The old Chinese fine arts had a very long history , many sectors and far-reaching effects . By their forms the old Chinese fine arts could be divided into painting , sculpture , calligraphy , seal carving , handicraft , architecture , etc., By their cultural implications , the old Chinese fine arts can be divided into scholar fine art , court fine arts , popular fine arts , religious fine arts , etc .,
In the different historical periods the old Chinese fine arts had different features. In the Paleolithic period 20,000 years ago, rock carvings, rock paintings and stone objects displayed the artistic talent of the primitive Chinese people. In the Xia-Shang-Zhou Dynasties (2100 B.C.-211 B.C.) the beautiful, ingenious bronze handicraft displayed fully the rich imaginations and outstanding moulding workmanship of the ancient Chinese people.
The Qin-Han Dynasties saw the independent development of different sectors of Chinese fine arts. Creations in this period included the world famous terracotta warriors unearthed from the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin , the diverse earthen human and animal figures unearthed from the tombs of the Han Dynasty , the brick-carved and stone-carved figures , and the well designed and made lacquers , which marked the comprehensiveness of the old native Chinese fine arts .
During the Three-Kingdoms and the Six Dynasties period, on the one hand there were many accomplished scholar official painters and calligraphists; on the other hand there were many grottos containing mainly statues of Buddhas. The representative grottos were the Mogao Grottos in Dunhuang , the grottos on Maiji Mountain in Tianshui , the Yungang Grottos in Datong , the Longmen Grottos in Luoyan and the Xixia Hill Grottos in Nanjing .
In the Suit-Tang Dynasties , all sectors of the Chinese fine arts had outstanding achievements.
The greatest achievement was scored by figure painting , with the emergence of a number of figure painting masters . Schools of landscape painting were founded . In the field of calligraphy , there were many famous calligraphists of the regular script and the cursive script , giving a far-reaching impact upon the succeeding ages . The colored sculpture , which was a special Chinese art form , was perfected , so that the mausoleum sculptures in that period were modeled by the later generations , both as an institution and as an art form .
In the Five Dynasties and the two Song Dynasties period , landscape painting had a striking achievement , with the appearance of many superb landscape paintings , reflecting the painters’ warm love of nature and their profound inner world , and shattering the religious constraints .
The Yuan Dynasty saw a transition of the types of the scholar painting . Calligraphical touches
were blended obviously into painting . The merger of poetry , calligraphy and painting began to fall into a pattern . Experiences of writing and painting on “xuan” paper were summed up .
In the Ming-Qing Dynasties period , flower-and-bird painting began to rise . Together with figure painting and landscape painting it ranked among the three main bodies of the traditional Chinese painting . The achievements of a number of freehand brushwork painters were most remarkable . Affected by the study of inscriptions on the ancient bronzes and the stone tablets since the Song Dynasty , calligraphy and seal carving broke a fresh ground and achieved a new splendor . Architecture in the period reached the third climax of the Chinese classic architecture . Many palace architectures and private architectures in that time left now are splendid ones renowned all over the world .
