Arts of Asia Course Book PDF

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3 ART HISTORY 290 STAFF: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR SANDY KITA. OFFICE: ART/SOCIOLOGY BUILDING, ROOM 4225. (301) 405 8363 TAs: TA NAME HERE TA NAME HERE TA NAME HERE TA NAME HERE TAs’ OFFICE HOURS AND LOCATION NOTED ON THEIR SYLLABI. GRADING POLICY THERE IS A MIDTERM AND A FINAL EXAMINATION. THE MIDTERM I...

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ART HISTORY 290 STAFF: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR SANDY KITA. OFFICE: ART/SOCIOLOGY BUILDING, ROOM 4225. (301) 405 8363 TAs: TA NAME HERE TA NAME HERE TA NAME HERE TA NAME HERE TAs’ OFFICE HOURS AND LOCATION NOTED ON THEIR SYLLABI.

GRADING POLICY THERE IS A MIDTERM AND A FINAL EXAMINATION. THE MIDTERM IS IN CLASS AND COUNTS FOR 30% OF THE GRADE (THE TA SYLLABUS, MENTIONED LATER, HAS THE DATE OF THE MIDTERM). THE FINAL IS CUMULATIVE AND COUNTS FOR 30% OF THE GRADE (SEE THE UNIVERSITY’S SCHEDULE FOR DATE). THERE IS ALSO A CLASS PROJECT, A SUMMARY OF THE COURSE LECTURES DUE AT THE TIME OF THE FINAL. IT COUNTS FOR 10% OF THE GRADE. YOUR TAs DETERMINE THE FINAL 30% OF YOUR GRADE. TAs GIVE OUT A SYLLABUS AND THEIR OWN GRADING POLICY/ THE TAs DESIGN THEIR SECTIONS SEPARATELY, SO SECTIONS MAY DIFFER IN CONTENT AND PRESENTATION. HOWEVER, ALL HAVE IN COMMON UNANNOUNCED IN-CLASS QUIZZES (A MINIMUM OF 4 BEFORE THE MIDTERM AND SOME AFTER) AND TAKEHOME WRITING ASSIGNMENTS. CLASS ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION ARE ALSO USUALLY COUNTED TOWARDS YOUR GRADE. WRITING ASSIGNMENTS MAY INVOLVE DESCRIPTION OF AN OBJECT OR SUMMATION OF KEY COURSE IDEAS. THE WRITING ASSIGNMENTS AND QUIZZES ARE THE BASIS UPON WHICH TAs AND INSTRUCTOR CONSTRUCT THE MIDTERM AND THE FINAL. THUS, BY SEEING HOW YOU DO IN THE QUIZZES AND WRITING ASSIGNMENTS, YOU SHOULD HAVE A VERY GOOD IDEA OF HOW YOU WILL DO ON THE MIDTERM. IN FACT, THE QUIZZES AND WRITING ASSIGNMENTS WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH 8 POINTS AT WHICH YOU WILL RECEIVE FEEDBACK ON YOUR PERFORMANCE IN THIS CLASS AND AT WHICH YOU CAN JUDGE HOW YOU ARE LIKELY TO DO ON THE MIDTERM AND FINAL EXAMS. SUBJECT TO YOUR TA’s APPROVAL, SOME QUIZZES AND WRITING ASSIGNMENTS CAN BE REDONE SO THAT YOU CAN IMPROVE YOUR GRADE. THIS IS NOT THE CASE FOR MIDTERM AND FINAL WHERE PERFORMANCE IS NOT SUBJECT TO READJUSTMENT IN THIS WAY. THUS, YOU SHOULD LOOK AT SECTION AS PREPARATION FOR THE BIG EXAMS. IN ALL THIS, YOU MUST WORK CAREFULLY AND CLOSELY WITH YOUR TAs SINCE THEY ARE THE FINAL JUDGES OF YOUR PERFORMANCE. THE TA IS MEANT TO WORK WITH YOU CLOSELY IN A WAY THAT THE INSTRUCTOR CANNOT. THUS, WHILE THE INSTRUCTOR AND TA DETERMINE GRADES TOGETHER, THE TA’s OPINION WEIGHS HEAVILY.

