What are the characteristics of Qin and Han art?

In the arts and crafts of Han dynasty, bronzes still occupy a certain position. Lacquerware, silk and ceramics in Han dynasty have all become important items in the history of art.

Compared with the Warring States and before, the types of bronzes in the Han Dynasty were greatly reduced. Pot (or bell) is a popular style of bronze ware in Han Dynasty. Generally, it is plain and unadorned, only gilded. Some are gorgeous, with lines as thin as hair, engraved with flowing clouds or people and animals. Stirrups in the shape of sheep and camels and incense burners in various shapes were also popular in the Han Dynasty. There is a kind of furnace, commonly known as "Boshan furnace". The upper part of the furnace is mountain-shaped, and there are trees and wild animals in the mountain, which are connected by human figures and plates. According to records, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there was a skilled craftsman Ding Man in Chang 'an. Among his magnificent works, there are Zijin incense burners and nine-story Jinboshan incense burners carved with rare birds and animals (Miscellanies of Xijing). Among the bronzes of the Han Dynasty, bronze mirrors were very developed.

The back decoration of bronze mirrors in the Han Dynasty, like tiles, occupies an important position in the decorative art of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, it has also become the object of special research. The bronze mirror decoration in Han Dynasty is a composition design centered on the mirror button in a circular plane (except for the "stage mirror" in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, that is, the relief images of many immortal figures are arranged side by side, which is not suitable for circular composition with a center). This diverse composition reflects a variety of artistic artists.

During the Warring States period, the rotating composition centered on the mirror button and composed of clouds and mythical animals continued to be popular in the early Western Han Dynasty. It is still difficult to distinguish the bronze mirrors in the late Warring States and Qin and Han Dynasties. In the Western Han Dynasty, the composition was scattered outward: the outer edge of the mirror was connected with several arcs inward (eight arcs, twelve arcs and sixteen arcs), and there were animals, moire patterns ("zigzag mirror" and "nebula mirror") around the mirror button, or several grass-shaped petal-shaped patterns (called "grass-leaf mirror") protruding up, down, left and right. A kind of "cloud and thunder arc mirror" in the Western Han Dynasty is the most concise and simple composition of the Han mirror. Very good at using density, regular changes and the contrast of different flash degrees. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was named "Zhengjing" because the pattern was mixed with "T", "V" and "L". There are realistic animal images composed of extremely thin lines between shapes such as "T", "V" and "L". The periphery is circled by inscriptions and teeth, and the outermost is a circle of curved moire. The whole composition, except the animals in the middle circle (Qinglong, White Tiger, Suzaku, Xuanwu, etc. ), which is composed of many concentric circles, has received a stable and rigorous effect. This kind of mirror developed to the late Eastern Han Dynasty, with animal images and immortals in relief. The outer moire is complex and more free and flexible; Tooth line or turns increase; Rule lines disappear (animal mirror, dragon and tiger mirror, portrait mirror, etc.). ). Before the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms Period, the bronze mirror unearthed in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province (which can be called "Shaoxing Mirror") took the meeting of Dong and the Queen Mother of the West as the theme, and the treatment method was customized, and the high and low levels of reliefs were simplified into different planes.

The local individual patterns in the decoration of bronze mirrors in Han Dynasty are very different. Buttons, the shape of buttons and the section of bronze mirrors have also become the basis for judging the times.

The bronze mirror is engraved with an inscription of three or seven characters. After the Western Han Dynasty, the bronze mirror has the year of production in the inscription, and most of the mirror inscriptions are auspicious words, such as: "The square is as good as a mirror, and there are immortal phoenix birds on it, thirsty for Yuquan and hungry for dates, floating in the clouds, enduring in the world, and the second parent-child Sun Fushou is like a stone, which is safe." The bronzes of the people of all ethnic groups in the frontier also enriched the artistic achievements of the Han Dynasty.

