Early Chinese and Japanese Civilizations
I. Religion in China.
A. Folk Religion.
1. Divination (necromancy).
2. Sacrifice.
3. Ancestral spirits.
4. Nature/local spirits (shen and guei).
5. Shang Ti ("god on high").
6. T'ien Ming ("the mandate of heaven").
B. Confucianism (“in business”).
C. Daoism (“in retirement”).
D. Buddhism (“on one's deathbed”).
II. Historical Periods.
A. Shang Dynasty (1765 - 1120 BCE).
B. Zhou (Chou) Dynasty (1100 - 220 BCE).
1. “Warring States Period” (last 500 years of Zhou).
2. Confucius born in 551 BCE.
C. Shang and Zhou ritual bronzes.
III. Basic Elements of Confucian Thought.
A. Deliberate Tradition: “How can you serve the gods? You have yet to learn how to serve one another” (Analects 11.11).
1. Ren- “human-heartedness;” the ideal relationship is an event, not a “thing.”
2. Chun Tze- “the noble person;” the ideal relational partner.
3. Li- “ritual propriety;” traditionally in reference to ritual procedures, but Confucius adds to this the idea of human relation: human relation is in itself a ritual act. Li is the unrelenting attention to the immediacy of the ever-evolving human experience of interrelation. Thus, human beings are better thought of as "human becomings."
a. "The expression 'sacrifice as though present' is taken to mean 'sacrifice to the spirits as though the spirits are present.' But the Master said, 'If I myself do not participate in the sacrifice, it is as though I have not sacrificed at all' " (Analects 3.12).
b. “Someone remarked, `Who says that old man knows the classical rites? When he goes to the great shrine he asks about everything.' Hearing of this, Confucius said, `This is part of the ritual' ” (Analects 3.15).
4. De- “power by moral example;” a leader should rule by example, not oppressive force.
5. Wen- “the arts of peace;” music, painting poetry, but also an aesthetic attitude toward life as a whole.
B. The Rectification of Names (Tien Ming): “If language is not in accordance with the truth of things, then affairs cannot be carried out to success. . .” (Analects 13.3).
1. The Five Constant Relationships:
a. Spouse - Spouse.
b. Parent - Child.
c. Older - Younger Siblings.
d. Older - Younger Friends.
e. Ruler - Subject (extensions?).
2. Xiao ("filial piety"): “Observe a man's aspirations while his father is still alive; observe his actions after his father passes away. If he does not change his father's way for three years, then he can be called filial” (Analects 1.11).
C. Confucianism: right doing leads to right being.
IV. Basic Elements of Daoist Thought.
A. Lao Tze (if he existed) born in 604 BCE; author of the Dao De Zhing (“The Way and its Power”).
B. Dao (“path” or “way”) is understood as:
1. The Way of ultimate reality: the transcendent Dao.
2. The Way of the universe: the immanent Dao.
a. “The way can be a guide, but not a fixed path; names can be given, but not permanent labels. Nonbeing is called the beginning of heaven and earth; being is called the mother of all things.” (1)
b. “The way is unimpeded harmony; its potential may never be fully exploited. . . I don't know whose child it is, before the creation of images.” (4)
C. De (“power”) is understood as:
1. Philosophical Daoism and Efficient power: power that is manifested by not expending one's resources on useless or draining activities (“the greatest return for the least expense”); examples: martial arts, relaxation techniques.
a. “. . . When the potter's wheel makes a pot, the use of the pot is precisely where there is nothing. . .”(11).
b. “The one who knows doesn't speak; the one who speaks doesn't know. . .” (56).
2. Religious Daoism and Augmented power: power that is “tapped,” thereby increasing the flow of energy (“ch'i”); the more it is drawn upon, the more it flows; alchemical practices (ancient), acupuncture, tai ch'i chuan.
D. The Philosophical Daoist principle of Wu Wei (“actionless action”); related the idea of de as efficient power; acting in accordance with the Dao.
