Chinese Art vol.1

466 Pages·1958·53.549 MB·English

by  William Willetts

Chinese Art
-I
WILLIAM
WILLETTS
A PELICAN BOOK
Chinese Art attempts to relate the traditional art-
forms of China to the social, political, and techno-
logical conditions out ofwhich thev arose. Each art-
formhas achapter ofits own, where it itis discussed
in the context ofa particular historical epoch during
which, for one reason or another, it reached an
especially characteristic stage of development. The
chapters are arranged chronologically,so that Chinese
Art may be read as a continuous record of four
thousand years ofChinese art history. There are 64
pages of plates, numerous tables and maps, and
well over 100 line drawings representing several
hundred objects.
Volume One opens with an account of the geo-
graphical background of Chinese society, and ofits
prehistory. Then follows a chapter onjade, setin the
contextoflate Neolithic China, and one ontheartof
the ritual bronzes covering the first two historical
dynasties - the Shang-Yin and Chou. Lacquer and
silk, those two distinctively Chinese art-forms, are
described in the setting ofHan dynasty China and its
trade relations with the Roman Orient. Volume One
ends with a discussion ofBuddhist sculpture during
the period ofits most vital artistic achievement - the
Six Dynasties and the first halfcentury or so ofthe
T'ang.
For a complete list ofbooks available
please write to Penguin Books
whose address can be found on the
back ofthe title page
BOOKS
PELICAN
A 358
VOLUME ONE
ART
CHINESE
WILLETTS
WILLIAM
%
if
CHINESE ART
BY
WILLIAM WILLETTS
VOLUME ONE
PENGUIN BOOKS
Penguin Books Ltd, Harmondsworth, Middlesex
U.S.A.: Penguin Books Inc., 3300 ClipperMill Road, Baltimore 11, Md
Australia: Penguin Books Pty Ltd, 762 Whitehorse Road,
Mitcham, Victoria
First published 1958
Copyright © WilliamWilletts, 1958
Made andprinted in Great Britain
by RichardClay & Company, Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk
CollogravureplatesbyHarrisonandSons
To my Mother and
Father

CONTENTS
VOLUME
I
List of Plates xiii
List of Figures, Tables, and Maps xxi
Foreword
xxxiii
Introduction
Definition
I
Scope
3
Method
4
Romanization 8
Notes on Cross-references, Bibliography, Index, and
Appendices 8
Geography and Early Man
1.
The Eighteen Provinces (Shift pa sheng) 9
Climate 13
Regional Divisions ofthe Eighteen Provinces 13
The Isolation ofthe Eighteen Provinces 22
Greater China 25
China as the Centre ofa 'Pacific Culture' 26
EARLY MAN IN CHINA 26
Giant Man? 27
Peking Man 28
Middle and Upper Paleolithic Man in China; Loess 33
Mesolithic and Neolithic Cultures in the pen-Gobi
Region 37
Movement ofMesolithic Populations ofEastern Asia 38
Neolithic Cultures of North China 42
Problems of Dating 46
2. Jade
An Element in Neolithic Chinese Culture 53
The Material 50
vii
CONTENTS
Techniques ofWorkingJade 58
Sources ofChineseJade 60
The Beginnings ofChineseJade-carving 61
The Symbolism ofEarly ChineseJades 62
Jade Used in Imitation ofTools and Weapons 66
Classes ofChinese RitualJades 69
Decorative Objects inJade 106
Bronze
3.
The Beginnings ofthe Bronze Age in China 108
The Society ofthe Bronze Age in China 113
Bronze Materials 120
Bronze-casting Techniques 121
The Purpose ofthe Ritual Bronzes; Inscriptions 124
Classes ofRitual Vessels 125
Secular Bronzes 155
The Styles ofthe Ritual Bronzes 156
Lacquer and Silk
4,
introduction 174
The Political and Military Background ofthe Han Em-
pire 176
Wu
The Reign ofEmperor (140-85 B.C.) 178
The Western Regions 179
Chinese Expansion in the South and East 184
The Northern Regions 186
LACQUER l88
The Lac Tree in Han and pre-Han China 188
Location ofthe Han Lacquer Industry 192
Composition and Mode ofPreparation ofLacquer 193
Properties ofLacquer 194
Uses ofLacquer 195
Painting in Lacquer the Ancestor of Later Chinese
Pictorial Art? 197
The Technique ofLacquering 198
Classes ofLacquer Decoration 201
viii