Page 31 - The Arts of China, By Michael Sullivan Good Book

It is natural that in a history of art wc should chronicle the early
stages of civilisation in that most indestructible of crafts — pot-
tery. Just who the people were who made it is not yet certain.
There were many tribes in prehistoric China, some communicat-
ing with each other, others not, some advanced, others backward.
Hundreds of Neolithic sites have been excavated all over China,
and although many problems remain unsolved, a picture is begin-
ning to form of how Chinese society was emerging, and of how
local customs and craft traditions were beginning to develop.
For all the regional differences, it seems that by the end of the
Neolithic period, which should be put in the most advanced areas
at about 2000 B.C., the Chinese were leading an organised social
life, centred on the farm and the village and bound together by rit-
ual; that they practiced high standards of craftsmanship, were
preoccupied with death, made ritual use ofjade, and had mastered
the flexible brush as an instrument of artistic expression. This
primitive culture lingered on in southern and western China long
after the coming of bronze had opened up a new and incompara-
bly richer chapter in Chinese history. 9 Hiirn steamer. Excavated at
Chcngchow. Hunan Second
millennium B.C.
10 Scraper or dagger. Polished stone.
Excavated in Pi-hsien. Kiangtu. Late
Neolithic period.

1 1 Ritual vessel, ihueh Bronze. Prom
Yen-shih, Honan. Early Shang Dynasty.