ARTH-211 – History of World Art 1
Instructor: Ann Porter
Office: 304A
Phone: 642-6275
E-mail: AnnPorter@bhsu.edu
Notes for pages 372-393, Japanese Art before 1392
Shinto—worship of nature spirits—indigenous practice of Japan
Mahayana Buddhism—compassion for all living beings—practice comes from China during
Asuka period
Esoteric Buddhism—involves many deities in a complex hierarchical relationship—the belief
system of the educated, leisured aristocracy—importance of mandalas
Pure Land Buddhism—an all-inclusive form of Buddhist devotion—power of faith in chanting
the mantra which leads to enlightenment
Zen Buddhism—enlightenment through meditation—monasteries—self reliance
Jomon 12,000-3,000 BCE
Vessel, page 374
http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/aany2003/sday/large/jap.jomon-bst.jpg
http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/bevans/Art101/Art101B-11-Japan/WebPage-ImageF.00003.jpeg
Dogu, page 375
http://www.hum.pref.yamaguchi.jp/tokuten/H11/retto/jomon.jpg
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/moerman/images/v2002/jomon_statue.jpg
Yayoi 300 BCE-300 CE
Inner Shrine, Ise, page 378
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.yamasa.org/japan/images/ise_naiku_600.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.
yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/mie/ise.html&h=450&w=600&sz=113&tbnid=jeFGNAdHSsMJ:&tbnh=99&tbnw=
132&start=3&prev=/images%3Fq%3DInner%2BShrine,%2BIse%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG
Kofun 300-552 CE
Haniwa, page 377
http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/e_news/index73/haniwa.jpg
Asuka 552-646 CE
Introduction of Buddhism (Mahayana), centralized government and a system of writing
Horyu-ji, pages 379-380
Main Compound
Hungry Tigress Jataka
Shaka Triad
…we first need to identify a couple of important Sanskrit terms. One is Tathagata, which means "ThusPerfected One." The term refers to a spiritual being who has attained the highest enlightenment (i.e., nirvana)
like the historical Buddha at the age of eighty. A Tathagata is a Buddha or refers to one who has attained
Buddhahood. The Japanese word for this type of spiritual being is Nyorai. The other important Sanskrit term is
bodhisattva, which means "enlightenment being." It refers to an enlightened spiritual being who is qualified in
every way to enter into the supreme state of nirvana but holds back until all human beings are saved from
suffering. A bodhisattva is described in Buddhist literature as a compassionate, enlightened being who is ready
to take upon him/herself the suffering of all human beings. The Japanese word for such a being is bosatsu. In
Mahayana Buddhism—the kind of Buddhism prevalent in Japan—there are countless bodhisattvas and several
Buddhas….Monju, the bosatsu of wisdom who dispels the darkness of ignorance with his sword, and Fugen,
the protector of all those who teach Buddhism, are seen together with Shaka in the famous Shaka Triad at
Horyü-ji in Nara.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.aasianst.org/EAA/shaka.jpg&imgrefurl=http://
www.aasianst.org/EAA/sjoquist.htm&h=327&w=239&sz=18&tbnid=fh1nNPWmiPIJ:&tbnh=113&tbnw=83&s
tart=3&prev=/images%3Fq%3DShaka%2BTriad%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG
Nara 646-794 CE
Amida Buddha, page 382 (Buddha of the Western Paradise)
In part as a response to the esotericism of Heian Buddhism, and in part as a response to the collapse of the emperor's court at Kyoto
and the subsequent rise of individual, feudal powers in Japan, medieval Japanese Buddhism moved towards more democratic and
inclusive forms, of which the most important was Pure Land Buddhism. Pure Land or Amida Buddhism was oriented around the
figure of Amida Buddha. Amida, the Buddha of Everlasting Light, was a previous incarnation of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.
In the previous incarnation, as a bodhisattva, he refused to accept Buddhahood unless he could grant eternal happiness in the Pure
Land to whoever called on him; 1 this compassionate promise was called the "Original Vow." Anyone who calls his name, "Namu
Amida Butsu,"2 with sincere faith, trust, and devotion, will be granted by Amida an eternal life of happiness in the Pure Land which
has been set aside specifically for those who call on Amida.
Amidism was not a Japanese invention; Pure Land develops out of Mahayana Buddhism in India and became wildly popular in
China, where the invocation of Amida (in Chinese, A-mi-t'o-fo ) became the most common of all religious practices. But the spread
of Pure Land through Japan signals a profound change in Japanese thought; above all else, the shift to Amidism represents a shift
from a religion which stresses individual effort aimed at enlightenment to an exclusive reliance on salvation by the Amida; this
opened up Buddhism to all classes, including women, who had previously been excluded from the various Buddhist priesthoods.
Because of its democratic nature, the priesthood became evangelical rather than retiring; Buddhism began to become, in late Heian
Japan and medieval Japan, a religion of the streets. Because of Pure Land, Japanese art also profoundly changed; the art of Heian
Japan is placid and rigid; the Amidists began to produce more involved and animated artworks which portrayed such subjects as
the tortures of all ten levels of hell, the pleasures of Paradise, and the transcendent and resplendent beauty of the Amida Buddha.
Richard Hooker
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/GLOSSARY/AMIDA.HTM
Heian 794-1185 CE
Womb World Mandala, page 383 (Esoteric Buddhist Art)
Phoenix Hall, page 384-85 & Amida Buddha, page 386 (Pure Land Buddhist Art)
Secular Painting
Album Leaf, page 372
Tale of Genji, page 387
http://cla.calpoly.edu/~jwetzel/Japan/slides/slides-jpg/LadiesOfTheCourt.jpg
http://w00.middlebury.edu/ID085A/gallery/intro/genji049.jpg
Frolicking Animals, page 388
TOBA SOJO c.1053 - 1140
Toba Sojo was the head priest of a Buddhist sect near Kyoto. He is the author of a series of important narrative
scrolls featuring humorous subjects. In his most famous work he used a new technique of free-line ink drawing
to depict frolicking animals, which, some maintain, were caricatures of contemporary Buddhist priests.
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/people_n2/persons5_n2/tobasojo.html
Kamakura 1185-1392 CE
Kuya Preaching, page 391
Section of Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace, page 388
Monk Sewing, Kao Ninga (Zen Buddhism), page 390
Art to remember for Exam:
Inner Shrine, Ise, 11-5
Hungry Tigress Jataka, 11-7
Kuya Preaching, 11-17
Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace, 11-15
Monk Sewing, page 390
Vocabulary to remember for Exam:
Torii, Shinto, Jataka, Pagoda, Shinto, Esoteric Buddhism, Pure Land Buddism, Zen Buddhism
Bibliography:
Text
Smith, Harris & Clark, Japanese Art; Oxford, 1990