History_Paper

Yin Yang Museum is hosting a exposition on the social role of the arts in early Chinese and Japanese civilizations. The exhibit will describe the Chinese and Japanese religion, languages, general philosophies, beliefs and the relationship between the two cultures and their arts. * The exhibit starts off with how China became China. China is the world’s oldest civilization. The Shang Dynasty is the earliest of the Chinese eras for which archaeological evidence was found. The written language as pretty much stayed the same through the centuries. * The Zhou Dynasty was next and they introduced organized agriculture. Two great philosophical and religious traditions were introduced to China toward the middle of the Zhou Dynasty, Taosim and Confucianism. Yin and Yang is one of the best known Chinese images. Together they represent the Chinese religious philosophies that sum up life’s basic opposing elements, such as, pain and pleasure, light and dark, good and evil, and etc. * China’s name originated from the Qin dynasty. The Qin standardized the writing system. The Great Wall was also created by the Qin. The Great Wall still remains the world’s most remarkable structure. * The Han dynasty took over after the Qin. They managed to restore Confucianism to favor, making it the state philosophy. Under this dynasty, the Silk Road was established. The Silk Road made it possible for their goods to travel from China to other countries. Do to the Silk Road, Buddhism spread from India into China. * In the Song Dynasty, navigational compass, paper currency, gun powder, and printing, all were invented. Painting became popular during this dynasty. Ceramics became an important part of China. Calligraphy, beautiful writing, is a big part of China’s culture. * Japan created the world’s first pottery. It was said that China lead Japan into creating pottery but then it was found that Japan was really the one who introduced pottery. * Japan created the pottery in simple clay with various sizes such as large cooking and storage vessels. To show decoration and attraction patterns on the pottery, the Japan’s used ropes and cords known as Jomon. With using Jomon and no written words on their pottery, this showed that Japan was bold and confident in its way of life. * A new wave of people came to Japan bringing culture that led to great changes in Japan. The big change was the advanced agriculture, which mainly consisted of rice cultivation. * In the fifth and sixth century people came from China and brought things that became vital parts to the Japanese culture. Some were a writing system, Buddhism, and new forms of pottery. * Shinto was Japan’s own religion. Shinto rituals were carried out in private homes and in the temples. It is said that Shinto was a reaction to the Chinese religious and culture influence. * Japan has the world’s oldest wooden temple which is Horyu-ji. * Heian became the capital in 794 C.E., which became the most populated in the world. Most people in this era wrote poetry. * Masked dance came in the sixth century to Japan as religious, secular ritual and as entertainment. * Zen became big which was a form of Buddhism. Buddhism and Shinto had converged by this era. In this era, Zen Buddhism formed. Zen focused on meditation to discover the Buddha in everyone. This new form of Buddhism did not believe in life after death instead they believed in only what was living around them. * In the Ashikaga period Tea ceremonies became big and the tea huts were built.