EDUCATION & OUTREACH     |     FOR ADULTS     |     FOR TEENS     |     FOR FAMILIES & KIDS
FOR TEACHERS & STUDENTS     |     FOR STUDENT & PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS

A N C I E N T   W O R L D S   A R T :  C h i n a   &   E g y p t

BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS

Introduce students to the ancient cultures of China and Egypt through a comparison of objects in the Museum’s collections. The similarities and differences of these two cultures are explored through the examination of religious and burial practices, writing systems, family organization, and daily life.

CHINA

Objects in the Museum’s Chinese gallery represent over 3500 years of Chinese history and show the diversity of styles and materials that have been used by artists throughout China’s long history. Chinese art can be characterized by harmony, a quest for technical perfection, and a reverence for the past.

The Chinese belief in an afterlife and the power of the spirits of dead ancestors to affect the fortunes of the living, stretches back over the millennia. Ancient Chinese burials included jade and stone axes and knives, jade discs, bracelets, beads, bronzes, and containers of food and drink. The ancient Chinese believed that life after death continued more or less as it had always been so tombs were prepared with the most important possessions of earthly life. Since these tombs were, in effect, a person's dwelling in the afterlife, we are able to learn about the daily lives of the ancient Chinese through the examination of tomb furnishings.

EGYPT

Like many of the pieces in the Chinese gallery, most of the objects in the Museum's Egyptian galleries were found in a funerary context. They, too, tell us a great deal about daily life in ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians' concept of life and death affected every aspect of their culture. In life they strived to live in harmony with the gods and viewed death as a gateway to eternal life.

Through tomb reliefs and paintings, tomb models, and objects of daily use necessary for the support of the deceased in the afterlife, we are afforded glimpses of daily life in ancient Egypt.

Links in the following paragraphs go to pop-up screens.

JADES AND AMULETS

Ceremonial disc (bi) Chinese, Eastern Zhou Period 4th-3rd century, B.C. Jade 59.21.19 Over 7,000 years ago, the ancient Chinese used jade to fashion symbolic weapons, body ornaments, and ritual objects. In Chinese culture, jade has always been valued for its physical attributes--its extreme toughness, which makes it so durable; its beauty in terms of color, texture, and translucence; and its opulent tactile quality when polished. Because of these qualities jade was chosen for the fine ornaments of the ancient Chinese elite and became associated with their earthly powers. Jade was also employed for ceremonial and ritual objects that historical research shows were instrumental in ancient Chinese religious practices and associated with spiritual powers.

Many jade objects were intimately connected with the human body and with the identity of particular individuals. Jade belts, pendants, and hair ornaments were worn as adornment; jade ceremonial blades and swords with decorative jade hilts indicated role or social status. Jades were also worn as a form of protection in life and likely held a similar role adorning the deceased in a burial.

This piece is called a bi (pronounced bee) which is a flat disc with a perforated opening in its center. The bi disc symbolized many different things throughout the centuries. Depending on the size, shape, and the period in which it was made, these discs have many different functions and meanings. For the people of the Zhou (pronounced joe) Dynasty, the bi disc was a symbol of heaven. These discs were so important that during the Zhou wars the defeated were required to surrender their bi to the victors.

Scarab Amulet Egyptian, 26th Dynasty ca 663-525 B.C. Serpentine or Green Jasper 57.30 In ancient Egypt, small images or symbols of the gods called amulets were worn by the living and the dead to ward off evil and bring good luck. Amulets were made of gold, wood, ivory, or semiprecious stones. Most were made of faience, a ceramic-like quartz mixture baked until it formed a glossy bluish or greenish surface.

This amulet was carved in the shape of a scarab beetle which was the most common type of amulet of the ancient Egyptians. Many amulets were worn as jewelry. Amulets in the form of scarab beetles were usually pierced lengthwise, strung with a cord, and worn as a necklace, or mounted and worn as a ring. Because they were believed to guarantee new life and resurrection, scarabs were extremely popular in ancient Egypt.

Scarab amulets were also often used in the mummification process and were included in the mummy wrappings. The scarab (Scarabaeus sacer), or dung beetle, was held in special reverence by the ancient Egyptians. Dung beetles are known for rolling bits of animal dung into holes in the ground and laying their eggs in this substance. The sight of young beetles emerging almost instantly from the ground led the Egyptians to name them kheper, meaning “he who came into being." The Egyptian god, Kheper was believed to roll the disk of the sun across the sky each day (he was depicted as a dung beetle or as a human with a dung beetle head).

RITUAL VESSELS AND WRITING

Fang yi (Wine vessel) Chinese, Shang Dynasty ca 1300-1100 B.C. Bronze 57.45.5a/b Bronze ritual vessels were often found in burials, and made up an important part of the grave furnishings. These vessels emphasize China’s reverence for the past; they were made for storing, preparing, and serving food and wine offered to ancestral spirits, who were worshipped as mediators between the gods and the living. During the early Shang (pronounced shang) Dynasty, families made such offerings to placate the spirits of the dead, thus enhancing the likelihood that blessings and good fortune would be bestowed upon their descendants. By the late Zhou Dynasty, clans continued to revere their ancestors as part of their heritage, but more often they made offerings to commemorate their daily life successes. This small rectangular box with a roof-shaped lid is called fang yi (pronounced fang geeah) and would likely have been used to hold offerings of food or wine to the gods and spirits of the ancestors of the Shang people. It is one of at least 25 different types of vessels, each type designed and named for a particular function.

