Arts and Crafts of Qin and Han Dynasties
arts and crafts of Qin and Han Dynasties
During the Qin and Han Dynasties in China, due to the unification of the country, society was relatively stable, and the rulers took measures to recuperate and recuperate. The policy has objectively promoted the recovery and development of production and made the social economy more prosperous. The Qin and Han Dynasties were centralized feudal states. Many major social activities and engineering construction were organized by the central government, such as unifying writing, currency, weights and measures, and building the Great Wall, palaces, and mausoleums. This centralized political system is reflected in its unity and grandeur in arts and crafts. During the Western Han Dynasty, the central and local governments also established special agencies to manage handicraft production. Coupled with the improvement of production technology, the arts and crafts achieved comprehensive development on the basis of the previous generation, and some of them achieved outstanding achievements. Mainly in the following aspects:
Bronze craftsmanship The production of bronze crafts during the Qin and Han Dynasties was an important department with outstanding achievements. The gilt-bronze chariots and horses unearthed from the Terracotta Warriors and Horses pit in Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum are famous for their large size and excellent craftsmanship (see the painted bronze chariots and horses in Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum). Other varieties include the traditional tripod, dun, gui, etc. The Qin tripod has a shallow belly, short hoofed feet, and a string pattern in the belly, such as the tripod unearthed from the Qin tomb in Songcun, Huxian County, Shaanxi Province, and the Qin tripod with snake pattern collected in the Xi'an History Museum. Dunze has rings around the ears and a string pattern on the belly. The style is roughly the same as that of the tripod. The Gui has a narrow mouth, small ears, and no pendants. The distinctive features of the times are the 骍 and garlic bottles. The former is a cooking vessel with a flat round belly, a round bottom, a narrow neck, an outwardly flaring mouth edge, and double-ring ears on the belly and shoulders. They may be symmetrical, one large and one small, or one ear. They are often decorated with leaf vein patterns and have smooth lines. Various changes and beautiful shapes. The latter gets its name from the large bulge near its mouth, which is as big as a garlic head. By the Han Dynasty, bronze wares had developed into daily utensils, characterized by the emergence of some new varieties. The ones with larger output are lamps, stoves, dows, pots, washers, mirrors, etc.; in addition, they include tripods, pots, sou, 獮, cups, plates, basins, washers, cauldrons, kettles, pots, bells, duos, drums, etc. Also produced. The production is mainly made of plain ware with few decorative patterns. The bronze wares of the Han Dynasty have the following categories of characteristics: ① Bronze lamps. It is widely used and has many varieties. It is the heyday of copper lamp production. There are panel lights, siphon lights, downlights, running lights, chandeliers, etc. Among them, the Xiangsheng lantern is the one with beautiful shape and exquisite design. For example, the red bird lantern uses the body of a bird as the lamp body and holds the lamp plate in its beak; the human-shaped lantern uses the hand to hold the lamp; there are also sheep lanterns, wild goose foot lanterns, wild goose fish lanterns, etc. The latter ones unearthed in Shanxi Province are the most outstanding. The lamp is a standing goose, turning its neck and looking back, holding a fish in its mouth. The fish body is a lamp, which is inserted into the fish head and can be rotated left and right. It is easy to adjust the direction during use, and the design is relatively exquisite. The body of the goose and the head of the fish are covered with feather patterns and scale patterns, which are quite exquisite. ②Copper furnace. It is divided into different uses: incense burner, used for burning spices, also known as incense. It is bean-shaped and has a tall and pointed cover carved into a mountain shape, symbolizing the fairyland Boshan on the sea, so it is also called Boshan stove. . His representative works include the Cuojin Boshan furnace unearthed from the Han tomb in Mancheng, Hebei Province (see color picture [Cuojin Boshan furnace (Western Han Dynasty) unearthed in Mancheng, Hebei Province]), and the gilt-silver bamboo-jointed high-handled incense burner unearthed from the unnamed tomb No. 1 of Maoling in Xingping, Shaanxi. Hand-warming stoves are used for heating. The side walls and upper part of the stove are hollowed with heat dissipation holes, and some have handles or chains, such as the chain-carrying copper stove unearthed from the Xingping Han Tomb. Wine-warming stoves are mostly oblong in shape, on which a cup can be placed to warm wine. There are holes in the body of the stove, and some are engraved with images of the four gods and animals, and have handles. ③Copper kettle. The shape is a bulging belly, a small neck, an outward-looking mouth, round feet, and many animal-faced rings on the belly. The most exquisite one is the gold and silver bird seal script pot unearthed from the Han tomb in Mancheng, Hebei Province. The whole body of this pot is covered with bird-shaped characters. Compared with Rare. ④Bronze mirror (see Chinese bronze mirror). It has the fastest development, rich styles and exquisite production. It is characterized by its thin body, flat edges, round buttons, stylized decoration, and extremely high artistic level. Its varieties mainly include the early Chi-shaped mirror, grass-leaf mirror, nebula mirror, solar mirror, Zhaoming mirror, the middle-stage regular mirror, the later double-kui pattern mirror, cloud-leaf pattern mirror, bat-pattern mirror, painting mirror and square inscription mirror. Mirror, etc. Its patterns include figures, animals, myths, birds, flowers and texts, etc. ⑤Bronze drum (see Chinese Bronze Drum). It is an instrument made by ethnic minorities in southwest China and is a percussion instrument.
