Violets between Cherry Blossoms
The Diffusion of Classical Motifs to the East: Traces in Japanese Art. Fiction, Conjectures, Facts
Published on 1. November 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
796 pages
978-90-8728-118-2 (ISBN)
Description
This richly illustrated book is a comparative study, which shows how motifs and images travelled throughout Eurasia from Rome to Tokyo. It covers a period from around the early fifth century BC, when there was a well-established Grecian influence in the Black Sea area, up until today. It is likely that already in the fifth century BC there was some indirect cultural exchange between the Black Sea region and China, thanks to rudimentary roads linking these regions. In the wake of the military campaigns of Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), Hellenistic culture spread to regions east and south of the Mediterranean Sea, including Egypt, Persia (today Iran), present-day Afghanistan, northern India and the western parts of Central Asia. Buddhism also spread at this time. As both land and sea routes became more reliable, Hellenistic Rome acquired a crucial position in the trade network. From the second to the sixth century AD elements of Greco-Buddhist culture gradually found their way to China and subsequently, from the mid-sixth century AD on, reached Japan. Violets between Cherry Blossoms is the first comprehensive work to provide a critical and compelling study of the cultural flow across this extensive area. It shows convincingly how Greek images and motifs travelled East, were adopted and preserved in Chinese art and how they spread to Japan.
Reviews / Votes
-This is not a book that can be ignored by any lover of the history of art and significance of images, both for its lavish illustration and its message.?[-]Prof. Sir John Boardman, Beazley Archive, Oxford - -This book enables one to trace the origins of certain stylistic features and to identify specific stylistic elements. One would like to read this book not only once, but one would like to have it in one's library as a reference tool.?[-]Prof. Adele Schlombs, Director of the Museum of East Asian Art, CologneMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Dordrecht
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Adult education
Illustrations
500 black and white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 270 mm
Width: 200 mm
Weight
2500 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-8728-118-2 (9789087281182)
DOI
10.5117/9789087281182
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Pieter Arts was awarded his PhD by the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, for his study of the material culture of Korea and Japan. He has published several books and articles on Japanese art.
Content
FOREWORD IX[-]ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS XI[-]NOTE TO THE READER XIII[-]ABBREVIATIONS XV[-]CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES XIX[-]LIST OF MAPS XXIV[-]INTRODUCTION XXV[-]PA RT I CULTUR A L F LOW F ROM GR E ECE TO J A PAN: CENT R E S ,[-]CARRIERS AND TRACKS[-]1 THE DEVELOPMENT AND SPREAD OF GREEK CULTURE UNTIL 3 2 3 B.C 3[-]1.1 Historical background 3[-]1.2 The rise of Greek culture to its Golden Age 6[-]1.3 Early colonization and contacts with the East 27[-]1.3.1 Italy and Sicily 30[-]1.3.2 The countries of the Black Sea 40[-]1.3.3 Early routes and contacts with the East 50[-]2 ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE HERITAGE OF HELLENISM IN THE[-]MIDDL E EAST AND INDIA 59[-]2.1 The conquests of Alexander 59[-]2.2 The Hellenistic culture in Greece 64[-]2.2.1 General 64[-]2.2.2 Preoccupation with fortune 65[-]2.2.3 Realism and emotional expression 76[-]2.3 Persia and Parthia 85[-]2.4 Bactria and North India 93[-]3 THE ROMAN WORLD AND THE EAST 107[-]3.1 Rome as a centre of Hellenistic culture 107[-]3.2 Attempts at direct contact between Rome and China 110[-]3.3 The Silk Road 118[-]3.4 The sea-route 123[-]3.5 Roman objects found in Central Asia and the Far East 127[-]3.6 The Indo-Parthians and the Kushans 136[-]3.7 The East Roman Empire 148[-]4 BUDDHISM AND TRADE : THE VEHICLES OF CLASSICAL CULTURE 155[-]4.1 Buddhism in India 155[-]4.2 Merging of western culture with Buddhism: Gandhara 158[-]4.3 The spread of Buddhism 160[-]4.3.1 Bactria and Central Asia 160[-]4.3.2 China 164[-]4.3.3 Korea and Japan 175[-]4.4 The role of monks and merchants 184[-]PA RT I I CULTUR A L F LOW F ROM GR E ECE TO J A PAN: IMAGE S ,[-]DECORAT I V E PATT E R N S , MOT I F S[-]5 SOME REMARKS ON CONVERGENC E , TRANSFER AND ACCEPTANCE 199[-]6 GODS AND HEROES 207[-]6.1 Boreas and Fujin 207[-]6.2 Herakles and Nio 217[-]6.3 The Hermes-complex: Daikokuten and Bishamonten 229[-]6.4 Tyche and Koshimojin 239[-]6.5 Atlas 246[-]7 AIRBORNE DEITIES 257[-]8 HUMAN FIGURES 301[-]8.1 Features of the human body 301[-]8.2 The Buddha image 316[-]8.3 The boy motif 326[-]9 PEGASOS 341[-]10 THE FISH-TAILED DRAGON 373[-]11 THE FACE OF THE MONSTER 393[-]11.1 The Gorgoneion and its ancestors 394[-]11.2 The kirttimukha of India 407[-]11.3 The monsterfaces of China 414[-]11.4 The changing face of the monster in China 431[-]11.5 The kwi-wa of Korea 439[-]11.6 Intermediate summary and considerations ?439[-]11.7 Monsterfaces of Japan 445[-]11.8 Conclusions 456[-]12 DIONYSIAN MOTIFS 459[-]12.1 Grapes 459[-]12.2 The drinking panther 490[-]13 FOLIAGE AND FLORAL MOTIFS 503[-]14 conclusions 553[-]NOTES 561[-]GLOSSARY 597[-]BIBLIOGRAPHY 665[-]SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS 723[-]INDEX 743