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William Watson
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The Arts of China to A.D. 900 Paperback – April 1, 2000

by William Watson (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 4 ratings
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This book is the first in a major three-volume series that will survey China's immense wealth of art, architecture, and artifacts from prehistoric times to the twentieth century. The Arts of China to A.D. 900 investigates the beginnings of the traditions on which much of the art rests, moving from Neolithic and Bronze Age China to the era of the Tang Dynasty around A.D. 900.

William Watson discusses in lively detail a wide range of art forms and techniques: porcelain and pottery, lacquer, religious and secular painting and sculpture, mural painting, monumental sculpture and architecture. He explains the materials and techniques of bronze casting, jade carving, pottery manufacture, and other arts, and he describes the most important sites, the artifacts that were produced at each one, and the historical interactions between different areas. He discusses the iconography, the technique and the function of every art form. Written by one of the most distinguished scholars in the field of Chinese art and archaeology, this lavishly illustrated book will be a valuable resource for both experts and beginners in the field.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Yale University Press
  4. Publication date
    April 1, 2000
  5. Dimensions
    11.2 x 8.51 x 0.8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0300082843
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0300082845
  8. See all details
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About the Author

William Watson is emeritus professor of Chinese art and archaeology at the University of London. He was formerly director of The Percival David Foundation, London, and has written a number of other books on Chinese art and architecture.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; New edition (April 1, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300082843
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300082845
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.68 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 11.2 x 8.51 x 0.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 4 ratings

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William Watson

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
4 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

kkbs
4.0 out of 5 stars Rather subjective overview of early Chinese art
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2015
The expertise of the author of "The Arts of China to 900 AD" is certainly beyond doubt, and it shows in many subjects. On the first page that I opened (p. 51), however, I read his very personal and subjective opinion of about the bronzes of the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, which can be found in the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan. He describes them as " naïve and tasteless", "with a total effect that can only embarrass the eye of the viewer". Strong words, but in my opinion not fit for an art compendium, which I think should be a bit more objective (moreover I do not share the author's point of view). It does not help either that the picture of the same bronze is then designated incorrectly as a bronze Hu from Jiangsu.
Apart from these drawbacks, the book gives a decent overview of Chinese art from Neolithic times until the Tang dynasty. Some chapters are describing certain periods, other different types of art, but this does not harm. The text is accompanied by one or more photographs or diagrams per page, roughly half of them are in colour.
2 people found this helpful
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Alfredo Pizzirani
3.0 out of 5 stars Terribly edited, good illustrations
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2004
This book is finely illustrated - good choice of items, and good-quality photographs (at least for objects still extant). Its companion book, by the same author, covers the history of Chinese Art to 1620. The third book in the series has not been published yet (2010 update: it is out now).
The text uses pinyin transliteration throughout, a big plus since this is what is used in mainland China today; for example, it makes things easier if you plan to travel to see some of the objects described.
The shortcomings, however, are significant. First of all, the location of the objects illustrated is not always stated, nor is this information provided in a separate list. Second, the style of the writer is appaling! Sentences are so twisted, they sound like a machine translation from Chinese! I had to read sentences twice or three times to figure out their meaning. The editors of the series should really have invested a lot more in revising the language for clarity.
Last, the book does not seem to pay much attention to the implications of recent archaelogical discoveries.
I would suggest Michael Sullivan's "The Arts of China" to the non-specialist looking for an introduction; the volume in the Oxford History of Art series seems very good too.
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Top reviews from other countries

Christopher
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good, and yes, a little oldfashioned introduction to the art of this period
Reviewed in Germany on May 29, 2021
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I think that it is a very good book about the art of China of this period but you should know what you get. William Watson was at the end of his very long career as an art historian when he wrote this book. He was a man who was born at 1917, so we can't be surprised that the book is a little old fashioned. It has very little information about the social and cultural background of the art. Its main concern are stylistic developments in different branches of art - it is an unending task of comparisons of different pieces of art and tracking of changes and continuity. As far as I can rate his efforts (after all, I'm an amateur), he did a very good job in this department - the least I can say is that it is very interesting to read. After all this years in the field his knowledge must have been enormous, and that's exactly the impression. But no, you don't get too much of cultural or social background, to say it again. And you don't get fair representation of the most famous pieces of art from this period. First of all, this is not his aim. Second, Watson, as he wrote himself in introduction, concentrate on objects that you can easily find in western museums. This is a book from the time when China was still closed to Westerners, although in fact this time was already over when Watson ends its writing. So if you want to know something more about the art of China of this period, it is a very good book for you. If you want to have at home this one and only book about the art of China of this period - not so much, beacuse of its idiosyncrasies
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