Asian American

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This longstanding difficulty has been particularly obvious in the region called "East Asia." Generally speaking, East Asia consists of China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Within this region the dominant and oldest influence has been that of China. This can be ascertained by simply considering the larger characteristics of this region, including the shared religions of Buddhism and Taoism. In addition, there is a shared social, moral philosophy which originated with Confucius. It is for this reason that China might accurately be described as "the cradle of East Asia." So China has had a very early (and formable) influence on the languages, cultures, economics, and art of the East Asian region.

It is an undisputed fact that true Chinese art is visual art. This is true Asian American whether it is ancient or modern. It originated in China and is still in practice in China by Chinese artists. Two examples of early Chinese art reveal much about the nature of the artist's work in the Chinese tradition. The first example is the famous Qin sculptures. The Terracotta Army is located inside the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. It consists of more than 7,000 life size tomb terra cotta figures. The figures are of ancient warriors and their horses who are in a tomb with the first Emperor of Qin, Qin Shi Huang, in the year 210 to 209 B.C. This is a very impressive and ancient sculpture which brings a strong sense of pride to all Chinese people. Another example of early Chinese art is the Han art. It is common knowledge today that the Han Dynasty was known well for jade burial suits. A very early known portrait in Chinese art is that of a landscape. It is a depiction placed upon a pair of hollow tile door panels from a western Han Dynasty tomb near the city of Zhengzhou. The respective date is from 60 B.C. This depiction has been described as a scene of continuous depth recession. It is carved by a zigzag of lines which stand for roads and garden walls. The scene gives the idea that one is looking down from atop a hill.