Unit 8 South, East, and Southeast Asia

• Sunflower Seeds (Kui Hwa Zi)

  • By Ai Weiwei
  • 2010-2011 CE
  • Sculpted and painted porcelein
  • Jingdzhen, China, the porcelein capital
  • Displayed in Turbine Hall, London
  • Consists of more than 100 mil. seeds
  • This evokes Weiwei's childhood, even the poorest in China would share sunflower seeds
  • Communist propaganda depicted Mao Zedong as the sun and citizens of the People's Republic of China as sunflowers
  • Rejecting the common negative connotations assciated with "Made in China"
• A Book from the Sky

  • By Xu Bing
  • 1987-1991 CE
  • Mixed-media installation - woodlock stamping
  • 1000+ characters
  • He created his own characters (this is not a language)
  • A reaction to the propaganda of Xu's youth in Maoist China, where language was abused by those in power - Cultural Revolution
• David Vases

  • Yuan Dynasty, China
  • 1351 CE
  • White porcelein with cobalt-blue underglaze
  • Jingdzhen, China
  • Cobalt (Iran)
  • Silk Road
  • A man named Zhang Wenjin presented these vases with an incense burner
  • Offering to a general, the Daoist temple in Xingyuan
• Chairman Mao en Route to Anyuan

  • Unknown artist
  • Based on oil painting by Liu Chunhua
  • Color lithograph
  • 1969 CE
  • This was meant to praise him - violent dictator
  • Chunhua was a member of the Red Guard - they wanted to destroy the Four Olds: Customs, Habitats, Culture, Thinking
  • The Anyuan City's Miner's Strike of 1922 led to Mao's popularity
  • Great Leap Forward (1950s) - lead to widespread famine and death
• White and Red Plum Blossoms

  • By Ogata Korin
  • 1710-1716 CE
  • Ink, watercolor, and gold leaf on paper
  • 67" tall
  • Folding screen
  • Rinpa/School of Korin
  • Tarashikami - colors are blended
  • Mokkotsu - bonelessness
  • Simplifying nature
  • Influenced modern artists
• Summer Trees

  • By Song Su-Nam
  • Leader of Korea's "Sumukhwa" - Oriental Ink Movement
  • Atmospheric perspective
  • Materials were more important than product
  • 1983 CE
  • Song felt strongly that the materials of Western art did not express his identity
• Night Attack on Sanjo Palace

  • Kamakura Period, Japan
  • 1250-1300 CE
  • Handscroll
  • Emaki - common East Asia painting
  • Right to left
  • Heiji Rebellion - civil war in Japan
  • Continous narrative
  • Retired: Emporer Go-Shirakawa
  • New Emporer: Emporer Go-Shirakawa
  • Guy who wanted power: Fujiwara no Nobuyori
• Travelers Amoung Mountains and Streams

  • By Fan Kuan
  • 1000 CE - Song Dynasty
  • Ink and colors on silk
  • Five Dynasties Period - fall of Tang and rise of Song
  • Neo-Confucianism - search for absolute truth
  • Fan Kuan seeked spiritual enlightenment - viewed mountains as sacred (home of the Gods)
• Forbidden City

  • Beijing, China
  • 15th Century CE
  • Stone masonry
  • Hall of Supreme Harmony - most dignified building until it was burned down
  • Ming & Qing Dynasties
  • 90 Palace Compounds
  • Confucian Idealogy
  • Inner temple - intimate
  • Outer temple - political/power
  • The palace of longevity and tranquility
• Funeral Banner of Lady Dai

  • Han Dynasty, China - focused on afterlife
  • 180 CE
  • Painted Silk
  • Marquis of Dai - the tombs of her and her son
  • Nesting Coffins - displayed on top of these
• Jade Cong

  • Liangzhu, China
  • 3300-22000 BCE
  • Carved jade
  • Repetition of line - power
• Terra Cotta Warriors from mausolem of the first Qin Emporer of China

  • 221-209 BCE
  • Painted terra cotta
  • The First Emporer sought to conquer death - this was his tomb
  • Individualized features
  • Seven Warring Kingdoms
• Gold and Jade Crown

