Transcript JAPANESE ART before 1392

JAPANESE ART
before 1392
By: Danny Orozco
11-1. Kosho. Kuya
Preaching. Kamakura period,
before 1207. Painted wood,
height 46 ½ “. Rokuhara Mitsuji, Kyoto
• Monk, Kuya preaching
Pure Land Buddhism
•Artist Kosho carved 6
Buddahs, one for every
syllable in the pure land
chant; Namu Amida
Bustu
•Pure Land Buddhism
had a promise of simple
salvation, popular in all
classes
JOMON PERIOD
• The Jomon period (12000-300 BCE) is
named for the patterns on much of the
pottery produced during this time, which
were made by pressing cord onto damp
clay.
11-2. Vessel, from the Asahi
mound, Toyama Prefecture.
Jomon period, 2000BCE. Low
fired ceramic, height 14 ¾ “.
Collection of Tokyo University.
• Jomon ceramics may
have begun in imitation
of reed baskets
•Burn marks on the sides
suggest they must have
been planted firmly into
soft earth or sand, then
used for cooking.
• Jomon pottery was
made by women, as was
the practice in most early
societies.
11-3. Dogu, from Kurokoma,
Yamanashi Prefecture. Jomon
period, 2000BC. Low fired
earthenware, height 10”. Tokyo
National Museum.
• During middle and late
Jomon period also used
clay to fasion small
humanoid figures.
•They tend to have large
faces, small arms and
hands, and compact
bodies.
• The slit eyes and mouth
have a haunting quality, as
does the gesture of one
hand touching the chest.
•The raised area behind the
face may indicate a Jomon
hairstyle.
• During the the Y ayoi and
Kofun eras, Jpan
YAYOI transformed
AND KOFUN
into an PERIODS
agricultural nation, with
rice cultivation becoming
widespread.
• Immigrants from Korea
brought a a more complex
form of society and
government.
• More distinct social
classes were formed
along with a more
centralized government.
11-4. Haniwa, from Kyoto.
Kofun period, 6th century ce.
Earthware, height 27”.
Collection of the Tokyo
National Museum.
• There have been theories
as to the function of
haniwa. The figures seem
to have served as some
kind of link between the
world of the dead, over
which they were placed,
and the world of the living,
from which they could be
viewed.
• This figure has been
identified as a seated
female shaman, wearing a
robe, belt, and necklace
and carrying a mirror at her
waist
11-5. Inner Shrine, Ise,
Mie Prefecture. Yayoi
period, early 1st century
CE; last rebuilt 1993.
•The shrine at Ise is
dedicated to the sun
goddess, the legendary
progenitor of Japan’s
imperial family.
•Following ritual, this
shrine has been rebuilt
every twenty years, now
for close to 2000 years,
in the exact style by
expert carpenters.
ASUKA PERIOD
• Out of this single century, new forms of
philosophy, medicine, music, foods,
clothing, agriculture, city planning, and arts
and architecture were introduced into
Japan from Korea and China.
11-6. Main compound,
Horyu-ji, Nara
Prefecture. Asuka
period, 7th century CE.
• Buddhist temple founded in
607 CE by prince Shotoku, and
is now the oldest wooden
temple in the world.
•Very simple compound, main
compound consists of an
courtyard surrounded by
covered corridors one of which
contains a gateway.
•Compound is made up by two
buildings, the kondo and the
five story pagoda which serves
as a reliquary and is never
entered.
• The compound itself is
asymmetrical but the pagoda is
perfectly symmetrical.
11-7. Hungry Tigress Jataka, panel of
the Tamamushi Shrine, Horyu-ji. Asuka
period, c. 650 CE. Lacquer on wood,
height of shrine 7’7 ½”. Horyu-ji
Treasure House.
• Image from the jakata tales, which
are a collection of stories from the
buddha’s past lives.
• Image depicts the buddha sacrificing
himself to feed starving tigress and her
cubs.
•At first the cubs are to weak to break
through his flesh so he jumps off the
cliff
•The graceful form of the buddha
appears three times, harmonized by
the curves of the rocky cliff and tall
springs of bamboo.
• The elegantly slender renditions of
the figure and somewhat abstract
treatment of the cliff, trees, and
bamboo represent an international
buddhist style shared during the same
time by China, Korea and Japan.
11-8. Tori Busshi. Shaka
Triad, in thekondo, Horyu-ji.
Asuka period, c. 623 CE.
Gilt Bronze, height of
seated figure 34 ½”.
•An example of the international
style just as in figure 11-7.
• The artist, Tori Busshi had family
ties to China, which is reflected by
the big influence of Chinese art of
the Northern Wei dynasty in this
piece.
