Background Information
The first record of tea drinking in Japan occurs early in the Heian period (794–1185) whenit was introduced to the Japanese aristocracy by scholar-monks returning from Tang dynasty China. Learn more.
Artwork
Haniwa in the form of a warrior, approx. 300–552. Japan; excavated at Fujioka, Gunma Prefecture. Kofun period (300–552). Earthenware. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60S204.
Activity
Students express the Balinese concept of working together to create a community by applying the kecak musical pattern of interlocking parts to “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and design their own chant using words or sounds to represent their characters.
Background Information
Beginning in the Eastern Zhou dynasty (ca. 1071‒ 221 BCE) was the development of the so-called ‘hundred schools’ of philosophy, a creative flowering of genius that laid the foundations for all major schools of Chinese thought with the exception of Buddhism. At this time, philosophers began to travel around from court to court offering advice on everything from how to run the state, how to achieve victory in battle and how to achieve immortality.
Background Information
During the Muromachi period (1338–1573) the vogue for Chinese art, especially among the Ashikaga shoguns, who ruled as the military leaders of Japan during this period, led to the development of new architectural environments in which to display collections of tea-related objects. Learn more.
Video
View the whole series of religious arts in South Asia.
Video
Watch a Lunar New Year story about a beast named Nian.
Video
An introduction to Zen, a form of Buddhism that emphasizes seeking one’s own Buddha nature through meditation.
Activity
Create Balinese shadow puppets with these downloadable templates.
Background Information
The Han Dynasty is one of the great dynasties in Chinese history, encompassing nearly four hundred years of expansion and consolidation which coincided with the period of the Roman republic and empire in the West.
