Japanese Art Before 1333 - Essay Example

Japanese Art Before 1333 The growth of Japanese art was as a result of various factors. First it was influenced technologically and aesthetically for several centuries by the Chinese style of art and cultural advancement with a few coming from Korea (Akiyama 23). The Japanese were the first individual to use pottery and their pottery which dates from 10000 BC is the oldest in the world. Japanese art is categorized by historians into time periods. This paper will only examine art in the time period before 1333, which involves five periods. They are the Jomon and Yayoi period, the Kofun period, the Asuka and Nara periods, the Heian period and the Kamakura period. The Jomon and Yayoi period (10500-300 BC) The name Jomon comes from the cord markings that set apart the ceramics produced during this period (Dolan 34). The Jomon people who were partly inactive lived in holes in the ground set around open spaces and were basically hunters and fishermen. They are recognized for making several female figurines and phallic images made of stone. The Jomon potteries were hand made by the women using twirls of soft clay (Rosenfield 13). This clay was a mixture of numerous pastes consisting of mica, lead, fibers and crushed shells. The pots were then shaped using specific tools to smoothen the inner and outer surfaces and after they were totally dry, they were put in an out door fire. Some of the works of art, in this period, are the large jar from Niigata Prefecture in the middle Jomon period and the Dotaku which was made of bronze in the Yayio period (Dolan 34). Historians have divided the Jomon period into stages due to the fact that it has diverse culture and it also lasted for a long time (Rosenfield 13). The Incipient Jomon stage is between 10500 and 8000 BC, and is considered a major transitional period for the Jomon. According to archeologists, their lifestyles were very simple and they created cooking pottery containers that had sharp bottoms and simple cord markings. These are considered some of the oldest models of pottery the world over. The Initial Jomon stage is the period between 8000 and 5000 BC when the climatic conditions changed raising the sea levels. This caused the temperatures to go up resulting in additional food supply from the sea together with the initial routine of hunting and gathering fruits, vegetables and seeds. The proof of these changes in diet is revealed in the shell piles where food and other requirements of life were obtained and developed through the use of tools made of stone like grinding rocks, axes and knives (Rosenfield 13). The Early Jomon stage between 5000-2500 BC shows that a huge percent of the people’s diet came from the seas. The similarities in pottery created in Kyushu and Korea is a clear indication that these Japanese islands traded with the Korean peninsula. Japanese people lived in square caves that were huddled together in small villages (Rosenfield 14). A wide range of handicrafts, such as cord marked cooking pottery and storage containers, woven baskets, bone needles and tools made of stone were made for everyday use. The Middle Jomon stage between 2500-1500 was of great significance to the culture of the Jomon which saw an increase in population and the creation of handicrafts. During this period, the climatic conditions changed drastically and there was a rise in temperatures resulting in the people moving towards the mountain areas. From the rubbish piles archeologists were able to deduce that the people were inactive for long periods and lived in bigger groups where they fished, hunted bears, deer, duck and rabbits as well as gathering mushrooms, parsley, berries and nuts. The period saw the commencement of cultivation and an enhanced creation of female figurines and stone phallic images (Rosenfield 14). During the Late Jomon stage between 1500-1000 BC the people migrated from the mountains when the weather had cooled down and settled near the coastline of Honshu. Their reliance on seafood prompted the advancement in fishing skills and kept people in contact with each other as revealed in the form of most of their art work. The final Jomon stage was 1000-3000 period, which saw the transition into the Yayoi culture. The Kofun period (300-538 BC) The Kofun period derives its name from the tomb piles built for the members of the ruling class at that time. The burial compartments and wooden coffins in the early tombs were initially simple and without any decorations but later on in the sixth century this started to change and there was the painting and decoration of tombs (Noma 50). These wooden coffins were sculptured and decorated with stones. A remarkable contribution to the art work of pottery in the Kofun period was the Sueki earthware which was produced using blue gray like clay resembling the one which is used to produce contemporary stoneware and porcelain. Sueki which is much more superior to Jomon and Yayoi works of art and brought a great change in Japanese ceramics history (Noma 50). The Kofun period also had the Kondo which was a major hall for worship in a Japanese Buddhist temple complex and it included statues of Buddha and bodhisattvas. There was also the Haniwa warrior made from low fire clay. The Japanese set up cylindrical clay structures and figurines known as Haniwa and Shotoku-Taishi made in the images of human beings, animals and various burial objects, used during the Kofun period (Noma 52). Their main purpose was to act as spiritual barricades between the living and the dead from being polluted. These sculptures are deceivingly fanciful in comparison to the terracotta army. The Asuka and Nara periods (538-794 BC) In 552, Buddhism was established in Japan and this saw the initial Japanese Buddhist work of art in Asuka time period. The Nara peropd was a golden age for Japanese sculpture