Art History Paragraph

 

Introduction + claim:

Funerary art are works of art that accompany one’s burial. They are pervasive in large scales in the past, especially so for people of high statuses who are able to afford them. The type of funerary art varies from culture to culture, depending on their traditions and belief. Some of them are ostentatious, most notably the gold coffin and shrines in the pharaoh’s tomb that are believed to be enjoyed by the dead in the afterlife . Others are monetarily worth less but due to their perceived functions, are equally important to their patrons. Both the Qin emperor’s terracotta army, thousands of larger than life clay statues excavated beside the Qin emperor’s mound, and haniwa, clay models are found in the tumuli of Japanese Emperors, are eminent examples of such funerary art. In my essay, I will be examining the differences between them in order to prove that the Qin emperor’s terracotta warrior is made with a spiritual belief whereas the Haniwa soldier is created as a decorative marker.

First paragraph:

Firstly, both the Qin emperor’s terracotta warrior and Haniwa figurine from a Japanese Emperor’s tomb are made from terracotta clay. In the Chinese soldier’s case, clay was not only chosen because its alternatives were not as feasible for such a large scaled project, but also because of its sturdiness, low cost and ample supply¹. Furthermore, they can be shaped to form the perfect army – ideally fit and taller-than-life – without the “burdens that come with organising groups of armed warriors”² , since it is harder to find and train the warriors in reality. On the other hand, Haniwa figurines are typically miniatures. Their disparity in size also suggests that the Qin emperor’s terracotta warriors are meant to ‘come to life’ in their imposing forms in the afterlife, unlike the Haniwa figurines which would not be as intimidating at their shorter height. Therefore, the formal creation tends towards a spiritual function while the latter is unlikely to be used as so.

¹Diane Bailey, Emperor Qin’s Terra-Cotta Army. (USA, Minnesota: Abdo Publishing, 2014), 59.

²Jane Portal, The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2007), 143.

Art History Proposal

Introduction:

  • History of tomb burial in China & Japan; Switch from human sacrifice to clay figurines.
  • Claim: Difference between the Japanese Haniwa and Qin Emperor warrior highlights the difference in the beliefs between the two countries.
  1. Compare both in terms of Materials, Creators and Location and Link to the possible Functions of each

2. Visual Analysis of figurines + Production Methods to back up the Functions/ Meaning

3. Use Background Context (Qin banned Buddhism + Japanese people praying to the mount) to back up Belief and hence meaning

 

Conclusion: Difference in Belief -> Difference in Functions -> Difference in Clay Figures

In a nutshell, the dissimilarity between the aspects of both tomb figures speaks much of the cultural difference between the Chinese and Japanese societies of that time.

 

Similarities in terms of
 Creators (ordered by Emperors)
 Locations (Far from Tomb)
 Materials
 Mass production

Differences in terms of
 Depth of details/realism and hence functions
 Mass production methods
 Meanings

 

Bibliography:
Portal, Jane. The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army. Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, c2007

“Haniwa Armoured Man”, National Institute for Cultural Heritage. http://www.emuseum.jp/detail/100200/001/010?word=&d_lang=en&s_lang=en&class=&title=&c_e=&region=&era=&cptype=&owner=&pos=97&num=1&mode=detail&century= . Accessed on 9 March 2017.

Lai, Guolong. Terracotta warriors: the first emperor & his legacy. Singapore: Asian Civilisations Museum, c2011.

Bailey, Diane. Emperor Qin’s terra-cotta army. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Essential Library, an imprint of Abdo Publishing, 2015.

Wood, Frances. China’s first emperor and his terracotta warriors. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008.

 

Haniwa Armored Man, Kofun period/6th century, Terracotta, Excavated in Iizuka-machi, Ota City, Gunma Prefecture,
Source: Tokyo National Museum

Infantryman, 221-210 BCE, Terracotta, China
Source: Infantryman, 221-210 BCE, Terracotta, China

2D Zine On-Site Research

Initially, I didn’t really know where to start.

I read up that Yishun is known for its extensive bicycle lanes and hence decided to follow the trail of stray bicycles.

After awhile, the trail is lost, so I decided to take photo of bicycle-related things. (Mostly signs)

Then, we reached the reservoir near the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

And walking further down, we chanced upon these stationary bicycles.

They have a tube connected to the reservoir in front of the railing, in which spouts water if you pedaled hard enough. (credits to my brother)

” Nikki faster leh, tiring sia!” LOL

According to a blog online, it is supposedly used to water the plants, which is unfortunately pretty ineffective due to the limited amount of plants reached. Mostly the water just hits the soil near the reservoir.

#theytried

Just thought this was pretty cool

Continuing the chase of bicycles.

Random tree that looked kind of like a foot

Tried to incorporate something interesting  in the same picture as bicycles.

This is quite cool cos it looks like a family photo for the bicycles haha

Unfortunately, I got into trouble for taking photo of when a bicycle passed the police station, and had to delete those photos. 🙁

SECOND TRIP

This time I researched online a little first so I’ll have more direction.

Saw the interesting interactive green playground and went to check it out.

Might include the wobbly houses at the front page, showing the quirky Yishun trait.

Next, decided to check out the Chong Pang market area since it is said on an online Singapore Forum to be the area of weirdest happenings.

Ermmm, just kind of found a small food centre which is kind of disappointing but its ok! Because it’s on the way to our next destination, the only hot springs in Singapore!

Took our chance and bought some eggs and cup noodles at the Giant there.

Adventure time!

Lots of fences cos its near the military camp.

I think I kind of caught a glimpse of this on TV so I wasn’t really surprised when it’s just kind of a place with taps that provided hot spring water. The red brick cordons off the actual source of the water for safety reasons.

The friendly uncle there told us to just take any one of the many pails lying around for use.

Filling the pail! I saw online that people used it to soak your feet so I was just blindly following it.

Misadventure of the egg. RIP (2017-2017)

“Cooking” 4 eggs.

Also lent a few of the chairs around and waited for both the egg and water to cool enough to dip my legs in. The uncle told us it was going to take super long (which it did) and we could speed up the cooling process by pouring the water teh tarik style. We tried but ultimately resigned to waiting because it was too heavy to continue for a long time.

Finally decently warm to soak! But it kind of reminded me of my NPCC(Uniform Group) times where I had to stand under the hot sun in my burning black boots. Haha but I guess it would be good for the old people who suffer from arthritis.

Also the egg is half-cooked evenly and ready for consumption! According to my friend, its the ‘perfect yakun style’ half boiled egg, although I’m not a big fan of half-boiled egg myself. We didn’t cook the cup noodles because we are quite skeptical of the cleanliness of the tap, since the water is deemed drinkable.

So we kind of soaked our legs and ate eggs, watching birds eat rice the uncle threw on the floor until I suddenly got attacked by mosquitoes and called it a day.

All in all, quite a different experience although next time I should really apply insect repellent beforehand!

In conclusion, the on-site exploration has allowed me to experience the quaint neighborhood of Yishun, which is less of a wild dystopian town that the internet has made it out to be, and more of a quietly quirky place.

Also, having some destination in mind before visiting greatly increases the productivity of the trip since there is a particular direction.



















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