A Journey Through Ancient China. From the Neolithic to the Ming

284 Pages·1985·53.953 MB·English

by  Wang Fangzi and Nebojsa Tomasevic

J.
h JOURNEY
THROUGH
ANCIENT
CHINA
Han Zhongmin and Hubert Delahaye
Edited by Wang Fangzi and Nebojsa
Tomasevic
A Journey ThroughAncientChina takes
the reader on a voyage of discovery
from the Neolithic Age to the Ming
Dynasty of the seventeenth century. It is
the most lavishly illustrated book to be
published on the wonders of Chinese
archaelogy. It reveals and illustrates the
ten most remarkable archaelogical
sites unearthed in China since 1 949.
Spectacular exhibitions of some of these
discoveries have circled the globe in the
past few years, displaying the
unbelievably rich heritage of the oldest
continuous civilization on earth-but
here in one volume are the most
remarkable of these works of art
together with those never publicly
exhibited.
The editor, Nebojsa Tomasevic, made
sixjourneys to China to work with the
Chinese scholars and photographers
who have combined to produce this
beautiful and authoritative survey of their
country's artistic evolution. They worked
for several days among the terracotta
cavalry ofthe first Chinese emperor in
his tomb at Xian and have produced the
first pictorial record of the entire
division.
The photographs and the
accompanying text explain the
development of ancient Chinese
civilization from the lower Yangzi basin,
taking the story through to the building
of the Great Wall and the opening up of
trade with the Mongol nations, and then
the West.
This extraordinary photographic record
is complemented by an authoritative
explanatory text describing the
conditions of the life of both the court and
the common man during the periods within
which these superb works of art were
created.
A JOURNEY
THROUGH
ANCIENT
CHINA
FROM THE NEOLITHIC
MING
TO THE
HAN ZHONGMIN
HUBERT DEIAHAYE
A JOURNEY
THROUGH
ANCIENT
CHINA
DESIGNED DY
EMILBUHRER
MASSIMO GIACOMETTI
GALLERY BOOKS
W
An Imprint of H Smith Publishers Inc.
112 Madison Avenue
New
York City 10016
- » W'hAl'* '&

TABLE OF CONTENTS
A MotovunGroupBook
BURIED 8
TREASURES
OF CHINA
Originatedanddevelopedby:
Nebojsa-BatoTomasevic
CoRpeyvirjiag,hBte©lg1r9a8de5abyndJuCguolstluroavlenRseklaics THE YELLOW RIVER 18
PublishingHouse,Beijing
A CRADLE OF
No part ofthis publication maybere- CHINA
produced,storedin a retrievalsystem,
or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photo-
copying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permis-
sionofthepublishers.
THE MASTERS 42
ISBN0-8317-5225-4
OF BRONZE
CASTING
KINGS 06
AND PRINCES
WAR
AT
Textsby: HanZhongmin
Hubert Delahaye
Designedby: EmilM. Buhrer
MassimoGiacometti
Photography: MissWangLu,
ChangPingandothers
THE TOMB or 00
Chiefeditor: WangFangzi
Co-productioneditor: Nevenka
THE FIRST
Micunovic
Productionmanager: LisaClark
EMPEROR
Printedandboundby:
LitoTerrazzi, Firenze, Italy
Photolithography by:
Scala, Istituto Fotografico Fditoriale,
Firenze, Italy
Printed in Italy
HE
116
HOUSAND
OMBS
OUR
180
CENTURIES
OF STRUGGLE
THE FLOWERING 210
OF THE
ARTS
SPLENDOUR 238
IN THE MIDST OF
DANGER
MING 268
GLORY
BURIED
TREASURES
INTRODUCTION
CHINA
UF
The most powerful force in Chinese archaeology
MAJOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL
is undoubtedly the mobilization ofthe minds of
the people, particularly in the country. As K.C.
FINOS Changwrites in his ArchaeologyofAncient China:
"When acommunist regime is also nationalistic,
in acountry whose people are proud oftheir
ancient heritage, conscious ofhistory, and
possessed ofan antiquarian tradition,
archaeology cannot help but boom. Many
important sites have been found by farmers, who
are known to be in the habit ofpromptly
Major excavations undertaken in all reportingthe finds to the proper authorities..."
parts of Chinafrom 1949 onwards,
the year ofthefoundation ofthe Peo-
ple's Republic of China, have un-
earthed finds of tremendous signifi-
cance, including the impressive under-
ground mausoleum ofthe EmperorQi
Shi Huang Di.
From 1949 onwards, the year of the foundation of the
People's Republic of China, major excavations have been car-
ried out in every part of the country and archaeological
teams have unearthed finds of major importance. The army
of earthenware figures in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang
has aroused the admiration of the whole world and is
regarded as the eighth wonder, whilst objects such as the
bronze lamp of the palace of Eternal Faithfulness
and the flying horse are internationally famous. In
this book, the principal discoveries of recent years are
presented in chronological order of their age and are exten-