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Buddhism today in Vietnam
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For this discussion I have chosen the photograph Long Son Pagoda, taken by Barbra J. Anello during her journey to Southeast Asia, for her collection of “Photographs of Southeast Asia and Morocco”. Anello’s photograph Long Son Pagoda was taken in Na Trang, Vietnam on March 3, 2008 (“Barbara…”). Anello is an American photographer who travels to the Southeastern Asian countries, to document the historical aspect of the traditional art and culture (“Barbara…”). The photograph Long Son Pagoda represents the belief in Buddhism and depicts the Vietnamese culture in the background of the photograph. The photo consists of a white Buddha statue that is sitting on a concrete stand that is framed by yellow lines and pink lotus flowers. The Buddha statue …show more content…
It has been stated in the textbook that Buddhism is a lifestyle and a mediation practice (Altshuler and Janaro 282). Therefore, the white Buddha statue represents enlightenment and purity within the religion of Buddhism (Heim 367). The Buddha statue is the most prominent object within the picture, thus it depicts the representation of Buddhism as the overall main topic in the photograph. The lotus flowers that are pink in the photograph represent fortune and beauty within the Vietnamese culture (St John 562). In Vietnam there are three different colors of the lotus flower, which each represents a different meaning: red represents beauty; pink represents history; white represents purity (St John 562). By having that being said, the worshipers who are taking a picture with the white Buddha statue along with the pink lotus flowers represent the respect of the belief of Buddhism, in capturing their moment with the statue. Anello’s photograph of Long Son Pagoda capture the historical aspects of the Vietnamese culture along with the belief of Buddhism. There are many symbolic representations within the photo that are influenced by the Vietnamese culture and the religion of
Guanyin (Bodhisattva) (See Fig. 1 in Appendix) is an artefact, with Object Number of 2400, in the Honolulu Museum of Art. The medium, or material, of this sculpture of Guanyin is painted wood, and traces of pigment can still be seen on the sculpture. Its height is approximately 67 inches, or 170.2 centimeters. The origin of this sculpture is China, Northern Song (960-1126) or Tangut Xia (1038-1227). According to the museum, this sculptural art piece was purchased, or acquired, in 1927 from a renowned collection of Matsukata Kojiro, who passed away in 1950.
The statue that will be the focus of this paper portrays the figure “Amida, the Buddha of Infinite Light.” Like many other statues of the Buddha, this Amida Buddha was portrayed to be deep in meditation, sitting cross-legged. A viewer could observe that the Amida Buddha is making a hand gesture while in deep meditation. These gestures, also known as “mudras,” are symbolic in the Buddhist religion, and they are used to convey certain ideas (O’Riley 70). In this case, the Amida Buddha is making the mudra of appeasement (“Amida”). More physical observations could be made by pointing out the “balanced form, divine features, and flowing drapery” (“Amida”) of the Amida Buddha. Those qualities represent the nature of the Buddha, revealing him as “transcendent, graceful, and compassionate” (“Amida”). Features common to other Buddha sculptures show up on this Amida Buddha, like the elongated earlobes, the mole on his forehead, and patterned hair. At first glance, the Am...
I arrived at the Hsi Lai Temple in the city of Hacienda Heights around 3:00 p.m. on March 7, 2014. Although I am Chinese, I have never been to this temple before because my family does not practice Buddhism. This is my first time collecting data about the His Lai Temple. This method is referred to as participant-observation which is, “the anthropological method of collecting data by living with another people, learning their language, and understanding their culture” (Arenson and Miller-Thayer 521). The temple is built on a hill top. After driving up the long hill into the parking lot, I found that before entering the temple, I walked up many stairs. In the brochure For Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple, it said that the name Hsi Lai stands for “coming to the West”. The temple, which was founded by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, signifies the dedication of Taiwan’s largest Buddhist organizations called the Fo Guang Shan. It took ten years to build the temple and was completed in 1988. This $30 million Temple on 15 acres of land was financed by donations from Buddhist devotees from around the worlds.
Yu, Han. “Memorial on Buddhism”. Making of the Modern World 12: Classical & Medieval Tradition. Trans. Richard F. Burton. Ed. Janet Smarr. La Jolla: University Readers, 2012. 111-112. Print.
