The Medieval World

The Medieval period, was a large era of time, between 400 and 1400AD. This era was otherwise known as the middle, and dark ages. Many large cultures and empires began to emerge in this era, for example, the English, Spanish and French empires.

The era spanned between around the years of the Anglo Saxons, up until the later middle ages.1 At the start of the medieval period, the country of England as we see it today, in particular, was much different. 
After the Romans had left, due to the collapse of their expansive empire, most towns, temples and theatres, as well as a few other elements of Romano-English culture lay ruined. Despite this however, the Roman empire left behind it’s language, and state religion in the form of Christianity. They also left their road system and civilisation. This helped shape the country, up until the modern day, where many Roman influences still exist now.2

Despite the collapse of the Roman empire, the eastern part of the empire continued to maintain its strength. The eastern Roman empire was referred to as Byzantine.

The dark ages was a period that was also within the medieval timescale, this age spanned from c500-1000ad, and was a period where there was a massive decline in population, trading and other areas such as commerce. A few areas in Europe took a step back, and went back into tribalism. 

For my research task, The script will be researching Ancient China, and analysing two images of artwork from this period.

Ancient China, (often referred to as the “Middle kingdom” by natives), was where the origin of such technologies as fireworks, bronze casting, calligraphy, money, inks, porcelain and paper were developed.3 The research will touch upon calligraphy. Calligraphy is the art of writing, and at the time was deemed a fine art, respected above traditionally based paintings. It was deemed that a person who held the skill, and the ability to draw Chinese symbols and writing,was very talented, and because of it, was allowed into the 'upper circle' of Chinese civilisation. Individual pieces of the Chinese alphabet, are referred to as characters4. Ancient China was also the culture that built the vast great wall of China (figure 15), which is a “wonder of the world”, by modern standards today.

Figure 1

Ancient China consisted of a vast empire at its peak. Foreign merchants who generally consisted of Arabs, Persians and Nestorian Christian, had been trading with the country since the era of the Tang dynasty, which was around ad 618-907. 

In the year of 1275, a merchant named Marco Polo went to China, and later on in his life, made a book detailing China’s massive amount of wealth, and how the country was ruled by at the time, by a ‘benign’ emperor named Kublai Khan.

Later along the timeline, the Chinese allowed the Portuguese to set up a trading post in Macau, in the year of 1557. This lead to over the next 150 years, the introduction of trading between china, and the English/Dutch Empire. In 1699, China allowed the East India Company of both countries the right to trade at Canton, and this was the only Chinese port that was open to European trade, for almost two centuries.6 (This paves the way for the Japonisme influences later on, when China opens up its trading).

China during the middle ages was ruled by emperors who usually referred to themselves as gods. The country was sealed off from the rest of the world, with the emperors restricting Chinese citizens to travel abroad. The Europeans made a number of attempts to set up formal diplomatic relations with the country, however for many numbers of years, this was unsuccessful. However In 1792, Great Britain sent a man named Lord Macartney who tried to open up a British embassy in an area called Peking. He had been instructed not to do anything “derogatory”in the way of submitting to the Chinese, and this lead to him refusing to kneel before king Soloman, the then ruler of China.7

An example of art in medieval china now, and the first one to be highlighted in the research is of the piece below (figure 28)

Figure 2

This piece is part of the Taoist art theme. Taoism, which emerged within the Han dynasty, is embedded into much of Chinese culture, and the movement has influenced such mainstream religions and societies, in such religions as Zen Buddhism, and such cultural societies as T'ai Chi, acupuncture and martial arts. Taoism contains elements from other philosophies and traditions.9

This theme in art contained a lot of abstract shapes. The image that is highlighted above is a piece created around 1250ad. It is a very finely drawn piece, and is in a black and white tone.

Another style of artistic work, was that of pottery. Pottery was a very well practised skill in ancient China, and there are many famous noteworthy pieces from the medieval period. Originally, pottery techniques dated long before the medieval times, as pottery began to be practised as early as the Neolithic period.
In China, pottery and ceramics were regarded as a traditional skill, and it was within China, that such advanced methods of ceramic creation emerged. Such techniques as using hot fired kilns, were developed within the country long before other civilisations began using this technology. This led to pieces being non-porous and resonant.10

Figure 3

The figure above (figure 311) is a porcelain figurine depicting a 'court lady' and it was produced around the 8th century AD (701-800AD).

Around the era of the Tang Dynasty, (618-906AD), a 'golden age' began to occur, there was a lot of very colourful, and well developed ceramics being created.

Calligraphy was also an important part of ancient Chinese culture, an example of calligraphy can be found below, in figure 4. The image also ties in with the research on pottery and ceramics in the section before this.

Figure 4

This ancient Chinese vase from around 1080AD, within the Song dynasty, contains engraved markings of calligraphy. You can see in the close ups of the vase below, (figure 515)

Figure 5

Inscriptions that are etched into the pottery material show individual characters of the Chinese alphabet. There are many thousands of characters in the ancient Chinese alphabet, and most of them are very rarely used. The majority of modern day Chinese people have an understanding of around 3000, according to this source referenced here14.

Figure 6

This above figure (figure 615) displays some of the characters used in calligraphy.

As well as Taoism, another practised faith called Hinduism, was reflected in a lot of ancient Chinese artwork. The fundamental Hindu teachings, teach that in life, there are four main goals. The first being living a righteous life, the second being gaining wealth through a profession, the third being love, as well as sexual love, and finally spiritual salvation.16
The Hindu religion, like a lot of religions, revolves around deities. In terms of Hinduism, such deities included Krishna, and Ganesha (elephant headed deity), otherwise known as Gods.
The origins of the Hindu religion are difficult to find, as the religion had no founder, or even any prophet. Today it is difficult to rediscover this, and it will probably never be known.

