The Four
Treasures of the Study
Hu brushes, Hui inksticks, Xuan paper
and Duan inkstones are popularly known as the "four
treasures of the study" in China. They are essential
tools for calligraphers and painters.
Brush-making began as early as the 3rd century BC in
Shanlian town in Zhejiang Province. In ancient times,
the town belonged to the Hu Prefecture, which gave its
name to the Hu brush.
Most Hu brushes are made from the hair of the Hu goat,
which gives a fine smooth tip. They also can be made from
weasel, rabbit or sable hair, or a mixture of rabbit and
goat hair. They are classified into four categories according
to the type of raw material: Yanghao, Langhao, Zihao and
Jianhao.
Shexian, Xiuning and Tunxi counties in Anhui Province
were already famous for their inksticks in the late Tang
Dynasty. It was said the ink "took to paper like
paint and lasted one thousand years".
Anhui's inksticks are made of the ashes of burnt green
pine from Huangshan Mountain, mixed with a kind of glue.
The most decorative ones are moulded in Nanmu wood moulds
and then carved by skillful sculptors with scenes of pavilions
and pagodas, hills, brooks, plants, birds and beasts.
A set of more than 40 pieces might depict all the scenic
spots of West Lake in Hangzhou.
In ancient China, bamboo strips and silk, one heavy and
the other expensive, were used for writing until the invention
of paper during the Eastern Han Dynasty. The most renowned
writing and drawing paper is xuanzhi, first produced
in Jingxian County, Anhui Province at the beginning of
the Tang Dynasty. White, soft, durable and non-absorbent,
it is made in an 18-step process from the bark of wingceltis
and rice straw. The largest size available, some five
meters wide, is used by calligraphers and artists in China.
(TOP)
Inkstones
Inkstones, slabs of stone used to grind ink for traditional
Chinese brush writing, are an improtant expression of
Chinese stone carving. Duan inkstones, first produced
in Duanzhou, Guangdong Province, were made from stones
found at the bottom of a mountain stream. They have a
fine, solid texture and glossy sheen, and ink prepared
in them does not dry quickly. Craftsman make use of the
characteristics of the original stone to produce carved
inkstones which are appreciated for their beauty as well
as their practical value. The Duan inkstones of Zhaoqing
of Guangdong Province and the inkstones of Shexian County
in Anhui Province were both much valued by Tang Dynasty
scholars and calligraphers for their hard and smooth texture
and finely executed designs. Besides being functional
as a tool for writing and painting, the inkstone serves
as a fine desk ornament. (TOP)
Closionne
Closionne is a famous traditional enamelware, known
as the "Blue of Jingtai" in China, with a history
of over 500 years. It is so called because "blue"
was the typical colour used for enamelling and "Jingtai"
was the reign title of the 7th Ming emperor's reign. Enamelware
became very popular during the emperor's reign. There
is a great variety of products, such as the traditional
vase, jar, bowl, plate, box and ash-tray. A great number
of new varieties have also been created. They are brilliant
in colours and splended in esign and enjoy a high reputation
both at home and abroad. Cloisonne is one of the famous
arts and crafts of Beijing.
The making of cloisonne requires rather elaborate and
complicated processes: base-hammering, copper-strip inlay,
soldering, enamel-filling, enamel-firing, polishing and
gilding.
Base-hammering of body is the first step in the making
of cloisonne. The material used for making the body is
copper, because copper is easily hammered and stretched.
This step requires a sound judgement in the shaping and
uniformity of thickness and weight. It is in fact the
work of the copper-smith. The only difference is that
when an article is shaped, the copper-smith's work is
finished, whereas the cloisonne craftsman's work has just
begun. (TOP)
The second step is filigree soldering. This step requires
great care and high creativeness. The artisan adheres
copper strips onto the body. These strips are of 1/16
inch in diametre and of lengths as the artisan desires.
The strips of filigree thus adhered make up a complicated
but complete pattern. The artisan has a blueprint in mind
and he can make full use of his experience, imagination
and aesthetic view in setting the copper strips on the
body.
The third step is to apply colour which is known as enamel
filling. The color or emamel is like the glaze on ceramics.
It is called falang. Its basic elements are boric
acid, saltpetre and alkaline. Owing to the difference
in the minerals added, the colour differs accordingly.
