Appreciation of Chinese Sculpture（1)

1. Terra Cotta Warriors

In China in 221 B.C., the First Emperor of Qin ended the long-term separatist regime of the vassal states, unified the country, and established the first unified feudal dynasty in Chinese history.

Qin and Han terracotta figures were the mainstream of sculpture in that period. In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the custom of using living people and horses to be buried after the death of emperors and nobles was replaced by people, horses, implements or sculptures made of various materials, instead of living people and horses.

Qin Shihuang built a huge tomb for himself by virtue of the powerful national power of Qin at that time. The whole construction process of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor lasted 38 years, which cost countless manpower and material resources. Qin Shihuang believed in ghosts and gods and hoped to bring everything before death to the ground after death. He asked people to make his beloved troops into Terra Cotta Warriors and bury them in the east of the underground tomb, which not only showed his great martial arts, but also meant to prevent the return of the six countries.

It is not difficult to see that the pottery Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses array unearthed from the the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is highly realistic and delicately depicted. According to the measurement, the average height of the warrior figurines is about 1.8 meters, the average height of the horse figurines is about 1.5 meters, and the total length is about 2 meters, which is almost the same as that of the real man and the real horse. According to statistics, there are nearly 8000 Terra Cotta Warriors, so tall and numerous Terra Cotta Warriors are arranged together in the form of battle array, which is grand and magnificent, giving a strong sense of shock.

The creators of the Terra Cotta Warriors strive to fully reproduce the style of the Qin army, and try to imitate real people and real horses in the details of clothing. The number of Terra Cotta Warriors is large, and if they have the same appearance, they will inevitably appear monotonous. To avoid this situation, craftsmen have depicted the body movements, clothing, facial expressions, eyebrows, whiskers, hairstyles, crowns, etc. of each Terra Cotta Warriors, making them different. The head and body of the Terra Cotta Warriors are separated. The head is usually sculpted first, and then carefully molded by the craftsman according to the image of the real person. The surface shapes of the terracotta warriors are narrow, wide, square, round and rectangular; Hair style or bun or crown; Eyebrows are divided into thick, thin, long, short, flat, curved, oblique and vertical, and various peaks; The beard is either upwardly or downwardly curled, or the eight-letter short beard or full of sideburns and cheeks; The mouth is open and the mouth is closed. The character characteristics of the terracotta warriors have also been vividly portrayed, some are resolute and brave, some are powerful and majestic, some are full of vitality, some are resourceful and capable, and the characterization of the character characteristics should also be consistent with the identity of the characters, such as the ruthlessness and resourcefulness of the commander, the hardness and simplicity of the ordinary soldiers, and so on. Most of the Terra Cotta Warriors that can be seen today are fired pottery, but they were originally painted according to the actual military uniforms. The colors are bright and dignified, but only because of the age and the color peeling off, they present what they see today.

2. "Horse Treads on Huns" and "Horse Treads on Swallows"

Large-scale sculpture activities in the Han Dynasty were mostly carried out after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The well-known large sculpture Huo Qubing cornerstone group is the representative work of Western Han Dynasty sculpture. Huo Qubing was a famous general in the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. He was ordered to attack the Huns six times to remove the threat of the Huns to the Han Dynasty. The tomb of Huo Qubing is located in the northeast of the Mausoleum of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty in Xingping County, Shaanxi Province. The memorial stone carving of the tomb is centered on the 1.68-meter-high stone sculpture "Horse Treads on Huns". The statue shows a majestic, vigorous and majestic horse. The hateful and solemn iron hoofs tread on a Hun leader who is facing up to the sky, has a fierce face, holds a bow and arrow in his hand, and is still dying. The sculpture powerfully shows that although the Hun was dying, he could not escape the pressure of Mount Taishan, the war horse. This horse symbolizes the great achievements of Huo Qubing, who is brave and good at fighting, defeating stubborn enemies and repeatedly making extraordinary achievements.

