Reading Summary Unit 6

Ismael Arriaza

Chinese Art and Buddha

In the Neolithic period there are distinctive forms of Neolithic pottery which is used to identify different cultures.  An artifact of the Yangshao culture is the shallow red bowl with a turned out rim.  The rims are the earliest evidence of the beginnings of writing in China.  There is a pair of stylized fish inside that bowl that shows how fishing was important for the villages of that time period.  

The Shang Dynasty, the priests communicated with the supernatural world through oracle bones.  This was the Shangs form of writing.  An example of this writing was that a animal bone was inscribed with a question and it was heated unit it crack.  Once the bone cracked there was an answer that was interpreted.  Another form of art was the bronze fang ding.  The fang ding consisted of a square vessel with four legs which was decorated with images based on animal forms.

The Han Dynasty consisted of mythocentric age when people believed in a close relationship between the human and supernatural worlds.  An example of art where this can be seen was the T-Shaped silk banner.  It was painted with scenes representing the levels of the universe of heaven, earth, and the underworld.

Buddhism originated in India and was spread into Central Asia.  The monumental seated 

Buddhist sculpture in Cave 20 is one of the Buddhist sculptures found in China.  Attributes of Buddha 

can be seen on this monumental seated sculpture.  It is seen from the elongated ears, protuberance on 

the head which is known as the ushnisha, and the mouths robe that is known as the sanghati.  Buddhist 

art was also seen in the Sin and Yang dynasties.