Painting and calligraphy, like poetry, were the domain of the elite, and most educated Chinese traditionally boasted of some competence in them. There are early anonymous and folk-oriented paintings on tomb and cave walls, and many works are known from the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce). Fine-art painters are known by name from as early as the 6th century ce from historical records and serially copied versions of their works. Chinese painting is predominantly of landscapes, done in black pine-soot ink on fine paper or silk, occasionally with the addition of faint color washes. The most vigorous period for landscape painting spanned the years from the Song (960–1279) to the Ming (1368–1644) dynasty.

Calligraphy rivals painting as a fine art in China, and paintings are often captioned with artfully written poems. Calligraphy reveals the great fondness the Chinese have for their written characters, and it ranges in style from meticulously and laboriously scribed “seal” characters to flamboyant and unconstrained “grass” characters. Calligraphy, as painting, is prized for a number of abstract aesthetic qualities, described by such terms as balance, vitality, energy, bones, wind, and strength.

Painting has undergone numerous style changes since the beginning of the 20th century. Before 1949, painters such as Qi Baishi (1863–1957) developed distinct new styles that internationalized traditional Chinese aesthetics. After 1949, pressure for a form of socialist realism made painters shift their focus to such subjects as factory scenes, farm villages, and convoys of tour buses. But, with the liberalization of the arts that followed Mao’s death in 1976, more-traditional values reasserted themselves.

Sculpture and carving date to the Zhou dynasty or earlier. Tombs frequently contained burial dolls, said to have been made to replace live sacrificial victims, and many early jade carvings are related to burial practices and include body orifice stoppers and bangle bracelets. Of all the arts, sculpture received the greatest boost from the introduction of Buddhism to China during the Han dynasty and from the spread of Buddhism during the Six Dynasties (220–589 ce) and Tang periods. Statues and carved reliefs of buddhas and bodhisattvas were made by the thousands; along with cave paintings, they represent the pinnacle of Chinese religious art. One of the most notable sites is the Mogao Caves (“Caves of a Thousand Buddhas”) complex near Dunhuang in Gansu province, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.

Performing arts

The oldest art forms in China are music and dance. A 5,000-year-old pottery bowl from Qinghai province is painted with a ring of 15 dancers adorned in headdresses and sashes and stepping in unison. Music played an important role in early Chinese ritual and statecraft. Bronze bells were instruments of investiture and reward. A bronze bell set from a tomb in the ancient state of Zeng in Hubei province, interred about 430 bce, contains 64 bells, each of which produces two distinct, tuned strike notes. More than 120 instruments were unearthed from the same tomb, including stringed zithers, mouth organs, flutes, drums, and stone chimes. Music and related rituals helped to provide a structure for activities in the courts of rulers at all levels in the feudal hierarchy.

Theater, once the most important popular art form in China, remains important for some. However, it has been eclipsed in popularity by television dramas, especially serials. Chinese theater originated in early religious dances, performed at festivals to exorcise demons, reenact important historical events, or prepare for harvest, hunting, or warfare. Urban storytelling and theatrical genres are well documented from the Song dynasty but are known to have matured during the Yuan dynasty (1206–1368). Yuan dramas—or operas, as they are more accurately called—consisted of virtuoso song and dance organized around plots on historical or contemporary themes. The operas were performed in special theaters, with elegant costumes and decorated stages. From Yuan drama, later forms developed, including contemporary jingxi (Peking opera) and other regional forms, which feature song and dance, elaborate costumes and props, and displays of martial arts and acrobatics.