OU T L IN ES O F C H IN E S E A RT

H J O N C . F E RG U S O N

TH E SCAMMON LECTUR ES FOR 1 9 1 8 PUBLISHED FOR TH E A RT INSTIT UTE O F CHI CA GO BY T H E U NIVERSITY OF C C C C N HI AGO PRESS , HI AGO , ILLI OIS COPYRIGH T 1 9 1 9 B Y TH E U NIV ERSITY OF CH ICA GO

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ublished m P Nove ber I 9 1 9

Comp osed a nd Pri nted By Th e U mversxty of Ch i ca g o Press

Ch ica o ll i nois U . S . A . g . I . CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF I LLU S T RATI ONS

TH E CHI NE SE DYNA S TI E S

L ECTU RE I . I NTRODUCTI ON

A ND LECTU RE II . B RONZES JADES

L T A ND RA ECTU RE I II . S ONES CE MICS

L A ND PA ECTU RE IV . CA LLIGRA PH Y INTING

L T P T EC U RE V . AI N I NG .

L T P EC U RE VI . AINTING

I L L U ST R A T I O N S

LECTU R E I

E G NTRANCE TO OVERNMENT MUSEUM , PEKING

E To G CENTRAL NTRANCE OVERNMENT PALACE , PEKING ’ H o T U : M Y THICAL O RIGIN OF DRAWING LO SHU : MYTHICAL O RIGIN OF W RITING L IDEOGRAPH UNG , MEANING DRAGON L IDEOGRAPH U , MEANING DEER ’ O T A o BRONZE VESSEL DECORATED WITH FACE OF GRE , T ’ IEH BRONZE VESSEL WITH DECORATION OF PHOENI ! ’ T ’ T IEH A , IRON PAGODA ’ S FANG T A , QUARE PAGODA TEMPLE AT GRAVE OF KUAN TI

LECTU R E II BRONZE TABLE WITH WINE VESSELS (COLLECTION OF TUAN FANG)

BRONZE DAGGERS , CHOW DYNASTY Y S OKE BELLS , HANG DYNASTY

BRONZE VASE , HAN DYNASTY A BRONZE VESSEL , HAN DYN STY (COLLECTION OF PAUL HO) W BRONZE INE VESSEL , CHOW DYNASTY ’ Two BRONZE VESSELS OF THE CH I HOU SET ’ Two BRONZE VESSELS OF THE CH I HOU SET S ACRIFICIAL VESSELS ON ALTAR OF CONFUCIAN TEMPLE U BRONZE FIGURE OF NICORN , HAN DYNASTY W ’ T ’ BRONZE FIGURE OF EI T O , ANG DYNASTY

[V ii] ILLUSTRATIONS

B JADE TU E , HAN DYNASTY DETAIL OF DECORATION ON JADE TUBE W JADE CARVING OF DANCING OMAN , CHOW DYNASTY A JADE MULET, HAN DYNASTY A JADE D GGER , HAN DYNASTY

JADE DISK , HAN DYNASTY

- T JADE DISK ABLET , HAN DYNASTY

JADE TABLET , CHOW DYNASTY S JADE CUP , UNG DYNASTY DETAIL OF DECORATION ON JADE CUP S JADE BELL , UNG DYNASTY S JADE DRAGON CARVING , UNG DYNASTY A JADE PENDANT , HAN DYN STY

LECTU R E III TABLET OF BUDDHA PREACHING WEN SHU - YANG STONE

FUNERARY - CHAMBER DECORATION FENG STONE PILLARS CONFUCIUS MEETING LA OTSE SHEN MEMORIAL PILLARS LI HSI STONE STONE OF FUNERARY CHAMBER SHE YANG STONE VIEW OF LUNG M EN S G L INTERIOR OF MALL ROTTO , UNG WEI DYNASTY FIGURES AT LUNG M EN STONE FIGURE OF AMITA BUDDHA YUNG HSI TABLET MAITREYA FOUR LI - CH ENG TABLETS

E S E - EU IGHT TEEDS , BY CHAO M NG [viii] ILLUSTRATIONS

BAMBOO LEAVES A RRANGED AS IDEOGRAPHS ’ DECORATIVE DESIGN ON TABLET , T ANG DYNASTY

’ T ANG DYNASTY FIGURE AT LUNG M EN CLAY FIGURE OE A GENERAL S POTTERY PILGRIM BOTTLE , UNG DYNASTY “ ” OLIVE POTTERY VAS E POTTERY CREMATION RECEPTACLE EIGHT- PANEL POTTERY JAR PORCELAIN VASE DECORATED FOR IMPERIAL U SE

LECTU R E IV COLOPHON OF THE “ FIVE VENERABLE MEN LETTER OF CHU HSI ANNOTATION OF WENG FANG - KANG CHIA HSING SCRIPT OF WANG HSI - CHIH ’ COLOPHONS OF SU S HIH AND SU CH E ’ COLOPHONS OF LI HUNG - EU AND WANG TSIN - CH ING L0 H H SION G SCRIPT OF M I FEI COLOPHON OF CHAO MENG - FU ’ ’ COLOPHON OF TUNG CH I - CH ANG “ ” Two E! AMPLES OF REGULAR WRITING “ ” TWO E! AMPLES OP RUNNING WRITING “ ” E! AMPLE OF DRAFT WRITING

LECT U R E V

’ HOME AGAIN : THE RETURN OF T AO Y UAN MING THE ARHATS THE TEN HORSES SEARCHING EOR TRUTH THE TIGER BLACK AND WHITE S KETCH BY NI TSAN HILL IN CLO UDS ILLUSTRATIONS

LANDSCAPE BY WEN CHENG - MING T ’ CARTOON , ANG DYNASTY THE HILLS OF KUEI - CHI

LECTU R E VI

PORTRAIT OF KU O TZ U- I

K Y IN G UAN , ODDESS OF MERCY THE LION AND BAR B ARIANS A PRIEST IN CONTEMPLATION BIRDS ON A T RU NU S BRANCH THE LONE FISHERMAN

' LANDSCAPE BY KU O H SI A TARTAR HORSEMAN TH E THREE HORSES EGRETS AMONG LOTUS FLOWERS THE FOUR MAGPIES A STATESMAN E! AMIN ING THE POINTS OF A HORSE

[! ] THE CHINESE DY NASTI ES

— 1 B . C Hsia Dynasty 2 20 5 766 .

1 — 1 1 2 B C Shang Dynasty 766 2 . .

- 1 1 22 2 B . C Chow Dynasty 5 5 .

’ — C. Ts in Dynasty 2 5 5 20 6 B .

— C. 2 2 A . D . Han Dynasty 206 B . 0

— D Wei Dynasty 2 20 264 A . .

— D Tsin Dynasty 265 4 20 A . .

— 2 1 A . D Six Dynasties 4 0 6 8 .

T 1 — A D ang Dynasty 6 8 906 . .

— A D Five Dynasties 907 960 . .

S — 1 2 A D ung Dynasty 960 77 . .

1 1 1 — 1 2 A O Chin Dynasty 5 60 . .

’ Y Ii an 1 2 — 1 A O Dynasty 77 3 6 8 . .

1 6 — 1 A D Ming Dynasty 3 8 644 . .

’ — 1 6 1 1 2 A . D Ch ing Dynasty 44 9 .

Republic Of China 1 9 1 2

[xi] T N T EN RA CE TO GOVERNMEN MUSEUM , PEKING WU YING TIEN

CENTRAL ENTRANCE TO GOVERNMENT PALACE PEKING INTRODUCTION

P The Governmen t Museum at eking, con tain

Of ing some of the best art treasures China, is

u ‘ Of u nique among the muse ms the world . In architectural design and detail and in historical

Of surroundings , as well as in the examples art M products Stored within its walls , this useum is

exclusively and characteristically Chinese. The

bronzes and j ades , paintings and manuscripts ,

- pottery and porcelain , inks and writing brushes , all owe their common origin to the genius of the

Chinese race . This Museum has not needed to borrow from other nations examples of an earlier

art, out of which its own developmen t has directly th or indirectly sprung ; on the contrary, e art spirit which found its expression in these various forms during the historic period j oins hands even with the earliest mythological and legendary tra

i tion d s of the country . There can be no doubt of the inherent right of an artistic people to interpret its own art and to

determine its own standards of relative values . I t is naturally Of some concern for u s to know what impression Chinese art Obj ects have made upon [ I ] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

neighboring nations , upon western students and western art critics , but such opinions as may have been expressed in these quarters have no finality, except in so far as they are based u pon accepted canons found in the extensive art literature of

China . I t is quite right for other nations to decide upon the importance of Chinese art in i compar son with that of other ancien t nations ,

as E such Greece , Rome , or gypt, and to assign to i t only such moiety of consideration as its pre viou sly determined relative merit justifies . This is a comparative study O f art ; but in the realm of

its Chinese art studied by itself, own standards must prevail . The explorer in this new world , if

u indeed i t is a new world to him , m st not carry the ready- made compass perfected by his own cou ntrymen ; for the divergent cu rrents of wind and water will so distort its guiding needle that it will prove useless to him . His compass must be obtained in the country whose art product he

u ad st dies , so that i t may be fully corrected and justed . I t must not be taken for granted that what is new to the explorer has been unknown or unstudied by the age - long inhabitants of the

u co ntry, especially as the race with which he is dealing in this instance has been devoted to cul tural pursuits du ring the whole of i ts long history . Though his methods of Observation may be more [ 2] INTRODUCTION

scientific and accu rate than those of the people

u whose product he is st dying, an explorer, if wise, will give his first attention to the classification and elu cidation Of such facts as are disclosed to him by those whose opportunity Of observation

has been earlier and wider than his own . The art of China is in teresting to students Of ‘ other countries in proportion as i t is entirely n a tion al * and ' expresses the ideals an d spirit Of this C ancient people . I t cannot properly be lassified

division o f A as one a widely pervading art of sia , for the interaction of ou tside forces which have resulted from intercou rse with other nations has had relatively small infl u ence upon its evolu “ ” u se tion . One cannot the phrase Art of Asia with the same freedom as in the u se of the generic “ ” u u term E ropean Art , for all art in E rope leads back during an authentic period of history to com

mon sources in Greece and Rome . In Asia the earliest historical records carry u s back to several civilizations which had already existed long enou gh

to have been moulded into distinct types , but leave

us u only to conj ect re , when we attempt to trace

- e . their sourc s or inter relations I t is , however,

’ civil za ti on fairly clear that China , at least , has a and an art the fountains of which bubble forth

u from her own territory . In order to nderstand

C a Of hinese art, knowledge that of India , Japan , 13] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

P or ersia is not necessary, no matter how desirable

- it may be as throwing Side lights upon the subj ect . The only accurate viewpoin t for the Study Of the art Of China is from the center of its own cultural developmen t .

In China art is the expression of culture . What was known by the Greeks as p a idei a and by the Romans as lzu ma n ita s is known to the Chinese as

' lzszolz 20271 h or , meaning t ereby the refinement in manners and taste acquired by mental and moral h training . While t ey have never underestimated

u h the val e of technique, there has been no thoug t of making manual dexterity the central principle of art . Conformity to culture has been the first

u essential of art expression , and c lture is the out growth Of noble national ideals . Technique has been given credit for the clever products of artistic

e h workmen , ev n when t ese products have been denied a place in the temple Of art . In this

i s temple , only that which in accord with , and con

Of u tributes to , the spiri t c lture finds a place , no

how matter beautiful or aesthetic it may be in itself.

There has never been an attempt to train a painter,

C O f for example, by teaching him a lever method performance ; the aim has always been to fill the soul with spiritual culture , before training the hand h to be expert in t e use of expressive materials .

u In some instances , such as in the prod ction of

[4] I NTRODUCTION

Of bronzes and j ades , even the personality the artist has been entirely subservient to the supreme demand that his product Should con form to national ideals . The greatest Skill of an artist consisted not infrequently in SO eHac ing his own individuality that the first thought Of a

was Of Skill of bu t beholder not the the artist , of the beauty, grace, or dignity of the Obj ect and of

u u Of i ts place in the acc mulating cult re his race .

is Of What , and has been , the culture China

i ts ? which has determined art life I t has been , — for one thing, a devotion to ceremony family

a n d . tribal Respect for rulers , reverence for parents and seniors— these two principles were the fou ndation u pon which the family and the state rested . They were responsible for the o ccasions which cau sed to be produced the carli est Chinese art Obj ects of which we have any W knowledge . These are bronze vessels hich were u sed at family or tribal gatherings . On all su ch occasions , ceremonial Observances were care

u in f lly prescribed minute detail . We know f O B C. from the accounts the Shang dynasty ( .

1 66 u Shu Ki n 7 as fo nd in the g, that there was carefu l regu lation of ceremonies prescribed for

ofii cers the emperor, his of state, and all others

u associated with the co rt . These became fixed — B C. 1 1 22 2 d u ring the Chow dynasty ( . 5 5) with [5] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART such rigidity that they have controlled the cere monial and ritualistic life Of the Chinese down to the present time . During the attempt to

1 1 revive monarchical government in 9 5 , the cere monial rites which were introduced were based upon those of the Chow dynasty, even to the style of garments worn by the participants in the wor ship at the Altar Of Heaven . This devotion to Ceremonial Observance has been even traj ected into the legendary period h of the T ree Emperors and Five Sovereigns ,

San Huang, Wu Ti . There were three races of — emperors the heavenly, the earthly, and the human— and each received its due proportion of

fiv e respect . The houses of sovereigns had fanei ’ - Y u - ful names , such as the Nest Builders , ch ao,

- - P én . and the Fire roducers , Sui j These imagi

SO nary creatures were fabricated by the Chinese, as to account for the culture which the earliest

“ literary records found existing . They are the eviden t invention of later times and are valuable only as Showing the stage of advancemen t reached in China at the beginning of the historical period . The interest in this presen t discussion in them is the light they throw upon the ceremonial Oh serv an c es which must have been well established among the Chinese in ancien t times , Since we find them in full force at the dawn Of authentic [6]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

The family life was also carefully regulated as

in to ceremonial Observances . We learn from scrip tion s on early b rp nzes that in some cases they

the were presented by sons to fathers , probably on h occasion of the anniversary of birt days , and they were used in ofiering sacrifices and libations to E the spirits of ancestors . xploits in war and cele bration Of special honors received by a member of the family are recorded in these inscriptions on h vessels , so t at confirmation is given of the earliest literary references to the elaborate and minute ceremonial Observed in the family . The higher

Of the status the family, the more precise the cere

Of SO monial . The daily routine the emperor was carefully laid out and the Observances so onerous that no leisure time could have been left to him if he faithfully performed his prescribed duties . Associated with ceremonial Observances was the practice of divination , by which it was attempted to discover the will of High Heaven and to

f Th i n tru know in advance the events O life . e s ments Of divination were the carapace of the tortoise, animal bones and stalks of milfoil . The h tortoise s ells or bones were subj ected to heat , and then portents were read from the designs of the resultant cracks ; the milfoil was observed as t to the direction in which it swayed . Divina ion must have begun very early, as we find i t at the [8] INTRODUCTION

Cou nsel: beginning of literary records . In the o Yii is f , the great emperor Shun credited with hav ing performed its rites and is said to have warned Y ii his successor that divination , even when for

tu n a te . , must not be repeated I t was practiced ’ P a n Kén in the Shang dynasty by g, and the palace

' of the Chow dynasty had a full stafi O f diviners

attached to i t . These augurs had a high stand ffi ing among the o cers of the State, j ust as in Rome ’ after Caesar s time the sixteen members of the college Of augurs ranked next after the pon tific al

college . The reading of portents , omens , and col location Of Signs became the su bj ect of careful

study by the most learned men . I ts greatest “ — treasure house Of lore is found - i n the Book Of

— I Ki n Changes g . The influence of this little understood classic upon Chinese life and thought is one Of the most important factors in any investigation of the origin Of art in China and Of

its inspiration . I t is indissolubly connected with

Of the doctrines and practices Taoism , founded

L a by otse . Ceremonies and portents represent the essential

Of Of spirit the culture the people of ancient China ,

out of which art first developed . There was some scope for the creation of Obj ects Of imagina

tion and taste , but never without reference to their

u . tility on ceremonial or divining occasions Art ,

[9] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

u the Of from the first , str ggled against restraints its surrounding cultural life . I ts first reputed results were in the decoration of the Nine Tripods with “ ” remarkable Obj ects , designed to teach the people

Of h to recognize the sprites the ills and rivers , and

thus not be inj ured by their malign influences .

Then came representation of the phoenix, the

h ox- dragon , clouds and t under, heads and ogres , ’ ’ t a o- t i eh , used in decorating bronze vessels and

h the j ade Obj ects , and along with t ese beginnings

Of ideographs , which later developed into written

i r n language . There seems to have been no d e e ce between the early use of pictographs and ideo

graphs . Both were used for decorating Obj ects . Their artistic quality lay in their being works of

imagination and not tracings of known obj ects . The distinction between the representation of Obj ects and of ideas is expressed in geometric

terms as that between the round and the square . “ ” the In Book of Changes it is said the round, ’ t u H O shi t LO . , came from and the square , , from The “ round ” refers to the marks which the mythological Eu Hsi is reputed to have found on the back Of a dragon horse and from which he

evolved the Eight Diagrams . These diagrams h were found in circles , and from t em came the

- principles of map drawing, decoration , and imagi “ ” native designs . The square forms evolved [ I O] INTRODUCTION

the Of from the signs found on shell a tortoise, when the mythical emperor Y u was engaged in his

Of u Of great work reg lating the waters the empire, and are the reputed prototypes O f ideographs . They were the numbers from one to nine arranged in an order which he used in fixing the nine divi sions Of his work or the nine provinces . Each

m ” S ?

portion of each number is said to have been an ideograph , and there was much discussion among early Chinese scholars as to the number of these

H a n S/ u characters found . The z mentions the fact that Characters were found on tortoise Shells

- f Y ii bu t . u se O by , gives no number The shells wi th inscriptions of characters in prehistoric days is confirmed by the finds in H o- nan province h of Similar bones and S ells in recen t years . One need not stretch his credulity to the point O f believing in these extraordinary accounts Of the

Of origin pictographs and ideographs . I t is only [ 1 1 ] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

necessary to realize that both appeared so early in the cultural life Of China that the first literary records found it necessary to assign some method

of their first production . The fanciful tales of e their origin may be discarded , but the fact of th ir

existence at the dawn of history must be admitted . Thus the roots Of art in China strike deep into a time when the processes of divination and the ceremonial life Of family and tribe were inseparably joined . The impress Of this u nion is seen in the com

Of bination invention , science , literature, and “ art which came to be known as the Six Arts , / l i t z i . These were ritual , music , archery, chariot

cering , writing, and calculation . Of these there are only th ree which agree with our conception h of t e essentials of artistic production . They

are ritual , music , and writing . Ritual can properly occupy the same place among the fine

arts which we give to dancing, while writing can be

substituted for our drawing . Thus in compari son with Ou r western conception Of the fine arts

as consisting of painting, drawing, architecture ,

h the Of and sculpture, wit addition poetry, music , dancing, and dramatic art , the ancien t Chinese omitted all but the three already mentioned and h added in their stead the arts of arc ery, chariot

in eer . g, and calculation Archery was not only [ 1 2] INTRODUCTION

connected with skill in hitting a mark , but with

Of the graceful movements body, as was fitting to h the exercise Of a gentleman . T is allies archery to the movements of formal dancing . Charioteering 0e e a fine Chance for ornamental decoration

Of u Of chariots and eq ipage, all which Should be suited to the occasion on which i t was displayed and to the rank of the owner . This could be done only by one who possessed an artistic spiri t . Calculation was originally associated wi th land

- Li Ki plotting and map drawing . The has a passage in which i t is said , The question as to the wealth of a sovereign can be answered by ” a calculation Of the size of his territory . The h implication of t is passage , considered in the light

as Of SI! of the inclusion of calculation one the arts , seems to me to be that the amou n t of terri tory could be calculated as the result Of maps made from surveys and that in this connection calcula tion really mean t mensuration . This is the only explanation which allows for artistic expression

Of in the process calculation . In modern times a

mei Thu new term , , has been introduced into Chinese literature to express the idea Of the “ h fine arts , and the p rase has been generally adopted . I t conforms to our western idea of m including usic , poetry, sculpture, and archi tecture with painting as the fine arts and is a [ 1 3] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

h e useful nomenclature . I t must , ow ver, be recog n ized as a modern term used to explain the art of western countries and more or less at variance with early Chinese usage . The original point Of divergence of Chinese ar t from that Of Greece and Rome is found in the h contrasting type of their civilizations . C ina fou nd her ideals in the filial piety Of the home and h the fidelity of the people to t eir ruler . This accoun ted for ceremony as the correct regulation

the Of of relations life , in accordance with the

the - will of all dominating High Heaven , and for divination as a natural desire to know how future events would aff ect these relations . Greece and

h Of Rome, on the ot er hand , had ideals political freedom and of the importance of individual men in the scheme of the universe . I n a word , the early civilization of China centered around the

c/zii n gentleman , , while that of Greece and Rome

homo . placed man , , at the center

the In View of foregoing , i t will be readily con

ceded that Chinese art is indigenous . I t could not have had i ts origin in a culture other than that

found on the soil Of China . The similarities which i t bears to that Of other countries are accou nted for by the common traits shared alike by all

nations . This culture was in close touch with

surrounding nature . Just as to ancient shepherd

[ I 4]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

were intended as stimulus to good thoughts . I cannot agree with Professor Hirth that “ the names Of dragon and phoenix occur in the oldest

the h literature , but shapes in w ich they are represented in these Older works Of art are quite

' difieren t from the elaborate pictures made Of them ' ” h “ by later artists , nor with Chavannes t at this group Of fantastic con v en tiOn aliz a tion Of dragons and phoenix] is perhaps not Chinese at Old all , from the outset , and , in any case, not so

be as one would feel tempted to believe . I find fore the Han period nothing that resembles the

phoenix . These opinions are not in accord with

u h Y fi a n the best a thori ties in Chinese arc eology .

