Page 173 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

Calligraphy and

—Painting The Essence

of a Civilization

Liu Jiu'an

Researcher, Palace Museum, Beiiin?

The five-thousand-year history of

Chinese civilization has shaped the cul-

ture and art of the Chinese people. The

arts of painting and calligraphy are

rooted in this ancient civilization. They

are fruits borne by it, and through their

unique artistic expressiveness and pro-

found artistic inner content, they also

epitomize one aspect of it. Just as Chinese