China and Korea to 1279

1. China and Korea to 1279 China is an extremely large and diverse country. The written language is standard across the country, allowing for a shared Chinese literary, philosophic, and religious tradition.

2. Neolithic Pottery The Chinese mastered the art of ceramics early, and have one of the longest ceramic histories in the world. They fashioned earthenware bowls and vases by hand and decorated them with abstract animals and complex geometric motifs.

3. The Shang Dynasty and the Bronze Age • The Shang dynasty ruled from 1600-1050 BCE. They used bronze casting to create intricate decorative items. Most bronze pieces from this era were recovered from elaborate tombs.

4. The Zhou and Qin Dynasties:1050-206 BCE Zhou rule brought a period of prosperity and order, and increased the public’s desire for luxury products. Lacquer, a varnish like substance derived from the sap of the Asiatic sumac, was used on a variety of housewares. Jade, a precious and very hard material, was mainly used for the production of bi discs. These discs were status symbols and were buried with the dead.

6. The First Emperor • The first emperor was established when the warring states were conquered by the Qin armies. • Emperor Qin consolidated rule through centralized bureaucracy and standardized written language, measures, and coinage. He removed feudal lords with paid administrators and rewarded merit over high birth. • He was unpopular due to his sometimes brutal policies, such as harsh penalties for crime demanding absolute loyalty to the state’s authority.

7. The Terracotta Army • These 6,000+ unique warriors guard the tomb of the Emperor Qin. Over 700,000 laborers were conscripted for the task and the project continued after his death. The funerary mound remains unexcavated.

8. The Han Dynasty 206 BCE-220 CE • The Hans overthrew Emperor Qin’s son and ruled China for 400 years. They kept many of the Qin reforms but adopted a more liberal governing policy. • The Han dynasty was the first to use the fabled Silk Road to trade with merchants as far as Rome. It also brought Buddhism to China.

10. Period of Disunity 220-581 • The period of civil strife made Buddhism very appealing, as it promoted hope beyond earthly troubles and withdrawal from ordinary society. The earliest images of Buddha in China are from this period.

11. Confucianism and Daoism • Daoism is a philosophy that stresses intuitive awareness, nurtured by harmonious contact with nature and the shunning of all artifice. The yin yang is a Daoist symbol that represents balance. Practitioners seek to follow the Dao, or universal path. • Confucianism is a philosophy founded in the teaching of Confucius. It is deeply entrenches in Chinese identity and its teachings seek to bring order and stability to society. Themes include empathy, adherence to traditional social relationships, morality and justice, and respect for ancient ceremonies.

12. Xie He’s Six Principles of Chinese Painting • Engender a sense of movement through spiritual consonance. • Use the brush with the bone method. • Respond to things, depict their forms. • According to kind, describe appearances with color. • Dividing and planning, positioning and arranging. • Transmitting and conveying earlier models through copying and transcribing.

13. Chinese Wooden Construction Chinese wooden buildings are recognizable through their unique curved roofs, overhanging eaves, and modular construction. The earliest model dates this type of building to the Han Dynasty.

14. Tang Dynasty and Unified Silla Kingdom: 618-905 Another period of increased trade and military conquest which brought with it an influx of foreign peoples, wealth, and ideas.

15. Golden Age of Figure Painting The Tang Dynasty is widely regarded as the golden age of Chinese figure painting. The figures in this painting of Emperor Xuan model Confucian values. They are simply rendered reserved, and the Emperor is shown with past historic figures which align with Confucian ideal of learning from and respecting the past.

17. Song and Liao Dynasties: 960-1279 The Song Dynasty was the most technologically advanced society in the world during the second century. They invented the magnetic compass, movable type, paper money, and gunpower. This was considered the high point of Chinese landscape painting. The paintings are tributes to nature, not exact representations.

19. Foguang Si Pagoda Build in 1056, at nine stories and 216 feet it was the tallest wooden building ever constructed. Pagoda means “tower.” This pagoda served as the centerpiece of a Buddhist temple and housed relics and devotional images. It shares similarities with the beehive towers of Hindu temples and stupas.

20. Korea The Korean peninsula shares borders with Russia and China and faces Japan. The Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE-688 CE) showed development of a unique artistic identity despite near constant contact with both China and Japan.

21. Buddhism in Korea Buddhism was introduced to Korea in the 4th century. The Silla Kingdom (688-935) succeeded in uniting Korea and embraced Buddhism as a source of religious enlightenment and divine protection. They build many Buddhist temple surrounding their capital as a supernatural defense. Due to Korea’s turbulent history, very little of this work survives.

22. Celadon Pottery • This Korean specialty gains it characteristic green color from iron-pigmented glazes fired in an oxygen deprived kiln.