Chinese Art
Guidelines for the Midterm Exam

The first midterm exam will take place in class onWednesday, February 26, 2014. It accounts for 20% of your grade, 80 points in total. It consists of two parts: essay questions anddefinition of key terms.

There are two essay questions in Part 1 (you will be given three questions from which you choose two to answer). You will have 25 minutes for each (25 points each; 50 points total). In each essay, you will be asked to address a major topic that has been covered in the first six weeks of the course. In your answer, you must discuss two study images and two readings in a coherent, prose argument (i.e., no mere listing of random points). The study images and readings should be chosen carefully to illustrate key aspects of the selected topic or significant developments over time or across space. When identifying the images, you need to provide the work’s title, material, date, and location, following the information given in the lists of study images for Weeks One to Six. When discussing the readings in your essay, you need to state the relevant points put forth by the respective authors before elaborating on them in your own argument.

Themes for the two questions will be chosen from the following:Ledderose’s concept of the module; development of literati paintingfrom the Song to the Yuan dynasties; production of religious painting; imperial art patronage; the artist in Song and Yuan art; representation of nature in Chinese painting; technology in traditional Chinese architecture; the concept of hell in Buddhist art; design of imperial cities; and art under the Mongol rule of China.

In Part 2, you will be tested on ten key terms that have been discussed in lectures and readings (3 points each; 30 points total). There will be twelvekey terms given in the exam, but you will only need to answer twelve. For each term, make sure to define it in terms of what, when, where, and/or who, along with one visual example that exemplifies this term.

No notes or electronic devices are allowed during the exam. Please bring a blue bookto class on the exam day.

We will have an in-class review on February 24. The instructor will hold special office hours on Tuesday, February 25, from 2 to 4 pm.

Key Terms
Week 1
Chang’an
Yan Liben
Zhou Fang
Mogao Caves of Dunhuang
Pure Land
Week 2
Civil Service Examination
Peace Reigns over the River
Emperor Huizong
Imperial Painting Academy
Birds and Flowers
Week 3
Literati
Su Shi
Monumental Landscape
Li Cheng
Neo-Confucianism
Guo Xi
Module
Brackets
Yingxian Pagoda
Yingzaofashi
Week 4
Ten Kings of Hell
Pounces and Stencils
Ningpo
Ksitigarbha
Baodingshan
Khublai Khan
Zhao Mengfu
Li-Guo style
Scholar-recluse

Week 5
Archaism
Fisherman motif
Dwelling of the Fuchun Mountains
Ni Zan
Wang Meng

Week 6
Roof Ridge
Dadu
Shangdu