Page 71 - The Arts of China, By Michael Sullivan Good Book

reptilian origin is clearly suggested. Other and far larger silk
paintings, recently found in Han tombs at Changsha, are dis-
cussed in Chapter 5. A bamboo brush with rabbit's-fur tip has also
been found at Changsha, together with other writing and painting
materials. Some of the most beautiful painting, however, appears
on the lacquer ware of Ch'u and Shu (Szechwan). The craft had
first developed in North China during the Shang Dynasty, but
now it reached a new level of refinement. Lacquer is the pure sap
of the lac tree (Rhus vemificera), with colour added. It was applied
in thin layers over a core of wood or woven bamboo; more rarely
a fabric base was used, producing vessels of incredible lightness
and delicacy. In late Chou and Han tombs in central China, large
quantities of lacquer bowls, dishes, toilet boxes, trays, and tables
have been found. They arc beautifully decorated in black on a red
ground, or red on glossy black, with swirling volutes that may
transform themselves into tigers, phoenixes, or dragons sporting
amid clouds.
Also to be classed with the pictorial arts arc the lively scenes cast
in the body of bronze vessels and inlaid, generally with silver. On
the hu illustrated in figure 71 we can sec an attack on a city wall, a
fight between longboats, men shooting wild geese with arrows on
the end of long cords, feasting, mulberry picking and other do-
mestic activities, all carried out in silhouette with great vitality, el-
egance, and humour. It is instructive to compare these essentially
southern scenes with the fiercely northern combats illustrated on
the hu in figure 61.
tV? Cull object 01 guardian in the form
of j homed. long-tongued creature
rating a snake. Carved and lacquered
wood. Excavated in Htin-yang, Hunan
Late Warring States period.