History of Chinese Sculpture (Part 2)

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the regime split. In 907, the victory of the Huangchao peasant uprising was stolen by its rebel general Zhu Wen, and the first dynasty of five dynasties, the Houliang, was established in Kaifeng, Henan. Then came the Later Tang Dynasty, the Later Jin Dynasty, the Later Han Dynasty and the Later Zhou Dynasty, known as the "Five Dynasties" in history; This is not enough. At the same time, ten separatist forces, including Wu (Yangzhou), Wu Yue (Hangzhou), Chu (Changsha), Min (Fuzhou), Qian Shu, Hou Shu (Chengdu), Nan Tang (Nanjing), Nan Han (Guangzhou), Bei Han (Taiyuan), and Nan Ping (Hubei), have emerged in succession in the chaos of the world, becoming the "ten countries". The chaos during this period is comparable to the five Hu sixteen countries before the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but only for more than 50 years. The artistic style of sculpture in this period basically inherited the form of the late Tang Dynasty. Theoretically, there should be grotto statues in Qianshu and Houshu, which had their capital in Sichuan. However, due to the short history of this period, it is not easy to clearly identify their separate forms of existence. The most accessible direct information is also from the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, which clearly indicates that as many as 28 caves were excavated during the Five Dynasties. Because of its remote location, when the mainland was in chaos, it was not affected. However, the painted sculptures in this period obviously showed signs of rigidity, complexity and procedure, which were far less magnificent than those in the Tang Dynasty.

Traditionally, people regard the tombs related to emperors as "tombs". The tombs of emperors in the Tang Dynasty are mostly distributed near Xi'an, with as many as 18. The imperial tombs of the Tang Dynasty had a relatively fixed pattern, with stone statues set up between the walls of the two cities. The emperor of the Tang Dynasty took the mountain as the main body of the tomb, and the statue in front of the tomb had animals or people. For example, the 14 figure statues in front of Zhaoling are foreign prisoners under the control of Taizong, symbolizing the surrender of small countries elsewhere; There are stone tigers and rhinoceroses in front of the mausoleum, which are huge in size and simple and powerful in shape. During this period, the most famous sculpture art is the "six steeds of Zhaoling", which is a six-piece relief made to commemorate Li Shimin's contribution to the six war horses during the founding war. At that time, Emperor Taizong's great painter Yan Liben painted pictures, which were chiseled on the stone by a sculptor. It is said that Ouyang Xun, a great calligrapher, inscribed the words for which Emperor Taizong sang praises, which shows its high value. These six magic horses all have their own names: Terebu, Qingzhui, Shifalchi, Saluzu, Quanmao, and Baihoowu. It is deplorable that the two reliefs of saru purple and horsehorse were stolen and sold abroad by warlords in 1914 and are now in the University of Pennsylvania Museum. The relief works of these six famous foals from the Western Regions show the maturity of animal sculpture in the Tang Dynasty, and make the relief art enter a brilliant stage. In the Tang Dynasty, there were many masters of animal painting, such as Cao Ba and Han Gan, who were masters of horse painting, and the creation of "Zhaoling Six Steeds" was earlier than them.

Qianling is the burial ground of Emperor Li Zhi and Empress Wu. There are many stone carvings in the mausoleum, including lions, figures, battle horses, rosefinches, ornamental column, etc. There are hundreds of hard stone carvings, reflecting the endless talents of those sculptors who did not leave their names at that time. Among the stone statues, the sculptures of civil and military guards are also very prominent, with a stable and dignified posture, but their facial expressions are different. On the door of the Qianling Mausoleum, there are as many as 60 or more envoy statues. It is heartbreaking that all the heads with vivid and realistic images and different facial expressions have been cut off by foreign tomb robbers. It is really heartbreaking! In addition, the imperial tombs of Empress Wu Zetian's Mother Shun Mausoleum, Tang Ruizong's Bridge Mausoleum, Gong Mausoleum, Ding Mausoleum and other royal tombs have a large number and a wide variety of stone carving art works. On the whole, the style of the early Tang Dynasty is relatively simple. The six steeds of Zhaoling are more realistic and more sophisticated.

The sculpture art of the Tang Dynasty can also be seen from the funerary artifacts. At that time, the government agency set up a special management department for the tomb stone carving and the production of the artifacts, which is called "Zhen Guan Office". In this period, the objects of social life reflected by the Ming Dynasty sculptures are extremely broad, with the most people and animals. The modeling characteristics of the female figurines are consistent with the aesthetic tastes of the public at that time. Just as the image shown in the paintings of the ladies at that time is fat and plump, with dignified appearance and gorgeous clothing. Women's horseback riding was also a fashion in the Tang Dynasty, which frequently appeared in paintings, sculptures and craft decoration at that time. Due to the relatively developed cultural exchanges with foreign countries in the Tang Dynasty, many foreign merchants came to China for business or life, which is often reflected in the Ming Dynasty sculptures, such as "Hu people dance", "slaves of the Western Regions", "horse riding merchants" and other images can be seen everywhere, and even the image of African blacks. The statue of Zhenmu Luxi is commonly used in the tombs of the Tang Dynasty. It is mostly made of tricolor pottery. Its image is powerful, similar to that of Vajra Luxi in the Buddhist temple. It has distinctive image characteristics. During the Tang Dynasty, the world was full of singing and dancing. Haikou singing and dancing were widely popular among the royal family and the people. Therefore, there were also a large number of Haikou figurines dancing in the tombs of the Tang Dynasty, with exaggerated movements and rich expressions, and reached a very high artistic level in characterization. These sculptures also provide valuable material materials for the study of ancient Chinese drama, music and other art fields, and also provide direct evidence for the study of clothing and clothing at that time. In the Tang Dynasty, Luoyang, Henan Province, was taken as Tokyo, and the surrounding areas were rich in ceramics. The pottery sculpture is mainly made of three colors. Tri-colored pottery is a special variety of pottery, with low firing temperature and good plasticity of soil. The main component in glaze is lead, and iron, copper, manganese and other oxide metals are used as colorants. This low-temperature glaze with rich color changes is very suitable for making works of art, and the glaze that is easy to flow will produce unexpected changes. Since the Tang Dynasty, ceramic Ming ware has basically occupied the main material used, and rarely seen stone carving, wood carving or cast copper.

