Lesson
Students analyze objects from South Asia, West Asia, and China to connect to the travel experiences of ancient merchants and traders, develop an understanding of the breadth of the land and sea trade, and explore how art and ideas travel and change over time and place.
Video
Artwork
Artwork
The Urami Waterfall in Niko, Picture of Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces, August, 1853, by Ando Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797 – 1858), Woodblock print; Ink and colors on paper, Gift of Japanese Prints from the Collection of Emmeline Johnson. Donated by Oliver and Elizabeth Johnson, 1994.48. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
Lesson
Trace the spread of Buddhism through close looking at Buddhist objects from different regions. Explore how artifacts reveal distinct local traditions as well as common ideas and motifs.
Artwork
Large plate with map of Japan, 1800-1868. Japan; Arita region, Saga prefecture. Porcelain with cobalt decoration. The Avery Brundage Collection, B72P1.
Background Information
“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.
Background Information
Much of China, a country slightly larger than the continental United States, is hilly or mountainous. To its east lies the Pacific Ocean; to its south thick jungles. Learn more.
Background Information
Scholars often refer to the Tang (618–906) and Song (960–1279) dynasties as the “medieval” period of China. The civilizations of the Tang (618–906) and Song (960–1279) dynasties of China were among the most advanced civilizations in the world at the time. Discoveries in the realms of science, art, philosophy, and technology—combined with a curiosity about the world around them—provided the men and women of this period with a worldview and level of sophistication that in many ways were unrivaled until much later times, even in China itself.
Background Information
Part of a long archipelago off the eastern rim of the Asian continent, the island country of Japan has four main islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. Learn more.