For the final section on medieval Chinese art, the research will be moving onto the focus of fabrics and textiles, in this era.

Figure 7

This figure above, (figure 717), is an example of Chinese fabric art during the medieval period. This particular piece was created within the Jin dynasty, which spanned between the years of 1115-1234AD. The key influence of this piece is reflected in the title. The piece is entitled "Coiled Dragons". The piece today is currently housed at the Metropolitan museum of art, otherwise known as the MET.18

References Used:
1. Halliday, F.E. (1972) An Illustrated Cultural History of England. Pg: 25, London: Book Club Associates.
2. Halliday, F.E. (1972) An Illustrated Cultural History of England. Pg: 25, London: Book Club Associates.
3. Baines, F, Challoner, J, Macdonald, F, Parker, S, (1999) ‘The Illustrated Encyclopedia’, Pg: 178, Bath: Parragon
4.  Delbanco, Dawn. ‘Chinese Calligraphy’. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chcl/hd_chcl.htm, 15.2.14
5. Figure 1: URL: http://www.crystalinks.com/GreatWall3.jpg, Viewed: 1:55pm, 3.3.14.
6. Hacker, A. (2004) China Illustrated: Western Views of the Middle Kingdom. Pg: 16, USA: Tuttle.
7. Hacker, A. (2004) China Illustrated: Western Views of the Middle Kingdom. Pg: 19, USA: Tuttle.

8. Figure 2: "The Supreme Taoist Master Holding Court", Artist:, c1250, Rawson, P. and Legeza, L. (1973) Tao - The Chinese philosophy of time and change. London: Thames and Hudson.
9: Hu, H. and Allen, W.C. (2005) Taoism. Pg: 3-5, Philadelphia: Chelsea House.
10. Manners, E. (1990) The Ceramics Source Book. Pg: 34, London: Collins & Brown.
11. Figure 3: "Court Lady Figure" Artist: unknown, Manners, E. (1990) The Ceramics Source Book. Pg: 34, London: Collins & Brown.
12. Figure 4: "Vase with cover", Artist: unknown, Sezon Museum of Art (ed.) (1998) Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Collection. Pg: 34-35, The Yomiuri Shimbun, Osaka.
13. Figure 5: "Vase with cover (close up 1)" Artist: unknown, Sezon Museum of Art (ed.) (1998) Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Collection. Pg: 34, The Yomiuri Shimbun, Osaka.
14. Delbanco, Dawn. "Chinese Calligraphy". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chcl/hd_chcl.htm (April 2008) Veiwed: 11:24am 11.3.14
15. "Zhao Mengfu: Four Anecdotes from the Life of Wang Xizhi" (1989.363.30) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1989.363.30. (September 2010) Viewed: 12:22pm 11.3.14
16. Dehejia, Vidya. "Hinduism and Hindu Art". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hind/hd_hind.htm (February 2007) Viewed: 9:51pm 12.3.14
17. Figure 7: "Coiled Dragons", Artist: unknown, c1115-1234AD, Chatterton, J. (2002) Chinese Silks and Sewing Tools. Pg: 16, UK: J. Chatterton.
18. Chatterton, J. (2002) Chinese Silks and Sewing Tools. Pg: 16, UK: J. Chatterton.

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Alphabetical Ordered Bibliography:
"Zhao Mengfu: Four Anecdotes from the Life of Wang Xizhi" (1989.363.30) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1989.363.30. (September 2010) Viewed: 12:22pm 11.3.14

Baines, F, Challoner, J, Macdonald, F, Parker, S, (1999) ‘The Illustrated Encyclopedia’, Bath: Parragon

Chatterton, J. (2002) Chinese Silks and Sewing Tools.  UK: J. Chatterton.

Dehejia, Vidya. "Hinduism and Hindu Art". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hind/hd_hind.htm (February 2007) Viewed: 9:51pm 12.3.14

Delbanco, Dawn. "Chinese Calligraphy". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chcl/hd_chcl.htm (April 2008) Veiwed: 11:24am 11.3.14

Delbanco, Dawn. ‘Chinese Calligraphy’. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chcl/hd_chcl.htm, 15.2.14

Figure 1: URL: http://www.crystalinks.com/GreatWall3.jpg, Viewed: 1:55pm, 3.3.14.

Figure 2: "The Supreme Taoist Master Holding Court", Artist:, c1250, Author: Book: The Chinese Philosophy of Time and Change, 1973, London, Themes and Hudson LTD.

Figure 3: "Court Lady Figure" Artist: unknown, Manners, E. (1990) The Ceramics Source Book. Pg: 34, London: Collins & Brown.

Figure 4: "Vase with cover", Artist: unknown, Sezon Museum of Art (ed.) (1998) Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Collection. Pg: 34-35, The Yomiuri Shimbun, Osaka.

Figure 5: "Vase with cover (close up 1)" Artist: unknown, Sezon Museum of Art (ed.) (1998) Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Collection. Pg: 34, The Yomiuri Shimbun, Osaka.

Figure 7: "Coiled Dragons", Artist: unknown, c1115-1234AD, Chatterton, J. (2002) Chinese Silks and Sewing Tools. Pg: 16, UK: J. Chatterton.

Hacker, A. (2004) China Illustrated: Western Views of the Middle Kingdom. USA: Tuttle.

Halliday, F.E. (1972) An Illustrated Cultural History of England. Pg: 25, London: Book Club Associates.
Hu, H. and Allen, W.C. (2005) Taoism. Philadelphia: Chelsea House.

Manners, E. (1990) The Ceramics Source Book. London: Collins & Brown.