When thousands of schoolchildren died in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Ai Weiwei refused to stay silent.
Art of China
These enigmatic, rectilinear tubes reveal clarity of thought and took great effort to produce. What can they mean?
Jade Cong
Cave art at Mogao reflects changing beliefs as well as stylistic influences from India, the West, and the Tang.
The paintings and manuscripts from cave 17 ...
Hidden in a cave and undisturbed for centuries, this important collection of paintings was rediscovered in 1900.
The paintings and manuscripts from cave 17 ...
Imperial China held the arts in high esteem. Poetry, calligraphy, and painting were known as the Three Perfections.
Imperial China, an introduction
Blue-and-white porcelain was much admired at the Imperial court, but a booming export market also drove production.
Chinese porcelain: production and export
Not all Chinese porcelain is blue and white. Overglaze enamels add touches of pink, green, yellow, and black.
Chinese porcelain: decoration
From mountain-shaped incense burners to paradisiacal Buddhist paintings, landscapes are central to Chinese art.
Chinese landscape painting
Valued above silver or even gold, jade was worn by kings and nobles—in life as well as death.
Chinese jade: an introduction
Every inch of this contemplative space was carefully crafted—there’s bamboo, patterned paving, and scholar’s rocks.
Master of the (Fishing) Nets Garden
The writing on these bones is 3000 years old, but scholars can decipher an incredible 40 percent of the characters.
Oracle Bone, Shang Dynasty
Not for everyday use, this ritual bronze vessel is significant in function and in heft. It weighs over 400 pounds!
Da Ke Ding
“Beautiful women paintings” provide insight into ideals of beauty and other social customs at the Tang court.
Attributed to Zhou Fang, Ladies Wearing Flowers ...
Zheng’s precise calligraphic strokes lend vitality and movement to these delicate flowers. But are they rootless?
Zheng Sixiao, Ink Orchid
The subject is conventional, but Liang Kai’s airy composition makes this painting unusual. What’s behind the mist?
Liang Kai, Poet Strolling by a Marshy ...
Why were cave shrines created? Who were the patrons? What was their use? Discover these remarkable ancient sites.
Chinese Buddhist cave shrines
Promoting Mao as a revolutionary leader, this portrait melds Chinese landscape convention with socialist realism.
Liu Chunhua, Chairman Mao en Route to ...
Cut, abrade, polish. With these three actions, Chinese artisans have been refining jade for 6000 years.
Working jade
Dragons! Elephants! A phoenix! Many motifs cover these tall vases, but it’s the inscriptions that date the pair.
The David Vases
Dressed in robes and adorned with jewels, this princely figure has foregone nirvana, maintaining earthly ties.