Blue and White Porcelain 青花瓷
Pottery, Porcelain, Folk art
Blue and white porcelain is pottery with a white base and treated with a vibrant blue glaze. It began in the Tang Dynasty (618AD-907 AD) when cobalt started to be imported from Persia. Blue and white porcelain was often portrayed works of the blue wolf and the fallow doe, mythical ancestors of Mongolia, during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368 AD).
White Porcelain
Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD)
White Porcelain, Celadon, Enamel Painted Porcelain, Black Porcelain
Hard, Smooth, Blue, White
Craft
White Porcelain 白瓷
Plain, Tang porcelain, Clay, Bottle
In Lin cheng, Nei qiu and Xing tai, in northern Hebei, a hard, white porcelain, called Xing porcelain, gained fame and became the standard Tang porcelain. White porcelain was pottery created with a plain white glaze. It began mature production during the Sui Dynasty (581-618 AD). White porcelain was highly praised for its minimalistic design. It was commonly used for everyday items.
Sui Dynasty (581-618 AD)
White Porcelain, Celadon, Enamel Painted Porcelain, Black Porcelain
Hard, Smooth, White
Craft
Fengxiang Clay Sculpture 泥塑
Clay, Mud, Sculpture
Clay sculpture has been handed down among the people for about three thousand years. These sculptures are made from the special clay called “Ban Ban Tu,” found only in Fengxiang County, northwest of Xi’an.
Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BC)
Mud-colour, Sticky texture (at first)
Craft
Cloth Tiger 布老虎
Animal, Toy, Folk culture
The Cloth Tiger, which had been very popular in the ancient times of China, is a cloth-made toy. It is a folk handicraft with strong local color due to its varieties and popularity.
Unknown
Colourful, Palm-sized
Craft
Jadeite Cabbage 翠玉白菜
Mineral, Jade, Vegetable-like objects
Another piece of rock that has been carved into the shape of a Chinese cabbage head. It even has two insects crawling among the leaves.
Late Qing Dynasty (1644 AD- 1911 AD)
Small, Reflective and bright colour, Smooth texture
Craft
Meat-shaped Stone 肉形石
Meat-like object, Stone, Jade
This mouth-watering chunk of stewed pork belly with a gratuitous layer of fat and glistening sheen is actually a piece of rock—jasper to be exact—that was cleverly carved and dyed to resemble a succulent piece of meat by an anonymous Qing dynasty artist in the 19th-century.
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD)
Meat Stone
Rough surface, Layered colours
Craft
Gong 鑼
Chinese music, Sound
It is an percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat, circular metal disc which is hit with a mallet.
Northern and Southern Dynasties (420–589 AD)
Metallic, Diameter of 50 cm-150 cm
Craft
Suona 嗩吶
Chinese music, Sound
Suona, Wade-Giles romanization so-na, also called laba, Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument, the most commonly used double-reed instrument.
Jin Dynasty (265-420 AD)
Hand-held size
Craft
Pipa 琵琶
Chinese music, Sound
The Pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 26. According to Han dynasty sources, the origins of the name “pipa” refer to how the instrument is played. “Pi” meant “to play forward” and “pa” means “to play backward”. However, as no other types of sources reference this etymology; scholars suspect that the instrument more likely originated outside China, and that its name references a foreign language term.
Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD)
Wooden texture, Height: 103cm, Width: 32cm
Craft
Dizi 笛子
Bamboo, Chinese music, Sound
The dizi is a Chinese transverse flute, a major Chinese musical instrument.
Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)
Long, Cylindrical
Craft