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MAKING UP MISSED EXAMS BECAUSE EXAMINATIONS ARE CONSIDERED OFFICIAL TESTS, A MISSED MIDTERM AND FINAL IS A FAILED MIDTERM OR FINAL, WINNING YOU ZERO (0) POINTS TOWARDS YOUR FINAL GRADE. THERE ARE NO MAKE-UP EXAMINATIONS. IF YOU MISS AN EXAMINATION FOR A LEGITIMATE REASON, HOWEVER, YOU CAN WRITE A MAKE-UP PAPER, BUT YOU MUST FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE OUTLINED HERE. FIRST, INFORM YOUR TA, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. SUBMIT AN EXCUSE IN WRITING TO THE INSTRUCTOR. DO THIS IN THE FORM OF A LETTER EXPLAINING WHY YOU MISSED THE EXAMINATION. INCLUDE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION (LETTER FROM THE DOCTOR, ETC.). YOU MUST MAKE A GOOD CASE FOR WHY YOU MISSED BECAUSE YOUR TA AND I WILL JUDGE WHETHER YOUR REASON IS LEGITIMATE. IF THE REASON IS JUDGED NOT LEGITIMATE, YOU HAVE FAILED THE EXAM. IF THE REASON FOR MISSING THE EXAMINATION IS JUDGED LEGITIMATE, YOU THEN HAVE PERMISSION TO WRITE A MAKE-UP PAPER. YOU MUST HAVE PERMISSION TO SUBMIT A MAKEUP PAPER. TO WRITE THE MAKE-UP PAPER, BEGIN WITH A PAPER PROPOSAL. THE PROPOSAL SHOULD BE ONE PAGE LONG, TYPED, AND SHOULD INCLUDE A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF AT LEAST 5 ITEMS. YOU CAN PROPOSE ANY TOPIC INVOLVING ASIAN CULTURE BUT YOU MUST USE SOME IDEA DEVELOPED IN CLASS. BE CREATIVE. IF YOU LIKE JAPANESE ANIME FILMS, WRITE ABOUT THAT. OR, VISIT A MUSEUM AND RESEARCH SOME OBJECT THERE. YOUR PAPER IS GRADED ON HOW THOROUGHLY YOU RESEARCHED IT AND HOW CREATIVELY YOU USED CLASS IDEAS. TO MAKE UP A MISSED MIDTERM, I RECOMMEND A PAPER OF AT LEAST 5 PAGES. FOR THE FINAL, AT LEAST 10. THE PAPER REPLACES YOUR MISSED EXAMINATION BUT DOES NOT EXCUSE YOU FROM THE CLASS PAPER OR FINAL PROJECT. YOU CAN ALSO SUBMIT A PAPER FOR EXTRA CREDIT. SEE THE INSTRUCTOR, BUT THE PROCEDURE IS ESSENTIALLY THE SAME. REQUIRED TEXT SHERMAN E. LEE, A HISTORY OF FAR EASTERN ART COURSE BOOK FOR ARTH290

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READING ASSIGNMENTS

REQUIRED READINGS SUPPLEMENT THE LECTURES AND COURSE BOOK. THEY DO NOT REPLACE THE LECTURES OR COURSE BOOK. IF YOU MISS LECTURES AND NEED TO MAKE THEM UP YOU WILL HAVE TO READ THE REQUIRED READINGS FIRST AND THEN GO TO THE RECOMMENDED WORKS AT MCKELDIN OR AT THE ART LIBRARY IN THE ART-SOCIOLOGY BUILDING. LECTURES OFTEN SUM UP POINTS THAT A BOOK WILL BRING OUT. SO, IF YOU READ A SECTION IN THE REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED READINGS THAT YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND, READ THE REST OF THE BOOK.

