Greek and Hellenistic Art Indian Chinese and Japanese Art

Japanese Buddhism

The introduction of Buddhism to Japan resulted in the creation of temples, monasteries, paintings, and sculptures of boggling artistic accomplishment.

Learning Objectives

Create a timeline of the introduction of Buddhism and the evolution of Buddhist art in Nihon from the 6th through the 16th centuries

Key Takeaways

Central Points

• Before the introduction of Buddhism , Japan was already the seat of various cultural and artistic influences.
• The Japanese were introduced to Buddhism in the 6th century, when missionary monks traveled to the islands with numerous scriptures and works of fine art. The Buddhist faith was adopted past the state in the following century.
• Countless paintings and sculptures were fabricated, oftentimes under governmental sponsorship. Indian, Hellenistic , Chinese, and Korean artistic influences blended into an original way characterized by realism and grace.
• Japan developed extremely rich figurative fine art for the pantheon of Buddhist deities , sometimes combined with Hindu and Shinto influences.
• Zen fine art developed in the twelfth and 13th centuries and reached its apogee in the Muromachi Period (1337 – 1573) post-obit the introduction of the organized religion by Dogen and Eisai upon their return from People's republic of china.

Cardinal Terms

• Dōgen Zenji: (1200 – 1253) A Japanese Zen Buddhist instructor born in Kyōto who founded the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan after travelling to Communist china.
• Zen: A philosophy of calm associated with the Buddhist denomination.
• Silk Road: An extensive interconnected network of trade routes across Asia, Northward and Northeast Africa, and Europe, historically used by silk traders.
• Myōan Eisai: (1141 – 1215) A Japanese Buddhist priest credited with bringing the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism and dark-green tea from China to Japan.
• haniwa: Terracotta dirt figures made for ritual use and buried with the dead during the Kofun menses (tertiary to sixth century CE) of Japanese history.

Buddhism Reaches Japan

Before the introduction of Buddhism, Nippon was already the seat of various cultural and artistic influences, from the abstract linear decorative fine art of the ethnic Neolithic Jōmon (10500 BCE to 300 BCE), to the pottery and bronze of the Yayoi period and the Haniwa art (terracotta dirt figures used every bit funereal objects) of the Kofun period. The Japanese were introduced to Buddhism in the 6^th century CE, when missionary monks traveled to the islands with numerous scriptures and works of art. The Buddhist religion was adopted past the country in the post-obit century. Located geographically at the terminate of the network of trade routes through Asian, Africa, and Europe known equally the Silk Road , Japan was able to preserve many aspects of Buddhism while information technology was simultaneously disappearing in India and being suppressed in Central Asia and China.

Buddhist Art

From 711 BCE, numerous temples and monasteries were congenital in the capital city of Nara , including a five-story pagoda , the Aureate Hall of the Horyuji, and the Kōfuku-ji temple. Countless paintings and sculptures were made, often under government sponsorship. Indian, Hellenistic, Chinese, and Korean artistic influences blended into an original way characterized past its realism and grace.

Kōfuku-ji: Five-story pagoda and Tōkondō.

The creation of Japanese Buddhist fine art was particularly fertile between the 8^th and 13^th centuries during the periods of Nara, Heian, and Kamakura. Japan developed extremely rich figurative art for the pantheon of Buddhist deities, sometimes combined with Hindu and Shinto influences. This art tends to be very varied, artistic, and assuming.

The Asura in Kōfuku-ji, Nara (734): A sculpture of an Asura, a type of supernatural being in traditional Buddhist cosmology.

Zen Art

From the 12^th and thirteen^th centuries, art in Japan further developed through the introduction of Zen fine art, which reached its apogee in the Muromachi Period (1337 – 1573) following the introduction of Zen Buddhism past Dōgen Zenji and Myōan Eisai upon their return from China. Zen fine art is primarily characterized by original paintings (such equally sumi-e) and poetry (peculiarly haiku) that strive to express the truthful essence of the world through impressionistic and unadorned representations. The search for enlightenment in the moment also led to the development of other important derivative arts in Nippon, such every bit the Chanoyu tea ceremony and the Ikebana art of flower arrangement. This evolution considers near any human activity with a strong spiritual and artful content as art, including activities related to combat techniques such equally martial arts.

Horyuji Temple

The Hōryū-ji Temple, ane of the most celebrated Japanese temples, reflects the spread of Buddhism and Chinese culture in Japan.

Learning Objectives

Draw the cosmos, function, and characteristics of Prince Shōtoku's Hōryū-ji temple.

