Art is always a product of cultural evolution, and The History and Spirit of Chinese Art looks at this universal process as it unfolded in ancient China. With "mountain-water" landscape paintings, works of classical Chinese calligraphy, and blue and white porcelain widely displayed in museums and fetching high prices in auction houses worldwide, Chinese art is no longer foreign to the Western world. However, to many, the making of such cultural artefacts remains an enigmatic process. Indeed, Chinese art, the product of such an old civilization, was shaped by an ongoing process of evolution along the ebbs and flows of China's history as a nation. In The History and Spirit of Chinese Art, aesthetics expert Zhang Fa deciphers the philosophies and thoughts that have defined Chinese art since the very beginning of the Chinese civilization, moving through the dynastic landmarks of artistic development with discussions of numerous art forms including paintings, architecture, dance and music, calligraphy, and literature.