Feudalism and landlordism come under the religious art and the concept of religious arts is mainly superstitious. In the revolutionary period of China, government was successful to create art gallery in western part of Beijing’s Forbidden City. During 1960s China suffered political and economic crisis. During that period the Chinese government forced the artistic people to do something for overcoming the crisis by developing new painting concepts. During that period new iconographic types like ‘Sun Zixi, In Front of Tiananmen’ appeared in socialists Realists art. Sun Zixi, In Front of Tiananmen, 1964, China is a canvas painting, which played a powerful role to create an impact on the Chinese art history. It is the pictorial representation of the photograph that several Chinese people paused to take a photograph of them in front of Chairman Mao’s portrait in Tiananmen Square, which is main political hub. This painting consists of the three groups of people like soldiers, workers and the other people. The painting symbolizes the victory of the socialist realism during the Maoist p...
...turning to traditional roots. According to-------------- in these photographs he sought to go back to the twelfth century Buddhist ideals. He did this because of his experience with the owners of the temple. In this interview, he explained that this ancient Buddhist temple is now seen by people in Japan as a business to attract tourist and make money. It was important to Hiroshi to photograph these because the Buddhist religion is fading in Japan. No longer is does this temple serve to practice the religion, but instead it function is to make money for the people of Japan. In, addition he explained that people are forgetting the importance of Buddhist beliefs and spirituality. In this series of photographs, Hiroshi wanted to force people to remember the traditional Buddhist beliefs and the importance of spirituality over making money, which is now being forgotten.
Although the “Incense Burner” connects to nature with the golden outlined sea waves representing this way of nourishing life and keeping it alive, and the gold intensify this image as if the gold is turning the sea into a rich and abundant life source. then above the sea are animals symbolizing reproduction and life, and humans, and small islands. It also portray almost this world beyond life, an eternal world the water waves going up as if reaching out to the gods, and the islands have no color, but it still gives a sense of life. One of china’s active religions today is Daoism, according, a religion that give importance on the close relationship between humans and nature.On the beautiful “ Incense Burner” there is also a well known Daoist tell, which depicts the tell of the Isles of the immortals in the Eastern sea. Many of the art pieces in this week readings were amazing giving viewers overall a sense of life it depicted tells of nature and human as one, I believe these artifacts are tells of the great and offered us views on worlds that may only have existed
These images are the Orisha symbols which were the symbols Griffith incorporated throughout his procession. The symbols come from the the seven Grandfather teachings which were dramatized in the precession. The several symbols hung from left to right were: Wisdom, courage, respect, truth, honesty, humility and love. This was a successful demonstration of the Seven Grandfather Teachings as it is emphasized so that the eye mainly focuses on these seven designs. The virtue Wisdom is represented as a Bow and Arrow, Courage is seen as Sabra, a dagger symbolizes respect, the virtue of truth is compared to an Axe, honesty is represented as crossroads, a crescent moon is presented as humility, and finally a heart is a clear depiction of love (Chhangur 11). These diverse symbols are morphological links made through Ring of Fire. Each culture has distinct practices and these symbols represent that despite our diversities we are still able to share particular practices and virtues. This work of art was well put together as viewers are able to make a connection with the theme of the procession Ring of Fire. Due to this successful representation of Griffith’s ideas we are also able to envision what his intentions were with these symbols, and how these symbols majorly influenced the performance of the
It is speculated that this anti-iconic symbolism was done in order to comply with Gautama’s wish that his physical form not be depicted after his passing, but there are no found scriptures known to prove this statement. On the east gate is a continuous narrative scene called “The Great Departure,” where Gautama departs on his journey for enlightenment (Chien). He is represented as an umbrella, a royal symbol, when seated on his horse and as footprints, which shows his physical impact on the world, when he dis-mounts his horse. The Buddha is represented as an umbrella on a shrine on the Western gate. Buddha sculptures have evolved over time in order to fit the changing views of Buddhism. The earliest styles for Buddhist sculpture are from the ancient civilizations of Mathura and Gandhara started the iconic phase of depicting Buddha. A seated Buddha statue from Mathura resembles traditional Indian images of male nature deities, has fearless hand gestures, and is characterized by a cranial protuberance, which shows his greater understanding of all things. These seated statues constitute of broad shoulders, a swelled chest, firmly planted legs, a shaven head, a smiling round face, and drapery that clings to the form of the body while leaving the right shoulder bare (Britannica). Other characteristics include “the right arm raised in
