Essentials of Chinese Art

One important effect of recent research is that scholars now question ideas of essential, permanent characteristics of Chinese art. Many long-held conceptions turn out to be based on the tastes and values of ruling and literate(mostly male)elite patrons and audiences of certain periods. Often left out of such accounts are features of popular, religious, or craft arts and the cultural activities and values of women. There is also now an increasing awareness of the interactions and cross borrowings between China and other cultures. But even while the ideas of essentialism are questioned, we can still ask about distinctiveness. In what ways were Chinese arts special and noteworthy within the broad history of world art? A few long-term characteristics stand out, although, as important as these culturally distinctive elements were in the history of Chinese art, they still leave out much of significance and interest.

China is unique among the great cultures of the world in the degree to which its civilization was identified with its craft products. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, China was Seres, “the land of silk.” In early modern Europe, the word “China” was as likely to refer to porcelain tableware as to the tableware’s country of origin. Indeed, Chinese productivity and technical excellence in many crafts were unrivaled for centuries or even millennia. Ceramic production and the carving of the hard stones known collectively as jade are part of the earliest horizons of Chinese cultures in the Neolithic period (ending 2000 B.C.E.), and the products of these activities have been made continuously in large numbers- sometimes approaching an industrial scale-down to the present. Chinese silks were prized luxury items for both domestic and international consumption for nearly two millennia. Chinese lacquerware factories employed an early version of mass production more than 2,000 years ago. Bronze vessel casting, gold and silver metalworking, wood-block printing of books and pictures, and hardwood furniture making are among many other media with long histories of large-scale, technically distinguished production. Far from being mere cultural embellishments, such craft industries were major economic and social forces.

Thus the use of such terms as “craft arts,” “craft skill,” and “craft production” in the context of Chinese production refers to major traditions of highly accomplished technique and organization and should not convey the negative evaluations often implied by distinctions between fine arts and crafts in the modern West. Critical traditions in China do indicate distinctions between literate arts-especially those such as calligraphy, painting, and architecture that acquired an accompanying theoretical, historical, and critical literature-and art forms that depended more on specialized skills and sometimes on laborious or cooperative production. Such distinctions were fluid over time, however, as antique ceramics were prized and inscribed by imperial collectors, ancient ritual bronze vessels attracted the interest of antiquarian scholars, and individual potters, carvers, and metalworkers achieved independent renown.

Ritual performances of respect for ancestors are a Chinese cultural feature with roots that extend at least as far back as the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.E.) and continue down to the present. Among the artistic products directly associated with ancestor veneration are monuments of tomb architecture and memorial sculpture, as well as a wide array of ritual and grave goods: bronze offering vessels, along with tomb furnishings of stone and ceramic sculpture, metalwork, lacquer, and jade. More generally, the importance of ancestral cult practices contributed to a strong historical consciousness in Chinese culture and to such artistic by-products as antiquarian tastes, retrospective calligraphy and painting styles, and an art-historical literature.

The Chinese written language has been a unifying cultural force since the Shang period, facilitating communication across temporal and geographical divides. At the time, writing was in some ways exclusionary, since it was limited to literate elites who were always a distinct minority of the population until the recent past. Nevertheless, writing has been a powerful vehicle for forging cultural identity, and the high status accorded the written text, at times verging on the divine or magical, lent prestige to the arts of calligraphy, inscribed monumental vertical stone slabs called stelae, printed and illustrated books, and paintings inscribed with written texts.

 

 

1

One important effect of recent research is that scholars now question ideas of essential, permanent characteristics of Chinese art. Many long-held conceptions turn out to be based on the tastes and values of ruling and literate(mostly male)elite patrons and audiences of certain periods. Often left out of such accounts are features of popular, religious, or craft arts and the cultural activities and values of women. There is also now an increasing awareness of the interactions and cross borrowings between China and other cultures. But even while the ideas of essentialism are questioned, we can still ask about distinctiveness. In what ways were Chinese arts special and noteworthy within the broad history of world art? A few long-term characteristics stand out, although, as important as these culturally distinctive elements were in the history of Chinese art, they still leave out much of significance and interest.

