than any qualities. The form has lost all its abstract serenity and be-

lending a listening ear to the invocations of her adorers.

womanly beauty bodhisattvic

is

come fluttering and emotional, but it is sometimes highly decorative in a new and more limited sense. Many of these figures seem to have been conceived not for a moral purpose, like the old Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, but simply to please the eye and the sentimental longings of the worshippers, these

wooden sculptures there

series of Arhats,

ticular,

who

are a good

many made

in stone, par-

are usually represented in series of 16 or 18,

according to definite types and with more realistic than artistic expression. Interesting series of such Arhats executed in stone may be seen at the Yen Shu Tung and Ling Yen Ssu caves near Hangchow, as well as in the museum at Toronto.

They

are very uneven in quality and, on the whole,

teresting from an historical than from an artistic point of view.

98

more

in-

CHINESE SCULPTURE Yuan Dynasty.

—After the establishment of the Yuan dynasty

(1280-

1367) the position of the fine arts in China, including sculpture, changed considerably.

The Mongols brought no new

positive inspiration, on the

contrary they destroyed more than they built up, except perhaps in the art

Art was useful to them only

of war.

in so far as it could

The

the temporal power of the emperor and his generals.

of the

Yuan emperors was on

support and glorify religious attitude

the whole tolerant, but officialdom was then

thoroughly Confucian and the Buddhists were pushed into the background.

Taoism seems now sculptures at

to

have held

Hao Tien Kuan,

its

place

by the

The cave

Buddhism.

side of

south of T'aiyuan-fu in Shansi, executed at

the end of the 13th century, are in this respect very interesting.

compositions illustrating scenes from the

Some of the

of the Taoist philosopher Pi

life

Yiin Ssu, besides a great number of other Immortals, reveal an evident terest in nature as, for instance, the old

man on

his

deathbed; he

is

in-

repre-

sented lying soundly asleep on the Chinese "kang" clad in a long garment.

The most

successful portions in these grottos are, however, the purely deco-

rative compositions, the low reliefs on the walls representing clouds

and

phoenixes, and the two guardians at the sides of one of the entrances whose fluttering draperies are arranged in

ornamental curves.

All these decorative

designs are characterized by a buoyancy and a vigour which are hardly to

be found in Chinese sculpture of the immediately preceding period.

The

motives are used for decoration rather than for the expression of purely plastic ideas.

The

pictorial

the preceding period

a

more

is still

superficial kind.

The same

number of other

able in a

tendency which characterizes the sculptures of existent, although

it

has become coarser and of

stylistic tendencies are also quite notice-

sculptures of the

same

Lokapa/as (guardians of the world) on the Chii

period, such as the four

Yung Kuan

executed in 1345, and the Buddhist figures in a niche at

gate at Nank'ou,

Lung Tung Ssu

near Tsinan-fu in Shantung, executed in 13 18, not to speak of minor detached statues, dated at the beginning of the 14th century.

Ming

Period.

—When we

enter into the

Ming

period (1368-1643) the

dramatic power of expression seems to dry up more and more and the general artistic level is certainly

not raised, although the production of Buddhist

sculptures goes on with increasing abundance.

common

creations of this time

may

Among

the most popular and

be mentioned, for instance, series of Ar-

99

CHINESE ART hats in iron (good examples of such series are in the

Gothenburg) which, however, seldom products treated in

made wood and

rise

above the

generally at

its

at

Toronto and

level of ordinary

mass

Similar motives are also

according to standard models.

lacquer, sometimes with good decorative effect, though

with no more individual characterization. is

museums

best

when

traditional hieratic figures.

The

sculpture of the

Ming

period

up purely realistic motives instead of the may thus become quite enjoyable in minor

takes

it

It

representations of mourners, musicians or similar genre-like motives, pre-

sented without any tendency to archaic restraint which otherwise

is

so ap-

parent in the plastic arts of the Ming.

Summary.

—Trying

to

sum up

the general course of development of

Chinese sculpture from the ioth to the 15th century to

remember

first

in

a few words,

we have

the comparatively low level of religious sculpture towards

Sung dynasty, particularly after the capital was moved from Hangchow; secondly, the re-awakening of religious imagery in

the end of the

Kaifeng to

the northern provinces after the Tartar dynasties had got a firm hold on this

part of the country (a flourishing sculptural activity, particularly in wood,

developed there the

in the provinces of Chihli

Yuan dynasty

called

a

new

Mongolian and which expresses

dry realism and on the other hand

have

religious figures real spirituality.

Ming

period.

still

and Shansi); and

some

itself

on the one hand

in a whirling linear

life

and expression of

statues, or rather statuettes, in bronze, religious works,

The

own, though no

It

is

left

did not turn

true that a lot of

wood, porcelain and ivory were pro-

whether

in

stone or other materials.

sculptors have given their best in the field of decorative art such

as columns, balustrades,

new types of

and other architectural

plastic works,

much more

whether

details,

religious or secular.

in the imitation of earlier

efforts in the field of sculpture.

100

their

be

somewhat

ornamentation.

Whatever creative power may have been

duced but no great

inspiration

in a

may

This development was no longer continued during the

towards the production of religious sculpture.

The Ming

thirdly, that with

foreign element appears which perhaps

but they created no

They sought

their

any

fresh

models than

in

imwMwmmmwwMwmMmwmmwmmwwMww^

SCREEN

B,'ecause

of their fragile nature, no screens of great antiquity have sur-

vived, but references to

known

screens were glass or

in

them

are not wanting in ancient literature.

China as early as the 2nd century

mica panellings

them are noted

for

as of

B.C., at

much

Folding

which period

value, their trans-

parent nature affording both enjoyment of an outdoor view and shelter from the elements.

Then,

in the

century preceding the Christian era, screens

carved and inlaid with jade and other precious materials seem to have been

Already

produced.

tised, for it is

good or

tried to

brush away.

silk

Chang

saint, Vimalakirti,

passing, mention

Ku

Shih

it

Hu

into a fly

which Sun Ch'uan

(3rd century)

made

Mo

be

181-252)

to

which he added a

(4th century) depicted on screens the Buddhist

and a scene

may

(a.d.

a folding screen covered

and painted with hermits, birds and animals,

long inscription.

illustrating the

Ts'ao Pu-hsing (3rd century) having dropped ink upon a

artist

screen while painting, turned

with

Women,"

from right or wrong-doing were depicted on a screen.

evil effects

The Chinese

period the art of painting screens was prac-

in this early

recorded that "Figures of Exemplary

entitled

"Beating Newly-woven Silk."

made of a 14-fold owned by the

K'ai-chih (4th century),

In

screen in the scroll attributed to British

Museum, confirming

the

accuracy of contemporary accounts that screens consisted of numerous leaves,

sometimes as

many

as 40.

In the 5th century,

Lu T'an-wei

painted

Fang Huai-chen the "Paragons of Filial Piety." Landscapes were not unknown in these early centuries as themes for screens, for they are Screens of tapestry, of emreferred to in old poems and other writings. a lion and

broidery, of crystal and of lacquer are also recorded in contemporary litera101

CHINESE ART Moreover,

ture.

fine calligraphy inscribing

moral teachings or auspicious

sentiments was executed on screens from the 5th century,

if

not

earlier.

It

Fang Hsiiang-ling (a.d. 578-648) collected precepts from sources and inscribed them on screens which he distributed among is

said that

all

his

children as reminders of proper conduct.

The

Tang

Period.

— In

the luxurious days of the T'ang dynasty (618-

906), screens were in constant

demand

to

Those which were bedecked with gold and those of fine textiles

woven

adorn palaces and mansions.

silver, pearl

and

tortoise shell, or

must

or dyed, bearing characteristic patterns,

have imparted great splendour

to the habitations of rulers

and

princes.

Horses sent from foreign tribes to the imperial stables furnished themes for screens,

and a fabulous animal

called

mo which

dreams was deemed an appropriate subject

is

supposed to eat bad

for boudoir screens.

Then,

too,

such noted painters as Pien Luan (who treated flowers and birds), Chang

Tsao

(pines

and rocks), and Chou Fang (court beauties), and such accom-

plished calligraphers as Li Yang-ping

and Chang Hsu

Some emperors had about them screens performed by men of the past, in order subjects,

But

setting forth

all

decorated screens.

worthy and moral deeds

that they themselves, as well as their

might derive benefit from these constant reminders. for actual

examples of T'ang art on screens we have to turn to Japan

where, in the Imperial repository called the Sh5s5in, at Nara, are served

relics

of the art of that golden epoch.

principally the personal belongings of the to the

more were added,

Among

this

among

pre-

This treasure-house contains

Emperor Shomu, which were given

Great Buddha of the T5daiji by the Empress Komyo,

of donations mentions,

still

in 756.

The

list

other objects, 100 screens, to which several

between the years 756 and 758. large number of screens were examples of Chinese, Korean or at three different times,

Japanese origin which included paintings of landscapes, palaces, figures and flowers; others of batik

and of block-resist dyeing, figuring

flowers; and, in addition,

birds, animals

and

some screens on which Chinese ideographs formed

Of these 100 odd screens but few remain at present, among them no painted screens. Nevertheless, the pictorial accomplishments of the 8th century may still be seen in this collection in a six-fold screen, in each leaf of which is shown a figure of a woman standing under a tree. The subject was originally worked in birds' feathers the chief decoration.

in

whole or

1

02

in part,

;^.v>a^;v, --_.*".

OF THE IMPEft.AL HOUSEHOLD H.SE.

A CHINESE 1.

(2)

of

\

(SHIHBI SHOIN, LTD

AND A JAPANESE SCREEN

the eighth century painted with a precept in 43 ideographs, each character written both in the "seal" and in the "running" style. The panels, which are joined with cords, are coloured alternately red ard green, with designs of clouds and other conventionalized fcrms in white. From the Imperial Collection in the Shosoin, Nsra. Japan

Chinese screen

.-it

2.

IN

j

,

FRO

4

sicci^3»^r:\r

-THE

AS7ERPIECES SELLCTED

FINE AR1S OF THE FAR

THE TANG STYLE

of the 11th century, probably after a T'ar.fl original, depicts the visitation of a noble and his servants to a herlandscape of trees, hills and water. The over in mit's house set a

Japanese landscape screen

refinement of the drawings is characteristic of the "Japanese picture" style of the Fujiwara period (900-1189). From the Buddhist monastery of Toji at Kyoto

EARLY POTTERY FROM THE PROVINCE OF KANSU. NORTH CHINA "xry veuelt of a very early period (probably 3000 B.C.) diicovered In the province of Kamu. North J. Q. AnoViion, while e«cavatlng old lite*. The pottery It generally red with black ornament!, clearly o( the tame family of deilgn ai the aeneollthlc pottery found on many iltci In the Near Cr.t lllmlfll

.

a

SCREEN which have disappeared, leaving only the preliminary drawings.

Despite

may much em-

the sketchy nature of the drawings of the figures, trees and rocks, one detect the mature brush-strokes, the importance of which

phasized in the art of painting in the Far East.

Japanese, yet

its

Chinese patterns.

so

screen

probably

is

conception and execution are based upon contemporary

There are

also

two

six-fold

collection, the chief decorative features of

One

large characters.

in

The

is

screens in

imperial

this

which are Chinese inscriptions

contains a precept for a ruler,

consisting of

48 Chinese ideographs, each written twice, once in the chuan ("seal")

and once

style silk

dyed

in

in the hsing

green and red

The backgrounds

("running") style.

— alternating

the

in

six

panels

signs of conventionalized clouds, birds, animals, trees, plants in

The

white reserve.

to the

screen

is

very likely Chinese, one of

Japanese court from China, although

was discovered upon

it

purpose.

scheme

— bearing

is

de-

and rocks,

many

all

gifts sent

said that at one time there

a Japanese date corresponding to the year 751

—

In the Orient, to use writing on a large scale

fact lacking substantiation. for a decorative

it is

are of

no

less

frequent than to employ a picture for the

Indeed, good calligraphy

{q.v.)

is

considered an art of as great

importance as good painting, both being the result of brush-work and both presenting images of mental conception.

An example of the pictorial art Japan may be seen in a screen

of the T'ang as reflected

art of

tery of Toji trees

in

Kyoto.

surrounded by

hermit

who

is

hills

It

treats

and water

in

among

a landscape in polychrome: is

a rustic abode within which

being visited by nobles with their servants.

For, despite

its

nth

Chinese design, in

nical peculiarities of the early

a

Kobo

However, some authorities now regard the

painting as a Japanese production of the original.

sits

According to an

old tradition, the screen was one of the treasures brought back by

Daishi from China in 806.

the

preserved in the Buddhist monas-

Yamato-e

century, based upon a T'ang

it

are discernible certain tech-

(literally

"Japanese picture") style

which was developed during the Fujiwara period (900-1189) and

is

charac-

by over-refinement of drawings. Such a landscape screen was used in the baptismal rituals of esoteric Buddhism which required a pictorial representation of a mountain scene in lieu of the natural setting in which the terized

religious service took place in old India.

No

screens of a secular nature

103

CHINESE ART dating from the Fujiwara period are

now

extant, but literary sources disclose

the thousands of screens painted for the use of the Japanese court and for

As

the mansions of nobles.

in the

preceding epoch, the need for screens was

pressing, because of the peculiar style of the architecture of those days

wide openings on the sides of a building which were closed by wooden doors at night but

which during the day needed screening arrangements.

and occasional State functions the events.

That a

large

Regular

also required special screens appropriate to

number of

may

screens was produced

be gathered

from the record that Yoshichika (nth century) painted 200 screens on Lord

A

Yoshimichi's order.

story

is

told about

lineated a scene of hell containing a

convince the artist that the subjects,

call to

the

Hirotaka (10th century) who de-

demon who proved so lifelike unknown region was immediate.

some Chinese and some Japanese, mentioned

as to

The

in this period are

varied and numerous: landscapes of the four seasons, monthly observances,

and plants, falconry,

trees

picnics, polo-playing, the

paragons of noble deeds,

the descent of the Amitabha, the ten Buddhist regions, etc.

Kamakura

ing the

period

(1

In Japan, dur-

190-1336), in making screens they followed the

preceding Fujiwara in the main, both pictorially and technically.

The Sung Period. practice

— In

China

among prominent masters

abandoned.

On

itself in

the

Sung period (960-1279), the

of painting and inscribing screens was not

the contrary, painters like

T'ung and Hsu Tao-ning are known

Tuan Yuan, Yen Hsiao, Wen

have thus expressed

to

their art;

and

noted calligraphers applied their brushes after the time-honoured custom.

The most

significant

branch of the art of the Sung period was the so-called

Idealistic school of painting

Yuan

(1280-1367) and

attempted to express

which was closely followed by the

Ming (1365-1643)

in their

dynasties.

artists of the

Painters of this school

works certain noble thoughts and

ideals.

A

landscape-painting, for example, was an essay which suggested the sublimity of nature and invited the beholder to identify himself with

nese, Zen), produced artists

natural phenomena. its

who showed remarkable

The inherent CKan (in Japa-

it.

love of nature of the orientals, coupled with the teaching of

aptitude for depicting

Cfian means "abstract meditation," the chief aim of

followers being to seek to separate the real from the unreal

communing directly with developed marked individual-

themselves of earthly thoughts and desires and by nature.

Inspired by

104

this teaching, the artists

by divesting

SCREEN ity

and

their paintings

were characterized by purity and suggestiveness.

For

their themes, the painters of the Idealistic school chose, besides landscapes, birds, animals

and even withered

trees

and rocks,

all

of which ordinarily were

monochrome with China ink. Unfortunately there exists no example of the typical art of the Sung as applied on screens, nor are there any screens dating from the subsequent Yuan and Ming dynasties, in both of treated in

which is

it is

recorded that painted and inscribed screens were produced.

possible, however, that

now mounted

some of the paintings coming from these

as single hangings,

The Ashikaga Period.

It

periods,

were once panels of folding screens.

—Again turning

one can see an echo of

to Japan,

the Chinese art of these three dynasties in paintings by Japanese artists of the Ashikaga period (1337-1573)-

Motonobu Chinese

are outstanding figures

idealists.

A

screen

Sotan, Noami, Sesshu,

who

painted in ink on screens after the

by Sotan, who died

typical specimen of this style.

The

in 1464,

—

pair which together

may be

taken as a

vigour of the brush, the subtle quality of

the ink, the well-carried-out atmospheric perspective

hand which portrays the

Masanobu and

spirit of majestic nature.

all tell

of the master

This screen

show landscapes of the four seasons treated

position but nevertheless forming one composite whole.

is

as

one of a one com-

Besides the "Twelve

Monthly Observances" and "Landscapes of the Four Seasons," such themes as "Flowers of the Four Seasons," "Farmers of the Four Seasons," "Lives of the 24 Paragons of Filial Piety,"- the "Eight Taoist Immortals,"

The

quently occur as single designs.

through the next period, the

Momoyama

Kano, the Unkoku and the Soga 1610)

we

see a remarkable

etc., fre-

Idealistic school of painting was carried

schools.

(1

574-1602), by artists of the

In the screen by

Tohaku (1539-

monochrome; the varied shades of China ink

being so used as to suggest the presence of colours, yet with no disturbing

element of pigments and no sense of monotony.

A

new type of screen introduced some time in the 14th century from Korea contributed much toward revolutionizing the general scheme of comHeretofore, a folding screen had consisted of a group of separate panels, each with brocaded borders, tied together by means of cords passing

position.

through holes pierced at the vertical edges of the panels. In the Korean type the leaves were joined by paper hinges which were built into the body of the screen before the silk or paper for painting was pasted, a brocade border

105

CHINESE ART Whereas

extending over the composite whole.

in

the former style the

continuance of the design was interfered with by the frame and the brocade borders of each panel, in the latter style the tightly joined leaves

made one

surface for painting a picture.

Screens characteristic of the

Momoyama

period, the inherent love of the

Japanese for simplicity notwithstanding, are more decorative in type, with

backgrounds of gold leaf upon which appear bold designs

Eitoku

a massive scale. is

(i

545-90),

who was

have supplied 100 pairs of screens

said to

He

the Taiko.

in solid

pigments on

the chief exponent of the style, for the

Momoyama

palace of

painted in two styles, ink and polychrome; the polychrome

screens are very effective; for example, one of a pair in which are

shown

T'ang — "Barbarians Presenting Tribute" — being symbolic of

foreigners bringing tribute to the Chinese emperor, Tai-tsung, of the

dynasty; the subject

The popular

the peace and prosperity of the country. screens at this time were

"The Dragon and

the Tiger," "Lions,"

Trees" (respectively symbolizing the conflict between bility

and power, longevity and

The Tokugawa Period.

pictorial motives

spirit

on

"Old Pine

and matter, no-

fidelity).

—

In Japan during the Tokugawa period (1603new movement in decorative painting was developed by S5tatsu ( 576-1 643) who preserved the vigorous and broad brush-work practised by the masters in monochrome, but in place of ink used pigments on a gold ground. Even as he adopted the colouring of the old Yamato-e, so he took 1868), a 1

many themes from

old sources, such as the romances of Genji and wars of the Hogen and Heiji Eras, the wind and thunder gods. also a genius in the impressionistic treatment of flowers

screens.

composition.

Tokugawa

largeness of conception

days, artists in

Literary, the Realistic ciple, the pictorial

and is

brilliant colours

all

schools

—exerted

scheme

106

on screens.

by these painters of varied

from that of the preceding Ashikaga and continued to-day. A bold design is treated

well balanced

and

effective; at the

In

the

Kano, the Tosa, the Genre, the

their artistic efforts

for screens

apparent

is

and power of technique.

— the

little

it is still

and more daring

In the twofold screen depicting violent waves

artist's

changed

He was

and waterscapes on

Following Sotatsu's style, Korin (1658-1716) further enlarged

upon decorativeness by introducing more this

Ise, the

same time

it

In prinstyles

Momoyama in

had

periods

dissymmetry, yet

bears a certain moral,

CHINESE IMPERIAL PALACE SCREENS ,,nd

during a ii>r»mnny

nl

•

•.

inghtl

ll

in

f.m.iic

mU,

and lh« upp* .nd low*

In

fanlM

tttfi

*SE'

FROM THE WALTER ROSEN COLLECTION

CHINESE IMPERIAL JADE SCREEN OF THE CH'IEN-LUNG PERIOD

(1736-95 A.D.)

This Chinese imperial screen is composed of a gilt teakwood frame of eight folds set with spinachgreen jade panels, carved on one side with landscape designs and on the other with flowers. The photograph was taken with a light arranged behind the screen to bring out the translucent quality of the jade

SCREEN historical,

many and also such

The

legendary or auspicious significance.

subjects treated were

varied, including those which have already been referred to

and

themes as the "Eight Views of Hsiao Hsing," the "Ten Snow-

"Four Gray-beards of the Shan Bamboo Grove," the "Four Accom-

Incidents," the "A-fang Pleasance," the

Mountain," the "Seven Sages of the "Floating

plishments,"

Fans,"

screens are six-fold, about 6

"Phoenixes,"

ft.

in height

and they are usually executed

in pairs.

and 12

Generally

etc.

in

ft.

Among

Japanese

width when stretched,

the smaller type

we may

count "pillow" screens with brightly coloured pictures, which are placed about beds, and low, two-fold screens with simple decoration, or none at

which are used

in connection

The Ctiing Dynasty.

with the tea-ceremony

all,

{q.v.).

— During the Ch'ing dynasty (1644-1911)

in

China,

painting on screens was practised, as indicated by the presence of occasional

examples dating from the

last

art that the period excels.

few centuries.

But

it is in

screens of applied

been said that the application of

It has already

the minor arts to screens began in ancient China.

The

best

known among

such screens of recent centuries are the so-called "Coromandel screens"

which are made of wooden panels finished with a coat of lacquer, through

which designs incised

and

known from

—landscapes,

filled

the

figures, flowers, auspicious

with various thick,

Ming dynasty.

A

emblems,

etc.

—are

opaque water-colours; a technique

large portion, however, of the existing

specimens are of the 17th to 19th centuries.

"Coromandel" has no bearing

upon their provenance, but indicates that these screens of Chinese origin were shipped to European countries from the coast of Coromandel. Other screens in the category of lacquer are those with lacquered panels (sometimes coated with white

carved lacquer.

oil

paint) decorated in gold lacquer; and those of red

Screens of carved teakwood construction set with jade and

porcelain plaques, or panelled with silks, tapestries or embroideries, are occasionally seen.

Furniture.

—As an

article of furniture, the screen is

an ornamental frame,

usually of wood, but sometimes of metal, for protection from observation,

draught or the heat of a

fire.

made

Screens are

of

all

shapes and

sizes,

and

may

consist of leather, paper or textile materials fastened to the framework;

they

may have

leaves.

— thus a fourfold screen has four

several leaves or only one

Fire screens are usually small, with a single leaf— indeed in the

107

CHINESE ART Georgian period of English furniture they often took the form of a oval, heart-shaped or oblong piece of

circular,

framed embroidery fixed to a wooden

pole or upright, upon which they could be raised or lowered.

This variety,

which was called a pole-screen, was more effective as an ornament than as a protection.

At

The handscreen was

the present time

fire

light

and portable, as the name

screens are often of glass set in metal frames.

larger type of screen, with several leaves, first

came

implies.

into use towards the

is

The

of uncertain origin, but probably

end of the 16th century.

The

earlier ex-

amples were of stamped or painted Spanish leather or of some rich stuff such as tapestry; at a later date lacquer

enough to conceal the person ceedingly

1

08

handsome and

sitting

stately.

was extensively used.

They were

tall

behind them, and were frequently ex-

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN

.he supreme excellence of Chinese pottery in mediaeval and later times gives an unusual zest to the enquiry into the history;

and we welcome the new

Andersson's discoveries in

two

first

light recently

phases of Chinese ceramic

shed on them by Prof.

Honan and Kansu which

distinct kinds of pottery in pre-dynastic times.

have been provisionally divided into enough, the most

3000

artistic of his

It consists

B.C.

made by hand

six periods;

J.

G.

reveal the existence of

The Andersson

and the

earliest and,

finds

oddly

pottery can hardly be later in time than

both of funerary wares and pottery for general use,

(helped perhaps by a slow wheel) of finely levigated, thin and

strongly baked buff and red clays, shaped in pleasing, and often quite imposing, forms and decorated with elegant painted designs in red, black,

purple and white clays which have been submitted to the

This painted ware, which

is

fire

of the kiln.

superior in technique to any of the pre-Han

pottery of dynastic times so far known, has interesting,

if superficial, re-

semblances to the painted pottery found at Anau, Susa and other western Asiatic sites of late neolithic date.

Alongside this painted ware Andersson found another type of pottery, a coarser, grey earthenware

made without

the wheel and often impressed on

the exterior with markings which suggest that the wet clay had been wrapped in

matting or some coarse

a long

life,

The B.C.).

for it

was

still

textile.

made

in

This mat-marked pottery evidently had

Chou and Han

times.

next important discovery belongs to the Yin dynasty (1401-1122

On

the site of the Yin tombs near

An-yang

in

Honan were found The pottery,

pieces of a white pottery, and of carved ivory and bone.

109

CHINESE ART doubtless

made

of kaolinic earth, has been carved like the ivory and bone

with the conventional designs and angular associated with pre-Han bronzes.

white ware must have had

which are usually

fret patterns

Complete

vessels of this kind of carved

a striking appearance,

indeed the fragments

if

ever formed part of pottery vessels and were not, as has been suggested,

moulds

for the use of the

bronze maker.

(A AND B) FROM ANDREWS, "MEMOIRS OP THE CEOLOC1CAL SURVEY OF CHINA*' COURTESY OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM

(C)

BT

Early Chinese pottery; (a) neolithic pottery from kansu, (b) neolithic mat-marked pottery from honan, (c) painted pottery of the 4th century b.c.

For the

rest all the

pre-Han pottery which we know

is

funeral ware of a

rough and not very interesting type, and generally following the forms of the

more precious bronze

vessels for

frequently "mat-marked," and

which

much

it

of

was doubtless a

it is

substitute.

It

is

roughly coloured with unfired

pigments.

The

Han Dynasty

knowledge of

it is still

(206 B.C.-A.D. 220).

confined to the funeral wares recovered from tombs,

shows a considerable advance sels,

—The Han pottery, though our

in

Many

ceramic technique.

of the

Han

ves-

such as the wine vases, are of elegant form, and they are ornamented

with artistic designs in a variety of ways, by painting with unfired pigments,

by stamping, by the application of formed first

moulds, and by incising.

in

reliefs

Glaze

is

which have been separately

now

used, apparently for the

time, a transparent lead glaze of yellowish tone which

is

with copper oxide and variegated by the use of liquid clays or colours.