Central Takeaways

Key Points

• The Hōryū-ji Temple embraces architectural influences ranging from the Eastern Han to the Northern Wei of China, likewise as from the Three Kingdoms of Korea, particularly those of Baekje.
• The temple was originally deputed past Prince Shōtoku of the Asuka Period (c. 538 to 710 CE) and was dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of healing, in honor of the prince'southward male parent.
• The original temple is believed to have been completed by 607 CE; afterward it was destroyed in 670, the temple was reconstructed but slightly reoriented in a northwest position effectually the year 711.
• The current temple is fabricated up of two areas: the Sai-in in the west and the Tō-in in the e.
• The western part of the temple contains the Kondō (sanctuary hall) and a five-story pagoda . The Tō-in expanse holds the octagonal Yumedono Hall (also known as the Hall of Dreams).

Key Terms

• Prince Shōtoku: (February seven, 574 – Apr eight, 622) A semi-legendary regent and politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko and deputed the celebrated Hōryū-ji Temple.
• Kondō: Usually the master hall of a Buddhist temple (literally "golden hall"), which started to be used during the Asuka and Nara periods.
• pagoda: An Asian religious building, specially a multistory Buddhist tower, erected equally a shrine or temple.

Hōryū-ji is one of the near celebrated temples in Japan, originally commissioned past Prince Shōtoku of the Asuka Period (c. 538 to 710 CE). It was originally called Ikaruga-dera (斑), a proper name that is still sometimes used. This first temple was completed effectually 607 CE. Hōryū-ji was defended to Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of healing, in honor of the prince's begetter. The original temple, named past mod historians and archaeologists Wakakusa-garan (若), was lost to fire afterward a lightning strike in 670. The temple was reconstructed but slightly reoriented in a northwest position around 711.

Characteristics of Hōryū-ji Temple

The reconstructed buildings embrace architectural influences ranging from the Eastern Han to the Northern Wei of Communist china, as well every bit from the Three Kingdoms of Korea, particularly the Baekje Kingdom. With its origin dating back to early vii^th century, the reconstruction has allowed Hōryū-ji to absorb and feature early on Asuka period elements along with distinct elements only seen in Hōryū-ji, which were absent from the architecture of the following Nara menses.

The current temple is made up of ii areas: the Sai-in in the due west and the Tō-in in the due east. The western part of the temple contains the Kondō (sanctuary hall) and a 5-story pagoda. The Tō-in area holds the octagonal Yumedono Hall (too known as the Hall of Dreams) and sits 122 meters east of the Sai-in area. The complex also contains monk'southward quarters, lecture halls, libraries, and dining halls.

Distinguishing Features

Certain features distinguish the precinct of Hōryu-ji from similar temple architecture. While most Japanese temples of the menses were arranged similar their Chinese and Korean prototypes—with the principal gate, a pagoda, the main hall, and the lecture hall all in a direct line—the reconstructed Hōryū-ji breaks from those patterns by arranging the Kondō (main hall) and pagoda side-by side in the courtyard.

Excavations at Yamada-dera, a lost temple dating back to 643, revealed corridors with thick horizontal poles placed in the windows at narrow intervals. By contrast, those at Hōryū-ji are thinner and placed at larger intervals.

Major Asuka- style characteristics seen in Hōryu-ji and resembling designs institute in the Yungang Grottoes (from the Northern Wei in Red china) include the railings busy with a swastika pattern and the cved reentasis columns . Another notable Asuka-style element found merely in Nippon and with the only surviving originals in Hōryu-ji is the cloud-shape hybrid bracket supporter. These Asuka characteristics are non seen in later on Nara period temples.

Five-Story Pagoda

The five-story pagoda, located in the Sai-in surface area and standing at 32.45 meters (122 feet), is 1 of the oldest wooden buildings in the world. The forest used in the pagoda's center pillar is estimated through a dendrochronological analysis to have been felled in 594. The central pillar rests three meters below the surface of the massive foundation stone, stretching into the ground . At its base is enshrined what is believed to exist a fragment of ane of Buddha's basic. Around it, four sculpted scenes from the life of the Buddha face northward, east, south, and west. Although the pagoda is v-storied, it is non designed for visitors to climb within but rather is designed to inspire people with its external view.

Hōryū-ji pagoda: The five-storied pagoda has certain characteristics unique to Hōryū-ji.

Kondō

The kondō, located side-past-side to the pagoda in Sai-in, is another ane of the oldest wood buildings in existence. The hall measures 18.5 meters by 15.2 meters and has 2 stories, with roofs curved in the corners. Only the first story has a double roof; this was added subsequently in the Nara period, with extra posts to hold upward original starting time roof because it extended more four meters by the edifice. The hall holds the famous Shaka Triad, statuary Yakushi and Amida Nyorai statues, and other national treasures .

