Chinese Art Flashcards
How did Buddhism arrive and gain influence in China? Why was Dunhuang a significant place to establish Buddhist sites of worship?
Dunhuang was on the silk road; Buddhists who traveled between the west and east passed through and helped establish a highly active Buddhist center.
How did Buddhist art and architecture change over time in the Mogao caves according to shifting political and religious needs?
The format of the art was defined by the geography of the caves: they were carved out of rock that was no good for carving, so the main types of art were murals and stucco sculpture. In the beginning, Mogao art showed ties to Western Buddhist art and influences from the culture of Central China. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Buddhist art in the Mogao caves showed a unique style with Chinese characteristics - acculturation.
What are the defining characteristics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism?
Daoism: living according to the “principle”: understanding the nature of reality, increasing their longevity, ordering life morally, practicing rulership, and regulating consciousness and diet.
What is the relation between image, text, and viewing format in scroll painting?
Viewing a scroll painting is more personal and ritualistic. The opening of the box has a ritual quality and the actual reading can only be done by one or two people at once.
How do some Chinese paintings exist over time and across generations (e.g. through commentaries written on/attached to scroll paintings?)
Each successive owner attaches commentaries to the end of the work, in essence, engaging it in a dialogue.
How did painting allow for expressions of Confucian ideals or propriety?
Impassive expressions and upright posture. Note the Ladies preparing newly woven silk.
Why did the primary subject matter of Chinese painting shift from courtly figures and activities to landscapes? How do these landscapes continue to represent cultural hierarchies and power?
They shifted because Chinese people returned to principles of Confucianism. Monumental landscapes showed how lacking in power humans are.
Parinirvana and Mourners (Death of the Buddha)
Mogao Cave 158, Dunhuang. Tang Dynasty (8th-9th century). Stone, painting on plaster. The scene portrays the death of the Buddha; the Buddha is a huge statue and the mourners are small painted figures that surround him. Interestingly, they are of many different races, pointing to the fact that Dunhuang served as a stopping point for people of all nationalities.
Mogao Secret Manuscript Cave
Mogao Cave 17, Dunhuang, Tang Dynasty (8th-9th century). The self-appointed caretaker of the Dunhuang caves found a hidden doorway that had been plastered and painted over. Upon breaking away the plaster he found thousands of manuscripts and paintings that had been flawlessly preserved. They were in a number of languages. He eventually sold the manuscripts to Westerners because he wanted money for upkeep of the caves.
Central Pillar, Mogao Cave 432
Dunhuang. Western Wei Dynasty (6th century). Painting on plaster, wood figures. There is a Buddha facing each direction of this pillar. In the front (facing the entrance) the Buddha has achieved enlightenment. The Buddha that faces the back wall (the darkest area) is the ascetic one.
Wall painting of a thousand Buddha pattern, jataka stories, and donor figures.
Mogao Cave 428, Dunhuang. Painting on plaster. Northern Zhou Dynasty. The painting shows Buddha offering his body to a starving tigress. This embodies the Buddhist tenets of abolishing fear of suffering and greed. Donor figures line the bottom of the painting.
Main image niche, Mogao Cave 45
Dunhuang. Tang Dynasty. Painting on plaster, wood figures. The six individualized wood monks, bodhisattvas, and protective figures that surround the Buddha listen to him. Brightly painted; one of the works from the high period of Buddhist art in Mogao.
Portion of letter from Feng Ju Album
Wang Xizhi. Six Dynasties period (mid 4th century). Ink on paper. Calligraphy was a high art form in China which came a highly refined point in the Six Dynasties Period. The letters of the calligraphy express the individuality of the artist.
Selection of Ladies preparing newly woven silk
Emperor Huizong. Northern Song Dynasty (12th century copy of lost Tang Dynasty painting). Handscroll with ink/colors on silk. The ladies in the handscroll prepare silk but stand stiffly upright. Their posture is meant to indicate that their morals are in line with the Confucian ideal. The only figure that does not have an upright posture is a little girl, who can be playful because of her age.
Selection of the Thirteen Emperors
Yan Liben. Tang Dynasty. Handscroll with ink, colors on silk. This handscroll depicts 13 Chinese rulers. Its purpose was to portray these historical figures as exemplars of moral and political virtue, in keeping with the Confucian ideal of learning from the past. Therefore the kings have very stoic faces and upright postures. These things reflect their ideal characters.
