If we look at two paintings, one from China during the Tang Dynasty and one from the Edo period in Japan, we can see the Buddhist influence of society and culture in these works. The Great Wave at Kanagawa is a seascape measuring 10 1/8 inches x 14 15/16 inches (The Great 1). The work is a polychrome ink and color composition on paper that was painted by Katsushika Hokusai during the Edo period, one of a series of views of Mount Fuji the artist created between 1531-1533 (The Great 1). The piece against which we will compare Great Wave is Han Gan’s Night Shining White, a handscroll measuring 12 1/8 inches x 13 3/8 inches that was composed during the Tang Dynasty in China in the eight century (Night 1). Night is an ink on paper composition.
In Great Wave we definitely see elements of Buddhism and its influence on Japanese culture and art. Mount Fuji is viewed from the sea as a tiny, stable, presence in the background as we look at it through the cresting of a giant wave that rises high above us. The turbulent, thrashing wave appears to thunder over the tiny, but stately pyramid image of Mount Fuji. If we try to interpret a Buddhist influence in this contrasting of forces between the wave and the mountain we might recalls the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism. The first is that life is suffering. We could say that the mountain suffers from the turbulent thrashing of the giant wave or that the waves are thrashing about in pain from suffering. Craving and desire being the cause of suffering is the second truth. Here, we see that Mount Fuji appears to have eliminated craving and desire because of its calm, stable, presence against the adversity of the wave. However, the wave appears to be craving something, to be in a state of unrest, still desiring or craving a place of permanence and stability as Mount Fuji symbolizes. Mount Fuji has achieved the third noble truth metaphorically at least, Nirvana, the elimination of craving a...