100 Years of Arts of Asia The Art Institute of Chicago

One of the most remarkable is a long handscroll depicting a street scene with over 400 figures engaged in social and professional activities, attributed to the late Yuan dynasty artist Zhu Yu. Although we cannot be certain about this attribution, its unusual theme and superb technique rank it among one of the finest figurative paintings in the history of Chinese art. The scroll continues to be an object of fascination and research; it was the subject of a recent collaborative online exhibition with the Suning Art Museum in Shanghai featuring a new animation by the artist Qianwen Yu. For much of the Art Institute’s early history, the Asian works in the collection were considered “curios,” or curiosities—decorative objects rather than fine art. Prevailing attitudes began to change after 1910, as more and more high-quality Asian objects entered Western collections and the rich, independent artistic traditions of these cultures began to be recognized by archaeologists and art historians alike.

• Malaysian art is primarily composed of Malay art and Bornean art, holding similarities with the other styles from Southeast Asia, such that of Brunei, Indonesia, and Singapore.
• The avatara of Hinduism is not the prophet of Judaism nor the Christ of Christianity; karma is not easily equated with destiny or divine will; tantric yoga differs noticeably from Sunday School exercises.
• Encouraged by these measures, extreme nationalists began to attack Christianity on the grounds that it was incompatible with nationalism.
• Included are the arts of India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

Art in America

The Christian population in Asia stands at approximately 298 million, constituting 6.53% of the Asian population. Jews form a smaller demographic, numbering 6.4 million, which is less than 1 percent of the overall population. The combined adherents of various smaller religions, including Baha’is, Jains, Sikhs, Taoists, and other minor faiths, total around 53 million or 1.16% of the Asia population. Asia, the cradle of diverse and influential religions that have shaped civilizations, holds a rich tapestry of spiritual traditions. From the ancient roots of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism in India to the birthplaces of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the Middle East, Asia has been a fountainhead of profound beliefs.

Baháʼí Faith

There is no easy way to get the background needed in Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. It helps if one has a reasonably sophisticated and objective view of one’s own religious faith, for that makes it easier to guard against attempting to force the religion studied into familiar molds. We will not be altogether successful in gaining the Asian perspective, but we must try. For that, our basic resources are history and anthropology, with recent anthropological research proving to be of increasing value.

During his tenure a number of significant works were added to the Asian art collection, including an important Western Zhou ritual bronze cauldron with a lengthy inscription, a Ming dynasty huanghuali couch-bed, and a group of 12 paintings by the Hong Kong modernist artist Wucius Wong. Stephen Little, a specialist in Chinese painting, was appointed to lead the Michaelsaso department as Pritzker Chair in 1995, and he ushered in a number of important acquisitions, including a painting by the Yuan dynasty master Ni Zan, Poetic Thoughts in a Forest Pavilion. During his tenure, Little invited the renowned curator and scholar Dr. Pratapaditya Pal to be a visiting curator.

It is a set of practices carried out to establish a connection between present-day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 7th and 8th centuries. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified “Shinto religion”, but rather to disorganized folklore, history, and mythology.

On the other hand, Buddhists have seen slight increases due to religious switching in Taiwan and Vietnam. We also count someone who has moved from a specific religion to no religious identity – or vice versa –as having switched. For more information, refer to the report’s Methodology section and the full survey questionnaire. Data was weighted to account for different probabilities of selection and to align with demographic benchmarks for the adult population.