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Course: Art of Asia > Unit 2
Lesson 14: Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)- Yuan dynasty, an introduction
- Zheng Sixiao, Ink Orchid
- Buddha of Medicine Bhaishajyaguru (Yaoshi fo)
- The David Vases (Chinese porcelain)
- The David Vases
- Zhao Mengfu, Autumn Colors on the Que and Hua Mountains, 1295
- Ni Zan, A branch of bamboo
- Chinese porcelain: production and export
- Chinese porcelain: decoration
- Xie Chufang, Fascination of Nature, handscroll
- Wu Zhen, Fishermen, after Jing Hao
- Attributed to Cheng Qi, Tilling Rice, after Lou Shou
- Portrait of Chabi
- Huang Gongwang, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains
- Qian Xuan, Young nobleman on horseback, handscroll
- Caterina Vilioni’s tomb in Yangzhou
- Wang Mian, Plum Blossoms in Ink
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Buddha of Medicine Bhaishajyaguru (Yaoshi fo)
Buddha of Medicine Bhaishajyaguru (Yaoshi fo), c. 1319, Yuan dynasty, water-based pigments on clay mixed with straw, 24 feet, 8 inches x 49 feet 7 inches / 751.8 cm x 1511.3 cm (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). Speakers: Dr. Jennifer N. McIntire and Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
Want to join the conversation?
- What is the difference between Mahayana Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism?
(4 votes)- Theravada seems a more orthodox kind of Buddhism, mostly focused on personal enlightenment, while Mahayana is much more focused on the cultivation of empathy and performing good deeds.(3 votes)
- At2:47, if a person can be a Buddha. Can a person today achieve Buddha, or become Buddha? If so how?(4 votes)
- The word Buddha is a title for the first awakened being in our era. Anyone who reaches enlightenment (in Hinduism and Buddhism the highest spiritual state that can be achieved) is considered to be with the same qualities and nature of Buddha, and so equal to Buddha. Achieving enlightenment means becoming Buddha.(5 votes)
- Is the Arthur Sackler mentioned at0:58who bought it and then donated it to the Met in 1964 the same man who founded the Arthur M Sackler Gallery of Asian art in Washington DC?(4 votes)
- At about0:10this is described at a "wall painting on plaster." Is this a tradtional fresco on damp plaster, or was this painted on the dry surface of the plaster?(4 votes)
- It is not a fresco on damp plaster. In most cases, Chinese ancient wall paintings were painted on the dry surface of the plaster.(1 vote)
- Is studying art history a way of studying history through art? Is there another purpose?(1 vote)
- There a probably numerous good reasons to study art - depending on the student :-)
I don't know much of art, but I am trying to learn. Becourse I see studying art as a fun visual "gateway" into learning about multiple other subjects - such as;
history, religions, philosophy, culture, evolution, psychology, symbols, skills, aesthetics and fashion etc.
In short: I see art as both an supplement and a way to study the evolution of man and mankind. In broadest sense.(5 votes)
- What role does the Dalai Lama have in Buddhism? Is he a deity or bodhisattva , if so how did he achieve the natural state? Also under which tradition does the Dalai Lama fall under Theravada and Mahayana?(4 votes)
- The Dalai Lama lives in India; he has lived there in exile since the failure of the Tibetan uprising in 1959.
His role in Buddhism depends on your interpretation of Buddhism. He's only important in the Tibetan Buddhist branch of Buddhism, a unique form of Buddhism which incorporated much of the previous Tibetan religion. Only around 3 - 5% of Buddhists are Tibetan Buddhists.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama is considered to be a reincarnation of Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion.(2 votes)
- What were the pigments/paints made from?(3 votes)
- probably iron oxide or animal bones for white.(1 vote)
- Was the whole wall removed when it was sold?(2 votes)
- the painting was on the wall. You can't take a painting without the paper, after all.(2 votes)
- Has there been any attempt to conserve this painting? I understand that Buddhist paintings are often not meant to be permanent, but this one seems to have degraded so much that I often can barely see what has been painted.(2 votes)
- I believe so that they have been trying to reserve this painting because if they did not try you would not see anything on it it would be crumbling. For a this long time this is almost like new(1 vote)
- Is this a permanent installation at the Met?(1 vote)
- Yes. Buddha of Medicine Bhaishajyaguru (Yaoshi fo) is permanently displayed at the Met. Its up on the 2nd floor on the north side of the museum as you enter the galleries devoted to Asian art.(2 votes)
Video transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING] DR STEVEN ZUCKER: We're in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, looking at an enormous
wall painting on plaster. DR JENNIFER N MCINTIRE:
This is from the east gable of the Guangsheng Lower
Temple in Shanxi Province. This temple was
rediscovered in the 1930s, because a full set of
the Buddhist scriptures, known as Sutras, was found
at this temple complex, and it put this
monastery on the map. The monks decided to
take down the murals and sell them in order
to restore the building. This was taken down
