History of mediæval art . he dangling bells, etc., have nohigher character than a coquet-tish prettiness, and cause thebuildings to appear like magni-fied bric-a-brac. The entire artof China may be described asan extension and elaborationof the peculiar toys of thatcountry. The funeral monu-ments resemble nothing morethan Louis Quatorze clocks andsimilar rococo ornaments, forwhich, indeed, since the intro-duction of Chinese porcelaininto Europe, they have not un-frequently served as direct mod-els. The richly adorned portals (pailus), though executed in stone,appear to be a whimsical imitation
History of mediæval art . he dangling bells, etc., have nohigher character than a coquet-tish prettiness, and cause thebuildings to appear like magni-fied bric-a-brac. The entire artof China may be described asan extension and elaborationof the peculiar toys of thatcountry. The funeral monu-ments resemble nothing morethan Louis Quatorze clocks andsimilar rococo ornaments, forwhich, indeed, since the intro-duction of Chinese porcelaininto Europe, they have not un-frequently served as direct mod-els. The richly adorned portals (pailus), though executed in stone,appear to be a whimsical imitation of elaborate cabinet-work. Thetemple towers (taas) are like magnified centre-pieces of banqueting-tables, and compare most unfavorably with the topes of Indianarchitecture,— the senseless reduplication of the encircling roofspainfully suggesting the stuttering repetition of one syllable in theplace of a rational architectural language. {Fig- 84.) The mostcelebrated of these structures is the porcelain tower of Nankin,1. Fig. 84.—Pagoda of Tung-Chow, China. 154 CHINA. built between A. D. 1412 and 1431, which reaches the heightof 70 m. The sculpture and painting of Eastern Asia was of a similar toy-like character. The methods of workmanship and the materialsdevoted to these arts can be fittingly employed only in works ofsmall dimensions—sculpture being chiefly represented by porcelainmodels ; painting by lacquered work and water-colors. An astound-ing technical ability is recognizable in almost all instances, but for-mal beauty and the higher qualities of art are rare. The images,even when not professedly caricatures, or of a comical nature, sel-dom rise above the character of graceful and pleasing trifles. More-over, in the great majority of cases, they are adapted to practicalemployment, the petty nature of the Chinese delighting especiallyin the careful ornamentation of utensils. An elevated and monu-mental art is incompatible with such aesthetic limitations and withso
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