The work is devoted to contemporary sculpture of China, the formation of which is considered from ancient times to the latest artistic transformations, through the prism of the world's artistic dimension of the beginning of the XXI century. As a result of the study, the evolution of Chinese sculpture from ancient times to the present has been traced, its features and functions, the main stages of development have been determined, factual materials on the formation of modern sculpture in China, its artistic peculiarities and periodization have been collected and systematized; The transformations in contemporary Chinese sculpture, due to internal and global influences, are covered; the influence on the creativity of Chinese sculptors of ancient Chinese artistic traditions has been analyzed, which led to the formation of a nationally identical modern sculpture; substantiated and put into the scientific circulation of the phenomena of the internal and external trends of Chinese contemporary sculpture, a figurative and stylistic analysis of contemporary art objects of interior and exterior artists was conducted; systematized the main artistic features and plastic techniques of Chinese postmodern sculpture in the context of world plastic art.
The main categories of the typology of Chinese sculpture were determined, which provided an opportunity to acquire a certain structuring of scientific research with further observation and knowledge of the integral picture of Chinese modern sculpture. The evolution of Chinese sculpture from ancient times has been traced, which has made it possible to determine its features and functions at different stages of development. Two main sources of information about the sculpture of ancient China: historic sculptural relics, and written sources — historical documents with notes and commentaries on sculptors, their sculptural activity and historical considerations concerning sculpture have been investigated. The available information on the main stages of development, the functions of ancient sculpture is generalized, their main categories are formulated, and historical styles are defined. The existing styles of Chinese sculpture, their periodization are determined, the main feature of art — elegance of Chinese sculpture is emphasized, its review is presented.
Collected and systematized factual materials on the formation of modern sculpture in China, its artistic features and periodization. The processes by which the red classics changed the artistic perception of the world created a monopoly of artistic style, known as the "art of the cultural revolution" after the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). It is proved that the art of the cultural revolution was completely subject to the brutal political force, visualized its ideology, in fact, was an instrument of propaganda.
The activity of the centers of the formation of modernism, its key figures, the contemporary sculptural exhibitions and shifts in mysticism, provoked by them were researched. The features of plot, mix, ideological and artistic accents in the work of contemporary sculptors are formulated. It is proved that in China, compared to Europe, where this process was completed, having acquired the final features, the formation of modern art became a real breakthrough in the twentieth century and partly remains so until now. It was found out that the starting point of the formation of artistic features of modern Chinese sculpture of the last 30 years was 1978. Circumstances, derivations, processes of formation, which took place at different times and at different historical stages, formed a distinctive genealogical line of art history.
The problem of many transformations in contemporary Chinese sculpture, due to internal and global influences, is revealed through the study of avant-garde and modern sculptures, with particular attention paid to the sculpture of the "revolution of forms". From the point of view of the artistic search of a modernist style, the origins of the phenomenon of the "revolution of the form" are described. The creative phenomena of the formation of modern sculptures are described.
The influence of Chinese sculptors on ancient Chinese artistic traditions has been analyzed, which have led to the formation of a nationally identical modern sculpture. The mechanisms by which the traditional art of sculpture, though undergone by the millennial evolution but not devastated in the course of historical development, is pointed out, and, on the contrary, increasingly opens the world its own artistic peculiarities, the uniqueness of the arts of the Orientalists. It is noted that although contemporary Chinese sculpture is generally based on western art, it has tended to reveal a nationally identical sculptural tradition that has many thousands of years of history, despite the fact that plastic language and aesthetic requirements are often quite new today.
