CHINA

INTRODUCTION
China, Chinese (Pinyin) Zhonghua or (Wade-Giles romanization) Chung-hua, also spelled
(Pinyin) Zhongguo or (Wade-Giles romanization) Chung-kuo, officially Peoples Republic of
China, Chinese (Pinyin) Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo or (Wade-Giles romanization) Chung-
hua Jen-min Kung-ho-kuo, country of East Asia. It is the largest of all Asian countries and has
the largest population of any country in the world. Occupying nearly the entire East Asian
landmass, it occupies approximately one-fourteenth of the land area of Earth. Among the major
countries of the world, China is surpassed in area by only Russia and Canada, and it is almost as
large as the whole of Europe.

HISTORY

Prehistoric China Up to About 1600 BC

Prehistoric China's chronology is divided into the Paleolithic Age, the Neolithic Age, and the
Bronze Age.

Without any reliable historical record, most of what has been pieced together about prehistoric
life in China comes from speculation about human activity at archaeological sites and
unearthed relics. The rest comes from what might be truth within Chinese mythology.

The Xia Dynasty (c. 20701600 BC) Early Bronze Age China

Possibly the first dynasty in ancient China, it's generally believed that the Xia Dynasty consisted
of several clans, living along the Yellow River. Most of the evidence for the Xia Dynasty,
including its name, is perhaps just legend.

There was a bronze age Yellow River civilization at this time at Erlitou in Henan, however
artifacts don't show conclusively that this was the Xia Dynasty of later writings.

Ancient China (c. 1600221 BC)

Chinese civilization began along the Yellow River in the Shang era, and spread from there when
bronze age culture reached its peak. Then traditional Chinese philosophies, such as
Confucianism and Daoism developed in the feudal Zhou era as China expanded in territory and
population.

Ancient China finally fractured into warring kingdoms for 200 years, and its reunification
marked the start of the Imperial China age.

The Shang Dynasty (c. 16001046 BC)

The Shang Dynasty was the first with historical records remaining inscriptions on bones and
bronze objects. Its capital was Yin (Anyang) and its territory was between the lower reaches of
the Yellow and Yangtze rivers.

The Zhou Dynasty (1045-221 BC)

Major philosophies and religions emerged that were the basis of Chinese belief in later eras,
such as Confucianism and Daoism.

This era was divided into three periods: the Western Zhou Dynasty (1045771 BC); the Spring
and Autumn Period (770476 BC), and the Warring States Period (475221 BC). It marked the
transition from tribal society to feudal society.

Imperial China (221 BC 1912 AD)

The imperial China period makes up the bulk of Chinese history. With the cyclical rise and fall of
dynasties, Chinese civilization was cultivated and prospered in times of peace, then reformed
after rebellions and conquests.

The Qin and Han Dynasties (221BC 220 AD)

The short-lived Qin Dynasty was the first to unite China as a country under an emperor instead
of a ruling clan. A bureaucratic government was introduced, and was continued by the less-
extreme Han Dynasty.

The Qin Dynasty (221206 BC)

The First Emperor was first to use the title emperor in China. He and his Qin State united China
by conquering the other warring states, and ruled with an iron fist.

The Qin Dynasty (221206 BC) was the first and shortest imperial dynasty in China, famous for
great building projects like the Great Wall and the Terracotta Army.
Liu Bang, a peasant leader, overthrew the unpopular Qin regime and established the Han
Dynasty.

The Han Dynasty (206 BC 220 AD)

The longest imperial dynasty, the Han Dynasty, was known for starting Silk Road trade,
connecting China with Central Asia and Europe. During the Han era, agriculture, handicrafts,
and commerce developed well.

During the reign of Emperor Wudi (r.140-87 BC), the Han regime had its greatest prosperity.
The multi-ethnic country became more united during the Han regime.

China's Dark Ages (220581)

When the Han Dynasty fell into decline, it fractured into the Three Kingdoms Period (220
265). The Jin Dynasty then conquered most of China (265420), but its hold on power was
tenuous, and China again fractured into the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420589).

Medieval China(5811368)

China's middle ages saw steady growth through a series of regime changes.

China went from being four warring kingdoms to being the most culturally sophisticated and
technologically developed nation. Finally, it was consumed by the rise and fall of the
phenomenal Mongol Empire, which stretched to Europe.

The Sui Dynasty (581618)

It took a dynasty reminiscent of the power and vision of the Qin Dynasty to reunite China: the
Sui Dynasty set the foundation for the more stable medieval age in China.

In 581, Yang Jian usurped the throne in the north, and, as Emperor Wen, united the rest of
China under the Sui Dynasty.

It was a short, intense dynasty, with great conquests and achievements, like the Grand
Canal and rebuilding of the Great Wall. It's considered with the following Tang Dynasty (618-
907) as a great Chinese era.
The Tang Dynasty (618-907)

The Tang Dynasty was the golden age for poetry, painting, tricolored glazed pottery, and
woodblock printing.

After the Tang Dynasty, came half a century of division in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
Period (907960), before one of the northern kingdoms defeated its neighbors and established
control of a smaller China.

The Song Dynasty (9601297)

During the Song Dynasty, handicraft industry and domestic and foreign trade boomed. Many
merchants and travelers came from abroad. The "four great inventions" of the Chinese people
in ancient times (paper, printing, the compass and gunpowder) were further developed in the
Song Dynasty.

The Song coexisted with the Liao Dynasty (9071125) in the northeast and the Western Xia
Dynasty (1038-1227) in the northwest. The Song era was a period of technological advances
and prosperity.

The Yuan Dynasty (12791368) Mongol Rule

In 1206 Genghis Khan unified all the tribes in Mongolia, founded the Mongol Khanate, and
conquered an unprecedented swathe of Asia.

From1271 to 1279, his grandson, Kublai Khan, finally conquered Song China and founded the
Yuan Dynasty. He made Dadu (modern-day Beijing) the capital of the first foreign-led dynasty
in China.

Trade, technological development, and its introduction to foreign countries continued under
Mongol rule. Marco Polo from Venice traveled extensively in China, and later described China's
culture and marvels in his book "Travels".

The Final Dynasties (13681912) Renaissance and More Foreign Rule

In the Ming and Qing dynasties the imperial social structure (the royal/rich class, the scholarly
class, the working class, and the slaves)and imperial examinations continued. However, they
became increasingly inadequate in the ages of exploration, colonization, and industrialization.
The Ming Dynasty (13681644)

In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang replaced the waning Mongol empire in China with the Ming Dynasty. It
was the last ethnic Chinese dynasty, sandwiched between two foreign ones.

When his son and successor, Zhu Di, ascended the throne, he started to build the Forbidden
City in Beijing. In 1421, he officially made Beijing his capital.

It was an era of native Chinese strength and prosperity, which faltered due to natural disasters
and greedy leadership, as had so many dynasties before.

The Qing Dynasty (16441911)

In the late Ming Dynasty, the Manchus in northeast China grew in strength. The Manchus
attacked China for three generations in succession, and finally founded the Qing Dynasty.

The two most famous emperors of the Qing Dynasty were Emperor Kangxi (r. 16611772) and
Emperor Qianlong (r.173596). Their reigns were "a golden age of prosperity".

However, the last Chinese dynasty remembers with shame the forced trade of the late Qing
era. China was reduced to being a semi-colonial semi-imperial county since the first Opium War
in 1840.

The Republic of China Era (19121949)

The Republican Revolution of 1911, led by Sun Yat-sen, ended the rule of the Qing Dynasty.
However, the Republic of China could not be firmly established across China, with civil war
ensuing for decades.

Modern China (1949Now)

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, China has entered a Communist
era of stability, with the Reform and Opening Up policy of 1978 bringing in China's phenomenal
economic growth.
 MUSIC OF CHINA
Music of China refers to the music of the Chinese people, which may be the music of the Han
Chinese as well as other ethnic minorities within mainland China. It also includes music
produced by people of Chinese origin in some territories outside mainland China
using traditional Chinese instruments or in the Chinese language. It covers a highly diverse
range of music from the traditional to the modern.
Different types of music have been recorded in historical Chinese documents from the early
periods of Chinese civilization which, together with archaeological artifacts discovered,
provided evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty(1122 BC
256 BC). These further developed into various forms of music through succeeding dynasties,
producing the rich heritage of music that is part of the Chinese cultural landscape today.
Chinese music continues to evolve in the modern times, and more contemporary forms have
also emerged.

History
According to legends, the founder of music in Chinese mythology was Ling Lun who, at the
request of the Yellow Emperor to create a system of music, made bamboo pipes tuned to the
sounds of birds including the phoenix. A twelve-tone musical system was created based on the
pitches of the bamboo pipes, the first of these pipes produced the "yellow bell" () pitch,
and a set of tune bells were then created from the pipes.