The word “features” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Astories

Banalyses

Ctechniques

Daspects

 

2

One important effect of recent research is that scholars now question ideas of essential, permanent characteristics of Chinese art. Many long-held conceptions turn out to be based on the tastes and values of ruling and literate(mostly male)elite patrons and audiences of certain periods. Often left out of such accounts are features of popular, religious, or craft arts and the cultural activities and values of women. There is also now an increasing awareness of the interactions and cross borrowings between China and other cultures. But even while the ideas of essentialism are questioned, we can still ask about distinctiveness. In what ways were Chinese arts special and noteworthy within the broad history of world art? A few long-term characteristics stand out, although, as important as these culturally distinctive elements were in the history of Chinese art, they still leave out much of significance and interest.

According to paragraph 1, studies have shown that previously established ideas of Chinese art

Acentered on the preferences of a cultured elite

Backnowledged the way women shaped Chinese culture

Cwere based on artistic notions of other cultures

Dwere inspired by ancient religious traditions

 

3

One important effect of recent research is that scholars now question ideas of essential, permanent characteristics of Chinese art. Many long-held conceptions turn out to be based on the tastes and values of ruling and literate(mostly male)elite patrons and audiences of certain periods. Often left out of such accounts are features of popular, religious, or craft arts and the cultural activities and values of women. There is also now an increasing awareness of the interactions and cross borrowings between China and other cultures. But even while the ideas of essentialism are questioned, we can still ask about distinctiveness. In what ways were Chinese arts special and noteworthy within the broad history of world art? A few long-term characteristics stand out, although, as important as these culturally distinctive elements were in the history of Chinese art, they still leave out much of significance and interest.

According to paragraph 1, which of the following statements is true about Chinese art in relation to the art of other countries?

AChinese art became the standard for art created throughout the world.

BChinese art encouraged artists in other cultures to express their own distinctiveness.

CChinese art influenced other cultures and also borrowed from them.

DChinese art led to a greater appreciation of art in general among ordinary people around the world.

 

4

China is unique among the great cultures of the world in the degree to which its civilization was identified with its craft products. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, China was Seres, “the land of silk.” In early modern Europe, the word “China” was as likely to refer to porcelain tableware as to the tableware’s country of origin. Indeed, Chinese productivity and technical excellence in many crafts were unrivaled for centuries or even millennia. Ceramic production and the carving of the hard stones known collectively as jade are part of the earliest horizons of Chinese cultures in the Neolithic period (ending 2000 B.C.E.), and the products of these activities have been made continuously in large numbers- sometimes approaching an industrial scale-down to the present. Chinese silks were prized luxury items for both domestic and international consumption for nearly two millennia. Chinese lacquerware factories employed an early version of mass production more than 2,000 years ago. Bronze vessel casting, gold and silver metalworking, wood-block printing of books and pictures, and hardwood furniture making are among many other media with long histories of large-scale, technically distinguished production. Far from being mere cultural embellishments, such craft industries were major economic and social forces.

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

AIn the Neolithic age. the Chinese produced larger numbers of ceramic and jade objects than are produced today.

BThe large-scale manufacturing of ceramic and jade objects in China is an example of mass production.

CSince early times, the production of ceramic and jade objects in large numbers has been an important aspect of Chinese culture.

DContinuous growth in the demand for Chinese ceramic and jade products since Neolithic times has led to the industrialization of their production.

 

5

China is unique among the great cultures of the world in the degree to which its civilization was identified with its craft products. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, China was Seres, “the land of silk.” In early modern Europe, the word “China” was as likely to refer to porcelain tableware as to the tableware’s country of origin. Indeed, Chinese productivity and technical excellence in many crafts were unrivaled for centuries or even millennia. Ceramic production and the carving of the hard stones known collectively as jade are part of the earliest horizons of Chinese cultures in the Neolithic period (ending 2000 B.C.E.), and the products of these activities have been made continuously in large numbers- sometimes approaching an industrial scale-down to the present. Chinese silks were prized luxury items for both domestic and international consumption for nearly two millennia. Chinese lacquerware factories employed an early version of mass production more than 2,000 years ago. Bronze vessel casting, gold and silver metalworking, wood-block printing of books and pictures, and hardwood furniture making are among many other media with long histories of large-scale, technically distinguished production. Far from being mere cultural embellishments, such craft industries were major economic and social forces.