Y ii an tri o/z , in Volume V, notes a libation cup , ,

s C re re with an i n cription of one haracter, which p

sents a phoenix perching on a tree . This cup now ’ h n - C é . belongs to the family, at Wei hsien Hsieh

- ki t Shan kung, in Volume V, mentions a vase, , with the inscription of an ideograph in the shape of a dragon , and assigns the vase to the Shang

dynasty . This vase was owned in recent years by

- Y eh Of . the family, Han yang, opposite Hankow I have seen a vessel which has been assigned to

h u - the S ang dynasty by Wu Ch ng hsi , on which is

a decoration of phoenix cast in delicate , fine lines . With these kindly creatures were associated in decoration other Obj ects of frightful mien and [ 1 6] INTRODUCTION

Sinister purpose , which were meant as a warning

Of against evil deeds . One these, found most ’ ’ t oo- t i elz frequently, is the ogre , , which Hirth ro allows to be a Chinese invention . I t has large p

a nd tra ding eyes a terrifying face, thus warning

BRONZE VESSEL DECORATED ’ ’ I - W TH FACE OF OGRE , T AO T IEH

the beholder against greed and gluttony . I t is among the earliest decorative motives . Whether

u u malevolen t or benevolent , the creat res sed for decorative pu rposes on the earliest bronzes are in every instance products Of Chinese imagination based upon the type of life which prevailed i n the ancient life of the country . [ 1 7] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

Apart from bronzes and j ades , which carry us

the Of back to culture the Shang dynasty, and the h inscriptions on bone , whic possibly carry us a

BRONZE VESSEL WITH DECORATION OF PHOENI!

little farther, there is as yet no external evidence confirming the accounts found in the Book Of ” — Y ao History Slzu Ki ng . The records of and

en ii n n eer Shun , as well as of the g g works of the Y ii great , must for the present be considered as [ 1 8] INTRODUCTION

the afterthoughts of a later age , which sought to deduce the civilization known to it from some earlier source with which i t could find i tself in

Of agreemen t . The discovery the Bamboo ” A O 2 80 Books , about . . , confirmed the records ’ Of Ssii - ma Ch ien but added little to the informa ’ Sizi Ki tion found in this author s . Compared with the ruins Of the ancient cities of Egypt or

Assyria , China is lacking in monumental remains C e of her ivilization , which must have be n coeval

e . with , or prior to , that of these oth r ancient races

is u . This accounted for, in large meas re , by the unfavorable climatic and soil conditions of Ch ina

a s compared with those of these two countries . There are no authentic stone tablets earlier than

th a bl l a Y e Han dynasty . An ancient t et t ung

- has ning, Kuei chow province , without date, been

assigned , but on doubtful authority, to the - Chow

- K - su dynasty . Another tablet at Tan yang, iang

h a s province , an inscription in seal characters which were supposed to have been wri tten origi

nally by Confuci u s . This tablet bears on i ts face the record that the inscription was recut ’ A D Of Ta in . . 799, during the reign Li , of the T ang

dynasty, and it is impossible to confirm from any existing records the genuineness of the statemen t which alleges that Confucius wrote the Characters h which were thereon inscribed . T ere is also a

[ I 9] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

- - is tablet at Tsan huang, Chih li province , which

h M u supposed to ave been written by Wang,

Of h Chi the C ow dynasty, and others at hsien ,

H O- - - nan province, and Ta hsing, Chih li province , which are similarly ascribed to the Chow dynasty .

In addition to these , there are some brick tiles ’ — B C. 2 206 of the Ts in dynasty ( . 5 5 ) the genuine

Of ness which seems to be undoubted . There are also four stone monuments assigned to the Ts ’ in “ ” - Of dynasty in the well known Records Tablets ,

Fa n i L u u Of h g Pe . The most famo s t ese tablets ’ - is the one located on the top of T ai shan , which

- r is u su ally spoken Of as Wu tzii pei . This is e pu ted to have been set up by the emperor Shih

Huang . The other three monuments ascribed to ’ - ch én - this period are located at Chu g, Shan tung

- an —Si K province , at Hsi , Shen province, and at uei

- h f c hi . O , Cheh kiang province T ere is a stone the

B C. 1 Han dynasty ascribed to . 43 , but there has been much discussion as to the correctness of this C laim . The earliest authentic stone tablet is that ’ u h ii - fu - u fo nd at C , Shan t ng province , the birth place of Confucius , and is dated the Sixth month of 6 o Wu F n i . . B C . f é e . . the second year g, , 5 I t must be frankly admitted that it is disappointing to the studen t of Chinese art- archeology that he can find no earlier remains in stone than are at presen t known to Chinese Scholars . [ 20] INTRODUCTION

The earliest historical stone relics are the Stone

SIzi/z Ku Of Drums , , now located on either side the

Ku o- tzii main entrance to the Confucian Temple ,

P . Chien , eking These were discovered in the

the Fén - seventh century, in prefecture of g hsiang ,

S - Si set hen province , and up in the Confucian

u Temple of this city in the ninth cent ry . They ’ K a i - fén H O- were removed to g, nan , by the Sung

Of emperors , who filled the incisions the char

- h a c ters with pure gold . When the Nu c é n

Tartars captured the Sung capital , these drums

Off P h were carried to eking, where t ey were installed in their present position in 1 307 by Ku o

' - f S . O hou ching There are ten these drums , and

on each one an ode is inscribed . These Odes cele brate a h u nting and fishing expedition to Mount ’ Ch i , located in the district where the drums

were exhumed . They describe the elaborate

preparations made for a grand military review, by the leveling of roads and deepening of water

courses . There is no internal evidence by which

these drums can be assigned to a definite date, b u t the consensus of opinion among Chinese scholars— wi th which I fully agree— refers them to

H B Of sii an C . 82 the reign Wang ( . 7 of the

Chow dynasty . Bushell is inclined to place them ’ f Ch n B O C. even as early as the reign é g Wang ( . 1 1 1 5 while Chavannes would assign them [ 2 1 ] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

’

B C . 00 to a king of the Ts in state , about . 3 . Their only decoration is the inscriptions , and their

artistic appeal is in their s hape . They are pri marily of interest to archeologists and philologists , but by the Chinese are reckoned as part of the art product of their country . Enormous as was the labor expended in the

construction of the Great _Wall , for a long period of time during the existence of the ancient states of ’ Y en i ts Ts in , Chou , and down to lengthening ’ E B C. by the First mperor of the Ts in dynasty ( . 2 2 1 I do n o t remember to have seen i t used as a motive in any early work of art, whether E in stone, j ade, or painting . ven the watch towers which have been preserved from the Han dynasty in pottery represen t the type found throughout Shen—si rather than those of the Great

Wall . There are many allusions to hunting trips and military excursions through the mountain h passes , but none t at I have discovered to the wall

n e i tself. I t was considered wholly as a military cessi ty and not as an outcome of the genius or spiri t

so of the people . Not with early architectural

structures . These have claimed a Share in the

m tho artistic developmen t of the nation . The y

Of - u logical Huang Ti , the twenty seventh cent ry i B . C. s , reputed to have taught the people to make

bricks and build houses . He erected a sacrificial [2 2]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

h temple and a palace, around w ich a town the was built . In the Chow dynasty imperial palace consisted of a vast inclosure , surrounded

by high mud or brick walls , in which were the

: - Of following the dwelling houses the emperor,

the empress , the concubines , and their servants ; i offi c es of the h the ministers , reception alls , and temples ; shops for weaving silk and hemp for the use of the court ; treasuries for the preserva h tion of the imperial archives , istorical documents , h j ewelry, and ot er precious belongings of the state or - the emperor ; depositories for stores and all

wa that s necessary for the maintenance of life . O er In th words , it was a walled city within the

it u capital c y, reserved for the emperor, his ho se

hold, and his government ; and the monarch i l f i ffi seldom e t t except in his O cial capacity . — P u The palace Ah Fang Kung, or Ah ang K ng , ’ Se M o Ts i en as explained by Chavannes in I I , — I B C. p . 74 built by the emperor Shih Huang ( . — ’ 2 2 1 20 - an H si- an - si 9) at Ch ang ( ) , Shen province , was a work of magnificent grandeur and has frequently been portrayed in paintings and on

porcelain , as well as praised in poetical allusions . Ski Ki 2 0 According to the , it was 5 feet in length and 5 00 feet in width and was situated on the south bank of the Wei River in the Shang Lin

park . Ten thousand persons could be seated

[24] INTRODUCTION

h ’ wit in its walls . Other famous palaces of early

Y H 0 date were the Wei ang Kung, built by Hsiao B C 1 (died . . 93) at the beginning of the Han

’ ’ - a n the Ch ii a n dynasty, near Ch ang , and Kan

u K ng . These three palaces are well known in

poetry and painting . There is a famous painting

AT - H O- TEMPLE GRAVE OF KUAN TI , LO YANG , NAN PROV 1 5 4 INCE . REBUILT A D . 9

’ i A D c rca . . by Li T ang ( I of the Sung dynasty, which gives a good idea of the beauty of the Ah K Fang ung . These palaces set the model for later

dynasties , and their main architectural points P may be seen in the present eking palace . None

h h as of t ese palaces survived the ravages of time , and we must trust to literary records to confirm

the likeness of later palaces to the earlier ones . [ 25] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

This lack of survival of ancient art remains has never appeared to be disconcerting to native h critics . I t has been the genius of the C inese to preserve unchanged the same art spirit from

generation to generation , even though early

examples might perish . I t is safe to say that the same art motives which flourished in the Shang and Chow dynasties Stirred the hearts of all kinds

the of artists in Ming and Manchu dynasties . There has never been among the Chinese a dread

of reproduction or copying , for this has not been

a slavish exercise . Copyists do not follow in

minute detail the chosen model , but each repro

duction shows the individuality of the worker, even when following the same general lines of

conformity to an original . This method has seemed to the Chinese to be a glorification of national consciousness and a preservation of

precious tradition . The Shapes of early bronzes w ere reproduced in pottery and then in porcelain , the crude drawings of dragon and phoenix on

b eau tified early castings were in paintings , and yet each succeeding generation drew its artistic

inspiration from the same unfailing sou rces . This often gives to the foreign student an impres

u h sion of monotony, s ch as Bus ell records in refer

ence to Chinese architecture , but i t also creates a profound admiration for the endless variety [26] INTRODUCTION

u r evolved from such limited sources . In perpet a

the ing the continuity of the art spirit , Chinese

u have s cceeded better than any other nation , for they have maintained a continuous succession for about four thousand years . I t is interesting to note also th at art motives had become stabilized before China began to have much intercourse with outside nations and when her own territorial limits were confined to a small area in what is now the northwestern

rofitl ess part of the country . I t would be p to this discussion to attempt to trace the origin of the

L a cou erie Chinese people . p endeavored to prove

Nakhu n te that they were the Bak tribes , led by (Nai Huang Ti) through Chinese Turkestan and along the Kashgar River to the north western part of China, where we first find them . He thus gave a Babylonian origin to Chinese cul

u ture . His thesis has been s ccessfully refuted on philological grounds by Hirth , and I must bear my testimony as to the unreliability of his theory, in so far as it regards artistic motives . The list o f arts which , he says , the Chinese owed to their e arly civilizers contains a curious medley, early

and late, of the cultural development of early

China . These early art motives and traditions were so firmly established before China began to have [ 27] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART communication with the surrounding peoples that

u bu t they have been able not only to s rvive, E also to dominate , influences from without . ven allowing that there was an overland traffic with ’ India through the Shu principality (Sze- ch uan ’

B C. province) , in the fifth century . , from the Ch in

- si principality (Shen province) , we know that by this time there had been a development of artistic creations in bronze, j ade, and ideographs which have continued to control the minds of artists down to the present time . Later there was frequent communication with the outside world . ’

B C. 1 Chang Ch ien was sent ( . 39) on a mission

- to the Indo Scythians , whose capital was on the

u Oxus River . He traveled thro gh eastern Turkes

Fer han a Kh tan , g , Bactria , and otan for thirteen years and brought back with him many new

h - t e . plants , such as grape vine and also alfalfa He gave descriptions of the produ cts and c u stoms of the countries which he visited . B u ddhism was officially introduced into China M A O . 6 . in . 7 by the emperor ing Ti The envoys whom this emperor sent brought back with them P from India two monks with their ali books , their h pictures , and t eir customs . Their return was celebrated by the erection east of Lo - yang (H o — P i nan fu ) of the White Horse Temple a Ma Ssii . This temple has been frequently restored and is [2 8] INTRODUCTION

preserved to the present time . The historian

’ ’ - hi B C. 8 s SSiI ma Ch ien (died . 5) records in History

the - the relations of China with Indo Scythians , the Man barbarians to the southwest, and the ’ h n a Pa n Fer a . people of Ta Wan ( g ) Ch ao, in M r i A . D . a an a 97 , led an army to Antiochia g and ordered one of his generals to take ship from the P ersian Gulf westward toward Rome , of which

China had begun to hear . The expedition never

bu t started on its j ourney, before another century had passed Roman merchants found their way to

- Cochin China and soon to Canton . The over land trade route through Parthia and Samarkand to Rome and northern India was also reopened,

u with the res lt that , during the period of division of northern and southern states which followed the Han dynasty, several of the small kingdoms had Turkic rulers . The Wei and the Northern ’ ’ Wei dynasties had their capital at P ing- ch eng ’ (Ta- t ung fu ) until the middle of the latter

- H o dynasty, when i t was removed to Lo yang (

fu W n nan ) by the emperor Hsiao e Ti . Both of these dynasties reflect the influence of Turkestan h and Gandhara in t eir art products . The imperial extent of the domain of the T ang dynasty brought u nder i ts control almost all of the neighboring states . Many of them on the northwest border appealed to China for protection against the [ 2 9] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

growth of Mohammedan power . Arabian ships

reached Canton , Nestorian missionaries , Jews , and Manicheans came to the empire by the overland

h re route, and the stronghold of Budd ism was

moved from India to China . Art flourished dur

ing this period of general prosperity and , when foreign influences were stronger than at any other

period of the history of China , continued to Show an adherence to early indigenous tradition which

refused to be perverted . Artistic motives intro du c ed from outside sources were subj ected to the

domination of Chinese principles and, when

u sed , were brought into harmony with existing

canons .

Y u The uan dynasty, fo nded by the Mongol K 1 2 80 warrior Kublai han in , restored the em

pire, which had fallen into separate divisions

under the Sung, but did little for art other than to release its spirit from the hidebound literalism

of the conservative school . There was an imme diate rebound into the freedom which had been T known in the ang dynasty . The sway of the Mongols was over such a wide area that there was even an exchange of workmen between Persia h P and C ina . ersia felt the influence of these Chi P nese workmen , but the ersian workmen left no

permanent impression on China . There was little M or no outside influence during the ing dynasty, [30]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

— — 5 1 mb ud stone, or ceramics and calligraphy and

painting . These may be roughly described as the h t hi n Shih plastic and grap ic arts . The division

is an inseparable mixture of art and archeology,

or, in other words , it is archeological art or art

J/ZLI li no is archeology . The division entirely con

u two cerned with the fine arts . I t is nder these divi sIon s that the succeeding lectures will treat

Chinese art .

[3 2] II

BRONZES A ND JADES BRONZ ES

— c/zi n shin The study of literally, metal and — stone has been confined to a compafa tively

IS small group of Chinese scholars . I t closely connected with the tracing of the origin and de velopmen t of the form of the ideographs in which the Chinese language is written , bu t it also con cerns itself with the examination of historical facts , as stated in inscriptions , and a comparison of them wi th later literary records . I f this branch of expert knowledge stopped with these linguistic inquiries , it would not be necessary to include a reference to early bronzes , j ades , or stone tablets in a review of the art of China .

Fortunately, in addition to linguistic considera

chi n 5 m tions , writers on have paid attention to a rt m otives and their evolution , though i t must be confessed that 113 5 257 111311 study has been devoted to artistic as to linguistic problems . I t has been left to students and collectors from Japan and the occident to emphasize the artistic qu alities of these early art products , though perhaps some

what at the expense, or to the neglect , of the [33] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

! 2 T T . C 190 BRONZE ABLE WI H WINE VESSELS E AVATED IN . COLLECTION OF TUAN FANG

BRONZE TABLE WITH WINE VESSELS . ANOTHER VIEW OF TH E COLLECTION SHOWN ABOVE [34] BRONZES A ND JADES phase of the subj ect which has chiefly attracted

Chinese experts . A D 0 2— The emperor Wu Ti ( . . 5 5 of the

- A D 02 Short lived Liang dynasty ( . . 5 who had his capital at Nanking, was a devout adherent of Buddhism and is reputed to have made the first literary collection of inscri ptions on ° ston e tablets

is and grave monuments . His work , which said to h ave been in one hundred and twenty volumes ; was lost in the trou blous times which followed his

b een . th . e death This collection seems . to have beginning of art - archeological studies in China ‘ and was apparently pursued on lines difl eren t from those in the investigations of early remains

H sii e by Sh n , second century, which were con cerned wholly with etymological research , in

S u W n preparation of the famous glossary h o é . Scholars of the T ang dynasty did not concern

themselves with . this study, and interest in i t was not revived until the tenth when ’ Nieh H o- Sa n Li T u , of nan , brought out the . This was a n illu stra ted description of the customs

ma n n er of h . b and s early C ina The text is valua le,

but the illustrations are crude and unreliable , having evidently been based upon written records

rather than upon observation of existing obj ects .

h - The first serious work was t at of Ou yang Hsiu ,

h A D t e . . i n eleventh century , in the compilation [3 5] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

Tsili K i t L u was of the , which a treatise on early h inscriptions . T is was followed by that of Wang ’ — “ Eu who H siion - H o Po K i t T u Il , edited the lustrated Description of Antiquities Contained

H n - o The in the sii a h Palace . illustrations in this work were probably taken from drawings and ru bbings of obj ects in the imperial coll ec

u tion and are therefore val able . I ts mistakes in interpretation of inscriptions and in historical Statements have given rise to much literary con

rov r t e sy among later authors . The student using this valuable book must therefore be on his guard

against inaccuracies . A more scholarly and reliable book of the Sung

- u dynasty is that of Hsieh Shan k ng, author of ’ Li Ta i C u n Ti n u a i h K n Ch h . g g , in twenty volumes This was written in the Shao Hsing period A D 1 1 1 — 1 1 6 ( . . 3 3) of the Southern Sung dynasty

and is , in reality, the basis upon which all later h scholars have built . Hsie may be considered as

u the first thorough st dent of early bronzes , but his work is concerned exclusively with the stu dy of

inscriptions . I t is , however, a mine of informa

tion also as to artistic matters , but this is always found in admixture with his discussion of lin gu is

tics . In the Sung dynasty there were also the

- - e artists Liu Sung nien , Li Kung lin , Chao M ng

C Lii - hien and the statesmen Ta fang, Wang [36] BRONZES AND JAD ES

A n - A n - shih , and his brother, Wang kuo, who were all keenly interested in bronzes and j ades and regarded them as obj ects of art . There was again a hiatus of scholarship in this subj ect, for no important contributions to it were

ii n made during the Y a and Ming dynasties . The ’ L 1 stimu emperor Ch ien ung, in 749, gave a new lus to it by ordering a group of distinguished scholars to prepare an illustrated catalogue of the

was h u imperial collection . This publis ed nder “ ’ — the name of H si C/z i ng K u Chi en Mirror of the Antiquities of the Imperial Studio — in forty two splendid , large volumes and was supple men ted by the works H si C/z i ng H s ii Chi en and

Ni n Sb ou Chi en K n g , which have been published in recent years in volumes corresponding to the e arlier one . The illustrations in these works can

the now be compared with specimens themselves , h P . as ex ibited in the Government Museum , eking Imperial patronage gave great encouragement

1 80 Y ii a n Y ii an to this branch of study . In 4 , published his scholarly work C/zi K u Giza i Chu ng ’ ’ — “ Ti ng I Clz i K uon Chili Inscriptions on Vessels ” Ku by Chi Chai , which is the studio name of

n h the 6 0 Y ii an Y ii a . In t is book rubbings of 5 inscriptions are criticized and explained . This was 1 82 2 the Chi n followed, in , by publication of — “ — Shili So Researches in Metal and Stone by [37] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART the scholarly brothers FEng Y u n - p eng and Fén g

Y fi n - fi an h the u y , who approac ed s bj ect more from the aesthetic Side than from the literary . I t is a m u fu l o se . st . book to a foreign student Other important contributions have been made since the

u p blication of this work , but they have been devoted chiefly to discussions of lingu istic prob

one lems . Only work has been published in recent years which is a distinct contribu tion to the importance of the artistic qualities of early ’ T oo Cha i Chi Chi n L u bronzes . I t is called Records of the Bronze Vessels in the Collection ’ ’ of T ao Chai . T ao Chai is the literary name of the late Viceroy Tuan Fang, who was a good scholar and an unusually discriminating collector . This book gives illustrations of the most important m speci ens of bronze vessels in his great collection . I t is a pity that Similar publications were not ’ issued in illustration of the collections of the P a n ’ Su - the e family, of chow , or of Ch n family, of

- Wei hsien . All historical records Show that bronze vessels h were held in hig esteem during the Hsia, Shang, and Chow dynasties , which are usually classified together as the Son Ta i or Three Dynasties . The vessels were used on all important occasions in national and family life . Victory over enemies, prayers for blessings and favors , penitence for [3 8]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

transgressions , memorials for deceased rulers and h — parents , birt days of superiors these were all celebrated in dignified ceremonies in which bronze i h l i . vesse s eh u vessels were used T ere were nine , ti n g , used only by the ruler, and the retention of these signified the possession of kingly authority h in t e state . They were regarded as emblems of “ ” i [ ex re i s . Chow L the g The Ritual of Chow, , h as a section devoted to the use of vessels for indi ff fli i l cating the di erence in rank among o c a s . I t ’ ffi is called Fen Ch i . O cers of lower rank in per forming sacrificial rites could not u se the same number or size of vessels as those used by one of

as higher rank . Bronze vessels thus came to serve fli insignia of o c e . They were also used as presents from princes to ministers to whom they had granted

u interviews , and m ch importance was attached by

as ministers to the kind of vessel presented, a sure indication of the estimation in which the prince 6 2 h B . C. e Po held t em . In 7 , Ch ng had an audience h with the King of C ow, after which he was pre sented with a mirror girdle which had belonged to

the Queen . Shortly afterwards the Duke of Kuo — wa s presented wi th a libation cup a t which Cheng

Po ff the P took great o ense , since the gift of rince to him had been only some trifling ornament worn

by a woman , while that given to the Duke had

been a vessel used in state ceremonies .

[40] BRONZES AND JADES

Another use was connected with dishonorable transactions , in which bronze vessels were pre sented as bribes by small states or by individu als

Ts C ua n who wished to acquire influence . The o h Commentary gives many instances of this ill egiti ’ of mate use . The Marquis Ch i bribed the ’

B C. 8 principality of Ts in , in . 5 9, by the gift of a

i n hs e . bronze vessel , The men of the principality ’ of Y en attempted to bribe the principality of Ch i L ehi a . by the gift of a libation cup , arge and small bells , tripods , and other sacrificial vessels are mentioned as having been perverted to this base purpose . These subsidiary uses of bronze vessels did not Obscure their chief u se for sacri

fi i a c l and memorial purposes . The dates to which bronze vessels are assigned by Chinese authorities are frequently Stated in general terms . Bronzes of the earliest period are

the referred to as belonging to San Tai , or pre ’ 2 T in - v ou B C . S i s to . 5 5 . Then follow the Han

B C 2 — A D 22 1 types , dated . . 5 5 . . . These are all ’ ancient bronzes . The reproductions of the T ang “ and S u ng dynasties are not classed as ancient . The style of decoration bu t more especially the ideographs used in inscriptions serve to divide the vessels of the San Tai into those of the

h l a ifi . c ss Hsia , S ang, and Chow dynasties This

cation , based upon linguistic development, seems

[4 1 ] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART trustworthy but is of slight value as to artistic Th h ff . e u di erences motives , tec niq e, and form of vessels of these three dynasties are interchange

tu h su b able , and for an art s dent t ere need be no

of B . C . 2 I division the period previous to 5 5 . I t S Stated by Chinese authorities that in bronzes the

Hsia dynasty was noted for reliability, the Shang

is for quality, and the Chow for display ; but this a general characterization of the manners and customs of these periods rather than of the artistic qualities of the bronzes which they produced . The archaic ceremonial types of the San Tai were replaced by more utilitarian and decorative ones in the period of freedom which set in with the ’ m the i perial sway of Ts in and Han dynasties . Few ancient vessels seem to have been recovered during this time from the safe hiding- places where they were buried to elude Shih Huang, the ’ so founder of the Ts in dynasty, that new types had a chance to be introduced . These were vases , bowls , lavers , sacrificial cooking utensils ,

u girdle buckles , and articles of ho se decoration or of personal adornment . In general terms , it may be said that the vessels of the San Tai are of the severe ceremonial types , while those of the Han are of decorative forms . So great have been the perils and difli c u l ties through which these vessels have come down from

[42] BRONZES A ND JADES

ancient times , that it is a matter of wonder that ’ P an T u - so . s many have survived yin , in his ’ ’ ’ “ P a n K lt L ou I Ch i K a a n Chih— Inscriptions on ” Vessels in the Collection of P an Ku Lou - speaks of seven great perils which have been encountered by bronze vessels Since the end of the Chow

B C. 2 . h dynasty, in . 5 5 The first was w en the founder of the Ts ’ in dynasty attempted to destroy all bronze vessels and military utensils with in

i tion h scr s t e . p , at the time of his burning of books His obj ect was to destroy all the literary records of an earlier age and to commence a new era with his reign . After melting up these bronze obj ects ,

The he cast them into twelve statues . second

was A . D peril when Tung Cho (died . in his attempts to bolster up the waning fortunes of the

Han dynasty, melted down the bronze Statues

- which he found at the two capitals , Lo yang ’ H o- fu - a n H si - an fu ( nan ) and Ch ang ( ) , and also many bronze vessels , melting them into coins . A D h . . 0 t e The third occurred in 5 9 , during reign of the emperor Wen Ti , of the Sui dynasty, when three great bells and a large number of vessels of the Ts ’ in and Han dynasties captured from ’ e the Kingdom of Ch n were destroyed by melting .