Usually one with much iron will turn grey, with uranium,
yellow, with chromium, green, with zinc, white, with bronze,
blue, with gold or iodine, red. In time of filling, all
the colours, ground beforehand into minute powder and
contained in plates, are placed in front of the workers
and are then applied on the little compartments separated
by filigree.
The fourth step is enamel firing. This is done by putting
the article, with its enamel filling, to the crucible.
After a short moment, the copper body will turn red. But
after firing, the enamel in the little compartments will
sink down a bit. That will require a re-filling. This
process will go on repeatedly until the little compartments
are finally filled.
The fifth step is polishing. The first polish is with
emery. Its aim is to make the filigree and the filled
compartments even. The whole piece is again put to fire,
then polished once more with a whet-stone. Finally, a
piece of hard carbon is used to polish again so as to
obtain some lustre on the surface of the article.
The sixth step is gilding. This is done by placing the
article in fluid of gold or silver, changed with electric
current. The exposed parts of the filigree and the metal
fringes of the article will again undergo another electroplating
and a slight polish. (TOP)
Batik
Batik is a traditional Chinese folk art which combines
painting and dyeing. It is made by dipping a specially
designed knife into melted wax and painting various patterns
on pieces of white cloth. The wax stays on the cloth and
often cracks after it hardens. The cloth is then dyed
and the dyes seep into the cracks and make fine lines.
When the wax is boiled away, beautiful patterns appear
on the cloth. Batik cloth can be made into garments, scarves,
bags, table-cloths, bedspreads, curtains, and other decorative
items.
The history of batik can be traced back to the Western
Han Dynasty (206 BC-24 AD). Batik used to be popular both
in Central and Southwest China. Somehow the batik technique
was lost in Central China, but it has been handed down
from generation to generation among the ethnic people
in Guizhou, a province in Southwest China. Nobody knows
how batik was invented, but a folk tale about a "batik
girl" tells us something about it. The story relates
that long, long ago, there was a girl living in a stone
village called Anshun, now a city in Guizhou Province.
She was fond of dyeing white cloth blue and purple. One
day, while she was working, a bee happened to alight on
her cloth. After she took away the bee, she found there
was a white dot left on the cloth, which looked very pretty.
Her finding led to the use of wax in dyeing.
Among the Miao nationality, a minority ethnic group in
Southwest China, young girls have to learn to make batik,
to weave, and to embroider. Custom demands that they make
their own farments, from wedding dresses to funeral shrouds.
Like all other Miao girls, Yang Jinxiu, a native of Anshun
in Guizhou, learned batik skill when she was a little
girl. At twenty she had already formed her own style which
was characterized by the combination of realisma nd romanticism.
In 1981, she was chosen by the China Association for Science
and Technology to exhibit her art of batik making at an
exhibition abroad. Later she took the exhibition to Canada
in1982 and the United States in 1984. Her works were praised
as "gems of ancient folk art" and "flowers
of legendary oriental art". In 1986, she went to
Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, and established
a batik handicraft mill which expanded a year later into
the Yang Jinxiu Batik Joint Corporation. Yang is the manager
and chief designer. The corporation exports batik goods
to a number of foreign countries including the United
States, Canada, France, Austria, Australia, Argentina,
Brazil, Japan, and Singapore. (TOP)
Ceramics-Pottery and Porcelain
Ceramics is the general art of heating common clay to
create an utilitarian or ornamental object. All pottery
and porcelain are considered ceramic. Pottery is, technically,
any object made from a porous clay and baked at a temperature
ranging from hot, direct sunlight to baking, or firing,
in a kiln at a temperature of about one thousand degrees
centigrade. Often pottery is neither hard nor stable.
Pigments, or colours, and a glossy glaze can be applied
to pottery before firing, producing beautiful results.
Or, pottery after firing can be painted with almost any
pigment, although the unprotected painted decoration is
susceptible to damage. Porcelain, however, is made from
a mixture of special clays, often kaolin and feldspar;
it is fired at a very high temperature of over fifteen
humdred degrees. It is hard and is more durable than pottery.
After firing, porcelain can be painted in a rainbow of
colours and glazed, then fired at a low temperature to
seal the colour and harden the glaze.
Chinese pottery dates back to the Neolithic Age (approximately
8000-2000 BC). The earliest Chinese pottery was often
red, brown, and grey. As society porgressed, the quality
of pottery gradually improved. Archaeological finds show
that primitive celadons were made during the Shang (16th-11th
century BC) and Western Zhou (c. 11th century-770 BC).