We can see that there are also 14 group sculptures scattered around the tomb, such as instant horse, crouching horse, leaping horse, crouching tiger, crouching elephant, stone frog, and stone fish. These carved images are simple and powerful. It can be seen that during the creation, the sculptor made the most economical processing according to the shape of the stone to maintain the original basic shape of the stone, while paying great attention to making the animal image vivid. So these sculptures are full of the sense of wholeness and weight, which not only maintain the original momentum of the rock, but also call out the vitality of the animals sleeping in the rock.

Ancient Chinese horses have a very high status. They are not only important means of transportation, but also an important factor to defeat the enemy in the war. Therefore, ancient sculptors like to shape horses with divine horses. The Han people studied horses very much, and the sculptures of horses at that time were also very distinctive.

The famous sculpture "Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow" is a bronze sculpture. It shows a horse soaring in the air, and one of the horse's hind hoofs falls on the back of a flying swallow. It is amazing to watch this sculpture that the horse is so fast that it leaves the swallow far behind. The posture of the galloping horse in this sculpture is very realistic, but the idea of the whole sculpture is very imaginative. It is worthy of being an artistic masterpiece that perfectly combines the shape of nature and the meaning of mind.

3. Yungang Giant Buddha (World Art History Sculpture Volume P65-66)

Yungang Grottoes represent the style of stone carving art in the early Northern Wei Dynasty, and are also one of the most important grottoes excavated in this period. There are 21 grottoes in this group, numbered from south to north. The sixth cave is the most prominent. The grotto is a large cave carved on the mountain wall. The sixth cave has a large area, which is a square with a side length of 13 meters and a height of 15 meters. There is a large pillar in the center of the cave, which is chiseled into the shape of a stupa (the stupa is the place where the legendary Buddha's remains are held after his death). The tower is divided into two layers, and a large niche is carved on each side of the lower layer; The upper tower body gradually shrinks, and three Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are carved on each side of the tower body. There is a long-nosed elephant carved at the four corners between the upper and lower towers, and on the back of the elephant, there are also nine small Buddhist pagodas with eaves. The back wall of the sixth cave is a huge shrine carved with Buddha (Sakyamuni), and the other three walls are carved with three closely arranged niches from top to bottom and reliefs of some Buddhist stories. The so-called Buddhist stories are some legendary stories that occurred in the process of Buddha's practice and enlightenment. For example, "The Story of Subduing the Devil" tells the story of Sakyamuni Buddha who, before he attained the path of cultivation, the evil king Bosun once imposed various temptations on him and brought evil soldiers to threaten him. However, Sakyamuni was not moved, and the evil spirit failed, and Sakyamuni finally achieved good results.

The stupa and the niches on the wall of the cave are carved with the images of the donor, the golden winged bird, the bodhi tree, and the dense decorative patterns. In addition, the entire cave top is a ceiling relief, which makes the whole Buddha cave appear dazzling, colorful, dazzling, forming a beautiful and mysterious atmosphere of heaven, which is a marvel.

During this period, the Buddha statue was dignified and indifferent, and there was an insurmountable distance between God and man. The image of Buddha is a god with supernatural infinite resistance, full of sublimity and mystery.

4. Longmen Grottoes

The sculptures and decorative sculptures in the middle cave of Binyang in Longmen Grottoes are the most outstanding works of grotto carving in the late Northern Dynasty. Binyang Middle Cave is a horseshoe-shaped grotto with a height of 9.3 meters and a depth and width of 11 meters. At the back of the grottoes are seated Buddhas and waitresses with a height of 8.4 meters. The two walls are carved with three standing Buddhas, and behind the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are carved with gorgeous flame backlights. On the top of the cave, there are magnificent ceiling decoration sculptures, full of lotus, geisha, flying sky and clouds, which reflect the solemn and solemn Buddha statue, making the visitors who enter the cave deeply feel the mystery and grandeur of Buddha.

