Transcript File - History of Visual and Performing Arts

Opening Agenda
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Things To Get:
• Buddhism Learning Guide
• Overview of Buddhism Article
• Both documents are on the table in the front of the
room
Things to Do:
– Opener:
– Review Buddhism
– Notes:
– Graphic Organizer Completion: Chinese Dynasties
– Activity:
– Pagoda Analysis Assignment
– Scroll Painting Activity
– Exit:
review
Opener- Buddhism
• Read the article and complete the chart on
your Learning Guide.
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Adherents Worldwide
– 360 million
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Buddhism Overview
Origins and History
Complete your chart!
– Founded by Siddharta Gautama (the Buddha) in c. 520 BC
– India.
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Texts
– Tripitaka Koreana - collection of the Buddhist scriptures carved onto 81,258 wooden
printing blocks from the 13th century. It is the world's most comprehensive and oldest
intact version of Buddhist Proverbs/Teachings
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Gods and Universe
– Varies: Theravada atheistic; Mahayana more polytheistic. Buddha taught nothing is
permanent.
– Buddha
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Human Situation and Life’s Purpose
– Four Noble Truths
– Purpose is to avoid suffering and gain enlightenment and release from cycle of rebirth, or
at least attain a better rebirth by gaining merit.
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Afterlife
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Reincarnation (understood differently than in Hinduism, no surviving soul) until enlightenment was
gained
Practice
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Meditation
Follow the Middle Way to attain the Eightfold Path
Class Overview
• Objective:
– To gain an understanding of the effect of
Buddhism on architecture in China
• By the end of class, you will have analyzed a
pagoda to demonstrate your understanding
of how a pagoda illustrates Chinese and
Buddhist time, place, and ideas.
China
中国
Middle Kingdom
Qin Dynasty 221-206 BC
• History
Qin Dynasty
– First imperial dynasty in China
– Achieved increased trade, improved
agriculture, and military security
– Created a centralized government
– Allowed for the construction of
the Great Wall of China
– Introduced several reforms:
currency, weights and measures
were standardized, and a better
system of writing was established.
– An attempt to purge all traces of the
old dynasties led to the
infamous burning of books and
burying of scholars incident, which
has been criticized greatly by
subsequent scholars.
• Much of the Han Dynasty was spent
trying to recover the works that were
lost during this period.
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Art
"Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection
of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin
Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.
Ceremonial art whose purpose was to protect the
emperor in his afterlife.
The figures vary in height according to their roles,
with the tallest being the generals. The figures
include warriors, chariots, and horses.
Realistic and Individualistic
Estimates state there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130
chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the
majority of which are still buried in the pits.
Qin Dynasty
– Other terracotta non-military figures were also found in
other pits and they include officials, acrobats, strongmen
and musicians.
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The terracotta army figures were manufactured in
workshops by government laborers and by local
craftsmen.
The terracotta figures are life-sized. They vary in
height, uniform and hairstyle in accordance with
rank.
Originally
– held real weapons such as spears, swords, or crossbows.
– The figures were also originally painted with bright
pigments, variously colored in pink, red, green, blue,
black, brown, white and lilac.
Terra cotta warriors
Terra cotta warriors
Han Dynasty 206BC -220AD
• History:
– “Silk Road”
Han Dynasty
• the trade routes across the fierce deserts
• allowed trade to flourish more easily with
the Roman Empire.
• Buddhism comes to China from Indiaimages of Buddha appear in the art
– People bonded together into one
civilization during Han times. They
had a common culture.
• Even in remote sections, district officials
copied the manner of the imperial court.
Peasants built homes and plowed their
fields in the same way all over China.
– Han writing tells us little about their
daily life, but Han tombs tell us quite a
lot.
• The Hans buried clay models of their
homes and belongings, in their tombs.
Models included details like little clay
furniture and little bronze oil lamps.
Han Dynasty
• Art:
– Paper was invented
– Craftsmen made jade jewelry and
carvings, gold ornaments and belt hooks,
delicate paintings with wire thin brush
strokes.
