Earliest Chinese Sculpture

Earliest Chinese Sculpture

Chinese sculpture is one of the oldest art forms in the world. The earliest examples date back to the Neolithic Age. Advances in archaeology have led to the discovery of older pieces. During the 1990s, an 8,000-year-old stone sculpture of a dragon, which is around 20m in length, was unearthed. It is believed to be the earliest large stone sculpture ever discovered in China.

Chinese pottery sculptures first peaked during the Neolithic Age. By then, people had mastered potting techniques. Most sculptures from the time are made from pottery, wood, stone or bone and represent human and animal forms. Preserved sculptures are mostly pottery or jade. Similar to the primary stage works from other civilizations, those vivid sculptures were made mainly to meet the needs of witchcraft and hunting. They display the early abstract characteristics of China's formative arts. People understand the sculptural outlook of that period mostly from archaeological discovery. Each find helps better understand that ancient civilization and make the ancient sculptural outlook clearer.

Pottery sculptures in primitive times

Primitive pottery sculptures were made soon after the emergence of potting techniques.

They had mostly practical functions. The "pottery pot" is most common. It is often designed with a human face or human head on top, or it is shaped like an animal. Such designs are also prevalent in other early cultures, such as ancient Persia and India. In ancient China, pottery sculptures fell into one of three types: overall animal images; circular or relief sculptural ornaments in animal or human form as part of an article (such as the cover, knob, and surface); and single animal or portrait sculptures like nude female sculptures or shaped like a hand. The last usually had obvious primitive religious and witchcraft features.

Pottery figure sculptures

The famous neolithic Chinese pottery includes pieces from the Yangshao, Majiayao and Dawenkou cultures. Many excellent ornamental sculptures have been well preserved, including a vital 12.5-cm pottery piece of a maiden's head unearthed in Gaositou, Lixian County, Gansu Province. It is made of orange-yellow clay using simple techniques. It belongs to the Banshan branch of the Yangshao culture, and it is often mentioned in university courses of the history of Chinese arts. The features of the face are simple, with three hollow ovals representing the eyes and mouth. Her ears and nose are also dull. Her face is fruity, and her air is relaxed and full of pleasure. The sculpture gives the impression of sincerity and simplicity. At the top of her head, there are thin ornamental ribbons similar to plaits, which reflect the everyday life of those early people rather than robust religious features. The head is not an independent sculpture work. It is cleverly done, with circular carving as part of the mouth.

The unique quality of pottery designed with a sculpted figure of a human head is visible on another masterpiece of Banshan type in Yangshao culture, which is a pot with a mouth in the form of ahead. The pot was unearthed in Luonan, Shaanxi. It is a well-preserved 23cm pot of red clay with a sculpture of a human head. The eyes and mouth are also hollow holes. The hollow-out work leaves behind some shadows that enhance the expressive forces of the sculpture and produces an open feeling of "enlightenment" and "ventilation" bringing the sculpture to life.

The Yangshao culture left behind many similar works. The sculpture of a human face unearthed in Chajiaping, Tianshui City, Gansu, is also the top of a mutilated piece of pottery. The life-size female face is part of a large 25.5cm high and 16cm wide article. She has a narrow and flat forehead, beautifully thin, long eyebrows and light eyeholes, reflecting oriental beauty. Her eyes small and her nose bridge straight. Her cheekbones are prominent and her face wide. She is smiling, with her lips slightly parted. She is a typical Asian feminine image. This type of sculpture, with apparent sexual features, is probably linked to popular goddess worship. Such worship wasn't ferocious or strict but full of the warmth of living and the pleasures of life. The sculpture is very different from the religious images that surfaced during the slavery society.

Some primitive pottery has colorful paint. Typical examples are pieces combining portraits and sculptures with beautiful patterns. The black patterns on the cover of a piece of Banshan-type human head pottery reflect the techniques, social customs and aesthetical standard of primitive times. The design patterns represent the abstract ornamental features of Neolithic painted pottery. A classic example is a bottle unearthed in the Dadiwan Neolithic site in Qinan County, Gansu Province in 1973. It belongs to a human head-shaped painted pottery bottle of the Miaodigou type. It is not only well preserved but also beautiful in shape and decoration.

Remarkably, those works can not only accurately express the position and proportions of the features of the face but also produce some unique expressions. They are, without dispute, the origins of formative arts even if the techniques are coarse.

