Art and the Ordered Cosmos:

Japan

unit by Dr. Deborah Vess

Objectives:

1. Be able to discuss and explain the major values and tenets of Shinto.

2. Be able to discuss and explain the major values and tenets of Zen Buddhism.

3. Be able to explain the Japanese Tea Ceremony, and its role and significance in Japanese culture.

4. Be able to define Haiku, and to explain how it relates to the values of Shinto and Zen Buddhism.

5. Be able to define a Japanese Zen Garden, and to explain how it exemplifies the values of Zen Buddhism and also of Shinto.

6. Be able to explain Japanese beliefs about Cherry Blossoms, and how these beliefs are derived from Zen Buddhism and from Shinto.

7. Be able to discuss Akira Kirosawa's Dreams: The Peach Blossoms, and to explain how this film exemplifies the ideals of Zen Buddhism and of Shinto.

Assignments:

As part of this unit, you will be required to make your own Zen Garden. You will need a shoebox and some rocks; I will supply the other materials. You will write a commentary explaining the meaning of the objects in and the design of the your Zen Garden. Your commentary should be a minimum of 2/3 of a page to a page in length, and should clearly explicate the ideals of Shinto and Zen Buddhism.

You will also be required to write a Haiku poem. Haiku is a short poem of three lines. There are five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. Your Haiku poem should attempt to capture a moment in time which expresses your understanding of the meaning of the cosmos. It should be related to nature. You will read your Haiku aloud to your classmates.

Quotations:

Japanese poetry has as its subject the human heart. It may seem to be of no practical use and just as well left uncomposed, but when one knows poetry well, one understands also without explanation the reasons governing order and disorder in the world.

Kamo Mabuchi (1697-1769), Writings

Such stillness-
The cries of the cicadas
Sink into the rocks.

An old pond-
A frog leaping in-
The sound of water.

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

OUTLINE

I. Shinto

A. Nature

B. The Kami

C. Mt. Fuji

i) Hokusai's 36 views of Mt. Fuji

D. The Samurai Sword

II. Zen Buddhism

A. The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism

i) Life is full of suffering

ii) Suffering is caused by desire

iii) suffering can be ended by attaining Nirvana

iv) Nirvana can be attained through the Middle Path

B. Zen Meditation

i) propelling the mind beyond logic and reason: contemplating square circles

ii) intuition

III. The Cherry Blossoms

A. Transient

B. Beautiful

C. Kirosawa's Dreams

IV. The Japanese Tea Ceremony

A. Ritual

B. Role of Nature

C. Silence

D. A Symbol of life

E. Eternity in a Single Moment

V. The Zen Garden

A. Water Shortage in Japan

B. The Rocks

C. The Swirls

D. Make your own

VI. Haiku poetry

A. Definition

B. A frozen moment in time

C. Nature

D. Basho

E. Write your own haiku

copyright © Dr. Deborah Vess 1998-2001, Georgia College & State University and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. All rights reserved. Rights to chapters authored by contributing faculty members reserved to Georgia College & State University, to the Interdisciplinary Studies Program at GC&SU, and to the individual faculty authors.