LECTURE GROUP I: LEARNING HOW A SCHOLAR THINKS THE CHINESE BRONZE

1: THE CHINESE BRONZE REQUIRED READINGS ARE IN BOLD: SHERMAN LEE, A HISTORY OF FAR EASTERN ART. ABRAMS: 1982, PP. 18-41 RECOMMENDED READINGS ARE IN NORMAL TYPE: RITA GILBERT, LIVING WITH ART, 5TH EDITION, 1998, PP. 3-44 WEN FONG, “THE STUDY OF CHINESE BRONZE AGE ARTS: METHODS AND APPROACHES.” THE GREAT BRONZE AGE OF CHINA, CHAPTER 2, PP. 20-34

2: THE WORLD OF THE CHINESE BRONZE MAKER LEE, PP. 42-56 MIRCEA ELIADE, RITES AND SYMBOLS OF INITIATION, HARPER TORCHBOOKS, 1965 MARTIN POWERS, ART AND POLITICAL EXPRESSION IN EARLY CHINA, YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1991, PP. 1-31

3: QIN AND HAN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE LEE, PP. 57-75 MAXWELL K. HEARN, “THE TERRACOTTA ARMY OF THE FIRST EMPEROR OF QIN (221-206 BC)” IN WEN FONG, GREAT BRONZE AGE OF CHINA, PP. 353-368 OSVALD SIREN, CHINESE PAINTING: LEADING MASTERS AND PRINCIPLES, INTRODUCTION, PP. 1-16

6 LECTURE GROUP II: LEARNING HOW SCHOLARS THINK Part 1: INDIA AND BUDDHISM

1: PREHISTORIC AND EARLY INDIAN ART LEE, PP. 76-102 A. L. BASHAM, THE WONDER THAT WAS INDIA, NEW YORK: GROVE PRESS, 1980, PP. 1-44

2: INDIAN ART FROM THE 1ST TO THE 5TH C. AD LEE, PP. 103-135 BASHAM, PP. 44-79

3: LATER INDIAN ART LEE, PP. 168-177 BASHAM, PP. 242-345

4: THE INDIAN AESTHETIC LEE, PP. 178=199 ANANDA K. COOMARASYAMY, THE TRANSFORMATION OF NATURE IN ART, DOVER PUBLICATIONS, 1956, PP. 1-59, 153-170

LEARNING HOW SCHOLARS THINK Part 2: LATER CHINESE ART

1: THE CHINESE TRANSFORMATION OF THE INDIAN AESTHETIC LEE, PP. 136-147, 252-287 LUDWIG BACHHOFER, A SHORT HISTORY OF CHINESE ART. NEW YORK, PANTHEON, 1946. POWERS, ART AND POLITICAL EXPRESSION, PP. 188-279

2: SECULAR ART IN CHINA: PAINTING IN THE TANG, SONG AND YÜAN LEE, PP. 343-375, 402-472 JAMES CAHILL, CHINESE PAINTING, SKIRA BOOKS, 1980

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LECTURE GROUP III: USING THE COURSE JAPAN

1: APPLYING OLD IDEAS TO NEW MATERIAL: INFLUENCE VS. NATIVE DEVELOPMENT IN THE STUDY OF PREHISTORIC JAPAN LEE, PP. 288-312 LANGDON WARNER, THE ENDURING ART OF JAPAN, GROVE PRESS, 1958. NOMA SEIROKU, ARTS OF JAPAN, KODANSHA, 1978, VOL. 1, PP. 9-15, 33-38 YASUTADA WATANABE, SHINTO ART: ISE AND IZUMO, HEIBONSHA SURVEY OF JAPANESE ART, 1990, PP. 27-84

2: BUDDHIST JAPAN: THE RITUALLY REAL GODS LEE, PP. 313-333 NOMA, PP. 61-66, 81-86 SEIICHI MIZUNO, ASUKA BUDDHIST ART: HORYU-JI

3: TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS AND LATER JAPANESE BUDDHIST ART (8-11TH C.) NOMA, PP. 113-119, 161-166 TAKESHI KOBAYASHI, NARA BUDDHIST ART: TODAI-JI, PP. 11-91 TOSHIO FUKUYAMA, BYODOIN AND CHUSON-JI, PP. 9-79, 140-148

4: RELIGIOUS TO SECULAR: MEDIEVAL JAPANESE ART (12-13TH C.) LEE, PP. 376-401 AKIYAMA TERUKAZU, JAPANESE PAINTING, PP. 11-19 DONALD KEENE, AN ANTHOLOGY OF JAPANESE LITERATURE, PP. 33-54 IVAN MORRIS, THE WORLD OF THE SHINING PRINCE, PANTHEON BOOKS, PP. 132-210

