The Art of Asia:

Characteristics, architecture and culture

Characteristics

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.