As well as other ancient Chinese arts and craft , ancient Chinese stone and brick carving had brilliant 
achievements . Many stone and brick carvings are preserved or are unearthed , of which a lot are national treasures known worldwide .
The ancient stone and brick carving discovered are mostly in connection with tombs , religion and architectures . Very few of them were made independently for appreciation . Those related to tombs are chiefly funereal objects , decorations inside the tombs , and sculptures of men and animals lined up alongside the tomb paths . Those related to religion are chiefly statues in temples and grottos , decorations inside the grottos , and statues for worship at homes . Those related to architectures are chiefly structural members and decorative carving .
The funereal objects are also called netherworld objects . They are objects hat were made specially in ancient China to be buried with the dead . They are imitations of ritual objects , figurines of men and animals , daily articles , tools , weapons , models of chariots , boats , furniture and buildings , etc . , made of ceramic , porcelain , wood , stone , etc . The figurines of men and animals were made exquisitely .The terra-cotta warriors discovered in the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty were sculpted in full size and in large numbers . They are vivid and gallant in appearances and are famed in the world as a world wonder . The Han-Dynasty pottery figurines are simple and are the most artistic among all the pottery figurines unearthed from the tombs of different dynasties .
The Tang figurines are very varied . Notably , the Tang tricolor figurines reached a further high artistic level . The tomb figurines of the Five-Dynasties-Song-Yuan period are also realistic and vivid . For instance , the brick carvings unearthed from a tomb of the Jin Dynasty in Houma city of Shanxi province , are a treasure of art . The inside walls of the tomb were full of carved figures , daily articles , housing , stage , and characters of dramas ,showing a high skill . The stone carvings unearthed from the tomb of Wang Jian of the Early Shu Kingdom are also exquisite works of art . In the middle chamber of the tomb is a stone coffin bed . On the surrounding walls are realistic reliefs of musicians , which are important reference materials for researches on music history . On the two sides of the coffin bed are arrayed a dozed busts of solemn-looking helmeted and armored gods . In the rear chamber of the tomb is a sitting statue of Wan Jian , whose appearance conforms with the description of him in historic records . 
. The stone and brick carvings related to tomb decorations are mainly those of figures of men . The most outstanding ones belong to the Western and Eastern Han Dynasties and the Southern-Northern dynasties .They are numerous and widely distributed , and many of them are exquisite artworks . Most of these are color painted , showing vividly the different aspects of the life then . They showed such production activities as farming and hunting , the experiences and social life of the official buried in the tombs , historic stories of loyal officials , filial sons , chaste women and ancient sages , legends of East Heavenly King and West Heavenly Queen , God Fu Xi and Goddess Nu Wa , and precious birds and beasts in the world of gods . The huge pieced together brick carving of “the Seven Scholars in Bamboo Forest” , unearthed from a tomb belonging to the Southern Dynasties at Xishan Bridge in Nanjing is vivid and with evident personalities . Its artistic style resembles very much the artistic style of the existent copies of Jin Dynasty paintings . Someone even guessed it copied directly the works of famous Jin painters , e. g., Gu Kaizhi or Dai Kui .
