Preview

Informative Essay: The Role Of Religion In Ancient Chinese Art

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
550 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Informative Essay: The Role Of Religion In Ancient Chinese Art
Informative Essay

Did you know that the Chinese consider their handwriting an art form? Their handwriting wasn't the only thing that affected Ancient Chinese art though. Chinese art was also greatly affected by religion at the time. Another factor that was important to Chinese Art was literature. Additionally, location was as well a very important component to how art was produced in Ancient China. Chinese Art had several components that had affected their art significantly, which led to how art is created today in China.
Religion
There were many things that affected Chinese art, one of these things was religion. One of the most influential religions at the time was Buddhism. According to “Chinese Art” by The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., “The advent of Buddhism (1st cent AD) introduced art of a different character.”(8)Chinese Art forms were now much more religious than they had been before. A quote from, “Chinese Art” by The Encyclopedia, 6th ed., states, “Works of
…show more content…
China is located on the Eastern side of the Earth, and the Western side of the world has differed from China’s style of art for a long time. According to “Chinese Cultural Studies” by Compton's Living Encyclopedia, “Chinese painting developed a distinctive style that differs greatly from western painting.”(2) Landscapes are painted often, and painted with productive brush strokes, paintings are also of a more abstract nature (Chinese Cultural Studies). Artists on the Western side of the world’s paintings are very different compared to the Eastern style of painting. However the Chinese did in fact have a large influence on other cultures. A quote from “Chinese Art” by Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., states, “The influence of Chinese art upon other cultures has been profound.”(22) This influence has even had an effect upon cultures like Islam. To summarize, China’s location was a big deal in the production of Chinese

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    The two ways are in paintings. Some Chinese paintings focus on a small natural subject, just as a bird or plant, close up. This technique is used to draw into emphasis to the beauty of the small and often overlooked. Another painting technique used to emphasise teachings of Daoism is the use of empty space in long distance landscapes. The intent is to make the scene continue to the infinite. Within Chinese poetry, a common subject matter is simplicity, and focusing on harmony with nature. Also, as Daodejing and Zhuangzi contained a significant amount of poetry, poets after have used poetry to examine and develop the theme and messages contained within the books. Finally, Daoism has had a direct influence on the art of Chinese garden design. The house represents the yang, with emphasis on the straight lines and square designs. For this reason, Chinese gardens are designed as the complementary yin, focusing on circular designs, curved lines, and naturally flowing…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    China has been the home to various religions. At different times different dynasties endorsed certain religions while repressing others. While Buddhism flourished during the Sui and Tang dynasty, it faced opposition from the government during the Song dynasty. Confucianism lost government endorsement during the Sui and Tang but gained momentum during the Song as Neo-Confucianism. Yuan dynasty promoted Islam and Tibet Buddhism but ignored Confucianism. Different rulers sponsored and protected different religions but Confucianism and some form of Buddhism have always been alive in Chinese society from 600 to 1450.…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    CCOT Song and Tang

