P6+Samurai+Arts

=P6 Samurai Arts= Fiona W. and Cat C.


 * Essay **

Samurai are not all warrior. They also participate in arts, as well as the art of battle. They sit in gardens and write haikus. They paint beautiful mountains with trees and flowers on the landscape. They practice the art of rearranging flowers to make the patterns and colors even more beautiful than they would be found in nature. They make tiny shapes and animals out of folded paper to adorn gifts that they give, as they believe that the only proper way for a gift to be given was if the gift had a shape on the top. The Samurai could be very calm, as well as very fierce. They were talented and artistic people, and excelled in these arts.

One art the samurai did was Haiku. Haiku is a type of formal, unrhymed poetry that is often related to nature. During the Tokugawa period Tanka poetry was given up for the beloved Haiku. Zen Buddhism has significantly shaped the historical development of Japanese haiku. Haiku was often written in meditation gardens and displayed as silk screen calligraphy. Originally haiku was only written about nature, but later expanded to other subjects. The syllables in a Haiku add up to 17 having three lines and a 5, 7, 5 syllable pattern. Not only Samurai wrote Haiku but later it became popular among all classes. It is often said that the essence of haiku lies in its blend of simplicity and subtlety. There has often been confusion between the three terms hokku, haikai, and haiku. Hokku means to start a verse, and both haiku and haikai are a type of poetry.

Another art the samurai did was landscape painting. In the 1300's Japan adopted a style of painting called sumi-e from china. Sumi-e used delicate brushstrokes to create beautiful landscapes in most entirely black ink **.** Japanese painting was originally influenced by Chinese styles, but later developed its own Japanese characteristics. Painting was done on paper or silk using ink and watercolors. When done the paintings were mounted on hand scrolls, screens or panels. Then paintings were either used to divide the rooms or to decorate the rooms. Things that the samurai included in their nature paintings were things like mountains, trees, flowers, and birds and animals.

A third art the samurai did was meditating in the gardens. In gardens, also known as Zen Buddhist gardens, a samurai could find peace to meditate and reflect their actions and thought. A samurai could also control their emotions by meditating at a garden. By means of a Japanese garden a samurai sought to bring nature within the walls of his castle or mansion. It is also made to reflect Zen philosophy. When designing a garden often Bonzai trees are grown there in pots to make more beautiful than nature. Also when designers are designing a garden most designers would avoid flowers because they are a distraction. Gardens surround Zen temples and are also often found in feudal castles.

Flowers and nature have been big art focuses in Japan since medieval times. One of the forms of art that included nature in it is Ikebana. Ikebana is a Japanese flower arrangement, meant to be more beautiful than nature. The art could have begun as early as the Nara period. It was introduced to the Japanese by Buddhists who came to Japan from China. It is believed to be an aid to religious enlightenment by the monks, so the Japanese believed in that fact also. It became one aspect of the Tea Ceremony, and had strict standards of color, grouping and lines according to the occasion. Ikebana was influenced by Zen Buddhism, and the art originated from the custom of offering flowers to statues of Buddha. But as time went on, Ikebana began to be recognized as an independent art form by most people. Flower masters, who taught people the art of flower arrangement, had to be skilled, have a steady hand and have more ability than just knowing how to arrange flowers in a beautiful way. There are two types of the art of Ikebana: Heika and Moribana. Heika focuses more on flowers in vases and having the flowers in vertical lines. Heika also emphasizes on finding the flower’s natural charm and displaying the flowers in an elegant manner. Moribana is made with a long, flat container and a kenzan, which is a small holder with holes which flowers can be inserted into. It also focuses on the broad expanse of natural-looking shapes and a beautiful cluster of flowers. Both of the types of Ikebana focus on making the arrangement, color, pattern and lines of flowers more beautiful than in nature.

Doing elegant crafts is popular in Shinto. One of the crafts that people made to adorn gifts and special occasions is Origami. Origami is an Asian style of art which involves the folding of paper without cutting or tearing the paper, to make a shape. Origami was most common in the high-class before the Edo period because the paper was the most expensive at that time and was the hardest to make. It is a traditional Japanese pastime, and can be done in a lot of places because it only takes one sheet of paper to make. The most popular figure is the crane, but other common shapes are bunnies, butterflies, flowers and crabs. Some people are so skilled in the art that they can make a Christmas tree out of paper, an extremely difficult shape to make. This art is the most popular among girls. A special type of paper used for Origami is called Washi paper. This paper was originally used for offerings to the gods, when people discovered that they could fold the paper to make cute animals and other natural figures. Origami was most popular in the Edo period, between 1603 and 1868 because in that period of time there was a mass production of paper, making paper cheaper to buy and the lower-class people could make it. Even though Origami is now more made for the fun of it, some people still believe that for a gift to be suitable for giving, it has to have origami on it. All of the arts are similar to this, requiring it to be beautiful and sophisticated. Shinto requires people to control their emotions, and to practice refined behavior. They are also required to make their homes beautiful, and too keep their robes neat and sophisticated. media type="custom" key="8455270"

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