The underlying body

of the glazed ware

is

coloured green

slips

of different

usually red and this

showing through the transparent glaze gives a brown or reddish brown face,

when 1

10

sur-

the glaze has not been coloured green by the use of copper.

^^~

CHINESE MORTUARY POTTERY, HAN DYNASTY Covered bowl

imitation of bronze form. 2. Ladle. 3. Hill jar decorated in relief with mythological animals, ring handles, and with usual mountain cover surrounded by waves. 4. Barnyard with goats, and man playing piccolo just in front of the little gable. 5. Example of the rare

1.

in

(206 B.C.

TO

A.D. 220)

octagonal base type of wine jar with unusual strength. modelled in low relief. 7. Pavilion. Height 20 ',4 inches. vigorously modelled. 9. Well-head. Height 14 3 4 inches

6.

Hill

censer

8. Pottery

dog

(4i

ihi .11 institute or chic»co. rio«

,i

i

tmi cioioi tuNosrorouioi coilsction

(l|

imi

»»•!«

PRE-TANG POTTERIES "'bi fnl.1i.ij In front, spreading betnw to f.rm a hollow b«M| hnl«i for hands. Grey pottery with dressing of white tlip and remain! •"it: hair painted (.lack. Ht. 28 S". Si« dynasties A O 220-618). 2. Mythnlnolral animal r»-..mbllng prr' il^pt. p>i«lhly lugi

" -jV

III

desert

)

Fi

.,-p

gf a

lady.

with double peaked cap. holding a lotui. with bird-shaped flower. Hard grey pottery, waih of white lllp, pigmentation In red and black. HI. 30 75". Companion figure, with crown-like head-dress. Ht. 31 75". Northern Wei

(AD. 3S6-435)

J.

House with sliding doors. 5 and 6. M-n with Bactrim China by the Mongoli

hor e ard camel, anlmali Introduced Into

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN Probably

was introduced from western Asia, where

this lead glaze

Roman times; Han dynasty.

use in late pire in the

Many

for the

Chinese were

in

touch with the

of the pottery objects recovered from

Han tombs

it

was

in

Roman emare of deep

archaeological interest, for they include, besides the household and ritual vessels,

models of the buildings, implements, live-stock and even human

beings, which

had belonged

to the

household of the deceased.

noteworthy that the potters who supplied furniture evinced

much

Further

it is

this funeral

way in which Thus the granary

artistic skill in the

they conventionalized their models.

tower and the well-head are transformed into picturesque objects

and even the model of the kitchen stove

not

is

devoid of ornamental qualities.

—

Han to Vang (A.D. 220-618). To the interval beHan and T'ang belongs a considerable group of figures and other beings and animals are in many ways the tween

most attractive of

them are

all

the Chinese grave goods.

little later in

date than the

Han

Some

of

dynasty; but

they evidently range over a long period, for whole sets of figurines of this class in the to

have been found

502-557).

There

in

Toronto

Museum

are

known

tombs of the Liang dynasty

are, besides,

wine

(a.d.

jars, vases, incense

burners and toilet boxes of the 3rd and 4th centuries

which are

Han and

Han well-jar From

the George EuCollection

morfopoulos

pigments with a style

finely painted in unfired

and execution not unworthy of the paintings on silk. glaze continued in use, and it is by no means easy to glazed pottery of the

BY COURTESY OF GEORGE EUMORFOPOULOS, ESQ.

The Han

lead

differentiate the

of the immediately succeeding periods.

however, certain flask-shaped bottles with green and brown lead glaze over well moulded reliefs which, though certainly post-Han, are prob-

There

are,

ably earlier than the T'ang dynasty.

Some

of

them are remarkable

for their

which would

Western types of ornament, such as dancing and piping figures, be at home in a Herculaneum frieze, surrounded by vine scrolls. Similar designs are seen on late Hellenistic pottery; and this doubtless was the source from which the Chinese potters drew their inspiration.

There

is

yet another kind of glazed ware which belongs to this interval,

in

CHINESE ART and which

apparently of purely Chinese origin.

is

of hard grey

body with a

It

high-fired glaze of greenish

W.

of this ware analyzed by H.

is

brown

tint.

Specimens

Nichols of Chicago were pronounced to be a

In other words they are believed to contain the

kind of proto-porcelain.

elements of porcelain, though in an unperfected state. that the glaze of this ware gloss

a kaolinic stoneware

is

Dr.

M. Nakao

holds

a wood-ash glaze evolved from the accidental

which often forms on pottery

high temperature in a wood-fed

fired to a

furnace, as in the case of the Early

Korean pottery.

that this kaolinic pottery with

glaze of feldspar and

its

It

is

practically certain

wood

ashes forms a

BY COURTESY OF THE BRITISH

MU,EUM

Flask of buff stoneware with brown glaze; t'ang period or earlier

Proto-porcelain vase (3rd or 4th century)

FROM THE CEOECE EUMORroPOl'LOS COl LECTION

Dish of the t'ang dynasty

stage in the evolution of true porcelain which

discovered by the T'ang dynasty. lain

was evolved from

Han and due

T'ang.

It

Indeed

this material at

may

we know

it is

the Chinese to have

highly probable that porce-

some period

in the interval

between

be added that the colour of the glaze was probably

to iron impurities in the clay,

and that

this glaze is the

beginning of the

celadon green glazes which owe their colour to iron.

The T' angT)y nasty (618-906). empire reached est

and most

its

— In the great T'ang dynasty the Chinese

widest expansion, and China was without doubt the great-

civilized

power

in

the world.

the arts, and the potter's art was in no

Chinese ceramic literature has Chinese ceramic literature

is

112

It

was

was an age of splendour

way behind

little to tell

in fact largely

the rest.

for all

Oddly enough

us of the T'ang potters.

But

modern growth and the secrets were known in Europe almost as due to the excavations made by

a comparatively

of T'ang pottery, only recently laid bare, early as in China.

It

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN European railway engineers during the past quarter of a century that the contents of many T'ang tombs came to light, and what we know of T'ang pottery, as in the case of the earlier wares,

pulchral wares.

is

practically limited to the se-

Naturally these do not show the T'ang potters in the most

favourable light, but they enable us to see the great progress which had been

made

ceramic technique and to realize the

in

They make

craftsmen.

China

it

clear too that

in this enlightened age, for

we

artistic capabilities

of T'ang

Western influences were active

in

frequently find the traces of late Hellen-

Sassanian and Persian art in the forms and designs of the pottery of this

istic,

period.

Of

the T'ang funeral pottery the figures of

human

beings, birds

and

animals are modelled in a lively and spirited fashion, especially those of

They

horses and camels, dancing girls and musicians.

some occasionally are

or pinkish white clay, soft where lightly fired but

baked

to considerable hardness.

Some

with red, black and blue pigments. parent lead glaze of faint yellowish glaze

is

and

of them are unglazed and tricked out

Others are covered with a thin transtint,

while on the more elaborate this

coloured with washes, streaks or mottling of green, amber yellow or

The

blue.

flesh parts of the glazed figures are

in this case

in the

a form

left

without glaze

Be-

and dishes of various kinds are

tombs; and among them are amphora-shaped jars of strikingly

Hellenistic form lip,

commonly

they are painted with the pigments mentioned above.

sides the figures, vases, ewers, bowls, cups

found

are usually of a white

and ewers of Sassanian type with a

common

bird's

head below the

again in Persian pottery of a slightly later date.

glazes used on the figures appear also on these vessels, sometimes in

The mono-

chrome, more often in mottled colours, but they rarely cover the whole exterior of the vessel, stopping as a rule in a

base of the T'ang vase

The

The

by moulding in relief, which have been stamped out separately, by carving the it

is

chiefly effected

with a pointed instrument.

also used not only for the application of

but in rare instances

The T'ang

line short of the base.

usually flat and shaved at the edge.

decoration of T'ang pottery

by applying reliefs surface or by incising was

is

wavy

for decorating in black

Painting with a brush

pigments on unglazed wares,

under a green glaze.

pottery so far discussed shows a considerable advance on

predecessors in the use of coloured lead glazes; but

it is

its

also apparent that

113

CHINESE ART now made with

great strides were fired at a

century

much

site

the harder, feldspathic glazes which were

higher temperature.

The important

excavations on the 9th

of Samarra on the Tigris revealed quite a

number

of fragments

of porcellanous stoneware and even true porcelain of Chinese make.

From

them we gather that these advanced ceramic products were not only made, but had actually become articles of overseas trade in the Tang dynasty.

They

include a semi-porcelain with closely crackled, yellowish white glaze or

FROM THE OEORGE EUMORPOPOULO J COLLECTION

Left, porcelain ewer with white glaze, t'ang period; right, WHITE PORCELAIN BOTTLE WITH UNGLAZED BASE, t'aNG PERIOD

with green and mottled glazes, or again with the sea-green glaze which we distinguish by the

ivory glaze.

name

of celadon; besides pure porcelain with white or

Other high-fired T'ang glazes are a chocolate brown, verging

on black, a watery green and a brown splashed with frothy grey.

But the progress of the T'ang potter technique alone.

wheel places him

The beauty in the front

ornaments prove him

to

is

not to be measured by improved

of the vase-forms which he threw on the

rank of potters, and

have been a true ceramic

his incised

and moulded

artist.

In the half century which intervened between the T'ang and

114

Sung dynas-

'

»

•>••<

c.

col CO

CHINESE EARLY POTTERY SCULPTURE '•in

T'ano dynatly (A.D. 61K-906I

de.

mated

Wrlttl

ntl

Bactrim

rare

the

Bottom: Potttry dog with puppy.

pre-T'anrj. an excellent example of vifl.irnut prin iwlng remnants of red and white paint on dark grey biicult (unglajed lurfut) '

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN ties

ceramic history records the manufacture of two interesting wares, both

of which are

still

One

a puzzle to the student.

which was reputed

to

few years only

This was an im-

after rain."

neighbourhood of K'ai-f6ng Fu Honan; and apparently no complete specimen of it remained above ground

perial in

the celebrated Ch'ai ware

have been "thin as paper, resonant as a musical stone

and blue as the sky seen between the clouds ware made

is

even

for a

in the 16th century.

of porcelain, and

theory and,

it

traditional description of

modern opinion holds that

ware which

ch'ing class of

The

in the

will

must be added,

it

suggests a kind

probably belonged to the ying

it

be described presently.

a theory

which

is

But this is only a by no means universally ac-

cepted.

The

other

is

ern Shao-hsing

the/)/ se (secret colour)

Fu

in

ware made at Yueh Chou, the mod-

Chekiang, for the princely house of Chien.

erally agreed that this

It

is

gen-

was a porcelain or semi-porcelain with grey-green

glaze of the celadon type.

The Sung Dynasty {960-1279).

—The Sung dynasty was another Augus-

tan age of Chinese art, and ceramic writers in after years described the Sung porcelains in reverential terms as the classic wares of China.

treasured

them with loving

care, so that not a

Collectors

few have survived above the

ground and we are not dependent entirely on excavated funeral goods our estimate of the Sung potter's history of the

given

it

more noted Sung

skill.

factories,

Something too

and slender

as

for

is

recorded of the

is

the information

has enabled the modern student to attempt a reasoned, though not

yet assured, classification of the principal types, namely the Ju, Kuan, Ko,

Ting, Lung-ch'uan, Chiin, Chien and Tz'u Chou, with a few subsidiary wares in addition.

The Imperial Ju ware was made

at

Ju Chou, near K'ai-feng Fu

for a brief period at the beginning of the 12th century; but

belongs to a type of ware which was

made

in

Honan,

we gather

that

it

at several potteries, e.g., in the dis-

— besides at

tricts of

T'ang Teng and Yao on the north of the Yellow River

Ju Chou

itself.

the imperial

The Ju Chou ware, however, excelled the rest and doubtless works were manned by picked Ju Chou potters. The Chinese

Ju ware, which was already extremely scarce in the 1 6th century, leave us in some doubt as to its exact nature, but the most plausible theory is that it was of the ying ch'ing type. The term ying ch'ing,

descriptions of the Imperial

115

CHINESE ART which means misty blue or green (the colour word cKing connoting both blue and green), is applied by the Chinese to-day to a soft-looking, bubbly porcewhite

lain glaze,

in colour,

but with a faint tinge of blue or greenish blue

which sometimes develops a definite blue

This tinge of colour has been

tint.

The ying

traced to the presence of a minute quantity of iron in the ware.

cKing porcelain

is

granular texture.

a relatively low-fired It varies

much

ware and the body has a somewhat

in quality,

from a coarse material with

impure, pearly grey glaze to an exquisite egg-shell porcelain thin and trans-

The

lucent and of a deliciously soft and melting quality. skilfully

low that

potted and of elegant shape, and the decoration,

some

tories

any,

incised with a fine point or pressed out in moulds.

relief,

perial

best specimens are if

of the finer ying cKing porcelain

Ju Chou factory, while the working with more or less

rest

may have

is

It is

made

carved in

surmised

at the

Im-

comes from the numerous private

fac-

on the same

skill

been

It

lines.

must however

be understood that the identification of this ware with the famous Ju porcelain

not yet proved.

is

Another type which

room

leaves

is still

problematical

for various interpretations,

works, like most Chinese descriptions, imperial,

and Kuan ware may be

But Chinese

ever kind.

Sung dynasty

made fore

in the

1 1

27,

Tartars.

is

the Kuan.

of ambiguities.

is full

in

itself

Chinese

Kuan means

Kuan wares of the first of all a Kuan ware

writers evidently intended the

to be distinctive types.

They

describe

when the Sung court was driven south of The identification of this northern Kuan

though there are reasons for thinking that type of glaze which was developed to

made

it

nothing more than imperial ware of what-

neighbourhood of the capital, K'ai-feng Fu,

southern Kuan,

The name

and the description of

it

its full

for a short time be-

the Yangtze by the Kin is

extremely uncertain,

had the opalescent, blue-grey

on the Chun Chou ware.

The

after 11 27 in the precincts of the imperial palace at

Hang-chou, whither the Sung court had been transferred, so closely sembled the

Ko ware, that many Ko and Kuan.

re-

Chinese writers do not attempt to discrimi-

nate between the

The Ko ware is name from the elder ch'iian district in

described in some detail in Chinese books. of two potter brothers

Chekiang

ware of the "elder brother" 116

Chang who

It

lived in the

in the

Southern Sung period, being

(ko).

It is evident,

got

its

Lung-

in fact the

however, that the term

Ko

POTTERY AND PORCELALN ware was not confined as a generic

term for

Like the

places.

any individual's work, but passed into general use a group of wares made over a long period at various to

Hang Chou Kuan,

the

Sung Ko ware was made of

a dark-

coloured clay (we are told by one writer that this clay was actually brought

Hang Chou

from

and

to the Lung-ch'iian district),

for this reason

it

has a

dark brown edge on the unglazed foot-rim and a brown mouth-rim where the glaze

is

thin

glaze itself in a close

enough

to allow the

body material

was crackled, sometimes

to

show through

HsUAN TE PORCELAIN

DYNASTY

A

band of lotus scroll with one of foliage below, ornaments this buff grey vase which has a black finish

it.

The

wide network of cracks, sometimes

pattern of small crackle which was likened to

Tz'u CHOU VASE, yuan

fish roe.

The

crackle

STEM-

CUP

One

of the three crimson red painted on the outside,

BT COURTESY OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM

fishes is

Porcelain vase with dragons

shown

was further emphasized by staining

Ko

in a

it

with red or black.

glaze are described as/£« ch'ing, hui se }

mi

se

which

The

may

colours of the

be rendered grey

green, ash colour and millet colour or yellowish, and less intelligibly as tan

pai which was probably something of the ying cKing colour.

Well accredited

specimens in Western collections have a blackish body material which gives the traditional

and

"brown mouth and

iron foot," a thick

opaque

glaze, lustrous

with crackle stained red or black, and of bluish grey, greenish grey

fat,

or buff grey colours which tally well with the Chinese descriptions.

read of in later

Ko ware made in the Yuan and even times the term Ko glaze was current for

glazes which figure so largely

The

crackle affected

in

the early all

Ming

periods;

We and

the grey and buff crackled

the Chinese potter's output.

by the Chinese potter from the Sung dynasty on117

CHINESE ART wards was deliberately sought by definite processes and was eventually got under perfect control, so that large or small crackle could be produced at It

is

will.

unlikely that the earlier processes were very reliable, such as the plung-

ing of the ware while

still

warm

into cold water; but the Chinese eventually

discovered that the mixing of a certain kind of stone (apparently pegmatite)

with the glaze disturbed the relationship of body and glaze sufficiently to ensure crackle, and they learnt to prepare a crackle glaze which was applied in single,

double or treble doses according to the size of the crackle desired.

Lung-cK iian Celadon. of the original

Ko

—The Lung-ch'iian

Chekiang, the home

district in

ware, had long been noted for a beautiful ware which

familiar to us under the

name

of celadon.

It

is

is

a porcelain or semi-porcelain

of greyish white body with a thick translucent glaze varying from greyish

and bluish green

to sea-green

and grass-green.

The most

precious of the

Lung-ch'iian celadons has a delicate bluish grey or greenish grey glaze over a finely potted porcelain

reputed to have been in the

name

body which

made by

is

Such was the ware

almost white.

the younger

Chang

at the village of Liu-t'ien

Southern Sung period; and collectors distinguish kinuta^ after a

famous vase

preserved in a Japanese temple.

than this

soft,

in

it

by the Japanese

shape of a mallet (kinuta), which

is

Nothing could be more subtly beautiful

misty bluish grey porcelain, and nothing

is

more

difficult to

render adequately in a coloured reproduction. It is

not

known how

far

back the industry of Lung-ch'iian dates; but the

fragments of celadon found on the 9th century potamia,

may

well

have been made

On

there.

site

of Samarra, in Meso-

the other

hand we are

told

that the kilns were transferred to the neighbouring Ch'u-chou at the begin-

Ming period and that they flourished there till the end The output must have been large, and it formed from the

ning of the

of that

dynasty.

earliest

time an important item of Chinese export trade.

found

in the ruins of ancient cities all

actual records that celadon

Fragments of celadon arc

over the Near East, and we

was imported into Egypt and carried thence

along the Mediterranean coasts as far as Morocco.

been found on the coastal

and the East Indies had

know from

sites of

Fragments too have

East Africa as far south as Zanzibar.

their share of the trade,

found their way even to western Europe

in

and

a

India

few pieces of celadon

the Middle Ages.

This justly

celebrated ware, the export celadon, was a stoutly built greyish porcelain

118

—

„

o

_

*

o

•»

COi-

..I.

,|,

OIIO rululHim

•.

-

«.«.is

IHI

VASES OF THE SUNG DYNASTY 1-

4

,

.

rmmoku" 3.

tvpe

'Oul painted (

dengnt

%,, Plate XL

In

brown on cream

ilip

and glaie

I

Pure, perfect vaie (orm covered with cream coloured ttlp and glaje

*

relief

decoration with background

In

brown "Temmoku" gtai*

6.

11.

7.

8.

12.

I

>.0»

COLllCIlON,

(II, II)

Va»e« decorated with painting 9.

IH« SIOIuI luMOtrorouLOt COILICIION

(960-1280) In

brown and covered w.th blue glaze

10. Vaiei decorated with incited ilip and gla.-e

Vaie decorated with Incited brown or

"Temmoku"

g'ajc

"««

ih( »i»i.i

l.«uir,(»u..

it.

T'ANG VASE " •,- with coloured glum. Tang dynaity (AD. 618-906). Height 10 15". The blue glaie It exceedingly rirt in this period, though «ome exceptional ipecimeni art i

|

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN with a beautiful sea-green glaze of considerable thickness but transparent

enough

moulded or

to allow the carved,

incised designs to

show through

clearly.

Besides the carved and incised designs which are of great beauty,

moulded or applied were and

in this case

Sometimes these

effectively used.

medallions, fishes and even figure subjects

—were

left

reliefs

reliefs

—

floral

uncovered by the glaze,

they invariably took on a red or reddish brown colour as a

This browning, caused by the

result of exposure to the fire in the kiln.

presence of iron in the clay,

is

to be seen in

all

parts of the ware which were

unprotected by the glaze, such as the base-rims and the large unglazed ring

which

is

often seen on the bottoms of dishes.

that the presence of this ring was a sign of

Ming

was thought

at one time

but

very doubt-

origin,

it is

holds good; and the distinction between Ming,

ful if this rule

celadons, no easy matter,

Much

It

Yuan and Sung

must depend on an appreciation of style and

help in this delicate task of connoisseurship can be obtained from a

study of the other Sung wares, especially the Ting porcelain with

and engraved

floral

its

carved

designs which closely resemble those used on the cela-

In the hands of the Sung artists these designs had a freshness and

dons.

by repetition on the Ming wares. A special variegated by patches of reddish brown derived from iron.

spontaneity which

type of celadon

This

finish.

is

known

is

is

dulled

as "spotted celadon," the tobi seiji of the Japanese.

Other Celadons.

—Though the industry was not

out in the 17th century, as the sea-green celadon

would be allowed

with slight variations in

many

in

Chekiang

is

said to

have died

to be expected that such a beautiful glaze

it

to disappear.

other pottery centres.

It

was

in fact

made

At Ching-te Chen

it

was used over the white porcelain body for which that place is noted, and the Ching-te Chen celadons have the ordinary white glaze, and sometimes a reign-mark in blue, on their bases. A celadon glaze was used on the

Kwangtung stoneware; and type but so different in perforce look to

books we get

there are

some other centre

little

many

specimens with glaze of celadon

body from the typical Chekiang ware that we must for their origin.

help in this quest.

It

is

If we consult the Chinese

true that they speak of a certain

T'ung ware, made near K'ai-feng Fu in Honan, as if it were of the celadon class. But the identification of the T'ung is quite conjectural. In the absence of definite indications,

we have adopted

the term "northern celadon"

119

CHINESE ART for

one large and important group.

It

comprises bowls, small dishes, vases,

incense burners, etc., with a dry buff grey stoneware body and an olive-green

The

celadon glaze.

much

decoration

carved, incised or moulded, often with

is

ying cWing^ or Ju type of porcelain, a fact which suggests a Honan origin for the ware. This

and

skill

taste;

and

northern origin, however, instance, holds that

it

is

closely resembles that of the

not accepted by

probably right

is

in

authorities.

Dr. Nakao, for

only a variety of the Chekiang celadons,

it is

the very obvious difference between

he

all

it

in spite of

and the usual Lung-ch'uan types, and

supposing that the art of celadon manufacture was

introduced into southern Korea from Chekiang, the most accessible Chinese

And

ceramic centre.

it

must be admitted that the resemblance between the

so-called northern celadon

and the Korean

A stoneware of celadon Sawankhalok

at

in

Siam

is

remarkably

close.

type but with a pale and watery glaze was

as early as the 14th century;

and

in

made

more recent

times good celadon wares, scarcely distinguishable from the Lung-ch'uan.

have been made

And

of Japan.

in several parts

imported celadon wares were freely imitated imitations, for

made with

what they

made

be added that the

and Egypt; but these

the soft Near-Eastern pottery, are easily recognizable

are.

Ting Ware. celain

may

it

in Persia

at

—Another of the Ting Chou

in

classic

Sung types

southern Chihli.

It

is

is

the ivory-white por-

a singularly pure

beautiful ware with a flour-white body, slightly translucent,

cream or ivory

tint,

A

with the ying ch'ing, or Ju type,

is

are often unglazed while the base

a

band of

silver

and a glaze of

which, however, tends to run in tears or drops on the

outside of the bowls and dishes.

usual conditions.

and

peculiarity of the ware, which

it

shares

that the mouth-rims of bowls and dishes is

covered with glaze, thus reversing the

The rough rims of such vessels are generally concealed by or copper. The Ting ware was exquisitely decorated with

carved or incised designs, largely later periods, the

floral and in some cases, especially in the more mechanical method of pressing out the designs in

moulds was used with good

effect.

Besides the fine ivory-white Ting ware there are several varieties. is

known

as /'« (earthy)

looking body.

Ting because

This kind has

covered with faint crackle. 1

20

a soft,

it

One

has a more opaque and earthy-

cream-white glaze which

is

usually

Chinese writers also speak of Ting wares with

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN black, red

the

and brown or purple

Honan temmoku

There

is

also

The two

glazes.

first

are probably glazes of

type; but the purple Ting has so far eluded recognition.

mention of a painted Ting ware, which must have resembled

the painted stoneware of Tz'u Chou.

The beauty

of the white Ting porcelain encouraged, while

abetted, numerous imitations,

some of which

be practically indistinguishable from the original.

to

its

simplicity

by Chinese writers

are admitted

There was,

for in-

made by Ting Chou potters who moved south with the Sung court in 1127 and who seem to have settled in the neighbourhood of Ching-te Chen. Then there were the famous imitations made by P'eng Chiin-pao at Ho Chou in Shansi; and the Ssu Chou and Su Chou wares of Anhwei which were bought for Ting ware in the Sung dynasty "by persons who liked a bargain." There are the white wares of Hsiian Chou, and those made at the "white earth village" near Hsiao Hsien in northern Kiangsu. There were the cream-white wares made at Tz'u Chou which were regarded as equal to Ting; and we know of a singularly pleasing stoneware with stance, the Southern Ting,

grey or light buff body covered with a wash of white

waxen white

Much

of this ware has been excavated on the site of the

Kiiluhsien (destroyed by flood in 1108); and

been

slip

made

and a beautiful

fu Ting wares. submerged town of

glaze closely crackled and recalling the finer

additionally attractive

many

by pinkish grey

of the specimens have stains acquired during

burial.

The Ting Chou the

Sung

factories themselves,

though

period, continued in operation,

their

fame died down

and Ting ware

a

Chou

wonderful imitations of Sung Ting

name by his many followers who kept up

he had

Tan-ch'iian, vessels;

mentioned

About

court records as late as the middle of the 16th century. too a celebrated potter at Ching-te Chen,

is

after

this

made

in

time

himself

and we gather that

the traditions of his

work

at Ching-te

Chen long after his death. Chun Ware. Yet another celebrated ware was the Chun, which was made at Chun Chou in the K'ai-feng Fu district of Honan. It was, in fact, like the white Ting and the green celadon, one of key wares of the Sung

—

dynasty.

