CHINESE ART – HAN DYNASTY

            Among China’s major dynasties, Han Dynasty was one of the longest of all. It was between 206 BCE and 220 CE and considered as the Golden Age in Chinese history as there were only minor interruptions during the period and lasted a span of over four centuries. Han Dynasty was founded by Liu Bang or known as Emperor Gaozu, who became the first Han emperor after the collapse of the previous dynasty (Qin Dynasty). It was noted in history that Liu Bang was the first Chinese emperor who was originally a commoner. There are a few notable contribution of Han Dynasty towards the modern days; the opening of the Silk Road and the great appreciation of Confucius. Although Han Dynasty ended in 220 CE, it is clear that the Han still lives on today and even Chinese people refer to themselves as the Han people.



Wu Liang Shrine
151 CE - 168 CE


            Creating permanent artworks in durable materials was a new departure for Chinese art. In the Han period, they made a small-scale sculpture which is made of stones or bricks. They were stamped and carved with relief scenes and they are particularly common in tombs. The finest examples are from the Wu Liang Shrine at Jiaxiang. Dating to 151 CE or 168 CE, there are some 70 relief slabs which carry scenes of battles and famous historical figures, such as Confucius, all identified by accompanying texts and covering a chronological Chinese history in a pictorial record similar to a history book. Wu Liang Shrine was actually the family shrine of the Wu clan of the Eastern Han dynasty. The shrines contain a vast amount of relief carvings. The diagram above shows the rubbing of a detail from the Wu family shrines' stone relief carvings. The scene depicts the Fusang tree, Xihe who is going to hitch her Dragon Horse to the Sun Chariot, and Archer Yi who takes aim at the Sun Crows.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MEDIEVAL ART – HIGH MIDDLE AGE

Image
          The Medieval Period also called the Middle Ages of Europe history spans from the fall of the Roman Empire in 300 CE to the beginning of the Renaissance in 1400 CE. The Medieval Period is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The Medieval Period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. There are many art styles in the Medieval Period such as Early Christian, Romanesque, Gothic and others.           The Gothic style developed in the middle of the 12 th century and is named after the Goths who ruled France. Primary media in the Gothic period included sculpture, panel painting, stained glass, fresco and illuminated manuscripts. Some contemporaries of the Goths thought the use of figures such as gargoyles was hideous, but Gothic cathedrals represent the most beautiful and timeless accomplishments of the p...
Read more

GREEK ART – HELLENISTIC AGE

Image
          Ancient Greece was a civilization that existed in between around 12 th -9 th centuries BC and around 600 CE. The civilization can be divided into several periods; Greek Dark Ages, Archaic Greece, Classical Greece and Hellenistic Greece. The Hellenistic Age begins in 323 BCE with the death of Alexander the Great and ends with the battle of Actio in 31 BC. The Hellenistic Age marks the transformation of Greek society from the localized and introverted city-states to an open, cosmopolitan, and at times exuberant culture that permeated the entire eastern Mediterranean, and Southwest Asia.           During the Hellenistic period, art underwent dramatic transformations and evolved on the road paved previously by the Classical artist. While the Classical Greek concepts were not entirely abandoned, the artists of the Hellenistic era expanded their formal horizons with dramatic posing, sweeping lines, and high contrast of light, s...
Read more