Chinese Art and Dynastic Time

A sweeping look at Chinese art across the millennia that upends traditional perspectives and offers new pathways for art history

Throughout Chinese history, dynastic time—the organization of history through the lens of successive dynasties—has been the dominant mode of narrating the story of Chinese art, even though there has been little examination of this concept in discourse and practice until now. Chinese Art and Dynastic Time uncovers how the development of Chinese art was described in its original cultural, sociopolitical, and artistic contexts, and how these narratives were interwoven with contemporaneous artistic creation. In doing so, leading art historian Wu Hung opens up new pathways for the consideration of not only Chinese art, but also the whole of art history.

Wu Hung brings together ten case studies, ranging from the third millennium BCE to the early twentieth century CE, and spanning ritual and religious art, painting, sculpture, the built environment, and popular art in order to examine the deep-rooted patterns in the historical conceptualization of Chinese art. Elucidating the changing notions of dynastic time in various contexts, he also challenges the preoccupation with this concept as the default mode in art historical writing. This critical investigation of dynastic time thus constitutes an essential foundation to pursue new narrative and interpretative frameworks in thinking about art history.

Remarkable for the sweep and scope of its arguments and lucid style, Chinese Art and Dynastic Time probes the roots of the collective imagination in Chinese art and frees us from long-held perspectives on how this art should be understood.

Published in association with the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

"Finalist for the PROSE Award in Art History and Criticism, Association of American Publishers"

“This is an outstanding work of art history. Wu Hung’s great achievement rests in his terrific control over a great span of time and material, in the form of both texts and images. With arguments that have value beyond Chinese art, and that impinge on the whole enterprise of art history, this significant book will stimulate the discipline for years to come.”—Craig Clunas, author of Chinese Painting and Its Audiences

“Chinese Art and Dynastic Time is a magisterial summation of the intellectual path of an eminent Chinese art historian. This is a milestone in the field.”—Eugene Wang, author of Shaping the Lotus Sutra: Buddhist Visual Culture in Medieval China