Tests have shown that primitive celadon takes in less
water and has a better ring than pottery; therefore it
is considered similar to porcelain. During the Han Dynasty
(206 BC-220 AD) great progress was made in the application
of colours and glazes on items for everyday use. Among
the artifacts excavated from the tombs of the Three Kingdoms
Period (220-280) was a celadon urinal made in the year
251. It indicates that there were specialized teams for
porcelain-making at the time. (TOP)
The greatest advance came in the Tang Dynasty (618-907)
when potters made further contributions to the production
of painted porcelain. Tang srtists created beautiful simple
monochrome porcelain finished in tints of burgundy, blue,
and celadon. They also produced the famous figurines of
people and horses in these three colours that are so loved
in the modern world.
In the following Song Dynasty (960-1279) many porcelain
kilns were built and different porcelain schools appeared.
Song artists continued to produce beautiful monochrome
porcelain and perfected the application of both vivid
and subtle colours. Song potters also discovered the secret
of "crackled" pottery and porcelain which appears
so delicate that it seems it might break if touched. Connoisseurs
both in China and abroad consider monochrome Song porcelain
among the finest examples of Chinese genius in porcelain
making.
Later in the Yuan (1271-1368) and especially in the Ming
(1368-1644) dynasties, from the thirteenth to the seventeenth
centuries, artists continued Song traditions. They discovered
a process that invigorated and transformed Chinese porcelain
making-the making of blue and white porcelain. Previously
potters had never been able to apply colours successfully
to a piece of unfired porcelain. Craftsmen discovered,
however, that cobalt, which is not native to China, could
be applied to unfired pieces, placed in a high-temperature
kiln, thereby creating stunningly beautiful patterns of
blue on a cream or white base. This style remains popular
after nearly seven hundred years. (TOP)
Late in the Ming Dynasty, and especially in the Qing
(1644-1911) Dynasty, potters perfected the application
of colourful and realistic polychrome flowers and human
scenes. This porcelain impresses with its vividness of
colour and subtlety of design. During the Ming and Qing
dynasties, Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province was the porcelain
centre. There were thousands of kilns working all year
round, and several of them served the needs of the imperial
court of the two dynasties.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China
in 1949, the government has tried, with impressive success,
to further develop the art of porcelain. Artists, scholars
and potters have not only worked hard to restore porcelain
to its honoured place in the Chinese decorative arts,
but also made bold innovations to improve pottery and
porcelain. Today, the main porcelain centres include Jingdezhen
in Jiangxi Province, Langshan in Hebei Province, Yixing
in Jiangsu Province, Longquan and Wenzhou in Zhejiang
Province, and Zibo in Shandong Province. (TOP)
Chinese pottery and porcelain has been exported for far
longer than is usually assumed. Pieces of Chinese pottery
have been discovered in archaeological excavations in
the ancient Roman Empire. By the twelfth century large
quantities of porcelain passed along the Silk Road and
found favour among Arabian potentates who believed that
blue and white porcelain would turn black if poisoned
food were served on it. In the sixteenth century, after
the Dutch dominated the sea lanes to the Orient, large
exportations of Ming porcelain went to Europe where it
appealed to both aristocratic and middle class families
who had previously used more crude local pottery. Chinese
porcelain makers changed designs to satisfy European demand,
even adding coats-of-arms of prominent families who ordered
large consignments. During the nineteenth century, the
export of Chinese porcelain to the western world fell
drastically. It is only after Liberation that the exporting
of high quality, handmade porcelain began to rise.
It is a lasting tribute to Chinese potters that one of
their creations, the Yuan-Ming cobalt blue and white style,
is popular everywhere in the world and is used in more
twentieth century homes than any other style ever created
by ceramic artists. (TOP)
Chinese Costume
Many people are interested in clothing and adornment,
not only because they are an inseparable part of daily
life, but also because they are hallmarks of a given civilization.
During the Warring States Period, when many schools of
thought were in contention, many new styles of clothing
came into being. Styles continued to develop during the
Sui and Tang dynasties, when the state was unified and
the economy prospered. Clothing became increasingly luxurious
and daring with some low-cut clothes beginning to appear.
Beginning with the Song Dynasty (960-1279), as feudal
values were emphasized, clothing styles became conservative.
By the end of Qing Dynasty, influenced by Western culture,
China's clothing was simpler and more convenient.