Among the funerary objects in the Tang Dynasty, animal sculpture is also an important kind. Among them, horses and camels are the most common, which are the main means of transportation, transportation, war and travel. Due to the relatively developed agriculture, animal husbandry and animal husbandry at that time, the animals that the pig herders had kept were also made into miniature sculptures, such as chickens, dogs, pigs, cows, sheep, etc., just like the environment of the tomb owner before his death.

Decorative architectural component sculpture is also an important branch of art in the Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms periods. Although the imperial palaces in the Tang Dynasty were also built with great efforts, such as the famous Daming Palace, the decorative reliefs on the bricks, tiles and other building components in this period were much inferior to those in the Qin and Han dynasties. One of the more important reasons for the appearance of this phenomenon may be due to the large number of use of painted decoration in buildings. The magnificent palaces of the Tang Dynasty have long been gone, while other types of buildings, such as bridges and towers, are also extremely rare. The decorative reliefs on them seem to have little merit. They are mostly decorative patterns such as Kui dragons and tangled flowers.

Yang Huizhi, a famous sculptor of the Tang Dynasty, was able to spread his name, which was really a matter of great happiness. Also, it was because of his superb painting ability. He used to be a painting friend with Wu Daozi, but later thought that he could not paint Wu Daozi, so he changed his focus on sculpture to the point of perfection. It is said that the Thousand-handed and Thousand-eyed Buddha was first created by him and has been handed down to the Song Dynasty. The Sculpture Code is a unique theoretical work of sculpture in China and also originated from Yang Huizhi. Unfortunately, we can't see the original of his work now. Before him, there was another sculptor, Han Botong, who was seen in the Records of Famous Paintings of the Past Dynasties. Some sculpture historians also listed Li Chun of the Sui Dynasty as a sculptor, which seems far-fetched. Li Chun is the designer and the moderator of the construction of the famous "Zhaozhou Bridge". The architectural decoration on the bridge may not be in the hands of Li Chun, so it is more appropriate to list him as a bridge designer.

After the decline of the Tang Dynasty, from the 10th century to the 13th century, China experienced the historical stages of Song, Liao and Jin. Sculpture art has emerged a style phenomenon different from that of the previous generation, and also produced some influential works, which are further living and secularized. The creation techniques tend to be realistic, the use of materials is more extensive, and the production process is also improved. But on the whole, it is not as important in the history of Chinese sculpture as in the Han and Tang dynasties.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the capital was set up in Nankaifeng (960-1127), and the Southern Song Dynasty moved its capital to Hangzhou (1127-1279), Zhejiang. The Liao State, which existed almost in parallel in the Northern Song Dynasty, was controlled by the northern Khitan people and set up a capital, also known as the Khitan State (916-1125), in the area of Boluo City, now the Balin Left Banner, Inner Mongolia. The existence of the Jin State almost coexisted with that of the Southern Song Dynasty (1115-1234). It established its capital, Huining, in the area of Acheng, Heilongjiang Province, and later moved to Beijing and Kaifeng, where it was ruled by the Jurchen nationality. The Western Xia State, which existed between the Liao and Jin dynasties (1032-1227), was ruled by the Dangxiang nationality, and its capital was Xingqing, equivalent to the Yinchuan area of Ningxia.

Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, unified the country and ended the disputes of the five dynasties and ten countries. At the beginning of the founding of the country, in compliance with the requirements of social development, urban commerce, handicrafts and other economies were relatively prosperous. The function of sculpture art is more extensive, not only for religion, tombs, and artifacts, but also for daily household life. For example, the use of relief landscapes to replace mural landscapes was quite popular for a time. Most of the customs of the Northern Song Dynasty followed the Tang system, especially the form of imperial tombs, almost entirely according to the Qianling of the Tang Dynasty. Six of the eight emperors of the Song Dynasty were buried near Luoyang. Huizong and Qinzong were the most vulnerable. They were captured by the Jin people and sent to Mobei for death. So in Gongxian County, there are more than 100 tombs with names, including royal relatives and relatives, which provide us with a lot of material materials to study the sculpture art at that time. The tombs of the Song Dynasty also face south, but the scale is less than that of the Han and Tang Dynasties. The sequence of the group of stone statues in front of the mausoleum is generally in the following form: ornamental column is a pair of hexahedrons decorated with relief patterns; Elephants and characters are a pair, which seems to have the homonym of "auspicious"; A pair of rosefinches. Rosefinches are also imaginary birds; A pair of auspicious animals, winged quadrupeds, to show respect; Two pairs of Pommeled Horse and figures represent the guard of honor; Two pairs of tigers and two pairs of sheep; Three pairs of envoys of the state of Fan; There are two pairs of ministers of civil and military affairs. Next is a pair of lions inside and outside the gate of God; A pair of Zhenling warriors, a pair of officials and a pair of internal attendants. Its modeling style is different from that of the previous generation. It has an obvious realistic tendency and pays more attention to the portrayal of local details. Yongchang Mausoleum of the Song Taizu, a representative of the Song Mausoleum, is a model of the early system, and the elephants in its statue group are not found in the previous generation; The Yongzhaoling of Song Renzong in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty has a relatively slender figure sculpture, delicate literary officials and military generals, while the later works are somewhat rough. The factors of national strength will directly affect the artistic creation, and the level of craftsmen at that time also varies greatly, so the sculpture art of "seven emperors and eight tombs" in the Northern Song Dynasty is quite different. Another important reason is that the time is too short. The sculptor is required to complete all the work within half a year. The staff come from all directions, and the skills and aesthetic standards are different. Therefore, the sculpture works of the whole Song Tomb are different. Among the local people, there are lions in Yongyu Mausoleum, elephants in Yongtai Mausoleum, and good stone sheep in Yongxi Mausoleum. Such rhymes can help us understand the representative works of Song Mausoleum sculpture from one side.

