China: A History in Art

by Bradley Smith

DJ has very slight edgeware, Loaded with photos and details, No International Shipping,

Genres: Art, History, Reference, China, Asia, Art History

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Indian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this beautiful hardbound book at a friend's apartment.

Its a huge book with very thick pages adorned with full pages sizes artifacts of the different eras/dynasties of the Chinese history.

Learnt many new things:-

1) Why jade (the green gem) has been so popular in Chinese history?
2) The sequence of Han, Qin, Tang, Song, Mongols, Ming, Manchu, SunYet, Chiang Kai Shek & Mao.
3) The 399 Fa-Hsein's India trip - a quest to find Buddha's truth at the source.
4) Four schools of Chinese Buddhism - T'ien-t'ai, Hua-yen, Pure Land School (Amitabha & Avalokitesvara/Kuan-yin) & Zen (Ch'an or Dhyan)
5) 1024 the first national banknotes introduced without much success
6) Song-Dynasties 3 discoveries that changes the world: 1040's movable type wood block printing books, gunpowder & magnetic compass
7) Confucian scholar's consideration of commerce the lowest of all occupation & adoption of Tea as national beverage by British Empire mid-18th century
8) 1853-1878 - Japan in dramatic contrast made pursuit of knowledge of the world a national policy.
A great book to understand major flection points of Chinese history.

[Bronwyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying this book. I expected an art book but it's more of a history book with artworks that demonstrate the essence of each period. Chinese civil history is well summarised on page 150, "The breakdown of the T'ang empire in mid-eight century reflected both the basic weakness of imperial rule, dependent upon the ability and character of a single person, and the underlying strength of Chinese civilisation: the sense of unity engendered by cultural traditions and long-standing institutions." Chinese history has a continuous thread of the search for and expression of spiritual meaning. This thread runs parellel to an ebb and flow of conquest and civil conflict which wends throughout this book.