A O The fourth peril was in . . 955 , during the reign of the emperor Shih Tsung , of the Later Chow

was dynasty, when an imperial decree issued

[43] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

BRONZE VASE , HAN DYNASTY

[44] BRONZES A ND JADES allowing a limit of fifty days within which all bronze

u a fig res , vessels , and other rticles from the two capitals and from every district should be pre

ffi sented to local o cials for destruction , with the exception of the ceremonial articles belonging to

ofli ci al the court , articles used for military or pur

u . poses, mirrors , and bells sed in temples The A D 1 1 8 e fifth was in . . 5 , during the reign of Ch ng

u L ng, of the Chin dynasty, when an edict was issued ordering the destruction of all ancient ves sels captured during the expeditions against the

u Liao and Sung dynasties . The sixth was d ring

A O 1 1 1 the reign of Kao Tsung ( . . 3 of the

Southern Sung dynasty, when bronze vessels in the possession of the people were collected and added to fifteen hundred vessels from the imperial

collection . All were handed over to the keeper of the Mint and are said to have amou nted to more

than two million catties (three million pounds) . The seventh peril was in the stripping of the ’ P - K a i- e fu palaces and temples at ien lo ( f ng ) , at

the close of the Northern Sung dynasty, of all their bronze obj ects and the carrying them away to the

capital of the Chin dynasty . Much importance was attached in successive dynasties to the discovery of exhumed bronze

vessels . The reigning sovereign has celebrated the event by a change in the name of his governing

[45] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

n i en ha o the title , , or the name of place where the discovery was made has been changed in honor of it , or memorial temples have been built, in which the gods have been given special titles . One of the first recorded discoveries was during the reign — Y ij an B . C . 11 6 1 of Ting ( of the Han dynasty, when the Pao tripod wa s found in the FEn River

- i (Shan S province) . There are records of several Similar discoveries during the Han dynasty and down through the periods of the smaller dynasties ’ H sii an to the T ang, when , in the reign of Tsung

A O 1 ( . . 7 3 several important finds were made .

is hsi en I t recorded that in 733 a vessel , , was

M ei - the of discovered at chow, weight which was 700 catties (more than 900 pounds) . During the Northern Sung dynasty , ancient vessels were often discovered in the high lands and in ancient mounds . They became so numerous that the dis covery of new vessels no longer was considered as a strange or portentous matter . The number of scholars who could decipher the inscriptions con “ ’ ’ — a n l K a o K u T u s t t y increased . The Illus ”— tra ted Examination of Antiquities contains accounts of the vessels in the possession of col lectors of the Sung dynasty . The names of more than thirty collectors are given , together with a brief description of the vessels in their collections . Contrary to what has happened in the case of

[46]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

other art obj ects , i t has thus transpired that there has been a gradual increase in the number of recognized examples of vessels belonging to the E San Tai period . xcavations in building new

the houses or temples , changes in face of the country due to floods or the drying - u p of river beds , and the construction of railways in recent years have been responsible for many new finds , which have added much information to what was previously known . As to the shapes of ancient bronzes— there is a M great variety . The irror of Antiquities of the ” ’ Imperial Studio — H 5 i Ch i ng Kl t Chi en— gives

- seventy one shapes , to which are appended various early coins . In addition to bronze vessels , this list includes bells , drums , daggers , crossbows , ff chariot ornaments , surveying instruments , sta heads , spoons , mirrors , and other small articles . The number of the most important shapes of

h 2 ti n bronze vessels is interesting . T ere are 33 g

ti n . , or tripods A g . is a tripod or caldron usually h h h wit t ree feet and two ears , t ough occasion ally vessels with four feet are also included in this Class . I t was used to hold food offered in sacrificial ceremonies . The name is also used

eha n in a generic sense and is associated with g ,

h ehu n ti n bells , in the p rase g g , which means ’ — i n simply ancient bronze vessels . Of vases p g

[48] BRONZES AND JADES

W C C T BRONZE INE VESSEL , HOW DYNASTY . DE ORA ION INLAID WITH GOLD AND SILVER

[49] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

hi t— 1 h and there are 73 , and t ese were used as

- . tra n 1 8. wine receptacles Wine j ars , , number 4

lea 1 1 6 chi h Goblets , , include specimens and cups , ,

2 h a - 4 . T ere are 95 y or wine j ars with handles ,

1 l ei - 6 i ta n 1 i 7 or wine j ars , 7 , 49 , and 3 y , all of

which are wine receptacles of differing shapes . ’ 1 a n 0 There are also 7 p or platters , and 4 lavers , h hsi . , for sacrificial ablutions Besides t ese vessels ,

6 eha n 1 Ira there are 4 bells , g , 4 drums , , and 93

chi en mirrors , , included among the bronze articles of antiquity A s these vessels were all intended for sacri

fic i al uses , the Shapes are dignified and severe , but

all have grace of form and purity of line . Bushell considers that the majori ty of these vessels “ are

- heavy, barbaric , and of ill balanced proportions and betray the absence of the free spirit and love of line which inspired the hand of the ancient

Greek modeler in bronze . This is certainly true of many vessels and perhaps of the maj ority of those which have come down to the present

the time . The reason is that large demand for these vessels in ancient times on the part of rulers and families not only must have employed the

u talents of all the available artists , but also m st have attracted great numbers of ordinary artisans

who were devoid of artistic spiri t . However, in

all shapes there may be selected , out of the whole [5 0] BRONZES AND JADES

number, artistic specimens which compare favor ably with the best Grecian ones in modeling, cast E ing, and decoration . very ancien t bronze vessel h is of arc eological interest, though i t may be devoid of artistic qualities ; but there are enough examples of graceful forms to j ustify the State ment that the ancient Chinese exhibited an excel lent plastic sense . There are a decisiveness and a precision in their best bronze vessels which ex bibit the truest understanding on the part of the artist of the material which he used . He fully understood that the demands of metal are ff di erent from those of wood or marble .

The decorations varied somewhat , according to the period in which they were produced . The

i . e . earliest vessels have but little decoration , , more of the surface i s left plain than is covered with ornamen tation . Such decoration as there is set the model for the bronzes of the rest of the period . I t is a combination of geometric and ani mal motives . The geometric lines are developed into rectangular scrolls on the borders and in “ l ei w n . é r panels These scrolls are called , thunde ” “ ii n wén pattern , and y , cloud pattern . With

u these are intermixed ndeveloped animal forms , ’ “ ’ le u ei wén ed a n such as or pwp pattern , p ’ “ ’ k uei wen eh a n wen or coiled pinniped pattern , or cicada pattern . These partially developed [5 1 ] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

animal forms , as found in scrolls , are often in pairs on opposite sides of a central design in relief con

ox - sisting of an head or, as often , of a circle of geometric lines . In the scrolls are fou nd fearsome — ’ ’ ’ ’ - t t a o—t i eh ogre heads t a o i eh . The comprises a variety of forms , of which the only essential ele ment seems to be the large protruding eyes , which blend with the other lines of scroll patterns .

There are also tiger heads , elephant heads , goat heads . The dragon is chiefly in an undeveloped

u form thro ghout the whole period of the San Tai .

There are diapers , in the center of which are nipples . This is the only instance in ancient Chi nese art where the motive seems to have been drawn from the body, and I am not sure that the Sung dynasty scholars were correct in interpreting this round , bulging Shape as intended to represent a nipple . Many of the geometric forms are said

is difli cu l t to have symbolic meanings , but it to decide whether the symbolism is an interpretation of the forms or the forms an outgrowth of existing conceptions . At any rate , the artists exhibited a

' high degree of imagination in their depictions and avoided the pitfall of attempting to represent animal forms by crude designs . The characters used in inscriptions may be divided into three classes . There are the early h ideographs in the style of hieroglyphics , suc as [5 2] BRONZES AND JADES

are found on vessels of the Shang dynasty . Along with this class , there developed the fine spiral writing which is found on bone relics of this or an earlier period . The second class of writing is that found in the Chow dynasty, when the ideo graphs began to lose their pictorial character and assumed the square, regular forms . The number of ideographs also greatly increased , keeping pace with the greater complexity of daily life . Many of the inscriptions of this period Show beautiful forms of characters which are Still written in practically the same way but withou t so many

h u flouris es . The Chow Style of writing is rep ted to have been systematized by Shih Chou into the

— ta a style of the great seal characters ehu n . This style is the cou nterpart of that used in illuminated texts in Europe during the Middle Ages . The h third style is that of the Han dynasty, w en the number of ideographs had increased to such an extent as made the writing of books possible .

This Style of writing has been in continuous use, with some modifications and additions , down to the present time These cast and incised i n scrip tions are sometimes records of noble deeds or of some historical facts ; again , they are dedications from sons to fathers or glorification of the donor ’ s own deeds ; others record penitence and resolutions

for a better life . They often confirm historical [53] ’ TWO BRONZE VESSELS OF THE CH I HOU SET . COLLECTION OF TH E METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF NEW YORK

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

’ TWO BRONZE VESSELS OF THE CH I HOU SET . COLLECTION THE T M W OF ME ROPOLITAN MUSEU , NE YORK

[56] BRONZES AND JADES

to the rulership of Ch ’ i and managed the aff airs of

the kingdom with great wisdom . The inscriptions h on these vessels tell of t ese events . Another

well - known wine - vessel is the Kung Eu Keng Y a

The in the Cleveland Museum . name means that i t is a j ar shaped like a bow and dedicated to h father Keng . The handle of t is j ar is like a h bow, having bot ends decorated with animal

heads . I t was formerly in the collection of Liu , of ’ - e - Chu ch ng, Shan tung, and is assigned to the

Shang dynasty by Wu Shih - fen in his Chii n Ku

h u L u . T ese latter are only a few of many bea ti ful and important specimens which may be found

in American museums and private collections . Japanese collectors have been most active in recent h years , so that, outside of t ose in the Governmen t P Museum , eking, many of the noblest p ieces may now be found in the Su mi tomo and Fuj ita col lections in Osaka or in the Nakura collection at

Tokyo . There were ten sacrificial vessels presented in ’ 1 77 1 by the emperor Ch ien Lung to the temple

built in honor of Confucius , during the Ming

’ ’ Ch iI - fu - dynasty, at his birthplace in , Shan tung . These vessels are placed on a long rectangular

table in front of a large statue of Confucius , which occupies the place taken by a tablet in other Con

fu ci an temples . The order in which they stand [57] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

the on the table , right to left as one enters central doors and looks north toward the altar, is as follows

row: tou a i tsun tra n Back , f , , , .

: ti n a ho ta n hsi en . Front row g , y , , ,

ARRANGEMENT OF SACRIFICIAL VESSELS ON ALTAR OF ’ A CH U- FU HA - CONFUCI N TEMPLE , , S N TUNG PROVINCE These ritual vessels comprise those used for meat

ff . o erings , food , and wine In 1 90 1 there was dug up abou t ten miles from

Pao Chi - Si tsa , Shen province, a bronze table ,

chi n . , with accompanying vessels They passed into the possession of Tuan Fang . They are sac r fi i al - i c wine vessels and number eleven in all .

tsun - a - There are one (wine vase) , two y (wine j ars

ho - with handles) , one (wine pot with handle and

ehi a - tsi oh spout) , one (large wine cup) , two (liba [5 8] BRONZES A ND JADES

i lea ch h . tion cups) , three (cups) , and one (goblet) These vessels and the table form the most inter esting discovery in recent times of bronzes having an artistic interest . Their elaborate decoration

so shows good taste, but the casting is not delicate as that of some other existing specimens . Two examples of gilded bronzes of the Chow dynasty have also been discovered in recent years . Both are tsi oh (libation cups) and have answered to the description of literary records , which state that vessels made of the finest quality of bronze were later gilded with a cover of gold . The gold was beaten into gold - leaf and spread over the su r

of face the vessel , which was then gradually heated u ntil the gold and bronze formed an amalgam . Both of these libation cups are beautiful in form

and exqu isite in workmanship . This process of gilding was afterward u sed during the period of A D 2 2 1 — 6 1 8 the small contending states ( . . ) for a

u viz . p rpose directly opposite to the earlier one, ,

that of hiding blemishes in the casting . I t is necessary to bear in mind this diff erence between

early and later bronzes in the use of gilding .

u is Four examples of . bronze stat ary were d

in 1 1 covered 9 5 by a farmer named Chiang . While he was in the process of digging a pond

for irrigating purposes , he ran across an ancient grave and near it fou nd four figu res b u ried deep [59] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

h in the loess . T ese were a unicorn , a statue of ’ ’ t i en Wei T o , and two statues of heavenly kings ,

wa n h g, who are also known as guardians of Budd a . The place where they were found is on the border

- ii a n - five of San y hsien , a city lying about twenty

- an fu - miles northwest of Hsi , the capital of Shen si

15 the province . This recorded in Geography of ’ the T ang dynasty as having been the burial place

A . D 82 of Ching Tsung ( . 5 fourteenth em A peror of the T ang dynasty . S the emperor A D 82 h died in . . 7 , t is tomb was probably completed — A D 8 0 . a few years later say about . . 3 The unicorn appears to be earlier than this date and probably was cast during the later

A D Han dynasty (second century . . ) or during the revolutionary period of the Northern and South

A D . ern dynasties (fifth and Sixth centuries . ) and

removed to this site from some previous location . The bronze from which it was cast appears to be of the same quality as bronze vessels of the Han

dynasty, which has led me to the belief that the figure was produced from bronze obtained by the

melting down of early vessels . The original core

over which this figure was cast remains inside . The framework is of reed grass closely packed and

covered with core sand and clay . I t was cast

h x Ch in a mould covered wit wa . The aplets used for separating the core from the mou ld are easily

[60] BRONZES AND JAD ES

u seen . The dimensions of the nicorn are : from I N , mouth to tail in straight line , 4 4 height , ’ is The second figure that of Wei T o or Veda ,

s described by Eitel as a fabulous bodhi attva , the

E N BRONZE FIGUR OF UNICORN , HAN DY ASTY

first general in command of the Chata r Mahara

u j as . The measurements of this fig re are as

: follows height , circumference at waist ,

height of pedestal , The other two figu res are those of two heavenly kings or guar

e dians of Buddha . Buddha is repres nted as hav

u . ing fo r guardians , Devaraj a The dimensions of [6 1 ] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

: these two figures are height, height of base ,

circumference at girdle, These three statues were probably cast at the time when the

tomb was constructed .

In the casting of both vessels and statues , the

- a cire perdue or waste wax process w s u sed . A model was constructed with a wax surface of suit

T u able thickness . he outside mo ld was formed

the about this , the wax melted by heating, and

‘ metal poured in . This gave precision to the edges

bu t of lines , not alone in decoration , especially i n

ideographs . One of the unfailing tests of the gen u ineness of inscriptions is a careful microscopic

examination of the edges of ideographs , to see

whether or not they bear the marks of tools . I f

so , they have been incised at a later period and not cast in the wax mou ld with the rest of the

vessel . The proportions of copper and tin alloy used in the making of bronze obj ects have been carefully ’ ch a ter ‘ c all ed K a o Kun recorded in the sixth p , g ”

Chi Chow Li . , of the Ritual of Chow ( ) This

chapter is not part of the original work , but , though there has been much discussion as to ’ whether it was added du ring the Han or the Ch i

A D u n dynasty ( . . 479 its statements are

u do btedly reliable . Bells , tripods , vases, and

u - meas res contained one Sixth alloy, axes and [6 2]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

- fifth - hatchets one , lances and spears one fourth , two - edged swords and agricultural implements

— h - h h one t ird , and mirrors one alf. T ese propor tions are only those fixed for the imperial work shops , and we know from actual examples that h t ere were many variations from them . Good workmen in the earliest periods sought to give a silvery, iridescen t color resembling mercury to

i l their best fabrications . There is o e example of h M this kind in t e Metropolitan useum . I t is a covered tripod decorated with pinniped pattern h h and unquestionably belongs to t e S ang dynasty . I t formerly belonged to the noted scholar and h i collector Shen Po s . The patina of ancien t bronzes differs according to the way in which they have been preserved . Those that come from the tombs of early emperors u or kings , which were solidly b ilt and in which the

on t bronzes were placed s one pedestals , were not in contact with surrounding earth or water . The influence of the air caused such bronzes to take h on bluis tints , which are characteristic of the most beautiful type of patina . Vessels that have been buried in dry or wet soil have a patina vary ing according to the chemical elements surrou nd Th ing them . e malachite green shades of such specimens are very beautiful and resemble the ’ lr - i l ua ii . rind of a melon , p Sometimes many

[64] BRONZES AND JAD ES

colors are found on one vessel . Such are called

- Th five ma 5 2h . e colored , thickness of the patina was influenced by surrounding conditions and varies from su b - surface changes of color to thick

P is scales . atina , in reality, a new chemical com position and can rarely be separated from the original bronze , except in the case of gilded or lacquered obj ects . This sketch of ancient bronzes has been so brief and incomplete that there h as been no discussion of bronze military weapons , chariot and house decorations , surveying instruments , coins , or other obj ects for which we know this metal was u sed . Neither h as there been space to discuss the many ’ reproduc tions and imitations of the T ang, Sung,

ii an and Y dynasties .

JAD ES

is Jade associated with bronze , not only as to

u se as Similarity of in ancient times , but also to design and form . lade carvings find their proto

types in bronze vessels and implements . Just as bronze vessels were sufficient to indicate the rank OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

ffi recording his commands , as a warrant of o ce j ade was wrought into various shapes by Skilled

f ' ’ have li é Cfi ful l c lapidaries . (These y des ribed by

Laufer in his monumental work on j ade . ) I t did not lend itself so readily to decorative S as

bu t bronze , it possessed ancient Chin i et of co or stone , not only on account of ts vari y l ,

but also for its delicacy of texture . Using the term “ j ade ” as inclusive of j adeite

n e hri te . there and p , is a great variety of coloration ; the beauty of some of the colors is enhanced by the

- r semi transpa ency of the stone . There is black

h the is j ade, in w ich coloration the result of the presence of large quantities of chromic Iron ; there

“ i s h also pure , clear, w ite j ade, which is compared h to mutton fat . Between t ese extremes of color are found j ades with red and brown veins caused

by the action of iron pg ox ide . There are yellow h j ades in w ich the yellow is tinged with green , also

h n rl a n gray j ades with w ite or brown i te c i gs . The

most common variety is green j ade , in which color h all s ades may be found . This infinite variation of color makes i ts convincing appeal to the side of human nature which can be reached through

Vision . [66] BRONZES AND JADES

_ Jade, however, _ _ has another and more subtle

aw It i SL to t he d elic ate sense of touch . Just as painting is appreciated by sight and music by

T I JADE TUBE , HAN DYNAS Y DETA L OF DECORATION

ff hearing, so j ade o ers to its devotee the purest delights of the artistic sensation of touch . I t is

[67] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

I t

, like

ehen mi CloSe the flesh of a child ; again as , fine and , ’

‘ liK the a i texture of delicate S lk fabric . I Venture

W W JADE CARVING OF DANCING OMAN , CHO DYNASTY to claim that this artistic appreciation of a sensi tive touch is peculiar to the Chinese race and that even among them it has been confined in i ts expres sion to this one medium of jade . Those who enjoy the beauty of form Into which j ade has been carved or i ts wonderful colorations have missed a good share of artistic enj oyment and appreciation if they have not also learned the delights of j ade [6 8] BRONZES AND JADES

to a sensi tive touch . This is a form of artistic a feeling new— to occident l consciousness , but i t ‘ c f l O eco n i ti on annot ai fl g , solely for the reason that it has never been applied to ‘an y of our art It of . is this_ j ade which _ ( products a lways has been most prized in China

JADE AMULET, HAN DYNASTY

Many of the pieces of ancien t j ade which have s urvived to our times are not decorated or i n s cribed . Those that are decorated have the same g eometric and animal forms as are found Oii

bronzes , and there is little new in artistic motives t hat can be learned from them . Perhaps the m ost characteristic decorative motives are taken , ‘ firmamen t— from the starry the Great Dipper,

u li en ehu f g roups of stars , and bands of nited stars , On e can readily dismiss from consideration the [69] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

wonderful specimens portrayed in the Ku Y u ’ ’ T u P u and can assign them to the fertility of

the who imaginative reproduction of Sung artists ,

furnished drawings for the lapidaries of their time . The fact that no such specimens have survived and

that this book has never b een . qu oted by later writers as an authori ty is su fli c ien t to exclude con ’ - h sideration of types peculiar to it . Wu Ta c eng

D G H AN T JA E DA GER , DYNAS Y

says of this book that it is vague, confused , ” and inaccurate : The only safe method of pro

’ c edu re is to follow the method of Wu Ta—ch eng in ’ Ki t Y a K a o h is to , as adopted by Laufer . T is work from existing Specimens under the guidance

Th . of literary records . e sources of information l in iterature are fewer than in the case of bronzes , but are su fli c ien t to serve as guides along true lines

of investigation . Thereare three great periods in which j ade was espeCi ally prized and when j ade obj ects were fa Bri c a t ihe the , San Tai and Han (down [70]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

’ — h - A D 6 1 1 2 A D t e . . 8 to . . T an Sun ( and

ference to ancient j ade means j ade

t A . D . 2 2 1 belonging to the dynas ies precedent to , and reference to modern j ades means those of the ’ Ch ien Lung or later periods . Some of the most beautiful specimens which are now known belong ’ - to the T ang Sung period , when j ade was held in high esteem by the wealthy, influential classes and when artists of known repute furnished proofs for lapidaries , as they did for makers of ink and of ’ u bronze mirrors . Such proofs were called p , were painted on silk or paper, and may still be occa sion ally seen in collections . ” An interesting example of ancient j ade is the

ta huei . im large scepter, I t was the symbol of

was perial sovereignty . I t carried by an emperor

was in his girdle , where i t attached by cords pass h th ing t rough the circular holes in e scepter .