Traditional Music

National Music
The term guoyue, or national music, became popular in the early 20th century and was used
loosely to include all music written for Chinese instruments in response to a particular
nationalistic consciousness.[29] The term however may have a slightly different meaning when
used by different Chinese communities. It was originally used only referred to the music of the
Han Chinese; it later began to include music of various ethnic minorities in China. In
the Republic of China in Taiwan, Guoyue emphasized music of the mainland China over the
Taiwanese local traditions. In mainland China a new term minyue (, short for minzu
yinyue or "people's music") was coined post-1949 in place of guoyue to encompass all
compositions and genres for traditional instruments. In other Chinese communities, it may also
be referred to as huayue (for example in Singapore) or zhongyue (in Hong Kong).[30]
Instrumental
Musical instruments were traditionally classified into 8 categories known as bayin.[6] Traditional
music in China is played on solo instruments or in small ensembles of plucked and bowed
stringed instruments, flutes, and various cymbals, gongs, and drums.
The scale is pentatonic. Bamboo pipes and qin are among the oldest known musical
instruments from China; instruments are traditionally divided into categories based on their
material of composition: animal skins, gourd, bamboo, wood, silk, earth/clay, metal, and
stone. Chinese orchestrastraditionally consist of bowed strings, woodwinds, plucked
strings and percussion.

Instruments

Woodwind and percussion

dizi, suona, sheng, paigu, gong, paixiao, guan, bells, cymbals, hulusi

Bowed strings
erhu, zhonghu, dahu, banhu, jinghu, gaohu, gehu, yehu, cizhonghu, diyingehu, leiqin

Plucked and struck strings

guqin, sanxian, yueqin, yangqin, guzheng, ruan, konghou, liuqin, pipa, zhu

Re-enactment of a traditional music performance at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan.

Chinese vocal music has traditionally been sung in a thin, non resonant voice or
in falsetto and is usually solo rather than choral. All traditional Chinese music
is melodic rather than harmonic. Chinese vocal music probably developed from sung poems
and verses with music. Instrumental pieces played on an erhu or dizi are popular, and are
often available outside of China, but the pipa and zheng music, which are more traditional,
are more popular in China itself. The qin is perhaps the most revered instrument in China,
even though very few people know what it is or seen and heard one being played.
The zheng, a form of zither, is most popular in Henan, Chaozhou, Hakka and Shandong.
The pipa, a kind of lute, believed to have been introduced from the Arabian Peninsula area
 during the 6th century and adapted to suit Chinese tastes, is most popular in Shanghai and
surrounding areas.

Chinese opera
Chinese opera has been a popular form of entertainment for many centuries, from
the Nanxi of Song Dynasty to the Beijing opera of today. The music is often guttural with
high-pitched vocals, usually accompanied by suona, jinghu, other kinds of string
instruments, and percussion. Other types of opera include clapper opera, Pingju, Cantonese
opera, puppet opera, Kunqu, Sichuan opera, Qinqiang, ritual masked opera and Huangmei
xi.
Folk music
According to current archaeological discoveries, Chinese folk music dates back 7000 years.
Not only in form but also in artistic conception, China has been the home of a colorful
culture of folk music. Largely based on the pentatonic scale, Chinese folk music is different
from western traditional music, paying more attention to the form expression as well.
Han traditional weddings and funerals usually include a form of oboe called a suona and
percussive ensembles called chuigushou. Ensembles consisting of mouth organs (sheng),
shawms (suona), flutes (dizi) and percussion instruments (especially yunluo gongs) are
popular in northern villages; their music is descended from the imperial temple music
of Beijing, Xi'an, Wutai shan and Tianjin. Xi'an drum music, consisting of wind and
percussive instruments, is popular around Xi'an, and has received some commercial
popularity outside of China. Another important instrument is the sheng, pipes, an ancient
instrument that is ancestor of all Western free reed instruments, such as the accordion.
Parades led by Western-type brass bands are common, often competing in volume with a
shawm/chuigushou band.
In southern Fujian and Taiwan, Nanyin or Nanguan is a genre of traditional ballads. They are
sung by a woman accompanied by a xiao and a pipa, as well as other traditional
instruments. The music is generally sorrowful and typically deals with a love-stricken
woman. Further south, in Shantou, Hakka and Chaozhou, erxian and zheng ensembles are
popular.
Sizhu ensembles use flutes and bowed or plucked string instruments to make harmonious
and melodious music that has become popular in the West among some listeners. These
are popular in Nanjing and Hangzhou, as well as elsewhere along the
southern Yangtze area. Sizhu has been secularized in cities but remains spiritual in rural
areas.
Jiangnan Sizhu (silk and bamboo music from Jiangnan) is a style of instrumental music,
often played by amateur musicians in tea houses in Shanghai; it has become widely known
outside of its place of origin.
 Guangdong Music or Cantonese Music is instrumental music from Guangzhou and
surrounding areas. It is based on Yueju (Cantonese Opera) music, together with new
compositions from the 1920s onwards. Many pieces have influences from jazz and Western
music, using syncopation and triple time. This music tells stories and myths, maybe legends.

Vocal Percussion
Kouji is the Chinese vocal percussion.

Modern changes
In the early 20th century after the end of Imperial China, there were major changes to
traditional Chinese music as part of the New Culture Movement. Much of what Westerners
and even Chinese now consider to be music in the traditional Chinese style can be dated to
this period and is in fact less than 100 years old. The modernization of Chinese music
involved the adoption of some aspects of Western forms and values, such as the use of
Western conservatory system of teaching, and changes to the instruments and their tuning,
the composition, the orchestration of music, the notation system and performance style.
Some forms of Chinese music however remained traditional and are little changed.

Chinese orchestra
There was a tradition of massed instruments in the ritual court music form known
as yayue since the Zhou Dynasty. This music may be played by a handful of musicians, or
there may be more than 200 for example during the Song Dynasty.[31] During the Tang
Dynasty there were also large-scale presentations of banquet music called yanyue () in
the court. The Tang imperial court may have up to ten different orchestras, each
performing a different kind of music. It also had a large outdoor band of nearly 1,400
performers.[32]
The modern Chinese orchestra however was created in the 20th century modeled on
Western symphony orchestra using Chinese instruments. In the traditional yayue, a
single dominant melodic line was favored, but the new music and arrangements of
traditional melodies created for this modern orchestra is more polyphonic in nature.

Instruments and tuning

Many traditional instruments underwent changes in the early to mid 20th century which
has a profound effect on the performance and sound of Chinese music, and a western equal
temperament is now used to tune most traditional instruments, which to modern ears
seem less harsh and more harmonious but which also robs the instruments of
 their traditional voices. To ears now used to hearing modern tunings, even Chinese ones,
traditional tunings can sound out of tune and discordant.
In order to accommodate Western system, changes were made to the instruments, for
example in the pipa the number of frets was increased to 24, based on the 12 tone equal
temperament scale, with all the intervals being semitones.
There is also a need to standardize the tuning when the instruments are played in an
orchestra, which in turn may also affect how the instrument is made. For example,
traditionally dizi is made by using a solid piece of bamboo which made it impossible to
change the fundamental tuning once the bamboo is cut. This issue was resolved in the
1920s by the insertion of a copper joint to connect two pieces of shorter bamboo, which
allows the length of the bamboo to be modified so that minute adjustment to its
fundamental pitch can be made.[33] The Xindi, "new flute", is a 1930s redesign of the
Chinese flute incorporating western influences on the basis of equal temperament.
In order to achieve a greater vibrancy and loudness with instruments (not to mention
longevity), many string instruments are no longer strung with silk but with steel or nylon.
For example, metal strings began to be used in place of the traditional silk ones in the 1950s
for pipa, resulting in a change in the sound of the pipa which became brighter and
stronger.[34]

Notation
Before the 20th century Chinese used the gongche notation system, in modern times
the Jianpu system is common. Western staff notation however is also used.

