VISUAL+ARTS+and+MUSIC

Chinese Visual Arts  **Embroidery** is a Chinese creation of detailed and colorful stiches. People believed that these pieces of art brought good luck and wealth to families and towns. They were made out of cloth or silk and used by everyone not just people who were rich and wealthy. Embroidery was also very popular, everytime the number of people living in a town would increase so would the demand for the embroidery itself. Religious ideas were soon introduced to the idea of embroidery and this made each one even more popular then it already was. Sometimes they would even stich duplicates of paintings. Each one was created with great detail and displayed a very large selection of colors. The final piece was very beautiful and lifelike. [|Embroidery]

[|Chop Engraving]
 * Chop Engraving** was an art that combined two and three demensional art. It can represent the beauty [[image:http://www.johnsteins.com/Journal/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/seal_block.jpg width="438" height="365" align="right"]]of Chinese characters. A name chop would always produce the same image of the same characters no matter how many times it was used. The most common material to make this with was copper. This material had to be carefully ground by a professional craftsman in an exact process. Sometimes short poems, songs or feelings could be written on the side of the chop. A person could also write a simple piece of information about themselves to increase the beauty of the design. After a chop has been engraved it must be pressed into red ink and then stamped onto paper. Chop Engraving was a great edition to China's visual arts and is still used today.

[|Painting]
 * [[image:https://www.orientaloutpost.com/usa/n5705.jpg width="468" height="456" align="left"]]Painting** started off as just line drawings of people. The three main types of Chinese traditional paintings are the human figure, landscape, and flower and bird. Everyone had a great respect for these types of paintings. People preferred to paint without restriction; they were also fond of painting mountains and rocks, clouds and water, and flowers and trees. Because these natural objects are easier to paint than the human figure painters could use the brush and ink for free expression. Chinese painting was expressed in many different ways and displayed in a very unique surrounding in almost all pieces "No matter what the subject or the style, traditional Chinese painting should be infused with imagination and soul."

Works Cited "Chinese Painting." __TravelChinaGuide__. 1998. 23 Feb. 2009 .

"Chop Engraving." __Destiny, the Culture of China__. 1998. Thinkquest Team. 23 Feb. 2009 .

"Embroidery." __Destiny, the Culture of China__. 1998. Thinkquest Team. 23 Feb. 2009 []. By Nicole D.

 ** Chinese Crafts Chinese Crafts have been essential to the Chinese culture over the past centuries. Some popular crafts in China are; Jade carvings, pottery and painting. All three of those have been used in its culture for over 6,000 years, and are still very popular today. Jade carvings are made from the jem called Jade, and the carvings are made by people who carve shapes and designs into the green colored rock and it is smooth and shiny and very pleasent to look at. The pottery has symbols on it and symetrical shapes. The designs carved into the pottery are usually very detailed. Finally, the paintings of Chinese culture consist of everyday scenery, and objects in nature. Flowers, birds, people living their daily life are painted mostly using colors like green, red and yellow. Crafts in China are a tradition that has been used for thousands of years and still reamain a part of their culture today. This is a Jade carving, up close. [|Jade Carving] This is an example of a Chinese pottery item. [|Pottery] This is an exaple of a Chinese painting. [|Painting]

By: Claire U. **

Chinese music has evolved over time since the late 1800’s. The music in China started out as traditional music and instrumental music. The term instrumental means that there aren’t any lyrics in the song. This challenging art that is music is very calm and beautiful. When you play a traditional Chinese instrument, you must handle with care because they are made out of materials like wood, clay, and bamboo too. “Instruments of traditional Chinese music are made of all different types of natural substances (wikipedia.org).”

 “The regional music of China started out as religious music like Tibetan Buddhism and grew throughout the area of China (chinesemusic.net).” Regional and Religious music in China is a very difficult thing to master if you are playing an instrument or even singing. It involves a type of screaming and yelling technique called “yang.” The key to get good at yang is to use lyrics with short syllables and use short words.

Modern music in China is what it consists of here in the United States. There is hip-hop, rap, and also some rock. The rock in China is also similar to the rock in America, except the rock in China was only found in the late 1980’s. “Chinese rock was founded in the late 1980’s by a genius named Cui Jian (worldmusic.com).” China has rock genres like grunge and alternative like America has. The hip-hop and rap in China has different bases in lyrics than it does in America. They rap about style and clothes in Chinese rap and hip-hop songs lyrics are about dance moves.

Brian A.