Compared with the painting art of the Song Dynasty, the achievement of its sculpture art is far behind, which has a great relationship with the rulers' likes and dislikes and the degree of attention. The palace painters selected through the similar imperial examination system have high achievements, but the practitioners in the sculpture industry are not paid attention to, and even discriminated against. With the rise of literati painting, the social status of sculptors has become increasingly low, and it is no wonder that such plastic arts have declined.

The rulers of the Song Dynasty once believed in Taoism, and the statues of Buddhism and Taoism were blurred. The whole society pays more attention to the reality, and the spread of Buddhism begins to rely on folk storybooks. On the whole, northern China is relatively quiet, while the activities of Buddhist statues are relatively active in Jiangsu, Sichuan and other places in the south. This is closely related to the unbalanced economic development of the five dynasties and ten countries before the Song Dynasty. Chinese Buddhism - Zen Buddhism was relatively developed from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms to the Song Dynasty, making Buddhism no longer mysterious, and paying attention to the practice of Zen and enlightenment through daily life.

The Northern Song Dynasty was constantly invaded by foreigners from the very beginning. The Liao, Jin and Western Xia dynasties kept the Song Dynasty from being tranquil for a moment. There was hardly any intention to build a large grotto like the Tang Dynasty. In Dunhuang, Maiji Mountain, Longmen and other grottoes, there are few of them in this period. Not only that, but people also whitewashed the sculpture works of the previous generation, which has damaged the works of the previous generation to varying degrees. Northern Shaanxi is the main road to Liao, Jin and other places during the Northern Song Dynasty. There are some small grottoes left over, such as the Wanfo Cave Grottoes in Qingliang Mountain, Yan'an. Fan Zhongyan of the Northern Song Dynasty recorded them in his poems. Another example is the Shikong Temple Grottoes in Zichang County. From the inscription of the statue, it was excavated in the Northern Song Dynasty. The best part is the group of Arhat statues, which have different postures and both form and spirit. Dazu Rock Carvings in Sichuan belong to the Song Dynasty, and there are many of them. The representative group is the cave niches of Baoding Mountain. It uses natural mountains to dig along the cliff. The project is huge and the content is complex. The most important part is the "Western Paradise", with many characters and complicated scenes, but with clear layers and detailed descriptions. Adjacent to it is the "prison in disguise", which vividly shows the miserable situation of the prisoners in hell, and reappears various scenes of daily life with realistic carving techniques. These stone carvings are carved on a cliff 4 to 14 meters from the ground, with a total length of more than 500 meters. They have been constructed for decades. The sculptures are closely related and connected. The whole layout is tall and complete, the carving techniques are skilled, and the details are vivid. For example, the image of a chicken woman in the "prison in disguise" is created completely based on real life. Another important part of Dazu Rock Carvings is Hard Drive Slope, Guanyin Slope, Foer Rock, Beita Temple, etc. The whole excavation lasted more than 250 years. What should be paid attention to are also a large number of sacrificial statues with inscriptions to indicate their identity, status and engraving age, which are rare material materials for studying the history of the Song Dynasty. Feilaifeng in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, has a relatively concentrated sculpture of the Song Dynasty. Although its size is small, its artistic level plays an important role in the sculpture of the Song Dynasty.

The efficacy of temple sculpture in promoting Buddhism has gradually been higher than that of cave sculpture. The excavation of grottoes on the mountain was influenced by India, and the development of urban economy in the Song Dynasty stimulated the construction of temple buildings. The building materials of temples and ancestral halls are mainly wooden frames, and the statues set up are mostly wood carvings and clay sculptures. These materials have poor durability, and few have been preserved so far. In Lingyan Temple of Changqing, Shandong Province, there are forty Arhat statues inscribed in the Northern Song Dynasty. Their styles and production techniques are different, which may be the traces of later generations' trimming; The sixteen Arhat of Qinglian Temple in Jincheng, Shanxi, basically kept their original appearance. Without being equipped by later generations, the expressions, movements and expressions of various characters were more vivid. Arhat Statue is a typical form of Buddhist statues moving towards the secular world. In the Tang Dynasty, it only appeared as a foil in group sculpture. By the Song Dynasty, a large number of temples shaping Arhat Statues had spread all over the country. For example, there are 500 Arhat in Baimao Temple in Huixian County, Henan Province, 500 Arhat in Shouchang Temple in Tiantai Mountain, Zhejiang Province, 500 Arhat in Yunlin Temple in West Lake, Hangzhou, and temples dedicated to statues of Arhat in Shandong, Sichuan, Hebei and other places. The painted sculptures of Shanxi Jinci Temple are the most outstanding among the ancestral hall sculptures. This group of forty-three colored sculptures of figures was built to commemorate Jiang, the mother of Shuyu. These statues are almost all middle-aged and young women. Their age, position and character are different. They are different in weight and height. They are the concentrated representation of women's images at that time. Their cultural and artistic values are very valuable. Another representative of this kind of memorial sculpture is the statue of Wang Jian of Sichuan. Wang Jian was the former Shu emperor of the five dynasties. An recorded and deduced that the stone statue unearthed in the tomb of Wang Jian should be carved in his lifetime, with a realistic look, from which we can infer the early sculpture art style of the Northern Song Dynasty.