Performance
In common with the music traditions of other Asian cultures, such as Persia and India, one
strand of traditional Chinese music consists of a repertoire of traditional melodies, together
known as qupai, in which tempo and ornamentation vary according to the mood of the
instrumentalist, the audience, and their reaction to what is being played, the same melody
can be used to serve many different roles be it merry, melancholic or martial (this can be
glimpsed in the love theme of the Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto where the same melody
at different points in the lover's story reflects elation, turbulence and dejection). Many
modern performers now play pieces by following a score in a standard way rather than in
the changeable reflective individual way of tradition, this can at times lead to the feeling
that a performance has been rushed.
 MODERN POPULAR MUSIC

Pop music
Chinese popular[35] music found its beginnings in the shidaiqu genre. The shidaiqu genre
was founded by Li Jinhui in mainland China and was influenced by Western jazz artists like
Buck Clayton. After the establishment of the Communist Party in China the Baak Doi record
company headquartered in Shanghai in 1952 left China.[36] The 1970s saw the rise
of cantopop in Hong Kong, and later mandopop in its neighboring country Taiwan.
Mainland China remained on the sidelines through the decades that followed with only a
minimal degree of participation in popular music. Only in recent years has the youth of
mainland China once again become a consumer in the mandopop music market of Taiwan.
Despite having a much larger population China is not yet considered a major production or
consumption hub for popular music.[37] Hong Kong's icon Anita Mui was banned from
returning to the mainland concert stage after performing the song "Bad Girl" during the
1990s in China; this was her punishment for what the Chinese government called her
rebellious attitude.[38] As Mui based much of her dance choreography on the style
of Madonna, Mui's moves, (in retrospect), were no more rebellious than what would seem
today to be a comparably subdued western popular dancing style. Somewhat like Mui's
early attempts, many mainland Chinese artists often begin with some commercial success
in Hong Kong or Taiwan and then attempt to re-introduce themselves into mainland China
as part of the gangtai culture. Since the end of the 20th century pop music in mainland
China is experiencing a rise in popularity. The beginning of the 21st century has seen
mainland Chinese artists producing a wide range of Mandarin pop songs and the release of
many new albums.
Many popular mainland Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwanese music artists were included in
promotions for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Hip Hop and Rap

Mandarin rap music gradually became popular in mainland China, especially in Shanghai
and Beijing where pop culture is very diverse and modern. Although Chinese perform rap in
different dialects and languages, most Chinese hip hop artists perform in China's most
popular language: Mandarin.
Cantonese rap is also very diverse in cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Rock and heavy metal

The Peking All-Stars were a rock band formed in Beijing in 1979, by foreigners then resident
in the Chinese capital.
 The widely acknowledged forefather of Chinese rock is Cui Jian.[22] In the late 1980s he
played the first Chinese rock song called: "Nothing To My Name" ("Yi wu suo you"). It was
the first time an electric guitar was used in China.[citation needed] He became the most famous
performer of the time, and by 1988 he performed at a concert broadcast worldwide in
conjunction with the Seoul Summer Olympic Games.[22] His socially critical lyrics earned him
the anger of the government and many of his concerts were banned or cancelled. After
the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, he played with a red blindfold around his head as
an action against the government.
Following, two bands became famous Hei Bao (Black Panther) and Tang Dynasty. Both
started during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Hei Bao is an old-school rock band whose
first CD, Hei Bao used the popular English song ("Don't Break My Heart"). Tang Dynasty was
the first Chinese heavy metal band. Its first CD "A Dream Return to Tang Dynasty" combines
elements of traditional Chinese opera and old school heavy metal. The album was a major
breakthrough releasing around 1991/1992.
Around 199496: the first thrash metal band, Chao Zai (Overload), was formed. They
released three CDs, the last one in cooperation with pop singer Gao Chi of the split-up
band The Breathing. At the same time the first nu metal bands were formed and inspired by
Western bands such as Korn, Limp Bizkit or Linkin Park. China would have their own
with Yaksa, Twisted Machine, AK-47, Overheal Tank.
Black metal is becoming a prominent scene in mainland China, particularly central China.

Punk rock
Punk rock became famous in China around 19941996 with the first Chinese artist of
the post punk genre being He Yong and his debut record Garbage Dump. The first real wave
of band formations erupted in 1995 concentrating in Beijing, and the second generation of
punk bands followed around 1997.
Since then, the Chinese punk scene has grown exponentially, with homegrown bands such
as Brain Failure, Demerit, Tookoo, AV Okubo, Hang on the Box and Fanzui Xiangfa all
embarking on international tours.

Western classical music

Whereas orchestras organised by, run solely by and nearly always exclusive to the
expatriate community in China are recorded from the early days of the International
Settlement in Shanghai (i.e. 1850s) and a Russian orchestra was in operation in Harbin from
the early 20th century,[39] the beginnings of a unique classical music tradition in China lie
with the first foreign trained Chinese conductor, Zheng Zhisheng AKA (romanized) Yin
Zizhong. Zheng (Yin or Wan depending on romanization) was raised in
China's Guangdong province. He was influenced by the Western Church Music at an early
age.[40] He studied in Lyons and Paris before returning to China in the 1930s. He became the
first Chinese conductor of the Chongqing Symphonic Orchestra.[41] Their performances
included compositions from Beethoven and Mozart.[41]
 The revolutionary spirit of Yin Zizhong's (or romanized Wan-Chi Chung's) style has been
continued by the first generation of composers immediately following the accession of the
Chinese Communist Party to power, namely Li Delun and Cao Peng. The former provided
the driving force and often the life force that kept a tradition alive through the Mao years,
especially in his adopted city of Beijing, and the latter has been instrumental in maintaining
a high standard of symphonic music, as well as working hard for the popularization of the
tradition further into the fabric of Chinese culture, across his long career, which continues
to the present. At the same time as this tradition has continued, new generations have
sought to bring classical music in China along another path, away from the strict
professionalism of the elite trained Li and Cao (who were both at the Russian conservatory
in the 1950s) and towards a less nationalistic, but arguably more encompassing attitude
towards the tradition. Most influential in this new movement has been the young Shanghai
conductor Long Yu.

Patriotic / Revolutionary music

Guoyue are basically music performed on some grand presentation to encourage national
pride. Since 1949, it has been by far the most government-promoted genre. Compared to
other forms of music, symphonic national music flourished throughout the country.
The Yellow River Piano Concerto was performed by the pianist Yin Chengzong, and is still
performed today on global stages. In 1969 the cantata was adapted to a piano concerto.
During the height of the Cultural Revolution, political music became the dominant form.
Music accelerated at the political level into "Revolutionary Music" leaning toward cult
status and becoming mainstream under pro-Communist ideology. Other forms of musical
composition and performance were greatly restricted. After the Cultural Revolution,
musical institutions were reinstated and musical composition and performance revived.
 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF CHINA
The Plucked String Instruments

1. The Lute family

o Pipa ( pi-pa or p'i-p'a) - four-stringed lute with 30

frets and pear-shaped body. The instrumentalist holds the
pipa upright and play with five small plectra attached to each
finger of the right hand. The pipa history can be dated back at
least 2000 years and developed from pentatonic to full scales.
This instrument has extremely wide dynamic range and
remarkable expressive power. (more about pipa ... )

o Liuqin ( ) -a smaller version of pipa with four strings, which sound

similar to mandolin. Liuqin is played with a piece of spectrum, and is used to be
accompany instrument for folk songs and local opera. However, in recent
decades, Composer Wang Huiran made great contribution to its making and
composed many pieces such that the Liuqin also becomes a soloist instrument.

o Sanxian ( )- A long necked lute with three strings without frets. In

Chinese, "san" and "xian" stands for " "three" and "strings", respectively. The
sound-body is made of round wooden box covered with snake skin, just like
erhu. A piece of plectrum is used to play the instrument. This instrument is often
used for accompanying folk songs and local opera. The sanxian is most popular in
the north.

o Ruan ( )- commonly referred to as "Chinese guitar", is an ancient four-

stringed moon-shaped lute with long
and straight neck and various number of
frets, dated back at least to Qin
Daynasty (around 200 BC). Ruan is used
to be called "p'i-p'a" (pipa) or qin-pipa.
Since the introduction of the oud-like
instrument through the
"silk-road" around 5th
century, a new type of "pipa" with pear-shaped body and bent
neck has been gradually developed into the present form since
the Tang Dynasty (618-917AD), and the name pipa, which used
to be a generic term for all pluck string lutes, has been
specifically given to this newly-developed version, whereas
the old form of pipa with straight-neck and round body got the
name "Ruan", after the name of the grand master of this
 instrument, Ruan Xian who was one of the seven great scholars known as "Seven
Sages of the Bamboo Grove" in Chinese history of the 3rd century (the Six
Dynasties). They were truely good friends and did spend much time together in
arts and wine during one of the darkest periods in Chinese history. Ruan Xian
and Ji Kang (master of guqin, Chinese 7-stringed zither), are most famous for
their musical achievements and the life as true artists. The Ruan is mostly used
for Peking opera, and now also in modern Chinese orchestra. There are a family
of ruan of various size including "Zhong Ruan" (middle Ruan) and "Da Ruan"
(large Ruan) used in the same sense as viola and cello in western orchestra.

o Yueqin ( )- moon-shaped lute with shorter neck and four strings, played
with a spectrum, used for accompanying local operas. "Yue" stands for "the
moon" in Chinese.

