"The
basic characteristic of Chinese civilization has always been unity.
From the very beginning, and throughout a history of marvellous
continuity, it has been the spur bringing men together to work for
the common end of transforming nature and for subjecting her to the
needs and demands of the community." (202)
"One of the peculiarities of Chinese art was group production, by
school or region. This approach to art generated the practice of
copying, which to the Chinese mind signifies neither inferiority nor
lack of originality in the copier." (203)
"All Chinese art had a secular stamp, even the Buddhist
contribution. In China, art was hedonist, geared to the pleasure to
be derived from naturalistic contemplation and the transfiguration
of reality. The best proof of this was Chinese painting, but in
every art form the Chinese revealed a tendency to virtuosity."
(204)
202. Gina Pischel, A World History of Art, (New York, Golden Press,
1968), p. 193
203. ibid., p. 195
204. ibid., p. 195
