Essay Database

Haniwa: Kofun period, 6th century ce. Earthenware Womb World mandala: Heian period, late 9th century ce. Hanging Scroll Detail of Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace: Kamakura period, late 13th century ce. Handscroll In Japan, when an emperor died, large chamber tombs were constructed. The Japanese government has never allowed the major sacred tombs to be excavated. Some of these sites had artificial hills built over the tombs themselves. On the top the hills were …

…victorious, destroying the Taira clan in 1185. The scroll conveys a sense of eyewitness reporting even though the anonymous artist had to imagine the scene from verbal and semi factual desciptions. The style of the painting includes the brisk and lively linework and more refined brushwork, use of color, and a birds eye viewpoint. The main element is the savage depiction of warfare and is full of action. The samurai was now taking over secular arts.