On The Molding Of Traditional Chinese Sculptures

Sculpture-painting integrity is the most distinct skill feature and aesthetic spirit of Chinese traditional sculpture, which, in the case of the absence of Chinese traditional sculpture theory, is the essential approach to the study of Chinese ancient sculpture.Sculpture-painting integrity is above all the product of the holistic thinking model in Chinese culture and the space-time consciousness. Secondly, in ancient China sculpture was never deliberately distinguished from painting--- it was subordinate to painting theory as “sculpture-making category”, thus valued equally to painting. Next, in sculpture field on the one hand, sculpture was always comprehensively performed together with painting for its unique social practical function; on the other hand, the agents of sculpture were not only expert in both sculpture and painting, but also applied directly painting to sculpture. With the cultural inequality of sculptors and painters, the painting system filled with art elites, who enjoyed its strong aesthetic self-consciousness and art paradigm, played the overall leading role in sculpture in various history stages, therefore leaving the latter subordinate to itself, which eventually contributed to Chinese sculpture presenting distinct painting characteristics. For example, colours and lines as the main expressing methods are also the most important skill characteristics of Chinese traditional sculpture; Further more, the emphasis on scenarization and artistic conception such as Subi is closely associated with landscape painting.The sculpture-painting integrity is the main basis of Chinese traditional sculpture evaluation. Various sculptures are generally evaluated and categorized in perspectives of colors beauty, lines beauty and poetic imagery compared to painting. This comprehensive performance and multiple aesthetic are the major distinction between Chinese sculpture and that of the West. It is more than an external characteristic--- it is almost the basic principal of Chinese traditional sculpture, in perspective of which we can approach the answers to series of remaining questions of Chinese traditional sculpture and get an access to the construction of Chinese Sculpture Study. At the same time, the sculpture-painting integrity as a sculpture language embodying our national aesthetic spirit and visual habit is bound to highlight its unique value and essential role.