Various bronze artworks of ancient southwest tribes were discovered in Shizhai Mountain, Jinning, Yunnan. The funerary objects unearthed from Tomb No.1 in Area A are rich in decoration and have special artistic and historical value. Among them, there is a drum-shaped bird quadruped container with a small bronze statue of 18 cast on the lid, which shows that a female slave owner is monitoring slaves engaged in weaving and other labor. There is also a shell container with forty-one small bronze statues on the cover, which seems to be a ceremony to sacrifice a copper column (a tiger stands on the column and two snakes are wrapped around it). There are eight numbers engraved with shallow yinxian on the drum body. Holding a weapon in his hand to make a chase. In addition, there is a quadruped in the center of the cover, with a small bronze drum, bison with huge horns and six other cows. The waist of the device has carved tiger-shaped ears, and the yinxian line is shallowly engraved with three cloud-shaped stripes. In the same tomb, images of rabbits, parrots, deer and figures standing on the head of a copper staff were also unearthed. There is also a female figure about four or three centimeters tall. The images of people and animals on it are vivid and true. The characters are rich in local and national characteristics and have the content of life. The image of the tiger is similar to that of the common Central Plains.

The bronze drum found in the tomb is one of all kinds of bronze drums found in southwest and north Vietnam in the past. The drums are decorated with boats, feathered people, birds and cows. Tonggu is an important cultural and artistic relic of southwest tribes. The bronze weapons found in the tomb of Shizhai Mountain in Jinning are similar to those found in Sichuan in the past. The relics found in Sichuan are all so-called "Bashu culture". The style of spear and Ge also followed the style of the early Central Plains (Yin and early Western Zhou Dynasty), but the decoration on it was unique. The blade of the axe has developed into its own unique crescent shape. "Bashu culture" bronze ware is a system to be further studied.

A large number of ancient Xiongnu small bronzes were found in Ordos Banner, south of Hetao in western Inner Mongolia, which is also a system to be studied. Among them, the representative works are hollowed-out copper plates with hunting as the theme and knives decorated with animal heads on the handle. This kind of bronze ware is generally called "Ordos Bronze" because of its own special style. Because it is similar to the bronze wares found in southern Siberia (such as Minsk) and the Black Sea coast, it is also called "Skatey Art". The bronze wares of ancient Huns in western Inner Mongolia, from the theme and the connection with North Asia and West Asia, can be seen the characteristics of their hunting and nomadic life. The handles of their bronzes were decorated with knives with animal heads, which were also found in the relics of Yin Ruins in Anyang, Henan.

The animal theme in Erdos Bronze is related to the popular hunting and the dispute between man and beast (such as tiger biting horse and demon eating sheep, etc.) in the Warring States and Han Dynasties. ), and the handling of animal images is very simple and simple.

The main producers of exquisite handicrafts in the Han Dynasty were craftsmen of the government at that time, and many of their names and surnames were kept on bronzes. Bronze mirrors often have the words "Fangshang" (the official government in charge of arts and crafts), "Xishu" and "Guanghan" (the handicraft center with workers). According to the literature, these workers spend a lot of money every year, for example, workers in western Sichuan and Guanghan spend 5 million yuan every year; As the right square, test square and east gardener belonging to Shaofu, it costs 50 million yuan a year. Some of the finished products of these government workshops can be sold by the government.

Lacquerware is also one of the handicrafts produced by government workshops.

Painted lacquerware from the Warring States to the early Western Han Dynasty was produced in Changsha, and it is difficult to draw a clear line between the times. Lacquerware at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was found in Pyongyang, North Korea (the hometown of Le Lang County in the Han Dynasty) and Huai 'an in northern Hebei. It is basically similar to the Western Han Dynasty, but the production and decoration have been improved, and the variety of colors has increased (red and black are widely used, and red is magenta and orange). The pattern is more lively and the style is closer to realism.

There are words on the lacquerware unearthed in Pyongyang indicating that it was produced in Sichuan, and it was produced by a royal workshop in Guanghan County or Shu County. It says the names of craftsmen and the processes they are responsible for. It takes nine processes to make a baking tray with fiber sandwich.

Among the lacquerware in Pyongyang, the most striking thing is the colorful basket, which is painted with stories of dutiful sons (such as Ding Lan and Lao Laizi) and historical stories (such as Zhou Wang). Although the proportion of the characters is out of proportion (the head is big, for clarity), the facial expressions and demeanor are extremely vivid.

Lacquer is more convenient than stone carving to show the floating of clouds and the flying of animals in the clouds. Lacquer boxes and plates with this decoration have been found in Huai 'an, Hebei Province and Pyongyang, North Korea. In addition to those unearthed from the Han Tomb in Yanggao, Shanxi, gold, silver and copper tubes with the same theme were also found near Pyongyang.

