Download The Cosmic Mountain Art and Architecture in Southeast Asia

The Cosmic Mountain – Art and Architecture in Southeast Asia
World History/E. Napp
Name: _________________
Historical Context:
“Art historians once considered the art of Southeast Asia an extension of Indian
civilization. Because of the Indian character of many Southeast Asian monuments,
scholars hypothesized that Indian artists had constructed and decorated them and that
Indians had colonized Southeast Asia. Today, researchers have concluded that no Indian
colonization occurred. The expansion of Indian culture to Southeast Asia during the first
millennium CE was peaceful and non-imperialistic, a by-product of trade. In the early
centuries CE, ships bringing trade goods from India and China to Rome passed through
Southeast Asia on the monsoon winds. The local tribal chieftains quickly saw an
opportunity to participate, mainly with their own forest products, such as aromatic woods,
bird feathers, and spices. Accompanying the trade goods from India were Sanskrit,
Buddhism, and Hinduism – and Buddhist and Hindu art. But the Southeast Asian peoples
soon modified Indian art to make it their own. Art historians now recognize Southeast
Asian art and architecture as a distinctive and important tradition.”
~ Gardner’s Art through the Ages
1- What lands
participated in
Indian Ocean
trade?
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
2- Where is
Southeast Asia
located on the
map?
_____________
_____________
3- How did
monsoon winds
benefit traders?
_____________
_____________
4- Why did many art historians consider Southeast Asia an extension of Indian civilization?
______________________________________________________________________________
5- What have researchers recently concluded about India’s role in Southeast Asia?
______________________________________________________________________________
6- Why did ships pass through Southeast Asia?
______________________________________________________________________________
7- What accompanied trade goods in Southeast Asia?
______________________________________________________________________________
8- Define cultural syncretism. ____________________________________________________
Borobudur: The Cosmic Mountain
“On the island of Java, part of the modern nation of Indonesia, the period from the 8th to
the 10th centuries witnessed the erection of both Hindu and Buddhist monuments.
Borobudur, a Buddhist monument unique in both form and meaning, is colossal in size,
measuring about 400 feet per side at the base and about 98 feet tall. Built over a small hill
on nine terraces accessed by four stairways aligned with the cardinal points, the structure
contains literally millions of blocks of volcanic stone. Visitors ascending the massive
monument on their way to the summit encounter more than 500 life-size Buddha images, at
least 1,000 relief panels, and some 1,500 stupas of various sizes.
Scholars debate the intended meaning of Borobudur. Most think the structure is a
constructed cosmic mountain, a three-dimensional mandala where worshippers pass
through various realms on their way to ultimate enlightenment. As they circumambulate
Borobudur, pilgrims first see reliefs illustrating the karmic effects of various kinds of
human behavior, then reliefs depicting jatakas of the Buddha’s earlier lives, and, farther
up, events from the life of Shakyamuni. On the circular terraces near the summit, each
stupa is hollow and houses a statue of the seated Buddha, who has achieved spiritual
enlightenment and preaches using the Wheel-turning mudra. At the very top is the largest,
sealed stupa. It may once have contained another Buddha image, but some think it was left
empty to symbolize the formlessness of true enlightenment. Although scholars have
interpreted the iconographic program in different ways, all agree on two essential points:
the dependence of Borobudur on Indian art, literature, and religion, and the fact that
nothing comparable exists in India itself. Borobudur’s sophistication, complexity, and
originality underline how completely Southeast Asians had absorbed, rethought, and
reformulated Indian religion and art by 800.” ~ Gardner’s Art through the Ages
1- Where is Java located?
________________________________________________________________________
2- Describe Borobudur.
________________________________________________________________________
3- What do most scholars believe was the intended meaning of Borobudur?