The word “mere” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Arare

Bonly

Cdecorative

Dcheap

 

6

China is unique among the great cultures of the world in the degree to which its civilization was identified with its craft products. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, China was Seres, “the land of silk.” In early modern Europe, the word “China” was as likely to refer to porcelain tableware as to the tableware’s country of origin. Indeed, Chinese productivity and technical excellence in many crafts were unrivaled for centuries or even millennia. Ceramic production and the carving of the hard stones known collectively as jade are part of the earliest horizons of Chinese cultures in the Neolithic period (ending 2000 B.C.E.), and the products of these activities have been made continuously in large numbers- sometimes approaching an industrial scale-down to the present. Chinese silks were prized luxury items for both domestic and international consumption for nearly two millennia. Chinese lacquerware factories employed an early version of mass production more than 2,000 years ago. Bronze vessel casting, gold and silver metalworking, wood-block printing of books and pictures, and hardwood furniture making are among many other media with long histories of large-scale, technically distinguished production. Far from being mere cultural embellishments, such craft industries were major economic and social forces.

It can be inferred from paragraph 2 that all of the following set China apart from other prominent ancient civilizations EXCEPT

Aits interest in art as cultural preservation

Bits historical association with craftsmanship

Cits reputation as a producer of luxury items

Dits application of an early form of mass production

 

7

Thus the use of such terms as “craft arts,” “craft skill,” and “craft production” in the context of Chinese production refers to major traditions of highly accomplished technique and organization and should not convey the negative evaluations often implied by distinctions between fine arts and crafts in the modern West. Critical traditions in China do indicate distinctions between literate arts-especially those such as calligraphy, painting, and architecture that acquired an accompanying theoretical, historical, and critical literature-and art forms that depended more on specialized skills and sometimes on laborious or cooperative production. Such distinctions were fluid over time, however, as antique ceramics were prized and inscribed by imperial collectors, ancient ritual bronze vessels attracted the interest of antiquarian scholars, and individual potters, carvers, and metalworkers achieved independent renown.

Which of the following can be inferred from the fact that “antique ceramics were prized and inscribed by imperial collectors, ancient ritual bronze vessels attracted the interest of antiquarian scholars, and individual potters, carvers, and metalworkers achieved independent renown”?

AArt forms that required laborious or cooperative production were considered more valuable than calligraphy, painting, and architecture.

BArt forms did not necessarily have to acquire an accompanying literature to be highly valued.

CAncient forms of art were more highly valued than modern ones.

DArt forms that depended more on specialized skills acquired an accompanying literature.

 

8

Ritual performances of respect for ancestors are a Chinese cultural feature with roots that extend at least as far back as the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.E.) and continue down to the present. Among the artistic products directly associated with ancestor veneration are monuments of tomb architecture and memorial sculpture, as well as a wide array of ritual and grave goods: bronze offering vessels, along with tomb furnishings of stone and ceramic sculpture, metalwork, lacquer, and jade. More generally, the importance of ancestral cult practices contributed to a strong historical consciousness in Chinese culture and to such artistic by-products as antiquarian tastes, retrospective calligraphy and painting styles, and an art-historical literature.

Why does the author mention “bronze offering vessels, along with tomb furnishings of stone and ceramic sculpture, metalwork, lacquer, and jade”?

ATo contrast Chinese crafts to the literate arts associated with the practice of ancestral veneration

BTo demonstrate that the ritual and grave goods produced by craftspeople were valued by historians

CTo illustrate the kinds of products created by artists for the purpose of Chinese ancestral cult practices

DTo argue that the productivity of Chinese craftspeople was first apparent in their ritual practices

 

9

Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

This was appropriate because at that time China alone had the unique combination of technology and natural resources to produce porcelain.

Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square  sentence to the passage.

10

Although recent investigations into Chinese art have prompted experts to rethink some traditional conceptions, certain cultural elements stand out.

AThe Chinese civilization has always produced crafts of great technical quality and variety, often using methods that resulted in a high level of productivity.

BThe Chinese tended to perceive writing as a skill that was intimately related to one’s spiritual life.

CLike the modern West, Chinese civilization drew a sharp distinction between literate arts and craft arts and placed less value on the latter.

DMost of the longstanding perceptions held by scholars about Chinese art have been based on popular craft arts or on the cultural activities of women.

ERituals of respect for ancestors enhanced Chinese cultural practices and resulted in the introduction of specialized art forms.

FSince writing was highly respected in China, the inclusion of written text added to the status of other art forms.

 

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