The temple experience varied dramatically from person to person. It even drove one among us to leave early. Unfortunately, I identify with those who were uncomfortable with the experience within the Hsi Lai Temple. This is not to say it was a negative experience or that there was nothing to learn from it, but there are multiple versions of simplicity and this was only one of them. It just happens that this is not the example that I perceive as true, nitty-gritty simplicity. It was chock full of “affairs” to worry over. For example, the simple yet ever-looming stress of keeping our water bottles in a straight line. In Thoreau’s understanding of simplicity, this is the polar opposite of simple. “Our life is frittered away by detail. An honest
Prior to the class began, I made a brief visit to the Buddhist Temple; and it was my privileged to have my second visit the Buddhist Temple of Van Hanh in the East of New Orleans on July 3rd of 2016. It is located on 13152 Chef Menteur Hwy, New Orleans, LA 70129. The temple building faces Chef Mentur Highway. The prayer service began at 11:00 am and end at 11:55 am and lunch was served after the service. The Van Hanh Temple is small Vietnamese community Buddhist Temple since Vietnamese immigrants began to settle in New Orleans, Louisiana. It does not belong to any main Buddha Church like they have back home in Vietnam, but more likely independence because it’s so small and mainly supported by Buddhists. It was a fascinating experience. I would like to share that based on my observation and also a long conversation with the Buddha nun until 2:30 p.m. That will be included in basic Vietnamese Buddha Tradition, practice./worship, activity, teaching, sociology and
Q2 There are many people considerable standing in western societies who are either Buddhists or who are sympathetic towards Buddhism. A statue of buddha with his hands rested gently in his lap and his compassionate smile reminds us of how to generate peace and love within ourselves. When we bow we express our gratitude to the Buddha for what his teachings have given us. This is the nature of Buddhist worship and how wonderful he is(source2).This shows that he brings love and joy to the world. And to know what his statue means. That’s amazing!!! This information is reliable because
People admired the overall concept of the religion and how it brought peace and enlightenment not only into their life, but the people that they are surrounded by. Many different artist began to create what they thought Buddha and how he, being the face of the religion, demonstrates how one can find these qualities in their life. Author of the book History of Chinese Philosophy, Bo Mou states that “....an affectionate concern for the well-being of one 's fellows in the community, society, or a state governed by a wise and virtuous ruler”, when referring to Buddha. In Seated Buddha, it can be mistaken that this sculpture does not posses a lot of great detail, but upon further inspection, it is obvious that it holds very detailed designs. This sculpture has a halo-type structure around the head of the Buddha and he is seated on an elevated surface. I believe that by placing the Buddha on this surface it then emphasizes his holiness and his importance to and in the community. One main feature that the Seated Buddha holds is the fact that he is seated in the lotus position, which ultimately was done to support the concept of peacefulness and calmness. The man has his right-hand open resting on his knee with his palm facing up. By doing this, I believe that the artist is showing the concept of openness and the idea of the Buddha figure being welcoming to others. The Seated Buddha is depicted with his eyes shut and a smile on his face. To me, this is showing that one can be happy regardless of what they can and cannot see and that you do not have to observe something in order to be happy. This can also mean that even if there is bad happening in the world, you can not look at the bad and just help others through their pain, which can then boost the amount of happiness that you
Tibet, with its isolated, harsh geographical location and history of political and social remoteness would seem an unlikely place to provide a “cradle for creative art” (Bailey 22). Yet it is in this desolate section of the world that one of the most intriguing artistic cultures has been cultivating over hundreds of centuries. One facet of what makes Tibetan art so unique and interesting is its interdependency on its religious beliefs.
Nagadeepa Viharaya, the temple at Nainativu Islands, is one of the most venerated places of worship of the local and foreign Buddhists. During our visit to the temple, not only Buddhists even visitors from other faiths were there dressed in light pastel hues. Mahavamsa explains the importance of the Nagadeepa Viharaya as a place where Buddha paid a visit during his second visit to the country on Bak Maha Poya Day. The story says that the Naga King Mahodara and Prince Chulodara, father and son-in-law, were all set to war over a gem-studded chair after the death of King Mahodara's daughter who was the wife of Chulodara. This gem-studded chair had been a wedding gift from the King. Hearing of this impending war, Lord Buddha visited Nagadeepa and resolved the conflict peacefully. It is at this site that the Nagadeepa Temple of today lies. This incident is depicted in a mural near the bo tree. The Tamil Buddhist epic, Manimekala, cites a gem studded throne and a stone with the Buddha’s footprints at Nagadipa, which pilgri...