Despite the wide variety in design and colour during
the last 5,000 years, Chinese clothing can be divided
into two main styles. One is a two-pieece suit comprised
of a coat and a pair of trousers. The other is a one-piece
robe. The two styles developed side by side.
Before the Shang and Zhou dynasties, people usually wore
coats and trousers. One-piece clothing first appeared
at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning
of the Waring States Period. The robe was first called
a shenyi (long coat) and developed into a pao
(gown) later on. The two-piece clothes, mainly worn by
women, lasted for a very long time. During the Sui and
Tang dynasties, men mainly wore one-piece robe. (TOP)
The designs adorning clothes were usually geometric representations
of animals and plants. They gradually developed from abstract
symbols to standardized realistic figures. The patterns
before the shang Zhou dynasties, like the original forms
of the Chinese characters, were simple and abstract. In
the later period, especially in the Tang and Song dynasties,
the designs gradually became neat, harmonious and symmetrical.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, a realistic style
of expression was stressed. The blossoming flowers and
fluttering butterflies looked as if they had just been
collected and sewn on the clothes.
Different dynasties had different tastes in colour for
clothing. Black was considered a sign of dignity and wealth
in the Qin Dynasty, but after the Han Dynasty, it was
replaced by yellow which also served as symbols of the
four directions: blue meant the east, red the south, white
the west and black the north. In some dynasties, certain
colours were designated as "official colours"
and could only be worn by emperors and their officials.
Common people were only allowed to wear blended colours.
As the economy and culture developed, people's understanding
of tastes in colour changed. Complex mixed colours
eventually replaced striking and simple ones. Red-yellow,
yellow-green and green-blue combinations were increasingly
applied instead of striking contrasted mixes such as red-green,
yellow-violet and blue-orange. The colours of clothes
with these complex contrasts became softer and more harmonious.
(TOP)
China is a multinational country, and clothes and adornment
of the minority nationality people are usually even more
colouful and stylish than those of the Hans. Most of them
pay much attention to border designs at the collar and
cuffs and on the front part of a coat, giving a full display
to their unique talents.
The clothing and adornment of each nationality have influenced
one another during the evolution of Chinese clothing.
After the Kingdom of Wei and Jin dynasties about 1,500
years ago, more and more northern nationalities moved
to central China as a result of successive wars. Their
light and convenient clothing was once rather popular
among the Han people. Qipao, a Chinese style dress
still worn by Chinese women was developed from the clothing
of the Manchus.
(TOP)
Fans
No one knows exactly how fans in China were invented.
The invention or rather the discovery of the fanning function
could have been as accidental as follows: a primitive
man irritated with lots of flies and mosquitoes, picks
up a big leaf off a plant next to him to drive the pests
away. To his delight, his effort resulted in cooling air
movements.
Before long, fans acquired ceremonial significance. More
than 3,000 years ago, fans were made with bird's feathers
and were an outstnading characteristic in imperial pomp.
They lent infinite gracefulness and charm to court dancers,
who achieved the appearance of heavenly phoenixes.
Along with the progress made in agriculture in the Han
and Tang Dynasties, an ample supply of clothing material
resulted. Silk and satin fans appeared and it became a
fashion among scholars and artists to show their genius
by writing and painting on fan surfaces. Fans soon acquired
considerable social significance and became a part of
the standard summer costume among the elite and the learned.
(TOP)
Tradition has it, folded fans were introduced to China
from Japan and Korea about 1,000 years ago. They were
usually made with fine paper mounted on bamboo. The scholars
found it interesting to paint their poetic and artistic
expressions on the surface.
A great variety of fans have been produced in China;
sandalwood, ivory, even gold, silver and jade have been
used as material.
Of particular interest is the sandalwood fan. Its most
outstanding characteristic is the pleasant, fragrant scent
that comes from the wood. Even in modern air-conditioned
environment, it will certainly enhance the elegance and
femininity of the lady holding it gracefully in her hand.
It emits subtle fragrance which is as enchanting and refreshing
as any expensive perfume.
Palm fans were made in the Jin Dynasty (265-420 AD) and
have been widely used by the Chinese people. They are
very useful and welcomed by people of less expensive taste.
(TOP)
Firecrackers and Fireworks
Fireworks have a long history in China. As early as
the Sui Dynasty (581-618), the new year was celebrated
to the crackling noise of exploding firecrackers. The
first firecrackers were made from sections of hollow bamboo,
used to hold the gunpowder. Thay were called bamboo firecrackers.
