Art of China

Standing figure (Guanghan Sanxingdui, China), Shang dynasty, c Standing figure (Guanghan Sanxingdui, China), Shang dynasty, c. 1200 BCE, bronze

Gong of animal forms (Anyang, China), 12th or 11th century BCE, bronze Shang dynasty/ gong (guang)/ zoomorphic/ bilateral symmetry/ casting vs. firing/ varied animal motifs/ Chinese attitude toward nature

Bi (disk) (late Zhou dynasty), 3rd to 4th century, nephrite Zhou dynasty/ bi disk/ use of jade to suggest rank and status/ Chinese dragons

Above: k’uei dragon Right: lung dragon

Left: Rectangular “hu” vessel (Late Western Zhou period) Below: Wine container of the “you” type, 10th century BCE

Soldiers of the Imperial Bodyguard, tomb of the Chinese emperor Shi Huangdi (Shaanxi, China) c. 210 BCE, painted terracotta

6,000 lifesize terracotta soldiers used to convey power and authority/ soldiers facing eastward

Legalism/ model of the imperial palace

weapons of war

The Great Wall

Funeral banner from the Tomb of Dai (Western Han dynasty), c Funeral banner from the Tomb of Dai (Western Han dynasty), c. 168 BCE, painted silk Han dynasty/ realms of heaven and earth

reappearance of a “bi”

the raven and the toad/ the Silk Road

Fragment of a stamped brick depicting the Queen of the West seated on a tiger throne and surrounded by the fox, the hare with the herb of immortality, the toad of the Moon, and the raven

Incense burner, from the tomb of Prince Liu Sheng (Han dynasty), 113 BCE, bronze with gold inlay

Mythological scenes from the Wu family shrine (late Han dynasty), 147-168 CE, rubbing of a stone relief

Confucian themes/ Yi, the legendary archer, shoots at one of the sun-crows/ a Fusang tree/ contours of figures suggesting linear rhythm

Attributed to Gu Kaizhi Attributed to Gu Kaizhi. Lady Feng and the Bear, detail of Admonitions of the Instructress… (Period of Disunity), late fourth century CE Gu Zaizhi/ Period of Disunity/ the Chinese handsroll/ absence of a setting/ Xie He’s Six Laws