  • Three Kingdoms Period - Silla Kingdom, Korea
  • Fifith to sixth century CE
  • Metalwork
  • Silla crowns
  • Gogok - branc-like features, tiny gold discs and jade ornaments
  • "World Tree" - Axis mundi that connected heaven and earth
  • Mounded tombs
• Portrait of Sin Sukju

  • 1417-1475
  • Imperial Burea of Painting - Sukju's painters
  • Hanging scroll
  • Sukju - "Meritorous Subject" - honored official
  • Emporers often employed artists to do whatever they wanted
  • Sukju was a prime minister
  • Confucianism - honoring ancestors, guide the soul into ancestral worship
• Angkor, the temple at Angkor Wat

  • Hindu, Angkor Dynasty
  • 800-1400 CE
  • Stone masonry
  • Cambodia - its location
  • House of Deity - the central chamber that holds the deity status, the Womb Chamber
  • Tallest "mountain" of the temple is over the Womb Chamber
  • Every new Khmer emporer added something to Angkor
  • Patron: King Suryavarman II - "Protector of the Sun"
  • Served as his tomb after death
  • Churning of the Ocean of Milk - beginning of the universe - Hama Hala
• Shiva as Lord of Dance

  • Hindu, India
  • Chola Dynasty
  • Cast bronze
  • Tandava - vigorous dance that is the source of the cycle of creation
  • Damaru (His left hand) - handrum that made the first sounds of creation
  • Agni (His right hand) - the fire that will destroy the universe
  • Dwarf of Ignorance - four arms dancing on a dwarf
  • Shilpa Shastras - rules of Indian sculpture
• Lakshmana Temple

  • Khajuraha, India
  • Chandella Dynasty
  • 930-950 CE
  • Vishnu - the central deity - sits inside the garba griha
  • Mithunas - depictions of sexual intercourse (very common lol)
• Todal-ji

  • Nara, Japan
  • Various artists, including Uneki and KeiKei
  • 743 CE rebuilt in 1700
  • Bronze and wood
  • Emporer Shomu - built the temple for adoption of Buddhism
  • Daibutsu
  • Deer Park
  • Nostril Hole Challenge - squeezing through Buddha's nostrils
• Ryoun-ji

  • Kyoto, Japan
  • Muromachi Period
  • 1480 CE
  • Zen Buddhism
  • Wet/Dry Garden - located in the front of Hojo
  • Hojo Porch
  • TIgers
• Longmen Caves

  • Luoyang, China
  • Tang Dynasty
  • Limestone
  • Fangxian Temple - resonated with Feng emporer
  • 60 Stupas
  • 2300 Caves
  • Yi River
  • 493 - 1127 CE
  • Maritime trade
• Jowo Rinpoche, Enshrined in the Jokang Temple

  • Lhasa, Tibet
  • Yarlung Dynasty
  • Brought to Tibet in 640 BCE
  • Gilt metals with semiprecious stones
  • Lord precious one
  • Sakyamuni Buddha
  • Proxy after Parinirvana - act as Buddha's proxy after his departure
• Borbududur Temple

  • Central Java, Indonesia
  • Saliendra Dynasty
  • 750 - 842 CE
  • Volcanic-stone masonry
  • Mandala Temple
  • Realm of formlessness - spiritual path of enlightenment
  • Queen Maya retreats to Lumbani
  • Elevated = holiness
• Buddha

  • Bamiyan, Afghanistan
  • Grandharan
  • Sakayamuni Buddha - Historical
  • Vairocana Buddha - Celestial
  • Buddha's Story: born from his mother's hip, raised in a rich lifestyle, renounces his life as ascetic, he mediates and starves himself for six years, and his ashes spread into Stupas arond India to mark his path
  • 400-800 BCE (destroyed in 2011)
• Great Stupa at Sanchi

  • Madhya, India
  • Maurya, late Sunga Dynasty
  • 300 BCE - 100 CE
  • First Stupa
  • Toranas - the gateways
  • Yokshi Figure - symbol for the spirit of the tree
  • Reliquary mound
  • Axis mundi - symbolizing the cosmos/stars
  • Circumbulation