________________________________________________________________________
4- How and why does Borobudur reveal how thoroughly Southeast Asians had
absorbed yet reformulated Indian religion and art by 800? _____________________
A review of Buddhism:
Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, was an Indian prince
who discovered the existence of suffering: old age, sickness, and death. Upon learning of
the existence of suffering, he became determined to understand the reasons for human
suffering and how to eliminate human suffering. Although he had initially joined Hindu
ascetics or individuals who practiced strict self-denial in order to achieve spiritual states of
consciousness, he did not find the causation or cessation of suffering among the Hindu
ascetics. Leaving the ascetic path, Siddhartha meditated under a Bodhi tree – vowing to
achieve enlightenment. Upon achieving enlightenment, Siddhartha became the Buddha or
the enlightened one. The Buddha formulated his ideas on the causation and cessation of
suffering in The Four Noble Truths.
The Four Noble Truths:
The Eightfold Path:
Nirvana: The end of suffering
1- Suffering exists.
2- Desire causes suffering.
* Wanting other than what is…
3- Suffering can end.
* The end of suffering
4- Follow the Eightfold Path.
* A path to end suffering
“Just as heat displaces cold, light
eliminates darkness. We will not
overcome suffering just by
making prayers or engaging in
thoughtless meditation, but by
understanding reality. The third
noble truth, cessation, refers to
the elimination of suffering and
the way to it is the path of the
fourth noble truth. The ultimate
method to overcome ignorance is
wisdom understanding reality.”
~ The Fourteenth Dalai Lama
Buddhists accept the Hindu concepts
of karma and reincarnation but
reject caste. For Buddhists, dharma
refers to the Buddha’s teachings.
1. The Buddha’s name comes from a
Sanskrit word meaning
(A) Spirit warrior.
(B) Middle path.
(C) The enlightened one.
(D) To wake up.
8. A shrine, usually in the shape of a dome,
used to mark Buddhist relics or sacred sites.
(A) sutra
(B) stupa
(C) vajra
(D) mudra
2. The Buddha's first disciples were
(A) His wife and child.
(B) His five former ascetic companions.
(C) The great King Ashoka.
(D) Members of the warrior-noble caste.
9. The totality of Buddhist teaching.
(A) Satori
(B) Sangha
(C) Arhat
(D) Dharma
3. According to the Buddha, his teachings
must be
(A) Accepted on faith.
(B) Experienced in order to be worthwhile.
(C) Memorized and chanted.
(D) Spread by missionaries.
10. Constant rebirth and the attendant
suffering; the everyday world of change.
(A) samsara
(B) bodhisattva
(C) mandala
(D) shunyata
4. The Buddha was silent on questions about
(A) Suffering.
(B) Violence.
(C) Inner peace.
(D) Topics that were unanswerable.
11. A Tibetan Buddhist teacher, often a
monk.
(A) lama
(B) stupa
(C) sutra
(D) mudra
5. Once a person reaches nirvana,
(A) Suffering continues only for this life.
(B) Samsara is attained.
(C) Rebirth is finished.
(D) The Pure Land is entered.
6. Which did the Buddha not oppose?
(A) strong devotion to a guru
(B) the power of a priestly class
(C) detachment
(D) rituals for the gods
7. “Enlightenment being”; in Mahayana, a
person of deep compassion, especially one
who does not enter nirvana but is constantly
reborn to help others
(A) mandala
(B) shunyata
(C) bodhisattva
(D) lama
12. Sorrow, misery.
(A) dukkha
(B) sutra
(C) lama
(D) mudra
13. A circular design containing deities,
geometrical forms, symbols and so on that
represents totality, the self, or the universe.
(A) lama
(B) maitreya
(C) bodhisattva
(D) mandala
14. In Zen Buddhism, a question that cannot
be answered logically; a technique used to
test consciousness and bring awakening.