According to Dr. Nakao

it

is

the type of ware which would

naturally result from the firing of a kaolinic body and feldspathic glaze

coloured by copper in the oxidizing flame of the typical round kiln of north121

CHINESE ART The

ern China.

finer

Chun wares have

body and

a grey porcellanous

a

thick opalescent glaze full of bubbles and minute pin-holes (caused by the

bursting of bubbles), and displaying a wonderful variety of colours which are

due

in part to the

protean changes of copper oxide in an oxidizing flame, in

which

part to a trace of iron

present in the body material, and in part to

is

Copper under the conditions

the play of light in a highly opalescent glaze. prevailing in the

Chun Chou

kilns

was capable of producing a range of colour

from blue to blood red, and the Chun glazes display endless combinations of

Thus we have

these colours suffusing a basically grey glaze.

in the

extremes

an even lavender grey and an almost uniform purplish red, and between these a variety of splashed, streaked and mottled effects of blue, grey,

purple and crushed strawberry red.

Again the

interior of shallow dishes

often frosted over with an opaque, greenish grey; and the to break into irregular

V-shaped

lines

known

as

Chun

glaze

is

is

apt

earthworm marks, which the

The Chun

Chinese connoisseurs regard as a sign of genuine Sung make.

ware

is

strong and heavy, and the finer specimens consist mainly of flower-

pots and shallow bowls which could serve as stands for the flower-pots or alternatively as bulb-bowls.

This class *of

glaze on the base and a ring of "spur"

on which the vessel rested a series size,

in the kiln.

It

number which ranges from one

No.

An

being the largest.

i

Chun ware

has a wash of brown

marks formed by the pointed

moreover usually incised with

is

and apparently indicates the

to ten

"outsize"

stilts

is

indicated by addition of the

character ta which means large. It is

known

that the

and Yuan dynasties and

Chun

factories continued active through the

as late as the 16th century.

informed when their activity ended.

Sung

we are not much difficulty

In fact,

Consequently there

is

Sung and later Chun wares; and the tendency is to call specimens Sung and the coarser Yuan, too little regard being paid

in distinguishing the

the finer

to the fact that

said for certain

much is

of the ware

must be

as late as

Ming.

Chun factories was Yuan dynasty.

that the heyday of the

that their reputation faded after the

All that can be in the

Sung and

There

is

a peculiarly beautiful group of wares which belong to the

and,

if

fineness

class,

is

a criterion, also to the

grey porcellanous body of the numbered glaze which

122

is,

Sung

Chun

period.

Chun

They have

the

wares, and an opalescent

however, thinner and smoother than the usual

Chun

glaze.

CHINESE PORCELAINS OF THE SUNG DYNASTY .

2.

Water

!

pot.

.

Chun ware.

Chun ware

74

of

hirjh

Kuan

-n«e bowl. Chiin ware of

type. 3

Kuan

type,

6" 3 2" high

(A.D. 960-1?79^

FROM THE GEORGE EU MORFOPOULOS COLLECTION

PORCELAIN OF THE SUNG PERIOD 960-1279)

1.

Vase, Ju type, Sung period (A.D.

2.

Ewer, Ju type, Sung or Yuan period.

3.

Bulb-bowl, Lung-ch'iian celadon, Sung period.

or

Yuan

period

(12S0-136S).

Diameter 5 3 j." Diameter ll'/V

Height 7J 2

'

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN Its colour

is

lavender grey, but

it is

richly suffused, or splashed, with a lovely

plum purple and this purple sometimes dominates the whole surface. The more or less evenly down to the edge of the base-rims and it usually reappears on a small patch on the base. Sometimes the purple glaze flows

splashes on this ware are symmetrically disposed and even deliberately de-

signed to suggest the forms of fishes, birds, animals or fruits, showing clearly that these patches, though doubtless at

first

accidental, were later brought

To what factory does this group belong? Is it merely a variety of the Chun Chou ware or is it something else? One of the descriptions given of the Northern Kuan ware suggests that it may belong to that obscure category; and some collectors distinguish it as Chun ware of Kuan

under control.

type.

many

Chun type of ware, and probably in other districts besides Chun Chou, but we have little or no information on this point. We do, however, know that the Chun wares had many imitators. Good copies were made at Ching-te Chen, probably as early as the Ming dynasty, certainly in the Yung Cheng period of the It

is

evident that

kilns

were at work on the

Ch'ing dynasty (1723-35); but there later copies

mark.

is little

difficulty in distinguishing these

which have a white porcelain body and sometimes even a reign-

Other imitations made elsewhere can

also be detected

of the body material and peculiarities of the glaze.

Chun ware made

by variations

Such are the Fatshan

at the famous stoneware factories at

Shekwan near Fat-

Kwangtung (q.v.), in Ming and later times; and the Yi-hsing Chiins which were made at Yi-hsing near the Great Lake in Kiangsu, the home of the red stoneware tea-pots. The Yi-hsing imitations have a buff or red

shan, in

stoneware body and a thick opalescent glaze of lavender turquoise colour with or without obviously easily distinguished

artificial

from the

real

Chun

wares, they are often mistaken for

another type which remains to be considered. (also called

ma

chiln

by Chinese

This

is

traders), an attractive

the "soft

ware with

a beautiful, opaque and suffused here and there with purple or crimson splashes.

in

some

light buff

Where

it

was

by no means certain; but the shapes of the ware suggest Sung and in others the Ming period, and the glaze is of the

are

cases the

northern type.

Chun"

turquoise or lavender blue glaze closely crackled

body and

made and when

While

splashes of purple and crimson.

A

degenerate descendant of this soft

Chun

is still

made

123

at

CHINESE ART Yii the

Chou which is the modern name original home of the ware. Chien Wares.

—Another

of

Chun Chou, and probably

was

this

and widely distributed group of stone-

large

want of a better general term, by the Japanese name temmoku. This name was first given to the black tea bowls for which Chien-an and afterwards Chien-yang, in Fukien, were noted in the Sung ware

is

commonly

called, for

dynasty and even

They

earlier.

are

made

of a blackish stoneware with a

thick treacly glaze of purplish black shot with

brown

lines like hare's fur or

mottled with brown like the breast feathers of a partridge.

Their glaze

stops in a thick irregular welt short of the base outside and forms in a deep

pool on the bottom inside.

monly preferred ture

made

"hare's-fur or partridge" cups were com-

the cup cool to handle and their dark glaze showed

trace of the green tea dust. in the tea

The

for use in the tea-testing competitions, as their thick struc-

ceremonies.

up the

least

In Japan they have always been fashionable

The Chien

glaze owes

its

colour to iron, which under

varying conditions produces a reddish brown as well as a black colour.

In-

deed the brown and black seem to be always struggling for the mastery

Sometimes the brown completely dominates the black:

the Chien glaze.

sometimes

it

in

only emerges in streaks and spots, and sometimes again these

spots are crystalline and have a silvery sheen.

The tories.

black ferruginous glaze It

was, and

still

is,

by no means confined

is

made

in

many

to the

Fukien

parts of China, chiefly

in

fac-

the

north; and one of the northern wares which has this black and brown glaze

over a whitish stoneware body

The northern black

is

known

to collectors as

glazes are often of a peculiarly rich

Honan temmoku.

and luscious quality,

and sometimes they are boldly flecked with lustrous brown and even painted with sketchy designs of flowers and birds in the same brown.

mens the glaze

is

strewn more or

less regularly

On

rare speci-

with silvery crystals, the "oil

spots" so greatly prized by the Japanese; while on others

it comes out a unitemmoku of the Japanese. Another ware which is commonly grouped with the temmoku is that believed to have been found on the site of the old Sung potteries at Yung-ho Chen near Ch'i-an Fu, in fi

>rm reddish brown, the kaki

Kiangsi.

In this ease the

thin blackish

golden brown

body

is

a buff

brown which flows evenly

stoneware and the glaze

to the base

in tortoise-shell fashion or streaked

and

is

is

a rather

often mottled with

and dappled with frothy

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN grey.

A

further feature

is

—prunus blossoms and sprays, and symmetrical designs— dull

painted ornament

birds, butterflies, inscribed medallions

in

golden brown in the black or dappled glaze. Tz'u Chou.

—The

last

important group of Sung wares takes

the great pottery centre Tz'u Chou, once in

The Tz'u Chou ware

west corner of Chihli.

which plain

name from

in the south-

a grey or buff-grey stoneware,

The

usually coated with white slip and covered with creamy glaze.

is

cream white Tz'u Chou stoneware has been mentioned among the

Ting types, but the ware

The painted

designs.

brush

Honan and now

is

its

in

black or brown

under the cream glaze.

more usually decorated with painted

is

designs, floral or otherwise, are laid slip,

The

on with a bold

sometimes supplemented by an ochreous red

Painting in enamels

the glaze was also used, occasionally in the later times.

or incised

incised, or graffiato,

—green, yellow and red—over Sung period and frequently

Tz'u Chou ware has many

in

varieties.

Simple incised designs are comparatively scarce, the more usual practice being to coat the vessel with white or brown slip which was then scraped

away

so as to leave the design slightly relieved in white or

A

buff-grey body.

brown against a

coating of transparent cream glaze over this produced

cream white design on a mouse grey ground, if the slip was white. Where brown was used the slip usually contained the glazing material and the deBoth sign appeared in brown or black glaze against an unglazed ground. of these graffiato types have great decorative value. The black and brown painted Tz'u

Chou

is

the

commonest type and

its

merits vary with the

quality of the drawing.

The Tz'u Chou

potteries

have a history which can be traced from the

6th century to the present day, and there will always be room for debate as to the age of particular specimens.

Further, most of the Tz'u

Chou

types

were made at other potteries scattered over northern China, and doubtless

much

that

on similar

we

of the Tz'u grey,

is

call

Tz'u Chou This

lines.

Chou

type, and

which worked body material of wares

really belongs to other potteries

will explain variations in the

why

a red body, quite unlike the original buff

found on some of the most beautiful members of the group, such as

the vases with black painted and graffiato designs under transparent green glaze or with black painted designs under a lovely peacock blue. ters

who made

these choice objects

The

pot-

must have been among the foremost of 125

CHINESE ART their craft, but,

though they used the Tz'u Chou methods, their wares

differ

fundamentally from what we know as Tz'ii Chou.

name

Chinese ceramic records

several other

Sung

potteries in various

parts of China, but they are hardly more than names little

or nothing of their productions.

we know, however,

Practically

to us

the

all

and we know

Sung wares which

The forms,

are comprised in the types already described.

except where they were moulded after those of old bronzes, are simple and elegant, such as come naturally from the hands of a gifted "thrower" on the The character of the classic Sung wares may be summed up potter's wheel. in

two words, simplicity and refinement. For the purpose of

Yuan dynasty (i 280-1368) may Sung. The Mongol conquerors had

this brief sketch the

be regarded as a continuation of the

nothing to bring into the stock in trade of the Chinese potter except a taste for certain

Western forms and designs acquired

transcontinental empire.

in

the other extreme of their

Further we are told that they were hard task-

masters and that the ceramic industry, in

more

pecially the

unsympathetic

common

with

artistic crafts, lost

many

others, es-

ground under

their

rule.

The Ming Dynasty {1368-1644).

—In

1368 the

Yuan

was replaced by the native dynasty of the Ming, which ruled China

till

1644; and,

when

the country had re-

covered from the inter-dynastic struggles, the ceramic art took a

new

lease of

changed conditions. celadons, rtoM tbi gioiioi EuuoarorOULOI COLLECTION

incised

tion and GLAZE

turquoise

The

Nanking and the proximity of

and

it;

fame and im-

its

all

the

Ming emperors had their capital in Ching-te Chen to the seat of government

first

development.

At any

rate from this time

white porcelain of Ching-te Chen was in general

onwards the

demand and

the im-

was rebuilt and reorganized to keep the court supplied and Chinese ceramic writers thenceforward speak of Ching-te Gun

perial factory there

with

wares, etc., went out of favour and the

near the Po-yang lake in Kiangsi, overshadowed rest.

fine

wares, the

portance of the great porcelain town of Ching-te Chen,

decora-

doubtless helped

though under somewhat

old factories sank into obscurity, while the

Ming ewer (13681644);

Chun

life,

The Sung monochrome

little else.

126

FROM THE GEORGE EU M ORFOPOU LOS COLLECTION

MING THREE-COLOUR ENAMEL WARE 7"

1.

Incense bowl with low relief decoration.

2.

Bottle-shaped vase with usual ridges on outlines of design to

Height

keep colours from running 3.

Vase from bronze form.

in firing.

Height 13.7"

Height 10.75'

FhOU THE WARREN

E.

COX COLLECTION

CHOW

TZ'U The remarkable painting

of the lotus

—

VASE. SUNG DYNASTY

each petal of which

(960-1280)

—

executed with a single vigorous brush stroke and with strong quality of the incised characters, meaning "snow," "moon," "wind," "flower," make this an outstanding specimen of its type is

HONAN TEMMOKU POTTERY, SUNG PERIOD (96C-1280I HAVING GREYISH WHITE. LIGHT BUFF AND BROWN BODIES II In loave an i

iiimwp,

llghl

giaii

i

Qtlllpel

'

I

open with

W

I

Hi

with illvtry II

P«"<

doubly ipplltd uu.-p «n
bottla with dark linlruui

tern of h 'd 9. Ja' nil

glaj»

'

S

Jar with thiol o "" riinnino Mark. a ;i 10. Pr«t >hAi luttrotn Moot ji> a drrp l.lup np»r haio «n.l IpUlltOd willruit 11 Tpa howl with Ihi.k ••harp'i f,,f" u 1

1

i

(

cm

'

ad- o

l

»; r

-

ill

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN The neighbourhood

of Ching-te

cellent ceramic wares.

It

as the 6th century, and

it

Chen had long been noted

was ordered

to

for its ex-

supply goods to the court as earlv

name

in the Ching Te period Sung dynasty (1004-07). All that the industry required in the way of material was lavishly supplied by the neighbouring hills, kaolin (china clay) for the body of the porcelain and petuntse (china stone) to mix with it and to form the glaze, wood ashes to soften the glaze, and cobaltiferous ore

received

its

present

of the

of manganese to

make

the blue for the underglaze painting and the blue

The staple product of Ching-te Chen is the fine white porcelain which has made China a household word throughout the world; and as this

glazes.

ware lent

itself peculiarly well to

porcelain rapidly replaced the old

painted decoration, the vogue for painted

Sung

taste for

They

monochromes.

fall

into three chief groups, namely blue and white, enamelled wares and threecolour glazed wares, all of which are essentially pictorial in their decoration.

Blue and White.

—The beautiful cobalt blue

is

one of the few ceramic

colours which will stand the high temperature required to melt the porcelain glaze,

and which consequently can be used under the

glaze.

Thus

the blue

colour, painted on the body of the ware and covered with a transparent sheet

of glaze, gives a perfectly protected picture which will last as long as the itself. The idea of painting porcelain in this fashion was not new Ming dynasty. It was known to the Sung potters, but it was only in the Ming dynasty that blue and white became fashionable. Nor is the idea necessarily of Chinese origin, for blue painting was certainly known to the Near-Eastern potters as early as the 9th century, and we have as yet no In the Ming dynasty, indication of its use in China at so early a date. however, the Ching-te Chen potters made it specially their own, and their

porcelain in the

blue and white was not only supplied in large quantities to the imperial court but was exported

all

During certain reigns Chia Ching (1522-66)

over the eastern hemisphere.

—Hsiian Te (1426-35), Cheng Te (1506-21)

and

— the native supplies of cobalt blue were supplemented

by a superior blue imported from the Near East and known as Mohammedan blue. This imported material was scarce and costly and was at first reserved for the imperial factory, and even so it was usually diluted with the common native cobalt.

Later on supplies of

private manufacturers.

it

found their way into the hands of the

According to Chinese accounts

it

varied

much

127

in

CHINESE ART known

tone, but the kind best

Ching period which general the

Ming

to us

is

the

Mohammedan

a dark violet blue of great strength

is

blue

is

blue of the Chia

and

intensity.

In

painted in one of two ways, either in finely pencilled

The

line drawing or in strongly outlined designs filled in with flat washes.

made for imperial and native use, was potted thin and finely shaped; and this is now rare and only to be acquired from Chinese collections. But there is a commoner class which was more strongly better class of

Ming

porcelain,

and roughly fashioned

meet the exigencies of the export trade, and

to

this

has been found

in

considerable quantities in India, the East Indies, Persia,

Egypt and even

in

Europe.

for

home

But

or foreign consumption,

of design which

BT

make

cnimur

the

all is

the

Another colour used, success In several as

Ming

monochrome and

in

Advantage

in

Lamp from the mosque of omar

under the glaze,

a difficult colour to control but

it

is

a red de-

was used with

Te and Ch'eng Hua, both same way as the blue and white.

reigns, notably the Hsiian

designs painted in the

Ming Enamelled Wares, means were found

a desirable possession.

by cooKTirr of rat brithh museum

like the cobalt blue,

was

made

distinguished by a freshness and freedom

or tbi ihitmh muiium

It

blue and white, whether

commonest specimen

Turkish pottery jug

rived from copper.

Ming

to paint

— Pictorial designs having become

them on the glaze

on-glaze painting

lies in

as well as

under

it.

fashionable,

The

chief

the wider range of colours available.

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN The

over-glaze colours,

commonly

distinguished as enamels, are

made

of

coloured glass ground to powder and liquefied so as to be usable on a brush.

They

are "fixed" in a small stove, or muffle, at a low temperature which

sufficient to melt the enamel powder and

actually melting the latter.

The

make

it

is

adhere to the glaze without

colours used are leaf green

and turquoise

green derived from copper, a brownish yellow derived from iron, and aubergine purple derived from manganese, besides which a dry black pigment was

obtained from manganese and a thin tomato red (half-way between a pig-

ment and an enamel) from and lustrous; both latter

it

iron.

The Ming

and the black are used

red

is

apt to become iridescent

for painting outlines,

and the

was sometimes washed on and covered with transparent green to form Gilding was also used. With this palette the Ming

a composite black.

potters produced richly coloured porcelain, decorated with pictorial designs

and formal brocade patterns.

In some cases the enamels were combined

with underglaze blue and this colour scheme, though known in the 15th

Wan Li period (1573-1619) that it has come known as the wan It wu ts'ai or Wan Li polychrome. Another type, known as the "red and green family," is characterized by the absence of century, was so popular in the to be

blue and the predominance of red and green, and again there are effective

combinations of two colours such as red and yellow, blue and yellow, blue

and green, red and green, red and gold and more rarely green and gold. Besides being painted on the glaze the enamel colours were sometimes painted on the biscuit,

i.e.,

the fired but unglazed porcelain body; but this

technique was commoner in the succeeding dynasty and will be discussed later.

—

Ming Wares. There are few otherwise, that make such a brave show

"Three-colour"

Chinese or

(san ts'ai) porcelain.

kinds of ceramic ware, as the

Ming

three-colour

Though nominally combinations of three, the glazes

which make up the colour scheme of

this

group are dark violet blue, tur-

and a neutral white; and they are used in single-colour ground which is usually dark blue

quoise, aubergine purple, yellow

washes over designs set or turquoise.

To

open work.

prevent the colours from overrunning each other the de-

by threads of clay, or they are carved The glazes themselves, though harder than the enamels dis-

signs are outlined in

in

by

incised lines or

cussed in the last section, do not require the

full

heat of the porcelain kiln to 129

CHINESE ART melt them, and consequently the ware has to be "biscuited" (subjected to a preliminary firing)

and then, when the glazes have been applied,

in the cooler parts of the kiln.

They

fired

again

what the French

are, in fact,

call

them, glazes du demi-grand feu.

The

decoration of the three-colour ware

subjects, lotus

up

left

it

watching the game of chess,

unglazed.

The

The

etc.

the glazes tend to cised decoration

used.

The

it

and inclined

to be opaque.

floral

figures

Much

In the 16th century

smoother and more transparent, and

was not confined

to porcelain.

beautiful three-colour vases

in-

Excellent

are seen on both stoneware and earthenware bodies.

some of the most and bold

sleeker,

three-colour decoration

human

such as faces and hands of

glazes are thick

become

is

set figure sub-

details are often built

of the three-colour ware dates from the 15th century.

specimens of

includes large floral

Immortals paying court to the God of Longevity,

in slight relief, certain parts

being

bold;

and cranes, peonies and peacocks, and a few

jects such as the Eight

Wang Chih

is

Indeed

have a buff stoneware body

designs in minutely crackled glazes which include a peacock

blue of peculiarly attractive tone.

Where

this

group of

fine

pottery was

made is not known; but it is found in widely separated parts of China and may have been made in several factories. Other Ming Wares. Though monochrome porcelains no longer held the premier position, they were still made in considerable quantity and some of them received special notice from Chinese writers. The sacrificial red {chi hung) of the Hsiian Te and Ch'eng Hua periods, a brilliant underglaze red

—

derived from copper, was most noted; and next tense blue glaze of the Hsiian

mottled texture

is

Te

came

the chi cJiing, an in-

period; and a lovely blue glaze of slightly

found on some of the Chia Ching porcelains.

besides, celadon green, lustrous black

and brown glazes; and

There were, all

the demi-

grand feu glazes of the three-colour porcelains were used individually as monochromes, the turquoise blue being especially effective. Very beautiful, too, are the pure white porcelains (white

was the colour required

in certain

forms of ritual and also by the court during periods of mourning); and special

of

mention

Yung Lo

Ching periods. 130

is

made

of the exquisite white "egg-shell" bowls of the reign

(1403-24) and of the white altar cups of the Hsiian If

any decoration was added

to these

Te and Chia

white wares

it

was

CENTRE VASE

WARREN

E.

COX COLLECTION; OTHERS

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW TfCRK

CHINESE POTTERY AND PORCELAIN, MING DYNASTY Upper

(1368-1644)

left: Black rectangular vase bearing Wan Li mark (1573—1619) decorated with enamels. Upper right: three-colour vase and bowl with aubergine ground; 16th-17th century. Centre: Large deep peach-bloom glazed vase decorated with enamels and bearing Hsuan Te mark (1426-35). Lower left: Three-colour jar and cover with

turquoise ground; 15th century.

Lower

right

:

Five-colour jar and cover; 16th century

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN faintly carved, incised or traced in white slip

known

of ornament

spicuous form of

as

slip

under the glaze, a subtle form

an hua or secret decoration. decoration

Another and more con-

traced in white on blue or green glazes

is

modern pate sur pate. Reliefs in white biscuit and remarkably fine open work distinguish some of the later Ming porcelains, the open work being of such superhuman delicacy that it was called kuei

in a

manner resembling

kung or all

devil's

work.

over China in the

the

A

quantity of stoneware and earthenware was

Ming

The

period.

known

best

are the

made

work and

tile

architectural pottery which are often finely modelled: they are usually

On

glazed with green, yellow, aubergine purple, turquoise or blue.

Nanking pagoda,

of the famous

white porcelain was also employed for the same purpose.

Many

vessels of everyday use were also made as by-products of the

which existed is

in all large centres of

hard to distinguish the

earlier

and

common

of

Ming

vases and tile

works

population to supply local needs; but pottery of the

where there

later periods, except

known type

parts

built in the beginning of the 15th century,

is

Ming from

it

that of the

a close analogy with

some

porcelain to help us.

In the early years of the 16th century direct contact was established be-

tween Europe and China; and Chinese porcelain, together with soon became an important item of European trade.

From

silk

this

and

tea,

time on-

wards we note the influence of European taste affecting the Chinese porcelain to a steadily increasing extent.

The Ch'ing Dynasty {1644-1912).

Ming

—The Ch'ing dynasty of the Manchus

was not

till

firmly established over a pacified country.

A

replaced the

in 1644;

but

it

about 1680 that

its

rule

was

succession of three able and

— K'ang Hsi (1662-1722), Yung Cheng (1723-35) and Ch'ien Lung (1736-95) —gave China a long period of good rule and the enlightened emperors

ideal

conditions for the development of the arts, which indeed enjoyed at this

time an unusual amount of imperial patronage. tory at

Ching-te Chen was managed by a

directors.

Ts'ang Ying-hsiian, appointed

The

imperial porcelain fac-

series of exceptionally

in 1682,

remained

capable

in charge

till

Nien Hsi-yao was appointed by the EmYung Cheng and in 1728 he was given as an assistant the celebrated T'ang Ying, who succeeded him in 1736 and held the post with great disthe end of the K'ang Hsi period.

peror

tinction

till

1749.

T'ang Ying

left

behind him several treatises on the manu131

CHINESE ART and

facture under his control,

in addition to

we have

these

the letters of

Chen

the Jesuit father d'Entrecolles which were written from Ching-te

1712 and 1722, giving us an intimate picture of the great porcelain centre with

The

its

as the

most

fertile in

porcelains of this time are distinguished

and perfect command of material and technique.

do not, however, little to

must be regarded

The

the annals of Chinese ceramics.

by

and industry of the

life

3,000 furnaces.

period from 1680 to 1749

fine finish

in

differ basically

from those of the Ming potters,

learn in the essentials of their craft;

comparison with the Ming

and mechanical.

trifle stale

Still

by

suffer

The

matter of originality and freshness.

in the

Ch'ing wares indeed are often a

and on the whole they

They who had

they have

enjoyed a long period of popularity in Europe, and their relative weakness has only recently become apparent; for

Ming

quaintance with the better types of Ch'ing Blue and White. for

we have only

None

is

the less

a household phrase in

it is

a

misnomer,

of that ware was transhipped from Nanking, none of

Old Nanking

there.

Chen and

is

in

fact the blue

made

chiefly that

in

for

Europe

for while

was actually

it

much made

the K'ang Hsi period and imported into It

was justly

fa-

never was more care expended on the preparation of the ware and

the refining of the blue.

The

best

K'ang Hsi blue

is

pure sapphire, without

the tinge of violet or grey so often observable in the usually laid on in graded washes which give

As

ac-

and white porcelain of Ching-te

Europe by the Dutch and other East India merchants. mous,

made

porcelain.

—Old Nanking

Chinese blue and white.

recently

to the painted designs they are mainly

of the formal arabesque type; but

Ming

blue; and

it

is

splendid, vibrating depths.

it its

Ming themes, when

some of them

they are not

are of outstanding beauty,

such as the design of ascending and descending branches of flowering prunus reserved in white in a ground of marbled blue which

suggesting cracked a

ice.

The prunus blossom

symbol of returning spring; and

this

motive

falling is

netted over with lines

is

on the breaking

ice is

a favourite one for the dec-

oration of the jars in which gifts of fragrant tea and sweetmeats were sent at the

than

in

at the

new year

—a

festival

our calendar.

which

The vogue

falls in

China three

to

seven weeks later

of blue and white seems to have died

end of the K'ang Hsi period,

for after that

sank into mediocrity, though exceptions must be

time the ware

made

in

down

general

of two types.

One

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN is

Ming

the close imitations of

period; and the other

is

blue and white

made

in the

Yung Cheng

the so-called "soft paste" blue and white, a ware

prepared with "soapy rock" {hua shih), a kind of pegmatite, and exquisitely painted with the finest brushwork and the purest blue under a soft-looking

Another name given

crackled glaze. belief that the

and

to this porcelain

hua shih was soap-stone or

is

Famille Verte.