The kondō of Hōryū-ji: The ii-storied kondō is another of the oldest forest buildings in existence.

Yumedono

Yumedono, or the Hall of Dreams, is one of the main constructions in the Tō-in area, built on the basis which was once Prince Shōtoku's private palace, Ikaruga no miya. The nowadays incarnation of this hall was congenital in 739 with the purpose of assuaging the Prince's spirit. The hall acquired its present-day mutual name in the afterwards Heian period, later on a legend that says a Buddha arrived as Prince Shōtoku and meditated in a hall that existed hither.

Yumedono, Hall of Dreams: Yumedono, a hall associated with Prince Shōtoku.

The Todaiji

The Tōdaiji is the near ambitious Buddhist temple complex of the Nara menses in Japan.

Learning Objectives

Hash out the "gold age" of fine art during the Nara Flow, including temple-building such equally the Tōdai-ji.

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• The Nara period in Nippon (710 – 784 CE) marked the emergence of a strong Japanese state and is often portrayed every bit a aureate age for art.
• The cultural flowering during the Nara period was spawned past the manual of Buddhism from contact with Cathay and Korea.
• The Japanese recognized the facets of Chinese civilisation that could profitably be incorporated into their own, which for the arts meant new technologies, new edifice techniques, more advanced methods of casting in bronze , and new techniques and media for painting.
• Temple-building in the 8th century was focused around the Tōdaiji temple in Nara.
• Synthetic equally the headquarters for a network of temples in each of the provinces, the Tōdaiji is the most ambitious religious complex erected in the early on centuries of Buddhist worship in Nippon.

Key Terms

• Nara: Period of Japanese history lasting from 710 to 784 CE, during which Japan emerged as a strong state and witnessed an artistic golden age.
• Tōdai-ji: A Buddhist temple circuitous located in the metropolis of Nara, Japan; its Bang-up Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden) houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana.

Background: The Nara menses

The Nara menses of the 8^th century—so named considering the seat of Japanese government was located in the city of Nara from 710 until 784—is oft portrayed as a gilt historic period in Japanese history. The period marked the emergence of a strong Japanese state and was characterized by a cultural flowering. The transmission of Buddhism provided the initial impetus for contact between China, Korea, and Japan, and the Japanese recognized facets of Chinese culture that could profitably be incorporated into their own. These included a system for converting ideas and sounds into writing; historiography; circuitous theories of government, such as an effective bureaucracy; and, most important for the arts, new technologies, new building techniques, more advanced methods of casting in bronze, and new techniques and media for painting.

The Tōdaiji Temple

Temple-building in the viii^thursday century was focused around the Tōdaiji in Nara. Constructed equally the headquarters for a network of temples in each of the provinces, the Tōdaiji is the well-nigh ambitious religious circuitous erected in the early on centuries of Buddhist worship in Nihon. Appropriately, the main Buddha hall, or Daibutsuden, was enshrined with the Rushana Buddha, a 16.2-meter (53-foot) Buddha completed in 752 that represents the essence of Buddhahood, just every bit the Tōdaiji represented the center for imperially sponsored Buddhism and its dissemination throughout Nihon. Only a few fragments of the original statue survive, and the present hall and central Buddha are reconstructions from the Edo period.

Daibutsu of Tōdai-ji.: The Great Buddha statue (Daibutsu) has been recast several times for various reasons, including earthquake harm. The electric current hands of the statue were made in the Momoyama Period (1568–1615), and the head was made in the Edo catamenia (1615–1867).

Clustered around the Daibutsuden on a gently sloping hillside are a number of secondary halls: the Hokke-dō (Lotus Sutra Hall), with its principal paradigm; the Fukukenjaku Kannon (the most pop bodhisattva), crafted of dry lacquer (textile dipped in lacquer and shaped over a wooden armature); the Kaidanin (Ordination Hall) with its magnificent dirt statues of the Iv Guardian Kings; and the storehouse, called the Shōsōin. This final construction is of great importance to fine art history as it stored the utensils used in the temple's dedication ceremony in 752 and the eye-opening ritual for the Rushana image, as well as regime documents and many secular objects owned past the Regal family.

Hokkedô at Todaiji in Nara Japan: The Tōdaiji (dating back to 728) is the near ambitious religious complex erected in the early centuries of Buddhist worship in Japan.

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/buddhist-art-in-japan/

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