Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based on or draws on Chinese culture, heritage, and history. Early "Stone Age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly consisting of simple pottery and sculptures. After that period, Chinese art, like Chinese history, was typically classified by the succession of ruling dynasties of Chinese emperors, most of which lasted several hundred years. The Palace Museum in Beijing and the National Palace Museum in Taipei contains extensive collections of Chinese art.
The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting him in his afterlife.
The Chu–Han Contention (楚漢相爭), also known as the Chu–Han War (楚漢戰爭), was an interregnum period in Imperial China between the fall of the Qin dynasty and the establishment of the Western Han dynasty. After the third and last Qin ruler, Ziying, unconditionally surrendered to rebel forces in 206 BCE, the former Qin Empire was divided by rebel leader Xiang Yu into the Eighteen Kingdoms, which were ruled by various rebel leaders and surrendered Qin generals. A civil war soon broke out, most prominently between two major contending powers – Xiang Yu's Western Chu and Liu Bang's Han. Some of the other kingdoms also waged war among themselves but these were largely insignificant compared to the main conflict between Chu and Han. The war ended in 202 BCE with a Han victory at the Battle of Gaixia, during which Xiang Yu committed suicide after making a last stand. Liu Bang subsequently proclaimed himself emperor and established the Western Han dynasty.
Fu Hao died c. 1200 BC, posthumous temple name Mu Xin (母辛), was one of the many wives of King Wu Ding of the Shang dynasty and also served as a military general and high priestess. Minimal evidence detailing Fu Hao's life and military achievements survived the Shang dynasty, and the records may have perished over the course of time.
Xuzhou, also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census, is a national complex transport hub and an important gateway city in East China. Xuzhou is a central city of Huaihai Economic Zone and Xuzhou metropolitan area. Xuzhou is an important node city of the country's Belt and Road Initiative, and an international new energy base. Xuzhou has won titles such as the National City of Civility (全国文明城市) and the United Nations Habitat Scroll of Honour award.
A jade burial suit is a ceremonial suit made of pieces of jade in which royal members in Han dynasty China were buried.
The Tomb of Fu Hao lies within Yinxu, the site of the Late Shang capital, within the modern city of Anyang in Henan Province, China. The tomb was discovered in 1976 by Zheng Zhenxiang and excavated by the Anyang Working Team of the Archaeological Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who designated the tomb as M5. It is to date the only Shang royal tomb found intact with its contents and excavated by archaeologists.
The National Museum of China is an art and history museum located on the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The National Museum of China has a total construction area of about 200,000 square meters, a collection of more than 1.4 million items, and 48 exhibition halls. It is the museum with the largest single building area in the world and the museum with the richest collection of Chinese cultural relics. It is a level-1 public welfare institution funded by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The Archaeological Museum of Nafplio is a museum in the town of Nafplio of the Argolis region in Greece. It has exhibits of the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Helladic, Mycenaean, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods from all over southern Argolis. The museum is situated in the central square of Nafplion. It is housed in two floors of the old Venetian barracks.
Ancient Chinese glass refers to all types of glass manufactured in China prior to the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). In Chinese history, glass played a peripheral role in arts and crafts, when compared to ceramics and metal work. The limited archaeological distribution and use of glass objects are evidence of the rarity of the material. Literary sources date the first manufacture of glass to the 5th century AD. However, the earliest archaeological evidence for glass manufacture in China comes from the Warring States period.
The Museum of the Western Han Dynasty Mausoleum of the Nanyue King houses the 2,000-year-old tomb of the Nanyue King Zhao Mo in Guangzhou. Zhao Mo ruled from 137 BC to 122 BC, and his tomb was discovered in downtown Guangzhou in 1983. The museum, which opened in 1988, showcases the tomb and its complete trove of artifacts. It was named a Major National Historical Site in 1996 and is renowned for its rare assemblage of funerary artifacts representing the diffusion of cultures throughout the Lingnan region during the Han dynasty.
The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty.
Xuzhou as a historical toponym refers to varied area in different eras.
The Yangling Mausoleum of Han is the mausoleum of Emperor Jing, the sixth emperor of the Western Han dynasty and his Empress Wang. The mausoleum complex is a part of the Western Han dynasty imperial tombs located in the Weicheng district of the City of Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, on the northern bank of the Wei River and about 20 km to the north of the city center of the provincial capital of Xi'an.
Liu Fei, posthumously known as King Yi of Jiangdu, was the King/Prince of Jiangdu, an autonomous kingdom within the Han Empire of Chinese history, in modern-day Jiangsu province. He was a son of Emperor Jing and a half-brother of Emperor Wu. Originally King of Runan, he was awarded the Kingdom of Jiangdu for his role in suppressing the Rebellion of the Seven States. Dong Zhongshu, the prominent Confucian scholar, served as his Prime Minister.
In 2001, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences organized a poll for China's 100 major archaeological discoveries in the 20th century. The participants included eight national-level institutions for archaeology and cultural relics, provincial-level archaeological institutes from 28 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, as well as from Hong Kong, the archaeological departments of 11 major national universities, and many other scholars in Beijing. After three months and three rounds of voting, the results were announced on 29 March 2001 and were published in the journal Kaogu (Archaeology). In 2002, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Press published the book China's 100 Major Archaeological Discoveries in the 20th Century (二十世纪中国百项考古大发现), with more than 500 pages and 1,512 pictures.
Zhongli was an ancient Chinese state in the Huai River valley during the Spring and Autumn period. Its core area was located in the modern-day Fengyang County. At its peak, Zhongli was powerful enough to fight off various other states, and served as an important cultural, political, and economic centre. The state was conquered by its expansionist neighbor Chu during the 6th century BC, but its former capital city remained regionally important for several subsequent centuries.
The Yangjiawan terracotta army is a small funeral terracotta army of the Western Han period, which was excavated in Yangjiawan, in the region of Xianyang, Shaanxi, a few kilometers north of Xi'an. The terracotta army belong to auxiliary tombs to the mausoleum of the first Han Emperor Gaozu at Changling. The terracottas are now on display in the Xianyang Museum. One of the tombs is thought to have belonged to the Western Han general Zhou Bo, who died in 169, or his son. The tomb has about 3,000 cavalry statuettes, with an approximate height of 60 cm.
The Acrobats (百戏俑) are a series of terracotta sculptures from pit K9901 of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor Qin Shihuang. They are notable for their display of sculptural naturalism, and the artistic understanding of human anatomy that they represent. Particularly, they have been seen as artistically exceptional through their depiction of semi-nudity, which has amended a traditional view that only clothed figures were depicted in ancient Chinese sculpture of the period. The sculptures were uncovered in two series of excavations, the initial 1999 discovery and a second dig in June 2013.
Majiayuan (Ch:马家垸遗址) is an 3rd-2nd century BCE archaeological site in Gansu, China. The site is considered as belonging to rulers of the culture of the Xirong, recently subjugated by the state of Qin, who included them within the defensive wall of King Zhao of Qin, built in 271 BCE. It is rather similar to another Xirong site about 50 km away, the Wangjiawa cemetery (王家洼墓地). Majiayuan was a zone of interraction between the Chinese and their nomadic neighbours to the west and north during the Warring States period.
