Editing Chinese art (section)

===Zhou dynasty ({{circa|1046}} – 256 BCE)===
During the Zhou period, few sculptures, especially sculptures of human or animal form, are recorded in the extant archaeology, and there does not appear to have been much of a sculptural tradition.<ref name="The First Emperor and sculpture in">{{cite journal |last1=Nickel |first1=Lukas |title=The First Emperor and sculpture in China |journal=  Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies|date=October 2013 |volume=76 |issue=3 |pages=413–414 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X13000487  |language=en |issn=0041-977X |quote=Sculpture as an artistic medium was widely employed in the arts of Greece and the Hellenistic East, but played only a minor role in ancient East Asia. This changed dramatically with the First Emperor of China (...) Naturalistic sculpture was entirely unknown. No long-standing sculptural tradition preceded the making of the First Emperor's famous terracotta warriors. No earlier or contemporary member of the Chinese elite had demonstrated any significant interest in sculpture at all.}}</ref><ref name="NL">{{cite journal |last1=Nickel |first1=Lukas |title=The First Emperor and sculpture in China |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |date=October 2013 |volume=76 |issue=3 |pages=416–418 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X13000487  |language=en |issn=0041-977X |quote=From the centuries immediately preceding the Qin Dynasty again we know of only a few depictions of the human figure (...) figures of people and animals were very rare exceptions to the conventional imagery of the Zhou period (...) Depictions of the human figure were not a common part of the representational canon in China before the Qin Dynasty (...) In von Falkenhausen's words, "nothing in the archaeological record prepares one for the size, scale, and technically accomplished execution of the First Emperor's terracotta soldiers". For his contemporaries, the First Emperor's sculptures must have been something dramatically new.}}</ref><!--obviously the Qin and Qin Shi Huang postdate the Zhou Dynasty; he conquered that land--> Among the very few such depictions known in China before that date: four wooden figurines<ref>[https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/331227753 Image from Liangdaicun Ruiguo Relics Museum (梁带村芮国遗址博物馆)]</ref> from Liangdaicun (梁帶村) in Hancheng (韓城), [[Shaanxi]], possibly dating to the 9th century BCE; two wooden human figurines of foreigners possibly representing sedan chair bearers from a [[Qin state]] tomb in Longxian (隴縣), Shaanxi, from about 700 BCE; and more numerous statuettes from around 5th century bronze musicians in a miniature house from Shaoxing (紹興) in [[Zhejiang]]; a 4th-century human-shaped lamp stand from Pingshan (平山) county royal tomb, [[Hebei]]. The ''[[Taerpo horserider]]'' is a Zhou-era [[Qin (state)|Warrior-State Qin]] terracotta figurine from a tomb in the Taerpo cemetery (塔兒坡墓) near [[Xianyang]] in [[Shaanxi]], dated to the 4th–3rd century BCE. Another nearly-identical statuette is known, from the same tomb. Small holes in his hands suggest that he was originally holding reins in one hand, and a weapon in the other.<ref name="MK"/> This is the earliest known representation of a cavalryman in China.<ref name="MK">{{cite journal |last1=Khayutina |first1=Maria |title=From wooden attendants to terracotta warriors |journal=Bernisches Historisches Museum the Newsletter |date=Autumn 2013 |volume=65 |page=2, Fig.4 |url=https://www.iias.asia/sites/iias/files/nwl_article/2019-05/IIAS_NL65_1213.pdf |quote=Other noteworthy terracotta figurines were found in 1995 in a 4th–3rd century BCE tomb in the Taerpo cemetery near Xianyang in Shaanxi Province, where the last Qin capital of the same name was located from 350 to 207 BCE. These are the earliest representations of cavalrymen in China discovered up to this day. One of this pair can now be seen at the exhibition in Bern (Fig. 4). A small, ca. 23 cm tall, figurine represents a man sitting on a settled horse. He stretches out his left hand, whereas his right hand points downwards. Holes pierced through both his fists suggest that he originally held the reins of his horse in one hand and a weapon in the other. The rider wears a short jacket, trousers and boots – elements of the typical outfit of the inhabitants of the Central Asian steppes. Trousers were first introduced in the early Chinese state of Zhao during the late 4th century BCE, as the Chinese started to learn horse riding from their nomadic neighbours. The state of Qin should have adopted the nomadic clothes about the same time. But the figurine from Taerpo also has some other features that may point to its foreign identity: a hood-like headgear with a flat wide crown framing his face and a high, pointed nose.}} Also in {{cite book |last1=Khayutina |first1=Maria |title=Qin: the eternal emperor and his terracotta warriors |date=2013 |publisher=Neue Zürcher Zeitung |location=Zürich |isbn=978-3-03823-838-6 |page=cat. no. 314 |edition=1. Aufl}}</ref>

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File:20090822 Shanghai Museum 3284.jpg| [[Spring and Autumn period]] ox-shaped vessel, 6th century BCE

File:Changshadragon.jpg|[[Silk painting depicting a man riding a dragon]], 4th century BCE

File:Standing deer (2), Western Zhou, 11-9th century BCE.jpg|Western Zhou, 11-9th century BCE

File:Gold sword hilt Eastern Zhou BM.jpg|Gold sword hilt, Eastern Zhou

File:Silver belt buckle with inlaid gold and jade animal head, NMC.jpg|Silver belt buckle with inlaid gold and jade, Warring States, c. 4th century BCE

File:Bronze dui vessel with inlaid geometric cloud pattern.JPG| Bronze [[Dui (vessel)|dui]] vessel with inlaid geometric cloud pattern, Eastern Zhou

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==== Chu and Southern culture (c. 1030 BC – 223 BC) ====

[[File:20230208 Painted lacquer lidded dou-bowl carved wirh dragons.jpg|thumb|300px|Lacquer dou-vessel from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng c. 433 BCE]]
A rich source of art in early China was the state of [[Chu (state)|Chu]], which developed in the Yangtze River valley. Excavations of Chu tombs have found painted wooden sculptures, jade disks, glass beads, musical instruments, and an assortment of [[lacquerware]]. Many of the lacquer objects are finely painted, red on black or black on red. A site in [[Changsha]], Hunan province, has revealed some of the oldest paintings on silk discovered to date.

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File:Lacquer bowls of cloud design, Warring States, Jiangling, Hubei, Jingzhou Museum.jpg|Chu wares were elegant and sophisticated, they directly influenced later Han-era wares.
 
File:Lacquer box of phoenix pattern, Warring States, Zaoyang, Hubei, Hubei Museum.jpg|Heart-shaped lacquer box with [[fenghuang|phoenix]] pattern.

File:20230208 Painted lacquer box in the shape of two rear-to-rear pigs.jpg|Painted lacquer box in the shape of 2 rear-to-rear pigs.

File:虎座鸟架鼓（九连墩）.jpg|The [[Fenghuang]] was a popular motif in Chu art, whereas the dragon was more popular in the other states to its north.

File:Warring States Lacquered Dou (9979386085).jpg|Lacquer ''dou'' with phoenix base.

File:Warring States Lacquered Figure, Chu State (10162601104).jpg|Lacquered yuren (羽人) figure on a toad stand

File:彩漆木雕小座屏，2014-04-06 05.jpg|Small lacquered screen, Chu state, 5th century BCE

File:Lacquerware from State of Ch'u.jpg|A lacquerware makeup case from the Jingmen Tomb

File:Lacquer painting from Ch'u State.jpg|Close-up of the previous ware with intricate details of pre-imperial [[Hanfu]]

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