"There were no figurines in the Song Dynasty", which was widely accepted by archaeologists before. Despite the need of new construction in recent years, some Ming artifacts of the Song Dynasty have also been unearthed in the project, but the quantity is still poor. With very few exceptions, the funeral customs of the Song Dynasty basically used paper implements, which were burned when they were buried. The art of opera in the Song and Yuan Dynasties was relatively developed, which was also reflected in the art of sculpture. For example, a tomb of the Song and Jin Dynasties unearthed in Xiangfen, Shanxi Province, has a number of brick carving opera characters, representing the local "Sanle" performance scene; In the tombs of the Southern Song Dynasty unearthed in Poyang, Jiangxi Province, a number of painted porcelain figurines were found, which were in the form of opera performances with real and lively expressions; There are also porcelain figurines unearthed in the tombs of the Southern Song Dynasty in Jingdezhen. From the perspective of expression and movement, they are performing some kind of drama.

Brick tombs were popular in the Song Dynasty, and sarcophagus were relatively rare, mainly concentrated in the southwest and northeast. For example, there are many stone tombs unearthed in Zunyi, Guizhou, among which there are some stone carving works. The stone wall tombs in Liaoning area belong to the Liao Dynasty. The relief themes are filial piety stories, scenes of life before the tomb dweller, and so on. The technique adopts shovel relief, which inherits the style of the Han Dynasty stone reliefs. Brick tombs are used to be decorated with carved bricks, which mostly represent the life scenes of the people who live in the tomb. For example, the brick sculptures unearthed in Gongxian County, Henan Province, are carved with characters such as cooking, washing fish, dressing up, etc. It can be seen that the author's meticulous observation of life. There are also many exquisite brick sculptures unearthed in Shaanxi, Gansu and other places. The stories of loyalty and filial piety have basically replaced the content of religious superstition, and are full of rich flavor of life. The widespread use of engraving technology may have a great relationship with the developed engraving printing technology at that time.

Thanks to the advocacy and participation of scholars and doctors, the handicraft technology of the Song Dynasty has been greatly developed, with great achievements in ceramics, wood carving, bamboo carving and metal technology. In ceramic art, not only many new glazes have been invented, but also more and more abundant in shaping, such as children's pillows in Cizhou kiln, hand sculptures in Jingdezhen, Buddha statues in Chaozhou kiln, etc., are excellent ornamental sculptures. The figure painting in the Song Dynasty was one of the peaks in the history of Chinese art. The painters paid close attention to folk life, such as the "merchant picture" and "baby play picture" of Su Hanchen, Li Song and others were handed down. Sculpture artists were popular in making clay children. At that time, there was also an industry that made a living by making clay children. The "Children's Lane" in Hangzhou was named after it. The sketch carving in the Song Dynasty is also very developed. The famous sculptor Wang Liujiu has been recorded that stone carving and wood carving are omnipotent. Tao Zongyi of the Yuan Dynasty called them "uncanny workmanship". This kind of handicraft sculpture is still popular in the south of the Yangtze River.

In the Song Dynasty, the society itself was relatively stable, the commercial economy centered on the city was greatly developed, the class structure was changed, and the civil class was growing. The aesthetic concept representing this new class rose and matured, and painters and sculptors, in turn, adapted to this aesthetic requirement in their creation. Guo Xi is a well-known landscape painter, and he is also a sculpture artist. His artistic achievements lie in the good integration of relief art and landscape painting art, that is to say, to express landscape in the form of relief, followed by many followers. Dazu Rock Carvings in Sichuan has left many sculptors' names, but it is impossible to find more detailed information, let alone understand the details of their creative achievements.

One of the greatest characteristics of the Song Dynasty was that the rulers had a high overall cultural level and generally loved art. The emperor himself was also directly involved in artistic creation. Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are integrated in the Song Dynasty, which emphasizes literature and ignores martial arts. In terms of artistic aesthetics, it tends to be gentle, tender, delicate, astringent and elegant, especially in terms of poetry and literature, literati painting and porcelain art. In terms of sculpture, it shows obvious signs of degradation, which is in contrast with other art forms. The fatal weakness (or characteristic) of sculpture in the Song Dynasty is the excessive secularization, which seriously weakened the memorial and permanence of sculpture art, let alone the pursuit of sculpture art in space and volume; However, everything has its two sides. As one of the many branches of sculpture art - folk craft sculpture art, it has been vigorously promoted due to secularization, such as modern clay, flour, sugar and other colored sculptures, as well as stone, jade, tooth, bone, bamboo and other carving techniques, as well as metalwork and lacquer carving, most of which can be dated to the Song Dynasty.

It can be said that Chinese sculpture art has been on the decline until the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Religious sculptures, tomb stone carvings, and the shaping of bright objects, which flourished and developed in the previous generation, have come to an end, even almost disappeared. Only a few handicraft sculptures and architectural decoration sculptures are worth mentioning. This outcome is very inconsistent with the glory of the previous generation. Especially in the Qing Dynasty, the only variety of sculpture art was also submerged in the tedious decoration and mediocre modeling. The effect of imitating antiques by imitating predecessors is often decadent. Even some new creations are also poor.

The Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties lasted more than six centuries in total, accounting for a quarter of the history of China's feudal society. The Yuan and Mongols ruled from 1271 to 1368, and the capital was Beijing (then known as Dadu of the Yuan Dynasty). Before entering the Central Plains, Genghis Khan had marched westward in Central Asia, and the Iron Horse had set foot in Eastern Europe. It was a powerful monarchical power that spanned Europe and Asia. He defeated the Jin State and the Southern Song Dynasty by absolute superiority and established a multi-ethnic unified country. In the early period of the Yuan Dynasty, the size of the territory and the strength of the country were admired by all countries in the world. In addition, the exaggerated description of travelers such as Marco Polo makes Westerners more active in understanding China.

However, the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were, after all, the collective culture of some nomadic peoples was relatively backward, which hindered the development of culture and art to a certain extent. However, the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty soon realized the shortcomings in this regard, and set up corresponding management organizations in government departments to vigorously develop handicrafts, including sculpture. The rulers of the Yuan and Mongolia believed in Tibetan Buddhism. The Shizu once invited the Dharma King Baspa to be the "national teacher" of Mongolia, and the Buddhist statue of Tibetan Buddhism, the Brahman statue, began to rise. The shaping of this Buddha statue was carried out according to strict religious rituals, and its unique form has not changed much since the Yuan Dynasty.