– Glazed pottery was brightly painted with
lively hunting scenes, mountains, trees,
clouds, dragons, tigers, and bears
– Scroll painting began
• Meant to be viewed as it is unrolled
• Horizontal or vertical
• Image is painted on paper that is applied to
silk.
• Calligraphy appears in the upper left hand
corner to describe the work.
• Shows the spirit of the subject being
depicted
• Subjects include: landscapes, nature, or
people
• Scroll paintings are hung in Chinese homes
according to seasons
Chinese Scroll Painting
• Qingming Shanghe Tu Scroll Painting
• Roughly 50 feet in length
• Rolled out a few inches at a time to tell a
story.
Six Dynasties 220-586
• History
– This period immediately
followed the fall of the Han
Dynasty in 220 AD, and was
a period of disunity,
instability and warfare. The
period ended when Emperor
Wen of Sui reunified
Southern and Northern
China and the Sui
Dynasty began.
– The six dynasties were:
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Eastern Wu (222–280)
Jin Dynasty (265–420)
Liu Song Dynasty (420–479)
Southern Qi (479–502)
Liang Dynasty (502–557)
Chen Dynasty (557–589)
Six Dynasties
• Buddhism flourished
during this period and
significant works of
architecture are
created for this
religion
– Pagodas are large,
elaborately
constructed towers
that were once used
to hold relics of
Buddha
• Part of a larger
Buddhist complex
Six Dynasties
Pagoda Analysis Assignment
• Objective:
– To demonstrate your
understanding of Pagodas
and why they are a Buddhist
structure
• Assignment:
– Complete the back of your
Buddhism Learning guide by
following the assignments
listed for:
• Pagoda shape Analysis
• Cultural Context Summary
• Pagoda Blueprint
• Time Allotment: 30 min.
Cultural Context and Overview:
In 1056, the Liao rulers of the Liao
dynasty (907-1125) built the Foguang Si
Pagoda, the tallest wooden building ever
constructed. Shanxi Provence, China.
This nine-story octagonal pagoda at
Yingxian is 216 ft. tall and made entirely of
wood. Sixty giant four-tiered bracket clusters
carry the floor beams and projecting eaves of
the five main stories. They rest on two
concentric rings of columns at each level.
Alternating main stories and windowless
mezzanines with cantilevered balconies, set
back farther on each story as the tower rises,
form an elevation of nine stories all together.
Along with the open veranda on the ground
level and the soaring pinnacle, the balconies
visually lighten the building’s mass. The cross
section of the image on the right shows the
symmetrical placement of statues of Buddha
inside, the colossal scale of the ground-floor
statue, and the intricacy of the beam and
bracket system at its most ingenious.
Pagoda
Analysis:
Foguang Si
Pagoda
Label each Buddha
per level!
Level 9
Level 8
Level 7
Level 6
Level 5
Level 4
Level 3
Level 2
Level 1
Scroll Painting Activity
• Objective:
– To create a Chinese scroll painting using watercolors
• Overview:
– Images are meant to be viewed as they are unrolled.
Consequently, you must decided whether or not you
are going to create a horizontal or vertical scroll
painting
– Typically, the designs include subjects such as
animals, birds, flowers, people, landscapes, and
simple calligraphy that might include inspirational
words or messages.
• Assignment:
– Determine whether or not you want to create a
vertical or horizontal scroll painting
– Decide on a subject matter (use list above)
– You must include applicable calligraphy in the upper
left hand corner of your image (one to three
characters are appropriate. They are written
vertically)
– Your image must fill the entire paper
Helpful Images
animals, birds, flowers, people, landscapes
Exit Slip
Write the answers to these questions on a half sheet of paper.
• 1) Name the three dynasties you learned
about today.
• 2) Identify the famous work of art from
each of these dynastic periods.
• 3) Identify and describe the important
characteristics of each of these works of
art.
– In other words, what makes this work distinct?