Art of China

Season 1

As China’s economic and political influence grows, its art increasingly makes itself felt around the world. But many of its treasures have never been seen in the West. Historian Andrew Graham-Dixon takes us on an exhilarating odyssey through 3000 years of Chinese creativity. From the Terracotta Army to its modern cultural rebirth, it’s a rare insight into the Chinese mindset and how it developed.

20143 episodesTV-G

Special Interest•Arts, Entertainment, and Culture

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S1 E1 - Episode 1
July 29, 2014
59min
TV-G
Given its vastness, there’s much that even China doesn’t know about its own art. Historian Andrew Graham-Dixon rewinds to the start: visiting the tomb of the first emperor with its eerie Terracotta Army and marvelling at a collection of alien-like bronze masks created millennia ago. A rare glimpse at the spectacular recent discoveries that are redefining our understanding of China and its origins.
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S1 E2 - Episode 2
August 5, 2014
59min
TV-G
The period from the 10th to the 15th centuries – from the Song to the Ming dynasties – was the golden age of art in China, producing spectacular landscapes. Art expert Andrew Graham-Dixon discovers an emperor so in love with art and beauty that he neglected to rule, and some scholarly artists who fled the Mongol invasion to immerse themselves in nature, painting and calligraphy.
Free trial of BBC Select
S1 E3 - Episode 3
August 12, 2014
59min
TV-G
Andrew Graham-Dixon charts the glorious rise and calamitous fall of China’s last dynasty. Its rulers were so entranced by Western art that they failed to grasp the rise of Western dominance until it was too late. This age of crisis led to bloody revolution and rebirth. After Mao’s Cultural Revolution and Tiananmen Square, does its new art reveal another side to the modern China we think we know?
Free trial of BBC Select