After the Yuan Dynasty, the ideology of Chinese society has changed greatly, and the attitude to religious beliefs has also changed. The number of Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist buildings has not decreased, but the construction scale has been expanded, and the idols worshipped have become more complex. At the same time, grotto art is declining and withering.

There are still a few sculptures of the Yuan Dynasty in the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, but there is no artistic quality to speak of. It cannot be compared with the sculpture art of previous generations. There is a rare sculpture group of the Yuan Dynasty in Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou. The cliff carvings of Feilai Peak inherit the style of the Song Dynasty, mainly including Bodhisattva, Heavenly King, etc. Among them, there are Tibetan statues, white tara and green tara are the most common. These statues with mixed modeling styles have remained more than 200, which is the main concentration of statues in the Yuan Dynasty. The exquisite stone carving of Feilaifeng belongs to the cloth bag monk. It is commonly known as "Maitreya Buddha with a big belly" in the folk. It has become a symbol of wealth, joy and joy, and is loved by believers. It is said that the prototype of his life is a monk named Qi Qi, who often goes begging alone. His image is crazy. Everyone in the city thinks that he is the embodiment of Maitreya Buddha, and he is doubly worshipped. According to the history of sculpture art, the cloth bag monk of the Yuan Dynasty of Feilaifeng is the earliest Maitreya Buddha. This statue shows the cloth bag monk sitting on the ground, carefree, holding a reading and begging bag, exposing a round belly, and unique personality.

There is little Taoism in China's grotto sculpture art, and the Taoist grottoes in Lingshan, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province are a rare exception. Taoism was not valued and even discriminated against in the Yuan Dynasty. The Taoists "should do" one after another, and most became monks. Grotto sculpture art form is influenced by Indian Buddhism. Grotto groups, large and small, all over the country are promoting Buddhism. The Longshan Grottoes are located 20 kilometers southwest of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. The sculpture themes are the Heavenly Buddha of the Yuan Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty and the Heavenly Buddha of the Morality of the Shang Dynasty. Taoism does not attach importance to the creation of idols, and the later statue activities are influenced by Buddhism. The Taoist temple was built in Longshan Grottoes, but it was destroyed. The statues of Qiu Chuji and his disciples have been preserved. In terms of sculpture technique and overall layout, it is obviously influenced by the style of Tang Dynasty, but it lacks vitality in terms of sculpture art language. Only the relief decoration on the top of the cave has some characteristics. It uses the phoenix, colorful clouds and other patterns with strong national characteristics, which is highly decorative.

The temple sculptures in the Yuan Dynasty are mainly Tibetan Buddhist statues, which are different from the Buddhist statues in Chinese. The image of "Joyful Buddha" embracing naked women with majestic strength can be seen everywhere. Due to the reasons of national customs, this kind of statue, known as "grotesque", has been preserved very little. Another Taoist temple of the Yuan Dynasty that can be preserved is in Jincheng, Shanxi Province. There are painted sculptures of the Twenty-eight Constellations of the Yuan Dynasty. Due to their different functions, different constellations are represented as men and women with different looks. Yuntai relief, located in Juyongguan, Changping, Beijing, is also a relief work of the Yuan Dynasty. There were three towers on the cloud platform, which were destroyed later. The doorway of the cloud platform was decorated with reliefs, carved with patterns such as the king of heaven, the king of birds, and the curly leaves. The relief here has exaggerated expression and solid shape.

After the death of the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, they were all transported back to their original places for funeral. Due to different funeral customs, no tomb carving was found at that time. Few tomb figurines were found in the tombs of the Yuan Dynasty, and no tomb figurines were found in the tombs of the Yuan Dynasty in Shaanxi, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Henan and other places. Only a small number of human figurines were found in the tombs of the Yuan Dynasty excavated in the suburbs of Xi'an, all of which were the images and costumes of Mongolians. Both male and female figurines were generally stiff, without soft undulating shapes.

After the Song Dynasty, more and more colored paintings gradually appeared in the decoration of buildings. The decoration of building components in the Yuan Dynasty was mostly wood carving or brick carving, which reached the peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Yuan Dynasty, the government department set up a special organization to manage construction projects, known as the "Craftsman's Academy", from the purchase of raw materials to the production of clay, tile, wood and other crafts, as well as a jade bureau and a stone bureau, specializing in carving and decoration. Many of the layout, carving and decoration of the Ming Dynasty buildings follow the Yuan system, and we can still see traces from some of the relics of the Yuan Dadu. The palace construction in Dadu of the Yuan Dynasty used countless skilled craftsmen, which took time and effort, and also produced many famous sculptors, such as Yang Qiong, Duan Tianyou, Qiu Shixiang, Li Hening, and so on. Because the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty worshipped Tibetan Buddhism, Nepalese Anigo was invited from Tibet. His name and deeds were seen in the history of the Yuan Dynasty, and he was long at making Tantric statues, and he trained craftsmen in the mainland. Liu Yuan is one of the best. He made the four images of the Heavenly King in Xiangshan Temple. He also created the Sanqing images of Taoism, with lifelike looks and superb techniques. Liu Yuan was very famous at that time. His works were often described in the notes of scholars. The History of the Yuan Dynasty also has special chapters to record his creation. Because of his achievements in sculpture art, the court of the Yuan Dynasty extended the award to him, a scholar Zhengfeng doctor of Zhaowenguan University, known as "Liu Zhengfeng". In the history of Chinese sculpture, such high treatment is unique.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the social state tended to be secularized, and the Taoist statues were influenced by Buddhism in the early stage, but later in turn, they had an impact on the Buddhist statues. Since the Song Dynasty, the Buddhist statues of Arhat have flourished, and their characters, movements and expressions have become more abundant; The form and nature of the temple buildings in the Yuan Dynasty are different from those of the previous generation. Many large and small temples, such as the Medicine King Temple, the Chenghuang Temple, and the Earth Temple, have appeared in succession, but there are no statues in all the temples. The number of statues has increased, but the artistic level has declined; The Yuan Dynasty was a feudal empire that was overjoyed and focused on expansion but not on construction. The imperial mausoleums of its emperors also changed the form of the imperial guard of the previous generation, so there was nothing to be said in this regard.