An important archaeological discovery was made in the early 1980s. It was a piece of painted pottery from the Hongshan culture and a piece of painted pottery of a goddess figure. After 1979, archaeologists started large-scale excavations of the Hongshan culture in western Liaoning Province. The goodness temple, the large altar and stone graves were discovered gradually. Radiocarbon dating puts those relics at more than 5,000 years of age. A batch of small pottery figurines of pregnant women was unearthed in the Hongshan culture site in 1982.

The proportions and physiological features of pregnant women are accurate. Although the head and feet of one piece are mutilated, the body and legs show the craftsman's capability.

The protruding abdomen and slightly bent knees, in particular, make a deep impression. This figurine is suggestive of the "Venus of Willendorf" unearthed in Austria. Figurines of pregnant women from the Hongshan culture are simple in expression and technique. Regardless of whether they come from the Western or Eastern worlds, statues of pregnant women are closely connected to childbearing worship. Another important masterpiece of the Hongshan culture is a clay sculpture known as "Goddess Head Sculpture." The life-size sculpture is 22.5cm in height and vivid in shape. The features of the face are clear, especially the bright and piercing eyes. This sculpture is full of mystic religious content. 

Pottery animal sculptures

Animal images are another key subject of primitive sculptures. This includes images of pigs, dogs, sheep, birds, and fish. They are widely used in the Hemudu culture in Zhejiang Province. Such animals were common in everyday life. The sculptures are simple in technique and give an impression of simplicity and intelligence.

Some of these sculptures are not static but have a dynamic beauty of movement. Such techniques are not very practical, and the sculptures are very vivid. It matches the rules of ancient Chinese formative arts, which lasted for several thousand years. These rules regard "vividness" and “impressionistic style” as the highest standard, above the faithful reproduction of shapes.

The animal shapes are often combined with the various article shapes. At the time of forging animal shapes, At the time of forming animal shapes, craftsmen retained the practical functions of the articles. For example, an eagle-shaped Zun vessel, unearthed from a tomb of a mature woman in Taipingzhuang, Huaxian County, Shannxi Province, belongs to the later works of Miaodigou type. The shape of the eagle is simple but solid. Its awe-inspiring look is overwhelming from all aspects.

Although some pottery wares are not made in imitation of animal images visually, people often associate them with them. For instance, a piece of three-foot pottery gui belongs to the Longshan culture. Although not in imitation of any animal image, it is suggestive of birds with their heads turned upward. These pieces are rich in abstract features and embody great formative capability in an abstract and integrative way.

According to a recent archaeological discovery, the earliest piece of Chinese sculpture is an 8,000-year-old dragon-shaped stone sculpture. The dragon is around 20m in length. It was unearthed during the 1990s (see China Cultural Relics News, 19 March 1995). As an art form, the stone sculpture is a primitive religious art form. Besides shapes made from piles of stones, there are also sculptures made of arrangements of shells. For example, dragon and tiger-shaped shell arrangements were unearthed in 1987 on both sides of a dead person for whom the tomb was built in Xishuipo, Puyang, Henan Province. The life-size shell arrangements belong to the Yangshao culture and show the majesty and power of the dead man.

Jade sculptures in primitive times

Since primitive times, the Chinese have enriched their aesthetic experience of beauty using Jade. Jade attracts people's attention for its excellent quality and its unique features. The qualities of jade were gradually combined with various shapes. People first developed an understanding of circle and square shapes while creating jade articles. They then started experimenting with lines as an understanding of shape and outlines grew. The use of curves, in particular, is unique to primitive jade articles.

Chinese jade sculptures deal with religion, politics, utility and even morality. The first artistic peak of Chinese jade sculpture emerged in primitive times and was demonstrated by the Hongshan, Liangzhu, Dawenkou and Longshan cultures. The Hongshan culture is particularly worthy of mention. Some abstract and simple dragon-shaped jade sculptures from the Hongshan culture are impressive and suggestive of the imagination of primitive sculptors and the brilliant capacity to abstract. There are also some human faces made of jade with holes on the top to run a cord through and use them as amulets.

Many jade articles have been unearthed from the Liangzhu culture site dating back about 4,000 years in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Among them are a jade cong (a cubic article with a round hole in the center) and jade cicada with animal-face patterns. For instance, a piece of unearthed jade cong is designed with animal-face patterns on all sides with each line between 0.1-0.2 mm in thickness.

Mature design images of animal faces show the cultural features of the Shang and Zhou dynasties and illustrate their cultural heritage and development.