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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 Buddha was and is an important figure in several different cultures, and his influence has spread over large areas. Across these different cultures, many forms of art portrayed him in different ways. In Japan, one of the Buddha’s titles stood out as the “Amida Buddha.” The statue that this paper will be detailing portrays “Amida, the Buddha of Infinite Light” (“Amida”). The statue is located in the Dayton Art Institute’s Japanese Art Gallery 105 with the acquisition number 1935.1. Created in the thirteenth century during the Kamakura period, this statue stands out in the Dayton Art Institute as a prominent Buddha figure. It is made of wood with lacquer and gilt, and it was built to be approximately the size of a normal person.
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.
Rathnasambhava, the Transcendent Buddha of the South. Tibet, 13th century C.E. Mineral pigments on cotton cloth, height 361/2”. Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
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.
Walking into the Hall of the Buddhas, there was a sense of peace and guidance lingering inside me. The seated Bodhisattva, of the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534), CA.480, from the Yungang, Cave xv, Shani Province, made of sandstone, guarded the entrance. At first, I thought it was a time to be disciplined, but the transcending smile from the statue was a delicate fixed gesture that offered a feeling of welcome. It was not a place to confess your wrongdoings; neither was it a place for me to say, “Buddha I have sinned.” It was a room to purify the mind, the mind that we take for granted without giving it harmony. There was a large mural decorating the main wall called “The Paradise of Bhaishajyaguru”(916-1125). I sat down wandering if the artist of the portrait knew that his work would one day be shared on this side of the world, in my time. Much like Jesus Christ and his followers, the mural is a painting of healers and saviors. It was a large figure of the Buddha of medicine, (Bhaishajyaquru) surrounded by followers of Bodhisattvas, Avalokiteshvara, and Mahosthamaprapta with twelve guardian generals who have pledged to disseminate the Buddha’s teaching (Tradition of Liao 916-1125, Metropolitan Museum wall plaque).
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...
Edwardes, Michael. Ed. A Life of the Buddha - From a Burmese Manuscript. The Folio Society, London; 1959
...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.
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
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
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
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
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...