2. The zither family

o Guqin ( ) - seven-stringed zither without

bridges, the most classicalChinese instrument with over
3000 years of history. The guqin is often referred to as
the instrument of sages for the purpose of enriching the
heart and elevating human spirit. Confucius (around 600
BC) was a master of this instrument. In the Imperial
China's past, well-educated people of the elite society were expected to master
the four arts, namely, the qin (guqin), qi (weiqi, which has somehow been known
as "Go" in the West according Japanese pronuciation), shu (Calligraphy), and hua
(painting). Being on top of the four traditional arts, the guqin has historically
been regarded as one of the most important symbols of Chinese high culture.
Unfortunately only small number of people in China could play the instrument,
because classical musical education of this kind has never reached general
public. Fortunately, the situation has much been improved in recent decades,
there have been a growing number of guqin players both in and outside China.
Since november 2003, Guqin has been registered as one of the master pieces of
the Oral and Intangible Heritage of the humanity by UNESCO (more
information...)

o Zheng ( ) or Guzheng ( )- Chinese zither with movable bridges and

16 - 25 strings. In the same family there are the Japanese koto, the
 Vietnamese dan tranh, the Korean kayagum, and the Mongolian Yagta (more
information... )

3. The harp family

o Konghou ( Kong Hou) - One of the most ancient Chinese

music instruments that appeared in written texts of the Spring
and Autumn period (around 600 BC). The structure of the
Konghou looks similar to the harp, however, with its bridges
spanning the strings in the way similar to guzheng. There were
the wo-konghou (horizontal konghou), su-konghou (vertical
konghou) and phoenix-head konghou. Unfortunately not much of
this ancient instrument has been preserved. The reproduction of
the konghou started in the mid 50's. The structure of Today's konghou is a
combination of su-konghou and wo-konghou with the shape similar to harp. The
performing skill is diversified. Besides right-hand techniques, the left hand can
play vibratos, glissandos, etc. The tone quality is mellow and graceful and has a
typical Chinese flavour.

II. The Bowed String Instruments:

The huqin family

Erhu ( )- or Er-Hu, a two-stringed fiddle, is one of the most

popular Chinese instruments in the Hu-qin ( ) family, where Hu

stands for "foreign" or "the northern folk" in Chinese, and "qin" is a
general name for all kinds of string instruments. (more information about
Erhu ...).

Zhong-Hu ( ): If we call the "Erhu" Chinese violin, the Zhong-Hu is

then the Chinese viola, where "Zhong" stands for "middle", thus the
abbreviated name for the mid-pitched Erhu. It was developed on the basis
of Erhu in the 1940s. Both the structure and performing skill of these two
kinds of Hu-Qin are quite the same, yet Zhong-Hu has a deeper-sounding
timbre but not as agile. Being more suitable for singing melodies
(particularly some Mongolian melodies), Zhong-Hu is thus often used as tutti or
accompanying instruments, sometimes for solo too.

Jing-Hu ( ): Principally used as accompanying instrument for Beijing Opera, Jing-

Hu is another important two-stringed fiddle in the Huqin family. It was developed in Qin
 dynasty ( around 1790 ), which is often called the Hu-Qin. The pitch of Jing-Hu is the
highest among all instruments of the Hu-Qin family. Due to its forceful and clarion
timbre, Jing-Hu is suitable almost exclusively for Beijing opera.

Ban-Hu ( ): Ban-Hu has many other names such as Pang-Hu, Qin-Hu, Hu-Hu and
Da-Xian, etc. It is the leading accompanying instrument for Bang-Zi and other northern
tunes or ballads, particularly for the local operas in Henan Province, central China.
Similar to Jing-Hu, the timbre of Ban-Hu is clarion and bright, which makes it hard to join
other instruments for tutti. Therefore it's usually for solo, especially for presenting joyful
and passionate moods.

Gao-Hu ( ), also called High-pitched Erhu or Yue-Hu, is especially designed for

playing Cantonese folk melodies and operas. Gao-Hu is often used for performing vivid
and brisk rhythms, particularly for higher-pitched tunes that Erhu cannot play. In
comparison with Erhu, Gao-Hu has louder volume yet brighter tones, and thus it servers
both as solo and leading instrument in performing Cantonese operas and folk melodies.

Yehu ( ):two stringed bowed instrument similar to erhu, however, with a

coconut sound body where Ye means coconut. It is found mostly in South China and
Taiwan.

Sihu ( ): four stringed huqin used for accompanying local opera, most commonly
found in the North, such as Sanxi, Shanxi and Neimonggu. It is one of the three leading
instruments (together with dizi, yangqin) in "Er Ren Tai" of Neimonggu (Inner Mongolia).
"Si" stands for "four" in Chinese. The structure is similar to Erhu except it has four
strings. The horse-hair of the bow is divided into two group that go between the four
strings.

Zhuihu( ), also known as Zhuiqin, is one of the most popular instruments in

Henan and Shandong Provinces, used for local opera and story-telling. The instrument
was invented toward the end of Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912) based on the pluck string
Sanxian and bowed string erhu. The striking difference from Erhu is that Zhuihu has a
fretless fingerboard similar to Sanxian. The use of the bow is similar to that of
erhu. Basically the instrument is derived from a smaller version of Sanxian performed
with a bow, producing beautiful sounds with a strong local flavour, capable of imitating
a lot of natural sounds such as birds and horse etc. The playing methods adapt the left
hand techniques for the Sanxian and the bow techniques of erhu. The Zhuihu is one of
the most beautiful instruments of the huqin family, which has become very popular
soon after its invention in Henan and Shandong.

Leiqin ( ) is derived dirrectly from Zhuihu with few small modifications when
the instrument was introduced to Guangdong Province. The playing method is the same
as Zhuihu.
 Morin Khur ( Ma-Tou-Qin): The Morin Khur or horse-
headed violin is a typical Mongolian bowed instrument with two strings,
however, very different from Er-Hu. The horse hair of the bow doesn't
go between the two strings, instead, the instrument and the way of
playing is more similar to cello than to erhu. The instrument was
originally made from a horse head for the body, horse skin for the
resonator, and horse hair for the strings and bow. The music played
upon this instrument is of great variety and virtuosity. Much of the
music typically sounds like human voice, and can imitate a horse to such
an extent as real such as galloping horse, the whinnying, etc. The
modern Morin Khur has a wooden body and soundboard, 2 horse hair
strings, and has a rich warm tone and very beautiful sound. The
peghead is decorated with a detailed carving of a horse's head.

III. Hammered string instruments

- Yang-Qin or Chinese dulcimer

Yangqin ( ) is a Chinese hammered dulcimer

with a near-squared soundboard. The instrument is
very similar to Santur, played with two bamboo sticks.
 FAMOUS SINGERS IN CHINA

Wong Ka Kui
Wong Ka Kui is a famous Hong Kong singer. He is the lead vocalist,
rhythm guitarist, and the founder of the rock band Beyond. Wong
had strong influences on the people in the 1980s and
1990s, with his talent, passion on life and sense of social
responsibilities. His famous Songs such as The Land, Loving
You, Truly Love You, The Glorious Days and Under a Vast Sky are
the most beloved ones by fans. It is a pity that he died in 1993 for
suffering head injuries when falling off a stage in Japan.

Andy Lau
Andy Lau Tak-wah is a Hong Kong Cantonese pop singer and actor.
In the 1990s, Lau was branded by Hong Kong media as one of the
Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop along with Aaron Kwok, Jacky
Cheung and Leon Lai. He has recorded hundreds of songs, you can
find some of his most well-known songs.

Teresa Teng

Teresa Teng was regarded as one of the most influential Chinese pop
singers of all time. Her unique talent, sweet voice, cute smile and natural
performace made her the all-time greatest Asian singing icon and pop
diva. It is a true fact that wherever there are Chinese people, the songs
of Teresa Teng can be heard. Tragically Teng died of an asthma attack
while holidaying in Thailand on May 8, 1995 at the age of 42. You can
find her most classic songs here, every song is so beautiful and makes us
miss her so much.

Jay Chou

Jay Chou is a famous Taiwanese singer. He is the most successful and

influential Chinese singer since 2000. His songs inventively combines Chinese
and Western music styles to produce unique songs that assimilates R&B, rock
and pop genres. He is a very talented singer who composes all his own
songs. Some of his most popular songs include East Wind Breaks,
Chrysanthemum Flower Bed, Listen to Mamas Words, Common Orange
Jasmine, Faraway and Blue and White Porcelain.

Jacky Cheung

Jacky Cheung nicknamed God of Songs, he has over a

hundred platinum discs to his name, and millions of fans
around the world. The Chinese language media refers to him,
Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four
Heavenly Kings. His popular songs include Best Wishes,
Farewell Kiss, Loving You More Every Day and Love Sparks.

