Art Beyond the West Ch.5

tatami

woven reed floor mates about 3 by 6 feet. proportional relationships in traditional japanese architectural planning are based on the tatami module

haboku

"Broken ink" also known as So. A style of Japanese painting associated with Zen Buddhism that uses dramatic ink washes. Inspired by chan buddhist paintings of the song period in china

shogun

"Military Pacifier of the East" The twelfth-century title for successive dynasties of military rulers Japan (until 1868)

ukiyo-e

"Pictures of the floating world" a generic tradition of painting dating from about 1600 representing daily life and the kabuki theater. Mass produced through the inexpensice medium of woodblock printing

kondo

"golden hall" an area of active worship in a buddhist temple compound. Also known as a hondo

shinden

Heian-period country houses with central sleeping areas and smaller buildings linked by covered walkways around gardens and ponds

esoteric Buddhism

Mikkyo in Japanese. A highly intellectual and elitist sect that placed a great value on mandalas to instruct and enlighten the faithful in the complexities of that sect. In includes the Tendai and Shingon sects from Northern India, Nepal, and Tibet

Emakimono

Literally "rolled picture" a horizontal scroll associated with a narrative style of painting that emerged in the heian period. aka emaki

noh

Literally "talent or performance" A form of Japanese drama with restrained actions and prolonged silences patronized by the noble classes

yamato-e

Literally, "Japanese style" A native style of painting tat emerged in the Heian period. Named for the Yamato Plain where the city of Nara was built.

raku

Literally, "happiness wares" Low-fired ceramic wares whose imperfect shapes, rough incisions, and loosely splashed glazes reflect the classic folk traditions of Japan and Korea

irimoya

The traditional Japanese hip-and-gable roof type. It may support shibi, crescent-shaped decorations at the ends of the ridge pole

Daimyo

"great names" powerful feudal lords, commanders of the Samurai

Byobu

A decorative folding screen

kakemono

A hanging scroll

Chanoyu

A highly ritualized tea ceremony that combines the philosophies of many japanese movements in the arts. The ceremony fosters a set of shinto-based ethics embodied in the principles of Wabi (honesty, integrity, reticence, quiet simplicity) and Sabi ( a preference for the old and rustic over the new) It also advocates Shibu, a taste for that which is bitter but pleasing, a prominent quality of many teas used in the ceremony

pagoda

A name derived from a portuguese word of undetermined origin; a tall, slender tower with accented, upturned eaces tht may derive from Han watchtowers known throughout terracotta models in tombs, or the yasti on stupas. An internationally recognized architectural symbol of asia

tokonoma

A shallow alcove or niche in a tea house where a flower arrangement and small painting or hanging scroll might be displayed during a tea company

kimono

A t-shaped, straight-lined robe with a collar, wide sleeves, and sash that ties at the back

Celadon

A term of disputed origin referring to a glaze developed in China and used elsewhere in Asia, particularly Korea and Japan. The classic celadon glaze colors are pale greens and bluish-greens that resemble those of jades. The term is also used to refer to any vessel with a celadon glaze

gaso

A zen priest-painter

The tale of genji

Also known as the genji monogarati. A novel by lady murasaki often illustrated in the yamato-e style of painting by women artists

reliquaries

Elaborate containers designed to hold valued religion relics

kofun

From ko "old" or "ancient" and fun "grave mound" these large mound-tombs, erected by the rulers of the kofun period, were surrounded by rows of Haniwa (hani; clay//wa; circle) terracotta images of shields, singers, armored warriors, ladies, birds, and horses, which marked the boundary between the land of the living and the dead.

shinto

From the chinese words for "sacred way" or "ways of the gods" The pre-buddhist religion of japan that venerated the kami, nature gods, at sacred places, where those spirits live in the rocks, trees, water, and other objects. The religion encouraged the development of apparently simple and rustic, but deceptively complex art forms and rituals. Many japanese worshippers combine elements of shintoiosm and buddhism in their belief systems

Nambam byobu

Japanese "screen paintings of barbarians" A type of japanese screen printing made in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries representing Westerners and their ships. At the time, the Japanese called Westerners the nambam jin (southern barbarians)

satori

Japanese "understanding" or "to see one's true nature" commonly translated as "enlightenment" To have a deep spiritual experience of oneness with all nature

raigo

Japanese "welcoming approach" an image or instillation that shows the amida buddha of jodo buddhism descending to earth to welcome souls into his western paradise

shoin

Japanese for "drawing room" or "study." an architectural form that emerges in the momoyama period. The proportional relationships of all the parts are based on the tatami module. Known for its asymmetry and variety of open, flowing spaces, which can be reconfigured through the use of Fusuma (sliding panels)

Fluxus

Latin for "flowing" An international group of artists that promoted"living art" in which there was no separationof art and life. A fully universal movement that was not dependent upon the support of the new york city galleries and museums

fusuma

Painted paper-covered sliding panels or doors mounted in slotted wooden tracks in temples, castles, and other large Japanese buildings. Generally associated with the Momoyama period to the present.

Chumon

The "middle gate" to japanese buddhist temple compound. Often containing Kongo Rikishi, large scupltured images of fierce guardian deities.

zen buddhism

The japanese equivalent of chan buddhism in china. the name is based in the japanese pronuciation of "chan"

jodo

The japanese name for Pure Land Buddhism, which cam to Japan from China. focussed on the amida buddha, it first gained a widespread following during the Heian period

koto

The japanese national musical instrument, similar to a zither. A long wooden instrument with thirteen strings (to be plucked) and thirteen movable bridges set over a wooden soundbox

haiku

The most characteristic form of poetry in Japan since the fourteenth century, consisting of three lines of five seven and five syllables. Previously, the Tanka format (consisting of thirty-one syllables) had been the most popular form of poetry in Japan

japonisme

The vogue for Japanese art and culture in the West beginning in the late nineteenth century

kano school

a distinctively japanese style painting developed by members of the kano family in the sixteenth century and known for its bold, overall decorative patterning, rich colors, and gold-leaf backgrounds. It remained the dominant style of painting in Japan until the Meiji period

torii

a gateway to a shinto shrine

samurai

aka bushi A noble and professional class of feudal warriors. The samurai code included seppukum a ritual of suicide known in the West as hara-kiri