Chinese Art Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

                       Ming Dynasty- A major dynasty that ruled China from the mid-fourteenth to the mid-seventeenth century. It was marked by a great expansion of Chinese commerce in to East Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

How did the Ming Dynasty start? Before the Ming Dynasty, China had been ruled by the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty was set up by the Mongols who had conquered China about 100 years earlier. Many Chinese did not like the Mongols and considered them the enemy. Finally, the Mongols were overthrown and ousted from China by a peasant uprising. 

How did the Ming Dynasty start? The peasant uprising that removed the Mongols and the Yuan Dynasty from power was led by a man named Zhu Yuanzhang. He took control of China and named himself Emperor Hongwu. This was the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. 

Great projects of this time This was an era of large civil engineering projects including:  The Great Wall of China - The Great Wall was almost completely rebuilt by the Ming Dynasty. The tall and wide brick walls that are still standing today were built by the Ming. 

Great projects of this time Grand Canal - The Grand Canal was rebuilt during this time. This had a significant impact on trade and helped the economy to flourish. 

Great projects of this time Forbidden City- This city was the emperor's palace and was located inside the capital city of Beijing. It had almost 1000 buildings and covered over 185 acres of land. 

Culture and Arts Art flourished during the Ming Dynasty. This included literature, painting, music, poetry, and porcelain.

Porcelain Vases Ming vases made of blue and white porcelain were prized at the time throughout the world. They are still considered quite valuable. 

Influences During all this time, decoration of the porcelain was continually refined, often as a result of foreign influences. Influenced by Islamic art and others from West Asia.

Ming Painting Ming painting maintained the traditions of the earlier Southern Song painting academy, and the Yuan Dynasty.

Ming Painting Painters added calligraphy in their artwork. Most popular style of painting is of landscapes. Landscapes usually included flowers and birds, and narrative figure painting.

Arts and Crafts Ming decorative art built upon both traditional Chinese art and foreign styles. The main applied arts developed under the Ming were: horn and ivory carving; goldsmithery, jewelry art, other forms of metalwork; jade carving, silks and textiles.

Obtaining Materials Many of these crafts were made in cultural centers south of the Yangtze River, where many useful raw materials were cultivated, while southern ports were active trading centers for imports of ivory and rhinoceros horn.

Ivory Ivories and rhinoceros horn were imported from India, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Ivory was used to create small figurines of the gods. Rhinoceros horn was made into cups, and various kinds of sculpture.