Overview of East Asian Arts

East Asian Arts Overview

• East Asian art encompasses various forms, including painting, calligraphy, knot-tying, paper arts (including paper cutting, origami, and paper kites), and mask-making.
• Subjects in East Asian paintings often include animals, people, landscapes, and environmental elements.
• Specific themes of Chinese painting include flowers and birds, landscapes, palaces, temples, human figures, and bamboos and stones.
• Japanese painting frequently depicts scenes of everyday life and narrative scenes with many details.
• Korean painting features landscapes, Minhwa (Korean folk paintings), the Four Gracious Plants (plum blossoms, orchids, chrysanthemums, wild orchids), bamboo, and portraits.
• Landscape painting was highly valued in Chinese art.
• The harmony of nature, heaven, and humankind are integral concepts in East Asian art.
• Silk was a common painting medium, though expensive; paper, invented by Cai Lun in the 1st century AD, made painting more accessible.
• Calligraphy is closely related to painting in Chinese art.
• Traditional East Asian painting techniques involve brushes and inks; oils are not commonly used.
• The earliest known Chinese writing symbols (logographs) were etched onto animal shoulder bones and tortoise shells. This script is called jiaguwen, or shell-and-bone script.
• The legendary inventor of Chinese writing, Cangjie, is believed to have derived ideas from observing animals and nature.
• East Asian temples and homes feature sweeping roofs to protect against water, wind, and fire, and to ward off evil spirits.

Types of Roofs in Traditional Chinese Architecture

• There are three major roof types in traditional Chinese architecture:
  • Straight inclined - economical for common structures
  • Multi-inclined - used for residences of wealthy families, with two or more inclined sections
  • Sweeping - typically found in temples and palaces, characterized by curved roofing at the corners.

Woodblock Printing

• Woodblock printing is a technique for printing texts, images, and patterns in East Asia.
• It was an important and highly developed visual art form.
• The Japanese style of printmaking known as Ukiyo-e, meaning "pictures of the floating world," showcases harmony and carefree everyday life.
• Woodblock prints include various media, initially a domain of the elite (upper classes and royalty), then adopted by the common people.
• Ukiyo-e art was frequently depicted in different media, such as paintings and print, and was accessible to the people.

Face Painting in East Asian Performing Arts

• Painting on faces is a characteristic part of performances such as Kabuki (Japan) and Peking Opera (China).
• Facial makeup in Peking Opera (Jingju Lianpu) varies by character type (hero, villain, or other roles).
• Simple colors are typically used for heroes, while villains and other characters have more complex designs.
• Facial makeup is a form of storytelling and conveys character traits and historical context in a performance, such as treachery, courageousness, or loyalty.

Korean Masks

• Korean masks, called tal or t'al, are primarily of religious origin.
• Mask colors are integral: Black, red, and white establish age and role; half-red, half-white masks represent individuals with two fathers; and dark-faced masks signal an adulterous birth.

Paper Arts

• Paper was first invented in China during the Eastern Han Dynasty by Cai Lun.
• Early uses included patterns for lacquers, and decorations for homes.
• "Window Flowers," or paper cuttings, are a decorative art form in China.
• Paper folding, or origami, originated in Japan.
• Paper kites are another form of Chinese paper art, with various styles and categories.
• Traditional Chinese funerals sometimes involved burning folded paper symbolizing gold ingots or sycee (a type of silver or gold currency) as symbols of prosperity.

Knot Tying Art Forms

• Knot tying is an art form known as Maedeup or Dorae in Korea, and Hanamusubi in Japan.
• It's often presented in braided and intertwined patterns, emphasized as individual knots in Japan and as double connections in Korea.
• These decorative knottings began as folk art during the Tang and Song Dynasties.