I love art. I think the fine arts must be the loveliest of human expressions. I thought for now I'd make an effort to concentrate on the Golden Age of Buddhism, the art of the Asuka (552-645 CE) and Nara (645-794) periods.


Asuka Sculpture in a Nutshell

Other then a couple of temples, the Asuka period was very primitive focused mostly on sculpture. Sculpture of who, you ask? Your old pal, Buddha of course! ME!

Longer faces than the Nara period, but relatively fuller cheeks. The eyes are wide upon, where they are half-closed in further periods. Then there is the slightly upturned smile that is “suggestive of the ‘archaic smile’ found in early Greek sculpture.” The facial features are often large. The ears are long and flat, a common aspect, however they lack the definition that they are given in the Nara and later periods. The necks are just big long cylinders and the finger nails are very long, which doesn’t again surface until the Kamakura period. To summarize: Emphasis of the front view and lack of realism for a “decorative effect”.

So basically, with fat checks and wide eyes, Asuka sculptures looked like the subjects were on crack. Actually, the eyes don't actually look all that wide open until you compare them to Nara sculpture (example: look at me in the BuddhaCam on the top left). The facial features were definitely exaggerated, especially the ears. Asuka Sculpture in a nutshell would be: It's not really realistic, but it's pretty. Kind of like Pamela Lee.


Nara Art Influences

When the Japanese entered the Nara period, they adopted the arts of Sui and T’ang China big time. Even the Japanese capital was planned on the lines of the great T’ang metropolis of Choan, better known to western readers by its Chinese name Ch’ang-an.” Anyway, In the Nara period, Buddhism exploded into the arts. No other time in Japanese history could compare to this infatuation with Buddhism. While Buddhism suffered bit during the later years of the Nara period due to Confucianist values taking over Japan, the Nara period was still said to be one of the highest aesthetic attainments in Japanese art.


The Rest of the World

Japan wasn't the only area experiencing a relgious awakening. Monasteries were popping up all over the place in Europe as well. However, while the Japanese were having their "Golden Age", a mucher darker time flooded over Europe. The Bubonic Plague ran rapant, which didn't help things much. An uncomfortable class structure existed and dead people were just piling up. Aside from that, realistic art that existed way beyond the skill level of what was being seen in Japan was simply ignored in Europe once Christianity took over. While Japan took artistic strides forward, the other side of the world seemed to take the same steps backwards. The Christians didn't want to mimic reality. Creating something real was the duty of God, and therefore wrong for humans to attempt. The comparison is very strange, because it just makes you think how much better Buddhism must really be. Just look at the Buddhists thrive and the others walk backwards and die. The differences are astounding, but then again, that's the way the pendulum swings.