When he granted formal audiences , he held it in

h the h u his right hand uprig t to S o lder, where it rested comfortably on accoun t of the smoothing h off of the upper edge near the end . T is tablet i s 1 0 2 one of three that were taken , in 9 , from the K to grave of Shao ung, who is said have died in

B C 1 0 . . . 53 While Tuan Fang was governor of h — S en si province , he ordered the repairing of this grave, but in the process the masonry collapsed [7 2] W JADE TABLET , TA KUEI , CHO DYNASTY [73] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

and these scepters were found . One remains in ’ n a n s the possession of Tua F g family, one belongs

En K - P to F g ung tu , of eking, and the third is now

in an American collection . I t is not decorated or

The inscribed . color is a combination of brown , h K yellow, and dark shades . S ao ung was the

the so link between Shang and Chow dynasties , that this is one of the earliest authenticated speci

mens of j ade . A j ade scepter with a phoenix on ’ one side and a man s head on the other is owned by

Huang Chung- hui and is by him attributed to the 2 8 It emperor Shao Hao ( B i c . 59 s form is

hsi n hu ei that of the , which were carried by

officers of the rank of marquis during audiences .

I t is a beautiful specimen , but there seems no good reason for assigning this piece to any o special peri d , although I have no doubt that such work was done in very remote antiqui ty

in China . Other interesting examples are those of the

figure of a lady from the collection of Wang I- jung e and by him attribut d to the Chow dynasty, of a ’ c a man s face used as a ornament , of flat bells ,

of ecora tion of seals , and m of a i h m , p , is c aracteristic of the good work

of ancient j ade . The disk has a diameter of

8 1 2 h as 1 6 inches and a bore of ; inches . I t con

u centric , wide bands aro nd the bore and outer

[74] BRONZES AND JADES

rim , both richly decorated with conventional i scrolls . The outer scroll s of square geometric designs and the inner of interlacing lines . Two concentric bands divide the flat surface of the disk midway between the inner and outer bands . This division allows different decoration on the

u inner and outer halves of the disk . The o ter half is a decoration of intertwining dragons , of E which there are pairs . ach pair is separated from the adj oining one by a circular disk repre Th senting the su n . edecoration of the inner half i s ii n wén . of cloud pattern scroll , y The reverse side of the disk has concentric bands around the bore and ou ter rim decorated in the same style as on the obverse . The flat surface , however, is not divided into inner and outer halves , but is covered ’ with a bold design of le nei l u ng or undeveloped dragon . A curious example of the symbolism of the San Tai period is the fantastic creature made to serve ’

a o eh i n . as the neck of a Violin , y The head of the creature is divided into four lobes as a re f o viz . minder the four classes of ancient music , ,

the that which resembles the noise of a deer, call

tsou a of the fabulous beast , y , the beating of

- W n e . sandal wood , and the voice of Wang There

are perforations for five Strings . The squatting posture makes possible the holding of this neck [75l OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

in the hand so as to be comfortable and easy . More usual is the symbolism by which a round i disk , p , was used in the worship of earth , and

other shapes for the four points of the compass .

N JADE CUP ON STA D , SUNG DYNASTY

Jade was also the most preciou s gift to the dead . I t was used iii preparing the body for bu rial by providing a cover for the eyelids and mou th and h was u a stopper for t e nose and ears . I t also sed [76] BRONZES AND JADES

as weights for holding the burial clothes in place, and for this pu rpose small holes were bored in the

DETAIL OF ONE SECTION OF DECORA TION ON JADE CUP ILLUSTRATED ON PAGE 7 6 reverse Side through which the j ade obj ects could

be sewed on . For these purposes , j ade of white

color was preferred . [77] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

The uses of modern j ades have been described shell in a translation from a Chinese writer : n g the e thin s carved in j ade we have all kinds of ornam es an tacl es for flowers , large round dishes for fruit , wide

' c mouthed bowls , and ong smaller ob ec i air in s j pendants for the g p , and h For the banquet table t ere are bowls,

u cups, and ewers for wine ; as congrat latory gifts , a variety of round medallions and oblong talis mans with inscriptions . Beakers and vases are provided, to be frequently replenished at wine

- set parties , a wine pot with i ts prescribed of h t ree cups for bridal ceremonies . There is a statuetteof the Buddha of long life to pray to

for length of days , a screen carved with the eight

u - i sc e immortal genii for Taoist worship . J p

ters and fretwork mirror- stands are highly

u - val ed for betrothal gifts ; hairpins , ear rings ,

studs for the forehead, and bracelets for personal ’ set adornment . For the scholar s study the of

three, tripod , vase , and box , is at hand for burn ing incense ; for more luxurious halls sculptured flowers of j ade and j ewels in j ade pots are

arranged in pairs , displaying flowers appropriate

. h to the current season of t e year . Combs of j ade are u sed to dress the black tresses of beauty

the at dawn , pillows of j ade for divan , to snatch [7 8]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

D O T JA E DRAG N CARVING, SUNG DYNAS Y

D HA N T JA E PENDANT , DYNAS Y

[80] BRONZES A ND JADES

h of sons , of years , of happiness . Linked c ains

hi of j ade are tokens of lasting friends p , j ade seals attest the authenticity of important docu h ments . T ere are beads for the rosary, to num

- ber the invocations of Buddha , p aper weights

for the writing table of the scholar, tassel orna ments for the fan screen hiding the face of the

coquette , and keyless locks of j ade for clasping h round the necks of c ildren . Among other things may be mentioned mortars and pestles

- for pounding drugs , thumb rings for protecting the hand of the archer from the recoil of the

bowstring, j ade mouthpieces for the pipes of a tobacco smokers , and j de chopsticks for gour ” mands .

The beauty of good specimens ofj ade , especially l of ancient j ade , is not only appreciated by the eye ,

but also, as has been pointed out , by the sense of

touch . I t is unique in making this double appeal t to the aesthetic taste . I may readily be granted that it is not a branch of art that can become pop

ular with a l ab people . I ts subtlety

i ts restricts enjoyment to the few, but to them i t

the ides , in every sense, refinement of artistic

[8 I ] III STONES AND CERAMI CS STONES The paucity of ancient stone monuments cannot be accounted for by the difli cu l ty of working in this hard material nor by any lack of suitable varieties of stone in the districts where civilization

flourished . Jade is harder than stone , and i t must also have been very scarce ; yet it was fabricated

‘ into artistic shapes at the very dawn of Chinese

the th life . One reason for neglect of e use of stone is doubtless that its products did not fi t h h i . e . into the ancient C inese sc eme of life , , cere monial Vessels could not be fashioned from it with such perfect technique as from bronze ; neither

h a was t ere any pl ce for stone in divination . Fur h rmor t e e . , stone is coarse of grain and cold I t breathes no warmth of feeling except in the !

. h h hands of the greatest artists , and in C ina t ese r all prefe red to work in bronze and j ade . Such materials did not r equire great muscular strength in the manipulation of tools and did not make it impossible for artists to turn their hands to the more delicate process of plying the stylus

- or writing brush . From the earliest times , the [82] STONES AND CERAMI CS

TABLET OF BUDDHA PREACHING

[83] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

ability to write ideographs in an artistic fashion

- has been the beau ideal of cultured Chinese, and anything which interfered with writing was to be h strictly avoided . T is calligraphy has required a careful development of muscular delicacy rather

u than strength , and artists have been nwilling

to sacrifice the arm - power necessary for writing

r to that needed in sculpture . Another eason is that stone sculpture where it has chiefly flourished h has devoted itself to uman subj ects , and in Chinese philosophy man stands at the end in the

trini ty of heaven , earth , and man . I t was more

important, in the opinion of the Chinese, that they shou ld discover the will of Heaven and placate the powers of Earth through ceremony and divination than that they should busy themselves with perpetu ating the figures of their fellow human

beings . ’ le o Shih The earliest stone remains , , concern a studen t of art only to the extent of the beauty of the ideographs in the inscriptions ; otherwise

they are devoid of decoration or beauty of Shape . ’ S u ch early tablets as the Shang Shu or T ai Shan are of profound interest to the student of epig ra h p y, for they form an essential link between the “ ’ ” tortoise - Shell cracks and birds tracks writing found in inscriptions on bronze vessels or on oracu lar bones and the written characters of literature ;

[84] STONES AND CERAMI CS

but their crudity makes it possible to pass them over in a stu dy of the development of art in

China , without making any break in continuity and without neglect of any influence which should

fa be noted in later periods . Epigraphy is a s

n n u c i a ti g study among Chinese savants . T an

Fang made a wonderful collection of Stones , but i t was wholly intended as an aid in the decipher

ment and interpretation of ancient inscriptions . I have a complete set of rubbings of his best speci

mens , but have found in them no aid to artistic studies . The contents of this collection may be ’ T a o Cha i C i S i a found in the publication h h h L .

Fortunately, the process of making paper rub bings from monuments is coeval with the making of books and manuscripts . This has perpetuated

these records . The method of making rubbings at the present time probably does not differ m u ch

from the original process . I t is as follows : Thin white paper made of bamboo pulp is wetted with a solution of seaweed and then spread over

the face of the obj ect , where it is forced into all ff depressions by the use of a Sti brush . After imJ the paper dries , it is inked , and the desired

pression is obtained . Such rubbings have the great advantage of accuracy, as well as of con v n i e en c e of transmission . Rubbings of all the

ancient stone tablets of China have been made . [85] OUTLINES OF CHINES E ART

h T ese have been collected into books , com

men c in the g with Sung dynasty, during which

period Ou - Y ang Hsiu and Hung Kua were pioneers in examining and commenting upon

these records . Whenever a new tablet has been

re discovered , it has been carefully noted in

o f visions early books or by l ater publications . I t can be said with accuracy that there is in China practically no Stone monument of artistic or literary importance of which one cannot obtai n information in books that have been written

on this general subj ect . Western students have been Slow to avail themselves of the information

The contained in these scholarly books . first

so to lead the way in this , as in many other

d h who irections , was Bus ell , read a paper before the Oriental Congress assembled in Berlin in 1 88 1 on “ Inscriptions from the Tombs of the Wu

- M 2 8 l i Family, Located at Tzu yun ountain , ” - h h - P South of Chia siang , S an tung rovince . Chavannes followed up this work by making two extended tours in China In the investigation of

his monuments . After first j ourney, he published ' L a scu lp ture sur p i erre en Chi ne a u temp s des a eux

d n a sti es H a n P 1 8 y ( aris , 93) and , after the second, his monumental illustrated M i ssi on archéol ogique cla ns la Chi n e sep tentri ona le. In both of these

h a s u se books Chavannes made large of rubbings , [86]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

a design of human figures , it belongs to the class h i i . d s hua hsi a n . e of g, , tablets wit figures , as

ti n u ished ei . g from p , tablets

- WEN A . D . 1 44 SHU YANG STONE ,

There is a similar stone , of which I obtained

’ - an fu a rubbing, at T ai , but the location of which h I have not been able to learn definitely, thoug [88] STONES AND CERAM I CS

- it is said to have come from Chia hsiang, Shan

has tung province . I t figures similar in dress and position of body to those of the Wen Shu

the ~ yang stone, but design is much more elabo

. rate I t is a bout between , two mounted knights , with musicians on either side in the lowest panel

‘ A - HA C R N FUNER RY C MBER DE O ATION , SECOND CE TURY

and gymnastic performances in the panel above . The architectural designs of the central and two side pavilions correspond with the detailed descrip tion found in literary records . On the roof of the main pavilion , a male and a female phoenix have alighted from opposite directions and are being welcomed by an attendant . There are also several pairs of swallows . This stone , to

Wen - u gether with the Shu yang stone, do btless [89] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

represents the type of work which was later

- u M en copied at Lo yang in the L ng grottoes , when Buddhistic scenes came to replace those taken h from istory or tradition . As examples of this

earlier type these stones are of great importance . A paper published in the yourn a l of the North

Chi na Bra nch o the Ro a l A si a ti c Soci et h f y y, S ang 1 1 e hai , 9 7 , by Victor Segalen , assigns the F ng ’ ’ ii - - pillars at Ch hsien , Sze ch uan province , to the

A D 1 2 1 year . . . He does not state on what author

ity this date has been chosen , and I have not been able to find any date on the rubbings of the

Fa n Pei L u stone . g classifies it among undated

is stones , but assigns it to the Han period . I t

a splendid specimen of early work . I t has a i rectangular base . Th s base supports a shaft h crowned with a Corbel over whic is a roof. The shaft is inscribed with ideographs beautifully

the Fé n written and giving titles of the man g , at the entrance to whose grave this pillar was

sh n erected . Such cemetery pillars are called e ’ “ ’ ta o ch u eh . , pillars of the spiri t s pathway

sh a ft ' is At the base of the a strange design ,

is resembling a crab spider, which not mentioned by Segalen and the u se of which is peculiar to this

: one tablet , as far as is known to me . The best—known of the early stones are those of

’ ' TZ iI - - the Wu Liang at Chia hsiang, Shan tung [90]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

province . About ten miles south of the city of

- - ii n Chia hsiang, at the foot of the Tzu y Moun h tain , funerary c ambers were erected by the Wu h family . T ere are inscriptions in honor of various h members of the family, four of w ich have been ’ - viz . who preserved, , those of Wu K ai ming, died A D 1 8 . . A D 4 , of his brother, Wu Liang (died . . ’ K ai - and of the two sons of Wu ming,

CONFUCIUS MEETING LAOTSE (FROM WU LIANG TZ ’U)

Wu Pan A . D . 1 (died 45) and Wu Jung, who

A D 1 6 Pan died . . 7 . Wu , whose death occurred before the others , at the early age of twenty

five had already been Lieutenant - Governor of

- - su Tun huang, now in Kan province, the place

Wu at which Stei n discovered his stone hou se .

Jung was an officer in the palace at Lo - yang

H - f o u . ( nan ) Both of these brothers , therefore, had come in contact with the influences of the

u western part of their cou ntry . I t wo ld be inter esting to know if those who erected the earlier tablet of Wen Shu - yang had also traveled in west

a u ern China, for in that c se it wo ld be easy to come [92] STONES AND CERAMI CS to the conclusion that stone monuments originated

Shu in the district , which comprised all of west ern China . This is suggested by Segalen , but no such theory has been advanced by any Chinese

is h critic , and it safer to assert as a working y ’ pothesis that the imperial conquests of the Ts in and Han dynasties allowed such freedom of inter commu nication as to cau se simultaneous develop ment of new methods .

These funerary chambers of the Wu family, with their two pillars of approach , have been fully described , in their minutest details , by Chinese authors . Rubbings of them have been taken , of which Chavannes has given a complete photo l i graphic reproduction in his M i ssi on a rchéo og que.

There were an anterior and a posterior chamber, also one to the right and another to the left , thu s forming the usual arrangement of a Chinese r A n esidence around a rectangular courtyard . cient legendary scenes were represented, com men cin g with Fu H si and extending down through the period of the Five Emperors . These were succeeded chronologically by historical and clas sic al u u L aotse scenes , such as Conf ci s meeting , which in their turn were followed by illustrations

ic to of domestic life in the Wu family . These p graphs are execu ted in low relief. They are full of life and Show a good degree of artistic taste . [93] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

They exhibit - two conventions which are common

to the metopes and friezes of Greece . The heads of the persons portrayed are kept as far as possible

the h on same level , whether t ey are seated in a

‘ A n chariot , are walking, or are on horseback . other convention is the adaptation o f the size of

‘ the figure to the relative importance of the person n represe ted . A servant is always smaller in size S than his master, an animal maller in proportion m ’ than a hu an being . This is the artist s tribute to the i dealist spirit which placed moral considera

tions on a higher plane than Visible effects . The technique of these tablets is not equ al to that

found on Similar work of earlier origin in Greece ,

but rivals it in the Vigor of life - movement and in

harmony of conception . I t is worthy of note

the m - is in that na e of the sculptor, Li Ti mao, h A h on e t e . s scribed on of pillars a rule , not ing is

the known of names of sculptors , and no mention

is made of. them on their works . There are other ’ ' fi — remains i n Sha n tu n g notably on Hsiao - t ang ‘ ’ — Mountain in Fei - ch eng which are carved in the same style of work as that found in the Wu h ‘ family c ambers .

Two memorial pill ars ’ erec ted in honor of Shen ’ ’ ii - si - at Ch h en , Sze ch uan , belong to the Han

A D dynasty and probably to the second century . . One has an inscription of four ideographs and

[94]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

h h the ot er of seven , over whic , in both cases , is a h h fine figure of a p oenix . T ese are the noblest

The examples of early Chinese sculpture . design is strong, and the figures are full of nervous energy, Th n especially in the long neck . e extended wi gs h o also add life to the figures . T ese birds c mpare favorably with the sculptural designs of any coun try and make these pillars one of the great art treasures of China . Another stone of great importance is located ’ h - e K an su . at C n hsien , province I t bears no

bu t date , a short distance behind it is another ’ stone which refers to Li H si and which is dated

A D 1 1 h . . 7 , fourth year of C ien Ning . This is the earliest attempt to represent landscape on stone . At the top of the stone to the right there is a deer and to the left a dragon . At the bottom are two trees j omed together by a branch growing into both of them . At the center of this branch a h i . t e shoot Springs up To r ght is a pool of water , r by the side of which are two t ees . Under the trees to the left stands a man with arm extended ,

ff i n as if elevating some votive o ering . As the scription praises the virtue of Li Hsi , who was a

ffi local o cial , the design of the engraving is to

chi a ho represent the excellent crops , , which had been vouchsafed to the district during his i n u m n ben evo c be cy. The dragon represents the STONES AND CERAMICS

1 7 1 LI HSI STONE , A D . OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

the the lent rain which fills pools , and deer speaks

the of l en th Th of blessing g of days . e name of the “ ” tablet is Five Omens of the Frog Pool — M i ng ’ ch i w i h u j u . There are two other stones of the Han dynasty which deserve especial attention . One is a slab which was over the portal of a funerary chamber

T STONE OF FUNERARY CHAMBER , SECOND CEN URY

erected in honor of the wife of a lieutenant

' governor of a southwestern frontier district . I t h as a fine figure of a recumbent deer with Spread

Y - ing antlers . The other is located near ang chow

Pao- at ying, on the Grand Canal , whither it was

removed from Chiang- tu in 1 83 0 by the descend

of who the 1 8 . ants Wang, discovered stone in 7 5

the I t has three panels , the upper being figure of h a p oenix, the lower being the figure of a warrior

rushing into combat with a shield in his left hand , [98]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

This crude, inartistic , unspiritual statuary has

' never called for more tha n a passing notice by

Chinese critics , for in addition to its lack of aesthetic appeal it has been considered as u nl

Chinese . I t is in a class by itself and stands apart from the main current of the evolution of h art in C ina . The chief reason for ruling this sculpture out of the class of Chinese productions is its entire lack of appreciation of the culture of

h i ts i n China , s own in neglect of any literary

scription . This clearly labels i t as the work of men who we‘re not Chinese in education or cul

ture . Full details of these grottoes may be found

’ ’ M i ssi on arc e l i ue in Chavannes h o og g . The Northern Wei dynasty made i ts capital ’ ’ at P ing - ch eng until the reign of Hsiao Wen

son was Ti , the of Toba Hung, when it removed

- inH o- to Lo yang, nan , which had been the capital

Wen during the Later Han dynasty . Hsiao Ti was a man of refinement and a good scholar . He

was an ardent disciple of Confucius , on whom he

h n rifi conferred an o o c title . Not long after his

arrival at his new capital , he caused a statue to

- be erected in honor of an old man of Lo yang .

wa A D s . . This in 493 , and from that date onward

Lo - yang became the chief influence in the erection

' of stone sta tUes an d b as- relie fs in the grottoes on

- in the hillsides of northwestern H o nan . The [ 1 00] SH E C T YANG STONE , SECOND EN URY [ 1 0 1 ] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

fl u en ce of the culture of the new capital may be seen in the contrast of the quality of sculpture in the Vicinity of Lo - yang with the unfinished work of

Y ii n - the the kang grottoes near former capital .

- h In Lo yang the old classical influences of C ina, which centered here during the Han dynasty and h h retained t eir original strengt , exerted their con verting power over the sculpture which the Bud

’ dhists imported from Gandhara through P ing

’ Ch eng . Literary inscriptions were attached to

Stone reliefs , as was the custom in the Han dynasty, and , though the subj ects were exclusively h Buddhistic , t ey were treated in refined taste and with due regard for Chinese tradition . The first Site chosen for the glorification of

Buddhism had been long famous in history . ’ Ch ii eh - I , about ten miles south of Lo yang, is the opening in the hills through which the I River flows to j oin the LO before it empties into

P Cambro the Y ellow River . recipitous hills of Ordovician limestone are on both sides of the n arrow valley, and these became known as the pil ’ “ ii ’ I Ch eh . lars of I , I t was known in the Spring ” ’ and Autumn Annals as Chow Ch ii eh Sa i and ’ was associated with the l egen d a ry exploits of the . Great Y ii in his conservancy of the waters of the

the empire . I t had also been scene of many important military engagements . The rocky hill

[ 1 0 2]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

temples . The title of his reign was changed

‘ h I wa t ree times . t s first Ching Ming (5 00 ’ then Ché ii g Shih (5 04 Y ung P ing (50 8 ’ and finally Y en Ch ang (5 1 2 The earliest

tsa o hsi a n M en image , g , at Lung bears the date

A D 0 2— h — . . 5 the t ird year of this emperor and from this time on through the remaining years of his reign images were produced in great num bers . They are more refined and are of higher grade than the earlier work at the Y ii n - kang grottoes , for the influence of earlier Chinese sculp u is the t re, such as found in funerary chambers at

- - Chia hsiang, Shan tung, was felt in court circles and softened the harshness of the earlier B u ddhis It h tic importation . will be noticed that I ave begun to use a n ew term— image— and in this I n the h am followi g strictly Chinese usage , w ich has steadily refused to allow these Buddhistic products to be dignified by the use of the ordinary

i a n hua hs . term for reliefs of human figures , g

tsa o hsi a n The term used, g , means literally “ erected according to designs and serves to designate these figures as religious emblems and to differentiate them from other sculpture in stone or from bronzes . I t may be allowed that this distinction is the result of the religious prej u diCes of Confucian scholars ; but this prej udice must be taken into account in the art valuations

[ 1 04] N OF TT M EN I TERIOR SMALL GRO O , LUNG [ 1 05] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

of a country where the literary class h as been the custodian and defender of artistic treasures as

' a o f a well s classic l traditions . These tsa o hsiang usually consist of a Bud cflfisd c figu re

h the solid rock , wit highest part of the relief

h the h h j ust level wit edge of t e nic e . The loca tion of the inscription depends upon the relation

os of the niche to adjoining ones , but , whenever p Th . e sible , it is below the carving stone figures , which are known only by the descriptive name shi h

hsi a n - the g , are cut in ronde bosse out of Side of

h h h are h the the rock , to w ic t ey attac ed at base or

The back . mammoth figures are built up out of

c l everl oin ed so several pieces , which are yj together h as to be scarcely Visible . T ese figures are carved ’ ’ the P - h e on same general lines as those at ing c ng , h h which were after t e models of Gandhara . T ey

the show better workmanship than earlier ones , but in conception they remain emblems of a for

h h ha eign faith . I t may be argued t at Budd ism s become so incorporated into the life of China that h h it s ould no longer be considered foreign , but t is

h a ffi ri is s . not , and never been , o cially true Co

fu c 1an ism and Taoism are indigenous , but Bud h dhism is exotic . T ere are many opportunities in American museums at the present time of study ing superb examples of the stone figures of this

[ 1 06]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

the tsa o hsi a n period and also a few specimens of g . Everyone can judge for himself their aesthetic hi s . value , according to own standards I t is sufficient for me to have called attention to the fact that whatever admiration they may el i ci t h from westerners , w ose traditions have been de h rived from Greece , t ese figures do not form an

the h the essential part of art of C ina , nor up to present time have they been sought for by the h Japanese, whose art canons are in strict armony h with those of C ina .

his Ideals o the Ea st 8 Okakura , in f , pages 7 and

2 h i n 9 , has suggested t at a deeper and more formed study of the works of Gandhara itself will reveal a greater prominence of Chinese (than of ” so- called Greek) influence and that the sculp “ the so tures follow, in main , far as we know, the

Han dynasty style in features , drapery, and deco h h ration . Considering t e fact t at the culmi nation of the art of the Gandhara school may

A D 1 0 be dated from . . 5 , i t is impossible to agree ’ h Ok aku ra s wit View, for we have no known Han

A D 0 h stones as early as . . 5 , and the funerary c am bers of which he was evidently thinking when he spoke of “ drapery and decoration were built

the the at close of second century . Without going into the question of the origin of the Gandhara school , it is quite clear that China borrowed from [ 1 0 8] STONES AND CERAMI CS

STONE FIGURE OF AMITA BUDDHA OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

Gandhara , through Turkic families , its models for

- M n r the Y ii n kang grottoes . Lung e later b o

' rowed from Y iI n - kang but improved upon the imported style on account of adherence to indige

nous classical traditions .