The bamboo was later replaced by paper tubes.
Firecrackers and other fireworks are a speciality of
Hunan Province and especially of Liuyang and Liling counties
in Hunan. According to Liuyang County records, Liuyang
first produced firecrackers in 1749. Production was not
on a large scale. At that time, about 300 people were
engagedin the business. By the 1870s making firecrackers
had become a big business and for many farmers it was
an important side occupation. The annual output reached
250,000 cartons. In 1885 Liuyang began to export firecrackers
to Russia, Korea, Japan, India and 20 other countries
and regions. Repeated experiments and innovations saw
the development of fireworks. These ignite in midair with
a shower of sparks when they are shot into the sky. After
the founding of New China, Liuyang's firecrackers developed
rapidly. A factory was set up and now it employs about
one thousand people. There are over 400 types of fireworks
produced in China. Among them are fireworks which can
spray bursts of colour, and can shoot off in pinwheels
and whirls. Their names are as colouful as the "Great
Happiness", "Japanese Cherry Blossoms",
"Ping Pong Festival", "Seven Colour Lanterns",
"Spring Thunder", "Flowers in Full Bloom"
and "Herald of Joy".
Another type of firworks is shot into the air and parachutes
to earth. There are "One Parachute", "Double
Parachutes", "Triple Parachutes", and "Multiple
Parachutes".
(TOP)
Kites
Kite-making is a Chinese folk handicraft. Historical
records show that the first kite was made in the Spring
and Autumn Period. But it was not a pleasure kite. It
was a wooden kite made for military purposes. Paper kites
appeared later.
Kite was called fengzheng in Chinese because in the tenth
century, a person named Li Ye fastened a bamboo whistle
to a kite. Flying high overhead, the whistle sounded like
the zheng, a Chinese musical instrument. Therefore,
kites were called fengzheng, feng meaning wind. Hence
the name.
Tianjin is best known for its production of kites. Its
most famous craftsman was "Wei Yuantai", known
as "Kite Wei" because he was a kite-maker for
more than 70 years. (TOP)
The first kite made in China was a butterfly or eagle
kite with a rigid framework. The selection was limited
and the craftsmanship was clumsy. But Kite Wei developed
over 200 kites with many new structural designs, such
as flat hard-winged, three-dimansional, soft-winged and
folding. Folding kites have a flexible tenon bamboo frame-work
secured with glue instead of thread, and reinforced by
a copper ring at every joint. Kites, one to three metres
long, in the forms of aeroplanes, birds, animals or human
figures can be folded up and packed in a 30 cm box in
a large envelope for easy carrying or mailing. In 1915,
"Wei Yuantai" kites own a gold medal and a certificate
of merit at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition
in San Francisco, USA. Kites made by the Wei family are
featured by life-like forms, fine craftsmanship and well-balanced
flight. Some of the Wei's creations include kites in the
forms of butterflies, eagles, swallows, peacocks, phoenixes
and cranes. More than fifty varieties of kites made by
the Wei's have been exhibited in China and abroad. Later
generations have upheld the heritage of Wei Yuantai. Today
Wei Yongchang, the third generation Wei, is a designer-technician
at the Tianjin Arts and Crafts Studio. He has developed
more than 50 new designs using the old Wei technique.
Beijing is famous for kite-making too. Its kites are made
of paper or silk. All the designs on kites are painted
by hand. Beijing kites are also available in great varieties
such as kites in the forms of a dragon, a butterfly, or
a character in Chinese classical works, (like the "Monkey
King"). There is a veteran craftsman named Fei Baolin
in Beijing Kite Art Company. Fei has made several hundred
kinds of kites in different shapes and sizes. The smallest
is as small as the palm of your hand.
In April of each year the Weifang International Kite
Festival is held in Shandong Province. Kite lovers from
all over the world come to Weifang with their specially
made kites to compete and take part in the festivities.
(TOP)
Potted Landscape
Chinese potted landscapes, similar to the Japanese bonzi,
have been famous for centuries and often described as
"soundless poetry", "stereoscopic painting",
or "living sculpture". In a pot no larger than
a wash basin, the ingenious craftsmen create a miniature
reproduction of a natural scene using stunted trees and
plants, rocks and sometimes water.
When potted landscapes were first grown it was very difficult
to determine because they were only a folk art in the
beginning. But a mural in the tomb of Crown Prince Li
Xian of the early Tang Dynasty shows that they had already
won royal favour by then.
