Chapter 11 - CHINA

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CHINESE HISTORY IS MEASURED IN DYNASTIES. BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS WERE PRODUCED IN ALL PERIODS, BUT MOST OF THE CHINESE ART WE SEE, EVEN IN MUSEUMS WAS MADE DURING: THE LAST TWO DYNASTIES, THE MING (1368-1644) AND THE CHING (1644-1911).
THE FOLLOWING THREE RELIGIONS INFLUENCED CHINA: CONFUSCIOUS
BUDDIST
TAOIST
2 PHILOSOPHIES IN CHINA:: CONFUCIUS ATTITUDE - ORDERLY, SYMMETRICAL; MAIN BLDG FACED SOUTH

2ND PHILOSOPHY TAOISM

CONFUCIUS
- DESIGNED IN WOOD; BAYS ONLY AS LARGE AS WOOD ALLOWED; PLACED AT REG. INTERVALS. LESS GLASS; PAPER WAS USED; DIFFUSES LIGHT - BEAUTIFUL ETHEREAL FEELING.
LIFE ON A JUNK: BOAT - JUNK

MILLIONS OF PEOPLE LIVED ON JUNKS. TRADITIONAL MEANS OF HOUSING; FURNITURE - TRANSPORTABLE; WAR, FAMINE.
TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE IN CHINA: LARGE OVERHANGS, CURVED ROOF LINES TO MAKE IT LOOK LIGHTER, BRACKETS.

PRIMARY COLORS - REDS, BLUES, GREEN. YELLOW RESERVED FOR IMPERIAL FAMILY.
CHINESE HOUSE: BAY OR MODULAR SYSTEM.
AXIS AT CENTER - BUILDING THAT FILL ON AXIS - MOST IMPORTANT.

FAMILY WOULD RESIDE IN BLDG. FURTHER BACK. BUILDINGS WERE NOT JOINED TO OTHER BUILDINGS. THE OLDEST PERSON GOT THE BEST AND LARGEST SPACE; COURTYARDS - VISUALLY IMPORTANT. CONSTRUCTED OF WOOD AND BRICKS. DOOR FACES SOUTH.
DEC. ELEMENTS - REVERSE SWASTIKA (GREECE).
PUBLIC AREAS CLOSER TO FRONT AND PEOPLE W/MOST HONOR TOWARDS BACK. TYPICAL TO SEE DOUBLE ROOF. BRIDGES TO CROSS, GATE OF THE CELESTIAL PURITY.
EVERY INCH IS DECORATED
FORM OF WRITING AS EMBELLISHMENT & DECORATION.
TURTLES, CRANES, LANTERN - BA RELIEF - BLUE, GREEN, YELLOW, RED.
THE FORBIDDEN CITY THE 3 MAIN HALLS IN THE INNER COURT ARE:: 1. HALL OF CELESTIAL PURITY
2. HALL OF UNION AND PEACE
3. HALL OF TERRESTRAIL TRANQUILITY

