Mural guide
A potter shapes a clay vessel beside a glowing kiln, while a carpenter works a timber joint among finished ceramics.
Ceramics, lacquer, jade, metal and silk: objects where craft reached its height
Inscribing names on masterful artifacts, probing the essence of things: craftsmanship and material aesthetics in classical prose.
Crafts
Mud transcending into porcelain, bronze solidifying into power: a millennium-spanning history of craftsmanship and the aesthetics of clay, metal, and stone.
Sanxingdui BronzesShang dynasty to early Western ZhouThe bronze sacred tree, protruding-eye masks and gold staff of Sanxingdui, found in the sacrificial pits of ancient Shu.
Jade CultureNeolithic to presentFrom Xinglongwa slit-rings and the blue bi offered to Heaven to the jade by which a gentleman measures his virtue.
Ritual BronzesLate Xia (Erlitou) to Han dynastyRitual bronzes cast in piece molds and inscribed, embodying lineage rites and political authority.
Slips & ScrollsShang dynasty to Eastern JinBamboo slips, wooden tablets and silk before paper, from the oracle-bone graph for bound slips to the slips of Marquis Yi's tomb.
Terracotta ArmyQin dynasty to presentLife-size clay figures laid out as a real army: infantry in Pit 1, chariots and cavalry in Pit 2, command post in Pit 3.
Grotto ArtSixteen Kingdoms period to presentWall paintings and painted sculpture at Mogao, the five Tanyao caves at Yungang and the great Vairocana niche at Longmen.
Mortise & TenonNeolithic to presentA timber building system joining members by mortise and tenon without nails, resisting earthquakes.
Ink Painting & Xuan PaperTang dynasty to presentBrush and ink on paper: Wang Wei's ink landscapes, Zhang Yanyuan on xuan paper, Huang Gongwang and Ni Zan's literati painting.
Silk & BrocadeNeolithic to presentSericulture and fine fabrics, from Qianshanyang silk and oracle-bone graphs for silkworm to the Jiankang brocade bureau.
Ceramic ArtsShang dynasty to presentPorcelain from clay and glaze fired at high heat: Shang proto-porcelain, Eastern Han celadon and Jingdezhen blue-and-white.