M en The Lung grottoes commence , in point

h the of time, on the sout end of western hill with

Chii n h the the Lao grotto , w ere earliest stone

The h carvings are found . oldest image ere is

— A D 0 h h M . dated . . 5 3 fourt year of C ing ing I t i s in honor of the priest Fah Seng . The grotto h s h next to t i nort ward is the Lien Hua Kung, “ ” the Lotus Palace . Here is immense figure of

Amita Buddha with attendants on both sides . A tablet on the north side was erected by the empress ’

A D 6 8 . Wu ( . . 4 of the T ang dynasty The e bas s of immense stone pillars may be seen , showing that it was intended to cover this large

opening with a roof and make it resemble a palace . P h roceeding to the nort , one comes to the fissure ’ beyond which the two l arge characters I Ch ii eh are carved on a huge stone on the hillside ; then to

the Fu Wan grotto , or the grotto of Myriad

h the Buddhas , beyond whic is charming small

h h Pin Y Y a o . t e grotto , S uan The last is ang h grotto, which is really a series of t ree grottoes

with temple buildings around the entrance .

h the These grottoes contain t ree large figures , and

[ 1 1 0]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

h Pin Y ceilings are ric ly decorated . ang is the first place which one Visits when the approach

’ - I i h is made from Lo yang . t s t e latest portion of ’ the the work , having been executed in T ang and

‘ the Sung dynasties , and is the anticlimax to nobler creations of the earlier periods found as the visitor h sees the ot er grottoes farther on .

A D There is a remarkable incised tablet dated . . — — 534 third year of Y ung H si ih one of these

'

- ha a n h grottoes . I t is leaf S ped d represents a ill h h side with Buddha seated near t e top . Stretc ing

the h out before him to rig t and left are two rows , each of four kneeling attendants, back of whom

- is a drooping pine tree . Farther down the hill

- are three figures standing under a palm tree, with an attendant on either side . Three other h attendants stand lower down . In front of t is

— a group are three vessels laver, a ewer, and a

- h a water j ar . On eit er side are two other Buddh s

' h the seated wi th _folded ands . At side of the one to the right is an attendant and of the one to the left is an incense - burner holding a twisted

i n cen sefi B el ow are coil of _ three rows of persons

The forming a procession . two lower rows carry streamers . To the left and at the bottom of the

so as the tablet are hilltops and trees , to cast

The h View into perspective . technique of t is h stone is perfect . Unfortunately, the photograp ic [ 1 1 2] 42 T . 5 MAI REYA . A D [ I I S] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

h reproduction does it scant j ustice . Anot er figure in an adj oining grotto is said in the i n sc rip

A D 2 h the - tion , dated . . 54 , to be t at of Mi leh h M Budd a , aitreya . A lone figure is seated on a

‘ small couch under an overspreading tree , with a e a ' h bell swung on a fram t is side; and a water

’ Two LI - CH ENG TABLETS

The vase in front of him . design is in bold out

the h lines , and impression w ich it creates is strik ’

Th ‘ fac f thi fi u r h ing . e e o s g e closely resembles t e “ traditional representati on of the fi rst Chi nese

' h' r d . c patriarch , Bodhi a ma He ame to China

‘ i A D 20 ena by sea , arriv ng . . 5 , and has b e favorite

in d i i so tfiat the t subj ect Bu dh st c painting, f ype

i h of his features s well known . I t is probable t a t the artist who designed this stone had seen B o dhidh arma and was so impressed by him that

[ 1 1 4]

OUTLINES OF CHINES E ART

Th . e noses , leading the way two figures , one in

re front of the cart and one following it , are of Th h fined Chinese type . e ot er three stones have figures resembling those found in the paintings ’ - h h of Ku K ai c i . The mountain over which

’ difl eren t types of animals wander is exactly

’ ’ similar to tha t fou n d in Ku s scroll belonging to ’ M h - h the British useum . T ese Li c eng stones h evidence a good quality of work . T ey do not have Buddhistic motives and Show the persistence h h h of orthodox teachings , w ic did not esitate , even in the midst of powerful Buddhistic su r roundings , to assert an earlier tradition . Stone has been used also as a means of per

tu a tin p e g pictures by noted artists . Several

- z paintings by Wu Tao t ii have been cut in stone .

’ There is a portrait of Confucius at Ch ii - fu attributed to Wu and another striking picture representing the struggle of a tortoise wi th a ’ ’ leuei she t u the P serpent , , which is in refect s ’ ’ ' fli i h - — h o c al e . residence at C ng tu , Sze c uan A third beau tifu l stone is in the Freer collection and has been exhibited in the M etropolitan

Y . Museum , New ork I t has an incised picture on a flat surface and represents the Goddess of

Mercy in her most gracious mood . This stone is a good illustration of the canon that such examples possess three essential characteristics : [ 1 1 6] STONES AND CERAMI CS

the the stone is of fine fiber, picture is full of life , and the chirography of the accompanying i n sc rip tion is excellent . There is another stone at

A A EIGHT STEEDS , BY CH O BAMBOO LEAVES ARR NGED MENG - FU AS IDEOGRAPHS

’ - fu Ch u , which bears on i ts face a picture of ” E h - ight Steeds by C ao Meng fu . A stone in ’ the Tai Miao at T ai - an fu uses the leaves of two bamboos to form a picture, while at the [ I I 7] OUTLINES OF' CHINESE ART same time they are arranged as ideographs con ff taining a poetical e usion . The poem of fou r lines is given on the left Side , and one can read h h Th t e t e . e it in leaves of bamboo couplet , “ a poem in a picture and a picture in a is the also incised on the tablet , but this use of

- poetical quotation seems far fetched .

ON T’ D T DECORATIVE DESIGN TABLET, ANG YNAS Y

Only one other stone rema ins to be mentioned . I t bears n o date and deserves attention on ly' on

’ account of the strange animal figures whic h are

' the h e depicted on i t . To left is w at seems to b i fi h s s . a gorilla , in front of which a In the panel to the right are a deer and a Strange animal walk ing on its hind legs . This animal is also found on ’ al T a ng dynasty vase . The earlier and nobler sculptural traditions of Chin a were carried on by the founder of the Liang

W A D i i . 0 2 dynasty, Ti ( . 5 in the neighbor Wén his . hood of capital , Nanking Like Hsiao [ 1 1 8]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

the he Ti of Wei dynasty, was a man of classical culture , and this quality of his character is

his h exhibited in the stone remains of reign , w ich

’ ’ have been described in V a ri etes si n ol ogi gu es by Pere h Gaillard , w ose scholarly work was brought to an hi Untimely end by s early death . These remains at ’ Kii - - P yung, Tan t u , and also at places near urple

h the Mountain , Nanking, s ow last survival of a high artistic spirit devoted to expressing itself ’ in stone . The T ang and Sung dynasties were

h al interested in painting and calligrap y, and , h though t ey produced some excellent specimens , allowed Stone sculpture as an art to perish . I t has never been revived . I t may be said that even in i ts best days it was more or less an intruder into art circles ; its real place was always secondary to the inscriptions recording noted events or recalling h t e lives of illustrious persons .

CERA MICS Ceramics find a more natural classification along with bronzes , j ades , and stones than in any other place , for the reason that our earliest known specimens of earthenware were associated with the ancient ceremonies of the Chinese people . They were substitu ted for bronzes in early burial rites , as they were easier to fabricate and less “ ” th th expensive . In e use of e term ceramics

[ 1 20] STONES AND CERAMI CS anything is meant which belongs to the fic til e arts , including earthenware, stoneware , pottery , and porcelain . I t is comprised under the one ’ t a Chinese word o. In the San Tai period earthenware vessels for

u se domestic were made, and there also can be little doubt that all of the bronze sacrificial vessels of that early time had their counterparts in clay .

- 16 0 ronu n One well authenticated vessel , a (this p ci a tion C u li of the haracter is more us al than ) , L of the Chow dynasty, is described by aufer in

Chi nese Potter o the H a n D na st y f y y, and it is probable that many other Similar vessels will be found as ancient graves are opened up . From the Han dynasty have been preserved many examples

hu tén of vases , ; candlesticks, g; cooking vessels , tou u kuei ; and rectang lar food vessels , , all modeled after bronze prototypes . Some of these have i of the crude ornamentation , in imitation finer products of bronze . Articles produced from clay have always suff ered by comparison with contemporary products in

finer materials . They were coarse when placed alongside of the beautiful bronze and j ade ob f ec ts . u s o j produced in , the San Tai When the o glaze and color produced the artistically beauti ’ S ful pottery specimens of the Han , T ang , and ung periods , and later the wonderful Ming porcelains, [ 1 2 1 ] OUTLINES OF CHINESE AR T colors had already been widely used in the pro duction o f p a i n tin gs on paper and on Silk . Ceram h h ics ave always , t erefore , been forced into a subsidiary place among art products by the h Chinese . T is has not been true of the oc c i h dental world , w ich first l e a r n e d o f t h e a r t of China through pottery E a n d p o r c e l a i n . ven

the down to present time , more attention has been given by western stu dents to the study of c e r a m i c s t h a n t o a n y

other branch of art . The

perfection of moulding,

the the variety of shapes , brilliance and depth of

the the glazes , and soft b e a u t y o f t h e c o l o r s CLAY FIGURE OF A GENERAL have b e e n i rr e s i s t i b l e . Another reason for the especial attention devoted by westerners to pot tery and porcelain is that this study can be conducted easily along the lines of analytic reason r ing familia to our western method of education . Porcelain and pottery obj ects can be handled [ 1 2 2]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART describes the industry as carried on at Ching- té

Ch n P h é . erhaps the most valuable part of t is h work is chapters viii and ix , w ich contain a large number of references to pottery and porcelain from general literature Then there is the best book of ’ ” T a o Shu o P — b all , Description of ottery y

Y en 1 Chu , published in 774 and fully translated

Chi nese Potter a nd Porcel a i n by Bushell in y .

n Chu Y e was a man of profound scholarship . ’ Y - f l He and Hsiang uan p ien , of the i ing dynasty, stand alone among the myriad literary men of China as having given critical and appreciative

0 attention to ceramics . N one has yet written in t he Chinese language as comprehensive and in formative a book as Hobson ’ s two volumes on

cela i n Chi n ese Pottery a nd Por . This of itself is the strongest possible confirmation of the fact that ceramics have attained a higher place in our western world than has been conceded this art in China . In View of the number of available books in the

English language on the subj ect of ceramics , it is unnecessary for me to discuss the various wares ‘ P and periods in detail . ottery succeeded earth

' en wa re and gradually was supplanted by porcelain . There is much doubt as to the exact period when porcelain obj ects began to be produced . The usual theory of Chinese writers is that porcelain

[ 1 24] STONES AND CERAMI CS

A D originated during the reign of Shih Ts u ng ( . .

954 of the Later Chow dynasty . Credence is added to this attribution by a flower vase which is on exhibition in the Government Museum , ’ Ch a i Y a o Peking . This is labeled as and has the

four characters H si en - te n i en chih Stamped on the

H si en - te bottom . is the title of the reign of Shih

Tsung . This vase is of thick porcelain and is of

- a mottled brownish yellow color . The glaze is

an a . brilliant, i t has fine crackle lines These characteristics agree with the descriptions of ’ ’ the T a o Shu o and of the Ch i ng Pi Tsa ng q u oted

. . w by Hobson (Vol I , p 4 1) in all respects , ith u o f ' the exception of the color, which is not the bl e

the sky after rain . As a matter of fact , there is

- no reason why the color should be Sky blue ; for,

in my opinion , what the emperor Shih Tsung com ma n ded to be produced was a ware which should be as beautiful ' as the blue of the sky breaking

u through the clo ds after rain , but not necessarily

is of that particular color . This the true mean ing of the phrase as interpreted by t he context ; and j u dged in the light of this explanation there is no reason to doubt the genuineness of the a ttri bu tion of this particular vase to the type of ware ’ Ch a i Y a a rli o. e known as I t is , therefore , the

est of piece porcelain now known in China . In his recent p u blication The Begi n n i ngs of Porcela i n [ 1 25] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

i 1 1 h i n Ch na . , 9 7 , Dr Bert old Laufer has called attention to Chinese porcelain of an earlier date ,

the the found at Samarra , former residence of

Caliphs . According to F . Sarre , who carefully

TT G TT G PO ERY PIL RIM BO LE , SUN DYNASTY

‘ h b elon to figures and describes these obj ects , t ey g a ’ period which is well determined by the years

- It i h 83 8 883 . s probable that furt er investiga tion will reveal the ' kn owl edge and use of porc e lai n a t a still earlier period . A complete history of Chinese ceramics may be

Chi nese Potter o the found in two books , Viz . , y f [ 1 26]

OUTL INES OF CHINESE ART

H a n D na st : y y by Berthold Laufer (Leyden E , J . ’

Ltd . Chi nese Potter a na Porcel a i n Brill , ) and y ,

e . . in two volum s , by R L Hobson (London w

Cassell) . This may be supplemented by reference

to the illustrations found in Chi nese Porcela i n-a nd ' H a ra Stones Cata l o u e o by Gorer and Blacker, g f the M orga n Coll ecti on of Chi nese Porcela i ns by

h ff Chi nese Potter o th e H a n Bus ell and La an , y f , ’ T a n a nd S un D na sti es P nd g , g y by arish Watson , a the catalogue of Chinese Pottery published by M M Y the etropolitan useum , New ork . Splendid collections both of pottery and of porcelain may

also be seen in various m u seums .

A few illustrations are given of recent finds , some of which are types that are brought to public

notice for the first time . One is a pilgrim bottle

modeled after a bronze type of the Han dynasty . I t has a flattened body with loops on the periph

ery . The decoration is the same as that on a j ar

in the Rothenstein Collection , illustrated in Hob ’

i n s t l i n 0 . Ch e e Po ter a nd Porce a . son s y , fig 4, plate 3 ’ Tz - A n I t is ii chou ware of the Sung dynasty . other u nus u al ex a mpl e is that of a vase which is ‘ “ ” ’ e lea n - l a n i n correctly call d olive vase , p g , and ’ ff mei i n di ers in line from a p g , such as is illustrated ’ 1 by Hobson in fig . , plate 79 . I t is a T ang dynasty vase and was used on a temple altar as a recep

tacle for incense - sticks after the fragrant dust [ 1 2 8] POTT ERY CREMATION RECEPTACLE OUTLINES OF CHINES E ART

off the - had burned in central incense burner . Two sides are illustrated : one i s the figure of

the is h an abbot , and other a strange , ideous beast h walking on its hind legs . T is beast resembles a figure on stone to which attention h a s been called 1 1 h h h on page 8 . I am inclined to t ink t at t e

the su a n i the creature is fabulous beast y , said to be h h h ff h eig t among t e nine o spring of t e dragon . h I t is also described as a wild orse , able to travel li i five hundred in a day . I t s fond of smoke and fire and hence is appropriate as a figure place d

— The on incense burners or receptacles . space intervening between the figures is decorated wi th h i graceful bamboos . A t ird obj ect s a receptacle

a for the ashes of priest after cremation . I t is

ha n The h - h o called , an envelope . lid is ill s aped , p i sha n . s On one face a panel , in which the names of the temple and the priest are given , but I have

h the not been able to identify t em as yet , for reason that the names of early temples have been fre Th quently changed . e fourth specimen is a j ar on

‘ - Th h a h . three feet . I t s eig t semi circular panels e decorat i on is in imitation of the skin of a win ter

h the h i The squas , and color is t at of a r pe squash cover has a triangular knob corresponding tg th e

a r e . three feet . The inside of this j is unglaz d Whatever may be the position to which C hin a h has relegated pottery and porcelain , t ey will [ 1 3 0]

T PORCELAIN VASE DECORA ED FOR IMPERIAL USE , KU YUEH—HSIEN [ 1 3 21 STONES AND CERAMI CS a lways remain for the occidental the most favorite _ h h l field of C inese art . The ric ness of co ors found

Chii n Y a o Ti n Y a o in the , the purity of the g , Wi th . i ts graceful incised decorations , the charm of the ’ — pale green of the L ung - ch ii a n Y a o these Show

' an appreciati on ; of colbr c ombin ed . wi th skilful modeling which has never been equal ed inpottei y

- k byany o ther nation . The blac

- o n o grounds , and yellow grounds of p rcelai , t gether

‘ - - blooms cla ii - d e- with the apple greens , peach , lunes ,

' s -d e- o u are e ang b eufs , and p re whites , a spl ndid exhibition of high artistic spirit .

[ 1 33] IV

CALLIGRAPHY AND PAINTING

The common origin of writing and drawing,

is which developed into painting, generally h acknowledged by Chinese aut orities . The attempt to trace designs of Visible obj ects was accompanied by the eff ort to record and per

u a The pet te mental ideas . legendary origin of writing and drawing assigns them both to minis

Y E B C ters of the ellow mperor, Huang Ti ( . . ’ ’ Ts ang Ch ieh is given the credit for the invention of writing and Shi Huang for that of drawing, though some authorities j oin these two names as belonging to one individual . These ascriptions must not be taken as historically correct ; i t is only one of the many legends or oral traditions which are narrated by the earliest Chinese his tori a n s to account for such civilization as they found already flourishing . The most important part of the legend is the fact of the union of these two arts , writing and drawing, from the Very beginning of tradition and history in China . They h are but two parts of a armonious whole . Images h and ideas must ave drawings and symbols , in order to be communicated from man to man and

[ 1 34]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

the from generation to generation , when obj ect

the h h cannot be seen nor uman voice eard . The union of these two subj ects is a natural one and is obvious in the later development of ideographs and paintings . The union became more intimate after the introduction of the writing- brush and

the ink . From that time onward, calligraphist and the painter used the same brush and ink for their two classes of work . The classes were grouped together after the death of artists and “ ” m as o ua n . calligraphists ink remains , y h T is essential union of writing and painting, shu hua u , has been responsible for the continuo s pu rpose in China of u sing ideographs to express

O u l ideas not nly acc rate y but also artistically . This remarkable fact has been true of writing from its origin down to the present time, and in this respect Chinese writing is u nique among the h written languages of t e world . When writing h was done wit a stylus upon bamboo pulp , the beautiful ideographs were similar to designs . — h as T ey were , in fact , suggestive designs may be seen from the characters representing a deer, pig, or dragon , as found on bronzes of the Shang

- dynasty . The introduction of the writing brush , ’ during the Ts in dynasty, is usually ascribed to ’ B C Meng T ien (died . . who was a general of E h the First mperor, S ih Huang, and in charge [ 1 36] CALLIGRAPHY AND PAINTING

h of the building of the Great Wall . T is made

the en painting possible , while at same time i t abled writers to shape ideographs with precise regard for thin and thick shadings . The exact “ use of the correct amount of strength in the plying of the brush involved most careful discipline

the and constant practice . One of great early ’

Y A . D . 1 calligraphists , Ts ai ung ( 33 has left a series of nine rules for the use of the brush

the These rules are known as nine influences , chi u shi h , and represent in writing what the six canons of Hsieh Ho do in painting . The mas tery of the brush is the first requisite of writers or painters , and their work is always judged by the quality of the brush strokes .

In chronological order, it is usual to divide

Th is Chinese writing into four periods . e first that of ideographs on early bronze vessels , and

’ such writing is known as chu ng ti ng tzu. The h sea ] chu a n shu . second is that of characters, T is period is subdivided into that of the “ greater ” ta chua n seal , , said to have been introduced by “ h B C 800 S ih Chou about . . , and the lesser seal ,

S ii B C. hsi a o chu a n s . , introduced by Li (died

The a minister of the First Emperor . third

ffi l i shu h is period is that of o cial writing , , by whic meant an established style in which the exact number of strokes h as been definitely fixed and [ 1 37] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

h is strictly adhered to . I t mig t be described as ” the period when a fixed spelling of the char a c ters became recognized and when freedom of individual writers in the u se of fewer or more strokes in writing an ideograph ceased . The ’ le a i shu last period is that of the , model style , — H i - A O 2 1 introduced by Wang s chih ( . . 3 379) and

the in continuous use down to present time . A more detailed division of the period of devel o men t is h - p that adopted by C ang Huai kuan , of ’ the T ang dynasty, one of the foremost authorities

his on calligraphy, who indicates the periods by classification under ten diff erent styles of writing

1 Ku wen ( ) , ancient writing as introduced in ’ ’ legendary times by Ts ang Ch ieh ; ( 2) greater

ta chua n h seal , , invented by Shi Chou and resem

Chou wen bling designs ; (3) , writing as developed h by Shih C ou , without reference to designs ;

’ hsi a o chua n SSIi (4) lesser seal , , as used by Li in

B C. Pa én the third century . ; (5) f style , which literally means an eighty per cen t style— referring

’ ’ ’ TZ iI- h the to the work of Wang c ung, of Ts in “ who dynasty, contracted the style of the lesser

” ' seal of Li SsiI by a subtraction of twenty per “ Pa en shu cent (hence the name f , eighty per c en t s t l e of wri tin 6 L i shu ofli c i al y g ( ) , writing, ’

h M B C . e . invented by C ng iao , third century , of ’ ’ Cha n ts a o the Ts in dynasty ; (7) g style, which [ 1 3 8]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

in writing regular characters have become models

the the the in running or draft mode , excellence of style depending solely upon the strength or weakness of control of the brush Shown by the

writer . In a long list of calligraphists of the times previ

h A D h ou s t e . . to fifth century , t ree names Stand h out conspicuously, viz . , t ose of Chang Chih ,

- hu Y u H si . C ng , and Wang chih The first, Chang

A D Chih , of the Later Han dynasty, first century . . , is spoken of as the Perfect Writer of Draft Char ’ en a c ters ts a o sh . , g He is reputed to have been h fond of sitting at the side of a pond w ile writing, bu t he dipped his ink brush so frequently and

constantly that the water turned black . Chung

wh A D . 2 0 Y u o . , died 3 , belonged to the Wei

H u dynasty . He and Chao studied together the

Té - e style of Liu sh n , but Chung was the more “ wo a H u apt pupil . The t are compared s the fat ”— and the lean Chung referring to the thick ,

H u inky strokes of and the thin , nervous , strong

is strokes of Chung . The third celebri ty Wang

- h A D 2 1 H si . . chi ( 3 of the Tsin dynasty, and he is universally acknowledged as the chief among h the writers of all ages in C ina . The power of his strokes is described as having been as light as

fleeting clouds and as forceful as a startled snake .

ofli ci al He rose in ranks to the grade of a general ,

[ 1 40] C T T C TU TH E T LETTER OF HU HSI ( WELF H EN RY) , S AND ARD COMMENTATOR ON TH E CLASSICS

ANNOTATION OF WENG FAN G- KANG OUTLI NES OF CHINESE ART

M - and is usually referred to as ajor General Wang,

Y u - c hii n Wang , while Wang Wei , the painter, is ’ a - M Y u - s e . Spoken of Vice inister Wang, Wang ch ng

- A D His son , Wang Hsien chih ( . . 344 is almost as famous as his father and barely misses being

classed among the greatest . Some recognized a u

thori ties h - , suc as Chang Huai kuan , even place

him in this high position . h h h Of t ese t ree great calligrap ists , Chang Chih h as h nothing which has been handed down . C ung

’ Y u t i eh the Chi has one famous script , , known as

Chih Pi a o h , w ich belonged to the collection of

h h - writings made by t e late S eng Hsuan huai . I t is dated the eighth month of the second year of ’ - A D the Huang ch u ( . . first emperor of the

Wei dynasty . I t is about one foot long and three inches wide and is written in nineteen lines upon Th . e strong , white paper oldest seal on this ’ A D 6 2 script is that of T ai Tsung ( . . 7 first ’ is emperor of the T ang dynasty, but it four hundred years later than the time when Chung

Ku lived . This seal may also be found on the ’ - K ai chih scroll in the Metropoli tan Museum .