HALL OF CELESTIAL PURITY - EMPORER ATTENDED TO STATE AFFAIRS ALMOST EVERYDAY.
UNDER THE REIGN OF THE MING EMPORER CH'ENG TSU (1403-25, A GREAT BURST OF BUILDING ACTIVITY PRODUCED AN ENORMOUS ENSEMBLE OF ROYAL BUILDINGS AT THE HEART OF BEJIING CALLED: THE FORBIDDEN CITY FOR IT WAS ORGINALLY FORBIDDEN TO ALL BUT MEMBERS OF THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD AND THEIR SERVANTS AND GUESTS.
THE FOBIDDEN CITY IS ENTERED THROUGH: IT IS ENTERED THROUGH THE GATE OF HEAVENLY PEACE, ACTUALLY A COMPLEX STRUCTURE OF FIVE VAULTED GATEWAYS TOPPED BY A PAVILION.
THE IMPORTANT CENTRAL AXIS OF THE FORBIDDEN CITY, SHARED BY THE ENTRANCE GATES:: IT IS THE HALL OF SUPREME HARMONY OR TAIHE DIAN - 108 FEET DEEP AND 197 FEET WIDE. ITS ROOF HEIGHT IS THE SAME AS THE BUILDINGS DEPTH AND ITS HIPPED ROOF CONSTRUCTION IS OF THE DOUBLE-EAVED TYPE. IT IS THE LARGEST OF ALL THE TRADITIONAL WOOD-FRAMED HALLS OF CHINA AND THE MOST ELABORATELY ORNAMENTED.
Time Period: Bronze Age 1500-600 BCE DYNASTY: Shang, Chou (Zhou) Quick Glimpse:: Rich Nobles & Poor Farmers
Oracle Bones (Shang)
Mandate of Heaven (Chou)
Ancestor worship, chariots, bowmen, great royal hunts, bronze candlesticks, feudal lords, jade carvings, chinese writing (pictographs), calligraphy
TIME PERIOD: Classical Age 600 BCE- 200 CE DYNASTY: Late Chou Ch'in(Qin), Han QUICKGLIMPSE:: Building of the first Great Wall, the Confucius & Taoism (Chou)
First Emperor (Qin)
Silk Road (Han)
Central government, public schools, mirrors, oil lamps, fancy shoes, fireplaces, window frames with colored glass, marble staircases
Chinese New Year & Lantern Festival
TIME PERIOD: AGE OF DIVISION 200-600 CE DYNASTY: A BUNCH OF DYNASTIES: HU THE TIGER

Invention of gunpowder
Tea! (Confucius probably never tasted tea, and it really didn't become popular until T'ang times, but this era is when it first started to be enjoyed.)
TIME PERIOD: Early Medieval Period 600-900 CE DYNASTY: T'ANG QUICKGLIMPSE:: The Golden Age!
Furniture, ceramics, spoons, amber, turquoise, gold, silver, goblets, teacups, sports, games, music, dancing, even a kind of football, and a neat form of air-conditioning. Fancy hats, silk robes, jade belts, Buddhism
Tea was used as barter with areas in Mongolia for horses in an exchange called the "Tea and Horse" Policy
THE DESIGN OF THE CHINESE HOUSE COULD BE SAID TO CONFORM TO _____________ IDEALS AND THE DESIGN OF THE GARDEN TO ____________ IDEALS.: CONFUCIAN - THE BUILT ELEMENTS WERE SYMMETRICAL, REGULAR, AND AXIALLY DISPOSED, ALL IN ACCORDANCE WITH PRACTICAL CONFUCIAN NOTIONS OF DISCIPLINE AND HIERARCHY, OF MAN IN HARMONY WITH ORDERLY SOCIETY.
TAOIST - THE GARDEN WAS MORE FREELY DESIGNED, MORE IRREGULAR, MORE ANIMATED, AND WITH MORE SURPRISES, ALL IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE MORE MYSTICAL TAOIST NOTIONS OF MAN IN HARMONY WITH UNPREDICTABLE NATURE.
INFORMATION ABOUT FURNITURE IN THE HAN DYNASTY (Classical Age 600 BCE- 200 CE) THE EARLIEST ABOUT WHICH WE HAVE ANY KNOWLEDGE, COMES FROM ___________ AND THE LARGEST AND MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF FURNITURE WAS THE ______.: DEPICTIONS OF FURNITURE ON HAN BRONZES, IN HAN PAINTINGS, AND ON CLAY MODELS OF HAN HOUSES THAT WERE USED IN BURIAL RITES.

