Introduction to Far Eastern Art

Chinese and Japanese Art

Important dynasties

• Han dynasty- 3rd C BC to 7th C BC

• Tang dynasty- 7th C to 10th

• Sung dynasty- 10th to 13th C

• Yuan dynasty- 13th to 14th C

• Ming dynasty- 14th -17th C

• Chinese arts are influenced by three major religions: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.

• Another major influence was nature. The three major kinds of subject they liked to paint were birds, flowers, and landscapes from the countryside.

• All the religions stress love for nature. • All landscape painters tried to get a feeling of the

human spirit and the strength of the wind, water, mist and mountains.

• Painting became an art form more than 2000 years ago then influenced the later painters.

• Chinese arts come in many different forms such as: painting, folk arts, silk, calligraphy, pottery, sculpture, metal arts and even papercuts

• Sculptures were made of many different materials: stone, jade, lacquer, wood, metal, clay, etc.

• They weren’t only for admiring but they were used as everyday items like a wine bucket, mirrors, pottery, and pendants.

• Dynastic Arts

• Calligraphy a very famous art form along with painting

• Landscape painting very popular

• Painting was no longer about the description of the visible world; it became a means of conveying the inner landscape of the artist's heart and mind.

• Fish and Rocks

Works usually monochromatic

Ink on paper

Extensive use of calligraphyand calligraphical brush strokes in painting too

Close links between art and spirituality

Chinese Bronzes

Japanese Art

• Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture in wood and bronze, ink painting on silk and paper and more recently manga, cartoon, along with a myriad of other types of works of art.

Important Eras

• Kofun Period- 3rd to 6th C

• Asuka and Nara Period- 6th -9th C

• Heian Period – 9th to 14th

• Muromachi and Momoyama period- 14th to 17th C

• Edo Period- 17th -19th C– Under Tokugawa empire

• Japan's first historical epoch–the Asuka period, coincides with the introduction of Buddhism into the country.

• This new religion contained many ideas and images that were radically different from the concerns of native Shinto.

• Along with Buddhism, other important foreign concepts and practices, including the Chinese written language, the practice of recording history, the use of coins, and the standardization of weights and measures was introduced

• Nara Period

• 7th CE

• Asuka period

During the Edo Period (1603-1868) both the subjects and styles of painting diversified significantly as patronage broadened to include a newly affluent merchant class.

painting of contemporary urban life, new subjects and styles influenced by a limited importation of European art, and work by artists who based their lives on Chinese scholarly ideals flourished. 

• Very important for woodcuts

• Influenced Western Art Movements like Post Impressionism

• Artists like Vangogh and Gauguin highly inspired by them

• Bright and colorful

• Extensive use of yellow

Edo Period