Chinese Paintings and Artifacts

Extra Credit

The first display that I choose was the Three Lady Polo Players and Foreign Groom on Horseback. These pieces were made during the Tang Dynasty in between 618 – 907 BCE and the sculpture remains anonymous. During the Tang Dynasty, Empress Wu ruled the dynasty and Buddhism were getting popular among the population in China. Outside China, Muhammed has the first revelation in Mecca, begins to preach Islam, hiraj to Medina, and death. To describe the four pieces, the three women plus the man are all riding horses with their feet gliding over the air with the solid colors different shade of red-brown and light brown with hints of faded green in between. All of the objects are propped up by a wooden slab and size of the objects being a foot long. The women and man are all wearing tradition Chinese robe with all of them having their hair tied up in a bun.

This relates to class because we learned about women equality while taking notes in class. Tang dynasty was a great time and one of the golden ages of China. During this time of prosperity and peace, there was lower taxes, an abundance of foods, and low crime rates. But, also throughout this time period, women were allowed to take roles and activities the men have. Since women had low familial and social status, the Tang Dynasty changed the social expectation of women and gave an opportunity for the women to have their own voice. This gave them a chance a place along male dominance. Even though it wouldn't have been seen equal today, women had much more freedom that the former and future dynasties. This is because women were allowed to participate in men activities and they did a lot of the same things, like education and polo. Women engaged in art, music, and poetry. Women also enjoyed the privileges of education, marriage choice, work, and other privileges excluding men. Its good to know not all women during China's Imperial rule didn’t have a harsh lifestyle and they get to do take role most women during that time never done before.

I choose this pieces because I really liked the complexion of the colors of all four pieces. Every piece was sculpted very craftily, I don’t know how it was made, but it was intricately made, I admired the horse's mane flowing like they are running through the wind. I am interested in how the artist made all four pieces out of earthenware and how long it could have taken to make each piece. I like how the horses are looking all the to left, I wonder what they are looking at. I wonder if there was more horse that could be added to this set. The horse faces look very real like and the body is accurate to an actual horse. There was a wing feature that is part of the saddle and I have never seen in a sculpture before. I am fascinated and inspired to make my own horse riders and how it represents the supports women in the Tang dynasty.

The second item I have selected would be the Guai Stone out of the China Collection. Guai Stone also known as strange stone and originates between late Ming – early Qing dynasty. The wooden stand created in the 17th century. During this time, Mali Empire reaches its height in Africa under King Mansa Musa, The beginning of the Renaissance in Italy, and Hundred Years' War, which was the English and French kings fight for control of France. These stone date back to the third millennium BC and were presented to Emperor Yu, the sage ruler. It became a Chinese tradition to collect these rocks throughout multiple dynasties.

This relates to class because we learned about these stones in class and also learned about Daoism in class. In China, it is thought the stone are made out of refined sprit-energy or chi. Most of these stones were harbored and displayed in the gardens in the Han dynasty. In Daoism, it's believed when you died, your qi would be stored in a stone and would become such a weird shape because it had to handle all of the energy. Nature and the surrounding environment heavily influence Daoism. This means when you die, you become part of nature because your qi will be forever part of the elements and nature would be in you. This is important to think about because I learned a lot about Daoism in class, even though it’s a hard philosophy to take into a concept and understand, it cool to think about qi and how it in all of us. It just we have to manage and control it to be in balance with nature and the people around us. I good to think about different philosophies because we have to take in account there is never one way to think and you can become wise to look in all perspective of the world.

I liked this rock and defiantly not like a rock I have seen before. I got a Daoist feeling when I was near the rock, I felt the qi inside of it and made me feel at peace. The stone is such an odd shape, that it made look carefully at it for a long time. The rock made me