Title: Shang Dynasty Art: Characteristics, History of Erlitou Culture
Headings: Shang Dynasty Art (1700-1050 BCE)
History and Characteristics

Shang Dynasty Art (1700-1050 BCE)
History and Characteristics
Content: Along with a host of bronze weapons, more than 440 bronze vessels, 590 jade figures and other objects, ancient pottery vessels, and bone hairpins were found. In 1986, over 4,000 objects, including cowrie shells, bronze face masks, jades and life-size bronze statues encased in gold sheet, were discovered at the walled city of Sanxingdui in Sichuan, southern China. Of particular interest were the burial masks, distinguished by their large ears and bulging eyes, and lips painted red with cinnabar, a mineral widely used to colour lacquerware. ( See also Colour Pigments .) Also found at Sanxingdui were tiny bronze fragments of tree sculpture, along with bronze leaves and perching birds. Although traces of fresco murals have been found, Chinese painting had yet to become established as an artform. As a result, most Chinese painters were employed in the pottery industry or in other types of decorative art. Later Chinese Dynasties
Later visual arts are traditionally divided into the following periods: - Arts of the Six Dynasties Period (220-589)
- Sui Dynasty art (589-618)
- Tang Dynasty art (618-906)
- Song Dynasty art (960-1279)
- Yuan Dynasty art (1271-1368)
- Ming Dynasty art (1368-1644)
- Qing Dynasty art (1644-1911)
See also: Japanese Art.