It has a long production history, with the most styles in the Han Dynasty and exquisite production. Due to different regions and styles, it can be divided into two major systems, the Yunnan system and the Cantonese system. The former is smaller in shape and has mostly single string patterns; the latter is tall and has mostly three-dimensional frog decorations on the drum surface.
[Yanyu Lamp]
Gold and silverware craftsmanship The gold and silverware craftsmanship of the Han Dynasty was further developed on the basis of the previous generations. In order to meet the needs of luxurious life, the utensils made Extremely exquisite and luxurious, such as the single gilt silver box unearthed from the tomb of Prince Jing Liu Sheng and his wife in Zhongshan during the Western Han Dynasty in Mancheng, Hebei Province, and the silver bowls and spoons unearthed from the Eastern Han Dynasty tombs at Wulipai and Wuyi Street in Changsha, Hunan. In addition to eating utensils, there are also various gold and silver decorations. In 1980, a large number of gold jewelry were unearthed from the Han Dynasty Tomb in Ganquan Mountain, Hanjiang, Jiangsu. One pair of gold jewelry was composed of two opposite triangles and a circle. The circle was raised like a sphere, with a turquoise filigree inlaid in the center of the circle and a small gold ball outside. Forming a circle of beads, the production is very exquisite. In addition to being inlaid with turquoise and other materials, some gold and silverware are also decorated with figures, animals, etc. For example, the gold and silver hunting-themed copper car decorations unearthed from a Han tomb in Ding County, Hebei Province in 1965 are in the shape of bamboo tubes with raised wheel segments on the surface. The car decorations are divided into four sections, and gold and silver are used to decorate them with hunting-themed patterns. , and inlaid with round and diamond-shaped turquoise, decorated with figures and animals such as elephants, green dragons, deer, bears, horses, rabbits, wolves, monkeys, sheep, cows, pigs, foxes, deer, eagles, cranes, peacocks, etc. image. Interspersed with diamond patterns, ripples and zigzag patterns, the entire car decoration has a full composition, grandeur and magnificent style, reflecting the author's rich imagination and excellent skills.
Ceramic Crafts Pottery production in the Qin Dynasty was more common. There were many government-run or private pottery workshops in the capital Xianyang and other areas. There are many types of utensils made, many of which imitate the shape of bronze wares, such as pottery tripods, pottery pots, pottery beans, pottery basins, pottery garlic pots, etc.; some of the utensils have the characteristics of pottery itself, such as pottery guis, pottery bowls, and pottery pots. wait. Among them, pottery pots are particularly famous for their exaggerated ears, diverse forms and graceful shapes. And pottery sculpture is very developed and has a very high level. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses from Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum in Lintong, Shaanxi, discovered in 1974, with their large size and sophisticated molding techniques, demonstrate the unprecedented achievements in pottery craftsmanship and sculpture art in the Qin Dynasty.
In the Han Dynasty, ceramic craftsmanship was further improved. With the further expansion of ceramics into the daily life, the variety and output of ceramics have also increased, and the technology has also improved day by day, gradually becoming an important field in the arts and crafts of the Han Dynasty. At this time, glazed pottery appeared in the north, which is a kind of pottery coated with yellow-green low-temperature aluminum glaze. Its varieties include pots, boxes, boxes, Boshan stoves, etc. Among them, the glazed pottery pot is the most distinctive. Its shape is a bulging belly, a long neck, a plate mouth, and is decorated with relief hunting patterns or animal face patterns, which are very exquisite. In the south, there is green glazed pottery. This kind of glazed pottery has a high fire temperature and a hard glaze. It is also called hard glazed pottery. Painted pottery also developed greatly in the Han Dynasty, and its varieties include pots, boxes, bowls, stoves, domes, etc. It is mainly used as openware and is rich in color. It is often painted with geometric patterns, figures, animals, etc. The porcelain of the Han Dynasty was mainly celadon, but also black porcelain. It was mostly produced in the south and was developed on the basis of firing with pottery. Most of its products are daily utensils with simple decorations and the glaze is often not hung to the bottom. At this time, ceramic sculpture also developed, with a wide range of themes, including figures, animals, buildings, boats and vehicles, etc., all of which were rich in major achievements.
In addition, the bricks and tiles of the Qin and Han Dynasties are also famous for their hard texture, diverse forms, and simple and exquisite patterns. Qin bricks are often decorated with patterns such as diamonds, squares, fringes, cirrus clouds, triangular clouds, ropes, coarse cloth, etc. The technique is pattern printing. The Qin tiles are dominated by cirrus patterns, and the tiles have developed from semicircles to circles. Han bricks are best produced in Henan, Sichuan and other places. The former produces rectangular hollow bricks, which are stamped with various geometric patterns, animals, figures and architectural patterns; the latter produces square bricks, often decorated with various patterns, showing Certain themes include production labor, riding and traveling, social customs, myths and legends, garden architecture, etc., such as Yishe harvest bricks, salt well bricks, garden bricks, etc., all of which are representative. The Han tiles are very exquisite. The decorations are mainly about cirrus clouds, animals, four gods and characters. Most of them have auspicious meanings. The shapes are mostly round, and a few are semi-circular.