Great Tang and Song poets like Wang Wei, Han Yu, Bai
Juyi, Su Dongpo and Lu You all mentioned them.
Monographs describing the miniaturizing of trees and
the art of miniature rockeries began to appear in the
Song Dynasty and reached their peak in the Ming and Qing
dynasties. (TOP)
Potted landscapes require painstaking efforts to create,
taking dozens to hundreds of years. Craftsmen devote all
their lives to their art works only to have later generations
enjoy them to the fullest.
Chinese potted landscapes started as early as the Eastern
Han Dynasty with a history of 1,900 years. They are of
two major kinds: trees and rockeries.
Miniature trees are made from old stumps. Short, easily
shaped stumps are forced into the form wanted by hanging,
binding, trimming, deleafing and grafting. Some are made
to look like running beasts, some like soaring birds,
and some like beasts created from the imagination of the
craftsmen.
Miniature rockeries are made by carving or corroding
and then glueing either solid or absorbent rock, which
is decorated with slender growing plants. Absorbent rock
will accept mosses.
some rockeries are imitations of paintings, but often
they represent scenic spots.
Nowadays, in Chinese cities, big or small, there are
potted landscape exhibitions within parks. (TOP)
Screen
For the ancient Chinese, a screen was an indispensable
piece of furniture. They called it pingfeng, which
means giving shelter from draughts. Screens were usually
placed in the sitting room behind a table and chairs or
in the bedroom to shield the bed.
Very often screens were used to divide a room to close
off an area for sleeping, dining, or receiving guests.
Another function of Chinese screens was to conceal. Many
large halls in ancient China had a screen to just inside
the door. Visitors had to go around the screen to get
a look at the inside. This is based on the traditional
aestheic principle of "implication"-to reveal
meaning a little bit at a time.
"Implication" frowned on any architectural
scheme that allowed approaching visitors to see in to
the interior of a house, particularly a high, vaulted
hall for banquets or recreation. In addition, a beautifully
painted screen inside the door added to the beauty of
the house.
Ancient Chinese screens were usually tall. In the Han
Dynasty, there were screens as high as 1.7 meters. (TOP)
Chinese screens had several, sometimes as many as a dozen
panels. In ancient times, the panels were joined together
with tenons and mortises, and were mounted on a wooden
or stone pedestal. Later, iron hinges were made. They
had largely replaced tenons and mortises by the Tang Dynasty.
With hinges, screens could fold.
A long time ago, the Chinese used to sit on the bed instead
of in chairs, and they tended to lean against the screen
behind the bed. The screen, in effect, became a chair
back. Such screens were made of wood, strong enough to
take the weight of a leaning person. These screens also
somethines had pegs on them.
However, screens made for other purposes generally had
wooden frames with panels of silk or paper. Before the
Tang Dynasty, cheaper paper was substituted. There also
were panels of coloured glaze, and mosaic-like ones made
of mica sheets or precious stones. These were found only
in royal palaces or rich people's mansions.
Few screen panels were blank. Some silk panels were embroidered;
some wooden ones were carved; but the majority were painted,
or bore beautiful written Chinese characters, usually
verses.
Screen painting was used to glorify and to moralize.
Therefore battles, loyal officials and faithful wives
were the common themes. During the Tang Dynasty, the focus
shifted to landscapes and calligraphy. This kind of screen
art continued in succeeding dynasties.
Emperors liked to have dragons on the screens behind
thrones because dragons were the symbols of power and
majesty. Today such screens can be seen in the Palace
Museum in Beijing.
Modern Chinese use screens for ornamentation. Sometimes
screens serve as room-dividers or shield somethng from
view. Rarely are they used to keep off draughts. Nobody
leans against them.
(TOP)
Seal-making
The origins of seal-engraving art dates back more than
3,000 years. As early as in neolithic times, people began
to stamp designs on earthenware, the most primitive known
form of seal-engraving.
When Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty,
unified China in 221 BC, he began using seals as symbols
of imperial authority. One of his seals, made of fine
jade with a knob in the form of a dragon, bore the inscription:
"The Emperor glorious and long-lived, the recipient
of heaven's command".
In the 14th century, a famous Ming Dynasty painter Wang
Mian introduced stone into seal-making since it is much
easier to carve than metal or jade. Artists started designing
and engraving seals themselves and the craft gradually
developed into an art form.
