Lesson 2 – Development of Asian Art

Collect samples of each Asian art and compare their similarities /differences from
one another. You can view these from the internet or art books. Put these on a
ENGAGE &
bond and compile it for submission.
EXPLORE

Ancient Near-Eastern and Islamic Art

During the ancient periods, artists crafted fine objects and architects designed movements with
distinctive religious and political associations. In the early times of West Asia (the area of present-day
Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan), a number of civilizations emerged, producing impressively
palace and temple structures and decorative art objects.
Among the ancient art objects found in the Near East are the plaster-covered skulls from Jericho
Jordan dated 7000 BC. It was presumably made for ancestral worship. The oldest monumental building in
the Near East are the Ziggurats of the Sumerians (3500-2340 BC)

Research other sample arts in each Asian country and know their historical
development.
EXPLAIN &
ELABORATE
What is Islamic art?
The Dome of the Rock, the Taj Mahal, a Mina’i ware bowl, a silk carpet, a
Qur‘an all of these are examples of Islamic art. But what is Islamic art? Islamic art is a modern
concept created by art historians in the 19th century to facilitate categorization and study of the material
first produced under the Islamic peoples that emerged from Arabia in the seventh century.
Today, the term Islamic art describes all of the arts that were produced in the lands where Islam
was the dominant religion or the religion of those who ruled. Unlike the terms Christian art, Jewish art,
and Buddhist art—which refer only to religious art of these faiths—the term Islamic art is not used merely
to describe religious art or architecture but applies to all art forms produced in the Islamic world.
Thus, the term Islamic art refers not only to works created by Muslim artists, artisans, and architects or
for Muslim patrons. It encompasses works created by Muslim artists for patrons of any faith, including—
Christians, Jews, or Hindus—and the works created by Jews, Christians, and others, living in Islamic
lands, for patrons, Muslim and otherwise.
One of the most famous monuments of Islamic art is the Taj Mahal, a royal mausoleum, located in Agra,
India. Hinduism is the majority religion in India; however, because Muslim rulers, most famously the
Mughals, dominated large areas of modern-day India for centuries, India has a vast range of Islamic art
and architecture. The Great Mosque of Xian, China is one of the oldest and best preserved mosques in
China. First constructed in 742 CE, the mosque’s current form dates to the 15th century CE and follows
the plan and architecture of a contemporary Buddhist temple. In fact, much Islamic art and architecture
was—and still is—created through a synthesis of local traditions and more global ideas.
600 AD – Present

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Textile Oriental carpets are known the world over as one of the greatest achievements of Islamic art and
they are as popular today as they were in their inception. They are used in the religious practices of
Muslims, and in the homes of people of other religions or no religion. The same patterns and techniques
are not confined to rugs, but too many forms of textile from cushions to wall coverings and even as table
cloths. While many representational copies are machine-made now, true Oriental carpets are hand-woven

or hand-loomed in intricate designs in an array of bright colors.

Islamic art is a 19th-century category given by art historians to art created by Islamic peoples
living mainly in the Arabian peninsula, but in other countries that were ruled for a period by Islamic
rulers. This is not to be confused with art that was created under the religion of Islam; it refers to the art
by and for any religion that was created in lands whose dominant religion happened to Islam.

Islamic art was comprised of great architecture, calligraphy, glass, ceramics, painting, and textiles
developed and influenced through a variety of sources. Islamic countries were major sources of trade and
were on major trade routes. Persian, Chinese, and Central Asian cultures added to the styles and
techniques of Islamic art.

Indian Art
The Art of the Indian subcontinent can be traced back as early as the Indus Valley civilization
(3000-1500 BC), an urban culture that grew up around Harappa (Pakistan) and other sites in Western
India. The Aryans do not seem to have produced images of gods or living creature. Only few artifacts had
survived since the time of their dominance, the Vedic Period (1200-500 BC).
India has a rich and complex history spanning thousands of years. India was the only major Asian culture
known to be visited by the ancient Greeks and Romans and has caused fascination as an exotic and
mysterious land ever since. Such an image developed partly in thanks to its exuberant and unique art.

