History of Chinese Sculpture

Author: Liang Sicheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The beginning of art is sculpture. In the early days when our ancestors lived in caves and the wilderness, they first chiseled stones into tools for survival. Later, when they had dwellings, they began to create paintings. Therefore, the art of sculpture actually originated in the Stone Age, the oldest form of art. The statues in Shentong Temple are stiff and flat, with square shoulders and limbs like wooden logs. Their heads are clumsy, and their fingers resemble a bundle of wooden sticks. The stone craftsmen of that time likely had no artistic concepts at all; their only task was to carve Buddha figures according to ancient traditions, regardless of whether they could achieve artistic expression. The beginning of art is sculpture. In the early days when our ancestors lived in caves and the wilderness, they first chiseled stones into tools for survival. Later, when they had dwellings, they began to create paintings. Therefore, the art of sculpture actually originated in the Stone Age, the oldest form of art. This book is compiled based on the lecture outline of Liang Sicheng's "History of Chinese Sculpture" taught at Northeastern University between 1929 and 1930, supplemented with illustrations (the original manuscript included illustrations). At that time, many important historical sites had not yet been excavated, and Liang Sicheng had not yet conducted field investigations to places like Yungang, Longmen, Tiannong Mountain, the Northern and Southern Xiangtang Mountains, Dunhuang, and Dazhou. However, during his studies in the United States and his travels in Europe, he saw a large number of sculptural treasures looted from China by imperialists in museums across Europe and America. He often lingered before these statues, lost in admiration.