Japanese art and its relationship to Tang Dynasty
VIS127P Arts of Japan
Guidelines for Your Term Paper (30%)
Length: 5-6 pages of text in length, typed, 1.5 spaced, 12 font , not including a Works Cited Page
**At LEAST 4 academic references / sources for your paper. These sources include peer-reviewed books, periodical journals, and museum journals. An example would be the Art Bulletin or Google Scholar. These sources are written by and further the research of scholars.
The grade will be based on your clarity of presentation, perceptive use of
existing scholarship, effectiveness of the evidence you present, the quality and persuasiveness of
your argument, and the soundness of your conclusions.
Topic: I began wondering how ancient China influenced Japan in terms of artworks and architecture. My research paper will focus specifically on the relationship between the Tang dynasty of China and Japan, including the deep relations between the two countries and how the Tang civilization shapes modern Japanese artworks. I will elaborate on the topic by providing a brief history of the two and examine the similarities between artworks and architecture during that period.
For the essay, please consider focusing on one or two issues that are most relevant to the development of aesthetics and try to be as specific as possible – what kind of artworks are you referring to (i.e., Buddhist art, Buddhist architecture, scroll paintings, etc.) Consider choosing one type of art for your paper in order to develop a detailed analysis.
This research paper will include the following:
- Introduction
- The history between Tang Dynasty and Japan
- Artworks and architecture under Tang influences
- Comparing similarities and differences
- Conclusion
You should develop an issue related to but not duplicating the
course material (Japanese art from the Jomon period to the 18th century). Typical topics for term
papers (among many other possibilities) might include a close study of a single monument or
work of art, examination of developments within a single innovative artistic style, a particular
aspect of a single artist’s work, or a carefully delimited discussion about the development of a
particular type of subject matter, to mention only a few possibilities. Please make good use of
provided references materials and digital resources available through the library website and
major museum sites. The grade will be based on your clarity of presentation, perceptive use of
existing scholarship, effectiveness of the evidence you present, the quality and persuasiveness of
your argument, and the soundness of your conclusions.
In your research, use all the resources available to you in the library and on the web to find
additional material about the topic in the form of books, articles, and images.
Your final paper, like all good writing, should be organized to tell a story or to solve a problem,
with an introduction, presentation of the evidence, and clear conclusion. Achieving this goal
usually requires careful editing and some rewriting, so don’t wait until the night before the paper
is due to start writing, but budget your research time so that you can get to work on your draft as
early as possible. Please edit the paper carefully and critically. This will probably lead you to do
some reorganization, so please leave yourself adequate time to do so.
Technical matters:
The paper should be roughly 6-8 pages in length. Longer is acceptable, if needed, after editing,
but not required.
Please type your paper in a font of 12 pitch, 1.5 spaced, and paginated.
***Please use the standard scholarly note and bibliography format and cite all your sources,
including both notes and bibliography. You may use either MLA or Chicago Style for notes.
The textbook can be used as a model for the formats of bibliography and Chicago Style notes.
All sources, including online ones, should be documented.
Be careful and critical of your sources, especially online sources. Wikipedia is not scholarly and
should not be cited as a primary source, although the better articles sometimes have bibliography
that is well worth consulting. Academic, museum, and peer-reviewed sources should be your
primary references. When in doubt, please ask.
Please include illustrations of the works of art you discuss or that support your argument. You
should identify each illustration in a caption or list of illustrations in a format similar to what you see in the textbook. In addition to artist, title, medium and format, date, and dimensions, you should include the collection that owns the work, if known, and the source of your illustration (whether print and internet). Please do not insert the illustrations in the text but append them at the end.
Examples- Format of References:
Book:
Varley, Paul. Japanese Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 4th edition, 2000
Book Chapters:
Wu, Hung. “The Origins of Chinese Painting (Paleolithic Period to Tang Dynasty),” in Three
Thousand Years of Chinese Painting, eds., Yang Xin and others. New Haven and London: Yale
University Press, 1997. pp. 15-86.
Journal Article:
Hay, Jonathan. “Ambivalent Icons: Works of Five Chinese Artists Based in the United States.”
Orientations 23, no.7 (July 1992): 37-43.
Format of Citations:
MLA (in-essay citation):
(Varley, 68) or (Varley, 2000, 85)
Chicago Style (footnotes or endnotes):
Varley, Japanese Culture, 164
or
Hung, “The Origins of Chinese Painting (Paleolithic Period to Tang Dynasty),” 75
Requirements: 5-6 pages
Answer preview
Tang dynasty (618-907 CE) yielded important artwork as local artists and foreigners explored possibilities in the materials and structures. Buddha was an important subject, and they influenced Tang sculptures and architecture[1]. Particularly during the middle Tang, plastic art was exemplified by stone sculpture. China’s increasing contact with other parts of the world influenced the spread of these ideas. Despite little Chinese Buddhist sculpture surviving, notable examples of Tang Dynasty Sculpture are seen in Japan. The Japanese government tried to learn and integrate advanced culture into its system. As Buddhism became an instrument of unification in the 6th century, Japanese Buddhist Art and Architecture became particularly important. Tōdai-Ji Daibutsuden (Great Buddha Hall) is an important artwork whose development is traced to the art of the Tang Dynasty. Its construction commenced in the Nara period, but present sculptors are traced to its reconstruction in 1692. The influence of the Tang Dynasty on Japan is the most significant since the Japanese admired the civilized paradise.
