Title: Chinese art - Wikipedia
Headings: Chinese art
Chinese art
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chinese art
Contents
Painting
Sculpture
Ceramics
Decorative arts
Architecture
Chinoiserie
History and development of Chinese art
Neolithic pottery
Jade culture
Bronze casting
Chu and Southern culture
Early Imperial China (221 BC–AD 220)
Qin art
Han art
Period of division (220–581)
Influence of Buddhism
Calligraphy
Painting
The Sui and Tang dynasties (581–960)
Buddhist architecture and sculpture
Painting
The Song and Yuan dynasties (960–1368)
Song painting
Yuan painting
Pottery
Late imperial China (1368–1911)
Ming painting
Early Qing painting
Late Qing Art
Shanghai School
New China art (1912–1949)
Modern Art Movement
Postwar Chinese Art (1949–1976)
The Mainland
The 17 Years
The Cultural Revolution
Taiwan
Fifth Moon Group五月畫會
Ton-Fan Art Group東方畫會
Hong Kong
Overseas
Paris
United States
Redevelopment (mid-1980s – 1990s)
Contemporary art
Visual art
Art market
Museums
See also
References
Additional sources
Further reading
External links

Content: Bird-and-flower paintings were often in this style. Ink and wash painting, in Chinese Shui-mo or (水墨) also loosely termed watercolour or brush painting, and also known as "literati painting", as it was one of the " four arts " of the Chinese Scholar-official class. In theory this was an art practised by gentlemen, a distinction that begins to be made in writings on art from the Song dynasty, though in fact the careers of leading exponents could benefit considerably. This style is also referred to as "xie yi" (寫意) or freehand style. Artists from the Han (202 BC) to the Tang (618–906) dynasties mainly painted the human figure. Much of what is known of early Chinese figure painting comes from burial sites, where paintings were preserved on silk banners, lacquered objects, and tomb walls. Many early tomb paintings were meant to protect the dead or help their souls get to paradise. Others illustrated the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius, or showed scenes of daily life. Most Chinese portraits showed a formal full-length frontal view, and were used in the family in ancestor veneration. Imperial portraits were more flexible, but were generally not seen outside the court, and portraiture formed no part of Imperial propaganda, as in other cultures.