Calligraphy and architecture in China

The calligraphy art of Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties experienced a process of development, prosperity and decline, so we can divide the calligraphy of Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties into three stages. First, the Sui Dynasty to the early Tang Dynasty. Although the Sui Dynasty was short, its calligraphy style was consistent with that of the early Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the Sui Dynasty is a connecting link in the history of calligraphy. The early Tang Dynasty is the stage of calligraphy inheritance and legislation. Calligraphers represented by Yu Shinan, Ou Yangxun, Chu Suiliang and Xue Ji in the early Tang Dynasty, under the advocacy of Emperor Taizong and Li Shimin, made great efforts to inherit excellent traditions, constantly update aesthetic concepts and create new norms for regular script. Their regular script has changed from the legacy of the Six Dynasties to the extreme. Yu Shinan's calligraphy is soft outside and rigid inside. Ou Yangxun's calligraphy is steep and sharp; Chu Suiliang's calligraphy is vigorous and clear, and Wen Ya stretches; Xue Ji's calligraphy is thin and energetic, and his ambition drives thousands of miles. They all show the characteristics of the combination of the flowing beauty of the southern calligraphy style and the dignified and rigorous style of the northern monument, and reach the realm of beauty of combining rigidity with softness. At the same time, their regular script represents the mainstream of calligraphy in the early Tang Dynasty. The second is the prosperous Tang Dynasty and the middle Tang Dynasty. If the calligraphy in the early Tang Dynasty was mainly inherited, then the calligraphy in the prosperous Tang Dynasty was even more innovative. In the middle Tang Dynasty, a large number of calligraphers with the spirit of the times and strong personality emerged, such as Zhang Xu, He, Yan Zhenqing, Huai Su, Li Bai, Liang Shengqing, Su Lingzhi, Cai, Shi, Han Zemu, Zhang, Yin Yuankai, Li, Wei Wuqi, Xu Hao and Shen Chuanshi, especially Zhang Xu and Yan Chuanshi. Based on this, a large number of magnificent calligraphy works have emerged, including regular script, running script, official script, cursive script and seal script, all of which are masterpieces worthy of the times. Third, the late Tang and Five Dynasties. Calligraphy tends to decline from its peak. Liu Gongquan was a great master in the late Tang Dynasty. He learned from Yan Zhenqing and created a fresh and vigorous Liu Ti, which further enriched Tang Kai's methods, but lost the heroic splendor in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. In the Five Dynasties, learning French, European and Yan dates back to the two kings. The title of the book, Xing and Cao, seems to reflect the legalist thought in the Tang Dynasty and set a precedent for the legalist thought in the Song Dynasty. Calligraphy in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties has gone through 400 years of development.

Architectural Technology of Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties In the history of ancient architecture in China, Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties are famous for their large number of architectural relics and superb architectural technology. Among them, the wide application of advanced technologies such as the flat arch bridge-building technology in Sui Dynasty, the overall planning and design of urban buildings in Sui and Tang Dynasties, the building system with wood structure as the main body, and the masonry structure has created many shocking masterpieces and written an important chapter in the history of ancient architecture in China with its unique technical style. Thus, the historical position of this architectural thought and technical specification system with national characteristics was established.

Painting Art in the Sui and Tang Dynasties The Sui and Tang Dynasties were a period of all-round prosperity of painting art in China. In the early years of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, political and economic reforms were carried out, which restored and developed production and culture. The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of China's feudal society. In the early Tang Dynasty, during the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years, the feudal economy achieved unprecedented development, the people were rich and the society was stable, which was the material basis for the development of culture and art. The prosperity of Zhenguan and Kaiyuan was what the whole world yearned for. The communication between the East and the West has injected fresh blood into the development of China's traditional culture. Coupled with the great attention of the ruling class, it has created conditions for the development of culture. At this time, advocating literature and art became a common practice, and the literary garden and the art world competed for each other. Therefore, painting in the Tang Dynasty is of epoch-making significance. In the Five Dynasties, although this period was only over 50 years, it laid the foundation for the great development of landscape and flower-and-bird painting in the Song Dynasty. At the same time, the system of feudal rulers setting up painting academies in the imperial court began in the Western Shu and Southern Tang Dynasties. This shows the important position of the Five Dynasties in the history of painting.

The development history of painting art in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties can be roughly divided into four stages: the first stage is from Sui to early Tang Dynasty. This is the stage of the integration and development of North-South painting. The History of Famous Paintings in Past Dynasties contains the situation of famous painters Zhan Ziqian and Dong Boren in Sui Dynasty. At the beginning of Dong, he was called into the Sui room, one from Hebei and the other from Jiangnan. It was dull at first, but it was quite interesting later. This is a record of the integration of North and South painting styles. However, this stage is still the stage of the North-South painting revolution. There are famous figure paintings, such as Yan and Wei Chiyi, which reflect the brilliance of Chinese and foreign painting methods in the painting world. Landscape figure painting and pavilion figure painting evolved into green landscape painting and developed rapidly, and entered the prosperous Tang Dynasty with its brilliant achievements.

