An excellent and remarkably comprehensive survey of the arts of China from the very first manifestations in the Neolithic culture of Gansu...to the latest trends in traditional Chinese painting I cannot recommend this book too highly to all who take an interest in China.

At a time when interest in China has never been greater, this revised edition of Mary Tregear's authoritative survey of the Chinese visual arts will be welcomed by art lovers, students and travellers alike. Generously illustrated and eminently readable, it covers not only bronzes, jades, calligraphy and painting, but also Buddhist sculpture, ceramics, textiles,metalwork, lacquer, garden design and architecture. For the revised edition, all Chinese names, places and terms have been romanized to current international usage. Throughout,information has been updated in view of recent finds, and the book contains new illustrations, a revised introduction and a new final chapter on twentieth-century art. An invaluable chronology of Chinese historical periods is included, together with six maps.

Introduction

Annotated Chronology of Chinese Historical

Periods, Dynasties and Reigns

1 Neolithic Crafts

(c. 5th millennium-18th century BC)

2 Hieratic Art and the Bronze Age

(18th-12th centuries BC)

3 Status and Decoration

(12th-3rd centuries BC)

4 Nationalism and Expression

(3rd century Bc-3rd century AD)

5 The Imprint of Buddhism

(1st-10th centuries AD)

6 Internationalism and Showmanship

(4th-10th centuries)

7 Space and Monumentality

(l oth-early 12th centuries)

8 Court and Chan Buddhist Arts

(early 12th-early 14th centuries)

9 Tradition and Invention

 (14th-15th centuries)

10 Eclecticism and Innovation

 (15th-17th centuries)

11 Individualism and Eccentricity

 (17th-18th centuries)

12 Enquiry and Dislocation

 (19th-20th centuries)

Select Bibliography

Maps

List of Illustrations

Index