Faye Wong

Faye Wong is a talented Chinese singer and is referred to as a

diva by the Chinese media. With angel songs, independent and
easy personality and charm on the stage, Wong has captured
hearts of many of her fans. In 2000 she was recognized by
Guinness World Records as the Best Selling Canto-Pop Female.

Leslie Cheung

Leslie Cheung was an world-renowned famous actor and singer. Though he

is more well-known for her movies like Farewell My Concubine and
Temptress Moon, he is also performed many popular canton pop songs.
His most famous songs like Monica, A Thousand Dream of You, Bygone
Love, Wild Wind and Silence is Golden, won many awards in various music
festivals. Tormented by emotional-sentimental troubles, the 47-year
superstar committed suicide by jumping off a high-rise hotel on April 1,
2003.

Leehom Wang

Leehom Wang is an American Chinese singer. His musical style

is known for fusing Chinese elements with hip-hop and R&B.
Wang has been active since 1995 and released 25 albums. My
favorite tracks from Wang include The One and Only,
Unbelievable, Kiss Goodbye and Change Me.
 CHINESE ART
Chinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China
or by Chinese artists. The Chinese art in the Republic of China (Taiwan) and that of overseas
Chinese can also be considered part of Chinese art where it is based in or draws on Chinese
heritage and Chinese culture. Early "stone age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly consisting
of simple pottery and sculptures. After this early period Chinese art, like Chinese history, is
typically classified by the succession of ruling dynasties of Chinese emperors, most of which
lasted several hundred years.

Neolithic pottery

Black eggshell pottery of the Longshan culture (c. 30002000 B.C.E.)

Early forms of art in China are found in the Neolithic Yangshao

culture(Chinese: ; pinyin: Yngsho Wnhu), which dates back to
the sixth millennium B.C.E. Archeological findings such as those at the Banpo
have revealed that the Yangshao made pottery; early ceramics
were unpainted and most often ornamented by with marks made by
pressing cords into the wet clay. The first pictorial decorations were fish and
human faces, which eventually evolved into symmetrical-geometric abstract designs, some
painted.
The most distinctive feature of Yangshao culture was the extensive use of painted pottery,
especially human facial, animal, and geometric designs. Unlike the later Longshan culture, the
Yangshao culture did not use pottery wheels in pottery making. According to archaeologists,
Yangshao society was based around matriarchal clans. Excavations have found that children
were buried in painted pottery jars.

Jade culture

Jade bi from the Liangzhu culture. The ritual object is a symbol of wealth and military power.

Tools such as hammer heads, ax heads and knives were made of jade
nephrite during the Neolithic period (c. 12,000 c. 2,000 B.C.E.). The
Liangzhu culture, the last Neolithic jade culture in the Yangtze
River delta, lasted for a period of about 1300 years from 3400 -
2250 B.C.E. The jade from this culture is characterized by finely worked,
large ritual jades such as Cong cylinders, Bi discs, Yue axes, pendants and decorations in the
form of chiseled open-work plaques, plates and representations of small birds, turtles and fish.
Liangzhu jade has a white, milky bone-like aspect due to its origin as Tremolite rock and the
influence of water-based fluids at the burial sites.

Shang Dynasty (Yin) bronze ritual wine vessel, dating to the thirteenth century B.C.E.

Bronze casting
The Bronze Age in China began with the Xia Dynasty (ca. 2100 1600 B.C.E.). Examples from
this period have been recovered from ruins of the Erlitou culture, in Shanxi, and include
complex but unadorned utilitarian objects. In the following Shang Dynasty () or Yin Dynasty
() (ca. 1600 - ca. 1100 B.C.E.), more elaborate objects, including many ritual vessels, were
crafted. The Shang are recognized for their bronze casting, noted for its clarity of detail.
Excavations show that Shang bronzesmiths usually worked in foundries outside the cities and
made ritual vessels, weapons and sometimes chariot fittings. The bronze vessels were
receptacles for storing or serving various solids and liquids used in the performance of sacred
ceremonies. Some forms such as the ku and jue can be very graceful, but the most powerful
pieces are the ding, sometimes described as having an "air of ferocious majesty."

A Zhou Dynasty bronze musical bell

Shang bronzes became appreciated as works of art during the Song

Dynasty (960 1279 C.E.), when they were collected and prized not only
for their shape and design but also for the various green, blue green, and
even reddish patinas created by chemical action as they lay buried in the
ground. The study of early Chinese bronze casting is a specialized field of
art history.

Early Chinese music

The origins of Chinese music and poetry can be found in the Book of Songs, containing poems
composed between 1000 B.C.E. and 600 B.C.E.. The text, preserved among the canon of early
Chinese literature, contains folk songs, religious hymns and stately songs. Originally intended to
be sung, the music accompanying the words has unfortunately been lost. The songs were
written for a variety of purposes, including courtship, ceremonial greetings, warfare, feasting
and lamentation. The love poems are among the most appealing in the freshness and
innocence of their language.
Early Chinese music was based on percussion instruments such as the bronze bell. Chinese bells
were sounded by being struck from the outside, usually with a piece of wood. Sets of bells were
suspended on wooden racks. Inside excavated bells are grooves, scrape marks and scratches
made as the bells were tuned to the right pitch by removing small amounts of metal. Percussion
instruments gradually gave way to string and reed instruments toward the Warring States
period.

Chinese pu vessel with interlaced dragon design, Spring and Autumn

Period (722 B.C.E.-481 B.C.E.).

Significantly, the Chinese character for the word music (yue) was the
same as that for joy (le). Confuciansbelieved music had the power to
make people harmonious and well balanced, or to cause them to be quarrelsome and
depraved. According to Xun Zi, music was as important as the li (rites, etiquette) stressed in
Confucianism. Mozi, philosophically opposed to Confucianism, dismissed music as useless and
wasteful, having no practical purpose.

Chu and Southern culture

A rich source of art in early China was the state of Chu (722 481 B.C.E.), which developed in
the Yangtze River valley. Painted wooden sculptures, jade disks, glass beads, musical
instruments, and an assortment of lacquerware have been found in excavations of Chu tombs.
Many of the lacquer objects are finely painted, red on black or black on red. The world's oldest
painting on silk discovered to date was found at a site in Changsha, Hunan province. It shows a
woman accompanied by a phoenix and a dragon, two mythological animals that feature
prominently in Chinese art.
An anthology of Chu poetry has also survived in the form of the Chu Ci, which has been
translated into English by David Hawkes. Many of the works in the text are associated with
Shamanism. There are also descriptions of fantastic landscapes, examples of China's first nature
poetry. The longest poem, "Encountering Sorrow," is reputed to have been written by the
tragic Qu Yuan as a political allegory.

Early Imperial China (221 B.C.E. 220 C.E.)

Qin sculpture

Crossbow men from the Terracotta Army, interred by

210 B.C.E., Qin Dynasty

A gilded bronze lamp with a shutter, in the shape of a

maidservant, from the Western Han Dynasty, 2nd
 century B.C.E.

Two gentlemen engrossed in conversation while two others look on, a painting on a ceramic tilefrom
a tomb near Luoyang, Henanprovince, dated to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25220 C.E.)
The Terracotta Army, inside the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, consists of
more than seven thousand life-size tomb terra-cotta figures of warriors and horses
buried with the self-proclaimed first Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huang) in 210209
B.C.E..
The figures were painted before being placed into the vault. The original colors were visible
when the pieces were first unearthed, but exposure to air caused the pigments to fade. The
figures are in several poses including standing infantry and kneeling archers, as well as
charioteers with horses. The head of each figure appears to be unique; the figures exhibit a
variety of facial features and expressions as well as hair styles.

Pottery
Porcelain is made from a hard paste comprised of the clay kaolin and a feldspar called petuntse,
which cements the vessel and seals any pores. The word china (chinaware) has become
synonymous with high-quality porcelain. Most china comes from the city of Jingdezhen in
China's Jiangxi province. Jingdezhen, under a variety of names, has been central to porcelain
production in China since at least the early Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E.220 C.E.).
The most noticeable difference between porcelain and other pottery clays is that it "wets" very
quickly (that is, added water has a noticeably greater effect on the plasticity of porcelain clays),
and that it tends to continue to "move" longer than other clays, requiring experience in
handling to attain optimum results. Porcelain is fired at very high temperatures and the result is
a translucent quality, allowing light to penetrate the finished product.
In medieval Europe, Chinese porcelain was very expensive and much sought after for its beauty.

