The civilization of ancient China is famous all over the world for its outstanding artistic tradition and distinctive national style. Relics of antiquity demonstrating its characteristics and standards of achievement have been dispersed to distant lands ever since the nineteenth century; they are treasured not only for their exquisite technical excellence but also for their beauty and elegance. Through research and the dissemination of knowledge, scholars and connoisseurs everywhere have made the influence of these works of art felt far beyond the sphere of their original national boundaries. They have become the shared wealth and heritage of all mankind.

Although Chinese cultural objects are widely acclaimed, assessing their historical significance or recognizing the forms and styles that characterize them is less simple. There is an old Chinese saying: "The good shall see the good; the wise shall see the wisdom"-in other words, everyone has his own viewpoint. It would be relatively easy to discuss these cultural relics purely in terms of impressions and feelings. We can say that the materials and tools used in producing Chinese works of art are silver and gold, jade and lacquer, paper and silk, or brush, ink, and colors. We can talk about regular, cursive, clerical, or seal styles of calligraphy, works of meticulous detail or free expression in painting, the structure of wooden members in architecture. We can discuss the designs of taotie (animal masks), kui and qi (two types of dragons), dragon-and-phoenix, or lion-and-crane-all of which reflect to a greater or lesser degree the period characteristics and national style of ancient Chinese art.

There are those who see the dragon as the emblem of ancient China and its people. Perceptions such as this have their validity. For example, the dragon was originally the totem of the Xia dynasty. From early beginnings, it appeared frequently on bronze and jade objects throughout the Shang dynasty, becoming in time the symbol of kingly blessing or royal virtues. Later, dragons appeared in painting, eventually forming a separate genre with its own famous masters and its own tradition, including the formula of "three sections and nine likenesses." Ultimately, during Ming and Qing, the theme proliferated in all kinds of objects and permeated virtually every medium. The dragon is especially prominent in palaces. Thus the statement that the dragon is a symbol of the Chinese people or a peculiarity of their art is not without basis. But such a statement merely opens the subject: a scholarly investigation of the depiction and meaning of the dragon in Chinese art is a complex undertaking that remains to be accomplished.

The national style and characteristics of ancient Chinese art are, in fact, the manifestations of Chinese history; they have gone through a definite progression, and their entire development has been closely tied to the formation and solidification of the Chinese identity. They are the natural product of the evolving political, economic, and cultural scene. Existing in a specific environment, and following a particular path, a great unified national identity has resulted from the amalgamation of diverse forces through many centuries.

------Yang Boda