Chapter 8- Japan Before
1333
Besma Chaudry
Marissa DeVinny
Van Ngyugen
Period 3
Artistic and Architectural Accomplishments of PreBuddhist Japan
Jomon Period (ca. 10,500-300 BCE)
● Artistic:Thick and heavy pots. Great pottery adorned with rope markings
and coils of clay.
o The artists preferred for modeled, not painted, ceramic pieces of art.
o Jomon pottery displays wealth with the ornate clay coils, striped
incisions, and occasionally, motifs.
o The vessels had a purpose and were used for storage, cooking, and
bone burial.
● Architecture: Pit dwellings- shallow round excavations with raised rims
and thatched roofs.
Artistic and Architectural Accomplishments of
Pre-Buddhist Japan Cont.
This vessel from Miyanomae shows the
intricate details of the modeled surface
and sculpted rim. It is from the Middle
Jomon Period (2500-1500 BCE), made
from earthenware, 1’11⅔” high, and is
currently in the Tokyo National
Museum.
Artistic and Architectural Accomplishments of
Pre-Buddhist Japan Cont.
Yayoi Period (ca. 300 BCE-300 CE)
● Artistic: The Yayoi period produced pottery that was less sculptural than
the Joman ceramics and was often painted. They developed bronze
casting and loom weaving.
o Potaku(Bells): They were made of bronze and often put into graves;
they featured geometric decoration presented in bands. They
consisted of simple line drawings of people and animals. They are
the earliest pictorial art in Japan.
● Architecture: People continued to live in the pit dwellings but their
villages grew in size so for defense, they built fortifications. The Chinese
noted that they had walled towns and many small kingdoms.
Artistic and Architectural Accomplishments of
Pre-Buddhist Japan Cont.
Kofun Period (ca. 300-552)
● Artistic: tall ceramic structures
o Haniwa- These sculptures were placed around a tumuli (mound of earth
and stones over a grave). They often depicted humans and animals.
Ornaments were applied to the sculptures and they built up on them
and painted them.
● Architecture: Enormous earthen burial mounds (tumuli) that were used to
place the dead on sacred mountains. These mounds grew dramatically in
both number and scale in the 4th century.
o Tomb of Nintoku
Artistic and Architectural Accomplishments of
Pre-Buddhist Japan Cont.
● Architecture Cont.: Since Shinto was the religion of the Yayoi and Jomon
periods, great shrines were made to show love and appreciation towards
their religion
o Shrine of Amaterasu: Her shrine is the most important religious
center because of it’s unique connection to the Japanese imperial
family. The main halls were inspired by granaries(a storehouse used
for grain). The building displays pre-Buddhist art, smoked thatched
roofs, metallic decorations, and ridgepoles(beams at the ridge of the
roof). Inside there were lifted wood(in a mortise and tenon system),
golden-hued columns, planks, and white gravel.
Artistic and Architectural Accomplishments of
Pre-Buddhist Japan Cont.
The Main Hall of the Amaterasu
Shrine. This was dedicated to the
sun goddess Amaterasu and
depicts the early forms of
Japanese architecture with it’s
thatched roofs and wooden
techniques.
Pre-Buddhist(Shinto) and Buddhist Shrine
Strategies
Strategies
● Shinto religion was developed in construction with agriculture of Yayoi
period
● Focused mainly on agrarian society
● The sole material was wood
● Some strayegies were the mortise and tenon system, building thatched
roofs, adding metallic decor, and having 2 freestand post to support
ridgepole
● Highlights connection central to Shinto
● The ideas encircle nature and spirit.
● The materials derived from natural world
Pre- Buddhist (Shinto) and Buddhist Shrine
Strategies
Strategies Cont.
●
●
●
●
●
●
The structure were graceful with sturdy forms beneath
The main pillars decreased in diameter
Delicate brackets were built above and columns stout firms
An added porch was created
The reduction in scale from the 1st story to the 2nd story
The shrines were predominately made of ceramic tiles and curved roof
Materials and Styles of Japanese Buddhist
Sculpture
Buddha Triad ( earliest ex. of Japanese Buddhist sculpture) by Tori Busshi
Material used for Buddhist sculpture was bronze
central figure was Shaka; historical Buddha
the raised right hand was a “fear not” gesture
characterized with elongated heads, elegantly styled drapery folds that
defy gravity
Early Nara Period; Yakushi triad 7th/8th century
● Favored greater anatomical definition and shape revealing drapery, long
stylistic and sensual fleshiness with outthrust hipposes
●
●
●
●
●
Shaka Triad
● Tori Busshi Horyuji, Nara Prefecture,
Japan, Asuka Period, 623, bronze
● Shaka and 2 bodhisattvas
● Among one of earliest Japanese Buddhist
sculptures
● The right hand raised in abhaya mudrater
( fear not gesture )
● Elongated heads & elegant swirling
drapery reflect sculptural style of china
● background featurwa flaming mandorla:
lotas shaped nimbus
Relationship of Handscroll Painting and
Japanese Society and Culture
Why handscroll painting ties in with society and culture● In the early Heian period, the arts flourished due to the emphasis on religion
in Shingon.
● Paintings and sculptures depicting Buddhism gave the followers of the religion
an image of what their religion looked like.
● Handscroll paintings of the mandara(a diagram of the cosmic universe) was
often hung up on the walls of a Shingon kido where the meditation took place.
● One of the most famous of the handscroll paintings was from The Tale of
Genji, one of Japans most admired literary classics.
o It was published in 1021 and contained over four hundred characters.
● The Mount Shigi scrolls represent narratives and unlike the Genji scrolls
accentuates every feature of the painted figures.
Chinese and Korean Impact of Japanese
Art and Architecture
How China and Korea impacted Japan
● Communication with China and Korea greatly impacted Japanese art and
architecture.
● Trading and being exposed to Continental Eastern Asia civilizations helped
cause the increased interaction.
● Increased interaction along with immigration brought dramatic social and
technological transformations.
● They adopted Chinese writing such as Confucianism and Buddhism
iconography.
● Their artwork also started developing humans with elongated heads and
drapery folds that formed swirls.
● For architecture, the Japanese adapted the use of ceramic tiles and curved
roofs.
Bibliography
● The Vessel from Miyanomae. 2500-1500 BCE. Tokyo National Museum,
Tokyo. StudyBlue. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.