K'ANG
K'ANG: A LARGE, LOW PLATFORM FOR SLEEPING OR SITTING. IN THE NORTH, THE K'ANG WAS OFTEN PLACED ALONG AN INTERIOR WALL AND BUILT OF BRICK WITH A SYSTEM OF FLUES BENEATH IT FOR HEATING, USING THE WARM AIR FROM A NEARBY COOKING STOVE. THE SOUTH K'ANG WAS USUALLY FREESTANDING AND BUILT OF WOOD.
TESTER: (PRONOUNCED TEE-STER) RELATED TO FRENCH TESTIERE MEANING HEADPIECE. THE TESTER IS SOMETIMES OF SOLID WOOD, SOMETIMES, ONLY A WOOD FRAME FOR THE SUPPORT OF A FABRIC COVERING.
THE K'ANG WAS SO LARGE THAT IT OFTEN HAD ITS OWN SUBSIDIARY PIECES OF FURNITURE THAT COULD BE PLACED ON IT. THESE INCLUDED:: THE K'ANG JI - A SMALL TABLE
K'ANG - CUPBOARD, A SMALL CHEST IN WHICH COULD BE STORED EATING VESSELS AND UTENSILS, READING OR WRITING MATEIALS OR OTHER OBJECTS.

EVENTUALLY THE K'ANG FORM WAS ADOPTED FOR A LOW TABLE. CORNER LEG CURVED GRACEFULLY INWARD - RECALLING THE LILT OF THE CHINESE ROOF GABLE.
MELON TABLE: SMALL SIDE TABLE WITH A HEXAGONAL TOP OF WOOD OR MARBLE AND SIX CONVEX LEGS CURVING TO MEET ANOTHER HEXAGON AT THE FLOOR.
T'IAO-AN CH'IAO-T'OU (UPTURNED HEAD): TABLE LONG, NARROW - IMPOSING PIECE MEANT TO BE CENTERED AGAINST A WALL.

FORMAL VERSION ITS ENDS WERE CURVED UPWARD AND WAS CALLED CH'IAOT'OU

ALSO TABLES FOR WRITING, TABLES FOR PAINTING, GAME TABLE, ALTER TABLES, NESTED TABLES, AND LUTE TABLES DESIGNED TO HOLD A CHINESE ZITHER.
HIGH YOKE-BACKED CHAIR OFTEN CALLED: OFFICIAL HAT CHAIR WITH A FLAT CENTRAL SPLAT AT THE BACK. THE ARMS ARE SUPPORTED AT THEIR CENTERS BY S-SHAPED BRACES. SOMETIMES MADE OF HUANG-HUA-LI WOOD (17TH CENTURY).
CREST RAIL: THE HORIZONTAL MEMBER OR SLAT ACROSS THE TOP OF ITS BACK (CHAIR) PROJECTING SLIGHTLY BEYOND THE VERTICAL MEMBERS THAT SUPPORT IT IS SOMETIMES CALLED AN OFFICIAL'S HAT CHAIR, PERHAPS BECAUSE THE RAIL ENDS RECALLED FABRIC PROJECTIONS AT THE SIDES OF CEREMONIAL HEADWEAR.