The capital of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was initially established in Annan, and later moved to Beijing. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the People's Republic of China, was one of the leaders of the peasant rebel army who rebelled against the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he immediately assigned his twenty-four sons to all parts of the country as frontier officials. The early Chinese capitalism sprouted in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. With the development of business and trade, foreign cultural exchanges also had exchanges with dozens of countries. The world-famous Zheng He "seven voyages to the West", which covered Southeast Asia, Arab and other regions in this period. At first, the rulers of the Ming Dynasty overthrew the rule of the Yuan Dynasty on the principle of "expelling the prisoners and restoring China", so its cultural and artistic characteristics obviously trace back to the style of the Tang and Song Dynasties. In various temples, there are various deities, which are increasingly popular and folk in terms of subject matter and expression. Grotto carving is nearing the end. Although there are still works of the Ming Dynasty in large and time-honored grottoes such as Dunhuang, its artistic value cannot be mentioned for the history of sculpture. The development of urban economy has led to the replacement of grotto art far away from the crowd by temple art, especially the rise of private ancestral halls, which almost wiped out the excavation of grottoes in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Shanxi is the province with the most preserved surface cultural relics in the Ming Dynasty, and Pingyao Shuanglin Temple is one of them. The history of Shuanglin Temple is relatively old. It was renamed "Zhongdu Temple" in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties and changed its name to Song Dynasty. There are more than 1000 statues of the Ming Dynasty, the most representative of which are the Vajra Warrior, the Avalokitesvara crossing the sea, the Arhat statue, and many statues of the donors. The portraits are highly realistic and fully express the character and mental state of the characters. The main materials of the Ming Dynasty statues are clay sculptures. There are also many temples, temples, palaces and pavilions in Beijing. According to records, many statues were still well preserved until the "Cultural Revolution", and later were artificially destroyed. It is a pity.

The Ming Tombs have now become a famous tourist attraction in Beijing. Located in Changping County, it is a concentration area for the tombs of thirteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty. The tomb of the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, was located in Nanjing, and Zhu Di, the founder of the country, killed Zhu Yunwen, who had only been in power for four years, leaving him dead without a burial place. The second emperor, Emperor Hui, was more miserable than the last (16th) Emperor Chongzhen; There is also a Jingdi (seventh generation), Zhu Qiyu, who has no tomb.

The sculpture group of the Ming Tombs with the Chengzu Changling as the center line is the same as that of the Xiaoling Tomb, but different from that of the previous generation, including 2 pairs of unicorns, 2 pairs of stone lions, 2 pairs of ornamental column, 6 pairs of stone horses and stone figures, 4 pairs of stone tigers, 4 pairs of stone sheep, 2 pairs of officials, and 28 pairs of courtiers. This Shinto is now the same Shinto of the Ming Tombs. The other 12 tombs have no Shinto sculptures, only memorial archway, palace gates, stele pavilions, and other buildings. The stone carvings of the Ming Tombs are larger in size than those of the Xiaoling Tombs. From the perspective of the overall style, although they have relatively fine technical treatment, compared with the previous generation, they lack artistic vitality and tend to be conceptualized.

The sculpture group of the Ming Dynasty's second tomb is also set in Anhui, Sihong, Jiangsu, Nanjing, Jiangsu, Beijing, Hubei and other places. One is to honor the ancestors and the other is to stabilize the hearts of people everywhere. The tomb of Emperor Taizu's filial piety is set in Zhongshan, Nanjing, instead of "taking the mountain as the tomb" in the previous generation, but "taking the mountain as the tomb". Xiaoling has a large scale and unique layout. It was renovated in the Qing Dynasty, which is slightly inferior. This tomb, built in the eleventh year of Yongle (1413), still has 18 pairs of stone carvings, which are relatively large and concise, and can be called the representative of sculpture art in this period.

There are more tomb figurines and sculptures in the Ming Dynasty than in the previous generation, and the main materials are wood or pottery. The wood figurines are not easy to preserve, so most of the wood carvings excavated by later generations are damaged and seriously lose their artistic value. The preservation of pottery sculpture is relatively complete. Except for non-human damage, we can generally observe its original appearance. The Jiajing Ming Tomb in Fucheng County, Hebei Province is representative. In addition to the ceramic figurines, there are also living rooms and kitchens that reflect the life scene of the tomb owner before his death; Another tomb figurine of the Ming Dynasty was found in Xi'an in the 1950s. Its sculpture style is real and vivid, reflecting the image of daily life at that time. In addition, a large number of tomb figurines have also been found in Ming tombs in Jiangxi, Shanghai and other places.

There are still many buildings in the Ming Dynasty that have survived. We can see a large number of decorative carving components made of brick, stone, wood, pottery and other materials. This decorative carving art is spread all over the country, and widely exists in palaces, temples, ancestral halls, garden buildings and folk houses. According to the different functions of the buildings, the carving contents include myths and legends, historical stories, animals and plants, geometric patterns, auspicious patterns, etc. Most of them are finely carved and brightly colored. For example, the stone archway in front of the Ming Tombs is a combination of round carving, relief carving and line carving, with good artistic effect.

