China has the world"s oldest living civilization. It"s written history goes back almost 3,500 years, and the history told by it"s artifacts and artwork goes back much farther. The oldest known works of Chinese art include pottery and jade carvings from the time of 5000 BC. Jade is a general term used to describe either jadeite or nephrite, known as true jade. It"s composed of several minerals. It"s smooth and rich in texture, but it"s also extremely tough. It can be off-white, or dark green, and sometimes has a reddish tint. Authentic jade is cool and never translucent. The philosopher...
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Over a thousand years before crafters in Rome began molding bronze, artists in China"s Shang dynasty were begining to experiment. The works were burried and forgotten, but in 1934, dozens of inscribed bronze works were excavated at Anyang in Honan province. The pieces of art that were discovered were nearly perfect, and historians could not beleive what they saw. Most of the art had been burried in the soft banks of the Yellow river, and were perfectly preserved. The National Palace Museum in Taipei has more than 4,000 bronze items.