. The historians' history of the world; a comprehensive narrative of the rise and development of nations as recorded by over two thousand of the great writers of all ages: . of the artist. The rulesof art are prescribed by the statejust as are laws of constructionfor forges or canals. Art is nomore allowed to make progressthan is history. Architecture is altogether inthe service of practical hfe andhas no inspiration or are bare memorial halls;triumphal arches are prosaicmonuments of record; dwellinghouses are low and awkward,with sloping, hoUowed-out roofsin the form of tents
. The historians' history of the world; a comprehensive narrative of the rise and development of nations as recorded by over two thousand of the great writers of all ages: . of the artist. The rulesof art are prescribed by the statejust as are laws of constructionfor forges or canals. Art is nomore allowed to make progressthan is history. Architecture is altogether inthe service of practical hfe andhas no inspiration or are bare memorial halls;triumphal arches are prosaicmonuments of record; dwellinghouses are low and awkward,with sloping, hoUowed-out roofsin the form of tents, made ofyellow lacquered bricks. Only instructures of public utility, espe-cially in bridges, have greatthings been done. On the other hand, Chinese towers, called Tha, do attain originality by expressing theodd character of the people. towers, says Kugler in his historyof art, upwards in numerous stories: each story is somewhat smallerthan the one below it, each is provided with a multi-coloured roof, concaveand sloping, and hung about with httle bells, which tinkle merrily. Thetiles of the roof are covered with a golden, glistening lacquer. The walls. Chinese Pagoda 540 THE HISTORY OF CHINA AND JAPAN are paiuted in many colours or inlaid with gleaming plates of porcelain tower of Nanking (built in the fifteenth century) is one ofthe most famous of this kind of building. Sculpture, as may be seen bynumerous works of stone and porcelain, of metal and ivory, is remarkablefor its external technical execution, but without any artistic feeling; so,too, it is with painting, on whicii tlie Chinese lavish much care. Held in thebonds of thi> ])rosaic and commoujilace, they slavishly imitate icality and thusmake their pictures mere mirrored images of life. Simple objects of nature,flowers, birds, tish, and the like, are painted very neatly and with great exact-ness and splendour of colour; on the other hand, their human figures are lack-ing in movement and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpub, booksubjectworldhistory