- A D 0 The next seals are those of Shun hua ( . . 99

H ii n - h A D 1 1 1 995) and s a o ( . . 9 There are many colophons by later owners and persons who

had seen the script , all testifying to its genuineness . None of these is conclusive evidence of its being a

[ 1 4 2]

OUTLINES OF CHINES E ART

the original was located and is called Ti ng Wu ’ “ ” La n T i n h h t e P . g , or Orc id avilion of Ting Wu This name serves to distinguish the recut stone of

the H sii an - ho period from the original engraved ’ one of the emperor T ai Tsung . ’ This Lan T ing script of Wang Hsi - Chih is easily the most famous writing that has ever

appeared in China . I t is referred to in poetry

i n and praised in literature . I t has been the

who spiration of all succeeding writers , have ; striven in vain to equal it . Other scripts claim

ing to be the work of Wang are highly prized .

In I- h Four of these were the collection of An c ou ,

’ during the reign of Ch ien Lung . I have seen

the h also C ia Hsing script , which is mentioned ’ in the H sii a n H o Shu P u as having belonged to

A D 1 1 0 1 the emperor Hui Tsung ( . . In my h opinion , t is example , like all the other existing ’ specimens , is properly designated as a T ang

- h copy . I t is on powder waxed paper and s ould ’ be described as T a ng M o Wa ng t zFen La h Chih ’

n i . T a Pe . e , , a facsimile of the script of Wang ’ H si - Chih written during the T ang dynasty on

- h powder waxed paper . This C ia Hsing script was formerly in the collection of the noted littera

- h teu r . t e of Canton , Liang Tsiao ling I t bears

A D 1 1 1 seals of the emperor Hui Tsung ( . . 9

A D 1 0 1 h Ssii - of Mi Fei ( . . 5 and of C ia tao

[ 1 44] CALLIGRAPHY AND PAINTING

A O h (died . . I t also has one of t e most important testimonies in the ink stamp of Pi

- Ta ning, one of the two commissioners appointed to gather up the dispersed paintings and scripts which were lost when the Sung fled southward

T ’ ANG DYNASTY REPRODUCTION OF CHIA H SLNG SCRIPT

W G - T C T OF AN HSI CHIH . FOUR H EN URY

h - to establish t eir capital at Hang chow . I t is a splendid example of the earliest writing on paper h in C ina , but i t must justly be assigned to the T ’ ang dynasty and classed as a reproduction

a H i- C rather than s an original script of Wang s hih .

Other famous scripts attributed to Wang Hsi - Chih are the Y ua n Seng and his copy of a thousand

Y u characters from the script of Chung . These

[ 1 45] OUTLINES OF CHINES E ART

’ also must be classed as T ang dynasty reprodu c tions . This practice of copying a thousand characters from an earlier master has been common to all ’ periods of Chinese writing . Following Wang s example in copying a thousand characters of ’ h A D 2— t e . . 0 0 Chung s script , emperor Wu Ti ( 5 5 5 ) ordered to be compiled a thousand characters

H i- Ch h ffi from Wang s i . A dismissed o cer of h was - SSH t is emperor, whose name Chou Hsing , arranged one thousand characters in good literary “ ’ h h h E Ch i en form . T is T ousand C aracter ssay,

TziZWen has , been copied by masters and students from that time onward . I t figures in the list of scripts more frequently than any subj ect other “ ” wa than the Orchid Pavilion . I t s also used as a child ’ s primer in all the schools of China until h recent years , w en modern readers were intro

du ced .

’ The T ang dynasty was responsible for the crea tion of a widespread passion among literary men h for excellence in calligrap y . I t was due to the

’ A D 6 2 patronage of the emperor T ai Tsung ( . . 7

whose reigning title was Cheng - kuan (see — 6 H sii a n A . D . 1 p . and Tsung ( 7 3 75 ) that

Y u H si - Ch the writings of Chung , Wang ih, and

- Wang Hsien chih were copied , distributed among

so literary men , and cut into stone as to be pre

[ 1 46]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

served . And yet this dynasty produced no great

h — H ii n A D s . . master in chirograp y . Ou yang ( 5 57 - 645) is usually classed as belonging to the ’ h the T ang dynasty, in accordance wit custom in Chinese literature of assigning an individual to

h he he the dynasty in w ich dies , but was in reality

h - t e . a product of Sui dynasty His son , Ou yang ’ T ung, is reputed also to have been a famous

his calligraphist, but none of work survived for

h h Y n any lengt of time . T ere were also e Chen ’ ’ A D 0 h Ti n - c w t i e ch ing ( . . 7 9 w ose g ho h and

’ H u - chow t i eh were still in existence during the ’ ’ h - u reign of C ien Lung, and Liu Kung ch an , whose “ ’ scripts of the Tu - j en classic ( Pilgrim s Prog ” “ ” ress and the L i Sa o Falling into Trouble ’ ii ii an B C 2 wri tten by Ch Y ( . . 33 are famous ; but neither Y en nor Liu can be classed as a great

master . I t was left to the less peaceful times of the Sung dynasty to furnish two of China ’ s greatest

writers , and these were contemporaries . They

S h h A D 1 0 - 1 1 1 u . . 6 0 A D were S i ( 3 ) and Mi Fei ( . . 1 05 1 Su Shih is more frequently alluded ’ his Su - o to in literature by fancy name Tung p , ” Su of the eastern slope . He was a most remark

offi c i al able man . He held positions but found i t difficult to retain them on account of the i n dep en d

ence of his character and the vitriol of his pen .

[ 1 4 8] CALLIGRAPHY AND PAINTING

LOH H SIONG SCRIPT OF MI FEI

He was twice banished for insubordination . He was a famous poet and essay writer, a painter, and “ a wonderful calligraphist . His Lotus Classic , “ Li en H ua Chi n g , and his Thousand Character ” Classic are the best specimens of his work, but there are several others of his scripts in existence

[ 1 49] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

at the present time . One of these is attached to ” ’ K a n - shu the famous painting Reading,

T i - by Wang s han . The chief characteristics of his style are finish and elegance combined with ’ Su C strength of brush Strokes . His brother h e

A D 1 0 —1 1 1 2 ( . . 39 ) was a great calligraphist, as ’ - i n - - was also his brother law, Wang Tsin ch ing, but neither of these approached the master,

Su Shih .

The other illustrious name is that of Mi Fei , ffi h o cial , artist , and calligrap ist . He had a very h eccentric character, w ich interfered with his career as an offi cial and seemed to prevent his acquisition of a high literary style ; but as artis t

u and writer he excelled . He could pile ink pon

u ink with strong, nervo s strokes and preferred

u se h to paper rat er than silk, on accoun t of i t absorbing ink readily wi thout danger of spreading .

h h as He is held in the ighest onor a calligraphist , and specimens of his script are among the greates t art treasures of China . He usually Signed his pictures , and these exhibit a bold , strong type of writing in which thick ink is generously used .

He was a prolific writer . The collection of An

I- — chou lists twenty eight specimens of his scripts ,

the and there are several in Governmen t Museum ,

h a Peking . The Sung dynasty d a larger number h h of good calligrap ists t an any other period, but [ 1 5 0]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART their excellence is eclipsed by the splendor of the S M i names of u and .

- M - A O 1 2 1 2 2 Chao eng fu ( . . 54 3 ) is a name scarcely less brilliant than those of the two masters

wa of the Sung dynasty . Chao s a scion of the

Imperial House of Sung, who retired to private

the 1 2 80 life on the advent of Mongol dynasty, in , but was later recalled to offi ce and came to a high h h position in t e Academy . He was distinguis ed h h h as a painter, in w ic field he s ared honors with his K Eu - en wife , uan j , but his fame rests chiefly upon his eminence as a calligraphist . He com ’ bin ed the freedom of M i s script with the elegance ’ Su H i a s . s s of draft characters , such are found

his h in copy of the Thousand C aracter Classic , are as perfect as those of his regular mode in his

i his Ta o Te Ch ng . He wrote long notes on own paintings , which are usually signed with the three — “ ’ ” Tzii - a n hua TZ ii - characters g painted by ang,

h i S u n whic is h s fancy name . He also signed g “ ” — hsii eh pi the brush of Sung- hsii eh after the

’ S u n style of the artists of the T ang dynasty . g “ ’ hsii eh means pine and snow and was Chao s h h nom de plume . T ese signatures , w en genuine , are in the most perfect style and can be readily distinguished from the myriad forgeries which h his . have been made of writing No calligrap ist ,

h a s and indeed no painter, been more studied , [ 1 5 2] CALLIGRAPHY AND PAINTING

M - fu e . imitated , and forged than Chao ng This is

h h his h the ig est tribute to excellence , w ile at the same time it is the greatest danger to the careless student or collector who wishes to obtain authentic hi specimens of s work .

’ ’ COLOPHON OF TUNG CH I - CH ANG

Another master is found in the Ming dynasty ’ ’ - h A D 1 u Tung Ch i c ang ( . . 5 5 5 A st h ffi dent of antiquity, a hig o cial , a good artist , Tung ’ s reputation like that of Chao rests chiefly

upon his calligraphy . He made copies of the

Su M i scripts of Chung and Wang, of , , and

Chao , but imparted to these his own personali ty . His work is so recent in comparison with his [ 1 53] OUTLINES OF CHINES E ART

illustrious predecessors that specimens of it are

more frequently found . He could write equally

— well in any of the three modes regular, running,

wa h or draft . He s a close friend of t e leading liter

his h ary men of time , many of w om made large

and important collections of early paintings . To these Tung frequently attached colophons which

have become famous , not only for their sound

criticisms of art , but also for their beautiful style

of writing . These masters who have been mentioned have all given their names to styles of writing which

are now studied and followed . Students attempt

’ ’ ' M i Tzu Cha o Tzu Tu n Tzu to write , or , or g , as h their inclinations lead them . T is means that

ei their style is patterned after the model of Mi F , ’ ’ - - Su e fu . or Shih , or Chao M ng , or Tung Ch i ch ang These men thu’ s live again in the daily lives of thousands of students and fu rnish not only the first inspiration to artistic appreciation but also ! t he . most enduring Other art stimulus , coming

h as from bronzes , tablets , j ades , or paintings , inspired the few who have had access to the collections where they have b een preserved ; but u ’ the reprod ctions of the script of these masters , u - sed as copy books for pupils , have reached every hamlet of the country and have carried into the meanest surroundings the inspiration of a high

[ 1 54]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

artistic spirit . However lacking in appreciation of the delicate intricacies of calligraphy we

westerners may be, it is well for us to remember not only that this branch of art is more highly h h h honored in China t an any ot er , but t at its h influence as been more widespread . A great

idea well expressed is most valuable to the world , but in China i ts influence is enormously increased when it is transmitted to others by means of artis h tically written characters . T us calligraphy, by

the wide influence which i t exerts , j ustifies for

the i tself its rank as crown of art in China . The literature of writings and paintings is vol u

minous , and by many authors the two are treated h toget er as parts of one s u bj ect . The references of the very early writers are quoted and dis

u n n ec es cussed in later publications , so that it is sary in this outline even to mention the names of h these men and t eir books , of which in many ffi instances no copies can be found . I t is su cient to sa y that there is no phase of the subj ect which h as not been investigated and discussed . One of the books most frequently quoted by western writers is the Collection of Paintings in the H sii an ”— ° ’ — Ho Palace H sua n H o H ua P u of which the “ counterpart is the Collection of Writings in the

' ’ H sii a n Ho Palace — H s ua n H o Shu P u I t is possible that the Collection of Paintings was [ 1 56] CALLIGRAPHY AND PAINTING

prepared by some unknown author in the Southern

who h Sung period , attac ed to it the forged intro

the duction by emperor Hui Tsung, but i t is more probable that it wa s compiled from the records

the Y ii a n of the Imperial Household of dynasty,

as was the Collection of Writings . ’ After the abandonment of K a i - feng by the Sung

dynasty , the art treasures of the emperor Hui

h H sii an P Tsung, w ich were stored in the Ho alace, were scattered or seized by the conquering NII

c hén who Tartars , carried them away to their

capital city . When this dynasty was overthrown

by the Mongols , the treasures which had been ’ captu red from K ai - feng passed into the possession

Y ii an of the founders of the dynasty, together with other art possessions seized from the hands

of the governing families . According to Luh ’ ’ - I Ku T a n T i - a Hsin yuan , in his g p Annota ’ ’ — tions of I Ku T ang Wu Wen kuei in 1 3 0 2 made ’ the a collection of writings , from Ts in dynasty

the H sii an to Sung , which belonged to the Ho

Palace . This important fact is contained in a quotation from Cheng Piao in Volume I I I of Y en Chi and is su fli ci en t evidence to prove that the “ Collection of Writings ” should not be ’ ascribed , as is usually done , to Ts ai Ching and

h the Mi Fei , but t at i t was prepared at beginning

of the fourteenth century . I t is also probably [ 1 5 7] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART true that the Collection of Paintings was pro du c ed about the same time . This theory is cor robora ted by the fact that neither of these two books is referred to in the list of early publica ’ h - h tions prepared by Ch en C i C ai . I t also explains

the the records of Ming dynasty collection, where paintings and manuscripts mentioned in “ ” the Collections as belonging to the H sii a n Ho P alace bear no seals of the emperor Hui Tsung, while others bearing undoubtedly genuine im pressions of these seals are not mentioned in the

Collections . The most complete thesau rus of writings and paintings down to the close of the Ming dynasty was prepared u nder the orders of the emperor ’ ’ h 1 0 P ei K ang Hsi and publis ed in 7 8. I t is the ’ — “ Wén Cha i Shu H u a P u Cyclopedia of the

’ ” Writings and Paintings of the P ei Wen Library . This scholarly work classifies and describes writ ings and paintings— the various styles and schools — gives biographies of celebrated artists and c allig ra hists p , discusses the inscriptions and decora tions on bronze and stone monuments , quotes the annotations which have been made by famous authors , and gives the lis ts of paintings and writings in noted collections in past times . The difficulty in using this valuable work is that there is nothing to guide one as to the relative impor [ 1 5 8]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART tance of the quotations which are so copiously recorded . Varying opinions are given equal

i s prominence . I t , in fact , a detailed record of what others have written of manuscripts and h pictures and not a critical discussion of t em . The “ Ch ’ ing Ho Collection of Writings and ” ’ — — Paintings Ch i ng - ho Shu H ua Fa ng was writ M 1 6 1 6 ten during the ing dynasty, in , by Chang ’ the h h Ch ou . I t is most critical work w ic had

was h been written up to that time, and i t publis ed during the reign of the emperor Ch ’ ien Lung as an authority on these two subj ects . I t describes the Size of scripts and paintings , sketches the h biograp y of artists , quotes annotations , discusses the value of the opinions expressed , mentions h and describes seals t at have been impressed , and , as far as possible , gives a list of those in whose

the possession obj ect may have been . The opin ions of this valuable book are always quoted as definitive . — The Ink Remains M o Y ua n H u i K u a n

I- by An chou , who lived during the first part of the eighteenth century, has been made available recently by i ts publication in Peking . I t remained in the form of a written manuscript until it was

1 0 U n for published by Tuan Fang, about 9 4 . tu n a tel wa s y, this edition lost in a fire, with the exception of a few copies which h ad been dis

[ 1 60] CALLIGRAPHY AND PAINTING

tributed to friends . I t is a cri tical discussion of the writings and paintings in the collection of this

h K who h wealt y orean , was a salt merc ant in

Tientsin . He must have been a man of refined

taste , for his selection of scripts and paintings

the was most careful . Any obj ects bearing seal of “ I- chou are most eagerly coveted by collectors , as it is a certain mark not only of genuineness , but also of fine aesthetic quality . Two other books of first importance should be “ P noted . The Collection of Writings and aint ings of the Wang Family —Wa ng Shi h Shu H ua

— a n h- h A D Yu was prepared by Wang Shi c eng ( . . — ’ ’ 1 5 26 1 5 93) and published by Wang Ch ien - ch ang

h h- h h a a generation later . Wang S i c eng d access h to t e famous collection of Y en Sung . He quotes early authorities , gives chronological lists of calligraphists and painters , together with their works , and also describes famous collections . h The ot er publication is now very rare . I t is ’ the Shi K u T a ng Notes on Writings and Paintings —published during the reign of K ’ ang

Hsi . This book is a mine of accurate information . There are many other valuable books on these allied subj ects which consist of notes made from

personal inspection of script or paintings . The three books written by diff erent authorities and ” entitled Summer Vacation Records — H si a o [ 1 6 1 ] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

H si a Chi — describe paintings or writings which

h ha h ri i the aut ors d seen and andled . Of such c t cal examination as is found in these publications i t is possible to say that the observer has some times been misled but , in the case of responsible men , not that he has not reported accurately

w h one what he sa . T ere is only conspicuous instance of a deliberate; forgery of supposititious ancient writings and paintings . This was done

the Pa o H ui L u h on a large scale in , t ough this book also contains descriptions of many genuine specimens . An instance of a poor critic , lacking

h H u n in discrimination , is found in the aut or of g

Tou Shu Ku a n Shu H ua Chi , who describes as genuine many examples which are known from other sources to have been unreliable . The materials with which calligraphists and

h The painters worked wer e t e same . brush was u ff sed indi erently for writing or painting, but in addition to the black ink of the writer the artist h — had colors . In all ot er respects whether as h to surroundings , met od of approach , use of materials— the two classes were considered as “ ” - fellow members of the Grove of Brushes ,

H a n - li n , which is the literary designation of the wielders of the brush The studios of both are ‘ ” known as Wen Fa ng The Abodes of Culture

and have Similar fu rnishings . In addition to the [ 1 6 2]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

’ h A D 1 2 Ts ao C ih ( . . 9 who said , Ink is made ” - of black soot obtained from pine wood . I t is ’ known that during the T ang dynasty there was included in the yearly tribute from Korea a present

- of ink made from pine soot . I t was not until the

Cho Ken L u Sung dynasty , according to the g ,

u en that lampblack , y y , began to be used . The best quali ty of glue used in the manufacture of ink

- o is that which comes from Tung hsien , Shan i 0 Ch a o. tung province , and is called I t is made from boiling donkey hides in the water of the - o is Tung , which reputed to contain mineral h substances especially useful for t is purpose . The

is glue obtained is of the color of amber, glossy,

- su n - en and has no odor . This pine soot ink , g y mo is chi a o mo , popularly spoken of as glue ink , , and is the kind that is always found in paintings and scripts previous to the end of the Y ii an ’ ’ - dynasty . I t was also used by Tung Ch i ch ang,

Fu . Wu Wei , and Shan , of later times I t is always j et black and glossy like varnish . I t

ff mi n mo is di erent from Ming ink , g , as used by ’ S e h Y i n Wen e - h n C ou , T ang , Ch ng ming, and ’ Y h Ch iu ing, whic is lacking in depth of color and is never glossy . These qualities are also absent

u mo is from lampblack ink , y , which in general

the use . Much attention has been paid to artistic forms and decoration of ink cakes and tablets .

[ 1 64] CALLIGRAPHY AND PAINTING

Many of the designs on porcelain have been copied d irectly from previous designs on ink cakes . A d u s iscussion of these would lead too far afield , but the s u bj ect is fully treated in Cheng Shih M o ’ Y ii a n Fa n Shi h M o P u and g , both of which are fu lly illustrated . The invention of paper is usually ascribed to ’ Lu n Ts ai , of the Later Han dynasty, who rose to h A D 8 prominence during t e reign of Ho Ti ( . . 9 Having replaced the bamboo tablet and s u tylus with silk and ink, he made a f rther con trib u tion to the graphic arts by the invention of p aper as a medium for the u se of wri ters and paint

r e s. Another famous name in the early produc ’ tion of paper is that of the courtesan Hsieh T ao , o f u who the ninth cent ry, invented the kind known ’ - a s u Shu chi en . Sze ch an paper, The earliest paper

is which I have seen a specimen of bamboo paper,

A S i c huh chih . ts name indicates , i t is made of

ha s . bamboo pulp, is thick , and a rough surface O ver it is a loosely woven Silk mesh , which , i t w a as . ppears , intended as a protection The

a u A . D . rtist Wei Hsieh , in the fourth cen t ry , is k u nown to have sed this variety of paper . That ’ which was u sed previous to the end of the T ang d u h ynasty, ten th cent ry, was called emp paper,

ma chih a i ma i ch h . , or white hemp paper, p This

was u - tzii Liu sed by Wu Tao , Shan , and other [ 1 65] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

’ artists of the T ang dynasty . I t is thick and has h a roug surface , which under the microscope plainly exhibits hemp fibers . The Five Dynasties and the Sung witnessed the introduction of a ’ ’ i n ch én hs t a n . finer quality of paper, called g g I t i s said to have been invented by Li Hou - Chu of the ’ D i A . . 2 s fin e thin Later T ang dynasty ( 9 3 It , , h and has a smoot surface . I t is the best quality of paper that has ever been produced in China ’ L - h H sii an and was used by i Kung lin , C ien , and other great artists of the Sung and Yij an M periods . The paper of the ing dynasty, called

Ta - chi en H si a o- chi en and , was of inferior quality, but relief from i t was found by artists and writers in the introdu ction of Silk- cocoon paper from

— Ka - li i i K o ch en ch h . orea However, this new paper proved to be too glossy to take ink well and after a brief popularity fell into disuse . The same kind of paper as was used in the Ming dy

u nasty is Still in se. Any variety of paper was prepared before u se by an artist . I t was washed with a weak lye , obtained usually from the pods ’ ’ of the Gymn ocla a us chi nensi s (ts a o chi a tzii) a n d then Sized with alum . Silk was u sed for paintings more often than

e paper, which was reserved for script , but som i artists u sed both materials . I t s said of Li Kung lin that he always u sed paper for original paintings [ 1 66]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

’ The ta n ua n latter was called ssu ch . In addition h to t is silk , there was a coarser type known as “ ” ua n chii a n academy Silk, y , on account of i t having been specially prepared for the u se of the

academicians . I t was woven into various widths , M the widest being seven or eight feet . any of the surviving ancient pictures of China are on this

type of Silk . They were made in the Sung Acad emy of Painting and are reproductions of the work

Th Y ii an of great masters . e silk of the dynasty

as is practically the same that of the Sung, with the exception that the double—stranded variety does not seem to have been woven . The Ming dynasty silk has single coarse strands both for

the warp and woof. I t is similar to coarse silk ’ bu t of the T ang dynasty, i t is more closely woven . These details of the materials used have been given as aids in determining the period to which writings and paintings should be correctly as it signed . While is always possible that a picture painted at the beginning of the M ing dynasty may be on Sung dynasty Silk and done with h Sung dynasty ink , bot of which have been care

i t u fully preserved , is obvious that no S ng dynasty painting could have had Silk or ink of the later

Ming . I t is idle to discuss the age of writings or h paintings solely on the basis of t eir style, for the [ 1 6 8] CALLIGRAPHY AND PAINTING

great masters u sed different styles . Even the

quality of work is not a sure guide , for this was

fre never uniform , the same artist or writer quently having left both good and indiff erent

The specimens . paper or silk , the ink , the color value of the pigments m u st all be given due con h sideration , along wit the signature , seals , and

su fli c e annotations . The aesthetic value may for one who is indifferent to the origin of a script or

a picture , but it is only one of many essentials which must be determined when the question arises as to who wrote a certain specimen of script or who painted a certain picture . Then information must be sought for from all available

u so rces , and in this search the quality of paper, silk , and ink is important evidence .