—This

is

the

Ming

and the furniture of

take special delight.

literati

given to the K'ang Hsi porcelain deco-

These enamels are

rated in transparent enamels. those used in the

name

"steatitic," in the

was an expensive ware

It

chiefly used for small objects such as snuff bottles

the writing table, in which the Chinese

is

steatite.

in the

main the same

period, but there are a few differences.

a coral rather than a tomato red, the yellow

The

as

iron red

clearer than the brownish

is

Ming

yellow, there are additional shades of green,

green

is

replaced by a beautiful violet blue enamel.

and the Ming turquoise

The enamels

are either

painted over the glaze or washed over black-outlined designs painted direct

on the unglazed porcelain or in the

Ming

called

Ming, belong

period, but

biscuit.

The

latter process

most of the existing specimens, though often mis-

to the Ch'ing dynasty.

celains are enamelled

was not unknown

on the

biscuit,

Some

of the finest Ch'ing por-

such as the sumptuous vases with

grounds of green-black {famille noire), figures and groups.

Not

unlike the porcelain enamelled on the biscuit

is

that decorated with

washes of coloured glazes, chiefly green, yellow and aubergine. Ch'ing version of the sleek

Ming

and transparent.

This

is

the

three-colour ware; but the Ch'ing glazes are

Sometimes they are

laid

on

in

patches making a

glaze. known Citing Monochromes. The Ch'ing monochromes comprise the Ming Among types, close imitations of the old Sung glazes and many novelties. the best known is the langyao red which follows the Ming chi hung but has a

motley decoration which

in the trade as

is

"egg and spinach"

—

character of

its

own, varying from bright cherry red and deep ox-blood {sang

de boeuf) colour to a dappled glaze of crushed strawberry tint. called after a potter family of the

subsequent reigns,

it

was

the K'ang Hsi porcelain.

"peach bloom"

name

This red

is

of Lang; and, though imitated in

never so well controlled or so fine in colour as on

Another success of the K'ang Hsi period was the

glaze, pinkish red in colour but flecked with russet spots

broken by passages of green.

and

Between the peach red and langyao are many 133

CHINESE ART Other K'ang Hsi glazes are the mirror-

shades of maroon and liver colour. black, the powder-blue

and the pale lavender or

clair de lune;

and Chinese

writers mention turquoise, eel-skin yellow and snake-skin green as

specialities

of the period.

We

need not dwell on the

many

other monochromes

lustrous browns, aubergine purples, violet blues

and so

— whites, celadons,

forth; but there

They

group of composite glazes which requires notice.

is

a

are formed by

washes of enamel over a stone-coloured crackled glaze; and they include "apple-green", camellia leaf green, sage green and mustard yellow.

monochrome, but

red was also used in

this

rose types belong chiefly to the Ch'ien

came

or flambe reds which

ceeded

in

at first

Coral

and many enamels of the jamille

Lung

period, as also

by accident but which

do the splashed

Tang Ying

suc-

getting under perfect control.

Famille Rose.

— In the third decade of the 18th century a revolution took

place in the enamelled porcelains.

A

new

palette of colours

was introduced,

opaque enamels among which rose pinks (derived from gold) are most conspicuous.

The Chinese

called these

yangts'ai (foreign colours), and

The jamille

famille rose. it

a

new

colours juan

we have adopted

for

y

ts

them the French name

rose displaced the famille verte,

new and more effeminate type of decoration with

cuted with a miniature-like refinement.

The

ai (soft colours) or

and

it

brought with

delicate designs exe-

colours are seen at their best

on the Yung Cheng porcelain with a few sprays of flowers thrown across the white surface. services with

The more

artistically

elaborate ruby-back dishes and table

crowded figure-subjects and complicated borders are

factory; but these were painted in the

were destined

less satis-

Canton enamelling establishments and

European

trade. At Canton, too, were decorated large Chen porcelain with coats of arms and other European ordered by the foreign merchants.

for the

quantities of Ching-tc

designs directly

The /ami lie

verte

entirely suppressed;

enamels, though eclipsed by the famille rose, were not

and they emerged again

parent and opaque colours. a school of painters

and decorator

mens of

in a

mixed palette of trans-

These mixed enamels were

who worked

in

of glass in the early

the style of one

Ku Yueh-hsuan,

years of Ch'ien Lung's reign.

are rare, tor they are pri/cd by Chinese collectors.

the Ch'ien '

M

Lung period

by maker

effectively used

Other

a

Good

speci-

specialities

are "lace-work" porcelain with designs deeply

BY COURTESY OF (3)

THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO; FROM

(1,

2,

6.

THE GEORGE

7)

E U

MORFOPOU LOS COLLECTION,

<4, S)

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN OF THE SUNG DYNASTY 1.

Ko ware, pale cafe au

2.

Northern

Celadon

lait

with

3 XVIII.

and

5.

Tu

6.

Kuan ware, pale bluish grey

Ting ware, pure white

Ting

ware

with

lightly

design

7. Ting ware, pure white

E.

COX COLLECTION

(A.D. 960-1280)

4.

characteristic

incised design, olive green

THE WARREN

incised

•I uuui

>

I

n

HOFOUlOt COllfCTION

CHINESE PORCELAINS 1.

Yung Cheng

2.

I a

#ggthi>ll .h, I

P"'

Kung

H»l p«rlod

3.

K «ng

4.

Powderblue bowl

H»i

g

1

-urod

glliei

5.

Chla Ching

6.

7.

jar.

K"«ng Hii

blue and white

»im,

blue «nd while

CHINESE VASE L»nQ Y>

", K jm -

HU

period

(1662-1722). Height

17'.. inches

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN incised

and forming semi-transparencies; and "rice-grain" porcelain

in

which

the designs are actually cut out of the side of the vessel though allowed to fill

up with

glaze.

A third

famille rose enamel which

The monochromes

type,

known

opaque

as graviata, has a covering of

diapered with incised scroll-work.

is

of the

Yung Cheng and

Ch'ien

Lung

periods include

some of which have already Great ingenuity was exercised by the Ch'ien Lung potters

those of the K'ang Hsi with numerous additions,

been mentioned.

in the imitation of natural

substances in glaze; the effects of tea dust, iron-

and bronze are cleverly produced, and enamelled metal,

rust

eggs, grained

wood, jade, ivory,

But these

eye.

maturity; and after the

1

are copied so closely as to deceive the

etc.,

tours deforce are

symptoms of an

Exceptions

lion bowls, the finer snuff bottles of the

The devastation

in

which had passed

of Ching-te

being

little interest,

be made of the Peking medalTao Kuang period (1821-50) and a high standard of tech-

Chen during the

T'ai-p'ing rebellion

1853 was a crowning disaster to the ceramic industry of China.

—

and Pottery. The bulk of the Ch'ing dynasty porwhich have reached Europe is of Ching-te Chen make; but there were

Provincial Porcelains celains

many

provincial factories which supplied local needs and which also catered

for the sea-borne trade to India

and the East

These provincial

Indies.

wares are generally of a coarse type; but a shining exception porcelain

made

This

at Te-hua in the province of Fukien.

is

is

the white

the blanc de

Chine of the old French catalogues, which was freely exported from in the 17th

early

and 18th centuries, and which served as a model for most of the It is a beautiful, translucent ware with a soft-

pinkish tinge; and

it

was

cream white, sometimes warmed with a

chiefly used for

libation cups, incense burners, figures

decorated,

is

signs, rarely

if

at

all,

with

as the character of the

mens

will

always be

Immense

ornamental objects such as vases,

and groups,

less often for table wares.

slight, applied reliefs,

with painted enamels.

existed in the last half of the

and

Amoy

European porcelains.

looking, melting glaze of milk or

It

its

may

some of the imperial porcelains which maintained nique.

art

8th century the porcelain has

mainly of an imitative kind.

shells, birds'

The Te-hua

moulded or

factories are

Ming dynasty, and they

ware has changed very

are

little,

still

incised de-

known

to

have

active to-day;

the dating of speci-

difficult.

quantities of earthenware

and stoneware have been and are 135

CHINESE ART still

made

in

We know little of the individual potteries,

every part of China.

but there are two centres which must be mentioned. Yi-hsing, on the west side of the Great Lake in Kiangsu, has been noted since the 16th century for a fine stoneware, chiefly red

but also

formed by clever blending of the

local clays.

came at

to

Europe with China

buff,

grey and of other colours

The

red tea ware of Yi-hsing

tea as early as the 17th century.

that time with the American buccaro ware; and

it

It

was classed

was copied

by

closely

Dutch, English and German potters, notably by Bottger at Dresden and by

Dwight and Elers

in

England.

ioned, often in fanciful shapes, cised designs

and

The second

in

some

centre

The

Yi-hsing tea-pots were cleverly fash-

and decorated with

reliefs,

moulded and

in-

cases with glazes and even enamels.

lies

in

the province of Kwangtung, the principal

The

potteries being at

Shekwan near Fatshan,

Shekwan ware

a stoneware verging on porcelain; and the standard type

is

a few miles west of Canton.

has a thick flocculent glaze of brown mottled with blue and grey and sometimes with vivid red.

Glazes of the Sung

Chun

type and celadon green, as

already mentioned, besides flambe red were also used; and some of the

Shekwan stoneware dates back is

Ming

period, though the bulk of

it

of comparatively recent date.

The

is reminded that true Chinese decoration is never meaningmeaning may be directly expressed in semi-religious emblems such the Eight Buddhist Symbols, the attributes of the Eight Immortals, the

less.

as

to the

reader

Its

Eight Precious Things,

etc.; or indirectly

by motives which suggest good

wishes, such as the peach, crane, tortoise and pine (long ness), the

pomegranate

(fertility).

life),

the bat (happi-

Again combinations of flowers, animals,

can be read rebus-fashion into auspicious phrases; for the Chinese language abounds in homophones and the Chinese delight in puns. They also delight in themes of religious and historical import; and the understand-

etc.,

ing of their decorative designs involves a deep study of their religion, history

and

folk-lore.

Numerous marks and seals are used on Chinese pottery and porcelain; but for these again the reader must consult special books. The most important and the most frequent of the marks are the reign-names {nien hao) ol the emperors; but there are also potters' names, phrases of good omen, symbols and the names of

halls

and workshops, which

it

would be

enumerate- without giving the actual marks and their readings. 136

futile to

wammumumummmimumJMXKUJKjnM^

JEWELLERY

N.ature and

use.

—There can be few branches of craftsmanship

the characteristics of a race are

Not only

is

more

which

the refinement born of centuries of civilization to be set against

the untutored love of mere glitter, but

Some

sidered.

in

clearly expressed than in its jewellery.

of these

many

become obvious

other factors have to be con-

at once

when

a comparison of the

jewellery of the Far East with that of western Europe or America

tempted.

have

Even

is

at-

the circumstance that in such a comparison Japan would

to be left almost entirely out of the question

is

Living in a

relevant.

mountainous country with scanty natural resources, and parted from neighbours by the ocean, the Japanese hardly

know

their

the meaning of jewel-

lery.

The

character of the personal ornaments depends to a large extent upon

the minerals and metals which a country provides, upon

upon the amount and nature of the clothing worn. be given to religious

beliefs

its

and national customs, giving

article of jewellery a special significance,

particular age, condition or station.

climate,

and

Consideration must also

and limiting

its

to this or that

use to persons of a

Personal ornaments

may

serve as in-

dispensable articles of dress, rather than as mere embellishments, and their

nature

is

thus to a large extent determined by the purpose they serve.

influence of religion

and

ritual

observance

is

The

too obvious to need emphasiz-

ing.

In the East, the custom of accumulating savings in the form of jew-

ellery

is

a factor not to be overlooked.

A

young

bride's

dowry may

consist

entirely of personal ornaments in gold or silver, or of a head-dress strung with

coins or precious stones.

But others too

find in jewellery a convenient

137

CHINESE ART means of holding

their wealth, enabling

them

them, both for safeguarding and for use when Jewellery in China

to

have

it

continually with

occasion requires.

characterized by a delicacy and manipulative elab-

is

oration for which the Chinese craftsman shows great aptitude.

Silver

by

is

far the most usually employed of the precious metals, though ornaments are

occasionally of solid gold.

generally gilt to safeguard

is

it

Rubies, amethysts and other precious and semi-precious

from tarnishing. stones are used

Silver jewellery

—not cut

but polished and set en cabochon.

in facets,

and pearls are frequently

drilled

Gems

through and attached by means of a

fine

Flexible strings of jewels, often interspersed with plaques of carved

wire.

jade or enamel, are worn as personal ornaments and employed in a variety

This practice gives a distinctive character to Chinese

of other ways. jewellery.

Personal jewellery in China often takes the form, or bears the images, of the animals, real or fabulous, and the numerous ritual and symbolical

A

objects of Chinese art and culture.

dragon or phoenix

emblems of happy augury,

or used separately.

naments"

It

are strung with rows of pearls

should be noticed that the

a round jewel wreathed with a

is

fillet,

first

of the "precious or-

and that innumerable works

of art represent the dragon pursuing or grasping the flaming jewel of

Emblems

nipotence.

a

The "precious ornaments,"

bracelet or decorate a head-dress or a hairpin.

or eight Buddhist

may form

om-

often indicate the rank and office of the wearer, from

the emperor downwards.

Special ornaments were

worn by the Manchu or

Chinese ladies, and various limitations were imposed by sumptuary laws.

Gold and

silver

plaques were manipulated in several ways.

might be pressed into moulds, hammered terns or engraved.

The

in relief,

cut into openwork pat-

dexterity of the Chinese craftsman has carried the

art of filigree {q.v.) in the precious metals to a degree of intricacy

nuteness unsurpassed elsewhere. dresses is

and

It

for all kinds of personal

often enamelled

silver in

They

—gold generally

is

used

for the

ornaments. in light

and mi-

most elaborate head-

Jewellery in gold and silver

blue obtained from copper, and

dark blue from a cobaltiferous ore; both colours are also used

to-

gether.

The gold v..

i

,

worn by 138

filigree bracelet is in

a

Manchu

the form of two dragons.

lady of high rank.

It

The

head-dress

has a wire foundation covered

JEWELLERY with

silk

and mounted with panels of

(for happiness)

and peaches

silver-gilt filigree in the

(for longevity).

It

is

overlaid with kingfisher

plumes and enriched with amber, jadeite, amethysts, coral and cap of state, from the

Summer

Palace, Peking,

is

form of bats

pearls.

The

also of silver-gilt filigree

The ornament and butterflies. The bride's

with kingfisher plumes and enrichment of pearls and coral. includes figures of Taoist immortals, birds

head-dress phoenixes.

is

of the same materials, showing a temple pavilion, dragons and

The

chatelaine has a

row of silver-gilt

toilet articles.

There are

various forms of hairpins, hair-ornaments, cap-ornaments, earrings and buttons in silver and silver-gilt, with jewels, enamels and kingfisher plumes.

The Indian

practice of inlaying precious stones in finger-rings

plaques of jade was copied in China, where jade and jadeite rank

most valued of precious in

stones.

gems and semi-precious

among

and the

Figure-subjects are sometimes carried out

stones, encrusted

on plaques of white jade.

Small personal ornaments of many kinds have been carved in jade.

139

/ttAWAV:WA«>.Vg/:VS£^^

ENAMEL

E

'namels do not appear to have reached China until long after they were

to be found throughout Europe.

The Chinese make no

vention; but, on the contrary the native term, directly suggests an origin in the eastern

"

Roman

claim to their in-

Fu-lin ware" (hence Fa-Ian), provinces, that

name having

been applied to the Byzantine Empire by Chinese historians as early as the

The

7th century. versy and

is

derivation of the word has been the subject of contro-

uncertain; but

of the art; which was, in traders, or

by

all

authorities are agreed as to the western origin

all

probability, introduced into China

travelling craftsmen

by Arab

working their way eastwards as oppor-

tunity arose of plying their craft profitably.

of alien origin, was imported from the

Glass, which in China

Roman Empire

was

also

certainly as early as

it was not until the reign of T'ai Wu (424-452) Wei dynasty that craftsmen from an Indo-Scythian kingdom on the northwest border of India came to the Wei capital in Shansi and succeeded in making excellent opaque glass of various colours from local

the 3rd century a.d.; but

of the Northern

minerals.

Although the Chinese were thus informed as

to the production of an es-

making of enamels and were already most highly the working of bronzes and other metals, it is remarkable that there

sential material for the skilled in

appears to have been no development of the art of enamelling at least until

when the Mongolian conquests introduced into the Far many arts hitherto unknown. A record exists, in the Ko ku yao

the 13th century,

last so hoi, a

book on antiquities published

and varied scale 140

of

in

1387, of the production on a large

enamelled ware which "resembles the cloisonne work of

ENAMEL This

Fo-lang." country. for this

herein termed also Kuei kuo yao, ware of the devils'

is

Yunnan have established factories enamels made at the provincial capital,

It also states that natives of

ware

in

Peking and that the

Yunnan-fu, are "fine, lustrous and beautifully finished."

Ta

fore that the

tablished in China at this period; and that Byzantine acter

and

was

It

appears there-

shih yao or Arabian (so-called) enamel ware

also so well

known

that, as pointed out

work of

was

well es-

similar char-

as to invite comparison with the native product

by M. Paleologue, "the workmanship

(of the Chi-

nese enamels) presents occasionally, in fact, striking resemblances with certain enamels of the Byzantine School: the mixture of different enamels inside

the wall of the

ment of the

From gories

same

figures

the

cell,

employment of gold encrustations

and hands,

in the treat-

etc."

the technical point of view, Chinese enamels

— cloisonne, champleve and painted.

fall

into three cate-

In none does the technique vary

appreciably from that employed in western countries. Cloisonne.

— In cloisonne, the outlines of practically every —copper,

detail of the

design are defined with narrow bands or ribbons of metal

gold

— soldered edgewise

to the base, in such a

way

silver or

as to cover the

whole

surface to be decorated, with shallow cells sometimes called c/oisons, but this

term

is

more

correctly

employed

to designate the

These

bands themselves.

ground

are then filled with the appropriate enamel colours,

moistened and tightly packed into their respective

to a fine

"The

cells.

powder,

piece," says

S. W. Bushell, "is usually fired in the open courtyard, protected only by a primitive cover of iron network, the charcoal fire being regulated by a number of men standing round with large fans in their hands." This proc-

Dr.

ess

has to be repeated several times, on account of the shrinkage, under

heat, of the enamel,

surface

is

and the pitting which

also takes place.

thus satisfactorily covered in this manner

it is

When

the whole

ground down

to

an

even texture with pumice stone and polished with charcoal; the metal surfaces of the cloisons,

now

clearly visible being gilded, as well as those parts

of the object which have not been adorned with enamel; for instance, the

neck, rims and foot of a vase as well as any decoration in relief which projects

beyond the enamelled

The

earliest

surface.

examples of cloisonne enamel that can be authentically

associated with the Far East are mirrors in the Shoso in ("lonely building"), 141

CHINESE ART at

Nara

in

Japan.

The backs

There

in character.

is

of these have cloisonne work,

somewhat crude

no doubt that these and other objects

in the collec-

by Komyo-K6g5, widow Emperor Shomo-Tenno (724-749), with other treasures collected dur-

tion were deposited in the Shoso in in the year 756

of the

ing his

We

life.

must date back case with It

as

have here, therefore, authentic examples of the art that

T'ang dynasty, and may, as

at least to the

some other objects

in the collection,

is

certainly the

be of Chinese workmanship.

So

generally agreed that they are neither Japanese nor Byzantine.

is

far

known at present, the sequence of Chinese enamels with which we are

is

acquainted begins, however, only in the

corded marks belong to the reign of the

The

1367).

Yuan

last

period; and the earliest re-

emperor of that dynasty (1341-

great period of the production

is

certainly that of the

Ming

dynasty which followed and existed until 1643.

The mark most commonly found

is

that of the Ching

T'ai reign (1450-1456); so Dr. Bushell suggests that there

must have been a

within this epoch

great revival of the art at this time, as even in his

Lan was "commonly used

He

enamels."-

day the term Ching T'ai

Peking as a general synonym for cloisonne

in

points out the significance of the fact that this reign covers

the time of the last siege and capture of Constantinople by the Turks (1453) when some of the craftsmen then dispersed may have even penetrated to China. However this may be, the Ming enamels, bold in design, with fine depth and purity of colour, were never surpassed in later epochs. The two

shades of blue, a dark lapis-lazuli tone and a pale sky-blue with a very slight tinge of green, are particularly excellent.

the yellow full-bodied and pure. ingly used

come

red

is

of dark coral tint and

Greens derived from copper are spar-

and Dr. Bushell states that rouges (Tor (reds made of gold) do not

into the colour

cessful; the

same

The

scheme

at

all.

The black and white

are the least suc-

former shallow and dull, the latter clouded and muddy.

time, an imperfection of technique

is

At

the

noted, a close examination re-

vealing minute pitting in the enamels, due to inadequate packing of the material, and

some want of

polish in the surface.

however, do not appreciably detract from the

These technical

artistic

defects,

value of the

Ming

enamels and, indeed, serve as a clue to their identification.

To

the patronage of the

Emperor K'ang Hsi (1662-1722) was due

great revival of art industries.

142

a

In 1680 he established a whole series of

the metropolitan

NEW YORK

CHINESE PORCELAINS OF THE K'ANG HSI Top Row: Peach-bloom chrysanthemum vase marked Ta Ch'ang K'ang Hsi Nein Chih, and rouge cup. Clair-de-lune Amphora. Mirror black Amphora, later period. Blue and White Hawthorn Ginger Jar. Apple Green Galley Celadon Chrysanthemum Vase. Coral red enamel vase of the later pot. period. Second Row: Temple Jars of the so-called Famille Veite type

(1622-1722)

AND CH'IEN LUNG

(1736-95)

PERIODS

painted with enamels, the two at the left being called Famille Jaune, and Famille Noire because of their back-ground colouration. Bottom Row: Powder blue Temple Jar with reserved medallions in enamel decoration. Famille Noire Temple Jar. Famille Rose Temple Jar of later period

with enamel decorations

-

ii

MP COMPANY.

13.

4.

S

I,

tl

THE METROPOLITAN MUSLIM or ART

PAINTED, CLOISONNE AND CHAMPLEVE CHINESE 1.

Imprri.il teapot of

2.

Round

3.

Incense,

Poking enamel painted. Ch'icn Lung period (1736-

95)

burnar of cloiionn6 on copper. In three partt. bowl, ring and cover. It li decorated with floral designs and openwork on turquoise blue ground; height, 16 inches. 19th century

dMign.

Ih stand and cover of same material and Turquoise blue ground; 24'.. » 12'., Inches. Ch'ien Lung

•

ivklng

enamel

Ch'ltn Lung period

LH

decorated

with

Ttolli

MOM

walking.

TMC OIPARTMINT OF riHt A«TS.

ENAMELS OF THE

XVIII.

AND

HOOIHIN MUSEUM

XIX.

CENTURIES

6. Cloisonne snuff bottle of turquoise blue and while enamel ground, with coral stopper; height, 2-3 7 inches. Ch'ien Lung period

The figures. 37 inches figures and tripod censer of cloisonne. in height, are on garden seats, also in cloisonne, and represent an empress (loft) and a princess, probably of the Ch'ien Lung period The robes of tho former are executed with designs on chocolate colour ground and those of the latter on a ground of blue and imperial yellow. Faces and hands are gill. The censer It enamelled in both cloisonne and champlevc on turquoise blue ground. The handles arc Of irohtlC sccptre-shape and Ihe cover is surmounted by a gilt hron:e finlal; height 36 inches. Era of Tao-kuang (1821-50) 8. Gourd-shaped clolsonn6 snuff bottle, with metal and enamel itoPMT. on wood stand; height. 2 7 8 Inches. Ch'ien Lung period 7.

screen of Peking enamol, with a landscape dciign

NCH

Seated

ENAMEL imperial factories for this purpose, of which that devoted to the manufacture

of enamels was No. 6 on the vessels of cloisonne

enamel

official list.

Here he had made

for presentation

to

sets of incense

numerous Buddhist

the

temples in the neighbourhood of Peking, founded under his auspices and other objects for the honorific gifts which were characteristic of his en-

The enamels

lightened reign.

in technical quality as

of his time were

marked by an improvement

compared with those of the Ming period, while the

finer qualities of the latter are still, to a considerable extent, in evidence.

many

In

cases the forms of ancient bronze vessels were revived for these

purposes, with the addition of enrichments in enamel. reign persisted during that of I

The

735)> while the long period on the throne occupied by Ch'ien

1795) was marked, as in the case of

many

much

of the vigour of design

and breadth of execution that distinguished the products of and not so well

The

earlier periods.

more hurriedly made

chiefly imitations of older work, are

finished.

Lung (1736—

other industrial arts, by a further

perfection of technique, but with the loss of

Modern enamels,

style of this

K'ang Hsi's successor, Yung Cheng (1723-

quality of the gilding especially

is

far

below

that of the older productions.

Champleve.

be

filled

— In champ/eve enamels, cloisons are not used, the hollows to

with colour being cut out of the metal with graving

wise the process

similar to that last described.

is

It

is

tools.

Other-

probably the oldest

method of enamelling known, and there is no evidence as to the date of its introduction into China, though some of the most ancient examples extant belong to this is

much

are

the

class.

same

The

general trend of design and execution, historically,

as that of cloisonne.

Examples

in

which both methods

employed are not infrequent. Painted Enamels.

—The painted enamels of China, generally known from

the principal seat of their manufacture as Canton enamels, are practically

Limoges and other painted enamels of Europe. Specimens of these are known to have been taken to China by the missionaries of the late 17th and 18th centuries, and not only to have exercised diidentical in technique with the

rect influence

copied.

on the Chinese ware, but

also, in

some

cases, to

have been

Representations of European subjects, copies of engravings and

armorial decorations, are also found there. the Chinese

Yang

Painted enamels are termed by

fzu (literally "foreign porcelain"), the palette of colours

CHINESE ART used being the same as with enamelled porcelain though

enamels

it

is

termed Yang

ts'ai

enamel, generally white,

is

superimposed and

Owing

in

fired.

laid

and are incorporated with

it,

(foreign colours).

