THE

ASIAN
ART
EVOLUTION OF ASIAN ART
• History marks the beginning with Hindu and Buddhist art
around the 5th century BCE. These ancient religions were
largely represented by an introspective way of life, and their
followers adorned their temples with elaborately carved walls
and stone statues.

• The early Buddhists believed in many sacred symbols

pertaining to the travels of Gautama Buddha and his search for
enlightenment in the early 6th century BCE. One of those
symbols, the mandala, represented the universe and became an
important aspect of Buddhist paintings as it often signified a
space for meditation and trance induction.

• The history of Asian art or Eastern art, includes a vast range of

influences from various cultures and religions. Developments in
Asian art historically parallel those in Western art, in general a Fig. 1. Emerald Buddha made of semi-precious
few centuries earlier. Chinese art, Indian art, Korean stone & gold.
art, Japanese art each had significant influence on Western art,
and, vice versa.
CHARACTERISTICS
• Asian art is markedly different from European art. In ancient times,
when Greek and Roman art were becoming more realistic, painting
and sculpture in Asian art continued to have a basic element of
exaggeration. Whereas portraiture has a very strong base in Western
art, in Asian art there is more of a focus on the natural and spiritual.
• Asia features many distinctive styles of architecture. A number of
ancient and symbolic structures still stand, such as Islamic mosques
and the castles of Japan. Angkor Wat in Cambodia is perhaps the
most iconic structure in Asia and is represented on the country's flag.
However, many traditional architectural styles have either been
destroyed, lost, or replaced by Western contemporary architecture for
new development and construction.
CHINESE ART
HISTORY
INFLUENCES OF CHINA
• The original center of Chinese culture was along the
great Yellow River which crosses the North China Plain,
Yangtze and, Xi rivers where stable settlements have
dated back to at least 4000 BCE.

• An advantage of rivers of China is a way of trading.

• China is dated by its Dynasties, a word which has been coined by
western historians from the Greek root for "power, force or domination."
• The different types of art in China developed according to the interest
and patronage of many great dynasties such as Shang(1700-1050)
, Zhou (1050-221), Quin(221-206), Han (206 BCE - 220 CE), Sui(589-618)
and many other major dynasties, as well as the whims of regional
rulers.
PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION IN
CHINA

• In China and Japan philosophy and religion are not two

separate pursuits
 People are more than one religion without any conflicts
 Oriental religions are complementary
 A person might be both Buddhist and Confucian or Taoist
and Confucian or all three, each serving a different function
in one’s life.
CHINESE FOLK RELIGION
• Belief in spirits
 Polytheistic and animistic

• Reverence for ancestors

• Yin and yang
 Balance of the universe

• Astrology
• Divination
 Future telling
CHINESE METAPHYSICS
• Energy
• Change
• Balance
• Harmony
• Inter-relationships
MOVEMENT OF COSMIC ENERGIES:
Rising
Falling
Expanding
Contracting
Rotating
 Chinese Metaphysics
Concepts
• Chi – life force, life energy (“ultimate”)

• Yin-Yang – harmony of opposites

 Yin = passive state of energy
 Yang = active state of energy

Tao – the “way” of the cosmos, of nature

Heaven (t’ien) and Earth

“Mandate of Heaven”

Practical applications: I-Ching and Feng

Shui
 The I-Ching
“Book of Changes”
• Ancient divination technique (at least 3000 years
old)
• Intended to guide humans in decision making
• Based on combinations of lines representing the
ever changing relationship between passive (yin)
and active (yang) energy flow of heaven, human,
and earth
= yin
= yang
Feng Shui
• The Chinese art of placement (geomancy)
• Means “wind water”– symbolically, the
constant flow of wind and water that creates
constant change in the world also affects us
• Uses the five elements and the eight
directions of the I-Ching as the Bagua tool
• Seeks to maintain constant and balanced flow
of energies (chi) in a space for improved flow
of energy in the people who use the space
THE “FIVE ELEMENTS”
PRODUCTIVE CYCLE

FIRE

WOOD EARTH

WATER
METAL
THE “FIVE ELEMENTS”
DESTRUCTIVE CYCLE

FIRE

WOOD EARTH

WATER
METAL
TAOISM:
The Way of Harmony with
Nature
• Very hard to define: can be described by Chinese history or thru its effects
on the people, but not as a ‘religion’ with rituals and doctrines
• Originated in 6th century BCE China

Founder
• Lao-tzu (or Laozi)
 6th century BCE
 Means “Old Master” or “Old Boy”
—given by his disciples as title of respect

• We know less about him than any other founder of a world religion
• Lao-tzu wished to leave China but was required to write down his
teachings first. He then left and was never seen again
 Truth of story has not been verified
CONFUCIANISM
A political and social philosophy seeking social
harmony on all levels:
Within the self
…the family
…the community
...the state
…the nation
…the world
…the cosmos