The national name of the Qing Dynasty was established in the ninth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1636), Huang Taiji, the son of Nurhachi, was firmly established and developed on the basis of the "post Jin State". In the early Ming Dynasty, the Nuzhen nationality in the Northeast had been unified by Nurhachi and was opposed to the Ming Dynasty. In the late Ming Dynasty, the peasant uprising led by Li Zicheng quickly disintegrated the imperial court, but the Qing soldiers colluded with Wu Sangui, defeated Li Zicheng's army again, and captured Beijing, establishing the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) 。 In the early period of the Qing Dynasty, especially in the 150 years from Shunzhi and Kangxi to Yongzheng and Qianlong, the rulers issued a series of economic policies, which helped develop agriculture and handicrafts; Since Jiaqing and Daoguang in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, various feudal political conflicts have become increasingly complex and intense; In the late Qing Dynasty, the ruling class became more corrupt and incompetent, which led to the decline of feudal rule.

Before entering the customs, the Manchu government built the tombs of Nurhachi and Yehernara and the Zhaoling of Emperor Tai Chi in Shenyang in the seventh year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1634) and the eighth year of Chongde in the Qing Dynasty (1643). Shenyang has been known as the "Bible". Zhaoling was built in the eighth year of Chongde (1643), and was initially completed in the eighth year of Shunzhi (1651). It was rebuilt and expanded in the Kangxi, Qianlong and Jiaqing dynasties, becoming an accumulation of buildings. There are six dismounted saddles around the Zhaoling Tomb, which are built of light gauze stone, and the body and bottom of the stele are decorated with "Ruyi grain" reliefs; The stone memorial archway in front of the Zhenghongmen Gate is carved with a wood like structure, integrating round carving, relief carving, engraving and openwork carving, with rough cutting techniques; On both sides of the Shinto Path are a pair of ornamental column, a pair of stone lions, a pair of insect without feet, a pair of stone unicorns, a pair of stone horses, a pair of stone camels, and a pair of stone elephants. This sculpture group displayed in front of the tomb is also known as the "Stone Elephants", which was established in the Qin and Han Dynasties. The sculpture groups in front of the Northern Tomb are all equipped with pedestals. This kind of "Xumizuo" is decorated with embossed scrolls of grass, while most of the stone sculptures before this time are not equipped with pedestals. The stone altar is also not found in the tomb carving of the previous generation. The side of the altar is decorated with relief patterns such as "Buddha's Eight Treasures" and "Dark Eight Immortals", which has a certain figurative meaning. There are five stone incense burners, incense bottles and candlesticks on the altar table. In the Qing Dynasty, this kind of mausoleum altar could not be moved. It is said that the entrance of the underground palace is generally set under the altar. On the whole, the sculpture production in this period is relatively rough. Due to the economic conditions, the stone quality is relatively loose, which is only 400 years old, but the weathering trace is obvious. Its shape is not the same as that of Qin and Han sculptures. The sense of volume and spirit of the previous life have disappeared.

After Shunzhi entered the customs, the imperial tombs were built in Zunhua and Yixian, Hebei, also known as the "Eastern Tomb" and "Western Tomb". The Eastern Tomb is mainly buried with five emperors, Shunzhi (Xiaoling), Kangxi (Jingling), Qianlong (Yuling), Xianfeng (Dingling) and Tongzhi (Huiling), as well as Empress Xiaozhuang and Empress Dowager Cixi. The overall layout of this group of imperial tombs is based on the style of the Ming Tombs. The difference is that each group of tombs in the Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty has its own independent stone guard of honor. They are twelve pairs of stone beasts and six pairs of stone men, a total of eighteen pairs, some of which should be slightly reduced. There are four emperors buried in "Xiling", namely Yongzheng (Tailing), Jiaqing (Changling) and Daoguang (Muling) Guangxu (Chongling). In addition to the exquisite surface architecture of the Mausoleum, other tombs are not artistic.

In the whole history of Chinese sculpture, the tomb sculpture of the Qing Dynasty has come to an end. In the late Qing Dynasty, China was invaded by imperialist powers, and the exhausted feudal rulers were weak and incompetent, resulting in the failure of the "Opium War" in 1840. In terms of artistic creation, it mainly focuses on imitation and imitation, with few new creations. The trend of running a school for a period has led to the destruction of statues in many temples, the transformation of classrooms, and the loss of only one side - resulting in the destruction of a large number of temple sculpture art with high artistic value.

In terms of quantity, the temple statues in the Qing Dynasty were very developed. The style of sculpture is influenced by painting and tends to be slim, conceptual and secular. The first is the Qiongzhu Temple in Kunming, which is famous for its strong realism. There are 500 colored sculptures of Arhat with different shapes and spirits. There are 68 statues of the "Five Hundred Arhat" stone in Qiongzhu Temple, which are set in the the Shakya ManiHall. They are dynamic and distinctive, but they are arranged together and have a good sense of integrity. It is said that when these Arhat were created, the author used the images of villagers around the temple in his sculptures. There are 216 Tiantai Cuisine Pavilion and 216 Fanyin Pavilion in Qiongzhu Temple. These sculptures are the masterpieces of the whole Qing Dynasty. The second is the Buddhist statues in the Yonghe Palace in Beijing. The Yonghe Palace was originally one of the palaces of Emperor Yongzheng. It has created a large number of Buddha statues, the most spectacular of which is an 18-meter-high woodcarving Maitreya Buddha. Third, there are some statues in the "Summer Resort" in Chengde, Hebei Province. The style of the Qing Dynasty is more obvious. Among them, the thousand-handed and thousand-eyed Buddha with a height of more than 20 meters is the most famous. In addition, the Qing Dynasty temple statues, which are well preserved and have obvious artistic style, are concentrated in Gansu, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Hubei and other places, and their modeling characteristics are more secular. In terms of technology, the sculpture art at this time was more refined, but its spiritual temperament was far inferior to that of the previous generation.

