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grazinghorse.jpg (12076 bytes)
Grazing Horse,
Xu Beihong (Chinese, 1895–1953)

Chinese paintings*se_logo.gif (537 bytes)

Geese3.jpg (9112 bytes)Geese2r.jpg (12574 bytes)Wang Xizhi Watching Geese
Qian Xuan (ca. 1235–before 1307)
Handscroll; ink, color, and gold on paper; 9 1/8 x 36 1/2 in. (23.2 x 92.7 cm)
Ex coll.: C. C. Wang Family
Gift of The Dillon Fund, 1973 (1973.120.6)
Painting honoring China's great Sage of Calligraphy Wang Xizhi (ca. 303–361)
by Qian Xuan (ca. 1235–before 1307)

Q1 : What materials did the artist use to create this painting?


a   ink on paper or silk
b   watercolor on paper
c   oil on canvas

Q2 :Why does the painter Qian Xuan use bright green and blue pigments  ?

a  It was a palette popular during  the
The Tang dynasty (618–907)
b  It was a palette popular during the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368),
c  It was a palette popular during the
Zhou dynasty (ca. 1050–256 B.C.)


Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu, 1372
Ni Zan (1306–1374)
Hanging scroll; ink on paper; 37 1/2 x 14 1/8 in. (94.3 x 35.9 cm)
Ex. coll.: C. C. Wang Family
Gift of The Dillon Fund, 1973 (1973.120.8)
Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu, 1372
Ni Zan (1306–1374)

Q3 :
Why didn't the artist use any color in this painting?

a   in the third and in the fourth century  handwriting with a brush became a revered art form
b  they had not invented colors yet
c  there was only black ink during the Tang dynasty


Q4 : How is nature depicted in Chinese landscape painting?

a  it's less important than the figures
b  it's of primary importance
c  it's left unpainted because it isn't important

Viewing Plum Blossoms by Moonlight
Ma Yuan (active ca. 1190–1225)
Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk; 9 7/8 x 10 1/2 in. (25.1 x 26.7 cm)
Gift of John M. Crawford Jr., in honor of Alfreda Murck, 1986 (1986.493.2)
plum2r.jpg (15402 bytes)plum3.jpg (14403 bytes)

Q5 :
Why did the artist choose this shape for this painting?

a   so it would fit in a window
b   to look like the moon
c   it was used as a fan

Q6 :
Why are red stamps placed all over the paintings?

a  they are stamps seals used on works of art registered in the imperial collections since the Tang dynasty
b  they were small poems from the Zhou dynasty
c  nobody knows

Pear Blossoms, ca. 1280
Qian Xuan (ca. 1235–before 1307) 
Handscroll; ink and color on paper; 12 1/4 x 37 1/2 in. (31.1 x 95.3 cm)
Ex coll.: Sir Percival David
Purchase, The Dillon Fund Gift, 1977 (1977.79)

Q7 :
What is this image about?

a  to express the simple beauty   of nature
b  to express the artist's sorrow over the fall of the Song dynasty to the Mongol invaders.
c  to illustrate a poem on nature

Zhang Daqian (Chinese, 1899–1983)
Hanging scroll; ink and color on bark paper
Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth, 1986 (1986.267.360)
Buddha's Manifestation of Joyfulness (detail),
Zhang Daqian (Chinese, 1899–1983)

The Buddhist religion was founded in India in the sixth century B.C.  It teaches that life is transitory and filled with suffering, which is caused by desires and cravings. The end of this suffering, or enlightenment, is achieved through a life devoted to moderation, morality, and meditative practice

Q8 :When was Buddhism introduced in China?

a  
around the first century A.D
b   around the first century B.C.
c   it was never introduced to China



Lin Fengmian (Chinese, 1900–1991)
Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth, 1986 (1986.267.374)
Seated Woman
Lin Fengmian (Chinese, 1900–1991)

Confucianism (Kongjiao) is the philosophical, social, and political doctrine based on the teachings of Confucius and his most important followers.  Confucianism offered a set code of proper social behavior motivated by virtue and tempered by humanism.


Q9 :
When was Confucianism introduced to China?

a  
during  the The Tang dynasty (618–907)
b  
during the Zhou dynasty (ca. 1050–256 B.C.)
c   during the Han dynasty
(206 B.C.–A.D. 220).

Wu Guanzhong (Chinese, b. 1919)
Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth, 1986 (1986.267.431)
Seascape at Beidaihe,
Wu Guanzhong (Chinese, b. 1919)

 Daoism is a native philosophical system, based on the teachings of Laozi (fifth century B.C.) and Zhuangzi (ca. 350–275 B.C.).


Q10 :
What does Daoism advocate?

a  man must give all his wordly goods to the emperor
b  man must accomplish great works to achieve salvation
c  
man must live in  complete simplicity and naturalness in order to attain a peaceful existence in harmony within the cosmos



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  ARTQUIZZ  splashedcolor


*A look at Chinese painting
from the Metropolitan

Glossery of  terms (Met)

Music Links - Chinese Music
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/multimedia/chinese-music/