5: THE JAPANESE AESTHETIC LEE, 473-503 AKIYAMA, JAPANESE PAINTING, PP. 103-123 TANAKA ICHIMATSU, JAPANESE INK PAINTING, HEIBONSHA SURVEY OF JAPANESE ART, VOL. 12, PP. 9-58

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THE ARTIST’S PREFACE

THIS IS THE COMIC-BOOK VERSION OF PROF. KITA’S COURSE BOOK. THIS SEMESTER, YOU WILL HAVE THE CHOICE BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL FULL-TEXT VERSION AND THIS ONE. THIS IS A SERIOUS WORK. THE COURSE BOOK IN ITS ENTIRETY IS REPRESENTED HERE. THE IMAGES AND DIALOGUE ARE NOT JUST LEISURELY RELIEF, THEY CARRY AS MUCH OF THE CONTENT AS THE TEXT PARAGRAPHS DO. IN A SENSE, THIS COMIC-BOOK IS A METAPHOR OF PROF. KITA’S TEACHING STYLE. HIS CHRONOLOGY, WHAT HE STATES UP FRONT IN AN ORDERLY FASHION, IS COMPARABLE TO THE TEXT IN THIS BOOK. HIS ANTHOLOGY, THE THINGS HE IMPLIES AND BUILDS UP TO MAKE A POINT, ARE NOT UNLIKE THE IMAGES AND SKETCH-UPS I ADDED THROUGHOUT THE BOOK. OTHER REFERENCES TO ASIAN CULTURE MIGHT COME TO YOUR ATTENTION. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS COURSE BOOK, BUT DO NOT FORGET TO DO THE READINGS, ATTEND THE LECTURES AND STUDY. TO SUCCEED IN MAKING A COMIC-BOOK, READING OTHER COMIC-BOOKS IS NOT SUFFICIENT. LIKEWISE, TO SUCCEED IN THIS COURSE, COURSE BOOK AND TEXT BOOK ALONE ARE IN NO WAY A SUBSTITUTE FOR SERIOUS STUDY. IN ANY CASE, THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING THIS VERSION OF THE COURSE BOOK. ONE LAST THING: IF YOU ARE WONDER WHAT THE PROFESSOR MEANS WITH “BE CREATIVE,” KNOW THAT THIS COMIC-BOOK WAS A LECTURE SUMMARY FOR THIS SAME COURSE IN ITS EARLIEST AND MORE COMPACT VERSION.

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THIS IS AN EASY CLASS FOR STUDENTS WHO STUDY. IT IS VERY, VERY DIFFICULT FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT. IF YOU ARE STUDYING HARD AND HAVING TROUBLE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE SEE ME. IN THE NEXT SECTION, I WILL DISCUSS HOW THE SECTIONS OF THIS COURSE INTER-RELATE BUT I WANT TO FINISH OFF HERE WITH ONE OTHER POINT.

COURSE BOOK AND TEXT A FINAL PRELIMINARY MATTER CONCERNS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE COURSE BOOK AND THE TEXT. IN MOST OF MY INTERPRETATIVE LECTURES, I WILL GIVE YOU MORE THAN ONE INTERPRETATION, SO YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE A MEANS OF COMPARISON AND SO CRITICISM. IT IS WITH THE SAME INTENT THAT I HAVE ASSIGNED THE SHERMAN LEE TEXT. THE TEXTBOOK GIVES A DIFFERENT VIEW OF ASIAN ARTS THAN THAT WHICH I USE IN CLASS FOR THE MOST PART. I DO THIS SO YOU WILL HAVE ANOTHER VIEWPOINT THAT YOU CAN USE TO THINK ABOUT AND TO CRITICIZE THE PRINCIPAL ONE THAT I USE. THE TEXT IS ALSO USEFUL IN PROVIDING NAMES, DATES, AND OTHER FACTS YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW. BUT WHAT YOU MUST BE AWARE OF IS THAT THE TEXT IS IN NO WAY A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE LECTURE. IT IS A SUPPLEMENT. YOU CANNOT READ IT INSTEAD OF COMING TO LECTURE. SO, TOO, WITH THIS COURSE BOOK. THE COURSE BOOK IS A GOOD GUIDE TO WHAT HAPPENS IN THE LECTURE, BUT IT IS NOT THE LECTURE IN WRITTEN FORM. IT IS USEFUL WHEN YOU MUST MISS A LECTURE BUT IT IS NOT MEANT TO SERVE AS A SYNOPSIS OF THAT LECTURE. IT CAN MAKE THE SAME POINT AS A LECTURE IN A DIFFERENT WAY OR MAKE A DIFFERENT BUT RELATED POINT. AGAIN, THEN, THE COURSE BOOK WILL NOT SUBSTITUTE FOR LECTURE. THE COURSE BOOK ALSO PROVIDES SAMPLE QUESTIONS AND GUIDES ON HOW TO STUDY. KEY TO SUCCESS IN THIS CLASS, THEN, IS COMING TO LECTURE. DO NOT MISS LECTURE IF YOU WANT TO DO WELL.

