China is known very well for its paintings. Traditional Chinese paintings usually lacked color so that the focus would be upon the spiritual beauty of a painting. The Song Dynasty was divided into two periods: The Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1276). Both periods produced a new era of painting in China, with the Northern Song Dynasty introducing vast depictions of landscapes in its paintings while the Southern Song Dynasty focused more on detail and smaller scenes of nature. The Northern Song Dynasty was a time when landscape paintings in Chinese civilization began to first blossom and where some of the most famous landscape paintings in China come from (“Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127)”). Most of the landscape paintings during the Northern Song Dynasty were inspired by nature, and “discovered in nature the moral order that they had found lacking in the human world.” (“Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127)”). Artists would create very wide and huge paintings of landscapes that were influence by all of the huge political turmoil at the time, and these paintings were a way of the artists expressing their wish for peace and order in these large conflicts to help unite society. …show more content…
They soon founded their own Jin Dynasty in the north and the Song court moved to the south where they continued to rule as the Southern Song Dynasty. This marked in era during the Song dynasty in where paintings depicted a focus on the inherent beauty of nature and were more romantic. This change in style stemmed due to Southern Song officials wanting to rebuild society from the bottom up on a small scale. (“The Song Dynasty.”) painters usually focused on smaller points in nature, and while in some paitnings human subjects would be included, the emphasis would always stay on nature and the beauty found from
Wang Meng (c. 1308 – 1385) was a Chinese landscape painter during the Yuan Dynasty (c.1271–1368). Within his life, the Yuan Dynasty was ruled by the Mongol Empire; lots of turmoils and conflicts between nations were happening. To away from the secular, Wang chose to live in mountains and perhaps to have a simple life. “The Simple Retreat” could be one of Wang’s paintings that suggest the balance between nature and human. This painting is in a vertical roll composition, painted in a Northern Song Monumental mode: high, level and deep distance can be seen. From viewing this painting, midst to top describes layers of imposing mountains and the empty sky; the bottom half shows the retreat and the relationship among trees, rocks and river. On the
Due to a shift in views in Chinese masculinity, sewing was deemed manly. Men began to stop their wives from sewing materials such as silk, decreasing their roles in the household. The Song dynasty collapsed in 1279 due to Mongol invasions.
The beauty of nature as depicted in landscape art and poetry were responsible for leading people out West and expanding what we now call America. The artwork and poetry told a story of what life looked like back then and the hardships many people encountered thereafter. Art became a median to express how people worshiped God and chose to follow the path they were always destined for. It became a way to document and record history in the New World for others to view, appreciate, and
One of the eras of a majestic ancient civilization that has left a lasting impression upon the world of today is the Chinese Song Dynasty. Established by General Zhao Kuangyin this dynasty lasted from 960–1279 AD and brought a new stability to China after many decades of civil war, and ushered in a new era of modernization. It was divided into the Bei (Northern) and the Nan (Southern) Song periods. This brilliant cultural epoch gave birth to major advances in economic reform, achievements in technology, and helped to further medical knowledge.
Overall, putting the truth about Cranes above Kaifeng aside, this hand scroll containing a painting and a poetic inscription shows how Huizong with his control over art can dictate the meaning and message an art can convey. This will lead to a manifestation of certain belief to the people of Song dynasty, which in this case is a belief that it was a Mandate from Heaven.
The two artworks I decided to discuss are A thousand peaks and myriad ravines by Wang Hui for the Chinese artwork and View of Kojima Bay by Ike Taiga as the Japanese artwork. Both these share a few similarities including the subject of the artwork being the landscape and naturalism. In A thousand peaks and myriad ravines by Wang Hui you can notice very clear detailing and lining from the top trees of the mountains to the very small fishers and scholars portrayed towards the bottom and center of the artwork. Primarily, this artwork emphasizes the detail. The portrait is mostly taken up by the mountains and that around it. The range of colors used in this hanging scroll consist of the grey scale and a golden bronze done with a very thin brush.
The Song dynasty is actually divided into two separate periods: The Northern Song from 960-1126 A.D. and the Southern Song from 1126-1279 A.D. The northwestern part of the country had been taken over by the nomadic tribes, forcing the emperor move the capital to Kaifeng, then later to Hangzhou during the southern Song period. They also lost control of Tibet. (Duiker, & Spielvogel, 2009) While they struggled with territory control, the Song strived in economic development and cultural achievement.
According to Art in China by Craig Clunas, the Wei Dynasty, which started in 386 and ended in 535, was an era in which Buddhism was central to the culture of both the noble and common people. For much of the Wei dynasty the artists and sculptors were slaves to the state. Different styles of Buddhist art were popular during this period. At first, the artists copied some elements from Indian Buddhist sculpture, but then they developed their own style.
The Minoan language is still mostly untranslatable, so many historians rely on works of art to get an inside look at the aspects of Minoan life. According to Frescoes such as “Spring Fresco” have been viewed to hold some sort of religious and political influence among the higher classes. According to Anne P. Chapin (2004), “An important function of landscape art within its architectural setting, then, was to sustain and justify the elite’s claim to power and high status within the broader context of Minoan society” (p. 61). She suggests that nature and landscape art were held to a high level of importance in the Minoan society, and the higher classes would use the art as a way of showing their importance and wealth. Chapin (2004) also states that Minoans were “Widely credited with the invention of pure landscape” (p. 47).
to gain even more popularity among the nation and helped intertwine modern art and political agenda, especially when it came to the idea of waking China. During this time, many artists used that influence to create pieces that gave some sort of political or morale lifting
Traditional Chinese culture has a very strict set of rules which need to be followed. Only if one follows the rules, will they fit into the Chinese society. This is depicted in the book The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy and Iron Road directed by David Wu. The Jade Peony portrays a story about three Chinese-Canadian siblings living in Vancouver’s Chinatown: Jook-Liang, Jung-Sum, and Sek-Lung. Each child experiences different complications depending on their age and gender. Their Grandmother, Poh Poh, teaches them to balance their Chinese culture along with Canadian culture. Moreover, Iron Road portrays a story about a strong-willed 19 year old girl, Little Tiger, who presents herself as a boy in order to survive as an orphan in the male-dominated
In 1127, after a prince of the Song Dynasty fled across the Yangtze River to Hangzhou, the Southern Song Dynasty was established. The Southern Song Dynasty achieved a period of economic success, prosperity, and artistic creativity, despite the fact that the military was not exactly strong. The Southern Song Dynasty’s downfall did not come from problems within, but was overthrown by Mongols in 1279, marking the end of the Song Dynasty.
Pingzhao beautifully expresses the landscape, which also include imagery of the “old ox” that chews grass “in the setting sun” to identify with the peasant
Chinese art went through many different stages starting from the year 1842. But the massacre of Tiananmen Square in the year 1989 was a turning point in the political life of China and in the country's art. Until the year 1992 art in China was underground, but it kept expanding. As a result of that, some Chinese artists started to do art works that rebel against their government and express their feelings towards China. One of these artists is the famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei who expressed in each piece of art he did, his feelings that China should let its people break away from the rotten traditional, in order to express their thoughts freely.
Valuing the Beauty of the “Jade Flower Palace” Beauty has been known to be one of the most subjective concepts in existence, yet Tu Fu, a renowned Chinese poet from the eighth century, writes so vibrantly that not many disagree with him. During his lifetime, Fu’s familiarity with both wealth and poverty showed the lack of importance money had on his world. Fu instead wrote about the elegance of the natural world and eventually humanitarianism, often commenting on beauty and its ability to go unnoticed. The poem “Jade Flower Palace” brings the latter to life, tying the allure of nature in with the passage of time.