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The document provides an overview of characteristics, architecture, and culture associated with art in Asia. It discusses how Asian art has historically focused more on the spiritual versus realism seen in Western art. Major architectural styles seen across Asia are described, including mosques, Japanese castles, and Angkor Wat. Cultural aspects such as food, festivals, and traditional clothing styles in countries like China, Japan, and India are also summarized.
The document provides an overview of characteristics, architecture, and culture associated with art in Asia. It discusses how Asian art has historically focused more on the spiritual versus realism seen in Western art. Major architectural styles seen across Asia are described, including mosques, Japanese castles, and Angkor Wat. Cultural aspects such as food, festivals, and traditional clothing styles in countries like China, Japan, and India are also summarized.
The document provides an overview of characteristics, architecture, and culture associated with art in Asia. It discusses how Asian art has historically focused more on the spiritual versus realism seen in Western art. Major architectural styles seen across Asia are described, including mosques, Japanese castles, and Angkor Wat. Cultural aspects such as food, festivals, and traditional clothing styles in countries like China, Japan, and India are also summarized.
Asian art is markedly different from European art. In ancient times, when Greek and Roman art were becoming more realistic, painting and sculpture in Asian art continued to have a basic element of exaggeration. Whereas portraiture has a very strong base in Western art, in Asian art there is more of a focus on the natural and spiritual.
Spiritual Art Early Indian art saw religious imagery dominate, particularly through the sculpture of nature gods. With the growth of Buddhism over 2,000 years ago, Indian art then became influenced by this new religion. Buddhism also went on to influence Chinese and Asian art generally, with Buddha statues being a well-known example. Hinduism emerged as the major religion in India around the 7th Century, and the Hindu god Shiva is probably the most famous figure in Indian culture, portrayed as a dancer with many arms.
Batik Batik is a way of producing patterns on fabrics through dyeing. Specifically, creating a batik pattern involves the dyeing of a fabric through hot wax. This is a process that can be repeated when the aim is to create more intricate designs. Batik patterns are seen throughout Asia, and are particularly popular in Indonesia and Malaysia. Batik is now used around the world, and has been produced for over 1,000 years. It is used on designs in the home, as well as being popularly used for clothing.
Delicate Imagery Chinese silk painting often tells a story, being painted on scrolls through the medium of watercolors. Silk painting emerged around 2,000 years ago in India, and went on to influence batik design in Indonesia. However, silk painting is a technique now more associated with China, with delicate portrayals of nature being prevalent. These paintings are noted for their striking use of color, especially when featuring flowers and birds as the two main subjects of a painting.
Woodblock Prints Woodblock prints were popular in Chinese and Japanese art. Japanese woodblock prints commonly featured landscapes and depictions of urban areas, though originally they were of a more religious nature. The height of Japanese creativity for woodblock prints was the 17th to 18th centuries. Chinese woodblock prints dated to an earlier period and heavily influenced Japanese art. Both Chinese and Japanese woodblock prints were to become admired in the West. When Japan opened up to the West in the mid-19th century, many Japanese woodblock prints ended up in Western homes.
Architecture
Asia features many distinctive styles of architecture. A number of ancient and symbolic structures still stand, such as Islamic mosques and the castles of Japan. Angkor Wat in Cambodia is perhaps the most iconic structure in Asia and is represented on the country's flag. However, many traditional architectural styles have either been destroyed, lost, or replaced by Western contemporary architecture for new development and construction. China
Scholars Library and Study After the reception hall, the library or study (shu-fang) can be considered the most important room in a traditional upper class Chinese home. The library and garden offered a quiet, spiritual sanctuary in an urban setting for scholars to read, write, paint and otherwise refine their inner sensibilities.
House of Japan As is typical of traditional Japanese residential architecture, this shoin has exposed posts and beams, which exhibit the natural beauty of clear-grained Japanese cedar (hinoki) and the remarkable craftsmanship of their construction. The coffered ceiling and lattice transoms show the astonishing precision of Japanese joinery techniques. The museum's audience hall also features a raised alcove (tokonoma) and a staggered shelving unit (chigaidana) for displaying hanging scrolls and other artworks.
Teahouse Typically, soan teahouses are small with roughly cut or completely unmilled wooden timbers. The great variety of bamboo, wood, reeds, vines, and straw suggests that such teahouses are created from materials found in nearby forests and fields. Their rough, earthen walls are made by spreading a mixture of clay and straw over a bamboo lattice. In such modest structures, seemingly far away from worldly concerns, tea can be enjoyed in a more meditative and philosophical way.
Buildings
The Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Islamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and Indian architectural styles. The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. As the surface area changes the decorations are refined proportionally. The decorative elements were created by applying paint, stucco, stone inlays, or carvings. In line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into either calligraphy, abstract forms or vegetative motifs.