with masterpieces and exceptional religionus cave murals that were produced in this period (Varley 90). The architecture of Nara took on Tang Chinese forms in embracing an arched roofline and using ceramic roof tiles. It is worth noting that the biggest wooden construction in the world is the Great Buddha Hall of Todaiji temple complex in Nara. It was built by Emperor Shomu in 743 and initially it had eleven bays instead of the existing seven. It also accommodated a fifty three foot bronze image of the enormous Buddha that has motivated huge Chinese stone statues (Varley 90). The Tori Busshi Shaka triad which consists of the Buddha and two bodhisattvas is one of the original Japanese works of art (Noma 56). The stretched out hands and well designed drapes are a sign of Chinese sculptural modes. It was also during this period that the architecture temples referred to as Kokobunji were put in place (Noma 56). The beginning of Mahayana Buddhism marked the foundation of the growth of Japanese fine art. Artists moved their concentration from ceramics and metal works to Buddhist sculpture. The Heian period (794-1185 BC) The Heian periods is considered one of the greatest periods of artistic and cultural development in Japan. One of the significant culture developments of the Heian period was the Kara script that made possible the writing of Japanese and the Yamato-e, a typical Japanese style of painting. This narrative scroll painting was a key Heian work of art. This style of painting whose name is translated as ‘Japanese painting’ flourished in the Heian period. Yamato-e developed to not only highlight the background of paintings but also signifies paintings using certain recognized rules whereby shapes are normally extremely stylized with well cut out facial features. Other styles of Yamato-e contain the use of bright, thick colors, huge groups of clouds that make it difficult to understand or separate space (Noma 56). This style was mainly used in diagrams of classical literature. These gold colored clouds mainly covered the top and bottom borders so as to highlight the story. Yamato-e style developed together with other unique Japanese works of art which were innovated in the Heian period for instance the Waka poetry that was created by combining the Yamato-e. The beauty of the skillfully dyed and adorned paper on which these poems were written expressed the Yamato-e art. Several of the Yamato-e paintings acquired the design of narrative hand scrolls called emaki which portrayed literary classics (Mason 45). This user friendly designs could be read by opening one segment at a time like a book and could be safely stored by rolling them up. One of the early Yamato-e hand scrolls is the illustrated legends of the Kitano Shrine from the Kamakura period (1185-1333). It gives a picturesque account of the origin of the Kitano Shrine of the inhabitants of Japans Shinto religion (Mason 45). The Yamato painting style advanced in modern ways and as a result had a great influence on other Japanese styles of painting that became prominent in the later time periods with special emphasis on people, places and the customs of the Japanese. Following the move of the capital to what is now known as Kyoto, the Chinese style and work of art that had dominated the Nara period was slowly substituted with a more original style of art and culture reflecting people and their environment. The palace of the Emperor and residents of other dignified people integrated fine looking gardens with buildings taking on Shinden-Zukuri styles of architecture. The Kamakura period (1185-1333 BC) The Kamakura paintings are varied in subject matter and fashion (Kidder 77). They contain historical narratives plus Buddhist hanging scrolls, The Kamakura wooden portraits are remarkable for their pragmatism and the rock crystal eyes that they have. During the Kamakura period hand scrolls, ink and color on paper were of great significance (Varley 98). The Heiji scroll for instance is a Japanese historic narrative painting with disjointed brushwork and bright sparkles of color that brilliantly captures the night attack and burning of Emperor Goshirakawa’s palace. This is a very unique style of Japanese work of art. There is also the painted cypress wood portrait statue of the priest of Shunjobo . This is a poignant portrait of a Kamakura priest. The wooden statue is remarkable for its delicately painted with great depictions of fine points of aging signs. It is also one of the most outstanding samples of excellent standards of naturalism widespread in the early Kamakura period (Varley 98). The facial features on the portrait are down to earth without being impractical and the folds in the drapes just perfect as the priest holds the prayer beads. A warrior family known as the Taira that had controlled the late Heian period was removed from power by the Minamoto family (Kidder 78). This ushered in a period of warrior class rulers that brought about the dynamic art style maintaining the warrior spirit. The statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo and a vicious guardian deity called Nio by Unkei and other sculptors are some of the illustrations of the pragmatic style of art. Works Cited Akiyama, Timothy. Japanese Painting. New York: Rizzoli, 1977. Print. Dolan, Worden. Japan: A Country of Study. Washington DC: Federal Research Division of Library of Congress, 1994. Print. Kidder, John. The Birth of Japanese Art. New York: Praeger, 1965 Mason, Peter. History of Japanese Art. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. Print. Noma, Simon. The Art of Japan: Ancient and Medieval. New Dheli: Kodansha International, 2003. Print. Rosenfield, Joanne. Japanese Art of The Heian Period, 794-1185. New York: Asian Society, 1967. Print. Varley, Patrick. Japanese Culture. New York: University of New York Press, 2000. Print. Read More