Han paper art

The invention of paper during the Han dynasty[4] spawned two new Chinese arts. Chinese paper
cutting originated as a pastime among the nobles in royal palaces[5]. The Song Dynasty scholar
Chou Mi mentioned several paper cutters who cut paper with scissors into a great variety of
designs and characters in different styles, and a young man who could even cut characters and
flowers inside his sleeve[6]. The oldest surviving paper cut out is a symmetrical circle from the
sixth century found in Xinjiang, China[6].
The art of Chinese paper folding also originated in the Han dynasty, later developing
into origami after Buddhist monks introduced paper to Japan[7].

Other Han art

The Han Dynasty was also known for jade burial suits, made of thousands of jade plates
threaded together with gold, silver or copper wire, or with silk threads. One of the earliest
known depictions of a landscape in Chinese art comes from a pair of hollow-tile door panels
from a Western Han Dynasty tomb near Zhengzhou, dated 60 B.C.E.[8] A scene of continuous
depth recession is conveyed by the zigzag of lines representing roads and garden walls, giving
the impression that one is looking down from the top of a hill.[8] This artistic landscape scene
was made by the repeated impression of standard stamps on the clay while it was still soft and
not yet fired.[8]

Period of Division (220581)

A scene of two horseback riders from a wall painting in the tomb of Lou Rui at
Taiyuan, Shanxi, Northern Qi Dynasty (550577)

A Chinese Northern Wei Buddha Maitreya, 443 C.E.

Influence of Buddhism
Buddhism arrived in China around the first century C.E. (although some
traditions tell of a monk visiting China during Asoka's reign), and for the next
seven centuries China became very active in the development of Buddhist
art, particularly in the area of statuary. Strong Chinese traits were soon incorporated in
Buddhist artistic expression.
From the fifth to sixth century, the Northern Dynasties, physically distant from the original
sources of inspiration, developed symbolic and abstract modes of representation with
schematic lines. Their style is solemn and majestic. The lack of corporeality of this art, and its
distance from the original Buddhist objective of expressing the pure ideal of enlightenment in
an accessible, realistic manner, progressed towards more the natural and realistic expression of
Tang Buddhist art.

Northern Wei wall murals and painted figurines from the Yungang Grottoes, dated fifth to
sixth centuries.

Calligraphy

Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, an Eastern Jin (265-420) tomb painting from

Nanjing, now located in the Shaanxi Provincial Museum.

 Strolling About in Spring, by Zhan Ziqian, artist of the Sui Dynasty
(581618).

Part of the scroll for Admonitions of the Instructress to the Palace

Ladies, a Tang Dynasty duplication of the original by Gu Kaizhi.

In ancient China, painting and calligraphy were the most highly appreciated arts in court circles
and were produced almost exclusively by amateurs, aristocrats and scholar-officials who had
the leisure to perfect the technique and sensibility necessary for great brushwork. Calligraphy
was considered the highest and purest form of painting. The implements were the brush pen,
made of animal hair, and black inks, made from pine soot and animal glue. Writing as well as
painting was done on silk until the invention of paper in the first century. Original writings by
famous calligraphers have been greatly valued throughout China's history.
Wang Xizhi (Chinese: , 303361), a famous Chinese calligrapher who lived in the 4th
century C.E., is known for Lanting Xu, the preface to a collection of poems written by a number
of poets who gathered at Lan Ting near the town of Shaoxing, in Zhejiang province, to engage in
a game called "qu shui liu shang."

His teacher was Wei Shuo (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Wi
Shu, 272349), commonly addressed as Lady Wei (), a well-known calligrapher who
established consequential rules for Regular Script. Her works include Famous Concubine
Inscription ( Ming Ji Tie) and The Inscription of Wei-shi He'nan ( Wei-shi
He'nan Tie).

Gu Kaizhi (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: G

Kizh; Wade-Giles: Ku K'ai-chih) (ca. 344-406), a celebrated painter born in Wuxi, wrote three
books on painting theory: On Painting (), Introduction of Famous Paintings of Wei and Jin
Dynasties () and Painting Yuntai Mountain (). He wrote, "In figure
paintings the clothes and the appearances were not very important. The eyes were the spirit
and the decisive factor."
Three of Gu's paintings still survive: "Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies,"
"Nymph of the Luo River" (), and "Wise and Benevolent Women."
Other examples of Jin Dynasty painting have been found in tombs. Seven Sages of the Bamboo
Grove,painted on a brick wall of a tomb located near modern Nanjing and now found in the
Shaanxi Provincial Museum, depicts a famous group of seven Daoist scholars, each labeled and
shown either drinking, writing, or playing a musical instrument. Other tomb paintings portray
scenes of daily life, such as men plowing fields with teams of oxen.

The Sui and Tang dynasties (581960)

A Chinese Tang Dynasty tri-color glazed porcelain horse (ca. 700 C.E.),
using yellow, green and white colors.

The Tang period was considered the golden age of Chinese literature and art.

Buddhist Architecture and Sculpture

Following a transition under the Sui Dynasty, Buddhist sculpture of the Tang evolved towards
markedly lifelike expression. Buddhism continued to flourish during the Tang period and was
adopted by the imperial family, becoming thoroughly sinicized and a permanent part of Chinese
traditional culture. As a consequence of the Dynasty's openness to foreign influences, and
renewed exchanges with Indian culture due to the numerous travels of Chinese Buddhist monks
to India from the fourth to the eleventh century, Tang dynasty Buddhist sculpture assumed a
classical form, inspired by the Indian art of the Gupta period. Towards the end of the Tang
dynasty foreign influences came to be negatively perceived. In the year 845, the Tang emperor
Wu-Tsung outlawed all "foreign" religions (including Christian Nestorianism, Zoroastrianism and
Buddhism) in order to support the indigenous Daoism. He confiscated Buddhist possessions and
forced the faith to go underground, affecting the further development of the religion and its
arts in China.

Seated Mahayana Buddha statue, Tang dynasty

Most wooden Tang sculptures have not survived, though

representations of the Tang international style can still be seen in
Nara, Japan. Some of the finest examples of Tang stone sculpture can
be seen at Longmen, near Luoyang, Yungang near Datong, and Bingling
Temple, in Gansu.
One of the most famous Buddhist Chinese pagodas is the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, built in 652
C.E..

A Man Herding Horses, by Han Gan (706- 783 C.E.), Tang Dynasty
original.

Golden age of Chinese poetry

From the second century C.E., yue fu (Chinese poems composed in the style of folk songs)
began to develop into shithe form which was to dominate Chinese poetry until the modern
era. The writers of these poems took the five-character line of the yue fu and used it to express
more complex ideas. The shi poem was generally an expression of the poet's personal nature
rather than the adopted characters of the yue fu;many were romantic nature poems heavily
influenced by Daoism.

The Chinese term gushi ("old poems") refers either to the mostly anonymous shi poems, or
more generally to the poems written in the same form by later poets. Gushi are distinct
from jintishi (regulated verse); the writer of gushi was under no formal constraints other than
line length and rhyme (in every second line).
Jintishi, or regulated verse, developed from the 5th century onwards. By the Tang dynasty, a
series of set tonal patterns had been developed, which were intended to ensure a balance
between the four tones of classical Chinese in each couplet: the level tone, and the three
deflected tones (rising, falling and entering). The Tang dynasty was the high point of the jintishi.
Notable poets from this era include Bai Juyi, Du Mu, Han Yu, Jia Dao, Li Qiao, Liu Zongyuan, Luo
Binwang, Meng Haoran, Wang Wei, and Zhang Jiuling.

Li Po and Du Fu
Li Po and Du Fu, regarded by many as the greatest of the Chinese poets, both lived during the
Tang Dynasty.

The Leshan Giant Buddha, 71 meters tall, construction began in 713 C.E.,
completed 90 years later.

Over a thousand poems are attributed to Li Po, but the

authenticity of many of these is uncertain. He is best known
for his intense and imaginative yue fu poems. Li Po is
associated with Daoism, but his gufeng("ancient airs") often
adopt the perspective of the Confucian moralist. He composed
approximately 160 jueju (five- or seven-character quatrains)
on nature, friendship, and acute observations of life. Some
poems, like Changgan xing (translated by Ezra Pound as A River Merchant's Wife: A Letter),
record the hardships or emotions of common people.
Since the Song dynasty, critics have called Du Fu the "poet historian." The most directly
historical of his poems are those commenting on military tactics or the successes and failures of
the government, or the poems of advice which he wrote to the emperor.

Tang Dynasty mural painting from Dunhuang.

One of the Du Fu's earliest surviving works, The Song of the Wagons (c.
750), gives voice to the sufferings of a conscript soldier in the imperial
army, even before the beginning of the rebellion. Du Fu mastered all the
forms of Chinese poetry and used a wide range of registers, from the
direct and colloquial to the allusive and self-consciously literary.

Painting

Painting by Dong Yuan (c. 934962).