THE SPLAT OR CENTRAL VERTICAL MEMBER AT THE BACK MIGHT OFTEN BE A PLAIN, WIDE PLAN, BUT SUBTLY AND VERY BEAUTIFULLY CURVED.
SLAT VS. SPLAT: SLAT - HORIZONTAL MEMBER OF A CHAIR BACK AND SPLAT - A VERTICAL ONE.
GRAND TUTOR CHAIR: ANOTHER ELEGANT TYPE OF CHINESE CHAIR THAT HAS A PLAIN CENTRAL SPLAT BUT IT RISES TO JOIN A SLAT THAT IS IN A HORSESHOE SHAPE, CONTINUING DOWN TO FORM AN ARM AND CONTINUING EVEN FURTHER TO BECOME THE FRONT LEG. IN THE EXAMPLE SHOWN IN THE BOOK, THE APRON JUST UNDER THE SEAT AND PERPENDICULAR TO IT IS MADE OF ALIGHTLY CURVED HORIZONTAL STRETCHER JOINED TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEAT WITH SHORT VERTICAL MEMBERS.
STRETCHER: A BRACE OR SUPPORT THAT HORIZONTALLY CONNECTS THE LEGS OF PIECES OF FURNITURE.
MANDARIN CHAIRS: A CHAIR THRONE FOR CIVIL SERVANTS OFTEN WITH POLYCHROME DECORATION A VARIATION OF THE THRONES FOR THE EM-PORERS - FOLLOWING THE LOW, WIDE K'ANG TRADITION WITH STRETCHERS CLOSE TO THE FLOOR.
SAN CAI TU HUI: LITERAL TRANSLATION "THE CHAIR OF THE OLD MAN WHO HAS BEEN DRINKING". IT WAS A FOLDING LOUNGE CHAIR WITH AN X-SHAPED FRAME AT EACH SIDE, LONG ARMS, A HEADREST ATTACHED TO ITS BACK, AND A FOOTREST ATTACHED TO THE STRETCHER BETWEEN ITS FRON LEGS. POPULAR BEGINNING IN THE SONG DYNASTY AND ON INTO THE MING, MODIIFED INTO ZUI WENG YI OR DRUNKEN LORD'S CHAIR IN THE CH'ING DYNASTY.
drunken lord's chair (zui weng yi): Often made of caning within a bamboo frame, also had a headrest atop its back, and sometimes also had a footrest that could be pulled out from beneath its seat. both chairs' backs reclined at quite a slant, so that they could almost be said to be convertible to daybeds.
stile: vertical member of the framework
SPECIALIZED STORAGE UNITS NOT ORIGINALLY BUILT AS FURNITURE (ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES USED TODAY AS COFFEE TABLES, END TABLES, OR DECORATIVE STORAGE UNITS) ARE: CHINESE WEDDING BOXES. MADE FOR DISPLAY AS WELL AS STORAGE, THEY WERE TRADITIONALLY PARADED THROUGH THE STREETS BEFORE WEDDING CEREMONIES, THEIR NUMBER AND BEAUTY INDICATING THE WORTH AND PRESTIGE OF THE BRIDE AND HER FAMILY. AFTER THE CEREMONY, THEY WERE USED IN THE HOUSEHOLD FOR CLOTHING STORAGE. SAME DESIGN FOR A THOUSAND YRS OR MORE - MADE OF PINE, BALSAM, OR OTHER SOFT WOOD, THE BOXES WERE COVERED WITH PIGSKIN, THE LEATHER SERVING AS A HINGE FOR THE LID.
CASEGOODS: ANY FURNITURE USED TO CONTAIN OBJECTS, SUCH AS A DESK, A BOOKCASE, A HUTCH, OR A CABINET. ALSO CALLED CASE FURNITURE.
ZITAN: VARIATION OF ROSEWOOD - SO DENSE THAT IT WILL NOT FLOAT ON WATER, AND KNOWN IN THE WEST AS "SINKING ROSEWOOD"
HUA-LI OR HUANG-HUA-LI: MOST HIGHLY PRIZED ROSEWOOD OF ALL CHINESE CRAFTSMAN - A FRAGRANT ROSEWOOD THAT CAN ACQUIRE A SOFT, SEEMINGLY TRANSLUCENT LUSTER.
THE KEY TO FURNITURE DATING IN CHINA: CHINESE FURNITURE TYPES REMAINED CONSTANT FOR CENTURIES SO THAT PROGRESSIVELY RICH ORNAMENTATION IS OFTEN THE ONLY KEY TO DATING A FURNITURE DESIGN.
A SPECIAL BRANCH OF CHINESE ART, EXPRESSED IN PAINTINGS AND INK DRAWINGS, IS THAT PRACTICED WITHIN THE: CH'AN BRANCH OF BUDDHISM, BETTER KNOWN BY ITS Japanese name, zen. THIS ART AIMS AT BEING SPARE, SIMPLE, QUICK, AND SPONTANEOUS. AN EXAMPLE IS THE SKETCH OF SIX PERSIMMONS BY MUCH'I IN THE EARLY THIRTEENTH CENTURY. MU-CH'I'S SIX PIECES OF FRUIT ARE ALMOST IDENTICAL IN SHAPE, YET EACH HAS ITS OWN CHARACTER. SUCH ART, DECEPTIVELY CASUAL IN APPEARANCE, WOULD COME TO BE GREATLY ADMIRED AND WIDELY PRACTICED IN JAPAN.
WE CAN DIVIDE CHINESE CARVING AND MOLDING INTO 2 CATEGORIES:: 1. WORK WITH MATERIALS FOUND IN NATURE, SUCH AS JADE AND OTHER STONES, AND
2. WORK WITH MATERIALS DELIBERATELY CREATED, SUCH AS LACQUER.
LACQUER (PEAK OF GREAT SKILL AT LACQUER WAS ACHIEVED IN THE CHOU DYNASTY AND AN EVEN GREATER PEAK IN THE MING. LATER, THE GREATEST EXPERTS IN LACQUER WERE THE JAPANESE.: MADE FROM THE SAP OF THE LAC TREE, A VARIETY OF SUMAC INDIGENOUS TO CHINA AND LATER INTRODUCED INTO JAPAN.. WHEN THE RAW LAC IS GATHERED AND PURIFIED, IT IS A SHINY, TRANSPARENT GRAY SYRUP THAT, ON EXPOSURE TO THE AIR, POLYMERIZES, ITS SMALL MOLECULES COMBINING TO FORM LARGER ONES. THIS PROCESS CAUSES THE SYRUP TO HARDEN INTO A TOUGH, DURABLE MATERIAL. THE SYRUP, MUST BE STORED IN AIRTIGHT JARS UNTIL THE HARDENING IS WANTED.
JADE CARVING REACHED ITS HIGHEST LEVEL OF ACHIEVEMENT WHEN?: IN THE LATE CHOU PERIOD.