Tracing back to ancient Chinese sculpture, it is not difficult to see that the main aesthetic feature of Buddhist statues in the late Northern Wei Dynasty is the pursuit of simple and elegant charm. The Buddha statues in the early stage of the Northern Wei Dynasty highlighted the supernatural and boundless magic of God, emphasizing the sublimity, mystery and supremacy of God.

In the late Northern Wei Dynasty, the Buddha statue shaped according to the aesthetic standards of the literati in the south of the Yangtze River was still free from vulgarity, but this kind of vulgarity was achieved by integrating the ideal demeanor attitude of the literati in the Buddha statue of "words are the world bank" and "behavior is the world". The appearance of this demeanor is manifested as a kind of morbid thin body and unspeakable deep smile, insight into the wisdom of philosophy, and get rid of the secular and unrestrained demeanor. These are the highest standards and propositions of beauty pursued by the scholar-bureaucrat class since the Wei and Jin dynasties.

5. the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang

The Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang is located in the transportation hub between the Central Plains and Central Asia, West Asia and India. Dunhuang in Gansu Province is also the place where Buddhism must pass into China. The clay Buddha in the Northern Wei Dynasty is one of the earliest Buddhist statues found in Mogao Grottoes. The painted statue of Buddha sitting in Cave 259 [Figure 491] is the most respected statue in the late Northern Wei Dynasty. It is dressed in Indian cassocks, with a soft and kind face, full of human feelings and dignity.

The Bingling Temple Grottoes in Gansu Province was built at the beginning of the 5th century and dug on the steep cliff on the north bank of the Yellow River. The Buddha statue here is a red sandstone stone carving, with two straight shoulders, a wide body and thick back, and a shoulder-length coat. It has a solemn expression and a simple shape, which is in the style of Kendala. The statues in Cave 80, 81 and 82 of Bingling Temple were built in the Northern Dynasty. The body lines of the Buddha, Bodhisattva and the donor were strong and smooth. The body became lively and beautiful, and the face was vivid and full of energy.

6. Maijishan Grottoes

Located in Tianshui, Gansu Province, the Maijishan Grottoes are mainly clay Buddha statues with a number of more than 1000 bodies. Therefore, it has the reputation of "the largest clay sculpture art exhibition hall in the East".

The style of Maiji Mountain's early statues was greatly influenced by the rituals and external influences of religious statues. It also mainly referred to the Buddha statues in the style of Gyindra. However, many processing and transformation were carried out to make these religious figures elongated and close to the image characteristics of the local people.

The outstanding representative of the late statues in Maijishan Grottoes is the clay Buddha sitting in Cave 44 of the Western Wei Dynasty. The clay Buddha has a graceful and elegant face, showing a cultured and elegant temperament. Its clothing pattern is smooth, and the clothes are densely stacked, which has a strong decorative effect. The two flanking bodhisattvas in the cliff niche of Cave 60 are slim, elegant and smooth, and slim and soft. The face of the bodhisattva is the image of a pure girl, which exudes an elegant and pure beauty.

There are also some stone statues in the Maijishan Grottoes. These carving materials are all transported from other places. Their carving techniques are exquisite, the knife technique is skilled, and the Buddha statues are elegant and beautiful.

7. Six steeds in Zhaoling, Tang Dynasty

The tombs of emperors and nobles in the Tang Dynasty are mostly based on mountains. They are magnificent and large-scale. At the beginning of the founding of the country, the stone carvings of the Tang Tombs were not customized. The theme and carving techniques of the stone carvings were mostly based on the stone carvings of the tombs of the Southern Dynasties. However, its modeling techniques are more refined, and its image creation also pays more attention to realism. From the Qianling Tomb of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, the ranks of stone carving guards in front of the Tang Tomb gradually formed a custom.

