What is the significance of the Asuka Period in the history of Japanese art?

In the history of Japanese art, the Hidetori era, is an epoch-making and important period. The carvings of the Hidetori era reflect the mastery of the artists. In the history of Japanese art, the Hidetori era is an important period of epoch-making significance. A look at the tradition of sculpture in the Asuka Period reveals that the art of sculpture, like its sister arts of painting and architecture, was composed of complex elements.

Specifically, there was a combination of Western art, which contained styles from India, the Sassanids, and the Eastern Roman Empire, and Northern and Southern art, which had a Han Chinese flavor. One of them formed the art of the Sui Dynasty, and the other, after flowing into Korea, spread further to Japan and formed the art of the Asuka Period. Thus, it can be seen that the art of carving was introduced to Japan from Korea during the Asuka Period, and that it was nurtured and flourished on this basis. However, there were also some influences from the Sui Dynasty.

In any case, the Japanese people in the Bird's-eye era believed in Buddhism as a new religion, and expressed their devotion to Buddhism by borrowing the art form of sculpture from the West. This is an undisputed fact. There are deep-rooted elements of Oriental art here. This is also indisputable. The formation of the art of flying bird carving is on the same path as the formation of the art of Gandhara carving in India. Therefore, it is necessary for the author to talk about the history of the development of carving in ancient India here.

This work is not useless. The pillars built by Ashoka have carvings. This is probably the oldest Indian carving work. These columns are rounded single stone rods with decorated capitals. The column heads were decorated with pediments that had relief carvings. The carvings on the pediment are animals or animal symbols or a combination of both.

On the whole, the carvings are vigorous and skillful. In particular, the animals carved on it are quite realistic and have a frenetic feeling, possessing enough value to guide the art of carving for future generations. The creativity of the Ashoka Stonehenge carvings was clearly influenced by the sculptural art of Persia and Assyria. These influences continued through the carvings of Bukharhut and Sanjay up to the 5th century. But the carvings themselves are Indian carvings.

The Indian artists, though borrowing foreign concepts of sculptural art, assimilated these artistic concepts completely into Indian sculptural art and made it their own. Moreover, statues from the same period and elements of sculptural art from other countries are preserved in it. Among the relics of the 2nd century B.C., there is a stone hooked fence from Buharhut. It is intriguing with elaborate relief carvings on it. However, these works are dwarfed by the carvings of Bukhalkhut and Sangi.

Buharhut has the Pawn Tappa. The Pawn Tapa consists of a stone hook rail and a door with beautiful carvings depicting the legend of Siddhartha Gautama. The hook rails are seven feet and one inch high and are topped with crown stones of roughly the same length. These were carved in the first part of the 2nd century BC. There are also carvings on the gate of the great Tapa at Sanjay and the art of carving is astonishingly superb.

The height of all four gates is thirty-four feet. Each gate consists of two upright square pillars fourteen feet high and three slightly curved beams of stone with various statues and symbols. The surface of both sides expresses the legend of Siddhartha Gautama, with reliefs carved on them, all for decoration. It can be assumed that these are from the 2nd century BC.

The most common symbols in each of these places and other Buddhist shrines are the elephant, the tree, the wheel and the pawn tappa. These things were chosen because these symbolize the true essence of Buddhism. Legend has it that Siddhartha Gautama's birth mother, Mrs. Moya, dreamed of an elephant descending from the sky and gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama. The elephant is also the symbol of Sakyamuni. The tree is the Bodhi tree. It was under the shade of the Bodhi tree that Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment. The Dharma wheel symbolizes Sakyamuni's preaching.

The Pawn Tapa is Sakyamuni's attainment of the great Nirvana through death, a form of expressing a state of transcendental quietude. Also most notable is the fact that although these ancient Indian carvings show Siddhartha Gautama's attainment of Buddhahood, Siddhartha Gautama himself does not appear in the carvings. It was only when the Greek art of sculpture came to India that the physical gesture of Siddhartha appeared in fine art. Greek art taught Indians to open their physical eyes to see the sacred.

