Eastern Civilizations (Ancient India, China, Japan, and Pre-Columbian America) Flashcards
A wide set of steps descending to a river, especially a river used for bathing
Ghats
(563-483 BC) According to Buddhist tradition, Gautama Buddha received Enlightenment under this tree; revered by Buddhist as a holy shrine and remains a sacred pilgrimage site
Bodhi Tree, India
More than 1,500 miles long; believed to be the sacred river of salvation by Hindus; the riverside city of Varansi became the capital of the Kashi kingdom in the 6th century BC and remains to be a holy place of worship in Northern India
Ganges River
The indigenous Indus Valley civilization overwhelmed by an Aryan race originating from the region of the Caspian Sea (1500 BC)
Harappan culture
The third emperor of the new Mauryan dynasty that united most of India; dedicated himself to Buddhism (r. 272-232 BC)
Ashoka
In ancient India, this is the symbol of the creation of the world, of beauty formed out apparent waste
Lotus
World mountain that is believed to be the center of the universe by the Hindus; a pillar between heaven and earth, relating it to the four quarters of the compass
Mount Meru
An epic poem describing the Hindu gardens having “numerous arbours covered by creepers, charming artificial hillocks, lakes filled to the brim by delicate aquatic plants on which swam red geese, ducks, and swans”
Mahabharata
In Buddhist thought, a diagrammatic representation of man’s relation to the universe; the basis of religious building; magic diagram of cosmos with a universal Buddha of the zenith on the center, surrounded by four mythical Buddhas located at the four cardinal points of the compass
Mandala
A supreme monument in Java, probably built in the mid-eight century; has five successive square terraces that represent the earthly world and three circular terraces that represent the cosmos, where seventy-two Buddhas are seated in latticed stupas; the final terrace and stupa is where the supreme Buddha is
Stupa of Borobudur
A Dravidian monument dedicated to Suva by Kishna I (AD 757-83) of the Rashtrakuta dynasty; intended as an architectural replica of the sacred Mount Kailasa; carved out of the Ellura Hills
Kailasanatha Temple
Jungle city of water and mountain-temples on the Cambodian Lake Tonle Sap; founded as the capital of the Khmers (AD 900)
Angkor
A man-made lake or reservoir constructed by dikes rather than excavations, in order to catch flood waters and later release them over the land
Barays
The temple complex in Cambodia, symbolic of Hindu cosmology, with concentric canals, terraces, galleries, and central temple; it’s temple roof structure represented Mount Meru, an axis mundi between the sacred and profane worlds
Angkor Wat
First built by Ashoka in central India; an important Buddhist monument to honor Buddha, surrounded by four gateways
Great Stupa at Sanchi
Indian concept whereby architectural or sculptural form is given to the imagined structure of the cosmos and supernatural things or regions in order that men may have power over them through their symbols; “resemblance or counterpart of real forms”
Pratibimba
Sanskrit for ‘heap’; originally were simple earthen burial mounds
Stupa
Indian gateways, usually of stone, marking the entrance to a Buddhist shrine or stupa, or to a Hindu temple; consist of two pillar carrying two or three traverse beams; located at the four cardinal points
Torana
Three great rivers that cross China from west to east
Yellow River (Huang-Ho)
Yangtse-kiang
Si-kiang
(219 BC) Believed to be the mountaintop dwelling of the mythical Immortals by the Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi
Islands of the Immortals
The Emperor who created a simulation of the Immortals homeland by building three artificial mountains in a lake, establishing the influential prototype of the lake-and-island garden
Emperor Wudi (141-86 BC) of the Han Dynasty
The Chinese philosopher who systemized earlier rites and ideas into a moral code of behavior rather than of religion
Confucius (550-478 BC)
Religion that means ‘the way’: all men must live, work, and die within the laws of nature ordained by the Lord of the Heaven, who moves all things
Taoism (Tao)
Taoist concept of forces; symbolized by the rock, hill, or mountain as the stimulating male force, and the still water as the tranquilizing female force
Yin and yang
Four cardinal animals of China (with cardinal point, color, season, and element representations)
Turtle (north, black, winter, water)
Phoenix (south, red, summer, fire)
Dragon (east, blue-green, spring, wood)
Tiger (west, white, autumn, metal)
Private retreats, places for self-development, and communion with intimate friends in Suzhou; where scholar-officials retired from government service and decided to embrace the aesthetic of solitude, learning, and poverty
Scholar gardens
Considered as the “Venice of the East”
Suzhou
The capital established by the first Sung emperor, who reunified the country after the collapse of the Tang dynasty
City of Kaifeng
New capital of China under the Sung dynasty, after Kaifeng fell to a rival clan in 1126
Hangchow (Hangzhou)
Artificial lake made in the 17th century AD when the Hangchow City was founded; a fresh-water-fed from the mountains
West Lake
The Mongol emperor who conquered Hangchow in 1279 and formed the Yuan Dynasty; moved the capital to Peking (Beijing)
Kublai Khan
Located at the south of Peking, and east of the central axis; built by the Ming in 1420; symbolic of the relationship between the heavenly circle and the earthly square
Altar of the Heaven
Dynasty that marks the high point of Chinese imperial landscapes
Ming Dynasty
The person who converted the Great Wall from earth to stone, incorporating imposing fortress architecture on its twisting line
Yung Lo
In a Chinese garden, the lotus is a symbolism of…
Spiritual freedom
The “three friends of winter” that signifies longevity, endurance, and resilience respectively
Pine
Plum
Bamboo
Plants that represent the four seasons and the four traits of an ideal gentleman (plant and meaning)
Orchid - grace
Bamboo - resilience
Chrysanthemum - nobility
Flowering Plum - endurance
The dynasty that replaced the Yuan dynasty when it collapsed in 1368
Ming Dynasty
The third Ming emperor who began the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing
Yongle
Consisted of hundreds of buildings and courtyard symmetrically arranged around a north-south axis and all buildings faced south; moat and wall surrounded it, which was contained within the boundaries of the Imperial City of China
Forbidden City
The “sea palaces” of the imperial park
Nanhai, Zhonghai, and Beihai
The dynasty established by the Manchu warriors from north, after desposing the last Ming emperor in the late 17th century
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
During his reign, China reached the height of prosperity and expansion; also nurtured the development of the arts and sciences
Qianlong (1736-1795)
A Scottish architect who went to China and published “Of the Art of Layout Out Gardens Among the Chinese”; who felt that there was an affinity between the British and Chinese philosophies, stating that “Chinese gardeners are like European painters
CHAMBERS, Sir William (1726-1796)
An imperial pleasure garden located in the Western Hills outside the Forbidden City, first planned by Emperor Kangxi and further developed by his grandson, Qianlong; comprised of three linked gardens representing the three geographic areas of China - the northwest plateau, the great plains, and the southeast coastal area
Yuanming Yuan (Garden of Perfect Brightness), Beijing
Basic Japanese religion; worship of nature, sense of purity, and rice cultivation
Shintoism
The ‘perfect’ mountain in Japan, symbolic of the majestic dominance of nature over man, his work, and his art; particularly sacred to Shinto followers
Mt. Fuji