Because true lacquerwork was expensive to produce and difficult to access out of China, imitations such as shell-lac, seed-lac, and gum-lac were developed. The most successful of these was: shell-lac or shallac, obtained by boiling an insect larva until it secretes a liquid, or by taking the liquid from tree branches where the insect has deposited it. The liquid hardens when spread in thin sheets, and the sheets can later be dissolved in an alcohol medium, then used as a transparent paint to produce a lacquer-liek appearance. it is not, however, as durable or waterproof as true lacquer. Shellac was not used in China but in the European 18th century.
japanning: imitation lacquerwork reached its highest level of accomplishment in France with developments made by Guillaume Martin (died 1749) and his three borthers; their products, and later imitations of them, were called vernis Martin.
lacca contrafatta: 18th century type of imitation lacquerwork that was popular in Italy, consisted of applying varnish (the general name for a solution of gum or resin, such as shellac, in a volatile solvent) over cut-out paper prints.
Chinese excelled in a number of techniques involving changes brought about by intense heat:: 1. terra-cottas
2. ceramics
3. enamels
4. bronze
Chinese bronzes can be divided into the ____________ and the _________: functional and the ritual.
functional bronzes included: vessels for cooking food, food servers, water containers, wine jars, and wine goblets.
ritual bronzes were intended for important ceremonies, and because those ceremonies involved the ritual offerings of food and drink to deceased ancestors, their shapes were patterned after those of the functional bronzes.
Both types of vessels (bronze) - functional and ritual have in common:: The shapes were as highly specific, conventionalized, and repetitive as those of Greek vases. The ritual bronzes were, however, more carefully made and more richly decorated than their functional counterparts. They were inscribed with the names of ancestors and inlaid with gold, silver, copper, and turquoise. Decorative motifs included dragons, birds, oxen sheep, and goats.
bronze is an alloy of: copper and tin
brass is composed of: copper and zinc
pewter is composed of: tin and lead
the techniques of the Chinese bronze casting were dependent on the techniques of the _________ which were even older (just as the Potter was preceded by the ___________). Bronzes, in turn, influenced later ________, with the shapes of the metal container: potter
basket maker
pottery
ceramic versions
the chinese also used bronze for: weapons
charior parts
bells
mirrors
large and small statuary
terra-cotta: literally meaning "cooked earth" is a kind of ceramic. it is the product of a type of natural plastic clay that hardens when fired. The color most often associated with terra-cotta--and sometimes even given the name terra-cotta is a rich reddish brown, the result of iron oxide in the clay. The terra-cottas of China are often a warm gray in color. Probably produced in China even before bronze ones but few of the earliest ones have survived. Also used for molds in which bronze vessels were made and for roofing tiles, small burial figurines, life size effigies, tomb construction and the models of houses palaces, pagodas and scenes from daily life placed in tombs.
Enamel: In the edecorative arts of China it refers to a substance thicker than a surface finish. Like such a finsih, however, it vitrifies when fired, becoming a hard, glassy material. As this process occurs, it fuses with a metal backing or a metal container, so that the result is durably encased. It would be a relatively simple matter to create such an object in a single color but the enamel artist's challenge to create multicolored designs - they used a technique called cloisonne' in which cells are created by gluing or soldering thin metal ribbons to a metal plate.
foreign variations on chinese enamel: champleve - similar to cloisonne, known to the Romans
Repousse and basse-taille - involves stamping, hammering, or presing of decoration on a metal surface (usually silver or copper)
Paris enamels - lavoro di basso rilievo
plique-a-jour
Venetian enamels, Canton enamels, Battersea and Bilston enamels
china: The first European name for porcelain imported from the East. It's the common term today for any vitrified (glass-like) ceramic.

