Gardners Art through the Ages A Global History

188 Chapter 7 CHINA AND KOREA TO 1279

relief, the archer at the upper left is probably the hero Yi. He saves the

Earth from scorching by shooting down the nine extra suns, repre-

sented as crows in the Fusang tree. (The small orbs below the sun on

the Mawangdui banner,FIG. 7-7,probably allude to the same story.)

The lowest zone shows a procession of umbrella-carriages moving to

the left. Above, underneath the overhanging eaves of a two-story

mansion, robed men bearing gifts pay homage to a central figure of

uncertain identity, who is represented as larger and therefore more

important. Two men kneel before the larger figure. Women occupy

the upper story. Again, one figure, at the center and facing forward,

is singled out as the most important. The identities of the individual

figures are unknown. Interpretations vary widely, and in the past

decade scholars have discovered that some of the Wu reliefs have re-

carved inscriptions, leading them to question even the traditional

date of the slabs. Nonetheless, these scenes of homage and loyalty are

consistent with the Confucian ideals of Han society.

HAN HOUSES AND PALACESNo actual remains of Han

buildings survive, but ceramic models of houses deposited in Han

tombs, together with representations such as those in the Wu family

shrines, provide a good idea of Chinese architecture during the

early centuries CE. An especially large painted earthenware model

(FIG. 7-9) reproduces a Han house with sharply projecting tiled

roofs resting on a framework of timber posts, lintels, and brackets.

This construction method (FIG. 7-10) typifies much Chinese ar-

chitecture even today (see “Chinese Wooden Construction,” page

189). Descriptions of Han palaces suggest they were grandiose ver-

sions of the type of house reproduced in this model but with more

luxurious decoration, including walls of lacquered wood and mural

paintings.

Period of Disunity

For three and a half centuries, from 220 to 581,* civil strife divided

China into competing states. Scholars variously refer to this era as the

Period of Disunity or the period of the Six Dynasties or of the North-

ern and Southern Dynasties. The history of this era is extremely com-

plex, but one development deserves special mention—the occupa-

tion of the north by peoples who were not ethnically Han Chinese

and who spoke non-Chinese languages. It was in the northern states,

connected to India by the desert caravan routes of the Silk Road (see

“Silk and the Silk Road,” above), that Buddhism first took root in

China during the Han dynasty. Certain practices shared with Dao-

ism, such as withdrawal from ordinary society, helped Buddhism

gain an initial foothold in the north. But Buddhism’s promise of

hope beyond the troubles of this world earned it an ever broader au-

dience during the upheavals of the Period of Disunity. In addition,

the fully developed Buddhist system of thought attracted intellectu-

als. Buddhism never fully displaced Confucianism and Daoism, but

it did prosper throughout China for centuries and had a profound

effect on the further development of the religious forms of those two

native traditions.

ZHAO BUDDHAA gilded bronze statuette (FIG. 7-11) of

Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha, bears an inscription giv-

ing its date as 338. Although some scholars have questioned whether

the inscription is a later addition, many art historians still accept the

statuette as the earliest precisely datable Chinese image of the Bud-

dha, created during the Later Zhao dynasty (319–351). The oldest

Chinese Buddhist texts describe the Buddha as golden and radiating

S

ilk is the finest natural fabric ever produced. It comes from the

cocoons of caterpillars called silkworms. The manufacture of

silk was a well-established industry in China by the second millen-

nium BCE. The basic procedures probably have not changed much

since then. Farmers today still raise silkworms from eggs, which they

place in trays. The farmers also must grow mulberry trees or purchase

mulberry leaves, the silkworms’ only food source. Eventually, the silk-

worms form cocoons out of very fine filaments they extrude as liquid

from their bodies. The filaments soon solidify with exposure to air. Be-

fore the transformed caterpillars emerge as moths and badly damage

the silk, the farmers kill them with steam or high heat. They soften the

cocoons in hot water and unwind the filaments onto a reel. The fila-

ments are so fine that workers generally unwind those from five to ten

cocoons together to bond into a single strand while the filaments are

still soft and sticky. Later, the silkworkers twist several strands together

to form a thicker yarn and then weave the yarn on a loom to produce

silk cloth. Both the yarn and the cloth can be dyed, and the silk fabric

can be decorated by weaving threads of different colors together in

special patterns (brocades) or by stitching in threads of different colors

(embroidery). Many Chinese artists painted directly on plain silk.

Greatly admired throughout most of Asia, Chinese silk and the

secrets of its production gradually spread throughout the ancient

world. The Romans knew of silk as early as the second century BCE

and treasured it for garments and hangings. Silk came to the Ro-

mans along the ancient fabled Silk Road, a network of caravan tracts

across Central Asia linking China and the Mediterranean world

(MAP7-1). The western part, between the Mediterranean region and

India, developed first, due largely to the difficult geographic condi-

tions to India’s northeast. In Central Asia, the caravans had to skirt

the Taklimakan Desert, one of the most inhospitable environments

on earth, as well as to climb high, dangerous mountain passes. Very

few traders traveled the entire route. Along the way, goods usually

passed through the hands of people from many lands, who often

only dimly understood the ultimate origins and destinations of

what they traded. The Roman passion for silk ultimately led to the

modern name for the caravan tracts, but silk was by no means

the only product traded along the way. Gold, ivory, gems, glass, lac-

quer, incense, furs, spices, cotton, linens, exotic animals, and other

merchandise precious enough to warrant the risks passed along the

Silk Road.

Ideas moved along these trade routes as well. Most important

perhaps, travelers on the Silk Road brought Buddhism to China from

India in the first century CE, opening up a significant new chapter in

both the history of religion and the history of art in China.

Silk and the Silk Road

MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES

*From this point on, all dates in this chapter are CEunless otherwise stated.

7-8AFlying
horse of
Governor-
General Zhang,
late second
century CE.