Chinese art by medium and technique

The Chinese imperial court collected calligraphy pieces from the most skilled calligraphers in the country. The collection contains many masterpieces made by well-known calligraphers throughout Chinese art history. Furthermore, because of calligraphy's high artistic value, calligraphy collecting was popular among several Chinese emperors in multiple dynasties.

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  Bu Shang Tie by Ouyang Xun, Palace Museum, Beijing
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  Crossing the Frozen River, a poem in running script by Kangxi Emperor (1654–1722), Palace Museum, Beijing
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  Calligraphy on fan by Mo Shilong, China, Ming dynasty, 16th century, ink on gold paper, Honolulu Academy of Arts
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  The Cold Food Observance (detail), ink on paper, by Su Shi, National Palace Museum, Taipei

Chinese ceramics, whose history originates back to the pre-dynastic periods, has continuously improved since then, and it is one of the most significant forms of Chinese art.

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  Yellow dragon jar, Ming dynasty. 1521–1567. Palace Museum, Beijing.
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  Dish with underglazed blue and overglazed red design of clouds and dragons, Jingdezhen ware, Yongzheng period (1723–1735), Qing dynasty, Shanghai Museum
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  Sancai glazed ceramic horse, Tang dynasty, 7th–8th century, Musée Guimet
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  Chinese jar, Ming dynasty, Jiajing period (1521–1567), porcelain, Honolulu Academy of Arts
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  Chinese glazed stoneware jar, Yuan dynasty, Honolulu Academy of Arts
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  blue glazed vase with golden medallion design, Jingdezhen ware,1875–1908 A.D., a collection of Shanghai Museum

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  Cloisonne dish, Qing dynasty, Royal Museum, Edinburgh
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  Large gilded copper plate with cloisonné, Qing dynasty, 19th century, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt
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  Pilgrim flask decorated with peaches and pomegranates; Ming dynasty, 1st half of 17th century, Museum Rietberg, Zurich
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  Qilin-shaped incense burner (17th–18th centuries) on display at the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts on the Stanford University campus in Stanford, California.

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  A golden canteen made during the Chinese Ming dynasty, dated 15th century, Freer and Sackler Galleries, Washington D.C.
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  A Chinese red lacquer tray over wood with engraved golden foil, from the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD), dated 12th to early 13th century. Freer and Sackler Galleries, Washington D.C.

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  Blue glass plaques found in the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King, dating from late 2nd century BC.
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  Early 19th century Peking glass vase in Imperial Yellow.

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  Huan in shape of a coiled serpent, jade ware, Eastern Han, Shanghai Museum
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  Hair pin, art collection in the Palace Museum, Beijing
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  Hair ornament, 19th century, Walters Art Museum
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  Ceremonial headdress, 19th century, Walters Art Museum
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  Chinese Imperial Queen's Headdress, Ming dynasty, Mings Tomb Museum
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  Dai necklace, metalwork, Yunnan Provincial Museum, Kunming, Yunnan

It was during the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE) when the sophisticated techniques used in the lacquer process were first developed, and it became a highly artistic craft.[1] Various prehistoric lacquerware have been unearthed in China dating back to the Neolithic period.[1] The earliest extant lacquer object, a red wooden bowl,[2] was unearthed at a Hemudu culture (c. 5000–4500 BCE) site.[3] By the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), many centers of lacquer production had become established.[1] The knowledge of the Chinese methods focusing on the lacquer process spread from China during the Han, Tang, and Song dynasties. Later on, it was eventually introduced to the rest of the world—Korea, Japan, Southeast and South Asia.[4]

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  Carved lacquer tray with roses, Yuan dynasty, 16 cm across
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  Chinese mother of pearl lacquer box with peony decor, Ming dynasty, 16th century, Museum für Lackkunst, Münster (Germany)
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  Coromandel lacquer screen with figures in pavilions and a main border with a "hundred antiques".
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  Chinese lacquerware box from the Qing dynasty, Museum für angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany

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  Hanging scroll, color on silk, National Palace Museum, Taipei
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  Pink and White Lotus, hanging scroll, 14th century China, Kimbell Art Museum
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  Wood, Bamboo, and Elegant Stone, Ni Zan, 1360s–1370s, Palace Museum
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  Early Spring, Guo Xi, color on silk, National Palace Museum, Taipei
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  Portrait of Madame Liu, Li Tiefu, 1942, oil on canvas
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  Chen Cheng-po, 1933, canvas oil painting, Collection of Taiwan Museum of Fine Art
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  Golden pheasant and cotton rose, Zhao Ji, Palace Museum
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  Portrait of the Emperor Troating for Deer, Giuseppe Castiglione, Palace Museum

After the invention of photography in 1839 and the arrival of European photographers in Macao, photography was soon introduced in several cities in China. At first, some people were reluctant because they thought that having the camera take a picture of them would result in their spirit being taken away. But, by the end of the nineteenth century, all major cities had photographic studios. Some affluent Chinese people even adopted photography as a hobby. Western and Chinese photographers documented ordinary street life, major wars, and prominent figures.

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  The Cixi Imperial Dowager Empress of China
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  Three-year-old Emperor of China Pu Yi, February 23, 1909, Library of Congress

The Empress Dowager Cixi had her portrait taken repeatedly.

In the 18th Century, a Qing dynasty covered vase depicting a woman holding a lingzhi fungus and a peony branch was created. The woman was also accompanied by a boy, a crane, and a deer as shown below.

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  Covered Vase Decorated with Female Figure, Qing dynasty, 18th century, coral, Asian collection in the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts
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  The Chinese goddess of compassion, Guanyin, between 1580 and 1644, carved ivory, Walters Art Museum

• Chang, Zonglin. Li, Xukui. (2006). Aspect of Chinese culture. 中国文化导读. 清华大学出版社 publishing
• Institute of the History of Natural Sciences and Chinese Academy of Sciences, ed. (1983). Ancient China's technology and science. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. ISBN 978-0-8351-1001-3.
• Rawson, Jessica (ed). (2007). The British Museum Book of Chinese Art, (2nd edn). British Museum Press. ISBN 978-0-7141-2446-9
• Stark, Miriam T. (2005). Archaeology of Asia. Malden, MA : Blackwell Pub. ISBN 1-4051-0213-6.
• Wang, Zhongshu. (1982). Han Civilization. Translated by K.C. Chang and Collaborators. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-02723-0.
• Webb, Marianne (2000). Lacquer: Technology and conservation. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-4412-9.

• Art Reboot. Hong Kong/UK: OM Publishing. 2022. ISBN 978-9-6279-5647-1.