Earliest chinese ceramics, were red pottery funeral vessels.
Varieties of ceramic type and decoration: earthenware - opaque, nonvitreous ware fired at a low termperature and may or may not be glazed.
Stoneware (France - gres; Germany - Steinzeug) - clay and feldspathic stone fired at temp. to vitrify stone but not clay.
Porcelain (crazing - cracks)
Colors of Ceramics: Song dynasty - delicately colored in translucent tones.
Ming dynasty - white, deep blue, bright red; white pottery with underglaze decoration in copper red or cobalt blue; five-color wares and large dishes painted in red and green were made for export.
Swatowwares from kilsn of Shiwan - pomegranate red
pottery and ceramics definition: all types of ware formed from soft non-metallic minerals, such as clay, that are hardened by heat.
porcelain ingredients: Porcelain, a type of pottery made of:
1. white clay called kaolin (china clay)
2. chinastone or tz'u-shih and in its prepared form of white blocks as baidunzi or pai-tun-tzu, a fusible crystalline mineral that comes from decomposed granite.
Kaolin and chinastone are sometimes called the "bones" and "flesh" of porcelain. Fired at a temp. of 2335 deg. f. yields a result that is vitrified (glassy substance), translucent, white, and very hard. Cannot be scratched with a steel knife.
types and grades of silk 2 categories grades: 1. true silk from the Bombyx mori moth's larvae
- finest made silk: longest filaments type - thrown silk such as:
a) tram and organzine
b) crepe - example: crepe de chine, silk chiffon
2. wild silk produced by other species of silkworms
a) Indian tussah - large moth that feeds on tropical trees; fabric examples: pongee, shantung
b) African silk
c) American silk (Oaxaca area of Mexico
chinoiserie: French term meaning an object or decorative motif in the Chinese manner.
Although Chinese carpets were also made of wool, the finest ones were: woven of silk, and, for imperial use, metal threads were sometimes added to the silk. Many designs could be symbolic (employing Buddhist, Confucian, or Taoist symbols) or floral, or both at once.
Chinese carpets use the asymmetrical or persian knot with the symmetrical or Turkish knot sometimes used at the edges.
pillar rugs: Chinese rugs used in Buddhist temples in northern China, Mongolia, and Tibet (where they were called katum).
Chinese used rugs for:: 1. wrapped arround cylindrical columns. Such carpets are narrow and long with patterns - frequently depicting dragons that align when their sides are joined.
2. chair covers - k'ang covers
3. table rugs.

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