Pillars of Ashoka – Indian Art The Taj Mahal (17th century) is a landmark of
Mughal
architecture

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Indian art is a term used in art history to group and study the different artistic expressions created in the
historical regions of the Indian subcontinent, including modern-day India, Bangladesh, and areas of
Pakistan and Afghanistan. It covers several art forms, historical periods, and influences.
Traditional Indian art usually had a religious character and Buddhism, Hinduism, and later Islam, have
been a common theme throughout the centuries. The pieces often feature mythological, human, and
animal forms and had elaborate ornaments. Unlike other areas influenced by Islam, Indian art didn't
abandon figurative representations.
Architecture focused mostly on religious buildings. Many Hindu temples featured very distinctive
towers in the form of truncated pyramids and had elaborate ornamentation with hundreds of sculptures.
However, many were later destroyed under Muslim rule, among other things, because of their erotic
decorations.
Hindu Art

A religious tradition that came to be known as Hinduism was associated with the Vedic
texts and Brahmanic practitioners. Although the Hindu pantheon is large, many worshippers tend
to focus their prayers wither on Vishnu, the preserver, or Shiva, the destroyer. Elements
associated with fertility are frequently emphasized in Hindu figural sculpture, whose sexual
anatomical features are the exclusive focus of other artworks.
Hinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Dating back to the Iron Age , it
is often called the oldest living religion in the world. Hinduism has no single founder and is a
conglomeration of diverse traditions and philosophies rather than a rigid set of beliefs. Most Hindus
believe in a single supreme God who appears in many different manifestations as devas (celestial beings
or deities), and they may worship specific devas as individual facets of the same God.
Hindu art reflects this plurality of beliefs, and Hindu temples, in which architecture and sculpture are
inextricably connected, are usually devoted to different deities. Deities commonly worshiped include
Shiva the Destroyer; Vishnu in his incarnations as Rama and Krishna; Ganesha, the elephant god of
prosperity; and different forms of the goddess Shakti (literally meaning “power”), the primordial feminine
creative principle. These deities are often portrayed with multiple limbs and heads, demonstrating the
extent of the god’s power and ability. Hindu art is also characterized by a number of recurring holy
symbols, including the om , an invocation of the divine consciousness of God; the swastika, a symbol of
auspiciousness; and the lotus flower, a symbol of purity, beauty, fertility, and transcendence.

Hindu Temples

A Hindu temple generally consists of a garba griha (“womb chamber”), the inner sanctum in which
the murti , or idol of the deity, is housed; a congregation hall; and sometimes an antechamber and porch.
The garba griha is surmounted by a shikhara , or tower. Two main styles of temples exist in India: the
northern Nagara style and the southern Dravida style.

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The Nagara Style
In the northern Nagara style, the shikhara takes the shape of a curvilinear beehive. The temple is a square
with a number of graduated projections in the middle of each side, giving a cruciform shape with a
number of re-entrant angles on each side. The projections in the plan are also carried upwards to the top
of the shikhara, giving a strong emphasis on vertical lines in elevation.

Lingaraj Temple, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa: The 11th century Lingaraj Temple is a fine
example of the north Indian Nagara style of temple architecture, marked by its curvilinear, beehive-shaped
shikhara.

Buddhist Art
Buddhism is the second major religion in India that antedates Hindu Art, at least in terms of what
survives. The three basic forms of Buddhist architecture are the stupa (burial mound), charity hall (nave
with a stupa in the aps) and vihara (monastic cell and refectory). Sculpture on stupa gabs reflect Buddha’s
earlier incarnation.
Under the Kushan dynasty, (50-320 AD) artists began to depict divinity in human form, perhaps to reveal
the figures in Hindu art. Standard iconography emerged in early Buddhist imagery. Sacred signs of the
Buddha include the urna (a third eye on the forehead), the wheel (chakra) or lotus symbols on the feet, the
webbed fingers and the elongated ear lobes. The most important repository of early Buddhist painting is
Ajanta, a pilgrimage site with 29 cave temples in central India.

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East Asian Art
Art forms of China, Korea and Japan share many cultural philosophical and religious
associations.

China
During the Neolithic phase (5000-1766 BC), much pottery as made. Bronze
ritual vessels are the most impressive ancient Chinese art form.
In the Zhou dynasty (1045-256 BC), Zhou bronzes gives way to a gentler, more domestic
form in Zhou ritual wares.
During the Qin dynasty (221-207 BC), the Great Wall was constructed including the tomb
for the emperor. With the introduction of Buddhism, artists began to the human form. Emperors of the
Northern Wei dynasty initiated major temple-building campaigns.The culmination of Buddhist art
occurred early in the Tang dynasty (618-906 BC) when artists created many classical forms, notably
figure painting. The leading figure painter was Wu Daozu and the leading landscape painter was Wang
Wei.

Seated Buddha, Cave 20, Yungang, Northern Wei Dynasty, ca. 460 C.E.

