Resources

In this video, Buddhist monk artists, Seol-min (formerly known as Jae-u) and Myung Chun discuss Korean Buddhist art and paint the Guardian King of the West, which is now in the Asian Art Museum’s collection. This video also includes footage from a symbolic “eye-opening” ceremony, which took place at the museum on December 20, 2003.

Virudhaka (Japanese: Zochoten), Buddhist Guardian King of the South and Dhritarashtra (Japanese: Jikokuten), Buddhist Guardian King of the East. Heian Period (794-1185), approx. 950-1000. Japan. Wood and pigments. The Avery Brundage Collection, B6S318+.

Gourd-shaped incense container, 1625–1675. Attributed to Nonomura Ninsei (active 1625–1675). Japan; Kyoto. Kyoto ware, stoneware with underglaze iron-oxide decoration. Museum Purchase, B74P5.

This Goddess image appears in a niche on one side of the main structure of the great Shiva Nataraja (Dancing Shiva) a temple in Chidambaram, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Learn more.

Kabuki scholar Laurence Kominz discusses a woodblock print of a Kabuki actor and courtesan depicted in a scene from the famous Japanese epic The Tale of Genji.

Background information on the Hindu deity, Ganesha, and Hindu architecture.

Futon cover with turtles and family crest, Meiji period (1868-1912). Japan. Indigo-dyed cotton with stencil-applied and hand drawn paste-resist (tsutsugaki) decoration. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Newsom, B74M3.

Fudo Myoo (the Immovable One) is one of the powerful deities known as the Five Bright Kings in Japanese Buddhism and folk religion. As a manifestation of the central cosmic Buddha Mahavairochana (Japanese: Dainichi), Fudo is believed to protect Buddhism and its true adherents. Like all Bright Kings, Fudo assumes a frightening form, with a sword in his right hand and a rope in his left. He sits in front of a swiring flame of fire, with which he purifies evil.

Fresh water jar, approx.1573–1615. Japan; Mie prefecture. Iga ware, stoneware with natural ash glaze. Museum Purchase, B68P4.

Fresh water jar in the form of a wooden bucket, 1625–1635. Made in China for Japanese patrons. Porcelain with underglaze blue. Asian Art Museum, Gift of Roy Leventritt, B69P95L.