The culture of ancient China.

The roots of ancient China's culture go back to the deep past. It is characterized by a wealth of spiritual and material values, as well as great vitality. Numerous mutinies, warriors and destruction by the conquerors did not break or weaken this civilization, they did not destroy its basic values and ideals.

Throughout history, the culture of ancient China has tried to maintain its solidity and not lose its activity. Each era left behind a huge legacy of original, diverse and unique in beauty and craftsmanship of monuments. The creations of painting, architecture, architecture and crafts are priceless artifacts of the cultural heritage of this country.

The culture of ancient China is brief

Architecture

Together with the penetration of Buddhism into the territory of China (sixth century BC), cult constructions - pagodas and rock monasteries - begin to appear here. They consist of several hundred small and large grottoes, located in the thickness of the rock.

Since 1127, the first palaces, temples and monasteries have been built. They are built mainly of wood, bamboo, clay, reeds.

During the reign of Emperor Han, funerary complexes are being erected, decorated with paintings, reliefs and decorated with statues of mythological animals.

Many of China's architectural structures have one thing in common: elevated corners of the roof, which makes the roof seem slightly bent.

Sculpture

The emergence of this art form is associated with the development of craftsmanship. The Chinese create ceramic products and decorate them with colorful paintings in the form of nets, spirals and shells. Also there are ritual vessels, burial urns and other objects.

The emergence of sculptures, stone and bone products, as well as bronze vessels decorated with gold and precious stones date back to the 2nd century. BC. In 4 in BC. Active production of porcelain and lacquer ware begins.

The artistic culture of ancient China reflects the main spiritual values of Confucianism and Taoism :

• Spiritual perfection.
• Proximity of nature and man.
• Search for harmony in the phenomena of nature (animals, flowers, trees).

These ideals contributed to the formation of a unique aesthetic consciousness. The culture of ancient China is permeated with the ideas of a harmonious union of the surrounding world and man. This is reflected in both calligraphy and painting.

In traditional Chinese culture, writing is seen as a separate area of aesthetics and ethics, because the individual peculiar writing of hieroglyphs reflects the author's emotional experiences. Since ancient times, calligraphic characters have been given magical significance, so they are kept in every house. The Chinese believe that the hieroglyph is an ideal model of a work of art, because it combines simplicity of form, symbolism, depth and severity.

One of the highest achievements of the culture of this country is the painting on the scroll. This new art form is completely freed from decorative function, it is created solely for contemplation. The main genres in which written on the scroll - a portrait (household, historical), landscape, genre "flowers and birds."

The Chinese portrait combines realistic authenticity and symbolism, a bit bordering on caricature. The paintings are distinguished by the fact that each object depicted on it is deeply symbolic. A flower, a tree, a bird or an animal characterizes a certain poetic image. So the pine symbolizes longevity, the stork - holiness and loneliness, and bamboo - happiness and fortitude. Traditional landscapes were created in the form of an extended scroll, this helped create a feeling of immense space.

All the works of ancient Chinese art carry a moral meaning and the idea of a person's self-improvement, prompting to admire the beauty of nature and the skillful work of the master. Apparently, therefore, the beauty and expressiveness that the culture of ancient China bears in itself admires connoisseurs of beauty. It opens a new vision of the world and a new aesthetics.