The Six Dynasties: Buddhism and calligraphy

The empire fell apart, Buddhism spread, and calligraphy and painting became arts of the scholar.

The fall of the Han was followed by almost four hundred years of division. In the north, steppe peoples ruled; in the south, a succession of Chinese courts where aristocrats cultivated poetry, music and calligraphy.

Buddhism spread from India and Central Asia. Vast cave temples were carved at Yungang and Longmen, and painting began in the caves at Dunhuang. The Buddha figures combined Indian models with Chinese line.

In this period the first theories of painting were formulated. Xie He wrote the Six Principles, of which the first – spirit resonance and life movement – remained an ideal for more than a thousand years.

• The script styles of calligraphy
• The first theories of painting
• The cave temples of the north
• The culture of the south
• Sui – reunification
• Close reading: the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems
• Funerary art in the north: steppe peoples and Sogdians
• Daoism and the longing for the mountains
• Patrons, temples and persecutions
• Gu Kaizhi
• Wang Xizhi