During the Tang dynasty (618907), landscape painting

(shanshui) became highly developed. These landscapes, usually
monochromatic and sparse, were not intended to reproduce
exactly the appearance of nature but to evoke an emotion or
atmosphere and capture the "rhythm" of nature.
The oldest known classical Chinese landscape painting is a
work by Zhan Ziqian of the Sui Dynasty (581618), Strolling
About In Spring in which the mountains are arranged to show
perspective.
Painting in the traditional style involved essentially the same
techniques as calligraphy and was done with a brush dipped in
black or colored ink on paper and silk. The finished work was
then mounted on scrolls, which could be hung or rolled up.
Traditional painting was also done in albums and on walls, lacquer work, and other media.
Dong Yuan, a painter of the Southern Tang Kingdom, was known for both figure and landscape
paintings, and exemplified the elegant style which would become the standard for brush
painting in China over the next 900 years. Like many Chinese painters, he was a government
official. Dong Yuan studied and emulated the styles of Li Sixun and Wang Wei, but added new
techniques including more sophisticated perspective and the use of pointillism and
crosshatching to build up vivid effect.
Song and Yuan dynasties (9601368)

Song Dynasty ding-ware porcelain bottle with iron pigment under a transparent colorless
glaze, eleventh century

A wooden Bodhisattva from the Song Dynasty (960-1279 C.E.)

The Sakyamuni Buddha, by Zhang Shengwen, 1173-1176 C.E., Song Dynasty period.

Playing Children, by Song artist Su Hanchen, c. 1150 C.E..

Song poetry
Beginning in the Liang Dynasty, Ci lyric poetry followed the tradition of
the Shi Jing and yue fu; lyrics from anonymous popular songs (some of
Central Asian origin) were developed into a sophisticated literary genre.
The form was further developed during the Tang Dynasty, and was most
popular in the Song Dynasty.
Ci most often expressed feelings of desire, often in an adopted persona,
but the greatest exponents of the form (such as Li Houzhu and Su Shi)
used it to address a wide range of topics.
Well-known poets of the Song Dynasty include Zeng Gong, Li Qingzhao, Lu You, Mei
Yaochen, Ouyang Xiu, Su Dongpo, Wang Anshi, and Xin Qiji.

Song painting
During the Song dynasty (9601279), landscapes of more subtle expression appeared;
immeasurable distances were conveyed through the use of blurred outlines, mountain contours
disappearing into the mist, and impressionistic treatment of natural phenomena. Emphasis was
placed on the spiritual qualities of the painting and on the ability of the artist to reveal the inner
harmony of man and nature, as perceived according to Daoist and Buddhist concepts.
Liang Kai, a Chinese painter who lived in the thirteenth century (Song Dynasty), called himself
"Madman Liang." He spent his life drinking and painting, eventually retiring to become
a Zen monk. Liang is credited with inventing the Zen school of Chinese art.
Wen Tong, who lived in the eleventh century, was famous for ink paintings of bamboo. He
could hold two brushes in one hand and paint two different bamboos simultaneously. He did
not need to look at bamboo while he painted because he was so familiar with their appearance
and character.
Zhang Zeduan is noted for his horizontal cityscape Along the River During Qingming Festival,
which has been copied many times throughout Chinese history.[9] Other famous paintings
include The Night Revels of Han Xizai, originally painted by the Southern Tang artist Gu
Hongzhong in the tenth century. The best-known version of his painting is a twelfth century
copy from the Song Dynasty. The large horizontal hand scroll shows men of the gentry class
being entertained by musicians and dancers while enjoying food, beverage, and being offered
wash basins by maidservants.

Yuan painting
Wang Meng was a Chinese painter during the Yuan dynasty. One of his well-known works
is Forest Grotto.
Zhao Mengfu, a Chinese scholar, painter and calligrapher during the Yuan Dynasty, rejected the
refined, gentle brushwork of his era in favor of the cruder style of the eighth century and is
considered to have brought about a revolution that resulted in modern Chinese landscape
painting. Qian Xuan (1235-1305), a patriot from the Song court who refused to serve
the Mongols and instead turning to painting, revived and reproduced the vivid and detailed
Tang Dynasty style.

Late imperial China (1368-1911)

Detail of Dragon Throne used by the Qianlong Emperor of China, Forbidden

City, Qing Dynasty. Artifact circulating in U.S. museums on loan from Beijing

Ming poetry
Gao Qi (1336 1374) is acknowledged by many as the greatest
poet of the Ming Dynasty. His style was a radical departure
from the extravagance of Yuan dynasty poetry, and led the way for three hundred years of
Ming dynasty poetry.

Ming prose

Zhang Dai (; pinyin: Zhng Di, courtesy name: Zhongzhi (), pseudonym: Tao'an (
)) (1597 - 1689) is acknowledged as the greatest essayist of the Ming dynasty.
Wen Zhenheng, (Chinese: ; pinyin: Wn Zhnhng; Wade-Giles: Wen Chen-heng, 1585
1645) the great grandson of Wen Zhengming, a famous Ming dynasty painter, wrote a classic on
garden architecture and interior design, Zhang Wu Zhi (On Superfluous Things).

Ming painting

Peach Festival of the Queen Mother of the West, early seventeenth century, Ming
Dynasty.

Chinese painting from 1664

Chinese culture bloomed during the Ming dynasty. Narrative painting,

with a wider color range and a much busier composition than the
Song paintings, became very popular. As techniques of color printing
were perfected, illustrated manuals on the art of painting began to be
published. Jieziyuan Huazhuan (Manual of the Mustard Seed
Garden), a five-volume work first published in 1679, has been in use
as a technical textbook for artists and students ever since.
Wen Zhengming (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: Wn
Zhngmng; Wade-Giles: Wen Cheng-ming, 14701559), a leading Ming Dynasty painter
and calligrapher, painted subjects of great simplicity, such as single trees or rocks. His
discontent with official life is expressed as a feeling of strength through isolation in his works.
Many of his works celebrate the contexts of elite social life for which they were created.

Painting by Wen Zhengming

Xu Wei (Chinese: ; pinyin: X Wi, 15211593), a Ming Chinese painter,

poet and dramatist, is considered the founder of modern painting in China.
Revolutionary for its time, his painting style influenced and inspired countless
subsequent painters, such as Zhu Da, the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, and the
modern masters Wu Changshuo and Qi Baishi.
Matteo Ricci (October 6, 1552 May 11, 1610; Traditional Chinese:
; Simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: L Mdu; courtesy name: Xti), an
Italian Jesuit priest, arrived in China in 1583 and introduced Western geography, science, music,
painting and technology for the first time to Chinese scholars.
Visual art
Beginning in the late 1980s younger Chinese visual artists received unprecedented exposure in
the West through Chinese museum curators based outside the country. Museum curators
within China, such as Gao Minglu, and critics such as Li Xianting () have reinforced the
promotion of particular newly-emerged brands of painting, and spread the idea of art as a
strong social force within Chinese culture. Critics contend that these curators are exercising
personal preferences and that the majority of avant-garde Chinese artists are alienated from
Chinese officialdom and the patronage of the Western art market.

Contemporary Chinese Art

The new visual art market
The market for Chinese art, both contemporary and ancient, has exploded in recent years.
Globalization has increased Western awareness of and appreciation for Chinese art, and the
growth of a wealthy middle class in China has created a new market within China. In 2008,
China overtook France as the world's third-largest art market, after the United States and the
United Kingdom.[11] [12]The 798 Art District, or Dashanzi, in East Beijing, where artists and
dealers work out of Bauhaus-style factories built in the 1950s, has grown so popular since it
surfaced six years ago that it is jammed with visitors on weekends. There are an estimated
20,000 artists in the Peoples Republic of China and one thousand more graduate every year[13].
A 1993 painting, "Tiananmen Square" by Zhang Xiaogang sold for USD $2.3 million in Hong Kong
in 2006. A 1964 painting "All the Mountains Blanketed in Red" was sold for HKD $35
million. Sotheby's auctioned Xu Beihong's 1939 masterpiece "Put Down Your Whip"for US
$9,220,839 [14]. In 2006 Christie's sold a Chinese porcelain bowl with the mark of Emperor
Qianlong for US $19,376,569[15]. There is concern that increased competition is driving prices
artificially high, and that buyers are too inexperienced to distinguish valuable pieces from
forgeries or second-rate art.

Traditional Chinese Clothing

During the long history of traditional Chinese clothing, changes, developments, and
improvements occured all the time. However, Chinese clothing can still be easily told apart
from others, all because of its unique features. Some of the general features include: cross-
collar with junction leading to right, no buttons but tying with sash on the waist. In addition,
there are many other detailed features that make the unparalleled style of Chinese clothing
unique.