(A) dharma
(B) koan
Angkor Wat: Divinity’s Temple
“In 802, at about the same time the Javanese built Borobudur, the Khmer King
Jayavarman II (r. 802 – 805) founded the Angkor dynasty, which ruled Cambodia for the
next 400 years and sponsored the construction of hundreds of monuments, including
gigantic Buddhist monasteries (wats). For at least two centuries before the founding of
Angkor, the Khmer (the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia) produced Indian-related
sculpture of exceptional quality. Images of Vishnu were particularly important during the
pre-Angkorian period…
For more than four centuries, successive kings worked on the construction of the site of
Angkor. Founded by Indravarman (r. 877-889), Angkor is an engineering marvel, a grand
complex of temples and palaces within a rectangular grid of canals and reservoirs fed by
local rivers. Each of the Khmer kings built a temple mountain at Angkor and installed his
personal god – Shiva, Vishnu, or the Buddha – on top and gave the god part of his own
royal name, implying that the king was a manifestation of the deity. When the king died,
the Khmer believed that the god reabsorbed him, because he had been the earthly portion
of the deity during his lifetime, so they worshipped the king’s image as the god. This
concept of kingship approaches an actual deification of the ruler, familiar in many other
societies, such as pharaonic Egypt.
Of all the monuments the Khmer kings erected, Angkor War is the most spectacular.
Built by Suryavarman II, it is the largest of the many Khmer temple complexes. Angkor
Wat rises from a huge rectangle of land delineated by a moat measuring about 5,000 by
4,000 feet. Like the other Khmer temples, its purpose was to associate the king with his
personal god, in this case Vishnu. The centerpiece of the complex is a tall stepped tower
surrounded by four smaller towers connected by covered galleries. The five towers
symbolize the five peaks of Mount Meru, the sacred mountain at the center of the universe.
Two more circuit walls with galleries, towers, and gates enclose the central block. Thus, as
one progresses inward through the complex, the towers rise ever higher, in similar manner
as the towers of Khajuraho’s Vishvanatha Temple but in a more complex sequence and on
a much grander scale.
Throughout Angkor War, stone reliefs glorify both Vishnu in his various avatars and
Suryavarman II. A detail of a relief on the inner wall of the lowest gallery shows the king
holding court. Suryavarman II sits on an elaborate wooden throne, its bronze legs rising as
cobra heads. Kneeling retainers, smaller than the king because they are lesser figures in
the Khmer hierarchy, hold a forest of umbrellas and fans, emblems of Suryavarman’s
exalted rank. In the reliefs of Angkor Wat, religion and politics are united.”
~ Gardner’s Art through the Ages
1- Identify two facts about the Khmer dynasty. _________________________________
2- What did each Khmer king build?
________________________________________________________________________
3- How did Khmer subjects view their king?
________________________________________________________________________
4- Why was Angkor Wat particularly spectacular?
________________________________________________________________________
Using the
reading and this
aerial view of
Angkor Wat,
what can you
conclude about
the temple
complex?
______________
______________
______________
______________
______________
______________
______________
______________
A Review of Key Concepts in Hinduism:
Reincarnation: the soul is reborn
Karma: all actions have consequences
Caste: A fixed social class system that lacks social mobility
Dharma: the duties of caste
Moksha: An end of reincarnation and a realization of the god-self
Multiple-Choice Questions:
1. The second-ranking caste consisted of
(A) Priests.
(B) Merchants.
(C) Nobles and warriors.
(D) Artisans.
2. The earliest sacred texts of Hinduism are
the
(A) Upanishads.
(B) Brahmanas.
(C) Aranyakas.
(D) Vedas.
3. According to Hinduism, what is the
ultimate goal of existence?
(A) to obey one’s dharma
(B) to become a priest
(C)to be reincarnated
(D) to achieve union with Brahman
4. Both Hindus and Buddhists believe in
(A) Caste
(B) Samsara
(C) Monotheism
(D) Moksha
5. A sacred river in Hindu thought is
(A) the Indus River
(B) the Brahmaputra River
(C) the Ganges River
(D) the Yamuna River
6. The word Dalit means
(A) “the leaders”
(B) “the seers”
(C) “the enlightened ones”
(D) “the oppressed”