Unit 8🌺 - Buddhist Art

The David Vases (204) Culture: Yuan Dynasty Location: China Date: 1351 Medium: white porcelain with cobalt blue underglaze

Content: handles are elephant heads; rings are attached through the handles; depict dragons, phoenixes, clouds, and plantain leaves; central section has Chinese dragons with traditional long bodies (have scales and claws) Function: made as an altarpiece/incense burner for alter of a Daoist Temple; for a general who had recently been made into a god due to his supernatural wisdom; later owned by Sir Percival David Context: one of the earliest known dedications on vases; blue porcelain imported from Iran

Borobudur Temple (198) Location: Central Java, Indonesia Culture: Sailendra Dynasty Date: 750-842 Medium: volcanic stone masonry

Context: built to resemble a microcosm of the universe Function: purpose was to provide a visual image of the teachings of the Buddha and show the steps through life that each person must follow to achieve enlightenment Content: has 9 terraces and four stairways at compass points; worshipers circulate around the terraces; meant to be contemplative; relief sculptures that offer a narrative depiction of life; multiple tiny sculptures surrounding the Buddha at the top which are stupas

Longmen caves (195) Location: Luoyang, China Culture: Tang dynasty Date: 493-1127 Medium: limestone

Form: carved limestone cliffs Content: over 60 stupas; Fenxian Temple has a gigantic primordial Buddha; used realism; has monk attendants and guardians flanking his side; Central Binyang cave was previously painted, Buddha sits on an altar; Kanjing Temple is an accurate depiction of arhats (monks on their way to enlightenment) Function: to honor the spread of Buddhism in China Context: 800,000 people worked on the site; inscription states that Empress Wu Zetian was the principal patron (used private funds to finance); Buddhism transmitted to China by chance and intermittently

Shiva as Lord of Dance (Nataraja) 202 Culture: Hindu; Chola Dynasty Date: 11th century Location: India (Tamil Nadu) Medium: cast bronze

Form: cast bronze Function: religious object Content: Vigorously dancing with one foot on a dwarf, the demon of ignorance; flying locks of hair terminate in rearing cobra heads; Shiva has 4 hands: One hand sounds the drum he dances to, another has a flame; Epicene quality; Periodically destroys the universe so it can be reborn again unfolds the universe out of the drum held in one of his hands; preserves it by lifting his other right hand in a gesture indicating "do not be afraid"; Shiva has a third vertical eye barely suggested between his other two eyes

Buddha (182) Location: Bamiyan, Afghanistan Date: 400-800 (destroyed by Taliban in 2001) Medium: cut rock with plaster and polychrome paint

Form: cut rock with plaster and polychrome paint Function: pilgrim statue Content: located at western end of Silk Road; two huge standing Buddhas; first colossal Buddhas; Niche shaped like a mandorla around the body; originally covered with pigment and gold; pilgrims can walk through galleries to reach passageways at the level of Buddha's shoulders; model for later large scale rock cut images in China

Travelers among Mountains and Streams (201) Artist: Fan Kuan Date: 100 Medium: ink and colors on silk

Form: different brushstrokes describe different kinds of trees; takes advantage of scale to increase grandeur Function: express cosmic vision of man's harmonious existence in vast/orderly universe; Neo-Confucian search for absolute truth in nature and self cultivation Content: boulders in foreground; rocky outcroppings covered by trees; waterfall accents the height of the mountains; mists created by ink washes silhouette the roofs of the temple Context: Fan Kuan was unconventional for his time (lived as a recluse); mountains as sacred; painted during Song Dynasty

Portrait of Sin Sukju (205) Artist: Imperial Bureau of Painting Date: 15th century (1417-1475) Medium: hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Form: facing slightly to the right Function: meant to honor the accomplishments fo the distinguished court member and eventual prime minister; suggests his loyalty to the king and the idea that Sin Sukju deserves respect; site of ritual to Sukju's family Content: Sukju is an official honored for his service to the court; dressed in official robes with rank badge on chest Context: Sukju is a scholar and politician that rose to status of Prime Minister in 1445; reflected Korean belief that the face reveals important clues to subject

