The Art of Chinese Bronze
Set in a fiercely blazing fire, the beast's bulging eyes glare straight at the observer; his great mouth forms a wide grin, flashing saber-like teeth. His stiletto claws are exposed and poised for action, and a pair of ears or horns protrudes from his head. As fero
Embroidery, a folk art with a long tradition, occupies an important position in the history of Chinese arts and crafts. It is, in its long development, inseparable from silkworm-raising and silk-reeling and weaving.
China is the first country in the world that discovered the use of silk. Silkworms w
Chinese Fans
No one knows exactly how fans in China were invented. The invention or rather the discovery of the fanning function could have been as accidental as follows: a primitive man irritated with lots of flies and mosquitoes, picks up a big leaf off a plant next to him to drive the pests away.
The Ties That Bind
Chinese people have known how to tie knots with cord ever since they began tying animal pelts to their bodies to keep out the cold thousands of years ago. With the advance of civilization, Chinese people used knots for more than just fastening and wrapping. Knots were also used to
One of China's most popular folk arts is paper cutting. Archaeological finds trace the tradition back to the 6th century; it is supposed that the beginnings of paper cutting were even a few centuries earlier. Paper cuttings are used for religious purposes, for decoration and as patterns.
As is still
Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces are prominent silkworm producers in China. In early May each year, every household begins preparing to breed silkworms when barley becomes yellow and the mulberry fields turn green.
The Mulberry leaves for silkworms must be fresh and clean. Women go to the mulberry fie
Batik is a traditional Chinese folk art which combines painting and dyeing. It is made by dipping a specially designed knife into melted wax and painting various patterns on pieces of white cloth. The wax stays on the cloth and often cracks after it hardens. The cloth is then dyed and the dyes seep
Engraving occupies an important position in Chinese fine arts and has a unique charm. With a history of 1,000 odd years, this ancient art has formed a classical yet modern artistic style.
Engraving makes up an important part of Chinese fine arts. Ancient engraving mainly involved woodcuts together
Chinese traditional furniture has a strong aesthetic appeal due to its apparently simple lines and the fact that it makes use of "natural materials" such as the finest hardwoods-no fusty stuffed couches here. Ready comparisons can be made to Danish furniture, with its sparse lines.
With Ch
Lacquer is a natural substance obtained from the lacquer tree which has its home in China, a country still leading the world in lacquer resources. Much of the country is suitable for growing the tree, but most of the output comes from five provinces-Shaanxi, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan.
Raw l
Chinese ceramics is a form of fine art developed since the dynastic periods. China has always been richly endowed with the raw materials needed for making ceramics. The first types were made about 11,000 years ago, during the Palaeolithic era. Chinese Ceramics range from construction materials such
Cloisonné, also known as cloisonne enamel, is the decorative art of applying enamel of all colors to the surface of a copper or bronze object which is then fired to become a bright and colorful work of art. This artistic technique was transmitted to China from the West and reached its peak of
Tangsancai refers to the Tri-colored glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A. D.), a painted earthenware which appeared in the wake of celadon. It is called "tri-colored " because yellow, green and white were normally used, although some pieces are also in two or four colors. Develop
Snuff bottles are not native to China but were reportedly introduced from the West by Fr.Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit father who worked in Beijing in the early 17th century. Yet the art of interior painting in snuff bottles was born and developed in China and unique to the country.
A popular story