However, the entry of Greek art into India came in later times. There is a charm in ancient Buddhist carvings. This charm was not only in the richness of decoration and skillfulness of technique, but also in the instincts that carried with them the ebb and flow of feeling and the joy of being alive. There is a resolute and bold atmosphere expressed in the carvings of Bukhalkhut. The carvings show this compassionate heart full of warmth and the carvings belong to the higher Buddhist art. Then came the carvings of the Gandhara school, which was bound by a few moments of the spirit of Shankara and was not fully expressed.

The art of Indian sculpture has seen varying degrees of development. There is a resemblance to the light-hearted atmosphere and symbolism as a totem of worship expressed in the stone figures, stone horses, and clay dolls which were inherent in Japan before the introduction of Buddhism into the country. The art of dark carving in ancient India was influenced by Persia and Assyria. The influence of the Hun and Turkic art of carving can also be seen in ancient Japanese carving. In this respect there is a similarity between India and Japan. Barnett, who is well versed in the ancient history of India, believes that Indian art was influenced by Greece.

This is known as the Gandhara school of Greek Indian style. The details are as follows: "The Gandhara school emerged in the 1st century B.C. Between 50 and 250 years, the art of Gandhara sculpture reached a high degree of sophistication. The center of the rise of this school was the Gandhara region on the northwestern border of India. Many carvings remain in the Gandhara region.

Gandhara school of art is based on the ancient style of India to add the elements of Greek sculpture, and then the spiritual essence of Indian and Greek sculpture gradually assimilated, and finally integrated, and achieved a perfect fusion. The Buddhists of North India applied the art of the Gandhara School as a medium for the expression of lofty ideals. Specifically. They used the art of the Gandhara School for painting and sculpture. These arts of painting and sculpture traveled through Central Asia to China, Korea and Japan."

In a sense, the art of sculpture in Japan during the Feijiao era was the germ of a seed sown in Korea, which in turn absorbed the fertilizer of the Sui dynasty and thrived. But the author believes that if you trace the roots, or should be in the Gandhara region of India. The author believes that the roots of Japanese sculpture in the Asuka Era were further afield in Syria, Greece, the Eastern Roman Empire, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. This is the system and nature to which the Japanese sculptural art of the Hijiki period belongs.

Japanese art of the Asuka Period was characterized as "cosmopolitan", in other words, "fellow citizens of the four seas". The author has already mentioned this point. In order to pursue truth, goodness, and beauty, the Japanese artists of the Asuka Era were free from racial prejudice, transcended the concept of borders, and did not have time to consider whether their artistic thinking was based on the spirit of Japan's inherent nature or whether they were bound by foreign customs. The Japanese artists of the Asuka Era simply created works based on their keen artistic senses of the time.

This artistic feeling was driven by a strong Buddhist faith. The Japanese artists of the Asuka Era did not have the idea of following tradition or imitating a certain archetype, but simply concentrated on their artistic creation with total selflessness. Of course, there was an element of imitation, as well as an element of following tradition. Even though we can still see elements of the original methods and archetypes in these works, once these elements are incorporated into their minds, the impression they leave on the outside world is no longer that of mere imitation and following. The epoch-making status and value as art of the times will shine through there.

In this way, the art of the Asuka Era had a special character that could not be seen in the art of other eras. This specificity is the essence of the art of the Hatori era, "cosmopolitanism". cosmopolitanism". The author believes that this specificity is represented by what art historians refer to as the Asuka pattern. The author discusses the concept of "cosmopolitanism" in Japanese art of the Asuka Period by examining the position of the Asuka pattern in the history of world art.

The author's three esteemed doctors of engineering, Ito, Tsukamoto, and Sekino, have often studied various issues in art history. They have an eye for craftsmanship, which has led them to make a number of special discoveries. These discoveries tell us the value and system of Japanese art in the Hijiki era and its position in the world. Dr. Ito has written scholarly papers on the Hijiki patterns. Although the number is small, the quality is quite noteworthy.

Dr. Ito states, "In the surface decorative arts, the most important motifs are drawn horizontally and horizontally with countless lines, and are painted freely with an infinite number of colors, and the result appears at first glance to be very different and unrelated to each other, but if they are sorted out and classified in terms of a system, they are outlined and can be traced back to the root. It turns out that there are very few archetypes, and it can be found that their origins are Egypt and Assyria. This is incredible. Japanese tattoos have inherited the mantle of this system." Dr. Ito with his foresight made an examination regarding the flying bird pattern.