1. “Western theatre is all action; Asian theatre is what happens between the actions.”
2. “Act without acting. Serve without serving. Taste without tasting.” (63)
3. Nothing in the world is softer or weaker than water, but nothing is superior to it in overcoming the hard and the strong.” (78)
E. The Yin and the Yahng: the fundamental ch'i of the universe; they are not opposing (as in a dualism) as much as complementary. Each is necessary for, or at least a resulting concurrency of, the other.
1. The Yin: negative, cold, dark, female, lunar, winter, moisture (from the north).
2. The Yahng: positive, light, male, solar, summer, dryness (from the south).
3. In fine arts, in sports, in nature, in cooking, in life, the relational tension of unresolved forces is creative-- it is ever so much more interesting than resolution.
F. Daoism: right being leads to right doing.
V. The Qin (Chin) Dynasty (221-206 BCE)
A. The mausoleum of Chin Shi Huang Di
B. The Great Wall
VI. The Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE)
A. Confucianism as state religion (and continues to serve as societal basis of education, etc.).
B. The "Silk Road" trade route and intercultural connection between East and West
1. Hellenistic influence in India (cf. Kushan Period Buddha images)
2. Buddhism from India to China: how does China absorb and assimilate a "foreign" tradition? First Chinese written reference to Buddhism: 65 CE
a. Wu-Wei and Nirvana; Yoga and the Dao.
b. The Mahayana perspective.
c. Ancestors and Boddhisattvas.
d. Some held that Lao Tze himself had gone to China and became the Buddha.
VII. The "Six Dynasties" Period (220-589 CE).
A. Buddhism in Northern China.
B. Buddhism in Southern China.
VIII. The Sui Dynasty (589-618 CE): political unity re-established.
IX. The Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE).
A. Development of a truly Chinese Buddhism(s)
1. Indigenous Chinese harmony over imported Indian paradox.
2. Buddhism for the common people: Pure Land and Chan.
a. The "Ox-Taming Pictures."
B. The Great Persecution of Buddhism (845 CE).
X. The Sung Dynasty (960-1279 CE).
A. Neo-Confucianism
1. Li: the natural order of things, divine principle.
B. Painting as a Reflection of Chinese Religious Consciousness (Confucian, Neo-Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist).
1. The hanging scroll.
a. Essentially vertical, often very large in dimensions, to shape and animate the expansive space of an empty wall. Very public.
2. The handscroll.
a. Essentially horizontal, unrolled from right to left, revealing a brocade border, the title of the work, then the painting itself, followed by a number of di ba, or reflective comments-- like signing a guest book. The scroll presents a long series of individual vignettes, a progressive experience of continuous images, not unlike a filmstrip. Very private.
XI. Japan.
A. Shinto (Kami no michi): "the way of the gods."
1. Buddhism enters Japan from China via Korea: 6th century CE.
2. Japanese identity vs. Chinese influence.
3. The Kojiki: "The Chronicles of Ancient Events" (the mythological origins of Japan: first written form appears in 712 CE, written in Chinese).
a. Indigenous Japanese identity, in response to influx of foreign ideas and religions.
4. The Kami.
a. Izanami and Izanagi-- the original kami.
a. Amaterasu (the sun goddess).
5. Shrine pilgrimage.
B. The Heian Period (794-1185 CE).
1. The "Japanization" of imported Chinese culture.
2. Literature: The Tale of Genji.
a. "The art of the melancholy:" mono no aware
3. Visual Art.
a. Characteristics of the Heian handscroll (emaki).
C. The Kamakura Period (1185-1333 CE).
1.The Samurai ("one who serves").
a. Bushido, or "the way of the warrior." What it is and what it isn't.
2. A rebirth of Shinto (with Confucian overtones).
3. Zen Buddhism and intuitive enlightenment: the practice of presentness.
4. The Way of Tea.
5. The Rock Garden (kare sansui, or "dry landscape").
D. Excerpt from Akira Kurusawa's "Dreams."