Jowo Rinpoche, enshrined in the Jokhang Temple (184) Location: Lhasa, Tibet Culture: Yarlung Dynasty Date: believed to have been Brough tto Tibet in 641 Medium: gilt metals with semiprecious stones, pearls, and paint: various offerings

Form: gilt metal with semiprecious stones and paint Function: enshrined in Tibet's earliest and foremost Buddhist Temple Content: temple founded in 647 by the first ruler of a unified Tibet; Jowo means "lord"; Khang means "house"; believed to have been crafted in India during his lifetime

Gold and jade crown (196) Culture: Three Kingdoms period, Silla Kingdom Location: Korea Date: 5th-6th century Medium: metalwork

Form: one of the headband styles found in South Korea Function: placed in burial mounds when royal family members died; worn by high ranking people to show their power and influence Context: Korea was split into three kingdoms, this crown was found in the Silla Kingdom that takes up most of the southeast; shows the connection Korea had with the eurasian steppe; used the same burial techniques as the Chinese Content: three branches coming from the headband (represents the sacred tree that once stood in the ritual precinct of Gyeongju); two antlers coming off represent reindeer that were native to the Eurasian steppe; gogok (ripe fruits that represent the land's fertility and abundance)

Funeral banner of Lady Dei (Xin Zhuii) 194 Culture: Han Dynasty, China Date: 180 BCE Medium: painted silk

Form: painted silk Content: earliest known Chinese portrait; Lasy Said is depicted with long sinuous dragons framing her; the moon and sun symbolize the supernatural and creatures of the underworld; dragons serve as messenger between earth of the heavens Function: funerary banner

Lakshmana Temple (200) Location: Khajuraho, India Culture: Hindu, Chandella Dynasty Date: 930-950 Medium: sandstone

Form: sandstone Function: Hindu temple Content: placed on a high pedestal; series of shapes that build to become a large tower; in the center is the "embryo" room containing the shrine; very small with only enough room for the priest; corralled roofs have a beehive quality; grouped with a series of other temples; receives direct rays from the rising sun; sculpture is harmoniously integrated with the architecture; figures are sensuous with revealing clothing; poses symbolize regeneration

Todai-ji Location: Nara, Japan (on the eastern edge) Artist: Unkei, Keikei, along with the Dei School Date: 743; rebuilt 1700 Medium: bronze, wood, wood with ceramic tile roofing

Form: translates to Great Eastern Temple; Kokun-ji is the national system of monasteries in Japan Content: the Great Buddha (bronze and wood); Diabutsu Nio Guardian Statue (bronze); Temple and Buddha inside have been razed several times during military unrest; influenced by monumental Chinese architecture Function: headquarters of Kegon School; celebrates Buddhism Context: Emperor Shomu embraced Buddhism and erected sculpture as a way of stabilizing Japan during economic crisis; right hand means "do not fear"; right hand means "welcome); largest metal Buddha in the world

Terra cotta warriors from mausoleum of the first Qin emperor of China (193) Culture: Qin Dynasty Date: 221-2019 BCE Medium: painted terra cotta Location: Xian, China Artist: Shi Huangdi's workers

Form: warriors made of clay Content: head (facial features through layers of mud); body (foot plate in square strips of clay and attached arms); used to be painted; approximately 3000 warriors all with different facial features and body positions Function: to guard Shi Huangdi in the afterlife

Angkor, the temple of Angkor Wat, and the city of Angkor Thom, Cambodia (199) Culture: Hindu, Angkor Dynasty Date: 800-1400 Medium: stone masonry, sandstone

