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).
Source
White Porcelain
Date
Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD)
Relation
White Porcelain, Celadon, Enamel Painted Porcelain, Black Porcelain
Format
Hard, Smooth, Blue, White
Type
Craft
Crafts Item Type Metadata
Crafting Methods
Blue and white porcelain is contrived using the color blue, usually from cobalt oxide, to create designs on shaped clean, white clay that is then covered in a layer of transparent glaze and baked in a kiln at high temperatures.
Materials
Ceramic
Usage and Application
The subjects of the figurines span a wide range of bold and brief shapes of wild exaggeration and bright colours with a strong local flavour. They are well received by the local people, who put them as toys and symbols of good fortune and happiness. Every time when the lunar New Year draws near, the local handicraftsmen, with the beautifully painted clay-figurines on shoulders or in hand, would converge on the market and set up stalls in meandering lines. This makes the country fair during the festival more flourishing and exciting. Infused with simple and sincere feelings of the laboring people, the painted clay-figurines reflected the superb creative ability in art of the peasants and are typical articles of folk art. They not only attract the attention of artists, but also appeal very much to people of various fields both at home and abroad.
Interesting Facts
There is an interesting story that took place in 1603, when a Portuguese cargo ship, the Santa Catarina, bearing thousands of pieces of Ming porcelain, was anchored outside of Singapore. A Dutch ship attacked, causing the crew to flee, and the porcelain was appropriated and taken to Europe where it sold so well at auction as to cause considerable "porcelain mania". The porcelain fetched such high prices that it became known as "white gold" by some. Extensive legal proceedings followed to determine whether taking the cargo was an act of illegal piracy, or whether Portugal and Holland were in fact at war at the time.
The erhu is a bowed spike-lute chordophone of the Han Chinese (‘er’ means two; ‘hu’ originally meant ‘barbarian,’ but now ‘fiddle’).
Date
Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD)
Format
Wooden
Type
Craft
Crafts Item Type Metadata
Crafting Methods
The long, round, hardwood neck of the erhu runs through its constructed hexagonal wooden resonating chamber the front of which is covered by a snakeskin soundboard (affixed by glue). The backside of the resonator is open but adorned with a carved wooden screen. White plastic or bone caps adorn both the curved top end of the neck and the ends of the two friction tuning pegs, which are inserted through the backside of the neck. A red velvet cushion is fixed to the bottom of the resonator. One end of each steel string is attached to and wrapped around a tuning peg, the other end terminates in a noose that is looped over a metal tail pin on the bottom side of the resonator. The top end of the vibrating segment of the strings is articulated with an adjustable sliding nut (called qianjin) of nylon cord; the lower end of the vibrating segment is where the strings pass over a small wooden bridge on the soundboard. The bow is made of bamboo – however, a Western bow hair-tightening mechanism has been attached, making unnecessary the established technique of holding the bow hair taut while playing the instrument.
Materials
Wood, Metal, Horsehair
Usage and Application
It is used as one of the main melodic instruments for accompaniment of Beijing opera performance and in regional instrumental ensembles.
The Chinese opera is one of the oldest known dramatic art forms worldwide. However, it is evident that most audience or spectators are more fascinated with the Opera masks normally used in every opera performance.
Source
Beijing Opera
Date
Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD)
Format
Face sized and shaped, Colourful decoration
Type
Craft
Crafts Item Type Metadata
Crafting Methods
Generally, opera masks are made up of ceramic material. And while in blank face, the performer or perhaps a makeup artist can design or decorate the face with detailed and decorative artwork defining and enhancing more the character and thus establishes the role.
Materials
Ceramic
Usage and Application
These masks are more than seemingly as added decorations. Chinese opera masks are significant in a way that they represent the performers’ or characters’ personalities, intense moods, and status quo even.
Interesting Facts
The acting mask is quite closely associated with the “Masquerading” dramatic play of the Tang Dynasty. As the story goes, King Lan Ling of the Northern Qi Kingdom was such a brave and courageous fighter, but his appearance was too handsome that he cannot frighten the enemy. So he would wear a carved wooden mask to lead his army into battle, and triumphed over the enemy like it was never before. The theatrical drama “King Lan Ling going to battle” of the Tang Dynasty is a depiction of King Lan Ling of the Kingdom of Northern Qi commanding his troupe to launch an attack on the enemy. The stage actors would all wear masks in the performance. Since then, acting masks started to appear in theatrical dramas.
Similar opera masks can be seen by performers of Bian Lian.
