Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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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.
Elementary School (4-5),Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12)
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The earliest surviving representations of the Buddha date from hundreds of years after his death, so they are not portraits in the usual sense. Buddha images vary greatly from place to place and period to period, but they almost always show these conventional features . . .
Elementary School (4-5),Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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“Asia” is a term invented by the Greeks and Romans, and developed by Western geographers to indicate the land mass east of the Ural Mountains and Ural River, together with offshore islands such as Japan and Java.
Elementary School (4-5),Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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The Buddha—that is, the “Enlightened One”—lived nearly 2500 years ago in northern India. His followers have always seen his life as a shining example to all, but what “really happened” is now impossible to know for certain. Even the earliest stories of his life include miraculous events that may seem hard to take literally. Later versions are even more elaborate, and they differ from one another in many details.
Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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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.”
Elementary School (4-5),Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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Balinese stories are continually told and retold. Tales such as the Ramayana are mainly spread through storytelling, shadow plays, masked dance, chants, and other theatrical genres. Learn more.
Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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For more than a thousand years Indonesians have used wayang theater as a method of addressing the conundrums of life. The lively puppet traditions of South and Southeast Asia have portrayed epic stories that shrank the cosmos down to a miniature world. The vast expanse of the earth could symbolically be reduced to the few feet of a puppet stage. The puppeteer’s lamp became the sun, throwing light on myriad creatures who, in their nobility or baseness, make up the world.
Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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Over the centuries, two main branches of Buddhism emerged: a transmission that traveled to Southeast Asia, and a transmission that evolved in East Asia. A further offshoot of the northern transmission also developed. All three branches began in India, and developed further as they moved across Asia.
Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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Only in the past sixty years has “Southeast Asia” been used to refer to the region comprising modern-day Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines. Learn more.
Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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The term for puppetry, wayang, comes from the Indonesian word for shadow bayang. Wayang kulit, shadow puppetry using figures made from water buffalo hide, is considered to be the oldest freestanding puppet form; the earliest references to it date from the 800s.
Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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The primary goal of the Conservation department at the Asian Art Museum is to preserve the museum’s collection for future generations. This goal is achieved through a number of activities including controlling the surrounding environment, performing conservation treatment, and researching fabrication methods and deterioration processes.
Elementary School (4-5),Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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Wayang performances are a kind of blessing bestowed on special events such as circumcisions, weddings, celebrations of the ancestors, and other rites of passage and public events.
Elementary School (4-5),Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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The Southeast Asian country of Indonesia consists of more than 17,000 tropical and volcanic islands that straddle the equator between the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Elementary School (4-5),Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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The dalang (puppet master) is a master musician, an epic storyteller, a dancer of dolls, a comic wonder, a deep philosopher, and a political pundit all rolled into one; some dalangs have the power to do exorcisms and other traditional ceremonies. In essence, a conduit of the knowledge embedded in the traditional epics of wayang (puppet theater), the dalang connects the community with its cultural history and with the spirit world.
Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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Hinduism has a number of holy texts or scriptures. The best known are two epic poems, the Ramayana (Story of Rama) and the Mahabharata (The Great Chronicle of the Bharata Dynasty). How did the Story of Rama reach Southeast Asia? The religions of Hinduism and Buddhism (and, later, Islam), with their related literatures, were carried to Southeast Asia by merchants and pilgrims. Learn more.
Elementary School (4-5),Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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The figures of wayang golek can be divided into five main character types: refined, semirefined, strong, emotionally uncontrolled, and special. A character type is indicated through the facial features and shape of the body.
Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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Hachiman is one of the most important deities in Shinto tradition. He serves as a protector of the nation and a sort of patron saint of warriors. He is the deified spirit of the legendary Emperor Ojin, who is supposed to have lived some sixteen hundred years ago.
Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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While there is no one text or creed that forms the basis of all Hindu beliefs, several texts are considered fundamental to all branches of Hinduism. Learn more.
Elementary School (4-5),Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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Through the centuries poets, performers, and artists have ended their versions of the Rama epic in various ways. The endings fall into two main traditions, one stopping on a high note of triumph, reunification, and the prospect of well-being for all, and the other continuing with a tangled and sad extension.
Elementary School (4-5),Middle School (6-8),High School (9-12),College and Beyond
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Why is the epic of Rama a beloved tale in many cultures across South and Southeast Asia? Explore how this story and its characters has remained significant in the lives of millions even today.