The Art of Two Cultures

As in the Yoruba, the a number of arts of Japan had been markers of status. But, the Japanese also, like the Yoruba, reserved the art of sculpture virtually exclusively for religious purposes. A comparison on the two sculptural traditions demonstrates how differences in their religions and their views on the world affected the nature of their statuary.

The Yoruba, who amount approximately 10 million men and women today, live in scattered groups in southwestern Nigeria and eastern Dahomey. The very first in the independent Yoruba kingdoms was established inside twelfth century A.D. at Ife, and by the mid-sixteenth century, the Oyo, the northernmost Yoruba group, had established manage more than the rest. The Oyo hegemony lasted until the mid-nineteenth century. But, throughout their rule, Oyo dominance was usually contested by warring groups, organized close to their urban centers. The "conditions of cultural unity and political rivalry" in between the ancient Greek city-states gives an thought of problems in pre-colonial Nigeria (Allison 11).

Though there were considerable local variations inside the gods, and also the traditions surrounding them, the many Yoruba groups essentially worshipped the same pantheon of gods. Within the straightforward creation myth, the supreme god, Olorum, sent down Odudwa and his companions to Ife, and they spread out to populate the earth. All Yorubas claim descent from Odudwa (Allison 12). There are numerous other

 

Japanese traditions of spirit worship, which, like the Yoruba system, involved hundreds of local deities, have been replaced by the arrival of Buddhism. The new religion came from India, via China and Korea. The Buddha was a historical person who engaged in contemplation, and eventually attained Buddhahood, the complete transcendence from the world. Buddhists do not, theoretically, engage in worshipping the Buddha being a god. But, once he started out to be represented in human form (after originally being represented only by symbols), these representations multiplied and divided. Thus the historical Buddha is represented in art, but he is shown in a amount of incarnations that represent either numerous periods of his life, or different aspects of his character (Boger 69). Each of these versions of Buddha has its own attributes and mode of presentation. Further variations, for instance the representation of Kannon, Buddha's "spiritual offspring," who was, essentially, "the god of mercy," made the Buddhist temples appear as though they were centers for your worship of a host of gods (Nagahiro, Yum and Kuno 70).

gods, however, who are worshipped in each center of Yoruba life. In Ife, for example, the quantity is given a

Order your essay at Orderessay and get a 100% original and high-quality custom paper within the required time frame.