A Brief History of Chinese Art and Crafts

Author: Hai Tian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: This book selects and introduces the highlights of the development of Chinese art and craft over 5,000 years. It covers both folk and official art, extending from traditional metalwork, ceramics, and dyeing textiles to fields such as coinage and stationery, with concise and straightforward language. It serves as a historical research textbook that is both instructive and practical. With China's modernization, not only has aesthetic education become a key aspect of cultivating humanities in university students, but enriching and enhancing the quality of life for the general public through aesthetic forms and applied technology has also become an inevitable trend. Most art departments focus more on training applied professionals rather than traditional painters or pure artists, making adjustments in teaching approaches a necessity. Serving education is one of the primary duties of publishers, and in response to this change, we have prioritized the reform and adjustment of textbooks. In the teaching of university art and design programs, applied and technical subjects have become the core of the curriculum, and most students spend a significant amount of time on these topics during their studies. To accommodate this, universities have adjusted faculty allocation, course schedules, and even educational models to align with disciplinary development. Our publishing house has actively collaborated to produce a series of applied foundational textbooks across various disciplines to meet these needs, many of which have been well-received by teachers and students, gaining considerable influence. However, we have also worked with university teachers and authors to address another issue: Is higher education and vocational training in art schools merely aimed at cultivating "craftsmen"? What is the difference between higher education and vocational training? The answer is clear: higher education should focus on cultivating designers and opening a path to train technically skilled professionals with creative and innovative abilities. Therefore, in the four years of undergraduate study at universities, theoretical and historical courses are absolutely essential and should form the backbone of the knowledge structure. Overemphasizing applied and practical courses while neglecting theoretical foundations is highly risky. In response to this adjustment, Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House has decided to launch two sets of theoretical textbooks to enrich our publishing system. One set is the Series of Textbooks on Art Theory for Higher Education, primarily focused on traditional art theory. The other is the Series of Textbooks on Design Theory for Higher Education, centered on foundational design theory. Both sets share a consistent concept and are developed in strict accordance with the teaching requirements of the Ministry of Education. In the planning and manuscript acquisition process, we have placed top priority on the discussion and arrangement of key knowledge points and learning objectives. At the same time, to cater to modern students' reading habits, we have combined the readability of the textbooks with interactive visual materials, striving to overcome the rigid and outdated appearance of traditional theoretical books. Our goal is to make these two sets of textbooks effective tools in achieving our pursuit of perfect teaching, demonstrating our commitment to excellence.