The "six steeds of Zhaoling" in front of the tomb of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty is a relief made to commemorate the six war horses who had fought in the founding war. The great painter Yan Liben drew a sketch and selected a famous craftsman to make a high relief from six pieces of limestone with a height of 1.7 meters and a length of about 2 meters. On the upper right corner of each relief are calligrapher Ouyang Inquire and praise written by Tang Taizong himself.

The relief carving of six steeds in Zhaoling is skillful in carving, simple in knife technique, accurate in shape and structure, and mellow in muscle, reflecting the sculptors' meticulous observation and grasp of the body structure and shape of horses. Among the six steed reliefs, "Salu Purple" (currently in the University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia, USA) is the most eye-catching. The plot of this relief is full of drama. It shows that "Saluki" was shot by the enemy's arrow on the battlefield, and Qiu Xinggong, the vassal of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, stepped forward and pulled the arrow from the horse. In danger, the head of the horse hung down, close to Qiu Xinggong, showing the attachment to help, and the humane artistic treatment of the horse.

8. Tang three-color figurines

Since the production of Chinese tricolor figurines began in the early Tang Dynasty, and its technology had reached maturity and perfection in the late Tang Dynasty, people used to call them the tricolor figurines of the Tang Dynasty. We can see that the image of the tricolor figurines in the early Tang Dynasty is more elegant and graceful, and the image of the tricolor figurines in the early and late Tang Dynasty began to become mellow and plump. Especially in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the face of the tricolor figurines is more plump, reflecting health and vitality, and full of infinite vitality. In addition, the various types of images of the Tang tri-colored figurines show the spirit of the era of self-sufficiency and self-confidence, and elegance, roundness and fullness are the typical characteristics of this era style.

The color represented by the Tang tri-color figurines is the blending of green, brown and yellow. The whole color style is bright and gorgeous, but the transition between colors is natural, harmonious and soft, and the colors permeate and halo freely, which is very rich in the charm of Chinese splash-ink freehand painting. This bright color has played a significant role in shaping the lively spirit of the terracotta figures.

The difference from foreign sculpture creation is that the ancient Chinese figure sculpture mainly focuses on the expression of god in both form and spirit. We see a large number of Tang Dynasty terracotta figures, most of which are real people in real life. Although the real figure images have been extracted, processed and skillfully exaggerated to highlight their charm and personality characteristics, they have reached a more realistic level in the form of portrayal. This is the result of the long-term development of sculpture art, and it is a sign of the maturity of sculptors' performance techniques.

The sculpture of figurines is the only category that directly represents realistic figures in ancient Chinese sculpture. The sculpture of the Tang Dynasty figurines has maintained the charm of Chinese art and reached the peak in realism.

According to the gender and identity of the characters, the pottery figurines are divided into female figurines, Hu figurines (mostly representing the Western Regions or Western Asians employed by the court nobles of the Tang Dynasty), servant figurines, and music and dance Haikou figurines. Knight figurines of honor, figurines of gods and monsters, figurines of horses and other animal figurines. These figurines with different identities vividly depict various characters in the Tang Dynasty society, and they are full of forms and spirits.

There are several Hu figurines in Shaanxi Museum, which show the characters with high nose, deep eyes, beards and features of Arab appearance. One of them has bright eyes, as if looking at something interesting in surprise. His modeling is more realistic and rigorous, and is full of personality.

The Three-color Musical Fighters unearthed from the tomb of Zheng Rentai in Shaanxi Province is a combination of a group of musical and dance kabuki. The musicians each hold a musical instrument with a natural manner. The two dancers dance with childish faces, which can be seen as young girls who are locked in the door.

The most important pottery figurines of the five dynasties and ten countries discovered by archaeology came from the imperial tombs of the Southern Tang Dynasty. These figurines represent the style of the late Tang Dynasty and the artistic style of the five dynasties. The sculptors of the five generations are more skilled than those of the Tang Dynasty in this respect. These sculptures are an important source for the sculptors of our sculpture company to learn and copy. From this, we can see that our traditional Chinese culture is extensive and profound.