CHAPTER 8 - Chinese Art

Abstract

The art of China achieves a balance between the physical and spiritual aspects of the natural world. This is because of two fundamental developments in Chinese culture: the constant search of Chinese thinkers for spirituality in all things and their sensitivity to the essential physical qualities in natural objects. From their earliest historic period, the Shang artists appreciated the asymmetrical character of most natural forms and used subtle methods of counterbalance to achieve harmonious design instead of symmetry. Though their art is based on geometrical shapes, even in the early periods when it consists of rectangular and circular forms, the shapes are never exactly circular or rectangular, but are subtly uneven and out of true. With some notable exceptions in sculpture, the Chinese expressed their understanding of natural forms in terms of flowing line and two-dimensional shapes. Long practice in calligraphy—the art of writing—provided a training in the use of ink and brush, which became disciplined and free, and formed the basis of Chinese painting.