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CLASS STRUCTURE AND KEY THEMES

REMEMBER, THIS CLASS IS A BROAD SURVEY OF THE ARTS OF INDIA, CHINA AND JAPAN THAT MEANS TO TEACH YOU SOMETHING FUNDAMENTAL ABOUT ART IN THESE THREE NATIONS. THUS, THE COURSE SEEKS BOTH BREADTH AND FOCUS, BUT THESE ARE CONTRADICTORY GOALS. IT IS HARD TO DO BOTH AT ONCE. INEVITABLY, SOME CLASSES SERVE ONE PURPOSE, AND OTHERS, THE OTHER. I NOTED IN THE SECTION JUST BEFORE HOW THIS CLASS HAS AN ORGANIZING THEME. THIS THEME BRINGS ALL OF THE PARTS OF THIS COURSE TOGETHER. IT GIVES FOCUS. BUT, WE CANNOT JUST CONCENTRATE ON THAT THEME IF WE ARE TO SURVEY THE ARTS OF ASIA SUFFICIENTLY BROADLY. INEVITABLY, WE MUST DIGRESS INTO OTHER AREAS. SOME CLASSES PUSH OUR THEME ALONG, THEN, AND OTHERS DO NOT. BUT, IN GENERAL, THE PATTERN IS TO ESTABLISH AT LEAST ONE FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF THE INDIAN, CHINESE, AND JAPANESE AESTHETIC TRADITION AND TO SURVEY THE ARTS OF THESE COUNTRIES WITH THAT KEY PRINCIPLE IN MIND. NOTHING HELPS US UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL NATURE OF ART IN INDIA, CHINA, AND JAPAN BETTER THAN BUDDHISM. IN INDIA AND JAPAN, AND TO A LESSER DEGREE CHINA, THE CODIFICATION OF NATIONAL ARTS FOLLOWED UPON THE CODIFICATION OF NATIVE TRADITIONS OF RELIGION. THAT, IN TURN, OCCURRED IN EACH OF THESE COUNTRIES AFTER THEIR PERIOD OF ENGAGEMENT WITH BUDDHISM. THUS, I USE BUDDHISM AS ONE FOCAL POINT AND ONE KEY ORGANIZING STRUCTURE. MY CLASS EXAMINES THE PRE-BUDDHIST PERIODS OF INDIA, CHINA AND JAPAN, THEIR BUDDHIST ERAS, AND THEN HOW BUDDHISM LED TO A CODIFICATION OF NATIVE RELIGIONS AND ART IN EACH OF THESE THREE COUNTRIES. FINALLY, I LOOK AT HOW THE NATIONAL AESTHETIC EXPRESSES ITSELF IN THE LATER SECULAR ARTS OF ALL THREE LANDS. WHY BUDDHISM PLAYED SO IMPORTANT A ROLE IN THE CODIFICATION OF NATIVE RELIGIONS AND NATIONAL IS NOT KNOWN. BUT IT IS COMMON SENSE THAT INDIA, JAPAN, AND, AGAIN TO A LESSER DEGREE CHINA, WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CODIFY THEIR NATIVE TRADITIONS OF RELIGION UNTIL THEY HAD SOMETHING DIFFERENT. HOW COULD THEY KNOW WHAT THEIR NATIVE BELIEFS WERE IF THOSE NATIVE BELIEFS WERE ALL THAT THEY HAD? THAT IS TO SAY, THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THE FOREST BECAUSE OF THE TREES. THEY REQUIRED A STANDARD OF CONTRAST—SOME MEANS OF STANDING OUTSIDE THEMSELVES—TO SEE WHAT LAY WITHIN. I LIKE THIS MODEL OF A CULTURE LOOKING OUTSIDE ITSELF TO SEE INSIDE BECAUSE THIS CLASS IS A DIVERSITY CLASS. DIVERSITY CLASSES SEEK TO GIVE YOU MUCH THIS SAME EXPERIENCE OF STANDING OUTSIDE TO SEE WITHIN. THEY SEEK TO TEACH YOU SOMETHING DIFFERENT SO THAT YOU WILL BETTER UNDERSTAND YOURSELF. YOU LEARN ABOUT ASIA, THEN, TO BE A BETTER, MORE SELF-AWARE AMERICAN. HOWEVER, BECAUSE WE ADOPT THE ABOVE MODEL FOR THIS CLASS, WE CANNOT DIVIDE ASIA UP GEOGRAPHICALLY, STARTING WITH INDIA AND THEN PROCEEDING ON TO