and, I believe, sold to a dealer who then
sold it to Arthur Sackler. And then in 1964,
Arthur Sackler gave it to the Metropolitan
Museum of Art. DR STEVEN ZUCKER: It's gorgeous,
but it's so unusual for me. I'm used to looking at
Chinese scroll painting. How common is wall painting? DR JENNIFER N
MCINTIRE: Actually, the first important format
for painting in China was wall painting. And we know this
from textual sources and have found secular subject
matter in the last 50 years or so. But in Northwest China,
the Mogao cave sites have a huge encyclopedia,
really, of Buddhist wall painting, stretching from the
fourth to the 14th century. Palaces and temples all over
China had wall painting. And wall painting was
a very important format that has not survived. DR STEVEN ZUCKER:
So this painting is from the very
early 14th century. And by this time,
Buddhism had been in China for about 1,000 years. So this is an extremely
well developed system of representation. DR JENNIFER N MCINTIRE: Yeah. So this is from
the Yuan dynasty. These were foreign
rulers in China. DR STEVEN ZUCKER: So
when this was painted, China was actually undergoing
a significant political transformation. The Mongols were now
in control of China, as opposed to the Han. DR JENNIFER N MCINTIRE: The
Mongols had unified China, and in the court, a very
different style of painting was adopted. It was a style much
more associated with Himalayan art, Tibetan art. DR STEVEN ZUCKER: I'm seeing
this extraordinary contrast between the bodhisattvas and
the representation of Buddha. Buddha seems so spare. It seems to be a very
restrained style, as opposed to this dense costume
full of jewelry. DR JENNIFER N
MCINTIRE: The Buddha has relinquished
all worldly ties and thus is presented
in the garb of a monk. The bodhisattvas, while
highly enlightened beings, have vowed to remain
in the earthly realm to help all sentient beings
find release from Samsara, which is the endless cycle of rebirth. And in that regard,
they are presented still in princely garb. DR STEVEN ZUCKER: The Buddha is
represented in lotus posture. DR JENNIFER N MCINTIRE: And
the hand gestures of the Buddha are known as mudras, and often
the specific hand gestures give us an indication of which
Buddha is being represented. DR STEVEN ZUCKER: So
I'm a little confused, because I'm looking at
this central Buddha, I'm seeing the long earlobes,
I'm seeing the little rise on the back of the
head, and I was assuming that this was
the historic Buddha. Are those characteristics
that are carried over to other Buddhas as well? DR JENNIFER N MCINTIRE:
Buddhism started in the northern plains in
India and spread to China. So initially the
Buddha was a person. He was not a god. That's the historical
Buddha, Shakyamuni. He was born in the
foothills of the Himalayas. As the religion
developed, the type of Buddhism that spread in
China is called Mahayana. In the Mahayana
belief system, there are Buddhas presiding
over paradises everywhere. This painting is most
likely a representation of the assembly of
Bhaishajyaguru, the medicine Buddha. And the other central
thing to Mahayana Buddhism is the bodhisattva, because
it's a religion of compassion, and the bodhisattva is
a compassionate figure. So a lot of worship was
focused on the bodhisattva in Chinese Buddhism. DR STEVEN ZUCKER:
As we move down, we move from the
celestial representation that we can see so clearly at
the top to a real structure. You can see the
large bodhisattvas and Buddha are seated
on lotus blossoms. Then there's a
pedestal below that, which is beautifully decorated. And then below that,
we can see a series of secondary attendants
seated at our level, as the painting is
hung in a museum, but would have been
still quite high. DR JENNIFER N
MCINTIRE: Higher up. You can see a whole
variety of offerings that are isolated by a lotus
pedestal and a halo behind. DR STEVEN ZUCKER:
Whether or not we're looking at the large Buddha, the
bodhisattvas, or these figures down at the bottom,
there's such an emphasis on this beautiful
curvilinear form. Almost everything is outlined
with this very hard contour. DR JENNIFER N MCINTIRE:
That's particularly apparent in the scarves that
drape off all the figures. You can see the
movement and the flow is articulated through line. Look at the way the fullness
of the figures is articulated. It also comes back to this
thickening and thinning line. DR STEVEN ZUCKER: But then also
there's this fabulous color. DR JENNIFER N
MCINTIRE: The color would have obviously
been much more vibrant. And you think of it
in the temple complex, it would have been in a space
with other mural paintings but also with sculpture
that would also have been highly pigmented. DR STEVEN ZUCKER: This is
for a monastic environment. Is this meant to be instructive? DR JENNIFER N MCINTIRE:
Buddhist painting was created by craftsmen,
overseen by monks making sure that the iconography
was correct. Buddhist sculpture
and Buddhist painting was used for didactic purposes. DR STEVEN ZUCKER: There's
such specific iconography. I find it fascinating that
even now we're still not quite sure what the subject is. DR JENNIFER N MCINTIRE:
I think it's interesting that in Chinese Buddhist
art there are still a lot of avenues for research. DR STEVEN ZUCKER: It's
an important reminder that art history
is a living thing. We still change our minds. [MUSIC PLAYING]