105. Chu Ta (Pa-ta Shan-jên): Lotuses. Ch'ing period. Mi Chou Gallery, New York.
20s
106. Chi Pai-shih: Frogs and Tadpoles. Period of the Republic. Morse collection, New York.
205
107. Chi Pai-shih: Cottages in a Cypress Grove. Period of the Republi Morse collection, New York.
205
108. Tseng Yu-ho: Sung Landscape. Twentieth century (1958). Collection of the artist, Honolulu.
206
109. Walasse Ting: Two Eagles. Twentieth century (1965). Lefebre Gallery, New York.
206
110. Woodcuts of birds from the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting. Ch'ing period. New York Public Library (Spencer collection).
207
111. Woodblock folk print of tiger. Ch'ing period. Meltzer collectio New York.
207
112. Famille verte porcelain vase. Ch'ing period. White House collection, Washington.
208
113. Jade incense burner. Ch'ing period. Morse collection, New Yor
208
*114. Porcelain pilgrim bottle with molded dragon design. Ch'ing period. Morse collection, New York.
209
*115· Imperial dragon robe. Ch'ing period. Morse collection, New York.
215
Acknowledgments
I wish to express my gratitude to colleagues of both the East and the West whose research and writings, both supplementing and complementing my own study, have made this book possible. Some are mentioned in the text and some are listed in the bibliography. Still others remain unmentioned, but to each and all I extend my thanks.
I am also grateful to those who furnished the photographs which contribute so much to this book. Especial thanks are due to Mr. Earl Morse of New York, who provided most of the color plates and a goodly number of monochromes, to Mr. and Mrs. Myron Falk, also of New York, who kindly permitted photographic reproductions of Chinese ceramics in their private collection, and to Dr. Paul Singer, of Summit, New Jersey, who graciously supplied me with photographs of objects in his collection.
CHAPTER ONE
The Art of PREHISTORIC CHINA
(c. 3000 B.C.-c. 1500 B.C.)
CHINA CAN look back upon the oldest continuous artistic tradition existing in the world today. Other civilizations predated the Chinese—ancient Mesopotamia, dynastic Egypt, Minoan Crete, Jomon Japan, and those of prehistoric Iran and the Indus valley—but only in China does a current civilization extend back in unbroken continuity for well over four thousand years. Both the people and the culture descend directly from a civilization which took form during the third millennium before Christ. Many characteristics of prehistoric Chinese art persist or recur throughout these centuries in a continuity found in no other great civilization of today.
Like the legends of all cultures, those of China describe the origin of the world. In one common version, P'an Ku created the world by separating heaven and earth. During the next 400,000 years, the Twelve Emperors of Heaven