Wall of china The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces. The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. A comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the Ming walls measure 8,850 km (5,500 mi). This is made up of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) sections of actual wall, 359 km (223 mi) of trenches and 2,232 km (1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. Another archaeological survey found that the entire wall with all of its branches measure out to be 21,196 km (13,171 mi).
Angkor Wat Angkor Wat was first a Hindu, then subsequently a Buddhist, temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world. The temple was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yasodharapura (Khmer: , present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temple, based on early Dravidian Architecture, with key features such as the Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas adorning its walls.
Culture
Food and Drink In many parts of Asia, rice is a staple food, and it is mostly served steamed or as a porridge known as congee. China is the world largest producer and consumer of rice. In China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam, people usually use chopsticks to eat traditional food, but shapes of chopsticks are different in these countries. For example, Chinese chopsticks are long and squared; Vietnamese chopsticks are long, thick at one end then gradually get thinner and are made of wood or bamboo; Japanese chopsticks are rounder, short and spire to eat bony fish easily; Korean chopsticks are short, flat and made of metal. It is said that wood is rarer than metal on the Korean Peninsula [citation needed] and metal chopsticks can prevent poisoning. An island nation surrounded by ocean, Japan has various fish dishes. Especially, fresh raw fish cuisines are very popular in Japan and around the world, such as sushi and sashimi.
Festival and Celebrations Asia has a variety of festivals and celebrations. In China, Chinese New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Moon Festival are traditional holidays, while National Day is a holiday of the People's Republic of China. In Japan, Japanese New Year, National Foundation Day, Children's Day, O-bon, The Emperor's Birthday, and Christmas are popular. According to Japanese syncretism, most Japanese celebrate Buddhism's O-bon in midsummer, Shinto's Shichi-Go-San in November, and Christmas and Hatsumoude in winter together. In India, Republic Day and Independence Day are important national festivals celebrated by people irrespective of faith. Major Hindu festivals of India include Diwali, Dussehra or Daserra, Holi, Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Mahashivratri, Ugadi, Navratri, Ramanavami, Baisakhi, Onam, Rathayatra, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Krishna Janmastami. Islamic festivals such as Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha, Sikh festivals such as Vaisakhi, and Christian festivals such as Christmas, are also celebrated in India.
Clothing
China and Hong Kong Traditional outfits that can be seen in China and Hong Kong today include the qipao or cheongsam for women and the hanfu, which can be worn by either men or women. The qipao/cheongsam is the dress popularly associated with Chinese clothing. It can be either long or short and has the high clasped collar. The hanfu is a robe similar to a Japanese kimono. Slip-on cloth shoes are worn by men and women.
Japan Though Japan is a highly Westernized Asian nation, its people are still likely to be dressed in more traditional garb. Clothing worn by both men and women include the kimono robe, wide leg pants known as hakama, silk jackets called haori, overcoats or michiyuki and several types of sandals. Women will be seen with brighter-colored and patterned clothing than men.
Korea Korean traditional dress is similar for men and women. Both wear baggy blouses called chigori. Bottoms are the baggy and wide ch'ima skirt for women and the wide leg pants called paji for men. Darumagi are robes similar to kimonos and worn for special occasions. Gat-chogori are rabbit fur-lined silk jackets for cold weather.
India Indian attire can vary by state, but most common are the sari and the kurta pajama. Women wear the sari, colorfully patterned pieces of cloth draped around the upper body and worn over a long blouse and pants. Men wear the kurta pajama, a long -- to the knee or longer -- blouse with loose drawstring pants. Footwear is either sandals or slip-on shoes.
Religion
Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated in India, a country of South Asia. In East Asia, particularly in China and Japan, Confucianism, Taoism, Zen Buddhism and Shinto took shape. Other religions of Asia include the Bah' Faith, Shamanism practiced in Siberia, and Animism practiced in the eastern parts of the Indian subcontinent. Today 30% of Muslims live in the South Asian region, mainly in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and the Maldives. The world's largest single Muslim community (within the bounds of one nation) is in Indonesia. There are also significant Muslim populations in the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, China, Russia, Iran, Central Asia and West Asia.
Dance
Middle Eastern dance has various styles and has spread to the West in the form known asbellydancing. In the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, bhangra dance is very popular. The bhangra is a celebration of the harvest. The people dance to the beat of a drum while singing and dancing. In Southeast Asia, dance is an integral part of the culture; the styles of dance vary from region to region and island to island. Traditional styles of dance have evolved in Thailand and Burma. The Philippines have their own styles of dance such as Cariosa and Tinikling; during the Spanish occupation of the Philippines, practitioners of Filipino martial arts hid fighting movements into their dances to keep the art alive despite the fact that it was banned by the occupiers.