What is Oriental Sculpture?

Sculpture is one of the oldest arts in the history of human culture. Sculpture has a long history in both the East and the West. Especially in the ancient primitive society, sculpture has not been differentiated from practical handicrafts. Therefore, an original sculpture is often a practical handicraft. As early as the Paleolithic Age, there were stone carvers among the stone tools used by Beijingers in China. At Hemudu site in Zhejiang province about six or seven thousand years ago, a large number of decorations carved with bones, wood and ivory were unearthed. The appearance of pottery, in particular, promoted the development of primitive sculpture. In the late ruins of Hongshan Culture, Liaoning Province, 5,000 years ago, a nude figure of pottery was found, which was vivid and natural, and reached a considerable level. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the casting of ancient bronzes reached its peak, and sculptures also developed. In recent years, one of the major achievements of archaeological excavations in China is the bronze head unearthed from the Shang and Zhou sacrificial pits in Guanghan, Sichuan, which has a history of more than 3,000 years. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, China ancient sculpture reached its peak. Known as the eighth wonder of the world, the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum are unprecedented in scale and magnificent, with more than 6,000 terracotta warriors and horses, forming a vast and magnificent army array. These terracotta figures are similar in height to real people and are designed and made according to different ages and identities. The artistic image is vivid, and the costumes, weapons and costumes of the pottery figurines are similar or the same as the real thing. What is particularly rare is that craftsmen and artists in the Qin Dynasty, based on their long-term observation of life and full artistic imagination, used various techniques such as sticking plastic, carving, painting, etc., so that all samurai images were distinctive and vivid, with different status, identity, personality, age, and even different faces, hairstyles, postures and expressions. In addition to the famous stone carvings in front of Huo Qubing's tomb, there are stone statues and beasts in front of Lu Wang's tomb in Chenggu, Shaanxi. Most of these large stone carvings play a commemorative and ceremonial role in front of the tomb. Mausoleum sculpture, as one of the treasures of ancient sculpture art in China, was unprecedented in Qin and Han Dynasties. During Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and Tang and Song Dynasties, religious sculpture, as another treasure house of China ancient sculpture art, developed rapidly. Since Wei and Jin Dynasties, Yungang Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes, Dunhuang Grottoes and Maijishan Grottoes have flourished one after another. The scale and quantity of grotto sculpture art have reached an alarming level. There are more than 6.5438+10,000 Buddha statues in Longmen Grottoes, more than 3,000 colored sculptures in more than 490 caves in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, more than 50,000 large and small statues in Yungang Grottoes and more than 7,000 statues in Maijishan Grottoes. Although the sculptures in these places were not the works of a generation, they were completed after several dynasties, but from the overall style and artistic level, the artistic achievements of grottoes in Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties were the most remarkable. In Longmen, Dunhuang, Yungang and Maijishan Grottoes, most of the exquisite sculptures are works of this period. During the Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, a number of sculpture masters also appeared. For example, Dai Kui and his son in the Eastern Jin Dynasty were regarded as the founders of China Buddha sculpture by later scholars, Yang Huizhi, a master sculptor in the Tang Dynasty, was called "Sculpting Saint", and Wu Daozi, a "Painting Saint". During the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the art of large grottoes declined, but another major small ornamental sculpture in ancient China became increasingly prosperous. During this period, various desk display sculptures, craft decoration sculptures and folk carving techniques developed rapidly. The pottery sculptures in Shiwan, Guangdong, Dehua kiln in Fujian, clay sculptures in Wuxi and Tianjin, bamboo carvings in Jiading and Chaozhou woodcarving all have unique artistic styles. Since the founding of New China, China's sculpture art has made great progress.