Introduction to the Histories of Art II – G6

Topic: Chinese Tomb arts and Shang bronzes

INTRODUCTION

Ancient Chinese tombs are valuable historic evidence of the life in the past.  The belief in afterlife prompted the royal family to build tombs as their palaces in another life. All sorts of objects, animals and even human beings were buried with their owners as to provide a comfortable afterlife. Read more →

Buddhism in China initially flourished as a foreign religion, but is adopted as a nationwide religion over time due to strong influence of imperial patronage. This strong relationship between imperial patronage and Buddhism could be seen in Chinese Buddhist art. In this case, Buddhist art could be defined as “representational art that symbolizes various elements of Buddhist mythology or doctrine” Read more →

The Emperors of China did not want their bodies to be alone in the afterlife, which resulted in the creation on Chinese Tomb Art. Chinese Tomb Art served a purpose to give the Emperors a home in the afterlife along with all the aspects from their lives that mattered to them such as servants, objects, wives, pets, guardians and food. Read more →

Question 3: What are Chinese Ceramics? Compare two ceramics found on a shipwreck.

Claim: Chinese Ceramics in the 9th Century were heavily influenced by commercialism and trade trends, especially those with the Abbasid Caliphate and Middle East

Intro –

Para 1: Why the Middle East dominated the nature of Read more →

Topic: Chinese tomb art & Shang bronzes

I try to narrow down the statement as suggested. There might be some changes in phrasing but here is what I have gotten so far.

INTRODUCTION

Ancient Chinese tombs are valuable historic evidence of the life in the past.  The belief in afterlife prompted the royal family to build tombs as their palaces in another life. Read more →

Question 2: What is Chinese Buddhist Art? Compare two sculptures and address the question of change in art and religion when Buddhism arrives in China. The images need to be from lecture or from the Asian Civilizations Museum

Claim:

Buddhism not only brought about a change in Chinese art, particularly sculptures, but Chinese art techniques also contributed to the evolution of Buddhist traditions Read more →

Introduction:

Chinese Landscape paintings are paintings of nature. They often illustrate mountains, trees, clouds, birds, flowers and water and painted with expressive calligraphic brushworks in monochrome.[1] The first traces of the Landscape in art could be found in tomb art, secular Read more →

There has been a change in my thesis statement but I think I’ll put down the paragraph first and see if it’s easy to pick out.

Introduction:

The Ancient China concept of death indicated that the body had two spiritual elements, the hun spirit representing the expressive soul headed for paradise and the po spirit that remained after death[1]. To Read more →

Q1: What is Chinese Tomb art? Compare 2 bronzes from the Shang dynasty or compare 2 terracotta figures from the Qin dynasty.

Thesis statement:

Qin Shi Huang’s strict rule did not degrade the quality and variety of the figures produced, instead kept the quality and variety consistent even with mass production.

Having an afterlife is one important belief throughout the ancient Chinese history. Read more →