Dyeing and weaving technology Dyeing and weaving technology developed by leaps and bounds in the Han Dynasty.
The state has specialized officials responsible for production, and workshops are both government-run and private. The number of employees and varieties exceeds those of previous generations. Mainly include: ① Silk weaving. The main production areas are Shandong and Sichuan, and the varieties include brocade, damask, Qi, Luo, yarn, silk, silk, silk, and Wan. Weaving methods include plain weave, twill weave and rib weave, among which brocade is the most representative. Han brocade is a kind of silk fabric with colorful warp threads, also known as warp brocade. The weft threads only use one color, and the warp threads can have up to three colors, namely ground color, pattern and outline. A large number of brocades were unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha, Hunan, which are representative of the brocades of the Han Dynasty. The patterns on silk fabrics of the Han Dynasty include cloud patterns, animal patterns, flower patterns, geometric patterns and text patterns, etc. ②Printing and dyeing. This technology is relatively developed and the government has specialized agencies. The printing and dyeing methods can be divided into coating dyeing, dip dyeing, over-dying and mordant dyeing according to different techniques. The dyes used are divided into two categories: vegetable dyes and mineral dyes. The dyed fabrics are rich in colors and have many names. The colors of the silk embroidery unearthed in Minfeng, Xinjiang alone include dozens of colors including red, green, purple, tomato paste, lotus root, bronze, green, blue, emerald blue, lake blue, tassel color, beige, yellow, etc. . There are more than 30 colors of fabrics unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb. ③Embroidery. During this period, the embroidery stitches mostly used discerning embroidery, or lock embroidery. Embroidery has been unearthed in Minfeng, Xinjiang, Wuluchong, Hebei, Mawangdui, Changsha and other places, with the latter being the most abundant. In addition to identification embroidery, there are also Xinqi embroidery, longevity embroidery, Chengyun embroidery and cloud pattern. Embroidery, chess pattern embroidery, velvet embroidery, etc. In addition, the cloth and woolen weaving technology in the Han Dynasty was also very developed. The former is the most famous in Sichuan, while the latter is mostly produced in the Western Regions. Woolen fabrics unearthed in Xinjiang and other places have tortoiseshell patterns, stripes, and grape patterns.
[Jiangdi Wucai Embroidery]
Lacquerware craftsmanship. According to archaeological excavations, the varieties of lacquerware in the Qin Dynasty include lacquer boxes, lacquer bowls, lacquer boxes, lacquer pots, lacquer bowls, lacquer bottles, and lacquerware. Earrings, lacquer spoons, lacquer daggers, lacquer combs and other utensils are all made of wood. Most of them are red and black. The black lacquer is painted with red or ocher patterns. The patterns include figures, animals, music, singing, dancing and sumo wrestling. Scenes such as wrestling are vivid and natural. Most of the lacquerware has inscriptions written, carved or branded with needles, such as "Xianheng", "Pili", "Zhugong", "Xushi" and other names. Some of them are the name of the place of origin, some are the name of the institution, and some are the name of the place of origin. Craftsman name. The most abundant and exquisite lacquerware has been unearthed from Suihudi in Yunmeng County and Fenghuangshan Qin Tomb in Jiangling County, Hubei Province.
[Lacquer Pot]
Lacquerware in the Han Dynasty developed greatly and reached its heyday. At that time, the central government had a special management agency, and local government officials were also responsible for specific production management. The design and production of its utensils are mostly based on practicality, and the division of labor is very fine, including craftsmen, painters, painters, carvers, etc.; the lacquer bodies are mostly made of wood, and there are also clamps and bamboo bodies. Its varieties have increased compared with the previous generation, including boxes. , plates, boxes, cases, earrings, dishes, bowls, dowry boxes, boxes, combs, rulers, saliva pots, masks, chessboards, tiger zigs, etc.; the colors are mainly red and black, the shapes are rich and varied, and the decorations are fresh and gorgeous. Cloud patterns, animal patterns, character patterns, plant patterns, geometric patterns, etc.; decorative techniques include painting, needle engraving, copper buttons, gold foil, pile of paint, etc., and are produced all over the country.
[Nine Sons Lacquer Box]
In addition, the portrait stones of the Han Dynasty are mainly decorated with figures, animals and plants, which are simple, vivid, vigorous and generous. The method is mostly bas-relief carving with raised protrusions on the ground, and some also adopt the form of line carving. Most of the portrait stones are unearthed in Shandong and Henan. The production techniques of jade carvings have also been greatly improved. Processing methods such as openwork carving, engraving, and relief carving have been developed. The carved items are often exquisite and exquisite. Glaze, woodware, weaving, etc. also have their own characteristics.