In Chinese the term meishu (fine arts) is often used to refer not only to painting andcalligraphy, but also to the applied arts – ivory and jade carving, sculpture,porcelain, cloisonne and embroidery. In the past painting and calligraphy were thedomain of the scholar officials, while the applied arts were executed by artisans,who inherited skills from their families. They were often employed by the state tosupply the imperial household. In tracing the history and development of Chineseart it is often to the applied arts that one must turn for information. For example,the pottery shards of the Neolithic period show how the throwing and firing of potsdeveloped and that they were decorated with both symbolic and representational designs.

With the Shang dynasty came the discovery of bronze, which was used forceremonial vessels or tripods. These have shown not only that the people of theShang had command of sophisticated casting techniques, but that recurring stylizedanimal motifs were used, such as the taotie – a stylized monster mask. The vesselsand oracle bones were inscribed with early forms of writing. By the Zhou dynastythe designs of these bronze vessels were more elaborate, bird motifs were often usedand the inscriptions were longer and more detailed. Jade bi discs – symbols ofpower and status – found in tombs from this era show that the precious qualities ofjade had been discovered by this rime. With the unification of China under the Qin and Han dynasties the arts began toreflect more aspects of daily life and developed a strong representational content.

Writing was at first done on bamboo strips, then silk. Paper was developed by CaiLun and used from 106 onwards, and brushes made of animal bristles and ink madefrom soot and glue were used as writing materials. With these new materials scribeswere able to experiment with brush and ink and the absorbency of the paper todevelop the main styles of calligraphy which have been used to this day. The sealscript was derived from inscriptions found on the early bronzes. The li scriptwas developed from inscriptions on stone tablets and characterized by the heavystroke endings – this is the most legible script and it is the basis of the printed char-acter forms. While these two scripts were derived from the carved character,the ‘grass’ script took advantage of the special properties of the brush and wasused to develop a form of speed writing. It was also known as the ‘running hand’ script.

Tombs are a rich source ofinformation about the high level of attainments in thearts in the Han dynasty. Wall and brick paintings and bas reliefs depict scenes fromdaily life: musicians, acrobats, spinning, farming and hunting. The silk funeralhanging found at Mawangdui in Changsha is an excellently preserved work of art,reflecting the Han vision of the universe. The funerary figures to be found in thetombs of the Qin and Han were made from clay or wood and were painted. Theydepicted armies, ladies-in-waiting, acrobats and musicians. Other finds whichreflect developments in the applied arts include early lacquer ware, musicalinstruments and the jade burial suits from Hebei province.

One of the major outside influences on the development of Chinese art in the first’ millennium was Buddhism. The styles and forms of Indian Buddhist iconographyand architecture were gradualty transformed to conform to Chinese aestheticstandards. The introduaion of Buddhism was a motivating force in the develop-ment of paper and later (in the eighth century) wood block printing to facilitate thedistribution of Buddhist writings. The influence of Buddhism was also reflected inthe building of pagodas based on the Indian stupa, temples, and the great Buddhistgrottoes of Dunhuang, Luoyang and Datong – magnificent pieces of devotional art,where both giant and miniscuie Buddhist figures are carved into the rock face andthe walls are painted with murals. Paintings on paper or silk from this period depicteither the Buddhist paradise or the single figure of a Buddhist saint.

When the Buddhist purges occurred at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the pace ofdevelopment slowed down. There was also a body of secular art produced duringthis millennium, which has survived through copies made by later generations: inChina ‘copying’ is thought to benefit the artist’s technical development. ‘rhe worksof the fourth-century painter Gu Kaizhi have survived in this way.

In the field of art criticism and theory, in the sixth century Xie He produced atreatise emphasizing the importance of painting with ‘vitality’, using the brush tocreate form and colour for the composition of a painting. This was as important forthe improvement of one’s technique as the need to copy. During this time the handscroll was more popular than the hanging scroll: this was unfurled horizontallyrevealing scenes which, while complete in their own right, formed part of a whole.

Towards the end of the first millennium landscape painting was introducedwhen, in the ninth century, Wang Wei began to use ink to create monochromaticpaintings which were redolent with atmosphere. In the applied arts developmentsin glazing techniques gave a new status to ceramics and the classical pottery of Yue,Ru and Dingzhou was highly acclaimed. Sculpture was atits most vital and realisticin the Tang dynasty and artisans worked in precious metals and hard stone.

The Song dynasty saw the apogee of Chinese art: artists enjoyed imperialpatronage and there was an Art Academy. Painters experimented with perspective- a mountain painting would take the spectator upwards through the differentlevels of the mountain – and both ink and coloured paint were used. By way ofcontrast to the bold landscape painting a new miniature style of ‘bird and flower’ painting was developed: this depicted in accurate and delicate detail a single birdpoised on a branch of blossom. When the capital of the Song dynasty was forced tomove southwards to Hangzhou, the gentler landscape of this area and the differentartistic traditions exerted their influence on painting, making it more romantic.

There was great interest in brush techniques and strokes and during the Song periodthe different strokes were named. The devices of ‘bird and flower’ painting werecombined with landscape painting in the ‘one corner’ technique -in the corner of apainting a group of rocks, buildings or trees would be painted in detail, while in thebroad expanse of the rest of the picture a few strokes of che brush would be used todenote the background giving a new sense of perspective and depth to the landscape35