South, East, Southeast Asia: China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia

Northern Wei Dynasty

adopted Han Chinese traditions and practices (Buddhism) in order to gain support from the elite classes.

Qin Shihuangdi

Ruler of China who united China for the first time. He built road and canals and began the Great Wall of China. He also imposed a standard system of laws, money, weights, and writing.

Bodhisattvas

Buddhist holy men and women return from enlightenment to teach others.

Vairocana Buddha

One of the cosmic buddhas in the Mahayana tradition. The term refers to the Buddha who is not bound by time and place. He occupies the central part of the universe. It became extremely popular in China starting from the sixth century.

Vajrapani

Buddhist guardian figures, highly muscular, with thunderbolts

shanshui hua

term for Chinese landscape painting; "mountain water painting"

Neoconfucianism

term that describes the resurgence of Confucianism and the influence of Confucian scholars during the T'ang Dynasty; a unification of Daoist or Buddhist metaphysics with Confucian pragmatism

Mao Zedong

Chinese Communist leader from 1949 to 1976.

Silla Dynasty (Korea)

The first ruling dynasty to bring a measure of political unity to the Korean peninsula (688-900).

Shamanism

The practice of identifying special individuals (shamans) who will interact with spirits for the benefit of the community. Characteristic of the Korean kingdoms of the early medieval period and of early societies of Central Asia.

Imperial Bureau of Painting

Korean government agency that created portraits of officials

Emperor Shomu

Japanese emperor who ordered construction of Todaiji. His Decree of 741 ordered a Buddhist temple in every Japanese province. He wanted to join Japan together under Buddhism

Genpei Civil War

1180-1185; Japanese civil war that destroyed Todai-ji. Minamoto Yoritomo, the victor in the Genpei Civil War, rebuilt Todai-ji

Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199)

The first shogun (military dictator) of Japan

Kei School of Sculpture

(emerged c. 1200) style of Japanese Buddhist art, based in Nara, remained influential until 19th cent. Masters did the Todaiji restoration; focus on simplicity, identity, and realism (crystals for statues' eyes)

Unkei and Kaikei

Masters at the Kei School of Sculpture; designed Guardian Kings at Todaiji

Emaki

traditional Japanese picture scrolls.

Otoko-e, Men's painting

painting of subject matter that concerns politics, history, folk tales, etc.

Heiji Rebellion (1160)

an event depicted in a series of scrolls, including Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace. Conflict between the Minamoto and Taira clans.

Minamoto Clan

Defeated the rival Taira family in Gempei Wars and established military government (bakufu) in 12th century Japan

Fujiwara no Nobuyori

He orchestrated the Night Attack that abducted the Emperor Nijo and retired emperor Go-Shirakawa who were supported by the Taira clan; He was supported by Minamoto clan.

Taira Clan

Powerful Japanese family in 11th and 12th centuries; competed with Minamoto family; defeated after Gempei Wars.

Rinpa School

major historical schools of Japanese painting. It was created in 17th century Kyoto, paint in shiny gold; big screens, dividers, asymmetrical designs

Ogata Korin

Artist of White and Red Plum Blossoms

Zen Buddhism

a Buddhist sect that emphasizes enlightenment through meditation and stresses simplicity and discipline

ukiyo-e prints

is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or woodcuts) and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters. It is the main artistic genre of woodblock printing in Japan.

Mandala

a sacred diagram of the universe, often involving a square and a circle

Gunadharma

Designed the Temple of Borobudur around 800 CE as a monument to Buddha

Churning of the Ocean of Milk

Part of Angkor Wat.

Shows the Gods and demons churning the ocean of milk with a snake in order to get the Nectar of Immortality. The sculpture is also used to mark the times of the year; during the summer solstice, the Gods are completely in light, while the demons in shadow, and vice versa during the Winter Equinox.

Mount Meru

The mythic mountain thought to be at the center of the Buddhist cosmos and the dwelling place of the gods.

King Suryavarman II

built the great temple complex at Angkor Wat

Terracotta warriors from the first Qin emperor of China

Dates: c. 221-209 B.C.E.

Culture: China, Qin Dynasty

Material: Painted terra cotta

Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui)

Dates: c. 180 B.C.E.

Culture: China, Han Dynasty

Material: Painted silk

Longmen caves

Dates: 493-1127 C.E.

Culture: Luoyang, China. Late Northern Wei Dynasty to Tang Dynasty

Material: Limestone

Travelers among Mountains and Streams

Artist: Fan Kuan

Period:

Dates: c. 1000 C.E.

Culture: China, Song Dynasty

Material: Ink on silk

The David Vases

Dates: 1351 C.E.

Culture: Jingdezhen, China, Yuan Dynasty

Material: White porcelain with cobalt-blue underglaze

Forbidden City

Dates: 15th century C.E. and later

Culture: Beijing China. Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty

Material: Stonemasonry, marble, brick, wood and ceramic tile

Chairman Mao en Route to Anyuan

Artist: Unknown; based on an oil painting by Liu Chunhua

Period:

Dates: 1969 C.E.

Culture: China

Material: Color lithograph

Gold and jade crown

Period: Three Kingdoms Period

Dates: 5th to 6th century C.E.

Culture: Silla Kingdom, Korea

Material: Metalwork

Portrait of Sin Sukju (1417-1475)

Artist: Imperial Bureau of Painting

Period:

Dates: c. 15th century C.E.

Culture: Korean, Joseon dynasty

Material: Hanging scroll (ink and color on silk)

Todai-ji (Great Eastern Temple)

Artist: Various artists including sculptors Unkei and Kaikei as well as the Kei School of Sculpture

Period:

Dates: 743 C.E.; rebuilt c. 1700 C.E.

Culture: Nara, Japan

Material: Bronze and wood (sculpture); wood with ceramic-tile roofing (architecture)

Night Attack on the Sanjô Palace

Period: Kamakura Period, Japan

Dates: c. 1250-1300 C.E.

Culture: Japan

Material: Handscroll (ink and color on paper)

Ryoan-ji (Peaceful Dragon)

Period: Muromachi Period, Japan

Dates: c. 1480 C.E. current design most likely dates to the 18th century

Culture: Kyoto, Japan

Material: Rock garden

White and Red Plum Blossoms

Artist: Ogata Korin

Period:

Dates: c. 1710-1716 C.E.

Culture: Japan

Material: Ink, watercolor and gold leaf on paper

Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as the Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

Artist: Katsushika Hokusai

Period:

Dates: 1830-1833 C.E.;

Culture: Edo period, Japan

Material: Polychrome woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Borobudur Temple

Period: Sailendra Dynasty

Dates: c. 750-842 C.E.;

Culture: Central Java, Indonesia.

Material: Volcanic-stone masonry

Angkor, the temple of Angkor Wat, and the city of Angkor Thom, Cambodia

Dates: c. 800-1400 C.E.;

Culture: Cambodia, Hindu, Angkor Dynasty

Material: Stonemasonry, sandstone