14 CHINA AND JAPAN. INSTEAD WE MUST HAVE A MORE COMPLICATED STRUCTURE. WHAT WE WILL DO IS START WITH CHINA, MOVE TO INDIA, AND THEN GO BACK TO CHINA, AND FINALLY PROCEED TO JAPAN. I DO THIS SO I CAN SHOW YOU HOW THE CHINESE DEVELOPED A NATIVE AESTHETIC OF THEIR OWN IN THEIR VERY, VERY EARLY BRONZE AGE. THEN, I WILL SHOW YOU HOW INDIA DEVELOPED AN AESTHETIC OF ITS OWN AND HOW THAT AESTHETIC PERMEATED THE ARTS OF BUDDHISM, WHICH ALSO DEVELOPED FIRST IN INDIA. IN ADDITION, WE WILL SEE HOW IT WAS IN CONTRAST TO BUDDHISM THAT THE INDIAN NATIVE RELIGION OF HINDUISM DEVELOPED (LOOKING OUT TO SEE IN) AND HOW THE CODIFICATION OF THE INDIAN NATIVE RELIGION LED TO THE CODIFICATION OF INDIAN CONCEPTS OF AESTHETICS, SUCH AS PRANA. THEN, WE WILL TURN BACK TO CHINA TO SEE HOW BUDDHISM AND BUDDHIST ARTS ENTERED THAT LAND. YOU WILL SEE HOW CHINESE BUDDHIST ART CAME IN THE END TO REFLECT NOT THE INDIAN AESTHETIC, BUT THE OLD CHINESE ONE OF THE BRONZES. MORE, WE WILL SEE HOW THE CHINESE CODIFIED NOT ONLY THEIR RELIGION BY LOOKING TO SOMETHING FOREIGN, BUT ALSO THEIR ARTS. FINALLY, WE WILL MOVE TO JAPAN TO SEE HOW THE JAPANESE IMPORTATION OF CHINESE ART AND BUDDHISM LED TO A CODIFICATION OF THE NATIVE RELIGION OF SHINTO AND A CODIFICATION OF THEIR NATIVE AESTHETIC OF YAMATO-E. AS WE DO THE ABOVE, THIS COURSE WILL ALSO INTRODUCE YOU TO CERTAIN METHODOLOGIES IMPORTANT IN THE STUDY OF ASIAN ART. FOR THE MOST PART, I AM CONCERNED WITH HOW ASIANS STUDY ASIAN ART, BUT THEIR METHODS ARE NOT UNIQUE AND ARE RELATED OR EQUIVALENT TO WESTERN METHODS. SO I WILL INTRODUCE THESE METHODS BY GIVING THEIR WESTERN COUNTERPARTS, SINCE THE WESTERNERS WROTE OR WERE TRANSLATED IN ENGLISH AND YOU CAN READ THEIR WRITINGS. HOWEVER, REMEMBER ALWAYS THAT ASIAN ART HISTORY IN THIS COUNTRY PRESUMES AN UNDERSTANDING OF ASIAN LANGUAGES AND IS CONDUCTED FOR THE MOST PART IN ASIAN LANGUAGES, SO THAT IT WOULD BE MUCH, MUCH MORE USEFUL FOR YOU TO READ THE ASIAN AUTHORS I MENTION IF YOU CAN. FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT IN JAPAN IS CALLED KANSHIKI EQUATES WELL WITH THE METHODS OF CONNOISSEURSHIP INTRODUCED INTO THIS COUNTRY MAINLY BY GERMAN SCHOLARS DURING THE 1950s AND 60s. THOUGH NOW CONSIDERED AN ANTIQUATED METHODOLOGY FOR THE STUDY OF WESTERN ART, THESE METHODS REMAIN ABSOLUTELY FUNDAMENTAL IN ASIA AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, IN THE AMERICAN STUDY OF ASIAN ART, AS JOHN ROSENFELD OF HARVARD RECENTLY NOTED IN HIS STATE OF THE FIELD ADDRESS. MANY OF THESE CONNOISSEURS STUDIED THE PRE-BUDDHIST PERIOD OF CHINA. INDEED, IT WAS THE GREAT CONTROVERSY OVER THE BRONZE VESSELS OF CHINA’S SHANG AND ZHOU DYNASTIES THAT FIRST ESTABLISHED ASIAN ART HISTORY IN THIS COUNTRY. THUS, WHEN WE LOOK AT THIS MATERIAL FIRST, WE ARE BEGINNING WITH THE BEGINNING OF ASIAN ART HISTORY IN AMERICA. WE WILL CONTINUE TO USE THIS METHOD OF PRESENTING METHODOLOGY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SUBJECT AS WE PROCEED THROUGH THE CLASS AS A WHOLE AND