Bian Lian is an ancient Chinese dramatic art that is part of the more general Sichuan opera. Performers wear brightly colored costumes and move to quick, dramatic music. They also wear vividly colored masks, typically depicting well known characters from the opera, which they change from one face to another almost instantaneously with the swipe of a fan, a movement of the head, or wave of the hand.
A Chinese knot is a knot that is tied and woven from a single length of cord or rope to be a variety of shapes and of varying complexity. Each shape has its own symbolic meaning, and nowadays you can find them as decoration, gifts for special occasions, and adornments on clothes.
Date
Tang and Song Dynasties (960–1279 AD)
Format
Palm-sized
Type
Craft
Crafts Item Type Metadata
Crafting Methods
Most knots are double layered and symmetrical and have two cords entering the knot from the top and two leaving from the bottom.
Materials
Strings, Ropes
Usage and Application
Each kind of knot is named after its shape or the symbolic meaning that it carries. People may have originally made them to record information and convey messages before people started to write.
Around the times of Chinese new year festival, Chinese knot decorations can be seen hanging on walls, doors of homes and as shop decorations to add some festival feel. Usually, these decorations are in red color, which traditional Chinese regards it as a color of "luck".
Interesting Facts
This connotation can even be seen in Chinese words. The Chinese word for 'rope' is 'shèng' that sounds similar to the words for 'spirit,' 'divine,' and 'life.' Knots had a spiritual meaning and were used for worship.
The word for 'knot' itself is 'jié' and is related to many other terms that reinforce the symbolic meaning of the knots. For example, 'tuán jié' which means 'to unite,' 'jié hūn' means 'to marry,' and 'jié guŏ' means 'bear fruit,' 'result,' or 'outcome.' So a knot given to a marriage partner or a couple means all these things and having children as well.
Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim.
Date
Tang Dynasty (618 AD - 907 AD)
Format
Flat
Type
Craft
Crafts Item Type Metadata
Crafting Methods
Rods are attached to specially-shaped sheets to make puppets. These puppets cast shadows on cloth.
Materials
Cloth, Leather, Paper
Usage and Application
Shadow puppetry is a form of entertainment which is often associated with child entertainment.
Interesting Facts
There are several myths and legends about the origins of shadow puppetry in China. The most famous one has it that Chinese shadow puppetry originated when the favourite concubine of Emperor Wu of Han (156-87 AD) died and magician Shao-weng promised to raise her spirit. The emperor could see a shadow that looked like her move behind the curtains that the magician had placed around some lit torches. It is often told that the magician used a shadow puppet, but the original text in Book of Han gives no reason to believe in a relation to shadow puppetry.
Hot liquid sugar is used to make two-dimensional art and solidifies after cooling down.
Creator
Chen Zi'ang (陳子昂)
Date
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) / Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD)
Format
Flat
Type
Craft
Crafts Item Type Metadata
Crafting Methods
Sugar painting was often done on marble or metal panels.
The process of sugar painting includes four steps, including boiling down syrup, painting on a plane, sticking to a stick, removing from the plane. If a three dimensional figure is created, layers of pre-made two dimensional sugar painting.
Although techniques vary, normally the hot sugar is drizzled from a small ladle onto a flat surface, usually white marble or metal. The outline is produced with a relatively thick stream of sugar. Then, supporting strands of thinner sugar are placed to attach to the outline, and fill in the body of the figure. These supporting strands may be produced with swirls, zig-zags, or other patterns. Finally, when completed, a thin wooden stick, used to hold the figure, is attached in two or more places with more sugar. Then, while still warm and pliable, the figure is removed from the surface using a spatula-like tool, and is sold to the waiting customer, or placed on display.
Materials
Sugar candy
Usage and Application
It is a form of decoration and snack.
Interesting Facts
Some say Chen Zi'ang is the creator of it. He loved to eat brown sugar, but he liked to eat it in a unique way that he can both appreciate like an artwork and enjoy like sweets. So he melted the sugar and casted the sugar into molds to form its shape. One day, as he was holding the sugar casting on his hand, the prince passed by and saw it. He asked for it and took it away. After he got back, the emperor saw it and thought of it as an interesting invention. He complimented Chen Zi'ang and gives it a name, “sugar pancake”. So it became a snack popular in the court. After he left the palace, he spread this technique in his hometown, located in modern Sichuan province. Because of the emperor's compliment, this form of art and food became popular quickly and developed as the sugar painting nowadays.