A guardian king, Heian period (794–1185), approx. 900–1000. Japan. Wood. The Avery Brundage Collection, B67S1.
Students will: 1.) examine the Hindu tradition of pookolam—a three-dimensional threshold art using flowers; 2.) research the harvest festival of Onam celebrated in the southwestern state of Kerala, India; 3.) create an auspicious flower decoration in celebration of Onam
A video tour of the Asian Art Museum’s collection galleries highlighting ceramics, jades, bronzes, paintings, and Buddhist arts representing some six thousand years of Chinese culture and tradition. Filmed in former museum location (prior to 2003) in Golden Gate Park. Presented by Brian Hogarth.
These resources support artworks and topics highlighted in the 2015–16 India-focused Academic Decathlon.
Asian Art Museum Storyteller, Liz Nichols, tells a Japanese story about Amaterasu, the sun goddess, in the museum's Japan galleries.
Buddhism has deeply influenced the character and evolution of Asian civilization over the past 2,500 years. It is based on the teachings of a historical figure, Siddhartha Gautama, who lived around the fifth century BCE. As it moved across Asia, Buddhism absorbed indigenous beliefs and incorporated a wide range of imagery, both local and foreign, into its art and religious practices. Buddhism continues to evolve as a religion in many parts of the world.
Buddhism was officially transmitted to Japan in 525, when the monarch of the Korean kingdom of Baekje sent a mission to Japan with gifts, including an image of the Buddha, several ritual objects, and sacred texts. Buddhism's journey from India to China, Korea, and Japan had taken about a thousand years.
Islam is one of the world’s major religions. It shares with Judaism and Christianity a belief in a single god. The Arabic name for God is Allah. The word Islam means “surrender (to God).” The followers of Islam are called Muslims, which in Arabic means “one who surrenders to God.”
Professor Robert Sharf, University of California, Berkeley, discusses Japanese Buddhism at the Medieval Japan Teacher Institute at the Asian Art Museum.
Buddhism became the official religion of one of Korea's early kingdoms in 372, after a priest arrived from China with Buddhist images and scriptures. From the time of its introduction it had the enthusiastic support of the rulers and the aristocracy. By the middle of the 500s, Buddhism had been officially accepted by all three kingdoms that reigned in Korea at that time.