Learning from the past to improve the future

Confucius’ Life
Kung Fu-tzu or Kunfuzi “Master Kung”
• 551 - 479 BCE
• Became an accountant to a family at age
17
 Opened his eyes to the system’s
injustices—taxes paid by the peasants to
support the small wealthy class
• Studied & loved art, literature, music…
• Married
and had a son
 Became a teacher for noble families
Symbolism in Chinese Visual Art
• Chinese art is packed with specific symbols:

• bamboo represents a spirit which can be bent by circumstance but not

broken;

• jade represents purity;

• a dragon often symbolizes the emperor;

• the crane, long life; a pair of ducks, fidelity in marriage.

• Plant symbols include: the orchid, another symbol of purity and loyalty; and
the pine tree, which symbolizes endurance.
Art Historical
Characteristics
• The Chinese invented paper,
porcelain and woodblock printing.

• Chinese artists captured the beauty of

nature in paintings- fans, books,
scrolls or paper or silk.

• The Chinese also produced sculpture

and ceramic objects from
terracotta/stoneware/porcelain for
religious purposes and to honor the
dead.
PAPER CUTTING
• Chinese paper cuttings are usually symmetrical in design when unfolded
and adapt the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac as themes and motifs and
mostly choose the red color.

• The earliest use of paper was made as a pattern for lacquers, decoration on
windows, doors, and walls.

• Jianzhi is the first type of paper cutting design, since paper was
invented by the Chinese.

• They are sometimes referred to "chuāng huā", meaning Window

Flower.
CHINESE KITE
• Chinese Kites originated in WeiFang, Sandong,
China (City of Kites)
• Chinese kites may be differentiated into four main
categories:
1. Centipede
2. Hard-Winged Kites
3. Soft-Winged Kites
4. Flat Kites
KNOT TYING
• Zhongguo is the Chinese decorative handicraft art that began as a
form of Chinese folk art in the Tang and Song Dynasty (960-1279
AD) in China.
PEKING OPERA
• Peking opera face-painting or Jingju Lianpu is done with
different colors in accordance with the performing characters’
personality and historical assessment.
• Lianpu is called the false mask.
TRADITIONAL CLOTHING
• China and Hong Kong Traditional outfits that
can be seen in China and Hong Kong today
include the qipao or cheongsam for women
and the hanfu, which can be worn by either
men or women.

• The qipao/cheongsam is the dress popularly

associated with Chinese clothing. It can be
either long or short and has the high clasped
collar.

• The hanfu is a robe similar to a Japanese

kimono. Slip-on cloth shoes are worn by men
and women.
CHINESE PAINTING
• Landscape painting was regarded as the highest
form of Chinese painting.
• They also consider the three concepts of their
arts: Nature, Heaven and Humankind (Yin-
Yang)

• The Han court eunuch, Cai Lun, invented the paper in the 1st
Century AD it provided not only a cheap and widespread
medium for writing but painting became more economical.
• Chinese art expresses the human understanding of the
relationship between nature and human.
Yin-yang

• This might be called the metaphysical, Daoist aspect of

Chinese painting.
Painting Subject & Theme

• Flowers and birds

• Landscapes
• Palaces and Temples
• Human Figures
Birds in four season
• Animals
• Bamboos and Stones

Ma Yuan (c. 1190-1225), On a Mountain Path in Spring,

with a poem by Yang Meizi S. Song dy.
Six Principles of Painting
To make your painting interesting and realistic apply these Six
Principles of Chinese Painting established by Xie He, a writer, art
historian and critic in 5th century China.
• Observe rhythm and movements
• Leave spaces for the eyes to rest
• Use brush in calligraphy
• Use colors correctly
• Live up to tradition by copying the master’s artwork.
• Copy the correct proportion of the objects and nature.
Formats In Painting And Calligraphy
• The principal forms of traditional Chinese painting are:

• hanging scroll

• hand scroll

• Album leaves and fans: subjects are landscape or bird-and-flowers with

calligraphy
CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY
• Calligraphy, or the art of writing, was the
visual art form prized above all others in
traditional China.

• The genres of painting and calligraphy

emerged simultaneously, sharing identical
tools—namely, brush and ink.

