Amazing Japanese art
Japanese people created a diverse and unusual world of artistic images and forms. The art shows the story of life, way of life, beliefs and beauty of their nation.
For Japanese medieval art greater integrity of the worldview, close connection with religious and moral ideas are characteristic. The poetry of the thinking of Japanese people manifested itself in the multivalence of the content of the art objects, reflecting ideas about nature and the universe. The connections of different arts were largely conditioned by the fact that the measure of all things and the source of inspiration for medieval architects, poets, painters was nature with its natural beauty and eternal variability. The aesthetic norms of Japanese art developed under the influence of historical, social factors, as well as extremely unusual climatic and natural conditions.
Japanese culture in its origins belongs to the oldest cultures of mankind. Originating in the Neolithic (VIII millennium BC), it developed continuously in a single territory, which created specific conditions for the country. Without being subjected to external invasions during antiquity and the Middle Ages, Japan also avoided the devastating Mongol invasion, which significantly slowed the pace of historical development of other eastern states.
Due to a number of historical circumstances, various styles and genres of art emerged at different stages, the style of architecture altered, culminated and died out.
Japan is located on four major and many small islands washed by the Pacific Ocean and the seas. The nature is diverse and beautiful, but it combines both softness and rigidity. Japan is a country of mountains and many active volcanoes that continuously threaten people. Buildings are often mercilessly destroyed by earthquakes and typhoons.
Japanese architecture of the past is simple and graphical in its lines, corresponding to the size and natural conditions of the landscape. The main building material in ancient and medieval Japan was various valuable wood species. The garden is one of the most significant components of the Japanese medieval temple. The Japanese, who deified nature, believed that it did not die, continuing its life in things.
Japanese culture stands on three pillars: the art of calligraphy, the art of ikebana and the sacrament of the tea ceremony. The spirituality and morality of the Japanese are based on Shintoism, the traditional Japanese religion.
Japanese can see beauty even in small, realizing that there is nothing insignificant in nature, everything is essential.
Pictures from book Japanese Art by N. A. Vinogradova, 1985