15 EXAMINE ICONOGRAPHY, STYLISTIC ANALYSIS, MARXIST STUDIES, ETC., ETC. MORE, LOOKING AT THE BRONZE AGE OF CHINA IS A GOOD WAY TO LEARN HOW TO READ A WORK OF SCHOLARSHIP. IT CAN SHOW YOU HOW A SINGLE STATEMENT CAN HAVE MULTIPLE LAYERS OF MEANING. BY EXAMINING THE CHINESE BRONZES, WE ALSO LEARN ABOUT HOW RELIGIOUS ARTS BECOME SECULAR AND HOW AN IDEA CAN BE IMPLICIT, LONG BEFORE IT IS EXPLICIT. ONCE YOU HAVE LEARNED SOMETHING ABOUT HOW TO READ WORKS OF SCHOLARSHIP, IT IS THEN USEFUL TO CONSIDER DIFFERENT KINDS OF SCHOLARSHIP. THIS IS WHAT WE DO WHEN WE MOVE TO INDIA AND LOOK AT HOW WESTERN SCHOLARS OF THE BRITISH ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA (THE RAJ) AND INDIAN NATIONALISTS APPROACHED INDIAN ARTS DIFFERENTLY. WE DO THIS IN EXAMINING THE SCHOLARSHIP ON THE INDUS VALLEY CULTURE OF CIRCA 2300 BC. WE KNOW THIS CULTURE MAINLY FROM EXCAVATIONS. THUS, WE ALSO LEARN HERE HOW ARCHAEOLOGY AFFECTS ART HISTORY. SIMILARLY, WE DO TWO THINGS IN SEEING HOW BUDDHISM LED TO A CODIFICATION OF NATIVE RELIGION OF HINDUISM IN SURVEYING THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIAN ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE FROM THE 3RD C. BC TO THE 5TH C. AD. HINDUISM IS THE CODIFIED FORM OF THE NATIVE RELIGION. TO DISTINGUISH IT FROM ITS UNCODIFIED, EARLIER FORM ,WE CALL THE PRE-BUDDHIST NATIVE RELIGION OF INDIA “HINDUISM” BETWEEN QUOTES. WE DO THE SAME FOR “SHINTO” AND SHINTO IN JAPAN, THE CHANGE FROM ONE TO ANOTHER BEING A THEME OF OUR CLASS. IN BOTH INDIA AND JAPAN, THE CHANGE CAME JUST PRIOR TO THE FIRST NATIVE STATEMENTS ON THE NATIONAL AESTHETIC. WE CONSIDER THIS PROCESS IN INDIA WHEN WE LOOK AT THE INDIAN CONCEPT OF PRANA (THE SWELLING BREATH OF LIFE). WE FINISH WITH INDIA BY SEEING HOW PRANA APPEARS IN LATER HINDU CULTURE, SCULPTURE AND PAINTING UP TO THE 14TH C. THEN, WE RETURN TO CHINA. WE SEE HOW CHINESE BUDDHIST SCULPTURE IS MORE CHINESE THAN INDIAN. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW SCHOLARS ARGUE POINTS OF STYLE, WE SHALL SEE HOW THEY HAVE USED THEORIES ON THE MEANING OF BUDDHISM IN CHINA TO EXPLAIN THE ABOVE CHANGE IN BUDDHIST ART. THESE THEORIES STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF “INTERFLOW” IN CHINESE ART. TO SEE THE LARGER VISION THAT SCHOLARS SOMETIMES HAVE BEHIND THEIR SPECIFIC THEORIES, WE WILL LOOK AT INTERFLOW IN 9-10TH C. CHINESE FIGURE PAINTING, 11-12TH C. LANDSCAPE PAINTING, AND 13-14TH BIRD AND FLOWER PAINTING. FINALLY, WE CONSIDER THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LITERATI IN THE 15-17TH C. TO SEE HOW ART CAN BE TIED TO PHILOSOPHY AND POLITICS. WE LEAVE JAPAN FOR LAST BECAUSE IT IS, IN MANY WAYS, THE CULMINATION OF TRENDS CONSIDERED PREVIOUSLY. JAPAN IS THE BEST EXAMPLE OF A COUNTRY THAT LOOKED OUTSIDE TO SEE WITHIN. IT IS ALSO A PARTICULARLY GOOD INSTANCE OF HOW BUDDHISM CODIFIES NATIVE RELIGIONS. MORE, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BUDDHISM AND SHINTO IN JAPAN IS PARTICULARLY INTERESTING IN THAT JAPAN’S PRE-BUDDHIST RELIGION SHARED MUCH IN COMMON WITH HINDUISM. THERE IS THUS A THEORY THAT THE JAPANESE, FROM THE START, IMPLICITLY UNDERSTOOD BUDDHISM BETTER THAN

