Art :Chinese art has varied throughout
its ancient history, divided into periods by the ruling
dynasties of China and changing technology, as well as influenced
by great philosophers, teachers and religion. Early forms
of art in China were made from pottery and jade in the Neolithic
period, to which was added bronze in the Shang Dynasty.
The Shang are most remembered for their bronze casting,
noted for its clarity of detail. Early Chinese music and
poetry was influenced by the Book of Songs, Confucius and
the Chinese poet and statesman Qu Yuan. Early Chinese music
was based on percussion instruments, which later gave away
to string and reed instruments.
In early imperial China, porcelain was introduced and was
refined to the point that in English the word china has
become synonymous with high-quality porcelain. Around the
1st century AD, Buddhism arrived in China, though it did
not become popular until the 4th century. At this point,
Chinese Buddhist art began to flourish, a process which
continued through the 8th century. Around this period, several
well-known Chinese poets influenced Chinese poetry, which
included Cao Cao and his sons and Tao Qian. It was during
the period of Imperial China that calligraphy and painting
became highly appreciated arts in court circles, with a
great deal of work done on silk until well after the invention
of paper.
Buddhist architecture and sculpture thrived in the Sui and
Tang dynasties, and the Tang dynasty was particularly open
to foreign influence. Buddhist sculpture returned to a classical
form, inspired by Indian art of the Gupta period. Toward
the end of the Tang dynasty, all foreign religions were
outlawed to support Taoism. Also during this period, Chinese
poetry thrived and the Tang is considered the "Golden
age" of Chinese poetry. In this period, the greatest
Chinese poets, Li Po and Du Fu composed their poems. Late
Tang poetry was marked by the influence of two poets, Li
Shangyin and Li Yu, the latter of whom introduced the stanza
form. Painting from the Tang dynasty period mainly consisted
of landscape that was to grasp emotion or atmosphere to
catch the "rhythm of nature." Also in the Tang
dynasty, Chinese opera was introduced.
In the Song Dynasty, poetry was marked by a lyric poetry
known as Ci which expressed feelings of desire, often in
an adopted persona. Also in the Song dynasty, paintings
of more subtle expression of landscapes appeared, with blurred
outlines and mountain contours which conveyed distance through
an impressionistic treatment of natural phenomena. It was
during this period that in painting, emphasis was placed
on spiritual rather than emotional elements, as in the previous
period. Kunqu, the oldest extant form of Chinese opera developed
during the Song Dynasty in Kunshan, near present-day Shanghai.
In the Yuan dynasty, painting by the Chinese painter Zhao
Mengfu greatly influenced later Chinese landscape painting,
and the Yuan dynasty opera became a variant of Chinese opera
which continues today as Cantonese opera.
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