The splendid Arts in the Han Dynasty
People in the Han Dynasty believed in the immortality of human spirits and treated the dead the way they were treated when alive. Therefore, all the belongings of the dead would be buried together with their owner for his enjoyment after death. Under such tradition, luxury burial prevailed and large batch of articles were buried in tombs which offered us an opportunity to witness the great national strength and splendid art of the Han Dynasty.
Stone sculpture of steed treading over the Huns
The most well-known artistic works are the stone sculptures in front of the tomb of Huo Qubing, the distinguished general of the Han Dynasty. These sculptures were engraved at the command of Emperor Wudi of Han to commend and commemorate Huo Qubing who died young for the nation. As the first batch of stone sculptures of ancient China, they are unique in design, rich in variety and majestic in view which make them matchless in Chinese sculpture history. Recently, there are still 16 sculptures taking the shape of the horse, cow, sheep, elephant, tiger, pig, fish or complicated ones illustrating the beast preying the sheep or human beings fighting against the bear. Among them the most well-known one is the sculpture with the theme of combating the Huns. The symbolic sculpture illustrates a steed and a warrior, symbolizing Huo Qubing’s epic victory over the Huns. The sculpture together with other artistic works forms a sculpture group with distinctive features and majestic design. Just as Lu Xun (a famous Chinese writer who is considered the founder of Modern Chinese Literature) put it, “the Han and Tang dynasties marked the acme of Chinese civilization”, which best explained the huge artistic value of the stone sculptures in front of Huo Qubing’s tomb.
Polychrome pottery figure of kneeling housemaid
Pottery figure production entered its prime age in the Han Dynasty. The figures unearthed in Shaanxi led other parts of China in terms of quantity, variety and craftsmanship. Tangible items prove that figures produced in the Han Dynasty, compared with those of the Qin Dynasty, are richer in variety and closer to life. Of smaller size and reflecting slightly different historic connotations, figures of the Han Dynasty are continuation of figures of the Qin Dynasty in that it also reveals a sense of grandness in the large collection of distinctive figures. Generally, Han figures are more elegant and vivid in design and they represent the acme of the art of pottery figures.
Vivid as some figures are, Han pottery figures are generally more symbolic than realistic. Smaller size determines the rough symbolic sketch being adopted for some parts of the body. In most cases, you can see exaggerating sketch used to make the figures simple but vivid. The symbolism adopted in Han pottery figures also influenced Chinese traditional painting and sculpture, which drove art from simple sketching to a carrier for emotions and feelings.
Eave tiles with patterns of the holy creatures representing the four directions
Eave tiles of the Han Dynasty mark the perfection of Chinese eave tile arts. Shaanxi houses the most eave tiles of high quality from the Han Dynasty, and therefore it becomes the icon for ancient civilization for Qin and Han. Originally used to protect the rafters from being rotten, eave titles become special for the patterns on them. Most eave tiles were found from remains of palaces, imperial mausoleums and official residence. As architectural components with auspicious inscriptions, they are of huge value for historic research. Besides, they also greatly influenced calligraphy of China, for on them you can find in the center or around the surface some characters with huge aesthetic value. This embodies that Chinese calligraphy can be actually dated back to the Han Dynasty, during which calligraphy had reached its acme of perfection with calligraphers writing with great originality and freedom.
Masterpiece of lishu of Han—the Caoquan Tablet
On eave tiles, we can find such geometric patterns as the yun pattern, lei pattern, petal patterns etc. among which the most popular ones are the patterns of holy creatures, including blue dragon, white tiger, red suzaku and black tortoise. These four creatures represent different constellations showing in different directions in different seasons. Originated in as early as the Warring States Period, they enjoyed overwhelming popularity in the Western Han Dynasty, which explained why patterns of the creatures were inscribed on the important buildings. Chinese people tend to mystify characters and patterns on cultural items, and therefore eave tiles change from a merely practical construction material to the cultural media embodying spiritual and artistic value of cultural pieces.
Till the Han Dynasty, bronze ware gradually lost the traditional ritual value to become practical vessels used in ordinary households. Bronze mirrors, for instance, take a huge portion in all bronze articles unearthed for the Han Dynasty. Shaanxi, as the origin of the Han Dynasty, turned out once again as the venue housing the largest quantity of high-quality bronze mirrors.
As practical daily stuff in ancient China, most bronze mirrors bear on their inverse side exquisite patterns which make them precious works of art. Among bronze mirrors produced in various dynasties, Han mirrors show huge artistic value for their rich variety and delicate design. What make Han mirrors more special is the inscriptions extending good wishes like “Wishes for stepping the official position”, “Wishes for gaining a fortune”, “Wishes for longevity” and “Wishes for mother’s birthday”, which can not be found on bronze mirrors of any other dynasties.
In Shaanxi, there is another type of inscriptions which are distinct since they were carved with axes instead of small cutting tools. This kind of rock paintings are mainly distributed in three areas of China, i.e., Shandong, Jiangsu & Anhui area, South Henan & North Hubei Area and North Shaanxi & Northwest Shanxi Area. Rock carvings in North Shaanxi were found much earlier with large quantity and various themes. The particular regional features make these rock carvings stand out from relics of the same kind.
With rock carving becoming prevalent all over China in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Shaanxi also witnessed a surging number of stone tablets, among which the most well-known ones preserved till recently are Tablet of Cang Jie Temple, Wudu Taishou Tablet, Tang Gongpang Tablet and a large batch of precipice inscriptions. Of the precipice inscriptions, the most prestigious one is the Caoquan Tablet found in Heyang, Shaanxi Province. It is typical of lishu, the official script, of the Han Dynasty and is regarded as the master copybook for calligraphy learners of lishu of the Han Dynasty. Recently, most of the precious tablets are collected by Beilin Museum and Hanzhong Museum in south Shaanxi Province.
