Page 131 - The Arts of China, By Michael Sullivan Good Book

1)9 Hsi K'ing (223-262), one of
"Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove."
Brick tomb relief, Nanking. About fifth
century.

many examples in Western museums. Some of the larger tombs in
the Nanking region were lined with bricks moulded with lines in
thread relief, which, when correctly laid, formed a picture that
covered a large area of the wall. These relief pictures, depicting
themes such as the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" which
were popular with the southern gentry, may well preserve not
only the composition but also the style of early southern masters
such as Ku K'ai-chih.
The ceramics industry in North China only gradually recovered CERAMICS
from the disasters of the fourth century. The quality and variety of
the ming-ch'i deteriorated. Much rarer now are the farms and pig-
sties that give so delightful a picture of Han rural economy. But to
compensate, the best of the grave figurines have an almost fairy-
like elegance that reminds us of the ladies in the Ku K'ai-chih
scrolls, while the horses are no longer the tough, stocky, deep-
chested creatures of Han art; they seem, rather, in their heraldic
grace of form and the richness of their trappings to evoke a by-
gone age of chivalry. The Wei figurines arc usually dark-bodied
and unglazed, but some are painted with colours that have mel-
lowed to soft reds and blues through long burial.
It was not until the sixth century that really fine-quality wares
were being made in the north. Some vessels show the same variety
and robustness of style that we find in the Buddhist sculpture of
the period, borrowing motifs such as the lotus from the repertoire
of Buddhist art, and pearl roundels and lion masks in applique
from Sasanian metalwork. It was a restless and uncertain age in
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