This document provides an overview of key concepts and timeline for Chinese art history. It introduces several famous Chinese artists such as Ai Weiwei and discusses some of their notable works. Examples of art from major Chinese dynasties are presented, ranging from pottery from the Longshan period to paintings from the Yuan dynasty. A comparative timeline also orients the major Chinese dynasties with corresponding artistic periods in the Western world.

1. Chinese Art day 1
不要惊慌(do not panic)
Bùyào jīnghuāng

2. Ai Weiwei, Han Dynasty
Urn with Coca-Cola Logo,
1994, Urn, Western Han
Dyn. (206 BC- 24AD)

3. Han dynasty grave goods, ca. 25-200 CE

4. • Ai Wei Wei,
Sunflower Seeds
installation at
Turbine Hall, Tate
Modern,

5. • Longshan period
eggshell pottery
• ca. 2500-1700 BCE

8. Ai Weiwei, Study of Perspective-Tiananmen,
1995-2003, black/white
photographic print.

10. • Remembering, Installation of backpacks for the facade
of the Haus der Kunst, Munich, 2009 (Title of the
show was So Sorry)

11. • School collapsed after Chengdu, Sichuan earthquake, 2008

12. • Biographies of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru, ca. 1095 CE

13. • Fisherman, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), ca. 1350
Wu Zhen (Chinese, 1280–1354)

14. Chinese Words & Names
• Rule #1: Don’t Panic
• Romanization
• Chinese is a character-based, tonal language
• Wade-Giles (now obsolete but often appears in older scholarship)
• Pinyin (currently used, official choice of PRC)
• Guides to pronunciation and Romanization converters on Bb

15. A note on dates
• BCE and CE (Before the Common Era and Common Era)
• BC and AD (Before Christ and Anno Domini, Year of Our Lord)
• BCE = BC
• CE = AD

16. Timeline weirdness
• 17th century BCE = 1600’s BCE
• 17th century CE = 1600’s CE
• Which is earlier: 1700 BCE or 1600 BCE?
• 1700 BCE
• Which is earlier: 1600 CE or 1700 CE?
• 1600 CE
BC/BCE Buddha Christ AD
2007 1700 1600 500
1 1 1600 1700 2007
Muhammad
570

17. Major Dynasties & Western World Art Periods
• Shang 1766-1027 BCE = (Egypt, Neolithic/Bronze Age,
Aegean)
• Zhou 1122-256 BCE = (Greece, Rome)
• Han 206 BCE- 220 CE = (Roman Empire)
• Tang 618-907 CE = (Birth of Islam, Early Middle Ages)
• Sung 969-1279 CE = (Carolingian, Romanesque,
Gothic)
• Yuan 1279-1368 CE = (Gothic, Renaissance)
• Ming 1368-1644 CE = (Renaissance, Baroque)
• Qing 1644-1912 CE = (Enlightenment, Romanticism,
Realism, Neoclassical, Modern)
• PRC (People’s Republic of China) 1949-ff.