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Early Tang Empire had a brilliant emperor Li Shimin who focused on extending his power westward into Inner Asia. Today in China the emperor, or more so dictator, does not try and expand his empire in any directions but instead sits and leaves his country at its size it is at now. Early Tang Empire also had different battle tactics than the Chinese today who use more modern tactics than horsemen and bowmen. The Song Empire happen to have made many great strides in the arts of measurement, observation and drawing on the work of Indian and West Asian mathematicians and astronomers who had migrated to the Tang Empire. Today the Chinese only mass produce items and are not to involved with the whole ground breaking new and improved ideas anymore. The Song were all into the Confucian ideas and making up new interpretations of Confucian’s teachings. As of now the Chinese mainly just make up the words of Budda, folk religions, and the silly idea that there is no god at all.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The spread of Buddhism in China seemed to be positively looked upon, for the most part, by the people of China. The spreading of Buddhism was not a short event. In fact, Buddhist influence was brought to China by the first century C.E and continued to expand for several centuries. The Chinese had different reactions to this, some positive, some negative.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In many cultures, the artwork within does not vary much during the same time period. In the Chinese culture, there are two types of paintings; the Chinese court paintings and the Chinese literati paintings. While these two types of paintings have some similarities they also have many differences. Two paintings that are very diverse but were done during the same time period are Shen Zhou's, Poet on a Mountaintop and Yin Hong's, Hundreds of Birds Admire the Peacocks. These two paintings contrast in visual appearances, meaning, and how they were produced.…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout ancient China, there were many dynasties that were set up. After one would collapse another one would soon arise and take its place. Because of this there were many different beliefs and government ideas on how China should be run. Some of the dynasties used each other’s ideas, but made them better so they succeeded this time. The two dynasties we will be looking at are the Han and Yuan dynasties. During the Han and Yuan dynasties, religious played a major part in their culture, government, and politics.…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After reviewing the given documents, it is clear that the response to Buddhism was positive at earlier time periods in China (220 CE – 570 CE) because there was political instability and disunity and as soon as the imperial structure was restored (570 CE), the responses to Buddhism became generally negative. During the time of instability and disunity Scholars wrote about how they lived by the “Four Noble Truths” and how they accepted Buddhism even though it wasn’t talked about in the Confucian Classics. But when structure was restored Buddhism was described as a cult of barbarians and many believed it should be eradicated altogether.…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chinese Art Influence

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The religion inflence and change historical events and history through out the world. Confuciansim and Buddhism were essential foundations of Chinese art. This is because the unique thoery of religions create the new innovation of Chinese art. Confuciansim and Buddhism were spread out to the all the Asian countries, and they have similar culture and affectiveness. However, the greatest art of the history is China because you are able to experience and see their Confuciansim and Buddhism arts directly from everywhere in China.…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Unlike post-Reformation Europe, the Chinese were good in avoiding the sectarian and religious warfare that the European Empire ran into. Unlike religions in Europe, there was little distinction between the Daoist, Buddhist, or other local cults in China. Unlike the Europeans, the Chinese believed in cosmetic unity and the fact that there was no Supreme Being that favored one group of people over…

    • 1159 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Religion In The 1500s

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Chinese were tolerant to other religions but also had the ability to control their influence. The most widely practiced belief in China was Confucianism, an ideology that shaped the social structure throughout China and guided the feudalistic society. Although the Chinese government allowed the practices of other beliefs, they required immense knowledge and strong understanding of Confucianism with the Civil Service Exam, an exam that determined your future. By requiring this exam, the Chinese government was restricting the people’s freedom to fully preach and practice another religion. Any other religions that were practiced in China including Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and more were not at all a threat to the Chinese because they had such a stable and longstanding government.…

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this essay I will describe the three main religions of Ancient China. Although they are not that much alike they do have some similarities. There were three major religions in ancient china, Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The popularity of Buddhism in China c. 220 CE was due to its positive reception in the large peasant class. However; emperors and aristocrats found themselves threatened by the relaxed Buddhist teachings that undermined the authority of the pro-Confucian government and weakened peasant work ethic. Although the anti-Buddhist opinions of high-ranking officials in the 3rd-6th centuries of China should be taken into consideration, a peasant-written document highlighting the benefits of Buddhism in contrast to the defensive viewpoints taken by emperors and aristocrats would be helpful in analyzing the true extent of Buddhism’s popularity in China.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Not everyone in Ancient China saw the positive appeal of Buddhism. Han Yu was a Confucian scholar. He was completely against Buddhism and believed that the people of Ancient China shouldn’t honor this belief system. According to Yu “If these practices are not stopped, there will be those in the crowd who will cut off their arms and mutilate their flesh in offering to the Buddha.” Based on this statement, Yu believed Confucianism was right for China; he believed that Buddhism would only cause more problems for Ancient China. He believed this because he was…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Cultural Revolution was an important era for China, both artistically and socially. Not only did ideals and government structures change and evolve during this period, but also propaganda, artwork, and figurines dominated and evolved as well.…

    • 1486 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chinese Calligraphy

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Calligraphy has its own way to show the beauty through Chinese Characters, not only the long history and different types of it, but also way to write it is very attractive. There’s no denying that Chinese Calligraphy is one the most interesting art forms, and it’s known by many different people all over the world.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays