Handbook of Chinese Art PDF
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AHandboc 2 OT Margaret Medley Chinese Art %t^>OtP^ C^^*!-^*^^ OtJ5^ r A ^ >%k~. « A HANDBOOK OF CHINESE ART HANDBOOK A OF CHINESE ART for collectors and students by MARGARET MEDLEY Curator ofthe Percival David Foundation ofChinese Art ICON EDITIONS HARPER & ROW, PUBLISHERS New York, Hagerstown, San Francisco, London a handbook of Chinese art. Copyright © 1964 by G. Bell and Sons, Ltd. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States ofAmerica. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsover without written permis- sion except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rdStreet,NewYork,N.Y. 10022. FIRST U.S. EDITION isbn 0-06-430044-7 LC74-6765 85 86 87 88 89 90 10 9 8 7 6 5 PREFACE The terminology ofthe arts and crafts ofEurope is generally well known, a number of excellent handbooks, primers and guides, easily available to amateurs and students, having been published over the last fewyears. In the field ofChinese art we are less well provided for despite the publication of Professor S. Howard Hansford's Glossary of Chinese Art and Archaeology, which is primarily intended for the student with some knowledge of the Chinese language andcharacters. Thepresent handbook assumes no such familiarity, representing as it does an attempt to fill this gap for the general reader. The terms included are, in the main, limited to those which one might encounter in any book on Chinese art written in English. Terms are briefly, and I hope clearly, explained, and wherever possible illustrated in the line drawings associated with the seven sections into which the book is divided. The study ofChinese art and culture is an expanding one, and to attempt a comprehensive dictionary of art terms and icon- ography would be beyond the power ofany one person. In the present instance it will be found that the sections on Buddhism and painting are subject to severe limitations, such as are perhaps less obvious, but which nevertheless exist, in the other sections. One omission will inevitably be noticed by those concerned with ceramics. This is the absence of all but reign marks from the illustrations, the only other marks included in either illustration or text are those which may be used as both marks and decorative motives. It seemed to me that ceramic marks form a subject for study on their own, and that they should be dealt with in a separate publication. In order to compensate for these limitations an introductory note is included with each subject, and at the end ofeach section a short list of useful books has been added, which will, I hope, prove helpful to those wishing to delve more deeply into the subjects in which they are interested. Only books in English are PREFACE included, but many ofthese will be found to quote from sources in other languages, especially in French and German. An admirable example ofsuch a book is Martin Feddersen's Chinese DecorativeArt. In compiling the text I have drawn on many sources, but the most useful single works for their own sections were Soothill and Hodous' Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, Benjamin March's Some Technical Terms ofChinese Painting, and the Chieh- tzu yuan hua chiian, 'The Mustard Seed Garden manual of painting\ From this last work, ofthe late 17th century, I have been able to take all the illustrations for the section on painting. The illustrations are also from many sources, some are redrawn, others original. Ofthose that areredrawn I must thankProfessor Hansford for permission to use a number from his Glossary, and at the same time acknowledge a debt to Miss Helen Fernald's Chinese Court Costume, for some decorative motives. In the preparation of the Bronze section I have been grateful for the help of Mr. A. H. Christie, who has kindly supplied the intro- ductory note for that section. I have received much help, patiently given, and advice from friends and colleagues, and hope thatthebookwillproveusefulto some, atleast, ofthosewhohave so generously given me their time. Margaret Medley CONTENTS page Prbfacb 5 .11 Chinese Dynasties and Reigns . . . Note on Pro.nunc.iati.on ..... 12 ........ Bronzes 13 Buddhism 46 ........ Ceramics 58 Decoration 91 Jade and Hardstones .106 . . . . . ....... Painting 112 Miscellaneous 125 Recommended Books; Periodicals; Societies and Collections 131 ILLUSTRATIONS Map of China . . . . . . . 8, 9 Plates 1-9 Bronzes . 15, 17, 21, 27, 31, 35, 37, 39, 43 Plates 10-11 Ceramics 61, 75 Plates 12-14 Decoration . . . 93, 97, 103 Plate 15 Jades 109 Plates 16-20 Painting 113, 115, 117, 119, 121 . . Reign Period Marks 128, 129 7
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