Asian Art

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In the beginning art was created mainly to reproduce images that our eyes can see on a flat surface. Of course, you can say that sculptures were created to re-create images in 3D, but the main purpose of art was to get as accurate a depiction as possible of another place and another time for eternity. Nowadays, we have advanced to the point where it is possible to take accurate pictures digitally, and this sort of pushed art towards abstract depictions that are difficult to do with digital cameras.

However, in China, there was a time when calligraphy was very popular, and it was the instrument used was the brush. That was the most advanced instrument available to the artist for capturing a place in time. And thus landscape paintings became one of the most popular art pieces, along with depictions of people, animals, and plants. Ability to use the brush with such skill that a whole mountain is depicted realistically in a few brush strokes became secrets of the master painters. This extended to depictions of fishes, bamboo, and people using just a brush, black ink, and calligraphy paper.

There were, of course many uses other than pictures, as Chinese use pictograms as their language. These pictograms were basically brushstrokes concatenated together in an area of a square. The great artists were able to create calligraphy styles for their Chinese words that they became art itself. Rarely do people sell calligraphy styles of words in the western hemisphere, but in Asia, how a person wrote a paragraph of Chinese words in a scroll is art itself. Even the depiction of one word, like "Tao" was considered art, especially if done in a style that produces the artist's individual style.

The subject matter of Chinese scroll paintings and calligraphy were mainly limited to the subjects of the day, and included poetry for deep thinkers. If you are interested in knowing more about Chinese scroll paintings as related to Taoism and Buddhism in China, feel free to visit:

http://www.edepot.com/taoart.html

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Although many art pieces from Asia were appreciated in the West, only one subject matter truly represented Chinese art. The rest were borrowed from other countries and integrated into Chinese Art. This subject matter is Taoism. Many think Buddhism is a product of the Chinese, but in reality, Buddhism came from India, and became popularized in China, which then spread to Japan as Zen. Zen actually is a by-product of combining Taoism and Buddhism with some added Japanese beliefs. Another subject matter that is truly Chinese is the subject of Confucianism, but these paintings were not proliferated as much as Taoism.

It was the enjoyment of nature in its true form that led to landscape paintings and attached poetic words to describe them. These paintings allowed Taoists to enjoy nature while confined in urban settings. Other subjects of Taoist nature taught the philosophy of Taoism using symbolisms. One of the most famous of these paintings that became very popular in the West is the painting Three Vinegar Tasters. It showed Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism side by side in front of a vat of Vinegar, by showing their founders' expression after tasting vinegar. Lao Tzu (Lao Zi) was the only one smiling. It is a famous allegory that that was painted in ancient China. To know more about the Vinegar Tasters, the story behind this painting, and what the allegory means, or even purchase an art piece for yourself, you can visit the Vinegar Tasters section of the Asian Art store at:

http://www.edepot.com/taoism_3-vinegar-tasters.html