[ I 69] V PAINTING

Although the Chinese estimate of calligraphy as the crown of their art may be grudgingly allowed , it is in painting that we must find the best expres sion of their strong aesthetic and imaginative

a i spirit . Painting is s truly national in ts Char acter as the writing of ideographs , and , though from its nature i t has not h a d such a far- reaching

is influence, it a method of artistic expression which is more easily appreciated . The same delicate lines or strong brush strokes are found in both arts , but i t is by painting alone that the

finest aesthetic emotions may be aroused . Writ ing delights the beholder but does not move him by playing upon his feelings ; painting both de lights and moves . More than in any other branch of art , the Chinese have expressed in painting the essential qualities of their genius .

They are devoted to literary culture, and their artists are evolved from it . I t is not linear drawing nor any other form of technical training which h a s given an artist his necessary tutelage ; this has been found in literature , poetry, history,

- h and belles lettres . He as learned to control a [ 1 70]

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They do not expect to become artists , for they do not consider themselves to have had a su ffi cien tly good education ; they are content to remain artisans of painting . They are responsible for the tawdry and grotesque paintings which have been considered too often to be the characteristic representations of all the Chinese have known of this art . They have copied freely the reputed peculiarities of the styles of great masters , often without ever having seen one of their paintings , and have even gone to the further exten t of copy ing the signatures of these artists . Such copies

u nat rally vary in quality, some of them being forgeries apparen t even to a tyro, while others need most careful examination . One of the largest schools ever established was ’ u Y was that of the Ming artist Ch i ing, who an exception to the rule that good artists are not teachers . He himself wielded a Strong, yet — “ delicate, brush as is seen in his Dancing

Women , in the collection of Mr . Ching Hsien , H i P . s eking pupils produced some good work, to which they were allowed to attach the name of their master as if i t were his own ; but most of the pictures which they left are of mediocre or bad quality . In addition to the poor work of his pupils , their paintings have been reproduced in

’ forgeries of still worse quality . No artists have [ 1 7 2]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART suffered from the poor work of copyists more than ’ - Ch iu Y ing and Chao Meng fu . A large number of art students also were trained in the academies of painting founded in the T ’ ang

h re and Sung dynasties . T ese students were c ru i ted chiefly from the ranks of disappointed literary men or persons of artistic taste who had not acquired a liberal education . They were not

the who in same class as the great masters , were appointed ofli cers of the Academy by imperial favor, in recognition of their talents , but often they did very creditable work . Many of the Sung pictures which have survived to our time are doubtless the work of Academicians , some of whom must have been men of great talent . One of the severe tests imposed by the emperor Hui Tsung upon these Academicians was to paint a picture suggested by the line of a poem . This gave rise to the couplet “ A poem in a picture and ” h a picture in a poem . Ot er examples of paint ings which I Should not hesitate to class as having been produced in the Sung dynasty are weak in h design and faltering in execution . T ese are the work of the less talented members of the Acad

The emy . age of such paintings is undoubted, but they are valueless as examples of fine art . I t is too often supposed that a particular painting cannot belong to the Sung period because i t is so

[ 1 74]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

’ ’ P ei s Th from those found in painting . e only fact that can be established is that the idea of the two artists was taken from a common literary Th source . e same remarks may be made con cerning the T ’ ang picture by Chou Fang of “ ” Washing the Elephant and its reproduction ’ h H sii an the Y ii a n by C ien , of dynasty, both of h h w ic may be found in American collections .

These pictures are treatments of the same subj ect , but each discloses in its brush work the peculi

ari i h t es of t e artist . While this explanation is

true of paintings by recognized artists , it would be misleading if applied to many others who have not been careful of their Standing and have not h h hesitated to make slavish copies , w ic they have forged with the evident intention of p assing them

off as genuine . Some of these are very cleverly h done, and t eir defects can be discovered only by a careful process of compari son With recog

n iz ed originals . The marvelous tenacity of memory which the Chinese system of education has developed for many centuries makes reproduction easier than w it is for western artists , hose minds have been h trained according to analyti c met ods . A strik ing example of memory retentiveness wa s shown

- a is by Mr . Kung p King, who the most brillian t h h of living artists in C ina at t e present time . He [ 1 76]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

Visited me at my house in Peking one morning for nearly an hour and saw on the wall of my room a charming Sung dynasty landscape which had

. K been lent to me by a friend Mr . ing and I discussed the merits of the painting from many points of View . The subj ect was a neck of land j utting out into a river in which small boats were h plying . A few ouses dotted the land , behind h whic masts of sailing vessels could be seen . A pagoda crowned a height to the right . I t was a quiet evening river scene on a summer day inviting to leisure . The charm of the picture appealed deeply to Mr . King, as i t had already

Stirred my heart . A few days later I Visited the h artist in his ome , and we conversed again h about t is landscape . To my amazement he pro du c ed the he a splendid copy of landscape , which had made in the intervening time solely from his memory of the painting as he h a d s een it for a brief hour in my house . His reproduction omitted

the no detail , while at same time it caught the M r. K spiri t of the original . Never before had ing

wa seen the painting . His copy s made from mem

o . ory aided by keen , sensi tive powers of bservation inting is based upon memory repro ’ duction and imaginative recon stru c tioffi? rather than upon accurate imitation of a model . An artist wanders over a hillside on an autumn morn [ 1 7 8]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

the Inspiration of natural scenery , and of the

the imaginative reconstruction of artist . The subj ective life of the artist is always present in his pictures . Another artist watches the movements of a h captive tiger c ained to a tree in a rocky, desolate farm - yard and is impressed with the fi energy of the beast . He watches the erc

the i ts its eye , sinuous movements of tail , a

' h l e J H e his strengt of its gs goes to studio , a piece of wide silk , wastes d ays of precious time

i ts a nd in preparing it for work , diverts himself with his ordinary daily occupations . He made no Sketch while watching the tiger and makes none during the intervening days of preparation .

he is After ready to begin , he unrolls a small part

the of the silk , selects a vacant space on table in h front of him , sketc es an upright rectangle , in

” which he makes a rough drawing of a tiger so as to have it placed in right position on his silk. Then he goes to work . The head of the tiger is sketched h in , t en the body, and on from part to part , until everything that is to be in the completed picture has been given its place . He follows no order and

the obeys no rule , except one imposed upon him by the narrowness of his table— that he shall have as small a portion of the whole picture exposed before him as is necessary for his brush work .

[ 1 80] FOR N SEARCHING TRUTH , SU G DYNASTY

[ 1 81 ] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

The completed picture rests undisturbed in his mental vision from the time the first stroke is com mi tted to the silk through the various i n com pl ete stages of its development until it leaves his brush as a work of art . This mental Vision of the completed painting is clearer to him than a sketch

h a w could be . He does not paint the tiger as e s i t

- in the farm yard . The artist selects from his mass of Visual impressions only those which are essential to his depiction of the strength and cunning of the tiger . All other impressions are eliminated or made subservient to these . In the completed picture the tiger is seen as about to

his Spring on his prey . His eyes are keen , white teeth Show between parted lips , every muscle is tense , his tail stretches sinuously beside his body in such a way as to insure the greatest assist

u se is ance at the momen t of , the back curved , and h the two rig t feet are extended forward . Sup pressed strength , eager to break forth in expres ’

d . sion , is , in every part of the tiger s bo y The surroundings are also in harmony . The over hanging branches of a gnarled tree appear ready to part company with the creature whose presence

The seems only an acciden t . shape of the rock on which the tiger stands and the contour of the rippling waves bend and sway in perfect accord

u with his body . They are intent pon helping [ 1 82]

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him spring forth . Thus the painting The Tiger i i is made . I t s not true to ts original model in any Single respect , with the exception of the only one which is of exclusive and essential importance : it depicts faithfully and strikingly the strength h and cunning of t e tiger .

A D 1 1 — 1 wa . 0 s e Ni Tsan ( . 3 374) one of the fr e spirits developed during the short—lived M ongol

in dynasty . Belonging to a good family, he heri ted h wealth , but t is did not tie him to one place hi or fetter s soul . His life was devoted to wander ing from one noted Taoist monastery to another . He belonged to the open and called himself the

' ' on un - l i tz s n u. of the clouds and groves , y g On one

see his H sii occasion he went to the city to friend , who was expected home from official duty in a

’ H SIi he distant place . While waiting for , became

- - son the interested in the ten year old of household , h w o was pursuing his studies under a tutor . As a stimulus to diligence on the part of the boy ’ the artist one day seated himself at the father s h table and drew a black and w ite Sketch . He portrayed a small house on three sides of a court

- h yard Situated in a pine grove on a hillock , be ind which mountains towered . A small stream wound

the in and out before grove , but there was no Sign h of life, not even a pat leading to the house . All the surroundings were forbidding and such as

[ 1 84]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

would induce one to remain indoors . The obj ect of the painting is explained in the peculiar ha nd writing of the artist himself on the remaining h h portion of t e paper . He says t at he wished to encourage the youth in his studies by reminding him that he could master his books only by detach ing himself from the ordinary life of the world in as complete a measure as if he were dwelling in

the a lonely hut on a hillside , far from world and with no paths leading to it . In this sketch imagi nation was given free rein . The artist needed to draw upon his memory only for the reproduction of a grove backed by hills . Imaginative creation supplied the rest .

A S pictorial art in China is not associated with ,

is or related to , sculpture and architecture, it not P subj ect to their laws . ainting knows only one relation , and that is to writing . I t makes no attempt to arouse emotions by figures seen in

a s relief and roundness , in sculpture , and i t diverts the spaces and perspective of architecture to its i own uses . I t s a freer and bolder art than sculp ture ; but mere freedom did not attract Chinese h artists . T ey were always anxious to establish conventions , but the point is that the conventions subscribed to by them had no relation to sculp ture or architecture . Not that they were afraid

én wu of portraying figures , j , for one of the earliest [ 1 86]

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ff The e ects of line and color . developments of accurate knowledge have not disturbed them , nor have they felt the benumbing influence of an art in which there was a fateful tendency toward h h . t e science T ey have been masters , not the ’ the servants , of world s knowledge . They have taken liberties with it , just as Homer Stopped the fury of a battle to allow his heroes to discuss their ancestry and achievements , or as Rubens in a landscape made his figures cast shadows in a ff h di erent direction from t ose of the trees . In his “ ” famous painting of The Five Hundred Disciples ,

K - - Li ung lin , of Lung mien , shades some of the faces in one group which are turned to the side and leaves similar figures in another group with out shadows . In some faces the shadow is Shown h u se . by the of a thick , eavy line In accord h the h ance wit miraculous accounts of Budd ism , Li places some of the disciples on birds riding h throug the air, in defiance of the laws of nature .

was h I t , in fact , t is spirit of freedom which made the Chinese pictorial presentation of Buddhistic lore so easy and so attractive . The more the saints transgressed ordinary laws , the greater the deligh t of the artist and the better his scope of treatment . This freedom is not confined to a disregard of natural laws . I t sometimes goes still further . [ 1 88] PAINTING

’ The artist Ch ien Hsuan , thirteenth century, painted a scroll depicting the j ourney south ’ ward from Sze - ch uan to Y u n - nan of the famous

- k A D 1 8 1 General Chu o Liang ( . . The scene begins with the emergence of two rafts

from a bend in the river into an open stretch . h h The rafts , whic carry mailed warriors wit con s icu ou s - fl a s p , multicolored war g , are propelled by men on either Side with Short paddles and are convoyed by men riding astride distended pig

. P skin floats , armed with bows and swords art of the procession accompanies the raft on the land and is seen disappearing dramatically around h the fart er side of a hill . Figures in mellow

- shades of red , green , blue gray, and pale yellow are grouped around a canopied Structure built on

the raft . The vertical lines of the flags against the brown background of infinite depth make a perfect harmony of warm color and fine composi

tion . But , strange to say, the central figure of

- ko General Chu does not appear at all , as is pointed out in a poetical effusion written on the ’ painting by the emperor Ch ien Lung . Strange freedom it would be to send the General ’ s troops — southward without him but to the mind of the

artist the General is , of course , in his right place

under the canopy, where he cannot be seen . For whose u se was the canopy made if not for that of [ 1 89] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

the commanding general , and for what purpose are guards and flags surrounding it if not to indi cate surely where he might be expected to be P h erspective, or rat er linear perspective , is a scientific achievement adopted by our artists

is but forming no necessary part of art , as shown by the almost complete absence of it in Chinese

paintings . The artists of China never . lost Sight of the fact that their paintings were to han g on a flat wall with light coming possibly from both sides or directly on the surface from one

side . In the case of scrolls , which roll up like a

vol u men parchment , , they are always exposed

to View on a table . This method of flat exposure makes the u se of isometric perspective less ob

ec tion a ble j to westerners , accustomed to linear

h r . n rt e perspective, than i t would otherwise be F im more , Chinese artists have not assumed the

mobility of a spectator . On the contrary, he is

supposed to move about , so as to obtain the View

of a picture which gives most pleasure . Some landscapes must be viewed obliquely from one side or the other ; some disclose their greatest beauty directly from the front ; with some the beholder must imagine himself as viewing the scene from a higher point of View or from a neigh

boring hillside . No rule positing the eye of the spectator at a fixed angle to the center of a pic [ 1 90]

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three faults , the first of which is a weak wrist , which results in a stupid brush . Balance is lack h ing, obj ects ave a flat appearance and cannot h be represented in relief. T us it is evident that the danger of flatness h as been freely recognized by Chinese artists .

i a h Brush strokes , p f , out of which lines are h h t e . formed , are essence of C inese painting They are h thick or t in , calm or nervous , abrupt or

h the finis ed , according to style of the artist or, h is . in some instances , to mood The most fun d a men ta l distinction is between thick strokes , ’ i si i - z ts u h . t ii p , and thin ones , p Wu Tao , for

- example , used the former, and Li Kung lin the

The Y en Wen - latter . landscapists , kuei , of the e d Sung dynasty, and Sh n Chou , of the Ming y h nasty, used bot with equal facility . Brush strokes “ ” form the basis on which different styles of pain t ing are distinguished . In landscape painting the “ ” h a s brus strokes came to be known wrinkles ,

’ ts u n a h the f , and in delin eation of mountains were divided into a great number of varieties . There were those which resembled the strokes ’ ’ — ta u i ts u n u of a large axe, f p like those sed by ’ the artist Li T ang— and others resembling those ’ ’ — hsi a o u i ts u n L of a small axe , f p as used by i ’ ’ i en ts u n en . u t C g The raindrop strokes , y , of Fan K ’ uan were only slightly diff erent from [ 1 92]

OUTLINES OF CHINES E ART

' ’ ’ t e hem - fiber ma i ts u n Y h p ones , p , of Tung uan , c ‘ or the same fiber Strokes made with a short

tu a n i - ii handled brush , p , by the priest artist Ch

The H Jan . famous sia Kuei used girdled by i i ta hsu . E water, , Strokes ach of these is a technical name for the Style in which artists used h their brushes , and their distinguis ing marks can

be readily learned . These distinctions of brush strokes are also made in the method of painting

diff erent kinds of stones . I t was the fundamental difference between h strong, Vigorous brush strokes and t ose in which gentle gracefulness was the chief quality that was responsible for the origin in the Sung dynasty of

the terms Northern and Southern Schools . These are not geographical terms but refer wholly to

’ SSiI- hsii n differences in style of brush work . Li h was made the founder of the Nort ern School , h h ' and Wang Wei of t e Sout ern . These were ’ two outstanding figures of the T ang dynasty , ffi whose styles , being dissimilar, were su cient

’ j u stifica tion for the broad grouping into the two h the sc ools , though it must be confessed that

’ terms as applied to T ang dynasty painters indi

cate a distinction rather than a difference . In

a n d ' l a ter ev the Sung periods , how er, the line

of demarcation of the two styles is distinct .

Ku o H si Y ii an - , Ma , Hsia Kuei , Liu Sung nien ,

[ 1 94]

OUTLINES OF CHINES E ART

rank of artists . These two priests studied Chinese

h I- methods , and C inese artists , like Tsou kuei , ’ P - E Tung ang tah , and T ang Tai , studied uropean painting . As a result of the experiment , both sides seemed more convinced than previously of

1 the excellence of their own methods . In 743

r L ettres ecl i a ntes Attire wrote in fi , as quoted by B u shell

I t was necessary for me to forget , so to speak , all that I had already learned and make for my

a self new style , in order to conform to the

taste of the nation . Whatever we paint is h ordered by t e emperor . We first make the

he h designs ; sees them , has t em changed ,

rearranged , as seems good to him . Whether the

correction be good or poor, one must let i t stand h ” without daring to say anyt ing .

the I- About same time Tsou kuei wrote , in his ” ’ P H si a o Sha n H u a P u Remarks on ainting, , as follows : “ Westerners are fond of using the perspective

h the im plane in painting, with the result t at

pression of depth and distance is very accurate .

In the painting of human figures , houses , and

The trees there are always Shadows . colors and brushes used are also different from those u sed

in China . The shaded portion of the picture

off tapers from wide to narrow, like the point of a [ 1 96] PAINTING

an triangle . Mural paintings of palaces d resi den c es are often so real that one wants to walk

u straight into them . St dents may make u se of a small percentage of the methods of western

ers su esti ven eSS , and especially of their gg , but they are entirely devoid of style [Style of the

brush] . Although their work shows Skill in

drawing . and workmanship, yet it cannot be ” classified as tru e painting . The subtlety of Chinese paintings is not often

u the result of symbolism . This is a q ality to which attention is rarely called by Chinese crit ics. Horses are symbolic of the strength of a noble man , and a lion represents a teacher, prob ably for the reason that teacher and lion are — i pronou nced alike sh h . But apart from a few such instances , symbolism is confined to the

u religious paintings of B ddhism and Taoism , and in these i t is that of the religionist and not of the

u in artist . The real subtlety is based pon the ferior position of man in his relation to the powers of Heaven and Earth . He is not as with us the center of the u niverse ; his God is not anthropo morphic . He might have expressed his philosophy in the words of the Hebrew psalmist : When I consider thy heavens , the work of thy fingers , the

u moon and stars , which tho hast ordained , what is man that thou art mindful of him ? ” This [ 1 97] BY WEN E - LANDSCAPE CH NG MING, MING DYNASTY

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

from the collection of Tuan Fang, represents some of the leading men and women of the T ’ ang dynasty as beggars , each with hand extended for some favor . Garden scenes with women in beauti

- ful gowns , toy venders with gaily dressed children pressing upon them , monkeys on sticks , falcons h h eager for the hunt , orses alting for rest in the shade of a tree, a playful cat ready to spring at

’ CARTOON , T ANG DYNASTY . IN COLLECTION OF TUAN FANG

his a dog, an aroused sleeper throwing boot at a troublesome rodent— these are also s u bj ects for the artists and show the more human side of their character . Fortunately we have not been left Without a

re re description of an early painting . A scroll p senting a landscape with the Y ii n Tai Mountain in the distance is strikingly described by the ’ - Ku . great artist K ai chih , of the fourth century

It is not known where this hill was located , but

- c hi i t was probably one of the peaks of Kuei ,

- the eastern part . of the province of Cheh kiang . [ 200]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

These were the hills that Ku painted in his famous “ ” K - scroll The Hills of uei chi , in the Metropoli

u Y . tan Muse m , New ork This was formerly in ’ e h the collection of the Ch n family, of Wei sien ,

- Shan tung province . I t was brought to Tuan

Fang While he was Viceroy at Nanking, and he ff told me that he o ered a high price for it , but the h h seller demanded a ig er one . In his great love for landscape painting, Tuan Fang said that he preferred this scroll to the one then in his col lection . I t was doubtless of this painting that

u P Viceroy T an spoke to rofessor Adolph Fischer, of Berlin , as quoted by Binyon , on page 3 7 of his

Pa i nti ng i n the Fa r Ea st. Of the three known ’ paintings attributed to Ku K ai- chih this land scape scroll has the earliest attestation in a seal of ’ A D 6 2 the emperor T ai Tsung ( . . 7 the gen u in en ess of which I have been able to ascertain by comparison with another known specimen . The style of painting is in complete accord with ’ Ku s : description , Which follows “ Back of the face of the hill are the shadows . t The clouds , vomited for h from the clear blue of k s u . the eastern y, are r shing toward the west

The Sky and water are brilliant blue . The setting su n throws i ts rays over the hillside and makes it possible to distinguish between obj ects

that are near and those that are in the distance .

[ 20 2]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

pine - tree stands on K ao Lu opposite the boulder on which L aotse is sitting and leaning out over

the intervening gulley, in which clusters a small

red hut, which seems at no great distance from

either side . These two hills stretch out toward the west to connect with the Y ii n Tai Moun

tain , having a road on the left Side overhanging

a ravine , filled with massive rocks bunched

together, under which a stream pours forth from

a fountain . The water rushes out toward the

coast and drops below through quick- flowing h rapids , disappearing in the dept . There are distant views of the hill Y ii n Tai from the

east and west , as well as from the northwest . Looking u p the hill there is a cleft rock resem

u h bling do ble doors , in one of w ich calmly Sits a

phoenix with Wings outspread and tail elevated ,

as if about to fly . The last part of the scroll ’ Y ii n presents the western side of T ai . There is

a Wide valley with a flowing stream . A Whi te tiger crouches at the edge of the water ready to

h off drink . The picture t en gradually slopes h ” to the end of t e scroll .

' Ku o ave his Another great painter, Hsi , g idea

H u a H sii n of landscape painting . In the , a por tion of which has been freely translated by Sei ichi Taki , the artist reveals his communings with nature :

[204] PAINTING

From What motives springs the love of high P minded men for landscape In his very nature man loves to be in a garden with hills and streams , whose water makes cheerful music as i t glides among the stones . What a delight does one derive from such Sights as that of a fisher man engaging in his leisurely occupation in a sequestered nook , or of a woodman felling a tree in a secluded spot , or of mountain scenery with ? sporting monkeys and cranes Nothing is so dis

tasteful as the bustle and turmoil of a city, and one naturally envies the lot of sages and hermits , who always abide amidst the beauties of nature .

