Adoption, Absorption, Assimilation

This event was rescheduled from February 26th.
Robert D. Mowry, retired Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University, presents an illustrated lecture on early Chinese porcelain.
During the formative phase of Chinese culture—from the Neolithic period (7000 – c. 1600 B.C.) through the Zhou dynasty (c. 1050 – 221 B.C.)—China was generally self-contained and experienced little foreign influence, whether in culture, religion, philosophy, the arts, or life in general. With the establishment of international trade over the fabled Silk Route in the Warring States period (480 – 221 B.C.), however, the situation began to change. During the period from the Han dynasty (206 B.C. – A.D. 220) through the Tang dynasty (618 – 907), new religions were introduced to China, including Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Nestorian Christianity and imported textiles and objects of gold, silver, and glass came to exert significant influence on the arts. The goods and influences came from diverse sources, some from India and Central Asia but others from more distant lands, including Persia and Rome.
This illustrated slide lecture will introduce China's native artistic traditions as they developed during the Great Bronze Age (c. 1600 B.C. – A.D. 220) and then will explore the wealth of materials introduced from foreign lands via the Silk Route trade during the period from the Han through the Tang dynasties. Finally, it will demonstrate how Chinese artists absorbed and assimilated influences from abroad, making them their own.
Presented by the Pottery and Porcelain Club.