This book explores China's past in a new way. It shows how art objects were used in Chinese culture -- in sumptuous burials, in temples, in the elegant mansions of the rich, and the splendid setting of the Imperial Court. It explains the use of porcelain, lacquer, jade, silk and precious metals in the arts of eating and drinking. Looking afresh at the taste of Chinese scholars and western collectors over the centuries, it increases our understanding of the things they loved. Based on recent indepth research into one of the world's greatest collections, this book is of value to anyone interested in knowing more about the heritage of China. The new T. T. Tsui Gallery of Chinese Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum uses some of the most beautiful and precious objects in the world to tell the story of one of its most ancient civilisations -- China! Both the gallery and this book are made possible through the generosity of Mr. T. T. Tsui. Book jacket.

The Chinese Art Book is a beautifully packaged, authoritative, and unprecedented overview of Chinese art from its earliest dynasties to the contemporary generation of artists enlivening today's art world. 300 works represent every form of Chinese visual art, including painting, calligraphy, sculpture, ceramics, figurines, jade, bronze, gold and silver, photography, video, installation, and performance art. Full of surprises for readers of all levels, The Chinese Art Book breaks new ground by pairing works that speak to one another in unexpected ways, enlightening historical, stylistic and cultural connections. Concise descriptive essays place each work in context, while cross-references lead the reader on a fascinating journey through Chinese art history. The Chinese Art Book features an introductory essay by Colin Mackenzie, Senior Curator of Chinese Art at the Nelson-Akins Museum of Art, along with an accessible summary of Chinese political and cultural history, a comprehensive glossary defining technical terms, and an illustrated timeline.

"This book treats export art and design from a new standpoint. It is discussed in the context of its production in the highly developed craft market within China. The mechanisms of trade, and of the transmission of design across cultural frontiers are here presented in an original and informative manner, richly illustrated in over eighty colour pages."--back cover

Today, China's classical antiquity is often studied through recovered artifacts, but before this practice became widespread, scholars instead reconstructed the distant past through classical texts and transmitted illustrations. Among the most important illustrated commentaries was the Sanli tu, or Illustrations to the Ritual Classics, whose origins are said to date back to the great commentator Zheng Xuan. Design by the Book, which accompanies an exhibition at Bard Graduate Center Gallery, discusses the history and cultural significance of the Sanli tu in medieval China. The Sanli tu survives in a version produced around 960 by Nie Chongyi, a professor at the court of the Later Zhou (951-960) and Northern Song (960-1127) dynasties. It is now mostly remembered--if at all--for its controversial entries and as a quaint predecessor of the more empirical antiquarian scholarship produced since the mid-eleventh century. But such criticism hides the fact that the book remained a standard resource for more than 150 years, playing a crucial role in the Song dynasty's perception of ancient ritual and construction of a Confucian state cult. Richly illustrated, Design by the Book brings renewed focus to one of China's most fascinating medieval works.

Written by a team of eminent international scholars, this book is the first to recount the history of Chinese painting over a span of some 3000 years.

284 Chinese motifs — flowers and plants, animal life, and more. 100 plates.

An incomparable look at how Chinese artists have used mass production to assemble exquisite objects from standardized parts Chinese workers in the third century BC created seven thousand life-sized terracotta soldiers to guard the tomb of the First Emperor. In the eleventh century AD, Chinese builders constructed a pagoda from as many as thirty thousand separately carved wooden pieces. As these examples show, throughout history, Chinese artisans have produced works of art in astonishing quantities, and have done so without sacrificing quality, affordability, or speed of manufacture. In this book, Lothar Ledderose takes us on a remarkable tour of Chinese art and culture to explain how artists used complex systems of mass production to assemble extraordinary objects from standardized parts or modules. He reveals how these systems have deep roots in Chinese thought and reflect characteristically Chinese modes of social organization. Combining invaluable aesthetic and cultural insights with a rich variety of illustrations, Ten Thousand Things make a profound statement about Chinese art and society.