Editing Religious art (section)

== Confucian art ==
{{main|Confucian art}}
[[File:Anonymous - Odes of the State of Bin - 1982.459 - Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Odes of the State of Bin is a poem from [[Classic of Poetry|The Book of Odes]], a collection of poetry complied by Confucius. This image is a section of the scroll of an unidentified artist from the 13th century, and it narrates the poem about rural living.]]
Confucian art is inspired by [[Confucianism]], coined after the [[Chinese philosophy|Chinese philosopher]] and politician [[Confucius]]. Confucian art originated in [[China]], then spread westwards on the [[Silk Road]], southward down to [[Northern and southern China|southern China]] and then onto [[Southeast Asia]], and eastwards through [[North China|northern China]] on to [[Japan]] and [[Korea]]. While it still maintains a strong influence within Indonesia, Confucian influence on western art has been limited. While Confucian themes enjoyed representation in Chinese art centers, they are fewer in comparison to the number of artworks that are about or influenced by [[Taoism|Daoism]] and [[Buddhism]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Karetzky |first=Patricia |title=Chinese Religious Art |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2014 |isbn=9780739180587 |location=Lanham, MD |page=127}}</ref>

=== History ===
Prior to the [[Han dynasty]], the Chinese art hierarchy considered [[Music of China|music]] as the highest form of art and dismissed [[Chinese calligraphy|calligraphy]], [[Chinese poetry|poetry]], and [[Chinese painting|painting]] as art forms and craft practiced by the lower class. Nevertheless, poetry was also popular during Confucius's time, and poetry was both praised and ranked high in status with music. According to Confucius and his disciples, music strives to create and reflect harmony in the world; hence, education should begin with the foundations of poetry and moral behavior, and conclude with music.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Andrijauskas |first=Antanas |date=2016 |title=Visual Arts and Music in Traditional Chinese Art System |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/90012994 |journal=Music in Art |volume=41 |issue=1–2 |pages=165–187 |jstor=90012994 |issn=1522-7464}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Huang |first=Siu-Chi |date=1963 |title=Musical Art in Early Confucian Philosophy. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1396785 |journal=Philosophy East and West |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=49–60 |doi=10.2307/1396785 |jstor=1396785 }}</ref> Over time, the development of the [[Written Chinese|Chinese writing system]] promoted the growth of calligraphy and visual arts in terms of social status. Confucian aesthetics and values further contributed to the development of these visual art forms, with [[Chinese painting|landscape paintings]] and calligraphy works centralizing on the written works and teachings of Confucianism.<ref name=":1" />