In the Qing Dynasty, it was popular to use paper to tie up Ming wares for burial, so although the Qing Dynasty is very close to the present, there are few tomb figurines among the unearthed cultural relics. On the other hand, the Qing Dynasty continued to solidify the customs of the Ming Dynasty, but occasionally there are still some examples to show that the Qing Dynasty still retained some of the phenomenon of figurine burial. For example, the tomb of Wu Liuqi, the general soldier of Guangdong Province, unearthed exquisite pottery figurines, including male and female servants, officials, musicians, and so on.

In the Qing Dynasty, the urban industrial and commercial economy further flourished vertically, the handicraft technology was greatly developed, and the handicraft sculpture art also received unprecedented attention. The court has set up a special agency to supervise and organize production. There are some excellent art categories such as lacquer carving, stone carving, tooth carving, wood carving, porcelain sculpture, metal casting, and many excellent sculptors have emerged. There are small works carved with precious raw materials, such as ivory, jadeite, crystal, jade, etc., which are widely loved by dignitaries and ordinary people. For example, the large jade carving "Dayu Water Control", which is collected in the Palace Museum, is a representative opinion in such works. It is said that it took craftsmen ten years to complete it; Another example is the "Ivory Hydrangea", which has been handed down to the present day, which has almost reached the extreme in carving skills. Like "fine tuning", it is called "unique skill". In terms of wood carving and bamboo carving, there have been many talents since the Ming Dynasty. The representative figures are "Jiading Three Zhu", namely, Zhu He, Zhu Xiaosong, and Zhu Sansong. The memory of the three generations of ancestors and grandchildren was very famous at that time. In the Qing Dynasty, some famous artists emerged, and the carved figures, flowers and birds and other subjects were not perfect; The porcelain sculptures are best made at the kiln sites in Dehua, Fujian, Foshan, Guangdong, and Jingdezhen, Jiangxi. The exquisite and vivid Buddha statues produced by Dehua kiln are valued by the sculpture circles at home and abroad; The widely popular clay toys among the people are also a branch of sculpture art. They are representative of "Wuxi Huishan clay figurine", "Tianjin opera character clay figurine", and "dough figurine" in Shanxi and Shandong. For example, the Tianjin "clay figurine Zhang" family has formed a unique style since the Qing Dynasty. According to market demand, it has continuously improved in technology and production, and has continued to this day.

Due to different regions, the architecture of the Qing Dynasty also had great differences in architectural style and architectural technology. Its decorative components were mainly stone, brick and wood. The special food parts were widely located in the ridge, house edge, wall, door leaf, window partition, beam frame, arch of wooden architecture, railing, platform, and other places. After the Qianlong Emperor, architectural decoration was widely used, gradually becoming cumbersome, separated from the actual function of the building. For example, an ancestral temple built in Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, and the Chen's Academy in Guangzhou were decorated with carving, relief and other techniques in many places. Although complex, they lacked vitality. For example, in the imperial buildings such as the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, you can often see the bronze gilded lion, which is not small in size. It is finely made, but looks powerful, but has little sense of power.

Folk sculpture in Chaoshan area of Guangdong Province is relatively developed, which is characterized by complexity and multiple levels, and likes to paint and paste gold after the completion of sculpture. This complex form of wood carving has also been applied to furniture production, which is complicated and varied, trivial and delicate, forming a style of southern furniture of the Qing Dynasty. The art of wood carving in Dongyang, Zhejiang, flourished in the Ming Dynasty, and the local rich people in the Qing Dynasty boasted of their meticulous architectural decoration, which made the art of wood carving develop greatly.

The stone carving art of the Qing Dynasty also has its unique style, such as Shoushan stone carving, Qingtian stone carving, chrysanthemum stone carving, and so on. These animals, plants, and people stories with different characteristics.

There were many famous sculptors in the Qing Dynasty, such as Li Guangxiu, the author of the five hundred Arhat in Qiongzhu Temple in Kunming mentioned above, and Feng Xilu, Shen Erwang, Zhou Hao, the bamboo sculptors who served in the court. Another example is the Tianjin "clay figurine Zhang" family, which began to be famous as Zhang Wanquan. In order to create a typical image of opera characters, he often went to the theater to observe. So on, but a large number of unknown folk sculpture artists still do not get the attention of the society. In general, sculpture in the Qing Dynasty did not develop much, but craft sculpture was popular with the majority of working people, forming a new form of sculpture, and folk art gained unprecedented popularity.

Since the 20th century, China's sculpture art has undergone fundamental changes. In the real sense, plastic artists began to emerge, instead of craftsmen completing the creation of sculpture art. However, for a long period of time, the rise of the revolution led to the collapse of the old system, warlords scuffled, and the people were in dire straits, which affected the development of the art industry, and even appeared the phenomenon of retrogression.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the art of sculpture has flourished, and a number of outstanding sculptors have emerged, such as Yoshida, Wang Chaowen, Liu Kaiqu, and so on. The sculpture art in the "Cultural Revolution" period also has a distinctive era mark, with significant political characteristics, especially some large-scale commemorative sculptures, with a certain degree of typicality, conceptualization and stylization of the aesthetic will. The clay sculptures "Rent Collection House" and "serf indignation" can be said to be two wonders in the history of Chinese sculpture. Their artistic techniques are both traditional clay sculptures, which are similar to the narrative scenes of stage modeling, reflecting the suffering of farmers and serfs in old China. There are a large number of people, and the scenes are grand, which are jointly completed by many excellent sculptors. The artistic style of sculpture in this period basically maintained the characteristics of realism, inheriting the traditional practice of "clay bodhisattva" in technology, and making fine, but its integrity is strong, with a complete story.

After the 1980s, Chinese society gradually opened up, and the western sculpture art system was fully integrated into China's art education. From the perspective of concept and technology, it basically broke the traditional formula of the nation, and only a small part of the traditional consciousness was still continuing among the people. Although from the perspective of the whole concept of "great art", plastic art is indeed a multi-directional development structure of "overpass type", only from the perspective of sculpture, the national and traditional characteristics of sculpture art have almost disappeared. This is a subject worthy of our in-depth study.