Chinese Culture: Did you mean...?

Sima Qian (l. 145/135-86 BCE) was a court scribe, astrologer, and historian of the Han Dynasty (202 BCE - 220 CE) of ancient China, famous for his historical work Records of the Grand Historian for which he is remembered as the Father of...

These stone projectile points date from c. 900-1540 CE and were made by members of the Mississippian culture, which flourished in what is now the United States from c. 900-1500 CE. This set of artifacts were curiously uncovered by the U.S...

Large wash basin on a high foot with bifid handle (c. 1500-c. 1200 BCE), richly decorated with geometric engravings. Thapsos Culture, Sicily. (Pencil drawing by Gina Pardo).

Stone door (early bronze Age, c. 2169 - c. 1500 BCE) closing of a grave dug in the rock, decorated in relief with spiral shaped motifs. On it are carved images that could allude to the sexual act and, therefore, to the continuation of life...

This ball-body jar was found in the Faida district of the modern city of Musil, Ninawa Governorate, Iraq. It dates back to the Hassuna period, 6th millennium BCE. (The Sulaimaniya Museum, Iraq).

As a result of erosion and mining, one of the oldest and most sophistcated art-producing cultures known in sub-Saharan Africa came to light in the mid-20th century. Hundreds of hollow figures, heads, and fragments made of coarse clay have...

Bowl, 180 BCE / 500 CE. Nazca; south coast, Peru. The Art Institute of Chicago, Kate S. Buckingham Endowment.

Oracle Bones (also known as Dragon's Bones) were the shoulder blades of oxen or plastrons of turtles (the flat underside of the turtle's shell) which were used in the Shang Dynasty of China (c. 1600-1046 BCE) for divination. The symbols carved...

An image illustrating the progression of Chinese dynasties from the semi-mythical Xia, and the conquest of the Mongols (who ruled China as the Yuan dynasty), until the eventual fall of the Qing, the last imperial house. The emperors of China...

A detail of a roof from the Forbidden Cty, Beijing. In ancient Chinese architecture the yellow tiles, curved roof, and dragon acroteria were all typical features of imperial buildings.