• Yet calligraphy was revered as a fine art long

before painting; indeed, it was not until
the Song dynasty, when painting became
closely allied with calligraphy in aim, form,
and technique, that painting shed its status as
mere craft and joined the higher ranks of the
fine arts.
YUAN DYNASTY (1279–1368)
• In 1279, the Song dynasty fell to the Mongol armies led by Kublai Khan
(1215–1294), founder of the Yuan dynasty.
• The Mongols profoundly affected the country's culture, particularly the art of
painting.
• The celebrated Song poet, amateur painter, and statesman Su Dongpo
(1036–1101) championed less polished efforts by scholar-amateurs over
skillful representation.
• •These new notions of value in painting continued to gain momentum during
the Yuan dynasty.
• These scholar-artists painted primarily to express their moods, philosophical
ideals, and religious beliefs.
HANGING SCROLL (li chou)
• Hanging scrolls are both horizontal and
vertical. They are mounted and hung on
the wall.
• For an album of paintings the artist
paints on a certain size of Xuan paper,
then binds a number of paintings into an
album, convenient for storage.

Dong Qichang,Landscape, c.
1555-1636, hanging scroll painting
HAND SCROLL (shou-chuan)
• The long horizontal scroll is also called a hand scroll. It is less than
fifty centimetres high, but several to a hundred metres long.
• A hundred or a thousand human figures can be portrayed in one
painting. After being mounted, it can be appreciated section by section.
• Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival (Qingming Festival, when
Chinese people visit ancestral tombs, falls on April 5 or 6 each year) is
a famous horizontal scroll from the Song Dynasty (960 -1279). The
painting is 52.5 centimetres long.

Xie Chufang,Fascination of Nature, a

handscroll painting , China, Yuan
dynasty, 1321
 HAND SCROLL PAINTING

A Breath of Spring, 1360, Zou Fulei (active mid

14th century), Yuan dynasty, Handscroll; ink on
paper,

HUANG GONGWANG, Dwelling in

the Fuchun Mountains, China, Yuan
dynasty, 1347– 1350. Section of a
handscroll, ink on paper, 1'1" high.
National Palace Museum, Taipei.
FOLDING FANS
• The surface of both folding fans and round fans is painted.
• they used fans made of bamboo strips pasted with paper or
silk.
• In time this developed into a form of painting that has
been handed down to the present. Folding fans, usually
made of paper, are used by men, while round fans,
generally of silk, are used by women.

Wen Shu, Carnation and Garden Rock,

Anon., The Han Palace, S, Song,
Ming Dy, 1627
12-13th century
ALBUM LEAF
• In China, the album format is
more intimate than the hanging
scroll or handscroll formats.

• Chinese painting albums usually

consist of up to twelve folded
pages, with wood or brocade-
covered card covers.

• The albums are relatively small,

up to 120 square cm, and often
include paintings as well as
calligraphy.

Hu Youkun, Landscape in "boneless" style, mid 17th century,

an album leaf painting, China
PORCELAIN
• By the Yuan period, Chinese potters had extended their mastery to fully
developed porcelains.

• A technically brilliant example is a temple vase with cobalt blue underglaze

decoration from the Jingdezhen kilns.

• Cobalt was imported from Persia.

• Phoenixes and dragons may suggest the donor's high character or invoke
prosperity blessings.

• The dragon and the phoenix can be imperial symbols, or may represent yang
(active masculine energy) and ying (passive feminine energy), respectively.
Temple vase, China, Yuan dynasty, Yuan Dynasty (1206-
1351. White porcelain with cobalt blue 1368) sacrificial-blue Jar, Ming dynasty, Xuande mark and period
underglaze, 2'1" x 8-1/8". Percival glaze porcelain plum- (1426–1435) China, Porcelain painted in
David Foundation of Chinese Art, blossom vase with a underglaze blue; H. 19 in.
London. white dragon design,
the biggest of its kind
extant and in good
condition.
MING DYNASTY (1368–1644)
• After the Ming rulers came to power, the court established
workshops to produce luxury goods.

• As early as the Neolithic Age, the Chinese already knew how to use
lacquer to coat eating utensils, ornaments and implements for
sacrificial offerings.

• By the 15th through 18th centuries, the lacquer industry had

accumulated a great deal of manufacturing technique and art.

• Both replicas and originals impart a sense of being highly ornate,

bright and stylish.
MING DYNASTY (1368–1644)

Table with drawers, China, Ming Carved Black Lacquer Tray Stamped by Jacques Dubois French,
dynasty, ca. 1426– 1435. Carved red with Volute Pattern Paris, about 1755 Oak veneered with
lacquer on a wood core, 3'11" long. panels of Chinese lacquer on a ground of
Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Nezuko wood and painted with vernis
Martin; gilt bronze mounts; brèche d'Alep
stone top H: 3 ft. 4 1 /2 in.; W: 3 ft. 9 in.;
D: 1 ft. 3 1 /8 in.
QING DYNASTY (1644–1911)
• The Ming bureaucracy's internal decay permitted the Manchus to overrun
China in the seventeenth century.
• Establishing the Qing dynasty, these northerners quickly adapted
themselves to Chinese life.
• The early Qing emperors cultivated knowledge of China's arts, and the
decorative arts especially flourished under their direction and patronage.
• Qing potters, especially at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, expanded on the
Yuan and Ming achievements in fine porcelain with underglaze and
overglaze decoration.
• A dish with a lobed rim, decorated with positive symbols, exemplifies the
latter technique in overglaze enamels.
• In the center are the three star gods of happiness, rank, and longevity,
surrounded by symbols of long life.
QING DYNASTY (1644–1911)
Qing vase, With depressed
pear-shaped body and tall,
slightly tapering, slender
neck. Fine dead white glassy
porcelain painted in 'famille
rose' enamels in 'Gu Yue' style
with a rock, roses, yellow
orchids and grasses on the
body, and on the neck with a
poetical inscription in black
and three seals in red enamel.