The second stage is the prosperous Tang Dynasty. At this time, figure painting reached its peak, showing a brilliant, heroic and broad style; Landscape painting is mature; Flower and bird painting is moving towards independent painting.

The third stage is the middle and late Tang Dynasty. The development of figure painting to Zhou style represented by lady painting indicates that the process of secularization of painting has been completed. Pure decorative painting gradually replaces religious painting and educational painting. The rise of ink landscape painting was the first in Song Dynasty. Flower-and-bird painting also developed, which laid the foundation for the emergence of Xu Xi and Yellow Death in the Five Dynasties.

The fourth stage is the Five Dynasties. Figure painting is still popular, mainly inheriting the achievements of predecessors, with few new breakthroughs. The works of Zhou Wenju and Gu represent the highest achievement of figure painting in the Five Dynasties. Landscape painting is more developed and mature than Tang Dynasty. Flower-and-bird painting is the most brilliant part of the five dynasties painting, which has a great influence on later generations. In addition, the painting theory of Tang and Five Dynasties was also extremely prosperous, and it was a very important hub in the theory of Chinese painting.

Supplemented by the respondent on April-1911:17, 2009.

Sculpture art in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties. The sculpture art of Sui and Tang Dynasties is the result of the great integration and development of sculptures of different styles in various places during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and it has become another peak in the history of sculpture after Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, sculpture was highly valued. First of all, the ruling class built stone carvings in front of Daxing Mausoleum and buried figurines in the mausoleum to show the authority of the emperor. Second, during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Buddhism approached the state religion, and Buddhist statues spread all over the country. Following the Qin, Han, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the rulers of Sui and Tang Dynasties built tombs for themselves and set stone carving men and women as guards in front of the tombs. There are hundreds of stone statues and beasts in front of the 18th Mausoleum in the Tang Dynasty alone. Moreover, all the statues and figurines in the tomb are carved in a realistic way based on reality. Their works are exquisite, perfect and gorgeous, comparable to those in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and the sculptures in the Southern and Northern Dynasties are vigorous, refined and highly decorative. Sculpture works in the Sui and Tang Dynasties are full of rich flavor of life, which shows people's satisfaction with the world and their longing for a better life in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. This self-confident, heroic bearing and magnificent style made the sculpture art of Sui and Tang Dynasties achieve unprecedented achievements in the history of ancient sculpture in China. From Buddhist sculpture. Sui and Tang Dynasties not only advocated the inherent Taoism, but also did not restrict other foreign religions, allowing them to build temples and preach in China. Buddhism is the most popular. Buddhist statues tend to be secular at this time, such as Buddha, bodhisattva or heavenly king, lux and so on. The beautiful statue of Bodhisattva or Guanyin, with its brilliant and beautiful artistic image, fully expresses people's yearning and love for a better life in the world, becomes a symbol of human goodness, and embodies the outstanding creative ability and artistic sensibility of the folk sculpture masters in the Tang Dynasty. Buddhist statues in Sui and Tang Dynasties, especially in Tang Dynasty, have obvious characteristics in modeling, that is, they emphasize the depiction of typical images and the prominence of themes. Compared with the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Buddhist statues in the Tang Dynasty are less religious, more realistic, closer to life and more humane. In the Tang Dynasty, besides Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism also used statues as propaganda tools, and even used statues of emperors as attendants. The prosperity of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism in building temples and statues promoted the development of sculpture art, and at the same time, the thick burial of emperors and nobles in the Tang Dynasty was more popular than that in the previous generation. Therefore, the mausoleum sculpture is quite exquisite, and its artistic level can be comparable to that of religious sculpture. Mausoleum sculpture is divided into mausoleum stone carving and mausoleum statue sculpture. The stone carving of the mausoleum refers to the tomb protector set by the ruler in front of his mausoleum. The tomb-guarding animals in the Tang Dynasty evolved from flying lions and flying tigers attached to theocracy in the previous generation to lions and tigers in reality. For example, the winged horse in front of the tomb of the Tang Dynasty is basically the same as the horse in reality. The sculpture of tomb figures, that is, pottery figures, is an object used by the ruling class for tombs and funerals. Clay figurine sculpture is a very old art, which reached its peak in Sui and Tang Dynasties. The pottery figurines in Sui and Tang Dynasties can be roughly divided into three categories: tomb animals, human figurines and animal figurines. Most of these works are made by folk craftsmen and have a strong flavor of life. The decorative sculptures in Sui and Tang Dynasties are related to Buddhist sculptures and mausoleum sculptures, and also have a considerable artistic level, which can be confirmed by architectural decoration, steles, epitaphs, sarcophagus, stone carvings and craft sculptures.