A

on the copper; and on

in

the case of

ground of opaque this the colours are

to the soft nature of the ground, these sink loss of brilliance,

producing a

which, as ad-

mitted by the Chinese, renders them inferior to enamelled porcelain with

which they

may

The

well be compared.

dated example of Canton

earliest

enamel consists of a set of objects inscribed Yung chengyu chih (1723-1735) made to imperial order. Although imitations have continued to be made, nothing of real quality in this style was produced after the termination of

Lung

the reign of Ch'ien

upon by the Chinese

in

The method has always been looked

1795.

as in alien taste; a writer of 1782 (quoted

by Bushell)

remarks,

"They

at

the chaste furniture of the library of a simple scholar."

all for

are only

fit

for use as

ornaments of

ladies'

apartments

— not

Enamels

of this kind were also made, with characteristic decoration, for the Siamese

market. Translucent (as opposed to opaque) enamels were occasionally

Important pieces are

Chinese artisans.

rare,

but sometimes of

made by

fine quality,

a deep blue, obtained from a native cobaltiferous ore of manganese, and a pale turquoise blue from copper being especially successful.

more often appears

in conjunction

This method

with gold and silver in Chinese jewellery;

which, also, imitations, in enamel, of real gems are frequently employed.

in

Japanese Enamels. at Nara, Japan,

—The examples of enamel

have already been referred

to;

in the imperial treasury

and

it

may now

be repeated

No

examples of

that they cannot be attributed to Japanese craftsmanship.

authentic enamels of Japanese origin that can be dated earlier than the end

of the

6th century seem to exist.

1

The western

influence which

promoted

the art in China does not appear to have penetrated to Japan; the

Japanese appearance of the art seems to have been tion of at

in the

first

form of the decora-

sword furniture by the founders of the Hirata family who worked

Kyoto under the patronage of the Tokugawa Shogun, Iyeyasu about the

year 161

1.

They made

plcvc methods.

A

use,

on a small

dull green

scale,

both of the cloisonne and cham-

was one of the

first

colours obtained.

The

range of colours was afterwards extended with a white of good quality. I

here was no further development of importance until the 19th century,

'44

ENAMEL when Kaji Tsunikichi (born

a.d. 1802) of

Nagoya

established in that city

an important and successful manufacture of cloisonne which obtained a considerable vogue especially

among

foreigners.

velopments have taken place of considerable

Modern Japanese

artists

On

this

have modified the cloisonne process with

markable ingenuity and have produced work of great cloisons are

interest, in

sometimes completely veiled, the resultant

enamelled porcelain with

basis further de-

interest.

the most successful of these.

with credit in true cloisonne.

Namikawa

A

KySto

J.

Ando

of

artist of the

of

which the

effect being that of

realistic designs of flowers, etc.,

almost unrestricted range of colour.

re-

and a wide and

Toky5 has been one of same name has worked

Nagoya has obtained novel

effects

by the use of translucent enamel on a silver basis. These developments have carried the art of enamel very far from the old traditions, but, while the

skill

and ingenuity of technique they evince may be appreciated,

it

can-

not be said that in decorative value they compare with the older Chinese tradition.

During the 19th century, the Japanese produced many imitations

of the latter; which, for a time, gave rise to quite a false appreciation of their place in the history of the art.

145

MJAUyiUI^Jfr^^

JADE AND OTHER HARD STONE CARVINGS

JADE .here are three minerals that are called jade: earliest times; (2) Jadeite, described in

The

French mineralogist, as new. purple

tint.

Jadeite

is

(i)

Nephrite,

known

stone was of pure white with a faint

also often the finest jade;

it is

almost emerald green;

(3) Chloromelanite, a dark green, almost black material.

Analyses of these

Although the most intensive investigations

three minerals are given below.

have been carried on concerning the origin and uses of Jade from the times,

it

was not

until 1868 that

since

1868 by A. Damour, the famous

Damour found

earliest

that nephrite contained lime

and magnesia, whereas jadeite and chloromelanite contained alumina and soda. Structure.

—The

structure of jadeite

former being more characteristic. in

It

may

is

either granular or fibrous, the

be studied to the best advantage

such thin, translucent, highly polished objects as bowls, cups or plates.

On

holding such a specimen against a light each crystal composing

it

often

stands out quite sharply, owing to the fact that the light strikes the surface

and cleavages of each crystal at a

different angle, thus giving to each a

The

individual grains are sometimes pris-

slightly different appearance.

matic

in

shape, and sometimes equidimensional, with diameters up to 3

mm.

in exceptional cases.

The

structure of nephrite

is

characteristically fibrous,

and of such a

fine

grain that the individual fibres are but rarely visible except under the mi-

croscope.

146

The

fibres in this

aggregate are arranged in various ways: parallel

N

THE CLOISONNE PROCESS AND CHINESE CLOISONNE ENAMELS OF THE 1 and 2. Stages in the process of cloisonne enamelling, showing first, the metal plate on which the design is executed by soldering thin metal bands or cloisons to the base to form shallow cells (second step). These cells are filled with powdered enamel colours, and the piece is then fired and polished. 3. Beaker-shaped imperial vase with gilt bronze dragon and phoenix handles. Turquoise blue ground sustaining flowers and vines; height 41'/2 inches. Reign of Ch'ing Tai (1450-56), Ming dynasty. 4. Trumpetshaped vase decorated with eyes and cloud forms on turouoise blue ground; height, 14! 2 inches. Ming dynasty. 5. Beaker-shaped vase with floriated

ornament,

scrolls

and

palmettes;

MUSEUM

XV.-XVIII. height,

21

1

'

2

CENTURIES

inches.

K'ang-hsi

period

(1662-1722). 6. Twin vases enamelled in green and joined by bronze ornaments, signifying the unity of the universe; height, 25' 2 inches. Era of Yung-Cheng (1723-35). 7. Jui sceptre (repaired); length, 15 3 4 8. Dove-shaped altar wine vessel on wheels, K'ang-hsi period. inches. patterned after a type of ancient vessel used at rituals. Besides the condecoration consists of scrolls and various the ventional ornamentation, designs, such as monsters' heads, copied from very old bronzes; height,

22

inches.

K'ang-hsi period

(», •)

JADE. LAPIS LAZULI tymboli of dragont. »ge« and lymboli of tht dl 22 2 r r Symbol of 4. j D' ornament H, ng period, 206 B.C.-A.D. 220. Ch'len Lung penod. 1736-96. 6. Green jade I

!

I

•

1

,

,

TMt UU-.IIIM Of TKI UHlVlltlTT Of PINNSYl

AND OTHER STONES monitor, Han period. 8. Ornamental green Jade (able icreen. ChNen Lung period. 9. Crystal ball. 12.83 In. diam.. wt. 106.75 lb.; the molt perfect one of large liie known. Made In China in 1924. In the U.S. National Muteum. 10. Retonant white and greeniih jade. Ch'ien Lung period. Mexicin: 7. Votive ceremonial axe from Oaxaca; green jade

JADE AND OTHER CARVINGS to

one another over considerable areas;

curved,

interlocked and felted in

twisted,

coarser visible structure

on

in tufted or

due

is

most

fan-shaped groups; or

their internal arrangement.

A

The

intricate fashion.

to groups of these fine fibres,

and

is

dependent

sinewy or horn-like appearance

is

ex-

tremely common, being visible on both rough and polished surfaces.

It

seems to be due to the groupings of the

fibres into tufted or

fan-shaped

bundles, sometimes of considerable size, and separated from each other

Composition.

—The following table shows characteristic chemical analyand chloromelanite.

ses for nephrite, jadeite

Nephrite

Chloromelanite

Jadeite

....

%

%

/o

58.00

58.24

56.12

Titanium dioxide (TiOj) Alumina (A1 2 3 )

1.30

24.47

14.96

1. 01

3-34

Silica (SiO«)

.

Ferric oxide (Fe 2

0.19

.

3)

Ferrous oxide (FeOj)

0.47

.... .... .

6.54

2.07

Manganese oxide (MnO) Lime (CaO) Magnesia (MgO) Soda (Na 20) Potash (K20) .

.

.

.

I3- 2 4

0.69

5-i7

24.18

0.45

2.79

1.28

14.70

10.99 trace

i-55

IOI.II

100.07

Colour.

by

which are often curved into irregular forms.

indistinct parting surfaces

—Absolutely

100.57

pure jadeite should be white, without a tinge of

So also an ideal nephrite, containing only lime and magnesia, should be colourless. The colours which actually exist are due to the adcolour.

in the composition.

mixture of other bases jadeite is

is

due

to

chromium

never transparent as

is

— the colouring matter of the emerald, but jadeite best translucent— and at the emerald, but

that of nephrite to iron.

the analytical data

fail

In general, the green colour of

is

its

Occasionally, however, anomalies are found, and

to account for the colour or lack of

it

of an occasional

particular specimen.

—The

both jadeite and nephrite on fresh fracture is dull and wax-like, with very few reflecting surfaces. Polished jadeite has ordinarily a somewhat vitreous lustre, while polished nephrite ordinarily has an Lustre.

lustre of

147

CHINESE ART This oily appearance

oily lustre.

is

highly characteristic of

many

of the

green nephrites. Sonority.

—The

resonant character of jade has been

known

to

the

Chinese since ancient times, and when united with the proper translucency

and colour, was regarded as a sure sign of the genuineness of the material. "Sounding-stones" and stones for polishing them are mentioned in the

China (23 centuries B.C.). often cut in the form of a fish and suspended by a

earliest historical records of

The musical jade is thong, and when struck the

full

tones can be heard.

Occurrence. — Although jade objects

in considerable

numbers have been

found over rather wide-spread areas, there are only a few

where

it is

known

to

occur in place.

localities identified

In addition to these there are several

others where jade has been found, having been transported there from

And

place of origin by the action of rivers or glaciers.

other localities in which worked jade profusion; in

many

is

found, sometimes in considerable

ture, while in others the character of the material

indication as to

its

The

one that has been studied the most,

is

27

in the

lat.

and 95

in the

13th century, but

it

was not

Kachin country of Upper

in

rivers, at

about 25

to

was established with Yunnan. Since the be-

until 1784 that trade

China, and a regular supply of stone was carried to ginning of the 19th century

such as to give some

These quarries were discovered

E. longitude.

to 97

pure conjec-

is

greatest source of material, and the

is

Burma, near the junction of the Chadwin and Uru N.

finally, there are

of these cases the source of the material

point of origin.

its

Mogaung

has been the centre of the jade trade

Burma. Jade occurs

in

small amounts in several places in Central India, par-

ticularly in the State of

the indications seem to

Rewa.

Although conclusive evidence

show that the Indian jade

is all

nephrite.

the oldest and most important of the jade-producing districts

Lun mountains, south

is

is

lacking,

One

in the

of

K'un

of Khotan, in southeastern Turkistan, described by

the Seklogewitt brothers.

Here are found both nephrite and

former, however, greatly predominating.

Tt

was from

jadeite, the

this district that

much

of the early Chinese material was obtained.

The occurrence 19th century, but

148

it

of nephrite in Siberia has been

was not

until

known

since early in the

1896-97 that any definite information was

JADE AND OTHER CARVINGS At that time

obtained.

a

Russian Government expedition under Von

Jaczewski discovered several occurrences of nephrite

in place in the

mountains of central Siberia, between the Belaja and Kitou

Sajan

on the

rivers

north and south, and the Onot and Urick rivers on the east and west.

Although boulders and worked objects of jade had been known

Europe

many

for

by Traube

years,

was not

it

This material

is

until 1884 tnat

and a few years

at Jordansmiihl,

now

in the

American Museum of Natural History

posits in other localities,

No

Europe.

in

no other occurrences of nephrite

occurrence of jadeite in situ

mined extensively

in

1899 by

in

This specimen, weighing

Although several nephrite boulders have been found

City.

in place

at Jordansmiihl one of the largest

pieces of nephrite that has ever been quarried. lbs., is

was discovered

later at Reichenstein, in Silesia.

These discoveries were supplemented

nephrite.

that of Dr. George F. Kunz, who found

4,812

it

in

is

known

New York

in

in glacial de-

known

in place are

in

Europe but

it is

Mogaung, Burma.

In North America nephrite has been found in place in Alaska, about 150 m. above the 15'

W.

longitude.

mouth

of the

Kowak

River, at 67

5'

N.

Boulders of nephrite have also been found along the

lower Fraser and the upper Lewes rivers in British Columbia. terial

and 158

lat.

has not been found

in place in either

of these localities,

all

While maindications

lead to the conclusion that the boulders had originated in the immediate locality.

Nephrite has long been used by the natives of

New

Zealand

in tools,

ornaments and magnificent ceremonial implements of various kinds.

The

material occurs in boulders chiefly on the west coast of South Island,

though other in

importance are known.

localities of lesser

Nephrite

is

al-

found

place on the west coast of the island of Uen, off the southeastern point of

New

Caledonia.

Although a fondness

for

jade

is

almost a national characteristic

in

China,

known occurrences in China. Most of the material used by the Chinese has come from either Chinese Turkistan or Burma. It is also posthere are no

sible that

Of

some Siberian or

the

New

many thousand

Zealand material has been used.

pieces of carved jade from

China and India,

with the possible exception of the small buttons, there are scarcely two pieces alike.

The

artist studied the piece of

rough material to discover what could 149

CHINESE ART made

best be

of

it

and then made the design to

fit

The

the piece.

that most of the pieces are artistic and the lapidary

result

work unique.

is

They

stand in an art by themselves. In Europe worked objects of both nephrite and jadeite have been found

over wide areas.

Nephrite has been found particularly

in the vicinity of

Jadeite objects were more widely Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy. In Mexico and Central America large numbers of jadeite objects have been found. While these are the chief localities, there are also numerous others the ancient lake villages of Switzerland.

distributed

in

in

which either jadeite or nephrite objects, or both, have been found, without

clear evidence as to the source of the material.

There have been two

historic debates concerning the occurrences of

jade, both of which extended over

many

years.

The

first

was concerned

with the question as to whether jade was to be found in place

in

Europe, or

whether the material used by the prehistoric peoples of central Europe was all

brought from the outside, either by glacial action or by commerce.

This

question was definitely settled by the discoveries of Traube and Kunz, described above.

The second concerned

a similar question with regard to

Mexican and Central American material. covered

in

place in these countries, and

No

jade has as yet been dis-

many have thought

that

its

presence

and use there was an indication of ancient contacts between these peoples and the Orient.

many

While

this

theory has been actively promulgated by

adherents, no definite proofs have as yet been forthcoming on either

side.

Uses.

—

It is

remarkable that men even from the

earliest times,

whether

the prehistoric lake-dwellers of Europe, the ancient inhabitants of the valley

of Mexico, the aborigines of northwest America, the natives of

New

Zealand,

or the people of China, found small blocks or boulders of jade, of a wide variety and range of colour, but which they had the

were of a hard, tough material suitable

for axes

acumen

and other

to determine

utilitarian pur-

We know that there was prehistoric jade more would have been found had there not been a sentiment against opening up the buried remains in that country. Later on jade was selected as a material possessing many of the most charming qualiposes, as well as for artistic uses. in

the graves in China, and

ties

of beauty, lustre and toughness, so that

ISO

manv thousands

of pieces of

JADE AND OTHER CARVINGS jade, from the purest white

and the palest green

carved in the designs of

many

quired years to make.

As an example of the

execution of such pieces, there

is

many

cases have re-

endless patience used in the

a necklace of ioo links with a pendant,

Museum

Museum

all

And

of Natural History.

O. Mathieson bequest to the Metropolitan

covered vases which open in the centre for all

dark green, have been

countries, pieces that in

of one unbroken piece, in the American in the F.

to a

of Art are four

the cover and lower part

fruits,

of one unbroken piece.

The

greatest rulers of the East have treated this stone with a reverence

The poems

attributed to no other material.

corded on tablets of jade and the great weighing 120

lbs.,

has the

and reverence placed

poem

in this

fish

bowl

of an emperor on

stone

is

of emperors have been rein the

its

well deserved,

Bishop collection,

inner base.

and

if

There spect

the Chinese had

all

the articles that were originally in China, they would form a collection not rivalled

by that of any other nation or by that of any other material.

Great masses of a wonderful material stained brown by contact with

brown to look as if they had been buried with bodies, is tomb jade. Some of it is believed to date back 20 centuries. The Chinese have obtained some of the most magnificent jade and frequently have spent as much as a year searching for a single piece. Some splendid examples of these may be seen in the Heber R. Bishop collection in the bodies, or stained

known

as

Metropolitan

Museum

of Art; the Johnson collection in Philadelphia, gifts

memory of Dr. George Byron Gordon. Other specimens are in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the British Museum, the Louvre and in Berlin, and many other places throughout the world. in

Jade of different colours was used

employed

in the

in

China

for the six precious tablets

worship of heaven and earth and the four cardinal points.

For the worship of heaven there was a dark-green round

tablet,

and

for the

earth an octagonal yellow tablet; the east was worshipped with a green

pivoted tablet, the west with a white "tiger tablet," the north with a black

and the south with a tablet of red jade. The yellow worn by the Chinese emperors of the Manchu dynasty were variously

semi-circular tablet, girdles

ornamented with precious stones, according servances at which the emperor presided.

to the different ceremonial ob-

For the services

in the

temple of

heaven, lapis lazuli was used; for the altar of earth, yellow jade; for a sacrifice I5i

CHINESE ART at the altar of the sun, red coral;

and

ceremonies before the altar of the

for

moon, white jade.

many

Jade amulets of as were

also rings, ear-rings

different forms were popular with the Chinese,

and beads, but

in general,

jade was

much more

used for decorative pieces than for articles of personal adornment. in other localities

jade has been used extensively for axes, adzes, knives and

other purely utilitarian objects, for which it

is

hardness and toughness

its

peculiarly applicable, the reverence with which the stone

seems

to

While

have precluded

its

was held

in

make China

use in such fashion, and the purely utilitarian

almost entirely absent in the Chinese uses; here the ornamental features

greatly predominate,

and where the

utilitarian features

usually in a vase, cup, plate or bowl, or

may

be combined with

and

for axes

celts

The jade

It

utility.

is

some

do come

in, it is

similar object, in which beauty

possible that the pre-Chinese used jade

but the later Chinese ornamented and recarved these.

objects found in Mexico and Central America are frequently

of a rich, almost emerald-green colour, and there have been thousands of pieces found, from the smallest fragments to the great adze weighing 16 lbs.,

which

is

now

Mexican material has been used ornamental material

is

in religious ceremonies,

The outstanding

also found.

Mexico was at the sacred well of Chitzinitza

in

made by Dr.

E. H.

Thompson

of the

but utilitarian and

find of jade objects in

Yucatan, into which had

been cast as votive offerings hundreds of pieces of jadeite. discovery was

Much

American Museum of Natural History.

in the

of the

This valuable

Peabody Museum, who

spent a lifetime in this region. In

New

high esteem

Zealand, where the most primitive methods held, jade was

among

the Maori chiefs,

who had

in

their patou-pato us (small axes

which they held under the arm) perforated at the upper end and ornamented

Hei

with jade.

tikis

—crudely

carved small

jade with narrow slant eyes of abalone

human

figures

—were made of

shell, usually facing to

the right,

but occasionally to the

left. These were worn as amulets and frequently handed down from one generation to another, as the material is almost in-

destructible.

Commercial Value. necklaces

sell

ingly high prices.

'52

— Jade of medium

as low as $50,

colour cut into the form of bead

but exceptional quality

An emerald

green

j'cits ui

commands

necklace, 30

in.

correspondlong, of 125

JADE AND OTHER CARVINGS beads, weighing 304 carats (approximately 2 oz. Troy), with a centre bead

\

diameter, and end beads

in. in

-J-

in. in

diameter,

commanded

$80,000; larger necklaces have brought more than $100,000.

a price of

Exceptional

have been made into brooches at prices from $1,000 to $5,000. Ring stones cut cabochon on top sell at from $100 to $2,000 each. The thumb rings worn by the Chinese nobility frequently commanded over £1,000, and, pieces

claimed, even up to £2,000 for the ring which

it is

the archer drew his

An

bow with

thumb

Wu

worn on a

larger hand,

and had a

Ting Fang;

ity to

jade

when

worn by the former ambas-

this ring

Jade.

to consider: those

toughness and lustre

in colour,

a relic of the time

lining of fine gold to

new wearer of the ring. Minerals and Imitations Mistaken for

have three types of material

is

ring of wood, horn, agate or jade.

exceptionally fine ring of this character was

sador to the United States,

the

a

had been fit it

—Under

this

which through a

may

originally

to the finger of

heading we close similar-

be mistaken for the true

material; those which have been stained, coloured, or otherwise treated in

order to enhance this similarity; and those that are purely and entirely artificial

imitations.

The

natural minerals that resemble jade most closely

are those having a similar chemical composition,

i.e.,

complex

various forms of pure quartz and a few other minerals also

The determination

group.

men

is

silicates, fall

but

into this

of the hardness and specific gravity of the speci-

usually sufficient to differentiate between the true and false jade.

Jadeite has a hardness of approximately 7.0 and a specific gravity of 3.2 to 3.4; nephrite has a hardness of 6.5

and a

specific gravity of 2.9;

very few

other minerals show this particular combination of hardness and gravity. Saussurite

is

probably the most important of these materials easily

mistaken for true jade.

It

is

a compact, tough, heavy mineral with a hard-

ness and gravity almost identical with jadeite, and this

ation difficult. saussurite

it

Next

in point of

resemblance

is

is

Like

it is

readily identi-

being a practically pure silicate of aluminium.

The Alaskan

natives have frequently used pectolite for jade. nephrite, but

differenti-

fibrolite, or sillimanite.

has the hardness and gravity of jadeite, but

fied chemically,

much

softer.

This has a gravity close to

Wollastonite, occasionally confused with jade,

compared with jade. A number of different of feldspar sometimes resemble jade. These are also lower in

can be detected by varieties

makes the

its

softness as

153

CHINESE ART gravity than jade, and most of them are lower in hardness.

among

Chief

these are amazon-stone, eupholide, saccharite and labradorite.

Jadeite

and

classed chemically as a pyroxene,

is

rocks are several other minerals quite similar to

and

These have the gravity of

eclogite.

it,

in the

same family of

particularly omphacite

jadeite, but are softer.

Diopsite

has the hardness of nephrite and the gravity of jadeite, but can be distin-

Nephrite

guished by the difference in cleavage.

an amphibole rock, and

is

group we find also actinolite closely resembling

in this

it,

but differing

in the

texture of the fibrous structure.

Outstanding among the green minerals

and

beryl,

though

it

is

it

may

possible for an

One

is

its

to be

mistaken

higher hardness, lower gravity,

most frequently resembles jade,

known

a variety of serpentine

nephrite.

still

is

lower than

has a texture similar to that of jadeite, and where the colour

It

it

has been stained

Antigorite and williamsite

in imitation.

are translucent varieties of serpentine of a rich, green colour. latter

especially in

This has both hard-

as bowenite.

ness and gravity higher than the average serpentine, but

was lacking,

for jade,

in its composition.

of the minerals that

the East,

opaque emerald

be readily differentiated by

and the presence of beryllium

the emerald, a green variety of

is

much harder than

Although the

the former, both are far softer than jade.

Wil-

liamsite has an intense rich green colour.

A material

recently placed on the market as South African jade

a compact, translucent, green garnet.

and hardness.

Numerous forms

It

is

is

really

higher than jade in both gravity

of pure quartz may, by their colour and

opacity, be mistaken for jade, particularly prase, plasma, chrysoprase, jasper,

aventurine and moss agate.

All these

have a lower gravity than jade, and

a hardness equalled only by the hardest jadeite. cult to differentiate

matolite.

its

diffi-

from jade are prehnite, epidote, vesuvianite and agal-

than true jade.

its

colour

is

good, but

it

lacks lustre,

and

is

more

Epidote has the hardness of jade, and a gravity

the upper limits of the range for jadeite, from which

by

minerals most

Prehnite has the hardness of nephrite and a gravity close to the

lower limit for nephrite; brittle

The

it

may

in

be distinguished

strong cleavage, a more vitreous lustre, and the presence of consider-

able iron in

its

composition.

gravity as epidote, and like

'54

\'csu\ ignite has it

lias

a

about the same hardness and

more vitreous

lustre than jade;

it

is

JADE AND OTHER CARVINGS also is

more

named

brittle,

and has an uneven

by

californite

Agalmatolite

most frequently sold to the uninitiated as jade.

It

by

readily

is

its

structure that

in China,

by

readily detected, however,

lower gravity.

makes

It

its

is

one of the minerals

under misrepresentation

extreme softness, and

less

has a compact, fine and homogeneous

but

ideal for carving,

it

Another form of vesuvianite

fracture.

the author.

its

usually stained green in imitation of nephrite.

It

colour

is

such that

stained in

is

many

it is

other

colours.

Under some conditions turquoise

phosphate), malachite (a copper

(a

carbonate), and mossotite (a lime carbonate),

but identification

simple in

is

all

cases

may

be mistaken

for jade,

by hardness, gravity and chemical

composition.

China probably takes the lead over

all

other countries in the

substances that have been mistaken, or substituted, for jade.

number

This

is

of

due

partly, particularly in earlier times, to lack of exact mineralogical information

and technical methods of

ency toward substitution highly priced material.

pink jade, which,

if

identification,

and partly

to the natural tend-

or imitation of, a highly prized and equally

for,

Prominent among these fabrications

is

the so-called

and not the pinkish-lavender characteristic

truly pink,

some Burmese jade, has always turned out on careful examination to be quartz, aniline dye absorbed into fine cracks and fissures in the material.

of

may

This

be detected by rubbing the piece with cotton moistened in alcohol.

Another important type of fabricated material

is

made from

a heavy

lead glass, carefully tinted and most ingeniously polished to give the characteristic jade-like lustre this to the desired

in imitation of the

found shop.

by

giving a high polish and then deadening

degree by a fine hard powder.

One form

of this

white and green "imperial jade" of China, and

in bracelets, ear-rings

Another type

another,

first

is all

known under

green or bluish-grey

the

tint.

and other

trinkets, in almost every Chinese

green, in imitation of the

name

made may be

is

of pate de

riz, is

Burmese

jadeite,

and

white with a faint bluish-

This same method of preparation of the surface

has also been used on varieties of green quartz to simulate the lustre of jade. Descriptive Literature. teresting

—Of

and most remarkable

all

is

the Chinese works on jade the most in-

the Kuyil t'oupu, or Illustrated Description

of Ancient Jade, a catalogue divided into ioo books

and embellished with 155

CHINESE ART nearly 700 figures.

It

was published

One

of the treasures here described was a four-sided plaque of

pure white jade, over 2

ft.

in height

midst of rocks enveloped

The

and breadth.

seated on a mat, with a flower vase on in the

the magnificent col-

lists

emperor of the Southern Sung

lection of jade objects belonging to the first

dynasty.

and

in 1176,

its left

design was a figure

and an alms-bowl on

in clouds.