Writing in the Shang Dynasty was highly developed and is closely related to the Chinese characters that are still used today. Inscriptions on Shang bronzes serve as a historical record of ancient China, and include the names of kings, military campaigns, and communications with ancestors and spirits.

Chinese is the oldest of the world’s active languages and is now spoken and written by more people than any other contemporary language. Written Chinese is a language of symbols/images that reflect ideas or things. Written Chinese does not use an alphabet, as do many Western languages. It consists of many symbols, or characters, each of which stands for thing or an idea.

Statue of Seated Scribe, Sema-tawy-tefnakht Egyptian, Late Period, Dynasty XXVI 664-610 B.C. Alabaster 51.194 and 64.40 In ancient Egypt, scribes were among the best known and respected members of society. In a country where most of the population could not read or write, those who possessed knowledge of these intricate skills were especially important and prestigious. The hieroglyphic bands around the base of this sculpture identify the figure as Sema-tawy-tefnakht, the governor general, intelligence officer, and chief minister of Psamtik I. This depiction of him as a scribe emphasizes his intelligence and serves as a tribute to his importance in society. This statue was made to be placed in the Temple of Amun at Karnak, where it remained for many years.

Sema-tawy-tefnakht is carved in alabaster, a rare and precious stone used to depict important members of society. He is seated in the typical pose of the scribe, with both legs crossed and hands clenched as though holding a papyrus roll in his lap. He wears a knee-length kilt and a double wig that partially covers his ears.

The ancient Egyptian art of writing was developed and used over a period of more than 3000 years. Based on pictures, or pictographic, this language had three major forms and served every written need of a complex society. In its earliest form, the writing consisted of simple pictograms meant to record important events. More elaborate hieroglyphs, a term taken from the Greek meaning "sacred carving," were used for formal inscriptions on tomb and temple walls.

Burial Figures and Models

A Set of Four Liubo Game Figures* Chinese, Han Dynasty ca 1st c. B.C.-1st c. A.D. Earthenware with pigment 99.39.1-4 (*likely found in a burial, provenance unknown)

The ancient Chinese believed in an afterlife and in the power of the spirits of dead ancestors. During the Zhou and Han (pronounced hahn) dynasties it was believed that one should adorn the dead as if he or she was still alive. Han dynasty burials came to mirror the world left behind by the deceased so tombs of important people were very large and complex, and often resembled the palaces of the living. Wooden or clay models replicating people, animals, buildings, equipment, and game boards were prepared as life symbols or representations made expressly for burial in the tombs of men and women from the upper classes of society.

Walls of tombs were decorated with depictions of the servants necessary to the functioning of a large estate. These illustrations were of the deceased in daily life, and of his servants working in the kitchen, slaughtering animals, drawing water, or stoking stoves. Scenes depicting banquets-which were important in Han religious and secular life-showed guests seated on mats watching entertainers dance, playing musical instruments, or performing acrobatics.

One of the most popular games in the Han dynasty, liubo, (pronounced leo bou) is played between two people using dice, counters, gaming pieces, and a board with markings of a Chinese sundial. These four figures, likely created to accompany a deceased member of the Han society elite, represent two liubo players, and two spectators.

Double Statue of a Man and Woman Egyptian, Old Kingdom, Dynasties V-VI 2475-2195 B.C. Limestone 61/8 The Egyptian’s concern for the afterlife is exemplified by the concept of the ka (spirit or soul). They believed the ka came into being with the body and continued with it through life and into the next world. Since the ka and the body were coexistent, the deceased body had to be carefully preserved as a habitation for the ka. Should a mummified body perish a statue and/or portrait also placed in the tomb would magically substitute for the body in the other world. Ka figures and statuettes, showing the deceased accompanied by his wife and/or other members of his family, were common tomb furnishings. Originally the ka figures were reserved only for kings, but by the end of the Old Kingdom the custom was adopted by people of lesser rank.

This statuette represents a man and a woman in the prime of life. Although there is no inscription, the couple is likely husband and wife. The man is shown with his left foot forward in an active gesture; the woman stands with her feet together. The poses of the man and the woman in this statue followed conventions utilized in Egyptian art for over 3,000 years. The austerity of this style expressed an ideal not meant for human eyes, but was believed to have magic qualities as eternal objects of worship and homes for the souls (ka) of the deceased.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND STUDENT ACTIVITIES

1. Have students create a timeline from both the Egypt and China chronologies and place the objects discussed in their proper place on the timelines. Or, have students choose either of the chronologies and then create a parallel timeline listing contemporaneous developments in other cultures.

