Chinese Art
Ancient China for Kids

Ancient Chinese art is rich in beauty and variety. Some art forms, still popular today, started over 8,000 years ago! Ancient Chinese art includes calligraphy, embroidery, paintings, statues, buildings, shrines, porcelain, silk, puppets, lacquer ware, firecracker folk toys, opera, paper fans, paper cutouts and lanterns and kites, seals, swords, daggers, and more! The ancient Chinese used paints, dyes, brushes, paper, stone, bronze, copper, gold, silver, jade, clay, and other materials found in nature to create beautiful art!

The Tang Dynasty is famous for it's encouragement of literature, dancing, music, scroll painting, and art. Craftsmen worked with bronze and silver and gold and copper. Scroll painting became popular during Tang times. Pottery was painted with ornate scenes of daily life, and of carriages, and bridges, and signs of the zodiac. People came from as far away as India and Korea to study the arts in China. There were special rooms in the imperial palace for training. You had to have talent, but the opportunity was there.

Chinese Calligraphy

Chinese Kites

Paper Fans

Shadow Puppets to back to Han times

Music and Musical Instruments of Ancient China

Chinese Opera, introduced during Tang and Song times

The Magical Properties of Jade (interactive)

Workshop Alley (interactive)

Architecture

Pagodas

Chinese Jewelry

Ancient China, interactive exploration, art and artifacts

From China Travel Guide:
Chinese embroidery goes back to the Shang Dynasty!
Chinese Seals, used to sign things 8,000 years ago!
Porcelain, also called fine china, started in the Shang Dynasty
Chinese Silk
Chinese Lacquer Ware
Firecracker Folk Toys

Investigate Real Life Artifacts