The most complete and modern

descriptive

work on jade

of the H. R. Bishop collection of jade in the Metropolitan

This

is

its right,

is

the catalogue

Museum

of Art.

the most remarkable collection of jade in existence, and the two great

volumes of the catalogue and accompanying descriptive matter the collection itself in magnificence.

of the greatest artists of the time. distributed to libraries

and museums here and abroad,

sonages, and to several of

fully

match

The catalogue was illustrated by some The volumes were not sold, but were

Mr. Bishop's

relatives.

to a

few royal per-

The author

of this article

devoted 12 years of his leisure to the mineralogical studies and the guidance

many

of the scientific study of the this great

experts

whom

he called upon to aid

in

work.

OTHER HARD STONES Among

the other hard stones that have been cut, engraved and polished

along lines similar to jade are the various forms of quartz (rock crystal, agate, carnelian, chalcedony

and jasper) and the

materials, such as malachite, fluorite, rhodonite

softer but highly valued

and

lapis lazuli.

All of

these materials lend themselves well to this type of treatment, and in fact, as has already been mentioned,

many

of them have in

some form

or other

frequently been mistaken, or substituted, for jade.

Of

the hard stones, probably rock crystal and agate have been most

all

used, and in a wide variety of forms. in

Crystal has been particularly popular

The outstanding made from Burmese

vases and other ornamental forms, and as crystal balls.

example of the crystal,

and finished

Jasper try.

It

geneity.

latter

{q.v.)

form

in

found

is

a ball 30

in. in

diameter,

Japan. in

Russia

is

not excelled by that of any other coun-

has a grey, almost putty colour, and a texture of wonderful homo-

Of

this material tables

equalled by any other lapidary

and other pieces are made which are un-

work

in existence.

Aventurine, a quartz

JADE AND OTHER CARVINGS containing brilliant scales of other coloured minerals,

Mountains, and has been used in vases up to 6

member

a

(q.v.) is

belongs;

of the pyroxene group, the

is

same family

usually a beautiful rose or red colour, but

it is

found in the Ural

Rhodonite

in height.

ft.

is

to

which jadeite

sometimes a light

The name rhodonite, from the Greek word rhodon> rose, colour. The mineral has been used as a gem, and for various

brown. its

ornamental objects; the sarcophagus of the Tsar Alexander

suggests

types of

was con-

II.

structed from rhodonite found near Ekaterinburg (now Sverdlovsk). also its

6,

composition being manganese

and a

lustre,

One

and

finding a single piece large

some kind is

is

polish.

It

It

is

other parts of the world,

hardness between

and

5

slightly translucent, has little

is

Rhodonite was especially the im-

there found in great masses.

of the tsarinas of Russia wished an egg cut of pure rose rhodonite,

without a streak of black

It

good

fairly

in

It has a

silicate.

specific gravity of 3.5 to 3.6.

but takes a

perial stone of Russia,

of

manganese deposits

found associated with

in

in

it,

and one ton of

enough

this material

to cut the egg

was cut without

which did not have a streak

it.

strange that two great colours have been generally

known and

ap-

preciated throughout the ages, one a royal blue and the other a royal green

—

lapis lazuli

pieces can be

Both of these being opaque, very wonderful

and malachite.

made from them,

I to \ in. in thickness,

able backing, either slate or

Lapis lazuli

as they can be cut into thin sections,

and then strengthened by cementing them

(q.v.) is

some material that

ctoes

from

to a suit-

not contract or bend.

one of the oldest of the gem materials, having been

used for 6,000 years, and the supply has been continuous.

During

this en-

tire

period the chief sources of supply have been Persia and Afghanistan.

It

sent to the markets in masses of from

is

1

to 5 lbs.

One mass

reached the United States several years ago, and another of 30 in the

to

Oxus River

district of Afghanistan.

Europe of King Amanullah

monopoly

for

Obsidian

in

Valley of Mexico.

or volcanic glass,

Some

was found

lbs.

of the results of the visit

1928 was a grant to a

the exportation of Afghan (q.v.)>

One

of 160 lbs.

German

firm of a

lapis lazuli. is

found

in great quantities in the

wonderful chipping, grinding and polishing have

been done on this material.

One

of the best examples

knife in the Blake collection in the National

Museum

in

is

the Father Fisher

Washington

— a knife

*S7

CHINESE ART Another

19 in. in length.

Ornaments

face.

fine

for the ear

example

and

is

a mask, almost the size of a

for the lips

thinness of paper and polished exquisitely and carved in the centre. 1

thick were

in.

made

American Museum Emeralds

of this material, some of which

may

Mirrors

be seen in the

of Natural History that are 15 by 12 inches.

(q.v.)

were looted and mined

when they invaded Peru;

in great quantities

by the Spanish

these stones were also brought from the mines of

the United States of Colombia.

Five cases are believed to have been

Large assignments were shipped to Spain and then sold

at sea.

The more

human

were frequently made with the

perfect stones were kept

lost

in Paris.

by the Spanish and French and the

rest

were shipped to India, Persia and Turkey, where the natives engraved them

For many centuries they were known, and

to hide the flaws.

Indian emeralds.

It

great traveller, Tavernier,

them

for rubies

Louis XIV. ones

—were

is

who took many

of these to India where he traded

from the Burmese mines and then sold the rubies

Some

have financed him.

said also to

in

Europe.

—very large

of these

found when the British captured King Thebaw's palace at

Rangoon and they

are

now

in

Museum

the Indian

at

London.

hexagonal sections of the crystal were used, over three inches. hardly an Indian, Persian or Turkish ruler these emeralds even to the present day,

engraved emerald ear.

are, as

still

quite possible that these sustained the expense of the

is

is

worn

in

the placing of

many

great trip possible.

it is

and frequently an en cabochon unto

in the other

Turkey and Russia eastward

very possible that Tavernier

is

responsible for

of them, and the great quantity that he had

Among

the Russian crown jewels and in

made

his

some of the

jewels of the Ourejene, Kremlin, and the treasury of the bishops are fine

is

does not possess some of

one ear and an en cabochon ruby

These emeralds must have been sent

by the thousands and

who

Several

There

many

emeralds, one of which the writer saw which was more than an inch

across and excellent in colour.

i

S8

i.

m,

mmm mm m.m-mm m m m mm. mm m m.mmmmmm..mmmmm.mm.mmmmm>i

IRON IN ART

I ron began about 500

to take its place in the brilliant

B.C.

By

Bronze Age culture of China

the end of the 2nd century of the present era bronze

weapons had been almost completely supplanted, while iron had been genkinds, tools, chariot-fittings

commonly

in style

The

Age

2nd

use in utensils and vessels of various

and even small pieces of sculpture.

These were

cast in sand-moulds, were patterned after bronze prototypes

were typical

B.C.,

common

bronze in

erally substituted for

Iron

and decoration of the

in

Japan

Han

period.

supposed to have begun

is

and

in the

2nd century

though the chief early remains are weapons from the dolmens of the

The Japanese

to the 8th centuries a.d.

siderable skill at an early date

and acquired a

iron founder attained a con-

social position

which was never

attained by the bronze caster, or by the iron workers in China where the

bronze age tradition was

From

stronger.

the 9th century iron increasingly took the place of bronze in

China as a material dynasty.

much

The few

work done on a

for sculpture, especially in the north

extant examples from the

larger scale

though the modelling

is

and

usually

in coarser

more

nth

and under the Sung

century and later show

technique than the bronzes,

naturalistic.

Several iron pagodas, ranging in size from miniature models to towers

30 or more metres

in height,

and dating from the 10th

to the 14th century,

give further evidence of the dexterity of the Chinese iron caster. imitate in detail both the structural and decorative effects of the

common

tile-roofed brick pagodas.

These

more

Iron for temple furniture has long been

159

CHINESE ART and a large number of the

in use,

and

braziers, censers, caldrons

found

bells

to-day in the temples are of iron. In China in the 17th century the iron picture was developed, the crafts-

men

seeking to reproduce in permanent form through the

medium

of wrought

iron the effects of the popular ink-sketches of the master painters.

When

completed, these pictorial compositions were mounted in windows,

in lan-

When

terns or in frames as pictures.

in the latter

background often bore the signature and resemblance still

The

to a painting.

Embellishment of Armour.

skill

—

It

little artistic

apparent that iron has been used

is

developed a distinctive and attainment

in furniture for the

is

medium, worked

in

often with great

In Japan, however, the iron worker

invention. original

maker, heightening the

and fineness than formerly.

chiefly as a substitute or imitative

but with

silk

Anwhei province and

craft flourished in

practised, though with less patience

China

seal of the

form a paper or

means of expression and high

sword.

W ith 7

artistic

the rise of feudalism and the

establishment of the samurai class after the wars of the 12th century, the

equipment of the warriors became an object

At

for the efforts of the artist.

these efforts were devoted to the embellishment of defensive armour,

first

but from the 15th century the sword became the centre of attention. blade

is

not properly part of our subject, but

we

the guards (tsuba),

remarkably

soft

was employed.

was worked by

innumerable surface

effects

casting,

A

especially free from sulphur

hammering and

were obtained by

The

mountings, especially

find exquisite artistry expressed chiefly in iron.

and pure variety of the metal It

in the

chiselling;

and

tooling, inlaying, incrustation,

combination with other metals and patination by various, usually secret, processes.

Simple conventional patterns, crests and pictorial designs were

the bases for the decoration.

As these were often furnished by painters or

designers the criterion of connoisseurship in Japan

is

the unsurpassed tech-

With the promulgation of wearing of swords, this art came to an end,

nical quality of the handling of the iron itself.

the edict of 1876, prohibiting the

but the

skill

of the Japanese iron worker

small decorative objects.

160

may

still

be noted

in

numerous

g^^ikasjaiaMftiRiiUftaiB^^

IVORY CARVING

I vory

has always been an important

carvers,

and many exquisite examples of

though

their

names are

rarely

known.

had a greater appreciation of the

medium their

of expression for Chinese

work have come down

to us,

Chinese ivory carvers have generally

intrinsic value of the material for their

work than the carvers of Japan. An abundant supply and close intimacy with this material have doubtless helped to foster this appreciation among Chinese carvers, whereas the paucity of the supply and something in the

Japanese character which was happier when carving wood, together with differences in certain phases of their culture,

velopment of ivory carving produced.

The former

in

have prevented the higher de-

Japan, though some excellent works have been

existence of elephants on Chinese soil

is

authenti-

cated by linguistic, pictographic, historical, as well as archaeological evi-

The Tso Chwan

dence. lead to

its

(548 B.C.) records that the elephant has tusks which

destruction owing to their use as gifts, and there are also a

number

of other references showing that ivory was taken as tax and brought as

came next to jade and was used as a mark of luxury for various purposes. Even articles such as pins for scratching the head, and the tips of bows, were made of eletribute to

China and was greatly valued

phant ivory State,

Mong

in early

Chinese antiquity.

in early times.

A

3rd century

ornament from time immemorial, and 247

parts of

B.C.

Minister of

Ch'ang-Kiin, famous for his extravagance, possessed an ivory

bed, which he presented to the prince of Ch'u.

B.C.)

It

chopsticks were

made

some of the emperors'

of

it

Ivory was used for personal

as early as the

and

it

chariots.

was used Later

it

Ch'u dynasty (1122-

to decorate the principal

became fashionable 161

as a

CHINESE ART decoration on the palanquins of important

hu of ivory,

tablets or

Narrow memorandum

by princes and high

originally used at court

officials,

mere symbol of rank and an indispensable accessory to ceremonial Examples of ornamental ivory articles of great importance.

later a

dress,

officials.

were

carving with angular, spiral, geometrical and

floral designs,

come down to us. demand for ivory outgrew

dating back to

the Ch'u period, have

In time the

had

quantities of tusks

to be

the native supply and large

imported from Siam,

Burma and

India, which

were described as long and large, and from Annan, which were small and

powder when cut by a saw which

short, as well as a variety yielding a red

was pronounced

As

to be of excellent quality.

Chinese knew that African ivory was the best. at least the ivory

from a

slain elephant

not too long after natural death

came

early as the I2th century the

From

the early 14th century

was esteemed the

best; that taken

next, while tusks discovered long after

the elephant's death were least esteemed because the ivory was dull and

opaque, and irregularly speckled. Uses.

made

—The

Chinese cultured classes had always appreciated

of ivory, and ivory carving received imperial attention.

bureau for carving

in

articles

In 1263 a

ivory and rhinoceros horn was established with

150 craftsmen and an

official

and couches, tables and

in charge,

some

chairs,

various implements, and ornaments for girdles inlaid with ivory and horn

were made for the imperial household. established Tsao try, including

pan

one for ivory carving, within the palace at Peking, and prac-

craftsmen from

tical

duce

fine

large

numbers of

work.

of the age.

all

over the empire were here brought together to pro-

They were excellent

in existence for

over 100 years, turning out

works bearing the stamp of the

Authentic pieces from

be hard to identify, but

may

In 1680 the emperor K'ang Hsi

chu> or imperial ateliers covering 27 branches of indus-

many which

reasonably be credited to

it

this imperial ivory

exist in

museums and

by reason of

artistic fervour

carving atelier

private collections

their superior

which often reveals a marvellous quality of technical

may

skill

workmanship

and harmonious

beauty. (Jrcat ingenuity

is

often displayed in the delicate

an article as a fan, which

may

be

made

workmanship of such

of finely cut plaited ivory threads,

overlaid with carved flowers and birds, held by firmer pieces, likewise of

162

"5

II

^g

1 1

%

2 d

IVORY CARVING carved ivory, having exquisitely carved and incised designs, which form the rim and the handle.

Even more wonderful

made

as ivory carvings are the concentric spheres

the 14th century and

known

as "devil's

Endless patience and

produced there.

work

toil

Canton

in

by tiny

screens, peopled

which are

balls,"

Models of palaces with carved figures,

and surrounded by

ivory, were also a speciality of Canton; but their

technical

rather

as early as still

being

are needed to produce such con-

centric balls, carved one within the other, each having the

patterns in pierced work.

achievement

in their technical

most

delicate

and

intricate

roofs

trees

and

walls, all of

most of them are known

for

than their aesthetic triumphs as ivory carvings.

Chinese ivory carving, however,

is

by no means wholly represented by these

minutely and elaborately carved works, though for more than a century

China has catered

to foreign taste in producing this line of work.

among carved

pieces of high artistic value are often found

Excellent

religious

and

philosophic figures, especially those of Kwan-yin, Goddess of Mercy, with

her graceful form and flowing robes, and of the Arhats, with their beatific expressions.

Fine

artistic

work

is

found

also to be

in

some of the brush-

holders (pi tung), which are often covered with a landscape in relief enlivened

by

figures;

and

in snuff bottles

in the arm-rests likewise designed for the scholar's table,

which are often dyed and then carved so as

unstained ivory beneath

—a

bachiru y where examples of

now mon

known

technique it

are to be seen

in

Japan under the name of

among

the 8th century relics

preserved in the imperial treasure-house, Sh5s5in.

among

talent are also frequently found

Works

of no com-

girdle pendants, covers for

cricket-gourds, and ivory plaques in relief used as insets on carved

lacquered screens and cabinets.

Other

articles for

used ivory as a favourite material as ornament, rateness, are the handle crickets

and

birds,

for

wood

in various degrees of elabo-

opium smoking,

combs, small boxes, and pieces for various games.

trays, cages for

toilet articles

The

such as

Chinese, in the

course of their history, have utilized the ivory of the elephant, the

moth, the walrus and the narwhal, the tutes for the

first.

last three

Amoy

mam-

having been used as substi-

Ivory carving in one form or another

industry in Canton, Peking, Shanghai,

or

which the Chinese have

and sheath of the writing brush,

implements

and

to bring out the

is still

an important

and Suchow, large numbers of

carvings being produced for the foreign market. 163

^W.^WWWW.W.V&W.^.^^^

LACQUER

JL/acquer

is

a general term for coloured and frequently opaque varnishes

applied to certain metallic objects and to wood. resin lac,

which substance

among Western

nically,

is

The term

is

derived from the

Tech-

the basis of lacquers properly so-called.

nations, lacquering

is

restricted to the coating of

polished metals or metallic surfaces, such as brass, pewter and tin, with pre-

pared varnishes which

will give

them a golden, bronze-like or other

lustre as

Throughout the East Indies lacquering of wooden surfaces

desired.

tised, articles of

prac-

household furniture, as well as boxes, trays and toys, beino;

This process of applying the lacquer

decorated with bright-coloured lacquer. to decorative articles of

The

is

wood

is

known

also

as Japanning.

lacquer of the Far East, China, Japan and Korea must not be con-

fused with other substances to which the term stance, the lac of

Burma, which

is

the

Lacca, and the various solutions of

gummy

gums

is

generally applied; for in-

deposit of an insect, Coccus

or resin in turpentine of which

European imitations of Eastern lacquer have been and are concocted.

TECHNIQUE Lacqi'er, properly so-called and as used

in

China and Japan,

is

a natural

product, the sap of a tree, Rhus Vernicijcra; subject to the removal of impurities

and excess water,

frequently adulterated.

it

can be used

The

certainly been cultivated in

tree,

in its

which

Japan at

is

natural state, though

it

was

indigenous to China, and has

least since the 6th

tapped at about the age of ten years, lateral incisions being

century a.d.,

made

in

is

the bark

and the running sap collected during the months of June to September. 164

LACQUER Branches of a diameter of one inch or more are also tapped, the bark having first

been removed.

Smaller branches are cut

off,

soaked in water for ten

days, and the sap collected, producing a lacquer (seshime) of particular

These processes

quality, used for special purposes.

wood, when of

sufficient size,

some use

of

is

From

for carpentry.

which become available

five or six shoots spring up,

the tree, but the

kill

the roots

for the production of

lacquer after about six years, and the operation can be thus continued for a considerable length of time before the growth

is

exhausted.

The Chinese

and Japanese methods are practically identical

in this respect,

but the cul-

seem

tivation of the tree does not

Japan.

The

when

sap,

On

the consistency of treacle.

then black.

It is strained

have been so systematic

to

extracted,

is

China

in

as in

white or greyish in colour and about

exposure to the

air it turns

yellow-brown and

through hempen cloth to remove physical im-

purities, after being

pounded and

uniform liquidity.

It is

stirred in shallow

wooden

then slightly heated over a slow

tubs, to give

fire

it

or in hot sun-

shine and stirred again to evaporate excess moisture, and stored in air-tight vessels.

The

characteristic constituent of lacquer

urushiol (from the Japanese

been stated as Ci 4

H

18

2.

name

is

termed by chemists

of lacquer, urushi) and

Japanese lacquer

is

said

by

its

formula has

Prof. K.

Mijama

to

contain from 64.00 to 77.6% of urushiol as compared with an average of 55.84 for Chinese; the difference being due, probably, to inferior methods of cultivation and extraction, and perhaps in ences.

Lacquer

is

some

cases to climatic differ-

a slightly irritant poison, but workers in the industry

soon become inoculated.

A

series of

implements used

in the preparation

of lacquer with an illustration of the system employed in the actual gathering of the sap

is

exhibited in

Museum No.

1

of the Royal Botanic Gardens,

Kew, England. Lacquer-ware. is

—The basis of lacquer-ware, both

almost always wood, although

and brass and white metal out of solid lacquer.

it

alloys.

The wood

was

in

Japan and

also occasionally applied to porcelain

In some instances, objects were carved

used, generally a sort of pine having a soft

and even grain, was worked to an astonishing thinness.

The

follow are the result of extraordinary qualities of lacquer

exposure to

air,

China,

in

takes on an extreme but not

processes that

itself,

brittle hardness,

and

which, on is

capable

of receiving a brilliant polish of such a nature as to rival even the surface of 165

CHINESE ART Moreover,

highly glazed porcelain. taining

maximum

its

it

has the peculiar characteristic of at-

The Japanese, damp box or chamber

hardness in the presence of moisture.

therefore, place the object, to secure this result, in a

The

after each application of lacquer to the basic material (wood, etc.).

Chinese are said

"cave"

to use a

(in

an account of the industry dating from a.d. 1621-28)

in

the ground for this purpose, and to place the objects

therein at night in order to take advantage of the cool night air.

indeed, be said that lacquer dries in a moist atmosphere.

having been completed, and fully

till

an absolutely even surface fill

is

rice

obtained.

It

up the pores of the wood

to provide a basis for succeeding operations: in the case of fine lacquer,

possibly as

may

The joiner's work

knots or projections having been most care-

then given a thin coat of seshime lacquer to

and

may,

smoothed away, cracks and joints are luted with a mixture of

paste and seshime lacquer, is

all

It

many

30 or even more; of each of which the following

as 20 or

On

be taken as typical.

the basis, as above described,

is

laid

a

coat of lacquer composition, allowed to harden, and ground smooth with

whetstone.

Next comes a further coat of

mixed some burnt at least

1

On

2 hours.

but more often rice flour

which

clay,

this

is

is

finer composition, in

again ground, and laid aside to harden for

fixed a coat of

hempen

cloth (or, rarely in Japan,

and lacquer, which needs 24 hours at knife,

least to dry.

The

laid

very hard lacquer, requiring a

wards being ground to a ing quality are

occupying

now

in the

cloth

is

and then receives several successive coats of lacquer

composition, each demanding the delay necessary for hardening. is

is

China, paper) by means of an adhesive paste of wheat or

in

smoothed with a

which

fine surface.

laid on, dried

much

On

this

longer drying interval, after-

Succeeding coats of lacquer of vary-

and polished; and

this

preliminary work,

case of artistic lacquer-work at least 18 days, produces the

surface on which the artist in lacquer begins his task of decoration.

A

large

number of processes were sign

was

first

generally

to the object while

lead or colour.

through a tion.

still

at his command, especially in Japan, but the demade on paper with their lacquer and transferred

wet, or drawn on

In carrying

quill or

bamboo

it

out he

it

direct with a thin paste of white

made

use of gold or silver dust applied

tube, or through a sieve to secure equal distribu-

Larger fragments of the precious metals {hiraine or kirikane) were

applied separatd) bj hand, with the aid of a small, pointed tool.

166

In one

BY COURTESY OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE VICTORIA

AND ALBERT MUSEUM

FIVE CHINESE IVORIES many

1.

Ivory pendant, with

2.

Ivory brush holder (pi-tung). portion of the tusk

concentric balls one inside the other

Brushstands are carved out of the central

3.

Ivory box and lid

4.

Ivory figure with a child

5.

Ivory arm-rest for writers; under side

'

>

«<0 Hit!

CHINESE LACQUER WORK OF THE

16TH. 17TH

AND 18TH CENTURIES 4. Ewfr w.tn panel coloured ivory and carved red lacauer, 16th lacouer of varioul colouri or, Mack. Ea'ly

ChMWI Lung (1736 17951. al.oni

InUld with r,

17th century

in

»hell, flat

—

LACQUER typical instance the writer has counted approximately 500 squares of thin

gold

foil

thus inserted, within one square inch.

These decorative processes

each entailed prolonged hardening periods and meticulous polishing. lief

Re-

was obtained by modelling with a putty consisting of a mixture of lacquer

camphor being added to Lacquer was sometimes engraved, both in China and

with fine charcoal, white lead, lamp-black,

make

it

work

easily.

etc.,

Japan.

The carved

lacquer of China

Japan was never equalled

in that

which, although imitated in

(tias ctii)

country

(as the

Chinese have never reached

the perfection of the Japanese gold lacquer- ware), needs particular notice. this,

In

up in the method above described, but to a conwhen several colours were used, in successive layers

the lacquer was built

siderable thickness; and,

of each colour, arranged in the order in which they were to predominate and

When

the whole mass was complete and homogene-

was cut back from the

surface, so as to expose each colour as required

of uniform thickness. ous,

it

by the

The

design.

carving was done with a V-shaped tool kept very sharp,

The

and when the lacquer was cold and hard. ing precision

—no

correction of faults

was

possible, for each layer

be exactly and accurately reached, and the

and allowed so well

for

cutting was done with amaz-

known and

justly appreciated,

to

final result precisely foreseen

from the beginning of the work.

phuret of mercury).

had

The

red lacquer {tan sha),

was coloured with cinnabar

(red sul-

Other colours which are employed include a deep and

a lighter olive-green, buff, brown, black

and aubergine.

In Japanese lacquer, the following are the chief processes used: Nashiji (pear-skin), small flakes of gold or silver sunk to various depths in

Fundame,

the lacquer.

fine gold or silver

powder worked

to a flat, dull sur-

Hirame, small, irregularly shaped pieces of sheet gold or

face.

silver placed

Togidashi, the design built up to the surface in gold, silver and colours with many coats of lacquer and then polished down to show

on the surface. them.

low

Takamakiye, decoration in bold

relief.

Roiro, polished black.

relief.

Hiramakiye, decoration

Chinkinbori, engraved lacquer.

in

Kiri-

kane, square dice of sheet gold or silver, inserted separately on the surface.

Raden, inlaid record, shell

shell

and metal.

was used

in the

From

the earliest times of which

adornment of lacquer

in

we have

China as well as

in

Japan, being inlaid on the surface in patterns, as well as in small squares 167

CHINESE ART like kirikane

For

and dust.

this

purpose various

work and that of

of-pearl for larger

were used, mother-

nautilus, pear-shell, sea-ear (Haliotis,

For a very charming form,

Jap. Awabi) and Turbo Cornutus (Jap. Sazaye). called

shells

by the French Lac Burgantee, the

shell of the sea-ear, of iridescent

blue and green, was employed in combination with gold and silver and delicately engraved, as early as the in

Ming

period (a.d. 1368-1644) and also

Chinese lacquer was also inlaid with hard stones such as jade,

Japan.

aralachite, etc., as well

as coral, soapstone, ivory, porcelain

and other

decorative substances.

HISTORY OF LACQUER The

use of lacquer in China goes back traditionally to legendary times.

A

Ming manuscript, the Hsui-shih-lu, states that it was first employed writing on bamboo slips, then for utensils of food made of black lacquer,

late for

and subsequently

for vessels for ceremonial use of black

During the Chou dynasty (1122-255 B c -) «

carriages, harness,

bows and arrows,

etc.,

lt:

with red interiors.

served for the decoration of

and was the subject of

official

payment of taxes. At this time, gold and colours are said to have come into use. About the 2nd century B.C. buildings were decorated with lacquer and musical instruments are similarly described. Under the Han dynasty (206 b.c.-a.d. 25) further development regulations, being accepted also in

took place and pot-covers of paper, covered with lacquer, were found in

1910 by

Ryuzo

Of

period.

Torii near Port Arthur which are definitely attributed to this

the lacquer of the T'ang dynasty

mation, for the collections

still

we have more

reliable infor-

preserved in the Horyw-ji temple in Japan,

founded a.d. 607, and those collected by the Japanese emperor, (a.d.