2. The ancient Egyptians created amulets and wore them as assurance for safe passage into the afterworld. They wore amulets as jewelry when they were alive, and amulets were often buried with them when they died. The ancient Chinese also believed that for safe passage to the next world, the spirit of the dead would need many of the objects the person possessed in life. This would ensure that the spirit would be satisfied and happy and that the ancestor spirits would be placated. Have students create their own pendants. Their pendants can be made in specific shapes (the jade bi disc has been described as a symbol of the sun) or contain signs and symbols that express the students’ own beliefs, personalities or interests. Students can make pendants with air-dry modeling clay or draw them on paper. Have students describe their pendants to the class.

3. Based on picture-like symbols, the ancient Egyptian form of writing developed over a period of 3,000 years. Not every sign or character conveyed a complete thought. Some stood for entire ideas; others are read as signs of the objects they illustrate, while others are syllables used to construct words. Hieroglyphs were used for formal inscriptions on tomb and temple walls. Have students look at the hieroglyphic writing chart and write their name in hieroglyphs.

   Chinese is the oldest of the world’s active languages; the written Chinese language has been an important unifying force in Chinese history because the basic principles of Chinese writing have remained the same since the Neolithic period (ca. 7000-2000 BC). Written Chinese does not use an alphabet. It consists instead of many symbols, or characters, each of which stands for thing or an idea. Chinese characters have evolved over thousands of years from picture-like symbols to the characters now in use. For example, the Chinese character for the word “sun” looks very much like the image of the sun. Access the Chinese writing chart. Have students practice writing Chinese characters. Make sure each student follows the correct stroke order, according to the numbers.

4. Have students locate both China and Egypt on a world map. Have students investigate the geography of China and Egypt and discuss common characteristics. Discuss how the geography of each influenced the important roles in the daily lives of the ancient Egyptians and the ancient Chinese (i.e. farming, cultivating vineyards, herding animals, hunting, fishing, trade, and the manufacture of crafts).

   The country of Egypt is located in the northeast corner of Africa. This location served the ancient Egyptian civilization well, allowing it to flourish as an empire. Situated at a crossroads of a wealth of cultural exchange, Egypt was in a prime position to actively engage in economic trade. Its ideal location, adjacent to the Mediterranean and Red Seas and in “camel distance” of the Middle and Far East, encouraged the position of power and wealth the empire held.

   During the later phases of the Paleolithic age (ca 15,000-10,000 B.C.) climatic changes in North Africa caused frequent droughts, turning lush plains, savannas, and forests into desert. The inhabitants of these once abundant areas had to develop other methods of survival to support their livelihood. The spread of deserts in North Africa forced Predynastic communities to settle around Egypt’s oases and the Nile River. As the world’s longest river, the Nile flows approximately 4000 miles to the Mediterranean Sea, originating in the mountains of central Africa. As communities developed, they observed the annual inundation of the Nile, which allowed for the harvesting of crops and helped to ensure survival of the early inhabitants.

   Agricultural societies began to arise in many parts of China in about 9000 B.C. By the middle of the second millennium B.C. the Shang Dynasty, the first of China's political states, had been established in the Central China Plain. China became unified under the Qin (chin) Dynasty in 221 B.C. after hundreds of years of chaotic wars among many kingdoms. It has since remained a unified country despite periodical breakups. The majority of people live in the alluvial plains of three major rivers--the Yellow River, the Yangzi River, and the Pearl River--on the eastern coast, while a small percentage of people, mostly minority ethnic groups, inhabit the far west, southwest, and northwest.

   Topographically, China has vast deserts, long rivers, the highest plateau, and the highest peak on earth. Environmental conditions vary considerably over this extensive landmass; its climate zones range from cool-temperate in the north to tropical in the south.

   China is the second largest country in the world (next to Canada), covering a total area of approximately 3.7 million square miles.

SOURCES CONSULTED

Barriault, Anne. Selections: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Richmond: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1997.

Maas, Diane. China: 5,000 Years Curriculum Guide for Educators. New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1998.

National Gallery of Art Website. Teacher materials from The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China. Washington D.C., 2001.

Rawson, Jessica, ed. Mysteries of Ancient China: New Discoveries from the Early Dynasties. New York and London: George Braziller and British Museum Press, 1996.

Royal Ontario Museum. Homage to Heaven, Homage to Earth. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992.

Watson, William. The Arts of China to AD 900. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Docent Manuals, China and Egypt.

TO ORDER LOAN MATERIALS

Films, videos, and slide sets are available on loan, free of charge, to any non-profit organization in Virginia who is a member of Statewide Media Resources, a visual-resource lending service of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Any non-profit school, church, club, or civic group may become a member for an annual fee of only $25, which includes free use of films, videos, and slide sets, and reduced loan fees on all pre-packaged exhibitions.
Statewide Media Resources, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 N. Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23220-40076.

Please note: because of the heavy demand for use of materials, requests for loans should be placed well ahead of the showing dates-at least three weeks in advance.