Make up a topic for me - Essay Example

Before the Han dynasty, there were very few sculptures and painting in China. Sculptures were introduced after the arrival of Buddhism in China. Decorations were mainly in two dimensions. At first, the curving of sculptures was restricted to animal figures. Sculptures of human were made after the 1 century and were at first limited to sculptures of Buddha and ceremonies related to Buddhism (Bushell, 154). This paper looks at how Buddhism influenced the development of art in China by using a few examples.

There are several paintings that have been drawn by Chinese artists of Buddha and various monks. Moreover, there is painting that tells stories adopted from the Buddhist religion. An example is the drawing of Buddha on the wall of the temple meant for Jiankang by the famous Chinese artist of the Jin dynasty Gu Kaizhi (Williams & Barrow, 54). Buddhism led to the development of the painting of the human figure. The led to the development of a new genre called “Renwu”: the human figure genre which is one of the 4 disciplines in Chinese art.

This led to the development of great painters of portrait who gained their fame status by painting Buddhist figure, Buddha and Bodhisattvas. Some of these great artists include Wie Xie of the 4th century, Gu Kaizhi (346-405 AD) and Sengyao (6th century AD) among other contemporary artists (Williams & Terence, 320). Painting of portraits wee guided by the 6 principles developed by Xie He which he codified by following the Indian rules of painting. “Lohan seated in a tree” is an example of a painting from the Ming dynasty is an example of a painting that has been greatly influenced by Buddhism.

It was painted by Ding Ynpeng and is one of the earliest Chinese paintings showing a Buddhist monk in a tree. This painting is different from other Chinese paintings of the 13th century as it is displayed in bright color showing vitality and liveliness. This is because Lohan means enlightened being and the painter clearly shows this theme. An important thing to observe about these painting is that although the dead were originally from India, the Chinese artists have made their own modifications and innovations that make the images to be more authentic (Kieschnick, 140).

From the 1st century to the 18th century, Chinese artists have continued to depart from the original Indian principles of painting to a new style that is unique to china. Studying of the Chinese sculpture of Liao dynasty (907-1125) is important because they are the type that is mostly found in international museums around the world such as America, British and Asian museums. The art from this era were predominantly Buddhist. In the western Capital of Liao, there are three monuments made of sculptures of the rules of this generation.

Observing the sculpture closely one can observe that the artists borrowed a lot from the sculptures of Bodhisattvas who are people who endeavor to become Buddha (Williams & Terence, 378). For instance, there is a halo surrounding the head of the sculptures. Moreover, the sculptures have other features that were common in the representation of the Buddhist deities and include jewelry, costumes and crowns. The 292 Dunhuang caves are the perfect representation of Buddhist influence on Chinese art.

The first Dunhuang cave was developed by a Buddhist monk in the third century and it was called “