Korean and Japan

Korean art during the Neolithic phase (4000-1000 BC) consists mainly of “comb pattern”
pottery. Bronze Age (600-100 BC) objects include bells, mirrors and other ceremonial objects found in
tomb.

Dragon and Tiger lantern

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 Sculptors and painters of the Koryo dynasty (918-1392) also concentrated on Buddhist themes,
but little survive except written accounts. It is ceramic design that the skills of Koryo artists are evident
today. Rules of the Yi dynasty encouraged Confucianism, and flourished Scholar amateurs, inspired by
Chinese literates, painted place and animal themes as well to landscape. A renowned example of the early
Yi pottery is punch-ong (powder green), sturdy stone ware covered with white slip, a blue green glaze,
and sometimes freely ornamented in iron brown using the sgraffito technique.
Japanese prehistory is divided into three periods: Joman (800-300 BC); Yayoi (350-300 AD) and
Kofun (300-352 AD). Johun people made ritual ceramic pots, often with cord patterns and sculptural
elaborations at the top.
Buddhism reached Japan in the 16th century and with it came recent cultural achievements of
Korea and China.
An ancient Japanese artefact

Here, the commonly accepted periodization of Japanese history:

 Jomon (縄文時代) from origins to about 300 B.C.

The period takes its name from the "string texture" with which were decorated the first ceramic
artifacts and includes the first artistic testimonies of Japanese proto.

 Yayoi (弥生時代) from 300 B.C. to about 300 A.D.

The artistic production is aesthetically simple but begins to contemplate the use of revolutionary
technologies such as the lathe. A fundamental characteristic is the introduction of metallurgy.

 Yamato (大和時代) from 300 to 710

It is the period marked by the supremacy of the eponymous clan who was the first to unify the
country. The distinctive architectural feature is the building of rich and impressive burial mounds.

 Nara (奈良時代) from 710 to 794

For the first time there is a fixed capital for the empire: Nara. Previously, in fact, it ranged when
the Emperor died. Decisive the influence of Buddhism in artistic production.

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  Heian (平安時代) from 794 to 1185
Flourishes the production of mandala, and of the first pagodas. The court began to develop great
attention to the arts. By this time the famous Genji Monogatari.

 Kamakura (鎌倉時代) from 1185 to 1333

It takes its name from the shogunate during which we are witnessing the shift of power from the
aristocracy to the military samurai class. In art prevails realism.

 Muromachi (室町時代) from 1336 to 1573

After the interlude of the city of Kamakura, the imperial capital back to being Kyoto. The artists
take up less popular and aristocratic themes. Decisive influence of Zen.

 Azuchi Momoyama (安土桃山時代) from 1573 to 1603

Azuchi and Momoyama are the respective castles of both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi daimyo
whose series of wars characterizes the period. It affirms the Kano school of art.

 Edo (江戸時代) from 1603 to 1868

It is the triumph of political and military power of the Tokugawa who moved the capital to Tokyo
and closed all the doors to contacts with foreigners. Great attention given to science and
techniques.

 Meiji (明治時代) from 1868 to 1912

The renewal Meiji return power to the emperor after centuries of rule of the shogun. The country,
as a result of a strong impetus of industrialization, become a military power.

 Taisho (大正時代) from 1912 to 1926

It is a phase of democratization. The emperor's weakness allows, despite the imperialist
tendencies in the war years, the affirmation of a widespread cultural liberalism.

 Showa (昭和時代) from 1926 to 1989

With the long reign of Emperor Hirohito the country lives immense social and cultural upheavals
determined by both the World War II and the post-conflict reconstruction.

 Heisei (平成時代) from 1989 to 2019

With the rise to power of Akihito, the cultural characteristics of modern Japan are defined: a
country where cohabit marvelously futuristic instances and ancestral traditions.

 Reiwa (令和時代) from May 1st 2019

The new era of Japan officially began on 1 May 2019, the day on which Crown Prince Naruhito
ascended the throne, as the 126th Emperor of Japan, succeeding his father, Emperor Akihito.

EVALUATE

ART ACTIVITY NO. 14 – COMPILATION ON SAMPLES OF

ASIAN ARTS

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Collect and compile 1 sample art works of the different Asian arts that were discussed in this lesson. You
may collect pictures and paste it on the art activity paper or make a research on them. Label the title of
the various artworks and the corresponding artist. For every art activity paper, please put the sample art of
every Asian art. Submit a screenshot of all pages of the art activity form at the LMS.