The Art of China

Words by Sofia Nikitina and design by Sofia Nikitina and Naketra Mendes

Calligraphy: Was probably the most valued art in ancient Chinese history. Calligraphy is more than just writing. Not everyone could utilise the unstable thickness of a brush for fluid strokes, painted at delicate angles. Nor could just anyone pressurise such an imbalanced medium with unreliable, pitch-black ink. Only a few could masterfully paint beautiful Chinese characters full of meaning and display depth in a matter of strokes. Such an art proved the need for extreme hand-eye coordination and was considered a sign of intellect among educated people. Calligraphy would be used to contextualise a painting, give it meaning, a title or to even express the artist’s true feelings.

Collectors and owners of scrolls would even add their own forms of calligraphy and seals onto an existing painting, symbolising ownership and the value of a piece of art.

Painting: The most well-known art. Pretty much all ancient Chinese paintings were either of people or of landscapes, made with many kinds of formats on all sorts of materials. The more popular ones were on coffins, plaster walls, book covers, silk scrolls, folding fans and screens. As with calligraphy, brushes would be made with animal hair tied to a long stick of bamboo or wood, and inks would have to be handmade with dried substances of animal and vegetable matter, mixed with glue and other minerals.

Paintings would also have the context or title written in intricate Chinese characters, which displayed the painter’s skill in calligraphy

People: When painting people, artists would have to take extra precaution as to not butcher the poses, emotions and faces of their subjects. Typically, most human paintings were of nobles, scholars, court officials and emperors, who were treated with great respect, so facial expressions were normally painted strong and powerful to represent such importance.

Nature: Painting nature was also very common in Chinese culture. They typically painted large, vast landscapes, filled with huge pointy mountains and long, beautiful trees – all in a panoramic view. Colours were quite limited for these landscapes, mostly consisting of one or two colours in many hues and shades, which gave a great sense of depth in these paintings.

Pottery: The art of pottery was very widespread, and was seen everywhere in ancient times. From a simple teapot in a plain kitchen, to a delicate, porcelain vase standing on display in the Emperor’s throne room. Naturally, like with other art forms mentioned previously, the art of such meticulous paintings on an uneven surface was truly difficult. At first, the cobalt blue on the paint isn’t visible, it just appears as pure black. However, only after the long and tedious painting process would be finished, glazed, and put into a kiln did the beautiful blue colour show. It is said that some emperors, when presented with these porcelain creations, might not be satisfied with the newly dried blue colour (which could be just one hue off), and simply smash the hours of work put into a singular vase on the ground.

Pottery was also commonly seen in a regular house, however not nearly as fancy as what was seen inside the home of a noble. Clay would also be used to create small houses which would be set into tombs to accompany the dead.