ART OF EAST ASIA

ARTS 8 UNIT II
GENERALART CONCEPTSOF
EASTASIA
• There are more people in East Asia than in any other region in the
world. In fact, it has an estimated 22% of the population of the whole
world. The region is also bigger than Europe. Hence, the culture in
East Asia can be listed as one of the most diverse.
• Art legacy of East Asian countries can be seen and felt all over the
world. And Since they have some of the earliest civilizations, their
trade and culture have since reached other regions of Asia and
established many settlements, thereby sharing to the world their own
taste of art.
CHINESE ART
• The art of China Is considered as the oldest art and is continuously
being practiced today. This is because their culture, particularly the
culture of northern China, has been handed down and practiced
religiously from one dynasty another. 1There was even a time when
Chinese children were taught to practice principle of imitation as one
of the foundational concepts of their education and life in general.
• The following are representative art of China and its territories.
POTTERY AND DECORATIVE ARTS

• Chinese art has a lot of decorations and adornments. These add beauty to an object or clothing
One of the most popular decorative arts of China is its pottery works.
• Called eponymously as "china", the Chinese ceramics became one of the symbols of Chinese
art. It originated from the Paleolithic era, when ancient Chinese first valued the endowment of
raw materials for ceramics. Since then, Chinese ceramics have been continuously made.
• Refined porcelain was first made for imperial courts as symbols of wealth and power, but its art
has been handed down to workshops and has been made in mass production. Thus, porcelain,
or china, became one of the most significant artworks in the land.
• To define, ceramics in China are white and translucent. These are either high-fired or low-fired.
The china with the artificial emerald color was introduced much later, when northern kiln (a
special oven for firing pottery and bricks) was used with the southern kiln as the Chinese
empire widened its scope. The said ceramics were then imported to Europe and elsewhere in
the world. Modern ceramics come in many colors, like those with lavender, cobalt blue, and
luster
CHINESE SCULPTURES
• Buddhist art from India spread throughout the world and reached the
southern part of China through the Silk Road or other trade routes.
From then on, Chinese art has been heavily influenced by Buddhism.
The Chinese are excellent sculptors and have sculpted bronze and
ceramics but it is during the Zhou Dynasty (1027-221 BCE) that
sculping became a national art movement,
OTHER NOTABLE ART FROM CHINA

• China, being one of the biggest countries in terms of land area and of
population, 1s very much diverse. Its culture is likewise very much,
with some art masterpieces being handed down to the present
generation since the Paleolithic era. Hence, art pieces born,
developed, reborn, and redeveloped in the country are very
important not only in East Asia, but also in the whole world.
JAPANESE ART
• Japan is the first truly industrialized country in As1a. It is an Island-
nation with a population of more than 125 million people, centered
on the island of Honsh1he country has developed rich culture that
rival that of its overseas neighbor China, which essentially influenced
it. The art of Japan 1s an altogether rich treasury of paintings,
sculpture, performing arts, theater and music, and visual arts.
WOOD BLOCK PRINTING
• Prints and paintings in Japan involved that of wood block, or making
relief out of wood. This art is known as ukiyo-e in Japan. It is
practically a relief printing style. It is done by carving out the white
spaces to be shown on the print and letting the black spaces stay on
the wood.
OTHER NOTABLE ART OF JAPANESE
• The Japanese zen garden replaces water with white sands. Japanese
gardens are miniature gardens used for meditation or for aesthetic
pleasure in the case of nobility. Its landscapes are distinct compared
to those of the Chinese and Korean gardens, with Japanese materials
exemplifying their culture and arts.
• The parasol dance is an example of a performing arts that uses a
stylized yet ordinary everyday life material the umbrella. It is basically
a shuffling dance suited Japanese lady
• Puppets serve as actors in the Bunraku Theatre, a form of Japanese
entertainment art. It was developed since the 17th century as a form
of theater art and sculptural art. The heads and hands of the puppets
are well-crafted while the bodies are custom-made by the
puppeteers. This form of theater has influenced many other theater
arts in the country and in the region.
• The Ise Grand Shrine is considered as the prototype of Japanese
architecture. Itis a Shinto shrine, with elements that date back to the
period that Buddhism was not yet introduced in Japan. It has ten
billets called katsuogi, and forked finials or chigi on the ridge. This
architecture has been preserved since some 2,000 years ago. Every
after 20 years, it is being rebuilt at the empty shrine beside it. For the
next year, the original shrine will again be built with the same
architecture, and so on. The present shrine was constructed in 2013
and the next will be built in 2033.
• Anime and manga are two of the most famous postmodern art in the
world today. Besides having the wit and critically acclaimed stories,
animés and mangas cater to different demographics and fanbase
following nowadays. Manga is said to originate from scrolls in the
12th century and animé has only been introduced in the 20th century.
• 
KOREAN ART

• Korean art is the general term for the art of two states-South Korea and North Korea. These
two nations are divided by differing ideologies since the middle of the20th century. However,
the two nations are, in essence, a single country-that is, they share the same culture, the same
people, and the same history. Because of this, the art in the two countries separated by the
38th parallel line is the same,
• Early Buddhist structures were prototypes from South Asia, Central Asia, and China. These are
transported to Japan via the peninsula now known as Korea. But artisans reflected their own
versions of the Buddha with Korean facial features and casted the images in the Korean way.
Unfortunately, Korean Buddhas and Buddhist structures were lost during temple fires, wars,
and Japanese Sinuggling when the country invaded the whole peninsula.
• Votive offerings were practiced in Korea in its history. This kind of art is an art installation that is
considered permanent, or at least made in a place where the maker does not intend to recover
it, hence, the word "offering.
• Other notable arts include the following:
• The Korean Fan Dance, or buchaechum, is a dance that uses Tans of
pink peony blossoms. The dancers, usually female, wear the Korean
traditional dress-the bright -colored hanbok. The performers dance to
show shapes or Water waves, flowers, clouds, and animals.
• 
• Korean pottery dates back to as early as the 8th millennium BCE. This
form is known to be among the earliest earthenware. Pottery and
ceramics of Korea developed during the Three Kingdoms of Korea
from 57 BCE to 668 CE.
• Korean tea ceremony, called darye, IS the intangible art of enjoying
tea. Tea ceremonies are common in China, Japan, and Korea Since
dynasty and imperial times. Korean tea ceremony is the country's
natural way of having tea in an easy formal setting.