724-749) and deposited after his death, by his widow,

Treasury (Shoso-in) at Nara, contain

many

in the

objects to which

Shomu

Imperial

must be given

a Chinese origin; in particular, musical instruments with inlay of cut-out figures of gold

and

silver, inserted

which was then rubbed down

till

Under the Sung dynasty

to view.

on the surface, covered with lacquer,

the metal ornaments were again brought (a.d. 960-1279), the industry further

developed and the use of gold and silver lacquer palace all

is

168

made

for the

The late Dr. S. \Y. Blishdl considered that work now carried on in China can be traced as far

particularly recorded.

branches of lacquer

in the utensils

LACQUER back at least as the Sung dynasty and that the chief seat of manufacture at

— the

Hangchow and Soochow

that period was Chia-hsing-Fu, between

of the early

Sung

A

an important centre of the industry.

latter city being also

lacquer box

period, probably once of rhinoceros horn colour, black

red, with gold dust

and

silver wire,

was recently exhibited

one of the very few known examples of the period so the close of the period

(c.

a.d. 1220)

it is

and

London and is far discovered. Towards in

stated that lacquer-wares were ex-

ported from Fu-kien to Java, India, Persia, Japan,

Mecca and other

places.

Chinese writers record the existence of carved red lacquer during the time

Yuan dynasty (a.d. 1 280-1367) as well as of pierced ware and that Of the state of the industry under the Ming dynasty shell. (a.d. 1368-1644) we have contemporary Chinese descriptions; for instance, the Koku yao lun, published during the reign of the first Ming emperor, and the CKingpi ts'ang of a.d. 1595, both quoted freely by Dr. Bushell. The

of the

inlaid with

Hsui shih

/u y of

which a Japanese translation was published

in the

Kokka

(No. 113), dates from a.d. 1621-28 and from these a good account of the progress of the art can be realized.

From

these records

we

glean that there

were, in the early years of the dynasty, special factories of carved red

lacquer at Ta-li

Fu

Nanking was noted

in

for

Yunnan, which also produced spurious imitations. work of the same kind of high quality and for gold

lacquer with pictures, as also were Peking and Ning-kuo

Inlay of mother-of-pearl lacquer

made during

(a.d. 1426-35)

is

is

also mentioned.

the reigns of

also recorded;

with sheet gold and

silver,

Yung Lo

and

Fu

in

Kiangnan.

The

excellence of the carved

(a.d.

1403-24) and Hsiian-Te

also that encrusted with shell, inlaid

and flecked with powdered

gold.

Examples of

carved lacquer are extant which can reasonably be attributed to this period.

They

are bold in design and free from the superabundance of small detail

which characterized

and

later productions; the colour also

richer than that of the 18th century pieces.

Museum,

The

is

generally deeper

Victoria and Albert

London, has several good examples of the period.

Towards the

end of the Ming dynasty, a factory was established at Peking, but disuse during the troubles

The

first

accompanying the

and, perhaps, the greatest of the

fall

of the

Manchu

fell

into

Ming emperor.

emperors, K'ang Hsi

(a.d. 1 662-1 723), revived it in a.d. 1680, when he established, in the precincts of the palace at Peking, a series of 27 workshops for artistic handicrafts.

169

CHINESE ART Carved lacquer was, however,

Foochow; and the Jesuit

also

made

at

father, Louis le

Canton, Tongking, Soochow and

Comte, who arrived

in

China

in

1687, gives a good account of the flourishing state of the industry at that

In this connection

time. is

that which saw the

it is

first

worth noting that the period of K'ang Hsi

considerable importation of lacquer-ware (and

The consequent development

other objects of industrial art) into Europe. of imitation lacquer applied to furniture,

William and

Mary and Anne, had

which, during the reigns of

etc.,

so extended a vogue,

was one of the con-

spicuous features of the Chinoiserie craze of that time. vagaries of fashion

is

made

that objects then

A

curiosity of the

in counterfeit of

Chinese art

A screen is still in existence are now more highly prized than the originals. made by command of K'ang Hsi for presentation to the emperor Leopold I., whose badge, the double-headed

eagle,

incorporated in the design.

is

Carved

lacquer of this period hardly attains to the rich colour of that of the period, nor to the breadth

and simplicity of design of the

to

have developed

is

generally free from the small cracks too often found

Ming

in the

apart from other considerations, (a.d. 1736-96), a

ployed

it

products. is

found

devoted admirer of

The

perfection of this quality,

branch of industrial

his auspices

is

art,

fittings of his palaces, for

ceremonial and commemorative gifts and other purposes.

made under

Lung who em-

lacquer-ware of Ch'ien

in the

this

on a large scale for the furniture and

ship of objects

Ming

— though

In technique the K'ang Hsi ware

these qualities are far from negligible.

shows an advance and

latter

The workman-

brilliant in the extreme,

and ranks

with the finest products of a nation whose mere craftsmanship has been

most unrivalled.

design tends rather to a

hardly

China

call

is hard compared with earlier work, and the somewhat stereotyped formalism. Still, one can

the 18th century a period of decadence in the industrial arts of

— the superb execution of

always, and justly,

The downward a falling-off, left

command

its

productions, a characteristic which

admiration, redeems

artistic

made

it

will

from adverse criticism.

course began in the 19th century, with loss of originality and

due

to adulteration, in the quality of the material.

of the imperial factories was burnt

quer was

al-

But the colour

in

1869,

after that date, the industry

What was

and though carved red

had already ceased

to

lac-

have

importance.

Lacquer in Gold and Colours. 170

— Lacquer

artists

in

China, curiously

LACQUER enough, never developed the use of gold lacquer to anything

like the extent

or to the high standard of merit attained by the Japanese, though, rarely,

For the most part, gold was used decoration, especially on a ground of black as in the screens

specimens can be found of as a simple, flat

fine quality.

and boxes, frequently of considerable decorative value, made

Canton and

at

other ports in touch with foreign trade and largely exported by European

On

merchants, especially at the beginning of the 19th century.

the other

hand, the Chinese used to advantage a wider range of colour than was gen-

employed

erally

in

Japan; and

brilliant

hues of green, red, brown, cream,

purple and other tints are found on objects dating from the later years of the

Ming

effectively,

period onwards.

and sometimes enriched with applied hard

lain.

The most

niture

is

first

Screens, too, were often thus decorated most

form of

effective

this typically

stones, shell or porce-

Far Eastern

provided by the so-called Coromandel work,

in

article of fur-

which the design

cut out in intaglio and then completed with varied colour or gold.

screens,

which are sometimes of considerable

width and

8 ft. in height,

and with 12 leaves

— as

size

much

—were largely

is

Such

as 20

ft.

in

imported into

western Europe at the end of the 17th and early years of the 18th century,

by East India merchants whose headquarters (French and English) were on the Coromandel Coast or (Dutch) at Bantam

either

place also providing a

name

which form

up

to

make

their remains are

Java

— the

latter

These imported

often used by old writers.

screens were remorselessly cut furniture, in

in

cabinets and other articles of

by no means rare at the present

day.

Lac Burgantee.

—One of the most delicate and charming manifestations

of the Chinese lacquerer's art

is

that called by the French, Lac Burgantee^

of which the technique has already been described.

produced by the use of iridescent ally in

combination with gold and

shell,

The

effects of colour

sometimes engraved, and occasion-

silver, are exquisite.

This work

is

gen-

and though temple utensils and other articles of fair size are to be found, as well as miniature table screens and vases, a favourite production took the form of little wine-cups, originally in sets of five and erally

on a small

lined with silver.

scale,

This branch of art dates certainly from the Ming dynasty

and has hardly yet received the attention that its qualities merit. Chinese ornament as applied to lacquer-ware Subjects of Decoration.

—

171

CHINESE ART (as to other of the industrial arts)

is

almost entirely symbolical and the

subject-pieces generally derived from legends of the Buddhist, Taoist

and

The more usual of the former are the "Eight Buddhist Emblems of Happy Augury," the "Eight Musical Instruments," and the "Eight Precious Things" (Taoist). The "Hundred Antiques" appear Confucian personages.

on Coromandel screens and other large works.

Among

figure subjects

may

be mentioned representations of Shou Lao, a deification of Lao Tze, the founder of the Taoist philosophy, the "Eight Taoist Immortals," the "Sages of the

much

Bamboo Grove" and

Among

peculiar to the emperor

and

Children at games are

favoured, and landscapes with pavilions, trees, mountains, lakes and

formal gardens.

press.

those of the wine-cup.

The

fish are

animals the mythical dragon

—

if

with

five claws,

— and phoenix or Jeng-huayjg associated with the em-

long-tailed tortoise, unicorn {Ch'i-lin), lion, crane, bat, butterfly

frequently seen,

happiness, etc.

The peach,

all

being symbolical of long

pine,

bamboo, peony,

life,

lotus,

good fortune,

chrysanthemum

and prunus are the chief motives selected from the vegetable kingdom. abstract pattern the

The forms

172

meander or key-pattern and swastika are the

Of

chief.

of vessels resemble, as a rule, those either of porcelain or bronzes.

mJUMIUKUUIMIMIMIMI^^

BRONZE AND BRASS ORNAMENTAL

WORK

.he bronze products of China have been from the earliest times of so

high a degree of excellence, both artistic and technical, that they

be classed among the fine

arts.

So early

as

may

truly

any reliance can be placed upon

records the Chinese appear to have been enthusiastic amateurs and col-

and up

lectors of bronzes,

to the present

day

it is

this

very enthusiasm which

among Chinese

has seemed to prevent a scientific attitude

antiquarians

when the question of the dating of old bronzes is concerned. Many volumes have been written in Chinese and European languages, but the authoritative work has not as yet appeared. There are so many factors besides artistic merit

which enter into the consideration of a bronze that

facts

have been collected and various theories advanced without arriving at any definite knowledge.

The

bronzes in the Chinese collections

classes: (i) those

may

be divided roughly into two

whose surface has been worked over and

remain in the same condition as when they were bronzes which have been for

have

in

many

first

(2) those

excavated.

which

Those

years in famous Chinese collections

most cases been worked over and vastly improved in appearance. first excavated, should prove the most reliable documents, but

Bronzes, as scientific

excavation

is

as yet hardly established in China,

to ascertain the true facts concerning the finding of

come upon the market.

Even though

and

it is difficult

any piece which may

a perfectly reliable eyewitness

may

testify to having been present at the excavation of a bronze, the chances

are that he

is

not a trained archaeologist, and

is

unable to interpret correctly *73

CHINESE ART So

the conditions under which the bronze has been found.

only one important excavation of bronzes which

Remarkably

approximation of certainty.

history of

some of the

hundred years, the

later

pieces in the Chinese collections

(a.d.

960-1279), and have come

and more copious works, some

in

famous work called the Ting Lu, written another

in

20 volumes called the San Li

Both of

Nieh Tsung-yi.

it

was written

compiled for the

his splendid collection of

Ch'ing

Ku

Chien.

to us together with

6th century by

They

include: a

Yu

Li,

and

written in the 10th century by

have

relied too

The most important

in the

for several

were compiled during

down

in the

much on imagina-

early catalogue

its title is

12th century by

The most famous of all the Emperor Ch'ien Lung and

often reprinted.

known

volumes.

30 volumes and dates from the Sung dynasty; T'ou Lu, and

is

many

Tu

these, however,

tion to be considered reliable.

be dated with any

Europe and America, and the

for illustrated catalogues of bronzes

Sung dynasty

of

specimens of bronzes exist

fine

in the collections of China, Korea, Japan,

may

we know

far,

is

Pu;

one

bronzes in the Peking palace and

it

has been

42 volumes,

in

printed in 1751.

in

Ho Po Ku

Hsiian

Wang

catalogues

is

It illustrates is

called Hsi

There are many others of which a number are devoted

to

a discussion of inscriptions on bronzes.

Treatises on bronzes were written during the

Chou dynasty (1122-

255 B.C.) and from one of these we get our first information about their manufacture. Indeed, so great is the respect for ancient bronzes in China

when an old bronze ting was found in the bank of name of the reign was changed in honour of the event.

that in the year 116 B.C., a river in Shensi, the

The

reverential attitude of the Chinese towards antiquity, the

permanent

nature of the metal alloy, and the fact that the earliest important bronzes are

all

of a ceremonial or sacrificial nature have combined to place them

high in the esteem of Chinese connoisseurs from the earliest times.

A earlier

Chinese collector

will

not hesitate to date an old bronze a

full

than would a cautious European or American collector.

arc told that in

bronzes were

many Chinese

made

in

the

dynast\

Thus we

collections a considerable proportion of the

Shang dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.) when such an be based merely upon a pious hope. Since with

attribution would seem to some degree of certainty bronzes have been established as dating from the Jth century B.C., anil are of accomplished workmanship, they are doubtless of more recent date than many others with which collectors are familiar,

'74

BY COURTESY OF (1, Z, 4) (6)

THE GEORGE

EU

THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO. (3)

MORFOPOU LOS COLLECTION; PHOTOGRAPH,

(5)

BARON SUMITOMO, (8) THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK; FROM COLLECTION ARCHIVES PH OTOG R APH IQ U ES

(7,

9)

THE DAVID WEILL COLLECTION,

CHINESE BRONZES OF THE CHOU AND HAN DYNASTIES 1.

Ceremonial B.C.

jar

From

(Hu)

of

4.

206

the Art Institute of Chicago

2. Ceremonial vessel (Yi), Institute of Chicago 3.

bronze inlaid with copper, Han dynasty,

Ceremonial vase (Tsun), Chou dynasty. Japan

Ceremonial tripod Chicago

From

(Ting), Chou dynasty.

5.

the

From

the Art

jar

(Yu),

Chou dynasty

From

the David

7.

Double

8.

Bronze altar table with ceremonial vessels. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

9.

Double-headed animal. Han dynasty.

lock,

or

later.

Wey

Collection,

Paris

Collection,

Institute

wine

Collection

From the Art

Sumitomo

From the Louvre, Paris Chou dynasty. In the Eumorfopoulos

Elephant, Han dynasty or earlier.

6. Ceremonial

Chou dynasty, 1122-249 B.C.

of

From

Chou dynasty.

the David

Wey

From

the

Collection

BRONZE AND BRASS but there are few trained archaeologists outside China state that

any known bronze

the next few years

made,

to

it

may

is

who

will

venture to

Shang dynasty.

definitely of the

Within

be possible, from dated excavations yet to be

determine the types of manufacture sufficiently to attribute bronzes

to the early or the late

at present

Chou dynasty (1122-255

B.C.).

beyond the bounds of our knowledge.

b.c.-a.d. 220)

we

are on a

tions of Kozlov, in

somewhat

That

From Han

is,

firmer footing, and the recent excava-

Mongolia, have shed a great deal of light upon

lization enabling us to place in the

however,

times (206

Han

Han

civi-

dynasty, with some assurance,

bronzes that would otherwise have received a

much

later dating.

Dated

bronzes of the Six dynasties (a.d. 265-589) and the T'ang dynasty (618— 907) exist, but during the

Sung dynasty

(a.d.

960-1279) the taste for

re-

producing old bronzes arose, and the manufacture was carried on side by side with

contemporary designs, so a state of confusion has resulted.

highly probable that

modern

copies of the

many of the so-called Sung

period.

It

is

ancient bronzes are comparatively

In such pieces anachronisms are notice-

able in the type and use of decorative motives rather than in the appearance

of the objects as a whole.

We know

a good deal about the porcelain of the

Ming dynasty (1368-1644), many pieces good way of determining Ming bronzes is

of which are dated, and a fairly

compare them with Ming porcelains, which were often based upon bronze forms; some of them were undoubtedly copied from early bronzes, but anachronisms are bound to creep in. Except for deliberate forgeries, of which quantities exist, there is little danger of confusing a modern bronze with an ancient one, for little of the This is due exquisite technique of the early bronze founders has survived. rather to cheapness of production and careless slipshod methods, than to any loss of knowledge of the processes. Bronze Composition and Manufacture. Bronze was used at a very early date for both ceremonial and utilitarian purposes and doubtless the ceremonial use was the later development. It must first have been cast in single stone moulds, then in piece moulds, and finally by the lost wax process, to which complicated method we owe the earliest bronzes now known to us. The simple piece moulds were used for coins, spear-heads, halberds, swords, and such objects, where the forms were simple and flat. Large basins were to

—

also cast tell

by

this

method and Voretzsch

believes that

from examining the surface of a bronze how

many

it is

often possible to

pieces

had previously 175

CHINESE ART been cast in the same mould. The ceremonial vessels varied greatly in form, some being very complicated, with elaborately modelled handles and surface decoration in several different planes. While the earliest of these are cast

by the

lost

wax

process,

and are technically superb,

Han dynasty onwards we

that from the

find

it is

interesting to note

an increasing number of bronzes

whose component parts were separately cast and afterwards assembled by welding. So proficient were the workers in the craft of bronze founding,

come from the mould so cleanly and sharply defined that very little work was necessary to finish them with chisel and file. The fact that a bronze was cast in one piece does that bronzes of the good periods seem to have

not necessarily indicate that

it is

old,

but a bronze cast

in several parts

and

welded together could hardly antedate the Christian Era, and would probably be of

much

later date.

There have been several

series of

the composition of early bronzes.

been published by Prof.

M.

Chou dynasty, but

of the

most complete has recently

Chikashige, a Japanese,

and physically a number of mirrors. to the

experiments conducted to determine

One It

who analysed

chemically

has been stated in a work pertaining

possibly of later date, the K'ao

Kung

Chi, that the

proportions of copper and tin were definitely established for the making of

bronzes for specific purposes.

It

is

certain, however, that neither these

metals nor any others were available to the Chinese in a form at in all the alloys there are

and

iron

Some

silver.

all

pure, so

other metals present such as lead, zinc, antimony,

of the early bronzes have a beautiful golden colour

under the patina, and there are dealers who have not hesitated to state that this

was due

cal analyses

The

to the presence of large quantities of gold in the alloy.

show no

Chemi-

gold.

proportions used in the

Chou dynasty, according

to the

K'ao Kung

Chi, are as follows:

5

parts copper,

i

part tin for bells, gongs, kettles, ceremonial vessels and measures of capacity.

"

4 3 2

i

"

"

"

axes and hatchets.

i

"

i

"

"

"

"

"

halberd-heads and tridents. two-edged swords, spades, hoes and similar agricultural im-

i parts "

"

arrowpoints and knives used as styluses for writing.

"

"

mirrors.

plements. 3 1

P- lrr

"

176

i

part

BRONZE AND BRASS The varying proportions of metals in the alloy would of course affect we have, in consequence, a range from a coppery red colour

the colour, and

through lighter reds and golden yellow to the nearly pure silver colour of

The

the mirrors.

surface of most ancient bronzes,

when cleaned from

posits

and patina, has a

some

to be the result of the accidental presence of

dull silvery colour

due

mercury.

to

This

mercury

which has worked to the surface during long years of

burial.

said

is

de-

by

in the alloy, It

is

more

probable, however, that the mercury was used deliberately to coat the sur-

and thereby produce a silver-coloured plating in cases itself was not white. The colours produced by age and care-

face of the bronze

where the alloy ful

manipulation,

of early ages

who

now

searches of

no

interest to the Chinese

preferred the bronzes to be of a steely colour.

—

Uses. The uses of the bronze ceremonial vessels are largely Our information is gained from works based upon the rethe archaeologists of the Sung dynasty, who undoubtedly had

Forms and conjectural.

so highly valued, were of

material not available to us, but whose deductions and theories would hardly

be called

It

scientific.

is

idealizations of vessels in

and water, and others,

believed that the sacrificial forms were based upon

common

cereals

use; that

some held

and prepared meats.

been used only for commemorative purposes.

would cause a bronze vessel inscribe

it,

sometimes to

was due, sometimes were used are

be made

It

is

All

not

it

may

A man

raised to high rank

whom

he believed his preferment

known whether

or not such vessels

Since Shang bronzes

be well to consider briefly the forms of ceremonial

Chou dynasty.

Chou bronzes can be characterized as dignified and massive in proWhether they be large or small there is always an appearance of

strength and solidity; and although not essentially clumsy, there little

charm of contour such

The few

wine

honour of the occasion, and would

in family sacrifices or religious ceremonies.

bronzes most widely used during the

portion.

in

his ancestors, to

to himself.

problematic

still

to

liquids such as

Some of them may have

as

would have been so

is

as yet

essential to the Greeks.

exceptions are in the profiles of some of the simpler tsun, and these

are as sensitive in line as

keenly was the line

felt in

any works of

art that

have ever been made.

So

such instances that the slenderness or sturdiness of

the tsun was perfectly expressed in the quality of the profile, regardless of bulk.

There

is

crudity perhaps in the conception of some of the decorative

177

CHINESE ART motives, but

without any traces of Chief pot,

it

among

period,

awkwardness of execution.

its

early bronze forms

is

Originally a tripod cooking

the ting.

assumed a great variety of shapes, some clumsy and topheavy, and There

others refined, but always sturdy. collection in the

is

It

was formerly

a beautiful tea-dust green,

Buckingham

at present in the

is

Art Institute of Chicago, an unusually

early but refined type.

patina

Romanesque

the crudeness of conception of the

it is

fine

Tuan Fang

in the

example of an

collection.

The

and has evidently been hand-polished

for generations.

The is

hsien

is

generally a three-legged vessel the bottom section of which

covered by a perforated and sometimes hinged

made

two parts, occasionally separable, and

in

a cooking utensil well

known

is

lid; it

form, as compared with other bronze forms, which of

its

It

may

is

always clumsy in

be another indication

a covered bucket-like utensil with a swinging bale.

bulbous body, always

over the neck.

In

elliptical in section,

some

and the cover

cases the swinging handle

moves through a limited distance, allowing only removal of the

lid.

The

The

tsun which, in

yu was

function of the

tion of sacrificial wine, or possibly of its

wine for

simplest form,

is

name.

Some

of the most beautiful of

These beakers were used

Theyi

is

variants are at the top

is

four.

its

solemn occasions.

in

form without change of

at the

This form must

bottom. is

hung from

this loop,

lost.

A

origi-

few specimens have

all in

one piece, from

Some Chinese archaeologists claim which rang when the yi was lifted.

of very ancient origin in China

possible that a voiceless bell should have

some handsome

are sturdy, with animal heads

it

was without a clapper

centuries after the yi in question were made, so

.78

for the easy

the ancient bronzes are tsun.

all

origin

under the top of which depends a loop.

is

it

a cylinder-like beaker with con-

The handles

and a rectangular pendant

bell

down

the storage and transporta-

been found mounted upon a square hollow base, cast

some

closely

to contain liquids.

have had significance, but

that a bell originally

has a

room

a wide cup, generally with two handles, though

known with

Although the

fits

It

so arranged that

sufficient

less

cave sides, goes through a variety of changes

for

is

early origin.

The yu

nally

an archaic version of

really

Chinese kitchens.

in

was a steamer often

hung

there.

Bells

it

seems hardly

were struck with

WARREN

E.

COX COLLECTION

CHINESE BRONZE INCENSE BURNER Chinese bronze incense burner of the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1280) in the form of a water buffalo upon which is riding Lao-tse. the philosopher who founded The water buffalo, being one of the most the Taoist religion. dangerous and difficult beasts to tame, is chosen as a symbol of the power of the gentle thought of the philosopher.

The casting

of this piece

is

paper-thin

BRONZE AND BRASS a wooden mallet on the outer surface, and a person aloft in

The

both hands could certainly not have struck a

use of the loop remains therefore

have been mentioned here were

held a heavy yi

hanging beneath.

bell

problematical, and would not

still

not that

it

who

furnishes an excellent example

it

of the fantastic speculations which have passed current in China as archaeol-

The yi was used

ogy.

for offerings of grain.

Another form called fantastic of

all

but differently written,

v/',

is sometimes the most These yi are often animal forms con-

the sacrificial vessels.

ventionalized into containers for sacrificial wine, and generally of a deliberately ugly or as

members

A is

The animals

menacing aspect.

of any

known

are usually not recognizable

but are extremely convincing, nevertheless.

species,

form called the hu became very popular during the

a round-bellied jar with a spreading cylindrical neck,

It has

two ring handles suspended from

was used

as a container for

amples are

Buckingham

in the

flat tiger

wine or water.

neck four characters reading

same

these jars approximately the

dynasty.

It

cylindrical foot.

masks on the shoulders, and

Three of the

One

collection.

"Number

Han

and a

finest of these ex-

bears engraved upon the

Another of

seven eastern palace."

and shape has the entire surface

size

covered with an engraved pattern consisting of geometrical ornament and

dragon-headed interlacing

scroll patterns.

Both these

jars are of reddish

bronze with a heavy gold plating, but the decorated jar has the pattern lieved in silver colour evidently obtained

The masks which support

mercury.

and there can be

chiselled,

third of these jars

ably copper.

is

little

inlaid with a

A pattern

re-

by painting the gold surface with

the handles of this jar are very crisply

doubt that metal now

an imperial piece.

The

much decomposed, but

prob-

it is

of sprightly animals, facing each other in pairs, and

in different registers, alternating with spirals gives vigorous decoration over

the entire surface.

The form

from monotony and raised

of the jar

is

extremely simple, but

to a high degree of

it is

saved

beauty by the unusual vitality

of the decorating shapes. Bells

and mirrors deserve

early periods ticularly

special mention.

Fine bronze

have long been highly esteemed by Chinese

when they bear

inscriptions,

and an inscribed

bell

collectors, par-

was always con-

sidered superior to an uninscribed one of greater artistic merit.

of early bells are

all

more

or less alike, and they

may

bells of the

The forms

be generally considered 179

CHINESE ART as representing one class, although there

Most

in the surface decoration.

is

a great variety in proportion and

of the bells have projecting bosses, some-

times called nipples, arranged in regular pattern on the surface, and these

have given

some amazing speculations among Chinese amateurs.

to

rise

Perhaps the most amusing

is

that they are the survival of tuning pegs, such

as are used at present in harps

wires were stretched between

A

musical pitches.

and pianos.

It

them and that the

is

claimed that strings or

bells

were tuned to various

simpler solution of the problem would be that they

represent rivets which in early times fastened plates of metal together in bell

forms before bronze could be easily cast.

like

pointed

ellipses,

and

this

The bells

are

all flat in

form could easily develop from metal

section, plates.

Mirrors were probably introduced from the West, as highly artistic

metal mirrors were peared

in

in

use in Greece some time before they seem to have ap-

China and crude

earlier

or two possible exceptions the earliest Chinese mirrors the

Han

The

dynasty.

reflecting surface

is

we know date from The

earliest examples are circular and very simple.

as a rule slightly convex,

concentric bands of geometrical patterns.

and the back

Ritualistic mirrors

and sometimes characters and signs of the zodiac

A

the bands.

decorated with

is

sometimes had

Sometimes there are birds or beasts

concave reflecting surfaces. outline,

With one

Scythian examples are known.

in raised

in the field inside

boss in the exact centre, pierced from side to side, allowed the

passage of a cord which was twisted into a tassel and used as a handle for

Some

the mirror.

of the finest mirrors date from the T'ang dynasty.