But in this day of peace , when the emperor and people are in perfect accord , each striving to promote the weal of the empire, i t would be contrary to justice if a man Should egotistically leave society and retire to a mountain . This is no time for u s to abandon the busy worldly life

a s for one of seclusion in the mountains , was honorably done by some ancien t sages in their

u days . Tho gh impatient to enj oy life amidst

u the lux ries of nature , most people are debarred

from indulging in such pleasures . To meet this want artists have endeavored to represent land scapes so that people may be able to behold the grandeur of nature without stepping out of their h ff ouses . In this light , painting a ords pleasures

[ 20 d OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

of a nobler sort by removing from one the im ” of patient desire actually observing nature . The general principles of painting were summed “ u A O p in the Six Canons of Hsieh Ho ( . .

These were expressed in the tersest form , only

u fo r characters being used for each rule . They ’ have been variously translated . Giles version is : 1 h 2 ( ) rhyt mic vitality, ( ) anatomical structure,

(3) conformity with nature, (4) suitability of 6 coloring, (5) artistic composition , and ( ) finish . I t is easier to obtain an adequate idea of the artistic principles underlying these canons from ’ the original Chinese than from Giles extra - terse

translation . Interpreting them in the light of

Y en - ii an c en the explanation of Chang y , ninth

the tury, it seems to me that real meaning of the

so as canons , expanded to convey the implied

ideas , is as follows 1 . The conception should possess harmony and

vitality .

2 u u . The brush sho ld be sed to establish the

structu ral framework .

3 . The outline should conform to the Shape of

the obj ects .

4 . The coloring should be suitable to the varied

forms .

5 . The perspective should be correctly con

c eived .

[206]

VI PAINTING

I t will be seen from the previous lectures that the artistic heritage of China diff ers widely from that to which the occident has succeeded from Greece ; but in no particular is the divergence wider than in the estimate of the human body as h a motive . Gardner says t at as i t was man who specially interested the Greeks , i t was to the

the Study of human body, both in itself and as the abode of the spirit , that the Greek artist th especially devoted himself. In e fifth and fourth centuries he made rapid and uninterrupted progress in the knowledge of this body in every

the position of rest and action , from extreme tension of the battle and the palaestra to the com ” pl ete repose of the reclining position . This is the tradition that h as held contin u ous sway over the minds of our artists and critics . Berenson adheres to the principle and says : “ The human figure must be the principal material out of which the graphic and plastic arts are h constructed . Every ot er Visible thing should be subordinate to man and submitted to his

standards . The standards concerned are stand

[20 8] PAINTING

ards of happiness , not the happiness of the figure

u s portrayed , but of who look on and perceive . This feeling of happiness is produced by the way

the h uman figure is presented to us , and it must

be presented in such a way that, instead of merely recognizing it as mean t for a human

being of a given type , we Shall be forced by its construction and modeling to dwell u pon i t until it arou ses in ou rselves ideated sensations that Shall make us experience the diffused sense of happiness which resu lts from our becoming

u aware of an nexpectedly intensified, facilitated

activity . A similar opinion relative to our western art of

K who painting has been expressed by enyon Cox, says that “ the highest subj ect for the exercise of the greatest powers of a painter is the h u man

u u so u u fig re, n de or draped as to express its str ct re ” u and movement . These three q otations fairly and fully state a fundamental canon of our western artistic method and interpretation . I am entering into no controversy as to art values when I endeavor to make clear that Chinese painting does not accept this canon and at all stages of i ts development would have been horrified at its claims . I t places man as a small part of creation . I t sees him waging a losing fight against the s u perior powers which su rrou nd [ 209] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

him during life and finally succumbing to the inglorious triumph of disease and death . I t sees some of the noblest spirits incarnated in frail , ungainly bodies and shining through unhandsome

features . I t sees sensuous beauty beaming on

h r fli a t e comely faces of courtesans and p o g tes . Then it becomes more than ever convinced that it is the beauty of righteousness that is worth while and that - man and hiS ' body can serve as high artistic motives only in so far as their delineation will contribute to such pleasurable

emotions as are consistent with Virtue . The Chinese would not recognize this difference of viewpoint as a contest between the moralist and the artist but would insist that it is solely a v matter of artistic alues , in which i t is necessary to recognize clearly the distinction between the greater glory of the wide universe and the lesser

splendor of man .

Chinese artists , far from being averse to the

portrayal of human figures , were ardently de voted to it ; they insisted only that there should be some pleasurable emotion excited in the b e

u . a holder , other than sens ous There is portrai t ’

L . on paper by iu Shan , of the T ang dynasty

The figure is that of a tall , sturdy man of middle

- fl in age with long ow g beard . He is garbed in

loose, coarse robes , bound at the waist with a [2 1 0]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

H is h girdle of braided straw . ands are clasped

his in front of him , and over left arm hangs a long ,

- H is narrow food basket . bare feet are heavy and

- h . is ill shapen , as if swollen from hard travel On ’ The head is a priest s cap . portrait is that of the ’ - i A D Tzfi . 6 famous T ang general Kuo ( . 97 said to have been seven feet two inches in height and fond of wearing the coarse garments of a h ff Taoist priest w en o duty . The lines of the

stroii brush are thick and g, and the ink is glossy

i - i . hs eh and deep I t is an imaginative sketch , ,

- hun i . and not careful , delicate work, g p The strength of soul and dignity of body of the great i general stir the emotions . There s an almost barbaric strength in the massive figu re . The artist has caught the determined, relentless spiri t of the general and has Shown himself a master of

Ku - portraiture . Li ng lin , of the Sung dynasty, ’ “ his u K ua n I t u— copied one of pict res , Watching ”— the Game of War but , as far as I know, neither the original nor the copy has survived . A figure similar to this portrait by Liu Shan is given by Petrucci in Les p ei ntres chi n oi s (where it is wrongly described as a portrait of Lii Tung- pin) and has been exhibited in the Metropolitan

Y . Museum , New ork I t lacks , however, the ’ as ruggedness of Liu s work , may readily be seen

- by a comparison of the silken girdle, well arranged [2 1 2] PAINTING

cap , and shapely bag on arm with the coarser obj ects u sed in this portrait . The finer articles are out of keeping with the general intent of the portrait , as is also the weak poise of the head contrasted with the resolute attitude when the head is slightly thrown back . The portrait is ’ - l i P en a . Signed g , which was the style of Liu Shan

I t also bears two seals of the artist . There is su ch a high standard in the portrayal

en wu h of human figures , j , t at one passes easily from this division to that of so- called religious

i a A sh h t o. S pictures , a matter of fact , there seems no reason for an arbitrary separation into

' ’ two Of H sua n H o H ua P u divisions by the author , and it has not been generally adopted in other books . The naturalness of transition from one class to the other may be seen by reference to a

K Y i n picture of uan , goddess of mercy, which is

- tz attributed to Wu Tao ii . The painting is from h one of the Jehol temples , to w ich it was pre ’ sented by the emperor Ch ien Lung . I t is on

h h as thick white paper, w ich been thoroughly ' sized by the u se of bla nc a e Chi n e and a thin solu

- tion of glue . The life size figure stands with — h bare feet on a cloud s aped rock . Her flowing

robes and underskirt are blown by the wind . The shapely hands are crossed gracefully in front of

the body, revealing long delicate fingers . At her [ 2 1 3] - TZ U Y IN OF BY WU , KUAN , GODDESS MERCY , TAO T ’ ANG DYNASTY

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

1 00 Tuan Fang . During the Boxer trouble, in 9 , i t disappeared but was later found in the home of a servant who had carried it away for safe - keeping but who was not able to preserve from vandalism

’ the valuable annotation on the side of the painting ’ Y ii a n - t he c by Wang t ing . Fortunately ircum stances under which this painting was produced

' Su A O have been narrated by Shih , the poet ( . .

1 03 6 in his comments on the Chiao - hsi

K a - h i kung Hall . From t ese comments we learn ’ Lu T an wei that there was a painting by f , who

the lived in the Liu Sung dynasty of fifth century,

K an - on a screen in the Lu Temple at Jun chow .

’ ’ is SSiI The modern name of this temple Ch ao An , and it stands on the Pei Ku hills in Tan - tu hsien

- h near Chin kiang . T is screen painting was pre served carefully in the midst of the many dev asta t n - i i g wars which laid waste the country S de . The e emperor Sh n Tsung, of the Northern Sung dynasty, heard of it and commanded a member Of the Imperial Academy of Painting to go to the

t A D 1 0 6 . emple and make a copy . This was in . . 7 h When it was completed and broug t to the palace , the emperor had it hung in his b an q u eting h all and “ wrote the following eulogy in i ts honor : Haughty

the is . are the eyes of lion , prominent the nose

ru fli ed His mane is , his tongue is swollen , and his h teeth slig tly protrude . The feet are dancing , [ 2 1 6 ] PAINTING

[2 1 7] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

u the the ears are pricked p, he looks to right whilehe still watches to the left . He is pleased hi s . with the appearance of tail Though fierce, yet M he is gentle . Such playfulness hung in the ain Hall has the effect of adding a guest to the festive ! board . Alas a hundred wandering souls drop into oblivion . while the early Master Lu remains ’ fu l The i . purport of this painting s to

triumph of Buddhism , represented by

ion , even among the barbaric frontier tribes . The posture of the central figu re

‘ H is is striking . pelisse , stretched wide in his

. so hands , resembles wings He is alive that i t looks as if he would walk straight out from the picture .

There is a painting of a priest in contemplation ,

A D i - I W n H ii n . s a by e s ( . which a near p k proach to our western oil painting . The bac

i s so ground wholly covered with a dark color, th that no part of e silk can be seen . This method “ - - shua séh . is called , color washed The Sketch is of a young priest seated on a rock , while his attendant is in a Stooping position pouring water from a vase . One knee is drawn up over the other and held by his clasped hands . His head

Th e is slightly turned to the right . eyes are h as . brig t , might be expected of a youthful devotee

His robe is white, while over his left shoulder hangs [ 2 1 8]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

his richly colored camlet cloak . The contour of

u h the body nder the clot es seems distinct , although

there are no lines to indicate it . This lack of structu re in a portrait belongs to the class of “ ” mu - lt u hua boneless pictures , ; and the artist,

Wen H sii n , was one of the best exponents of that “ style . The portrait is a noble example of a con ” ce tion p which possesses harmony and vitality, H as prescribed by the first canon of Hsieh 0 . The

bu t - name of the priest is unknown , his life story could be written from the artist ’ s delineation of “ u him . Carlyle says , Often I have fo nd a por trait s u perior in instru ction to half a dozen written ” biographies . The fondness for portraiture has been with some artists only one step in the direction of their ideal in depicting historical tales . This has had an overpowering attraction for them , just as it had

for Rembrandt, who preferred to paint scenes from

the Old Testament and the life of Christ, while his “ admirers clamored for portraits . The literary subj ect ” has never been tabooed in China as a weak motive ; on the contrary, it has been a fruit

was u ful sou rce of artistic inspiration . This ill s tra ted in the pictographs of the Wu family funerary chambers and again appears at the end ’ of the fou rth centu ry in the paintings of Ku K ai “ ” chih . The scroll Admonitions , in the British [ 2 20] PAINTING

Museum , depicts scenes which grow out of the advice given by Chang Hua to the empress du ring

D 26 H a A . u the reign of Wu Ti ( . 5 Chang

: Y ii an said In the reign of Ti , when a bear escaped from its cage, the empress Feng boldly faced i t . Was not this woman fearless in the face ’ of death Ku K ai - chih pictorialized this scene in the first paragraph of his scroll . The empress stands between the bear and the emperor, seeking to protect him while two attendants rush forward E to slay i t . very scene of the scroll represents a diff erent historical incident which has no connec tion with what precedes or follows it . The sole connection is fou nd in the collocation of these ” incidents in the Admonitions , written by

Chang Hua . A literary s u bj ect is also depicted by Ku ’ K ai - chih in the scroll formerly owned by Tu an Fang and now in the remarkable collection of “ Mr . Charles L . Freer . This scroll is called The ” LO Lo e Goddess , Sh n , and illustrates scenes from a poem on this same topic by a Han dynasty poet , ’ Ts ao Chih . I t has been beautifully illustrated in the Japanese publication Ko/eha . The opinion has been expressed to me by an eminent Chinese

- scholar, Mr . Wang Tsung lieh , that this scroll does not represent scenes from the LO Shen poem b u t

u M u M u illustrates the river exc rsion of Wang, [ 22 1 ] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

Y H Wa n u o. g I am inclined to agree with Mr . ’ a Wang s opinion , for I have seen painting of the

L e h Y ii an h o Sh n by C ao Jung, dynasty, w ich depicts high ofli c ers standing on the bank to th receive e goddess emerging from the water . This is the scene which one would form in his mind i from reading the poem rather than that which is

found in this scroll . But whatever may be the

BIRDS ON A PRUNUS BRANCH

correct version of the incident depicted, there can be no doubt that the scroll is based u pon historical fact and not upon some procession seen by the

artist . One other example of the portrayal of historical “ ” chi u 16 0 tales is the Nine Songs scroll , , by Li

K - ung lin , Sung dynasty, in the Government “

P . Museum , eking This was one of the Four

’ ’ ssu mei chii Beauties , , of the emperor Ch ien

Lu ng . I t illustrates a part of the famous poem ”— L i Sa o Falling into Trouble composed by [2 2 2]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART everything that the fancy of the artist cou ld think

was of placed in his scenery .

Fancy, high commissioned, send her,

She has vassals to attend her . She will bring in spite of frost

Beauties that the earth hath lost .

’ All the heaped autumn s wealth ff With a sti , mysterious stealth

Thou shalt at one glance behold

The th daisy and e marigold .

The nature which he depicted wa s that described “ by Aristotl e Nature is not the outward world of created things ; i t is the creative force, the pro ” du c tive principle of the universe . I ts possible moods were not confined to those which had come under the observation of the artist bu t were as unlimited as the bounds of his imagination . He could invade the courts and pavilions of the for bidden palaces , he could set men and women amid u him s rroundings distant from , and he could combine into one view the attractions of several places . He appropriated to himself the whole e world in the spiri t of Em rson , who said that “ though fields and farms belong to this man or ’ that , the landscape is no man s property .

[ 2 24] PAINTING

A O 6 Wang Wei ( . . 99 in whose style the S outhern School of landscapists painted , was an ffi b u t o cial in early life, had a stormy career, owing

h L - h to his persecution by t e rebel An u s an . He finally retired to his native hills in northern

- Shan Si , where he lived alone , his wife having died while he was still young . He built for himself a

' modest house , in which he wrote poetry and

In ost painted . His famous work is the landscape “ ’ ” scroll and the poem , both entitled Wang Ch uan . In poem and picture he put palaces on the side of h the barren hills around him , peopled t em with

u distinguished guests , surro nded them with deer parks and groves of the graceful bamboo , which could not grow in the inhospitable climate of those é northern hills , assembled poets and litt rateurs on the banks of beautiful streams flowing through the valleys and , in fact, took entire possession of his surroundings and metamorphosed them into the delectable mountains of his own unfettered spirit . In one paragraph he represents a grove in which is a house Without roof, in which he could Si t free from interruption and enj oy music in the Th ’ moonlight . e poet sang of the artist s picture : Sitting alone where the bamboo grows

The harp sings to me its sweet tune, Hid by the trees where no man knows

I am greeted with light from the moon . [ 2 25] ISH ERM AN THE LONE F , SUNG DYNASTY [ 2 26]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

P Canton , and is now in the collection of rofessor

Simkhovi tch Vladimir , hill is piled on hill , like

P A . wa t rfall Ossa on elion . e pours down into a small valley on one side, and a broad stream , on

' ov rh a n in l ff e c i s . the other, flows past the g g Small houses are on the bank of the stream , and beauti m ful temples crown the sum its of nearer hills , but these seem an insignificant part of the grand mood h of nature which overspreads the w ole landscape . Landscape reached its highest development

A D 60 in the Sung dynasty ( . . 9 and the annals of the period record the paintings of

. Ku o several great masters . Hsi was one of “ a ” them . His scroll Mount in Scenery, in the Y Metropolitan Museum , New ork, came from

- the collection of - Wu Jung kuan and bears the seals of such critics as Wu Y ii n and Keng Hsin W t kung . I t represents the scenery of es ern China ’ - - Ku o in Sze ch uan province . On these hill roads introduces travelers , as is his usual practice . A ’ splendid specimen . of the work of Li Ch eng was exhibi ted in the Art Institute of Chicago, Novem

M \ r r F e . 1 1 r. e ber, 9 7 , from the collection of Ma

Yii an K e and Hsia uei , in the Southern Sung p riod i n , painted chiefly the landscapes which were

- L . spired from views of the West ake , Hang chow There are precipitous hills with perpendicular

drops ; pine and fir trees abound . From his [ 2 2 8] BY K UO H SI LANDSCAPE , SUNG DYNASTY

[ 2 29] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

habit of putting one corner of a gnarled tree or one corner of the roof of a hou se on the edge of a picture Ma Y uan is often spoken of as the “ one ” - hi h I c o . K cornered Ma, Ma Hsia uei usually

painted with thinner ink than Ma , but in most

respects their styles are the same . Both were

prolific workers , and there are several extant

specimens of their magnificent landscapes . No division of painting lent itself so readily to

the slavery of brush strokes as landscape, and none has contributed so much to the loss of artistic

u e inspiration . The br sh strokes of Sh n Chou , ’ Wen e - Y in Ch ng ming, and T ang , of the Ming

u Y ii n dynasty, or of the fo r Wangs , Wu , and , of

the late Manchu dynasty, are as good as may be fou nd in the great masters of the S u ng dynasty ;

but their pictures lack inspiration and Vitality .

A D 1 6 2— 1 20 u Wang Hui ( . . 3 7 ) had a marvelo s con

u bu t trol of the br sh , his paintings are those of a dilettante sipping the nectar of existence while he ” wén keeps aloof from its deeper interests . His are — en hua— in j paintings of literary men which style,

brush technique, and design are of the best stand

ards . All that is lacking is what can least be — spared life . His work smells of the oil lamp of the

studio and h as none of the fragrance of the open . A lighter touch is apparent in the paint ing of

collec Mongolian horses . I have seen in the [ 23 0]

G- A TARTAR HORSEMAN , BY YANG PAN CHI , CHIN DYNASTY PAINTING

h th overhanging green Willow, be ind which e land scape stretches out to a great depth . The paint ’ a n le u a n ing has a concealed signature , , from which the name of this little - known painter is h revealed . The same type of orses is seen in the “ ” ’ h sa n ma t u T ree Horses , , by the three genera Th tions of the Chao family . e first and best is by

- A D 1 1 8 h e fu . . C ao M ng and is dated 3 , fourth year ’ of Y en Y u ; the other two are by Chaos sonand

1 re r grandson and are both dated 3 60 . Each p e

sents a horse being led by a halter . The men are h h Mongols . The horses ave eavy bodies and

Short , Slender legs , like the Mongolian ponies of

h the coll ec t e presen t day . This painting is from h tion of Mr . C ing Hsien , who was connected with Tuan Fang for many years and was trusted by

him as an expert adviser on paintings . The art of line and tone is most perfectly com bin ed with harmony of color in the painting of

hua n i a o hua hu i birds and flowers , , or , as i t is

now popularly called . In this style of work artists have exhibited the delicacy of their bru sh work

h u u u wit o t ca sing any s spicion of pedantry, while at the same time their refinement of feeling is

evident in their eschewal of strong colors . What a temptation to let loose a riot of color in the paint of a peacock ! This was spu rned by the u n wn artist of the Sung dynasty who painted [233] OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

TH E BY E - EU SON AND THREE HORSES , CHAO M NG , HIS , HIS .

GRANDSON , YUAN DYNASTY

[234]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

LOTUS W G EGRETS AMONG FLO ERS , SUN DYNASTY 1236] PAINTING

small bird in the foreground . This picture is ’ ” Shih K u T a n n C referred to in g as Ni e olors , ’ chi a - sé t u r , but there is only one colo which is outstanding— the red— and that was used only in contrast . There is naturalness as well as life and beauty “ S in this type of painting . A ung artist painted “ P ‘ P A heasan t under a each Tree, in which the

- amber colored crest , the glossy scarlet breast, the

- white ringed neck , and the golden yellow feathers of the long tail are set in contrast with the soft “ shades of peach blossoms Aw grets among Lotus Elowers has a background of varied colors , which brings out the white plumage of the egrets balancing with ' the pink shades of lotus “ F ” flowers . The our Magpies is a large painting of the Sung dynasty. White - breasted birds are disporting themselves on the branches of an old

e/ tree, over which is a creeping vine with whit

I - Pru n us flowers . n a well known scroll , the is — pain ted in its four S tages of development first

and with wintry branches , then with flowers no leaves, again with flowers and leaves , and lastly in its spring appearance . A pair of birds appro pri a te to the period of development is found in M each of the four paragraphs . I have seen a ing dynasty copy of a beautiful scroll by Chao C ’ h ang, eleventh century, in which birds with red [237] THE FOUR MAGPIES , SUNG DYNASTY [ 23 8]

OUTLINES OF CHINESE ART

T A STA ESMAN , SUNG DYNASTY PAINTING the midst of regal glory might be thought to have been the setting which the ceremonio u s Chinese would have required ; but not so . A depicts him at a rehearsal acting as with the women players on one side and the

’ Me - fu re re on the other . A scroll by Chao ng p

e sents this emperor seat d in an open pavilion , while in front of him several attendants are

E! AMINING THE POINTS OF A HORSE ex amining the poin ts of a horse and reporting “ ”

. I c to him Another scroll , nstruction , whi h is M M m now in the etropolitan useu , places the emperor on a wide couch with his young son in front hesitating to take the books handed to him by his father . This man who for a brief span was an emperor could be appreciated for all time l as one fond of music , horses , and chi dren , and thes e human traits were such as would be found in people of all generations . An appeal to the emotional influence of such perman ent elements is surer and quicker than to the splendor of any king .

[ 24 1 ] OUTLINES OF CHINESE A RT

These universal q u alities . of human nature are

fi i n also the best elds for imaginative settings , which the ordinary can be made resplendent and fi the commonplace glori ed as divine .

[ 24 2]

IND E!

The following list has been prepared by me in

- Em . It conjunction with my friend Mr . Feng kun furnishes the Chinese characters for all of the names

used in the tex t of the lectures . The spelling is that ’ D used in Giles ictionary .

Ah Fang Kung [371] E‘ {53 An I- chou fl [it] ’ ‘ 23 3 An k uan FEék . — ' An Lu shan f jféz [I] 225

125 Ch ’ an wen i ? fl 5 1 ’ — Ch ang an é Chang Ch ’ ien fiE 28 Chang Chih fi 2 ’ f Chang Ch ou jfi EH; 16 0 ’ - S 23 1 Chang Ch uan han GEfig Il l H ii a n Chang s GEE . 23 1 22 Chang Hua BEfl . 1

- Chang Huai kuan 65 fl i g . ’ Ch ang- ko hsien E E 1 15 ’ Chang ts ao fi Ki . 138 Chang Yen - yii a n 555 E é 206 ’ “ Ch ao An Ssii if? i f; 216 Chao Ch ’ ang fi 2 25 7 Chao Jung fi fi 222 Chao Meng- chien Q E: Q 3 6

M é n - fu l Chao g Q i n. Bifi

Chao Pai - chu fi {El 56] 195 [ 24 5] OUTLINES OF CHINESE A RT

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