Missrousey | A Little Extra Help for 7th Grade History



KANJI

[pic]Japanese Kanji that means writing

Shodo and shuji are both Japanese words that mean “calligraphy.”

Shodo is the art of writing beautifully, using all three of the Japanese alphabets. It is a spiritual practice, a mental discipline, and a physical exercise. Shodo plays a very important role in Japan, where its characters are regarded as having a sort of spiritual power.

Shodo originated in China and developed all of its basic forms by the end of the Han dynasty in 220 AD. It was then introduced into Japan during the 6th century AD. In Japan, Chinese characters were gradually modified for the Japanese language and came to be known as kanji, symbols used to represent entire words.

Questions to answer in your notebook:

1. What does the word Shodo mean in Japanese?

2. What is Shodo?

3. Where did Shodo come from?

4. When did Shodo come to Japan?

5. What is Kanji?

HAIKU

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During the Heian period of Japanese culture (700-1100), it was a social requirement to be able to instantly recognize, appreciate and recite Japanese and Chinese poetry.

It was around this period that short forms of poetry (tanka) grew in popularity over long forms of poetry (choka). The strict lifestyle of the Heian Court carried over into art; every poem had to have a specific form. The approved form was the 5-7-5 triplet followed by a couplet of seven syllables

A traditional Japanese haiku is a three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. Often focusing on images from nature, haiku emphasizes simplicity, intensity, and directness of expression.

Questions to Answer in your Notebook:

1. What was a social requirement of the Heian period?

2. What is Tonka?

3. What is Choka?

4. What is a traditional Japanese haiku?

5. What do Haikus focus on?

ORIGAMI

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Origami is the art of paper-folding. Its name derives from Japanese words ori (“folding”) and kami (“paper”). Traditional origami consists of folding a single sheet of square paper (often with a colored side) into a sculpture without cutting, gluing, taping, or even marking it.

Japanese monks originally folded origami figures for religious purposes. Origami was also used in various formal ceremonies, such as the practice of folding paper butterflies to adorn sake bottles at a Japanese couple's wedding reception. Tsutsumi, folded paper gift wrappers, were used in some ceremonies to symbolize sincerity and purity.

Today, many people are attracted to the idea of learning how to fold origami figures because paper is a cheap craft supply. When origami was first practiced, however, it was a craft only for the elite. Why was origami limited to this small part of the population? Well, early forms of paper were very expensive, so the average Japanese person couldn't afford to buy it. Wealthy Japanese also had more time to dedicate to creating art than their lower-class counterpart.

Questions to Answer in Your Notebook:

1. What is Origami?

2. What does Origami mean in Japanese?

3. Who originally did origami? Why?

4. What is Tsutsumi?

5. Why was origami mainly done by the wealthy in Japan?

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