ASIA 256 - The Arts of China

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

(Same as ART 256) This course offers a survey of art in China from prehistory to the present. The remarkable range of works to be studied includes archeological discoveries, imperial tombs, palace and temple architecture, Buddhist and Taoist sculpture, ceramics, calligraphy, painting, and experimental art in recent decades. We examine the visual and material features of objects for insight into how these works were crafted, and ask what made these works meaningful to artists and audiences. Readings in primary sources and secondary scholarship allow for deeper investigation of the diverse contexts in which the arts of China have evolved. Among the issues we confront are art’s relationship to politics, ethics, gender, religion, cultural interaction, and to social, technological, and environmental change. Jin Xu.

Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106, one Asian Studies course, or permission of the instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.