ANCIENT ART OF EASTERN-ASIA

October-December, 2009

JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES

Volume I., Issue 4.

ANCIENT ART OF EASTERN-ASIA Example issue from the Coloring Booklet Series of Eurasian Arts Szaniszló Bérczi, Eötvös University, Institute of Physics, Budapest, Hungary

Introduction The new booklet of the Eurasian arts series displays a selection from the East-Asian Art. As we did in the earlier exhibitions our collection focuses on the cultural layers emerging from the ancient times. Japan, China, Korea, Mandsuria and Mongolia are the names of the countries in our times where we visit recently. However the ancient Andronovo, HunScythian (Xiongnu), the later Türkish and Mongolian are the basic layers at the steppe regions, the cultures during the Xia, Shang, Chou, Ch’in, and Han dynasties in China and the Yayoi and Kofun archaeological and cultural layers of the ancient Japan are basic peridos we study in this collection. These layers stratify and interact, the shapes and colors change in these far eastern cultural landscapes.

Fig. 1. The front cover of the coloring booklet: Ancient Art of Eastern-Asia (2000 years old ceramics from Korea, Soul, and detail from the exhibition in the Museum of Ancient Izumo, Japan, displaying a horseman from the 6th C. A. D.).

© Copyright Mikes International 2001-2009



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The three main actor countries in our new booklet are: China, Japan and Korea. The ancient arts from the first two countries were shown in our series, but their unexhaustable heritage resounds again and again. The fragments of the life appear in these art sin an alloyed form. Alloyed from the local people and the conquesting soldier or warrior people who organized state life. There are recognizable fregments from the art of the conqueror peoples and from the arts of the local peoples. The art of the conquerors are shown in the articles of the arms, horse mount, mostly from steppe art traditions, the art of the local people is represented int he life frogments of agriculture, house farming. Both traditions are alloyed in the industrial technologies.

Fig. 2. The backside cover of the coloring booklet: Ancient Art of Eastern-Asia (upper image is from China, dragon adornation, the lower image displays a Xiongnu –Hun belt buckle from Ordos, China, from the 2. C. B. C.).

Earlier layers are frequently emerging as representatives of the steppe art of the HunScythian warriors in these cultural landscapes. Their old technologies in bronze casting, in

horse mounting, in car industry (couch=kocsi, 高车=gaoche=kocsi), in organizing tarditions, and the high level of the cavalry cultures in arts, especially in ornamental arts. The fights between the conquerers and local powers were recorded in the Chinese, Korean and Japanese chronicles, too. In our new booklet the art of the old Koreans appear as a fresh new wind. The cars, and the development of the spoke-wheeled car especially made it possible to cover large distances and form everday life for large number of pastoral people of the Great Eurasian Steppe Belt. This instrument had been developed and sketched, drawed, ornamented in art. The warriors of the easily moving cavalry people were conquerers, founders and




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organizers of several Eastern-Asian local and global kingdoms but later they were assimilated by the local country. These events are witnessed by the archaeological finds from the royal tombs in China, Korea and Japan, mostly in the interval between 1st Millenium B. C. and in the 1st Millenium A. D. The place and environment where these warriors came from are shown in their art: the so frequently occurring animal fight scenes of the Hun-Scythian (Xiongnu) art, distributed widely int he Eurasian steppe belt.

Fig. 3. The car-art mirror in the coloring booklet: Ancient Art of Eastern-Asia (upper images are stone carvings from Mongolia, the lower images are bone-carving at left from Chinese Xiajiadian Culture, and a Xiongnu –Hun belt buckle from Ordos, China).

At the same time the cultural heritage of the local people is represented in the calendar of different style, the mounting of the animals in agricultural purposes, the cars used in their work, the urban life, the music and other instruments, like as jars, vessels, knives.

Fig. 4. The early stages of the animal-art: mirror in the coloring booklet: Ancient Art of Eastern-Asia (left side ceramics are from the Chinese art, first is from the Xiajiadian Culture, the second is from the National Museum of China in Beijing, right images are calendars from China).




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Fig. 5. Adornations of mirrors of Chinese origin. Their symmetry is remarkable: D3(mg) type dihedral rotational pattern with mg type frieze (left, in aligned form the frieze is below), and D12(g) type cyclic rotational pattern with g type frieze at the edge of the mirror (right, in aligned form the frieze is up) from the Chinese art. (Bérczi, 2009.) In the central portion of the left mirror there is a C11(2) type cyclic rotational pattern with 2 type frieze (if aligned).

The movement is important in the art. Hunting, fighting, horse-riding scenes are shown from the National Museum of Beijing, from the Military History Museum of Biejing, from the Natioanl Museums of Xian and Hohot, the Shimane Museum of the Ancient Izumo, The National Museum of Tokyo and Nara, and the Natioanl Museum of Soul. The drawings from these museums are the most exciting and they give emphasis and trigger for the readers to visit these excellent sites for studies of the ancient arts of Eurasia. These scenes can be found even on the vessels and table-ware, especially rhytons. We find the rhyton-resembling jars in Korea, too.

Fig. 6. Adornation of a Chinese vessel with emphasis by the coloring to the double-frieze pattern of tmg type. © Copyright Mikes International 2001-2009



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As we did in our earlier booklets, here we also study some ornamental mathematics of the of the Eurasian people. On the back side of the mirror there are friezes arranged in circular form (Fig 4. and 5.). On belt buckles and mounts, on horse-mounts and on dresses such ornements rich double and plane symmetry patterns, (and even composite plane symmetry patterns) occur. The author first described a duoble-frieze of t-mg type from China, on a bronze vessel (Fig. 6.). We also show the most simple double friezes int he booklet, too.

Fig. 7. Adornation of a bronze vessel from China in the exhibition of old Eurasian art in Nara, Japan.

East-Asian art exhibits a rich layered structure. The changes on one of the main lines can be shown by the animal fight scene: first they are naturally formulated, later they loose their dramatic character and transforms to hunting scenes (like as the first warriors change and transform to country leaders). On the animal crowds of the Nara vessel (Fig. 7.) no fight is visible. The final hegemony and centralized force of the Chinese emperor can be visualized best on the backside cover image of a dragon ruling in the picture and even tiger and other water and air animals are only dependants in the strong state (Fig. 2.). However, the emperor states of Japan, China, Korea, Mandsuria and Mongolia, once or more in their history became donators of art of the state. This is another age of cultures, these represent more modern civilisations. Anyway, the rich traditions helped to preserve remnants of this colorful, art-rich world for us and the studies of the Eurasian arts also help us to survive modern life monotonies. Such study of the Eastern-Asian Arts in this booklet, we hope, give joy and amusement, good work and good thinking to our fellow who prefer art and mathematics, or art alone, with coloring the images and thinking the fate and destiny of old peoples, old nations, old tarditions.




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We hope that this Eastern Asian Art booklet of the Eurasian Art Series will be accepted with joyful pleasure by those who like drawing and painting, and they step forward in their studies discovering Eurasia.

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ANCIENT ART OF EASTERN-ASIA

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