APAH Unit 8
Great Stupa at Sanchi
Madhya Pradesh, India
Buddhist, late Sung Dynasty
stone masonry
Content:
Part of a Buddhist complex
“stupa” - a heap
burial for humans or religious objects
looks like a buddha
Yasti - axis mundi (world axis) - a place that connects the earth with the heavens
svastika: symbol of divinity
toranas: gateway, one gateway for each direction (never actually see Buddha)
Buddha’s feet, bodhi tree (sat under the tree until he was cleansed and became enlightened) —> symbol for Buddha
Context:
The Buddha wants to be buried in a stupa at the crossing of the four great roads
King Ashoka the Great built the stupa.
Stupas are built in locations that are associated with the Buddha or in remote locations to spread Buddhism
built in the birthplace of Ashoka’s wife
connects to the mandala - geometric configuration of symbols used to focus attention, meditation, and sacred space
circumambulation around the stupa
Function: to increase enlightenment and spread Buddhism
Connection:
pure land
Terracotta warriors from the mausoleum of the first Qin emperor of China
Qin Dynasty
painted terra cotta
from a tomb
Function: created to escort the emperor to the afterlife
Each one looked different
Context:
traditional to be buried with sculptures of things wanted in the afterlife
Content:
Each one showed their rank and emotions
lined up in battle, facing east (the enemies)
were originally painted
Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui)
Han Dynasty, China
painted silk
Content:
sheet of painted silk dyed with mineral dyes
raised like a flag and then put on the tomb when the person is buried
3 coffins
relates to a belief system (top - heavenly realm & bottom - underworld)
Symbols - red son w black crow (male) and on the other side, moon w toad and rabbit (female), Zhu Long - god in heaven, dragons with wings - fly to the sky, guardians - guarding heaven
Dragons lift the platform up into the heavens
Lots of symbolism for the sky
function: belief system
Longmen Caves
Todai-ji
Nara, Japan
Sculptors: Unkei, Keikei, Kei School
bronze and wood; wood with ceramic-tile roofing
Context:
Buddhist temple
Temple: wood with ceramic (Chinese influence - silk trade)
Vairocana Buddha: bronze - heavenly Buddha; sitting on a lotus & top knot in hair
Bodhisattvas - slimmer, feminine, staying back to protect and help
Guardians - more aggressive - Ungyo - birth & Agyo (closed mouth) - death
Function: houses the largest bronze statue of Buddha
South Gate - deer roam/ Chinese influence
Borobudur Temple
Indonesia
Sailendra Dynasty
volcanic - stone masonry
Content:
Main temple
pyramid
square and then a circle - mandala (geometric perfection)
buddhism
Function: a monument to the Buddha
pilgrimage + axis mundi
Levels correspond to levels of enlightenment
no glue
Corbel arches - not like Roman arches —> Incas
Context:
circumambulation
walking path —> stay within the religion
teaching stories
relief carvings
Angkor, the temple of Angkor Wat
Khajuraho, India
Hindu, Chandella Dynasty
Sandstone
Context:
Hindu Temples - meant for smaller groups to worship and pray
comminsioned by an emperor to show connection to god and power
four-headed version of the Hindu god
Apsaras - female nymphs with the power to create life
mithuna - man and women a couple “one pair”
Content:
Nagara style architecture
Ashlar masonry - INCAS
Sikhara - superstructure seen from a distance (mountains)
garba griha - symbolic core of the temple
floor plan is kind of like a mandala
circumambulation - clockwise like the sun - teaching stories as they walk around
carved relief
elephants - Chandella dynasty
Ganesha - beginning of circumambulation
vyala - powerful animal (combo of an animal) - LAMMASU
Connection:
God/Goddess lives in the temple (Buddhism, Islamic, Hinduism)
Lakshmana Temple - Vishnu (Hindu)
Khajuraho, India
Hindu, Chandella Dynasty
Sandstone
Context:
Hindu Temples - meant for smaller groups to worship and pray
comminsioned by an emperor to show connection to god and power
four-headed version of the Hindu god
Apsaras - female nymphs with the power to create life
mithuna - man and women a couple “one pair”
Content:
Nagara style architecture
Ashlar masonry - INCAS
Sikhara - superstructure seen from a distance (mountains)
garba griha - symbolic core of the temple
floor plan is kind of like a mandala
circumambulation - clockwise like the sun - teaching stories as they walk around
carved relief
elephants - Chandella dynasty
Ganesha - beginning of circumambulation
vyala - powerful animal (combo of an animal) - LAMMASU
Connection:
God/Goddess lives in the temple (Buddhism, Islamic, Hinduism)
Travelers among Mountains and Streams
Song Dynasty, China
Function: show confusion values
Fan Kuan
Context:
The Song Dynasty was peaceful
Nature is a way to get away from political turmoil
court painter
Retreating into the mountains, there is Daoism, which is a Chinese philosophy about being in harmony with nature.
Neo-Confucianism - nature is where truth lies
Nature is sacred
LANDSCAPE IS THE MAIN ACTION
Content:
The painter went into the woods and painted what he saw
Essence of nature —> multiple perspectives
foreground (boulder), middle ground (mist), background (mountains)
Nature is everything, ppl are irrelevant because they are so small compared to nature
contrast in the way it’s drawn, big and small
writing on the piece —> red stamps indicate who owned the scroll
Connection:
The Oxbow - painting what he saw/the vastness of nature (contrast)
Shiva as Lord of Dance, Nataraja (Hindu)
Hindu; India, Chola Dynasty
cast bronze
Context:
Shiva is represented as the Lord of Dance
Goodness and benevolence, serve as the Protector
always has many arms. hair in top knot, 3rd eye
The son is the elephant god
Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva
Forbidden City
Beijing, China
Ming Dynasty
15th century CE and later
stone masonry, marble, brick, wood, ceramic tile
Content:
Pass through many gates to get to the main gate
axis plan
City representative of the heavens
Context:
center of China for 5000 years
face south (good spirits)
Palace of Tranquility - emperor’s resting place (retirement) - he knows his reign will end
symmetry
Hiearchy
outer court - receive people from other places - the emperor and the emperor’s residence, and a small building for weddings
romantic idea of women just lounging around, but they were not allowed to leave
empress (1st wife), consort (2nd wives), concubines (kidnapped/sold/traded)