Through the years, many handicrafts were taken over by
machines. However, seals are still made by hand. They
can not be produced by a machine. They have to be carved
word by word. It is a three-in-one creation, meaning a
combination of calligraphy, designing the words in a very
limited space and carving technique. (TOP)
Calligraphy style is the foundation of seal engraving.
The scripts used for chops are often archaic, dating from
the Shang Dynasty (16th century BC) to the Tang Dynasty
(618-907 AD). They are far different from contemporary
hand-writing.
As for designing, it is something like the work of a
painter and a general. Like a painter, you must arrange
the characters, sometimes dozens on a space smaller than
a match box, in a way that is beautiful and pleasing to
the eye. Like a general with his soldiers you have to
get your characters in order and make them look like a
unit.
In addition to name chops, people engrave famous poems,
popular slogans and sometimes words of noted persons.
This ancient art form is as popular as ever in China
now. The new generation of carvers will do even better
work. (TOP)
Seal carving has long been regarded by many Chinese artists
as the best incarnation of the spirit of the Chinese culture.
They believe that such a rich culture can be embodied
in the space of less than a square inch.
Seal carving is an integration of limitation and infinity.
Its physical space and spiritual content are totally unproportional.
Its artistic language and means are very simple, but the
meaning it intends to express is often extremely delicate
and abstruse. Under the carving knives of outstanding
seal cutters, points, lines, raises, concaves, sparsity,
density, punching and cutting have all become demonstrative
elements in highly abstract terms.
Originally, a seal was the symbol of power, status and
order of feudal societies in China. For instance, Su Qin,
a famous statesman during the Warring States Period (475-221
BC) was once in charge of the seals of the prime ministers
of the six states. This was deemed by historians as the
highest achievement of the stateman in his political career.
However, through a long history of development, people
began to pay more attention to the aesthetic values of
seals and such carving has eventually evolved into a type
of pure art in China.
Today, the art of seal carving has not only become more
and more popular among the Chinese people, but has also
spread to Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United
States.
(TOP)
Tri-colour Tang Pottery
The tri-colour glazed pottery in the Tang style is a
Chinese art that dates back 1,300 years. It is so named
because it has red, green and white all on one object.
Those produced in Luoyang, Henan Province are the best
known in China. Prior to the Tang Dynasty pottery could
only be produced in a single colour.
Tri-color glazed pottery was valued for its integration
of the national style along with a distince local flavour.
The artists skillfully combine molding with exquisite
lines that are pleasing to the eye. In the glazing process,
the different colours are dissolved together in low heat,
so that they blend just right, producing a fine multifarious
effect.
The tri-colour pottery of the Tang Dynasty excavated
in Luoyang are composed of wine cups and vessels used
by imperial families and articles that were buried with
the deceased. These artifacts revealed a part of palace
life that flourished during the Tang Dynasty. The quality
and quantity of the funeral objects were determined by
the rank of office of the deceased. (TOP)
Reproduction and imitation of ancient Tang pottery was
begun a hundred years ago by some enterprising peasants
in Luoyang. They started out with a few designs in small
kilns in their homes as a hobby to make a living during
their spare time and reproduced only a few varieties.
Besides, superstitious notions considered the recreatin
of funeral objects as unlucky. That is why the imitation
and development of tri-colour pottery never caught on
in those days with some people destroying them at sight.
Those that were reproduced did not exceed 50 cm in height.
However, after the founding of New China, more experienced
peasant craftsmen organized themselves in 1955 into what
is now the Luoyang City Folk Art Society. They reproduced
the artistic products during slack seasons and it was
not until 1959 that women also joined the trade. Today
in order to continue studying and further develop this
ancient art, the Luoyang Pottery Factory was established.
The figurines of esquisite workmanship include handsome
horses, life-like camels, lively singers and dancers,
the imposing heavenly king with a phoenis on his crown,
court jesters, grooms and animals used as funeral objects.
Golden camels bearing silks and local specialities were
recent reproductions between China and Western countries
during the Tang Dynasty. Among the articles the biggest
stands 160 mm.
The tri-colour Tang pottery, continuously improved through
the centuries, has now been developed even fruther and
its varieties have reached several hundred. The once tri-colour
glaze has grown to include yellow, purple, black and blue
while the artistic quality has also been raised.
The clay of Luoyang excels in viscosity, purity and pliancy
while it is at the same time surprisingly hard and strong.
It is superb for making pottery. |
