中国的雕塑艺术是多种多样的，因而发展的规律，也有起伏的不同。如中国殷周时期的铜器制造和装饰雕刻，是后代所赶不上的。汉代的画像刻石，题材上充分反映了当时的现实生活。
There are many kinds of sculpture art in China, so there are different laws of development. For example, the bronze manufacture and decorative sculpture in the Yin and Zhou Dynasties in China were not as good as those of later generations. The Han Dynasty's portrait carvings fully reflect the real life of that time.
唐宋各代的雕塑品，当然是超过了汉代，可是唐宋的作品从来没有如汉画像石那样充分反映现实的作品出现。明代手工业、商业各方面，较唐宋有提高的，但明代的雕塑品，很少能如宋代充分的表现出每个作品的特征。虽然明代雕塑方面不如唐宋，但其它艺术成就，自然也是前代所赶不上的。
Of course, the sculptures of the Tang and Song Dynasties surpassed those of the Han Dynasty, but the works of the Tang and Song Dynasties never fully reflected the reality as the works of the Han Dynasty. The handicraft industry and Commerce of Ming Dynasty were better than those of Tang and Song Dynasty, but the sculptures of Ming Dynasty seldom showed the characteristics of each work as well as those of Song Dynasty. Although the sculpture of Ming Dynasty was not as good as that of Tang and Song Dynasty, other artistic achievements of Ming Dynasty naturally could not catch up with those of the previous dynasty.