There were specialized silk weaving workshops in the Han Dynasty. Linzi, Shandong Province and its neighboring Qixian County have been world-famous craft centers since the Warring States Period, especially the silk weaving industry in the Han Dynasty. Silk fabrics in Qixian county have various names, such as plain weave "Su Wan", thin silk, perforated weave, jacquard "Ling" and so on. There is also embroidery in Qixian county. The brocade in Xiangyi, Chenliu County (now near Kaifeng, Henan Province) is also full of praise.

Silk from the Han Dynasty was discovered in Xinjiang. The origin, length and weight are marked on the end of the silk, indicating that it is a product of Qixian County and sold abroad as a commodity.

According to the Han brocade found in Mongolia, Xinjiang and Gansu, we can see that there are very advanced technologies. Silk with jacquard diamond pattern, more colorful brocade and "woven". Hanjin uses many colors, such as red, brown, yellow, cyan and blue to weave many patterns. Some are simple, others are complex, such as clouds, dragons and animals. There are even words weaving, such as Longevity, Bright Light in Changle, Ascending the Mountain (that is, "Great Ascending Brocade" or "Small Ascending Brocade" in Nakanoji) and "Chinese Embroidering Dragons, Children and grandchildren are not in a hurry" (that is, "Nakanoji"). When weaving, the small shuttle can imitate painting to weave free patterns, and can weave patterns such as mountains, trees and clouds. In the silk weaving technology of Han dynasty, the embroidery method of "nailing thread" has appeared.

In the pottery of the Han Dynasty, a certain number of black pottery was painted with special colors, gray pottery was painted with white powder, and then black and red decorative patterns were painted. These pottery wares are now called Ming Dynasty wares that imitate copper wares or other household utensils. There are two kinds of pottery in Han dynasty that deserve special attention: lead glazed rough pottery and transparent glazed stoneware.

Lead-glazed pottery fired at low temperature is a kind of pottery that has been circulating in China for a long time. This kind of pottery discovered in Han Dynasty is the earliest known relic. The surface of this pottery is glazed, and the glaze contains lead. The firing temperature is about 800 degrees Celsius. The most common color of glaze is green, and others are yellow, brown, white and blue. There are many shapes of lead glazed pottery in Han Dynasty. A pot with blue glaze or orange glaze is decorated with embossed hunting patterns, which looks exactly like bronze.

Many transparent glazed stoneware (half pottery and half porcelain) were found in Fuyang, Zhejiang Province, which may be round boxes and pottery washing in the Western Han Dynasty. The earliest tomb brick and six funerary objects in the 11th year of Yongyuan (AD 99) were found in Xinyang, Henan. Later, a tomb brick with the year number of Yongkang II (AD 168) and a bird pavilion unearthed at the same time were discovered in Hangzhou. In addition, Tao Zun, who was glazed in the early Western Han Dynasty, and Ming ware with glaze spots in the Eastern Han Dynasty were also found in Guangzhou (the opinion of archaeologists may also be natural glaze, not artificially processed). Glazed pottery has been found in places so far apart, which shows that it is no accident that glazed pottery appeared in Han Dynasty. This kind of glazed pottery is also characterized by thin, hard and audible tires, firing temperature above 1000 degrees, and transparent glaze, such as glassy, dark green or grass green. For glazed pottery found in Guangdong, the vertical thickness of transparent glaze is opaque turbid white and dark blue (such as the glaze color of Jun kiln in Song Dynasty). This kind of glazed pottery of Han Dynasty found in Hangzhou can be regarded as the real beginning of popular celadon since the Sui and Tang Dynasties in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

During the Three Kingdoms period, a large number of celadon were found near Shaoxing and Nanjing, Zhejiang Province, including the tomb bricks with the year number of Sun Wu and the porcelain with the year number. It can be seen that by the middle of the third century, the color of this cyan glaze no longer has a strong yellow taste, which shows that the reduction of iron in porcelain glaze has taken another step forward in firing technology.

The techniques of lacquerware, silk weaving and pottery making in Han Dynasty have reached a certain level, and formed some foundations of craft traditions since the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The relationship between Han Dynasty craft and its subsequent development and inheritance is obvious.