Islamic art (Arabic-Chinese hybrid designs)

Islamic art (Arabic-Chinese hybrid designs)
Chinese Islamic art incorporates Arabic calligraphy, architecture and Islamic music, each expressive of Muslim religious life. Hybrid Arabic—Chinese calligraphy is referred to as ‘Arabic- character painting’ (jingzihua), and by non-Han Muslims in Xinjiang as ‘Chinese style’ (zhongguoti). Borrowing from Arabic writing and blended perfectly with the techniques of Chinese calligraphy and aesthetics, a distinctive artistic genre of jingzihua calligraphy and painting has been created. The unique art works of Arabic-character painting carry poetic names, such as ‘seawater welcomes the sun’ (haishui chaoyang), and ‘golden dragon climbs the jade pillar’ (jinlongpanyuzhu).
Diversity of design results from the use of different art media and techniques employing fine brushwork, freehand brushwork, seal character brushwork, and from application of regular and cursive script, resulting in vertical scrolls, horizontal hanging scrolls, couplet scrolls, fan-shaped screens or paintings.
The content of ‘Arabic-character painting’ is inspired by the Koran, hadiths and other religious texts. Calligraphy tools are usually made by the calligrapher: this can be a hard brush made from plant stems and tree roots, or a soft brush made from cloth, yarn or flax.
Islamic music comprises ritual eulogies praying to Allah and praising the Prophet Muhammad, chants for reciting the Koran, and other poems or songs which express belief and religious devoutness in prayers, rituals and religious festivals. These chants tend to have no instrumental accompaniment; cadence and modulation induce a worshipful and stirring mood. In women’s mosques, the tradition of ‘religious songs’ (jingge) is being revived, their tunes closely related to popular local Han folksongs.
Dillon, M. (1996). China’s Muslims. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
SHUI JINGJUN AND MARIA JASCHOK

Encyclopedia of contemporary Chinese culture. . 2011.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Islamic mosques — Since the Yuan dynasty (1276–1368), Chinese Muslims have referred to mosques as qingzhensi (temple of purity and truth) centres for worship, education and varied religious activities. In central China, varying degrees of Chinese and Arabic… …   Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture

  • Islamic arts — Visual, literary, and performing arts of the populations that adopted Islam from the 7th century. Islamic visual arts are decorative, colourful, and, in religious art, nonrepresentational; the characteristic Islamic decoration is the arabesque.… …   Universalium

  • List of Chinese inventions — A bronze Chinese crossbow mechanism with a buttplate (the wooden components have …   Wikipedia

  • South Asian arts — Literary, performing, and visual arts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Myths of the popular gods, Vishnu and Shiva, in the Puranas (ancient tales) and the Mahabharata and Ramayana epics, supply material for representational and… …   Universalium

  • china — /chuy neuh/, n. 1. a translucent ceramic material, biscuit fired at a high temperature, its glaze fired at a low temperature. 2. any porcelain ware. 3. plates, cups, saucers, etc., collectively. 4. figurines made of porcelain or ceramic material …   Universalium

  • China — /chuy neuh/, n. 1. People s Republic of, a country in E Asia. 1,221,591,778; 3,691,502 sq. mi. (9,560,990 sq. km). Cap.: Beijing. 2. Republic of. Also called Nationalist China. a republic consisting mainly of the island of Taiwan off the SE coast …   Universalium

  • Inventions in medieval Islam — A significant number of inventions were developed in the medieval Islamic world, a geopolitical region that has at various times extended from Al Andalus and Africa in the west to the Indian subcontinent and Malay Archipelago in the east.… …   Wikipedia

  • Southeast Asian arts — Literary, performing, and visual arts of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. The classical literatures of Southeast Asia can be divided into three major regions: the Sanskrit region of… …   Universalium

  • BIBLE — THE CANON, TEXT, AND EDITIONS canon general titles the canon the significance of the canon the process of canonization contents and titles of the books the tripartite canon …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Timeline of historic inventions — The timeline of historic inventions is a chronological list of particularly important or significant technological inventions. Note: Dates for inventions are often controversial. Inventions are often invented by several inventors around the same… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”