Function: Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu and also maybe intended to be a mausoleum for Suryavarmas II Form: mortise and tenon joining; pilgrimage and burial sit; references Mount Peru; hydraulic temple floats on flood plain Context: over 1 million people in 12th century; translates to city temple; burial ground, Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, Buddhist temple in 14th/15th century Content: king positions himself as Vishnu (preserver, protector, conqueror); surrounding moat required for structural integrity and creates spiritual area; temple faces west (represents death/rebirth); ground plan mirrors constellation Draco during equinox; mirrors heavens Churning of Ocean in Milk: relief that depicts cooperative effort of battling Hindu demons and gods; ruler Jayavarman VII depicts himself as Buddha; low relief, hierarchy of scale; demons throw power off balance, Vishnu tells gods to get elixir of life from bottom of ocean of milk

White and Red Plum Blossoms (210) Artist: Ogata Korin Date: 1710-1716 Medium: ink, watercolor, and gold leaf on paper

Function: art for art's sake Content: Japanese rinpa style named for Ogata; influence by Yamato-e style of painting; stream cuts rhythmically through the scene; swirls in paint dictate water current; Tarashikomi technique where paint is applied to a surface that has not already dried from previous application; creates a dripping effect useful in depicting streams or flowers

Under the Wave off Kanagawa, also known as the Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (211) Artist: Katsushika Hokusai Date: 1830-1833 Medium: polychrome woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Function: art for art's sake Content: first time landscape is major theme in Japanese prints; last series of prints in series; personification of nature (seems intent on drowning figures in boats); Mount Fuji seems to be one of the waves; striking design contrasts water and sky with large areas of negative space

Chairman Mao en Rout to Anyuan (212) Artist: unknown (based on an oil painting by Liu Chunhua Date: 1969 Medium: color lithograph

Function: communist party in China wanted to portray Chairman Mae as new revolutionary leader; wanted to gain followers throughout all of China Content: shows a young Mae Zedong; youth makes him more revolutionary; determined face makes him a strong leader Context: used as a way for the Communist party in China to thank Chairman Mao for his support; Mao had these paintings done to help regain control; Mao on his way to lead the miners strike of 1922

Ryoan-ji Location: Kyoto, Japan Culture: Muromachi period Date: 1480; current design most likely dates to the 18th century Medium: rock garden

Function: focus for meditation Content: garden as microcosm of nature; gravel acts as water; raked in wavy patterns; rocks are mountain ranges; meant to be viewed from a veranda nearby; asymmetrical arrangement; garden contains a tea house; plants symbolize natural world; water symbolizes purification

Night Attack on the Sanjô Palace (203) Culture: Kamakura period Location: Japan Date: 1250-1300 Medium: hand scroll; ink and color on paper

Function: narrative work Content: strong diagonals emphasizing movement and action; narrative reads from right to left; depersonalized figures; tangled mass of forms accentuated by Japanese Armor; lone archer leads the escape from the burning place; burning of imperial palace at Sanjo in Kyoto as rebel forces try to seize power by capturing the emperor; rebels kill those opposed and place their heads on sticks Context: painted 100 years after the civil war depicted in the scene

Great Stupa at Sanchi (192) Location: Madhya Pradesh, India Culture: Buddhist; late Sunga Dynasty Date: 300 BCE-100 CE Medium: stone masonry, sandstone on dome

Function: to mediate on the life of Buddha; people can walk around it, but it is not enterable Content: a reliquary (holds relics that have important remnants of Buddha such as hair); there are yaks hi at the front to symbolize fertility, and the wheels are a symbol of Buddha; there is a front gate that you enter called the Torana

Forbidden City (206) Location: Beijing, China Culture: Ming dynasty Date: 15th century and later Medium: stone masonry, marble, brick, wood, and ceramic tile

Function: to serve as home to the Chinese emperor and his court; to strengthen the emperor's influence; served as the national museum of China since 1925; Chairman Mao hung his picture from the Gate of Heavenly peace Content: divided into an inner (living spaces) and outer (for state affairs; only men allowed) court; outer court had Hall of Supreme Harmony (important decisions of state were made); inner court had emperor's residence Context: operated for over 500 years; originally built to solidify power from a coup (4th son of the Ming emperor usurped power from his older brothers and seized control)