The

backs are covered in high relief with intertwining patterns of vines, leaves, birds

and running animals, and are reminiscent of Persian

the repousse silver

work done

in

taste as well as

Asia Minor from Hellenistic times.

Cara-

vans were passing continually between China and the West, and, from the

Han

time of the

development of

Much less

dynasty, outside influences become a distinct factor in the

all

the crafts of China.

has been said about the style of the Ch'in dynasty, a period of

Chou and the Han, filled with uproar and doubt that many practices of the Chou dynasty

than 50 years between the

confusion.

came

There

is little

to a rather abrupt end, but styles

begin with another, and

Ch'in style.

180

The

it

is

doubtful

if

do not end with one dynasty nor such a thing actually exists as a

use of bronze became more widespread

among

the people

BRONZE AND BRASS Han

during the

dynasty, and from that time

its

uses multiply.

There are

splendid representations of animals, generally on a very small scale, singly,

and

Han

These occur from

in fantastic groupings.

to T'ang.

became the custom to cast votive figures in gilt bronze, and the monasteries seem to have made a practice of keeping large numbers of these on hand, ready for dedication by the pious. It is During the Six dynasties

it

from the inscriptions engraved on the bases at the time of such dedications that

we have gained much

and

religious practices of the

From

the end of the

of our information on sculptural characteristics

Wei and T'ang dynasties. Chou period there is a tendency

forms and rely upon engraved or inlaid patterns

in place

to simplify bronze

of the early decora-

During the Sung dynasty the keen delight

tions in relief.

in archaeological

research prompted the manufacture of exact counterparts of early forms, as well as

sorts of archaistic approximations.

all

have much

to

recommend them

as

works of

art.

Very few Ming bronzes

They

are generally the

products of the virtuosity of mediocre craftsmen, produced at a time when

had taken the place of purity of form.

lavish decoration Inscriptions.

—In the

upon

great stress

identification of ancient bronzes the Chinese lay

inscriptions.

There

is still

some doubt

as to the

meaning

of certain of the ancient characters, but most of the inscriptions can be read.

They vary

in length

from one character to several hundred, and often give

accounts of historical events and the names of personages, but without dates,

make attributions to definite times or places anything more than conjectural. One of the longest on record is in the South Kensington Museum, London. The shorter inscriptions read: "To and without

sufficient detail to

my

father Ting,"

"Serviceable for sons and grandsons," etc.

There are also some of which represent animals,

single marks,

more

birds or men.

the venerable father," "I have dedicated this bronze to

or less pictographic,

The meaning

of others

As bronzes with it

their

duty to see that

type of inscription. artistically,

is

not at

all clear.

inscriptions bring higher prices, all

dealers have felt

bronzes in their possession bore the right, or wrong

Many

bronzes, perfectly genuine, excellent specimens

have had inscriptions added

times meaningless.

many

at a later date, in characters

In the ancient bronzes the inscriptions were

surface like the ornament, and

it is

some-

cast in the

practically impossible to imitate a cast

181

CHINESE ART inscription

eye alone,

by means of engraved characters, so a microscope, and even the This is not, however, a practice will detect the added inscription.

some very

of recent origin, and

bronzes of the

fine

Chou dynasty bear

Shang or Chou characters which were added

scriptions in

hundred years

them

to

several

later.

Decoration.

—The

religion of the

Shang and Chou dynasties was

representations of the forces of nature, sometimes in demoniac form.

relief,

pattern of thin lines, closely spaced, in sharp

strongly modelled, and a either outlining the

relief,

stronger forms, or in an all-over pattern of spirals, completely

These

ground.

in thickness

lines are extraordinarily crisp in execution,

throughout the pattern, and were carved

original model,

from which they were cast

often have patterns of this type applied

with the result that the character

is

in

in the bronze.

known

relief often

as the

much

form bands around tsun, yu, and other

its

is

single lines in

They

are ex-

call

vessels.

is

the favourite.

Often

it is

is

indicated, but the lower

jaw

is

Chou dynasty

something intense about

even upon the uninitiated.

In late

the

represented only by

Sometimes the

never shown, so

most complete form, as a sort of mask.

nevertheless there effect

line

and are

The Chinese

— hemispherical bosses with an incised centre.

pears, even in

mould,

These

fret design

vessels.

the non-geometrical decorative forms of the

T'ao-t'ieh, or ogre's head

a pair of eyes

to the

Other linear motives are found of intersecting lozenge

diamond patterns on the handles of

upper part of a face

Later bronzes

will detect slight variations in direc-

showing that they were not mechanically done.

Of

and unvarying

shallower.

Very delicate

"thunder" pattern.

tremely regular, but careful inspection

them "bowstrings."

the

entirely different, the crispness of exe-

motives are of the well-known and widespread key or generally

filling

the surface of the

by means of stamps

cution being totally lacking, and the relief

or

Al-

decorations consist of two parts, an arrangement of forms of ani-

all

mistic or zoomorphic origin in rather high

tion,

ani-

and the decorations on the early bronzes have been interpreted as

mistic,

most

in-

it

ap-

It is abstract,

but

it

which has an awe-inspiring

Chou

bronzes, zoomorphic forma

are sometimes arranged in opposition so as to form parts of a T'ao-t'ieh. In spite of

many and

t'ieh represents,

[82

ingenious theories

but his representation

is

it

is still

uncertain what the T'ao-

always easily identified.

Ting

HSIEN

TSUN FROM ALBERT

J.

KOOP's "EARLY CHINESI BROKIEs"; (LEFT TO RICHT, TOP ROW) PLATES XX, ROW) PLATES XI, Lin; (LOWER ROW) PLATES IV, X-A.

II;

(MIDDLE

Early Chinese bronzes

183

CHINESE ART Animal heads are often used

as ornamental bosses in the centre of a

band of decoration, and as handle ends on the swinging bales of the yu.

Some

of the heads are horned and

They

mouselike ears.

some

Some have

are not.

are variously identified, but none of

They

closely patterned after nature.

are abstractions based

spreading

them seem

upon animals

rather than animal portraits.

In considering the decorative zoomorphic motives on those of similar design

it

might be safe to say that a recognizable animal

We can

always argues a comparatively late date.

and even very

like forms,

Chou bronzes and

see bird-like,

close likenesses of the cicada,

easily to geometrical conventionalization,

recognizable animals appear

we

and animal-

which lends

itself

but as soon as elephants or other

realize that the piece

is

later in date or

even

archaistic.

Very noticeable as decorative forms are the projecting flanges on the corners of square bronzes, or dividing the surface of the round bronzes into vertical panels.

As

will

It

is

one of the favourite motives of the Chou dynasty.

be noticed in the illustrations they are usually cut and perforated In some cases they are so fantastic as to detract

into decorative forms.

from the beauty of the piece.

One

sees

no reason to doubt that their origin was the projecting "fins"

which are always piece

left in

castings from piece moulds, and that long after the

moulds had ceased to be used

for fine bronzes, the decorative descend-

ants of their "fins" were cast, as ornamental motives.

In the

Han

lines of the

dynasty, and

later, there is a great deal of inlaying in gold

Evidently a new flood of folk-lore

most elaborate patterns.

from outside sources was pouring over China at that time, and

all

sorts of

animals and warlocks chase each other through mountains and clouds.

There was then a breaking away from the heavy and sombre traditions of the

Chou dynasty and

inlaid gold bronzes

by Rostovtzeff animals or

have recently come

in his

spirits,

or copied

to light

Many

and have been ably discussed

book "Inlaid Bronzes of the Han Dynasty."

known

from

— heard

The

foreign

of perhaps in wild tales of barbarian

animal

motives imperfectly understood;

imagined, or evolved as personifications of the forces of nature. 184

of these

or whatever the forms represent, were in most cases

animals not seen or tribes,

a tremendous expression of energy.

BRONZE AND BRASS During the

Han dynasty

the tale of the Kun-lung mountains with their

peachtree on which grew the peaches of longevity was popular, and the

came into being. Though prevalent in Han pottery, in bronze it is hardly met before the Six dynasties, and then, although the conical cover moulded to resemble mountain peaks hardly "hill" type of incense burner

changed

its

shape, the cylindrical base most

placed by forms of greater fancy and grace.

common

was

in pottery

re-

Coiling dragons of strength and

vigour often supported the censer in their jaws.

Dragons were not very common as bronze decorations before the Han It has been proved that they were a comparatively late importa-

dynasty.

from the west, but from T'ang times onwards they are the commonest

tion

Taoist figures become popular in Sung and Ming Lao Tzu riding upon an ox, and in the following centuries bronze has been the medium for comparatively trivial ideas. The majesty

of

all

decorative motives.

times, such as

of the early days set of large

is

conspicuous exception, however,

is

the

bronze astronomical instruments cast in 1279 for the observatory

The Ming emperors sought

on the walls of Peking. scale,

A

gone forever.

and huge bronze

vessels

dignity on an enormous

and dragons were cast

for use in the palace

and the palace grounds, but few of them were successful and most were

ex-

tremely awkward and ungainly.

The

walls of early bronze vessels, except for the basin-like ones, are

generally thick, and the walls of later bronzes are always comparatively thin.

The

show a tenseness of conception, the later ones a suavity of line and simplicity of mass that tends to become insipid. All the handles and other freestanding parts of early bronzes seem so perfectly suited to their early bronzes

The Ming and Ching bronze jars are frequently monstrosities, violatdesign canons. The decoration on early bronzes seems always pro-

function and the needs of the design that they appear inevitable.

handles on ing

all

duced with the particular piece

in

mind, but

in the later

bronzes

it is

simply

a matter of stock patterns applied with dies and stamps.

Patina.

—Inasmuch

as an interesting patina will to-day bring a high

price for a bronze of little or

may be

useful here.

no

artistic

True patination

merit some discussion of patinas

is

produced by chemical changes

brought about by the action on the bronze of chemicals it

is

buried, hastened

more or

less

in the soil in

by the amount of moisture

which

present.

185

CHINESE ART Some

bronzes have been found in water, which produces a distinctive

and some are thought never

have been buried.

to

effect,

Europeans and Ameri-

cans prefer a green patina, and the Chinese consider that a velvety black

Good

the best.

larly if they

so

patinas are very appealing in colour and texture, particu-

have received careful grinding and polishing

many museums which have one of colour. When a bronze

no merit beyond the accidental

lutely

for generations,

not surprising to find bronzes in

it is

cavated

its

less thick,

surface

is

the metal surface and

its

thick and

is

absoex-

is

more or

naturally covered with dirt and incrustations

underneath which

If the patina

is

the patina caused by the disintegration of

is

combination with elements which surround its

colour good

may

it

it.

down

be carefully ground

and polished away until the resultant bronze is actually the handiwork of a more recent craftsman who has carved out of the heavy patinated surface

The

the original form of the bronze.

with the bare hand, relying on the

favourite Chinese

oils

method

is

to polish

of the skin for the sole lubrication.

Generations of such polishing by hosts of patient servants has given to

famous bronzes are

charm of

their

coming on the market just

evident attempt to preserve

Many European

face.

all

dirt

is

have been excavated, and there

which can be made

wax and

collectors

bronzes, but the practice

At the present time many bronzes

colour.

as they

not followed

in

wash

simplest

off in water,

colours, so these

which

work

is

there are is

way

to

many ways

this

artificial is

done

in

a variety will

will act as a solvent to oil

easily detected.

Sodium

silicate,

often used and in Japan exceedingly clever

Waxes

of finding out

There

are used also.

be absolutely certain that a bronze

not easily damaged.

patinas to

Watercolour paints

them.

and turpentine or naphtha

done with coloured lacquers.

fortunately, no

patina

to paint

is

methods of falsification are

very slow to dissolve,

is is

method

an

the surfaces of their

polish

genuine old bronzes to increase their saleability, and

The

is

to cling to the sur-

America.

Unscrupulous dealers have not hesitated to apply of ways.

many

when they

is

is,

un-

genuine, but

are not genuine.

A

true

Boiling a few hours in water, and washing

with paint and varnish solvents will easily remove the more recent traces of antiquity. I nlicate,

that

it

The

lacquer does not

come

off so easily,

has been applied, the surface beneath

a small hit of the surface

is

exposed, the

is

but where lacquer, or

generally roughened so

artificial

roughening can be

BRONZE AND BRASS seen.

The

and cannot

true patina has actually eaten into the surface

most cases be far the entire

easily

bronze

removed. shell is

Where

the process of patination has gone

sometimes changed

ine fragments of ancient bronzes are

in

examined

it

in composition, will

and

if

genu-

be seen that the patina

penetrates deep below the surface, sometimes leaving only a slight core of the original bronze which, too, has changed in composition,

and has become extremely

brittle.

ditions the strength, the toughness

have been

little affected.

On

the other

if

not in colour,

hand under

different con-

and even the appearance of old bronzes

Some very

careful forgeries

have been made by

applying fragments of true malachite to the surface of the bronze with lacquer.

Some

types of bronze patina are actually like malachite in structure,

appearance, and chemical composition, but forgeries of this type

may

be

detected under the magnifying glass by observing the stratifications of the colour layers which will not harmonize with each other.

187

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BIBLIOGRAPHIES

TEXTILES AND EMBROIDERIES Victoria and Albert Museum, Catalogues; "Chinese Art" (Burtengten Magazine Monograph, 1925); A. Von le Coq, Chotscho (1912); Sir A. Stein, Scrindia (1921).

AESTHETIC DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA ed.,

E. Dillon, Porcelain (1904); R. L. Binyon, Painting in the Far East (1908. 3rd 1923); E. F. Fenollosa, Epochs of Chinese and Japanese Art (191 2); M. Anesaki,

Buddhist Art (1916).

2nd

Field S.

For China,

see E. J. Eitel,

ed., rev., 1888); B. Laufer, Jade.

W.

A

Columbian Museum Publications. Bushell, Chinese Art (1904-06,

new

Handbook of Chinese Buddhism

(1870.

Study in Chinese Archaeology and Religion in Anthropological Series, vol. 10 (Chicago 1913); A. L. B. Ashton, An Introduction to

ed., 1921);

Study of Chinese Sculpture (1924); B. Laufer, Chinese Grave-Sculptures of the Han Period (Leipzig 191 1); O. Siren, Chinese Sculpture from the Jth to the 14th Century (1925); A. J.

the

Koop, Early Chinese Bronzes (1924, see also Bushell, Loc. Cit.); T. J. Arne, Painted Stone Age Pottery from the Province of Honan, China, Geol. Survey of China (Peking 1925); W. G. Gulland, Chinese Porcelain (1898); W. C. Monkhouse, A History and Description of Chinese Porcelain (1901); S. W. Bushell, Description of Chinese Pottery and Porcelain (1910); R. L. Hobson and A. L. Hetherington, The Art of the Chinese Potter from the Han Dynasty to the End of the Ming (1923), and The Later Ceramic Wares of China (1925). E. F. Strange, Chinese Lacquer (1926); The Burlington Magazine Monographs (1925); Ars Asiatica (ed. v. Golonbew, 1914); Artibus Asiae (Dresden, 1925); The Chinese Journal (Shanghai, 1923). See also Chinese Architecture; Chinese Painting; Chinese Sculpture; Bronzb and Brass Ornamental Work: Chinese. See further Japanese Painting and Prints; Korea: Aesthetic Development; Potteries and Porcelains; Near and Far East.

ARCHITECTURE The only original Chinese work on architecture is the Ying Tsao Fa Shi (1103; 2nd ed., 1145; reissued by the Shanghai Commercial Press). Good accounts of the work were given by P. Demieville in Bulletin de VEcole Francaise d''Extreme-Orient, tome xxv. (1925), and Percival W. Yetts in the Burlington Magazine (March, 1927), the latter containing a discussion of earlier European books dealing with Chinese architecture. 189

BIBLIOGRAPHIES Of

greater importance are, however, the works published

on

their

own

by various Japanese

authorities

early buildings since these are closely connected with those of China.

Japanese Temples and Their Treasures

(last ed. 191 5); also articles in the

Japanese reviews, especially C. Ito and

J.

See

Kokka and other

Tsuchija's report about the imperial palaces in

Peking, in the Bulletin of the School of Engineering of the Tokyo Imper. University (1905), a kind of text for the portfolio publications; Photographs of Palace Buildings of Peking and Decoration of the Palace Buildings of Peking (1906). See also Boerschmann, Baukunst und religiose Kultur der Chinesen (1911-14) and Chinesche Architektur (1925); Osvald Siren, The

Walls and Gates of Peking (1924), and The Imperial Palaces of Peking (Paris, 1926); Tokiwa and Sekino, Buddhist Monuments in China (Tokyo, 1926-27), of which only one part has

been issued in English. The drawings of this article are executed partly on the basis of sketches by Prof. Sekino and partly after photographs by the author.

PAINTING S.

Omura, Chinese

Painters, vol. viii.-xii.;

H. A.

Giles, Introduction to the History

of Chinese Pictorial Art; A. Waley, Introduction to the Study of Chinese Painting and Index of Chinese Artists; L. Binyon, Painting in the Far East; R. Petrucci, Encyclopedic de la Peinture

Chinoise; F. Hirth, Scraps from a Collector's Notebook; J. C. Ferguson, Chinese Painting.

WOOD-CARVING Temples and their Treasures, Dept. of Interior, Japan; F. T. Piggott, The Decorative S. W. Bushell, Chinese Art (1904-1909).

Art of Japan (1910);

SCULPTURE albums of albums of plates, 1 vol. text in Japanese (191 5); T. Sekino, Sepulchral Remains of the Han Dynasty in Shantung, 1 album of plates, text separate in Japanese (1920); S. Taketaro and Nakagawa, Rock Carvings from Yun Kang Caves, 1 album of plates without text (1921); S. Tanaka, T'ien Lung Shan, 1 album of plates without text (1923); L. Ashton, Introduction to the Study of Chinese Sculpture (1924); V. Segalen, "Premier expose des resultats archeologiques dans la Chine occidentale par la mission G. de Voisins, J. Lartigue, V. S6galen," Journal Asiatique, tome v 3 vi2, vii 3 ; O. Siren, Chinese Sculpture from the 5th to the 14th Century, 3 vol. plates, 1 vol. text (1925), and Studien zur Chinesischen Plastik der PostT'ang Zeit (1927); V. Segalen, G. de Voisins and J. Lartigue, Mission ArchSologique en Chine, 2 albums of plates without text (1926); O. Siren, A History of Early Chinese Art E. Chavannes, Mission

archSologique dans

plates, 2 vol. text (1909-15); S.

Omura, History

la

Chine

septentrionale,

1

of Chinese Art; Sculpture, 1

,

(1929).

POTTERY AND PORCELAIN General: F.

Brinkley, China, Its History, Arts

and

Literature

and R. L. Hobson, Marks on Pottery and Porcelain (1912);

S.

W.

(1904); W. Burton Bushell, Chinese Art

(2 vols., 1906), Description of Chinese Pottery and Porcelain (1910), being a translation of the T'ao shuo, Oriental Ceramic Art (1899); E. Hannover, Pottery and Porcelain, vol. II.,

The Ear East (1925); R. L. Hobson, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain (2

190

vols., 191 5),

Catalogue

BIBLIOGRAPHIES of the Eumorfopoulos Collection (6 vols., 1925-28), Guide

Far East (1924);

to the

Pottery

and Porcelain

of the

St. Julien, Histoire et Fabrication de la Porcelaine Chinoise (1856), being a

translation of the greater part of the Ching te chen t'ao lu, with notes

and additions;

Zimmermann,

Chinesisches Porzellan (Leipzig, 1923). Early Periods: J. G. Andersson, Bulletin of the Geological Survey of China, No. 5 (1923), Memoirs of the Geological Survey of China, Series A, No. 5 (1925); T. J. Arne, Palaeontologia

E.

Sinica (1925), Series D, vol. I., No. 2; C. Hentze, Les Figurines de la Ceramique Funeraire (Hellerau, 1927); A. L. Hetherington, Early Ceramic Wares of China (abridged ed., 1924);

B. Laufer, Chinese Pottery of the Han Dynasty (Leyden, 1909), The Beginnings of Porcelain in China (Chicago, 1917); O. Rucker Embden, Chinesische Fruhkeran ik (Leipzig, 1922). Later Periods: R. L. Hobson, The Wares of the Ming Dynasty (1923), The Later Ceramic of China (1925); A. E. Hippisley, Catalogue of the Hippisley Collection, Smithsonian

Wares

Institution,

Washington (1900).

ENAMEL F. Brinkley, Japan and China, vol. vii. (1904); Brooklyn Museum of the Institute of Arts and Sciences, The Avery Collection of Ancient Chinese Cloisonnes (1912); S. W. Bushell, Chinese Art, vol. ii. (1919) ; R. L. Hobson, Chinese Cloisonne Enamels, in Burlington Magazine, vol. xxi., pp. 137, 202, Ibid.

Canton Enamels, in Burlington Magazine,

vol. xxii., p. 165.

JADE J.

Anderson, Report on

1871); S. Blondel,

appelee yu par

the

Expedition of Western Yunnan via Bhamo (Calcutta, historique, archeologique et litteraire sur la pierre

"Le Jade," etude

les

Chinois (Paris,

1875),

trans

-

by Dr. E. Foreman

Report for 1876 of the Smithsonian Institution (Washington); F.

W.

in the

Annual

Clarke and G. P.

Merrill, "On Nephrite and Jadeite," in Proceedings, U. S. National Museum, vol. xi. (1888); G. M. Dawson, "On the Occurrence of Jade in British Columbia and its Employment by the Natives," Canadian Record of Science, vol. ii. No. 6 (April, 1887); Sir J. Evans, The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain (London, 1 872; 2nd ed., 1897); H. Fischer and A. A. Damour, "Notice sur la distribution des haches et autres objets prehistoriques en jade, nephrite et en jadeite," Revue Archeologique (Paris, 1878); B. J. Harrington, "Notes on Specimens of Nephrite from British Columbia," Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Sect. iii. (1890); J. Hilton, "Remarks on Jade," reprinted from the Archaeological Journal, vol. xlv., p. 187 (Exeter, 1888); C. W. King, Antique Gems and Rings (London, 1 872) G. F. Kunz, Gems and Precious Stones of North America (New York, 1890), The Precious Stones of Mexico (1907); A. B. Meyer, Jadeit und Nephrit Objecte, Konig. Ethnographisches Museum zu Dresden (Leipzig, 1882); R. Pumpelly, "Geological Researches in China, Mongolia and Japan during the years 1862 to 1865," Smithsonian Contribution to Knowledge (Washington, 1866); F. W. Rudler, "On Jade and Kindred Stones," Popular Science Review (London, Oct. 1879); E. G. Squier, "Observations on a Collection of Chalchihuitls from Mexico and Central America," Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York (1869); H. M. Westropp, "On Jade Implements found in ;

Switzerland," Journal of the Anthropological Institute, vol. of Sen.

Marco

Polo, concerning the

Kingdoms and Marvels

x.

(1880);

H. Yule, The Book 2nd

of the East (London, 1871;

ed., 1875).

191

BIBLIOGRAPHIES IRON B. Laufer, Chinese Clay Figures, Part

i,

Prolegomena on the History of Defensive

H. C. Gunsaulus, Japanese Sword-mounts in the Collection of the Field Museum (Chicago, 1923); E. Boerschman, "Eisen-und Bronzepagoden in China," Jahrbuch der Asiatischen Kunst, pp. 223-235 (1924); B. March, "Iron Pictures: A Chinese Craft," Chinese Economic Monthly, vol. iii., pp. 312-31350. Siren, Chinese Sculpture (1925); G. Souli6 de Morant, Histoire de LArt Chinois (1928).

Armor

(Chicago,

1914);

LACQUER Lacquer:

Chinese

P.

le

Bonnani,

reprinted 1780); P. d'Incarville,

Traite

"Memoire

de

la

composition

sur le Vernis de

des

Chine"

in

Vernis

(1723, the Memoires

of the Academie Royale des Sciences (Paris, 1760); S. W. Bushell, Chinese Art, vol. i. (1904-06; new ed., 1921); O. Muensterberg, Chinesische Kunstgeschichte, 2 vol. (Esslingen N., 1910-12); W. P. Yetts, Symbolism in Chinese Art, publ. by the China Soc. (1912); A. A. Breuer, "Chinese Inlaid Lacquer" and "Chinese Incised Lacquer" in the Burlington Magazine, vol. xxv. (1914); E. F. Strange, Catalogue of Chinese Lacquer in the Victoria and a.

Albert

Museum

(1925),

and Chinese Lacquer (1926).

Chinese and Japanese lacquer: F. Brinkley, Japan and China, 12 vol. (1901-02; 2nd ed., 1903-04); Toyei Shuko, Illustrated Catalogue of the Ancient Imperial Treasury, called Shosoin (1909); Omura Seigai, Record of the Imperial Treasury, Shosoin (1910); A. A. Breuer, "Influence of China on Lacquer in Japan," Japan Soc. Transactions, vol. xii. (1913-14).

See also Kokka, a monthly journal on Fine Arts, Archaeology, etc. (Tokyo,

1890, etc.).

BRONZE AND BRASS S. W. Bushell, Chinese Art (1904); J. C. Ferguson, "An Examination of Chinese Bronzes," Annual Report of Smithsonian Institution (19 14); M. Toyoda, Sumitomo Part II., "Ancient Mirrors" (1921); Takeuchi Kimpei, "Ancient Chinese Bronze Mirrors"

Burlington Magazine (Sept. 191 1); A. J. Koop, Early Chinese Bronzes (1924); Hamada Kosaku, Explanatory Notes on Sen-oku sei-sho (The Collection of Old Bronzes of Baron Sumitomo) Part L, "Bronze Vases," etc. (1921); R. Petrucci, "L'Epigraphie des Bronzes rituels

de la Chine ancienne"

in

M.

Jour. Asiatiquc (1916);

M.

Rostovtzeff, Iranians

Han

and

Dynasty in the Collection of C. T. Loo (Brussels, 1927); E. A. Voretzsch, Altchinesischc Bronzen (Berlin, 1924); W. P. Yetts, "Bronzes," Burlington Magazine Monograph (1925); Otto Kummel, Chinesische Bronzen aus der Abteilung fur Ostasiatische Kunst an den Staatlichen Museen,

Greeks in South Russia (1922);

Berlin (1928).

192

Rostovtzeff, Inlaid Bronzes of the