Traditional Chinese clothing has two basic forms: blouse plus skirt,
and long gown. They have been co-used and co-existed in history for
many thousands of years. Generally, men wore long gowns more
often, while women preferred blouse and skirt.

Appearance: Emphasizing longitudinal direction to make the body

look longer. The clothes drop naturally from collar; there are no
exaggerations on shoulders; the sleeves are long enough to cover the
hands and the skirt is long and in a tubular shape.

Tailoring: Plane, straight-line cutting. This makes the structure of the

clothes simple. No matter whether it is a gown, a shirt, a blouse, or a Tangzhuang Suit
jacket; there are usually only two structure lines from armpits down to
two sides, and no armholes and shoulder pads. Thus, the piece of cloth can be laid flat.
However, this tailoring method often pays too much attention to the front and back, neglecting
the two sides, which in turn hides the beauty of body curve.

Details of Specific Areas: The types of collar include cross, round, and straight, etc. When
Chinese style buttons came into being, they can be set down the middle front, on the twisted
front, and from collar down to right armpit, etc. The gowns or skirts are usually designed with
two full-length slits, to either side, or less commonly, four; one each: left, right, front, and
backFor millennia, and still today, these crafts continue to be employed by clothing designers
to show quintessential Chinese elements. Straight collar and slits on two sides are the most
typical.

Straight Collar of Chinese Suit Collar of Cheongsam

Decoration: The most common techniques include: inlay, inserting, border, coiling,
and embroidery, etc. These crafts make simple-tailored clothes colorful and beautiful. Among
all these, embroidery is the most famous and popular worldwide. With a history of millennia,
this style has remained an integral part of Chinese culture for over 2000 years.

The earliest materials used in making

clothes are kudzu cloth, ramie cloth, and
hemp cloth. About 4,700 years
ago, silk was invented, and it gradually
became a very popular material, especially
with the upper class. The invention of silk
was, and remains, one of the great
contributions the Chinese people have
given to the world. It inspired the large-
scale commercial communication between
the Orient and Occident, which is
famously referred to as The Silk Road. By
the time of the Yuan (1271 - 1368 AD) and Material for Making Chinese Costume
Ming (1368 - 1644 AD) dynasties, one
other material of worldwide significance
was introduced from India; Cotton, which became widely used.

Colors: The colors of traditional Chinese clothing are greatly influenced by Five-element Theory:
cyan, red, black, white, and yellow, which represent the five elements. These are pure colors,
while the others are secondary colors. Pure colors were mostly used by the upper class in most
dynasties. They were also matching colors, as favored by common people. Another popular
color among folk was blue, like indigo calico, and batik fabrics. In color matching, ancient
Chinese people preferred bright ones in order to make the clothes grand and elegant.

Patterns: It is a tradition for Chinese people to express good wishes by using patterns. This is
echoed in the arts of making clothes, from luxury silk, to relatively cheap calico. The patterns
used on clothes can be animals, plants, flowers, mountains, architectures, geometrical patterns,
or other auspicious designs. They are not only beautiful, but also meaningful. One example,
dragons on an Emperors robe are saying that the Emperor is the son of the heaven.

ELEMENTS & PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

In order to form a clearer understanding of each element and principle, I applied the various
terms to pieces of art in the Freer Sackler Art Gallery in Washington, D.C. Specifically, I chose to
look at the gallerys collection of Ancient Chinese art. Most of the art that I looked at dealt with
the Eastern Zhou dynasty. As was expected, much of this work was bronze. The Eastern Zhou
dynasty, the second of the two Zhou dynasties, was considered, along with the Shang dynasty,
to be the Bronze Age within China.

Elements of Design:
Point

Flowering Prunus in a Pot, Sun Kehong (1532-1610)

This ink drawing is an excellent representation of one of the elements of design, point.
Specifically, this drawing demonstrates the idea of point continuity. Continuity describes the
tendency of a piece of art to connect the dots so that the image has form. If one looks closely
at this drawing, they can see the points within this work that connect together in order to
create the larger image.

Line

Chrysanthemums and Pine Tree, Wen Zhengming (1470-1559)

This scroll depicts a picture of Chrysanthemums and a Pine Tree. To the left of the picture, we
can see a poem written by the Chinese poet Tao Qian (365-427). It is believed that the pictures
and the poem come from the poem, Ive Got to Get Home. In that work, Qian wrote, The
three trails [through my garden] are all overgrown, but the pines and chrysanthemums remain
/ Leading my children I enter the house, where the pitcher is brimming with wine. This work
represents the element of design known as line because it is an excellent depiction of
calligraphy, one of the forms of the idea of line.

Form

Mourning attendant, 7th century

This limestone sculpture depicts a mourning attendant who is dressed in remarkably detailed
clothing. This sculpture represents the idea of form because it clearly shows an object that is a
defined shape within a space. This sculpture can be described as three dimensional and
geometric. It is interesting to note that form is often affected by the way in which we view a
piece of art. For example, this sculpture takes on a different form when view from the side, as
seen below.

Movement
 Foreign dancer, 7-8th century

For the idea of movement, I chose this bronze depiction of a dancer. I think that this piece
presents quite an interesting perception of movement. Although the object is clearly stationary,
movement is implied through the use of a position that encourages the audience to see the
dancer in terms of life as opposed to stillness. I found it interesting that this dancer was
positioned next to another bronze piece that is also a wonderful example of movement. See
below.

Leaping lion, 7-8th century

Color

Tomb guardian, 8th century

This sculpture is a piece of earthenware decorated with three-color lead glaze. The color that is
used contributes to the emphasis of this sculpture. The bright colors are used to signify the
importance, prominence, and intimidation that one should associate with this guardian. This is
an example of how color can be used to enhance a piece

Pattern

Bell, 6th century

This bell from the 6th century is composed of an engraving that has many unique patterns. The
engravings on this bell play off of one another in order to create a visually appealing piece that
relies on its decoration in order to create the proper visually and auditory appeal.

Texture

Ritual wine vessel, Fang hu (8th century)

This a wine vessel that was created in the 8th century. On the body of the vase, there is a
pattern carved which creates a texture that is both visual and tangible. The texture enhances
the cultural significance of this piece; according to the description of this vessel, it was meant to
portray the grandeur of its owner. Texture is often used to enhance a piece and add decorative
importance. A close-up of the carving can be seen in the photograph below.

Principles of Design:

Balance

Chimera, 3-4th century

This sculpture is a unique example of the principle of balance because it contradicts our normal
instincts. Rather than being balanced from one center point, this chimera has been constructed
so that its weight is divided over different parts of the sculpture. This creates a balanced object
that can be described as asymmetrical; the weight is not divided among two equal sides.
Asymmetrical balance also refers to the idea that the mind must jump to the object and
question the purpose of its structure.

Proportion

Set of six bells, 6th century

This set of bells creates a pattern and proportion that plays into both the visual appeal of the
sculpture as well as auditory value of the bells. Proportion deals with the size of all the objects
within a design and how they relate to one another. These bells, while all the same width, are
different lengths. This difference creates a change in both their visual meaning and their
auditory power. Proportion is key in this piece because is not only affects the visual appeal, but
also the practical value of the bells.

Rhythm

Bracelet, late 18-19th century

This is a gold bracelet that demonstrates the principle of rhythm through its use of pattern and
shape. The bracelet creates a linear rhythm that pulls the eye toward the shape of the circle.
The pattern and movement that compose this bracelet allow the observer to see a rhythmic
tone underlying the ornate construction. See another view below.

Emphasis

Daoist stela, (572)

This sculpture is a prime example of the principle of emphasis. It is very clear to the viewer the
the eye is meant to be drawn to the relief featured in the middle of the sculpture. Although
there is no contrast of color to draw the eye to the point of emphasis, there is clearly a contrast
in shape and pattern which dictate the focal point of the piece.

Critique:
Unity

Buddhist stela, early 6th century

This sculpture was created in the early 6th century in China, during the Northern Wei
period. The sculpture is made out of sandstone and it contains traces of paint. The piece
stands approximately 7 feet tall and 3 feet wide. Its depth measures approximately two feet.
One of the first details that the viewer notices is the relief done in the middle and near the
bottom of the piece. This relief immediately draws your attention to the Buddha featured near
the bottom. This relief contains a Buddha who is surrounded by bodhisattvas or enlightened
beings. These enlightened figures can be identified by their scarves and ornaments. This relief
displays the principle of emphasis through its powerful and prominent display. In addition to
the central niche, there are several smaller Buddhas carved throughout the piece; this imagery
is referred to as the Thousand Buddha motif. This motif represents a gathering of Buddhas of
all ages and universes. This motif creates a pattern throughout the sculpture that exemplifies
movement and form. The third recognizable figure in this piece is the seated figure, Maitreya.
He is the Buddha of the Future.