Asia is a huge continent of diverse lands each with an ancient culture. Each of the countries of Asia has developed a unique artistic tradition over the millennia.
The most ancient cultures are the vast lands of India and China. Traders, missionaries and invaders from these countries spread their culture far and wide over the continent and the arts of most of Asia show influences from one or the other.
In most cases the main driving force for artistic creation was religion, especially Buddhism and Hinduism as Islam did not permit the creation of images of deities. In India, the focus was on creating statues and sculptures for temples and homes; in China, it was paintings of boddisattva such as Avalokiteshvara and Kwan Yin.
In Japan, artists were influenced by Zen Buddhism which led them to try and represent the nature of an aesthetic object in the simplest possible way. It was the artist's duty to suggest the eternal essence of the subject which they saw as its Buddha nature. Their favourite medium was a horsehair brush, black ink, on paper or silk.
Thailand absorbed influences from both China and India. But it was Theravada Buddhism from India that was to provide the strongest impetus and inspiration to Thai arts. The zenith of Thai art was the bronze Buddha image, especially those of the Sukhothai era. The other major artistic Thai endeavour in medieval times was the painting of murals on the interior walls of temples. It wasn’t until the 20th century that secular arts blossomed in Thailand.
In most cases the main driving force for artistic creation was religion, especially Buddhism and Hinduism as Islam did not permit the creation of images of deities. In India, the focus was on creating statues and sculptures for temples and homes; in China, it was paintings of boddisattva such as Avalokiteshvara and Kwan Yin.
In Japan, artists were influenced by Zen Buddhism which led them to try and represent the nature of an aesthetic object in the simplest possible way. It was the artist's duty to suggest the eternal essence of the subject which they saw as its Buddha nature. Their favourite medium was a horsehair brush, black ink, on paper or silk.
Thailand absorbed influences from both China and India. But it was Theravada Buddhism from India that was to provide the strongest impetus and inspiration to Thai arts. The zenith of Thai art was the bronze Buddha image, especially those of the Sukhothai era. The other major artistic Thai endeavour in medieval times was the painting of murals on the interior walls of temples. It wasn’t until the 20th century that secular arts blossomed in Thailand.