•The frontal pose, the outsized face
and hands, and the linear treatment
of the drapery all suggest that
Busshi was well aware of earlier
continental models.
•The shrine is a prime example of
the importance of buddhism during
the establishment of an imperial
system
NARA PERIOD
• Establishing a permanent capitol in Nara,
the Japanese were able to enter a new era
of growth and consolidation.
• During this period magnificent Buddhist
temples and monasteries that dwarfed
those built previously.
11-9. Amida Buddah,
fresco in the kondo,
Horyu-ji. Nara period, c.
700 ce. Ink and colors,
10’3’’X 8’6’’.
•Thought to represent
Amida, the Buddah of the
western Paradise
•Delineated in thin, even
brushstrokes known as
iron-wire lines
•Amidas body is rounded,
his face is fully fleshed and
serene
•His hands form the
dharmachaka (“revealing
the buddhist la”) mudra.
ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ART
• Old temples their past influence due to the
removal of the capitol to Kyoto
• Esoteric sects of buddhis, named Tendai
and Shingon grow to dominate japanese
religious life
• Historical buddha was no longer important,
instead, is replaced by a more universal
one, Dainichi.
11-10. Womb World mandala,
To-ji, Kyoto Heian period , late
9th century ce. Hanging scroll,
colors on silk, 6’ x 5’ 3/2’’
• Image of Dainchi,
accompanied by buddhas and
bodhisattvas as well as
guardian deities.
•Esoteric buddhism is
hierarchical, and its deities
have complex relationships to
one another
•Learning all the different gods
and their interrelationships was
assisted greatly by works of art
•mandalas ( cosmic diagrams
of the universe that portray the
deities in schematic order.)
•Deities in this mandala,
branch out in diagram matical
order, each with a specific
symbol of power.
PURE LAND BUDDHIST ART
• During later half of Heian period, rising military
power threatens court life.
• Peolple start to look for a different form of
buddhism that had a more direct pathway to
salvation.
• Pure Land buddhism promises salvation by faith
alone
• Spread by monks to all people of different
classes and remains preferred form of of
buddhism
11-11 Byodo in, Uji,
Kyoto Prefecture.Heian
period,c. 1053 ce.
• One of the most beautiful
Pure Land buddhist temples.
• Originally built as a secular
palace created to suggest the
palace of Amida in the Western
Paradise.
•After owners death, it was
converted into a temple.
•Often called Phoenix Hall not
only for the pair of phoenix
images on the roof but also for
the pure shape of the building.
•The thin columns give the
structure a light weight look,
almost as if it could fly off at
any moment.
11-12. Jocho. Amida
Buddha, Byodo-in. Heian
period, c. 1053 ce. Gold
leaf and laquer on wood ,
height 9’8’’.
• carved by master sculptor
Jocho
•Said to exemplify the serenity
and compassion of the Buddha
who welcomes the souls of all
believers to his paradise
• When reflected in the water of
the pond before it , the Amida
image seems to shimmer in its
private mountain retreat.
• Entire sculpture was not
carved out of one single block
of wood, but was instead
carved out of several blocks
using the joined wood method
• This method allowed
construction of larger but
lighter statues, while
reaffirming the Japanese love
POETRY AND CALLIGRAPHY
• Over the course of four centuries the
chinese influence on Japan began to
diminish.
• Japanese began to wrire in the new kana
script of their native language.
• With simple flowing symbols interspaced
with more complex chinese characters, the
new writing style created an asymmetrical
calligraphy unlike that of China.
11-13. Album leaf from the
Ishiyama-gire. Heian period, early
12th century ce. Ink with gold and
silver on decorated and collaged
paper, 52 x 17’’. Freer Gallery of
Art, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington D.C.
• Albums consist of tanka
witten elegantly on high-quality
papers decorated with painting,
block printing, scattered gold
and silver, and sometimes
paper collage.
•This page is of two tanka by
courtier Ki-no Tsurayuki
•Both poems express sadness
•The spiky, flowing calligraphy
and the patterns of papers, the
rich use of gold, and the
suggestions of natural imagery
match the elegance of the
poetry, epitomizing courtly
Japanese taste.
SECULAR PAINTING
11-14. Scene from The Tale
of Genji. Heian period, 12
century ce. Handscroll, ink and
colors on paper, 8 x 18’’.
Tokugawa Art Museum,
Nagoya.
KAMAKURA PERIOD
11-16. Detail Attack on the
Sanjo Palace. Kamakura
period, late 13th century ce.
Handscroll, ink and colors on
paper, 16 x 275’’. Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston.
11-18. Descent of the Amida
Trinity, raigo . Triptych . Kamakura
period, late 13th century ce . Ink
colors with cut gold on silk; each
scroll 54 x 19’’. The Art Institute of
Chicago.