Dish with lobed rim, China, Qing dynasty, ca.

1700. White porcelain with overglaze, 2-1/4" x
1'2".
QING PAINTING
• Literati painting continued to flourish, but other painters experimented
with individualized brushwork and bold compositions.

• •Shitao (1642–1707) called for a return to wellsprings of creativity through

use of the "single brush stroke" or "primordial line."

• The chrysanthemum, the favorite flower of the best-known ancient recluse-

poet Tao Qian, was the symbol of reclusion.

• As Shitao prepared to retire, he thought of Tao Qian, just as countless

retired poets and painters had before him, and as others would in the
centuries to follow.
QING PAINTING
Autumn Mountain
The poem reads:
The mountain colors
Plum blossoms in
are a hoary green, the
October Sending forth
trees are turning
a cold fragrance, Are
autumnal, A yellowish
accompanied by the
mist rises thinly
late-bloomer, the
against a rushing
chrysanthemum;
stream; In a traveler's
Since Heaven and
lodge, Bitter Melon
Earth have no special
[Shitao] passes his
favorites, Will the
time with a brush, His
plum and the
painting method
chrysanthemum
ought to put old
blossom together
Guanxiu to shame.
again in the Spring?
CHINESE ARCHITECTURE
Three main types of roofs in traditional
Chinese architecture
• Straight inclined -more economical for common Chinese
architecture .
• Multi-inclined - Roofs with two or more sections of incline. These
roofs are used for residences of wealthy Chinese.
• Sweeping -has curves that rise at the corners of the roof. These are
usually reserved for temples and palaces.
HOUSES AND GARDENS
• Chinese house and garden designs after the 13th century stem from two
different philosophies, the Confucianist (house) and the Daoist (garden).

• The two philosophies embrace contrasting, but not necessarily conflicting,

notions of harmony.

• The Confucians seek harmony of the moral and social order, and the Daoists
seek harmony resonant with the forces of nature.
HOUSES
• Chinese houses are axial groupings of halls and courtyards within enclosures.

• The house plan expresses the Confucian ideal of a patriarchal society.

• Strict rules determine the arrangements of spaces in Chinese houses, depending on fengshui
beliefs and concerns regarding the influence of spiritual forces.

The modest facade of the house in Wuxi masks its private

This is the relatively plain exterior of a typical courtyard house. Courtyard interior. Courtyard house interior veranda, Wuxi, Jiangsu
house exterior, Fujian Province, China, primarily Qing dynasty Province, China
GARDENS
• Chinese gardens are scenic arrangements of natural and artificial elements
that replicate uncultivated nature, producing a restorative effect on mind
and spirit.

• The typical design, such as Wangshi Yuan (Garden of the Master of the
Fishing Nets),is a sequence of ever-changing vistas.

Fantastic rockwork represents primitive nature, as at Liu Yuan

Wangshi Yuan (Garden of the Master of the Fishing Nets), bridge (Lingering Garden). • Chinese gardens are sanctuaries where people
and pool, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. commune with nature as an ever-changing and boundless presence.
Liu Yuan (Lingering Garden), Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.
PAGODAS
• Buddhist temple, most typical Chinese building of religious significance.

• Later gained a secular nature: monuments to vistory or a memorial to hold

relics

• Based on Indian stupa and stamba.

• Octagonal in plan.

• Odd numbers of stories, 9 or 13.

PAGODAS

Pagoda of Fogong Temple Tiger Hill Pagoda

TEMPLES
• Chief feature was the roof

• Supported on timber uprights and independent walls

• A sign of dignity to place ones roofs to one over the other

• Up tilted angles, with dragons and grotesque ornaments

• Successive open courts and portices, kitchens, reflectones, sleeping cells for
priests.
 TEMPLES

Yonghe Lama Temple, Beijing Daxiangguo Temple, Kaifeng Famen Temple, Xi'an
FORTIFICATIONS
The Great Wall of China

• The most famous building of

ancient Chinese Buildings by Shi
Huangdi

• 3700 miles long, from pacific

ocean to Gobi Desert

• Mostly gray granite blocks, but

also used whatever materials
were available in the locality.