16 THEIR CHINESE TEACHERS. WE SHALL CONSIDER THIS THEORY. WE DO SO BECAUSE IT HELPS ORGANIZE OUR COURSE INTO A SINGLE BIG ARGUMENT IN WHICH CHINA CHANGES BUDDHISM SO IT CAN MOVE TO JAPAN, BUT THE JAPANESE CHANGE IT BACK TO WHAT IT WAS IN INDIA. THE JAPANESE ADOPTION OF BUDDHISM ALSO BROUGHT WRITING TO JAPAN. WE WILL CONSIDER THE QUESTION OF HOW LITERACY AFFECTS A CULTURE WHEN WE LOOK AT BUDDHIST SCULPTURE, ARCHITECTURE AND PAINTING IN 8-10 TH C. JAPAN. IN THIS TIME, THE JAPANESE CODIFIED THEIR NATIVE RELIGION. WE SHALL SEE HOW THIS LED TO THE EMERGENCE OF A NATIONAL AESTHETIC WHEN WE CONSIDER12-13TH C. JAPANESE HANDSCROLL PAINTING. WE END BY LOOKING AT 14-16TH C. IMPORTATION OF CHINESE LANDSCAPE AND INK PAINTING, AND THE REVIVAL OF JAPANESE ARTS IN 17TH C. PAINTING AND GARDENS. THESE LECTURES ALSO INTRODUCE DECONSTRUCTION, ROLAND BARTHES FINDING JAPAN A NATURALLY DECONSTRUCTED CULTURE. FINALLY, OUR LOO...