Museum Visit
A class visit to the DIA between lessons three and four is recommended. During Hiller Elementary's visit, students looked closely at the three paintings on display while listening to museum staff talk about them in detail.

Museum activities

1. Students were encouraged to sketch flowers, trees, or plants found on the three paintings as well as other East Asian works of art in the galleries. Students used specially prepared sketchbooks in the gallery.
    
2. Students also wore the t-shirts they had painted with a Chinese word and stamped with their chop. While they were in the museum, students encountered a group of visiting Korean business people. The students were thrilled when the Korean visitors were able to read their shirts. They encouraged students in their studies, telling them, "Asia will be very important in your future."
    
3. To help students appreciate East Asian style paintings, a few general comparisons between Western and East Asian paintings were made while touring the galleries. The following observations were made:

• Perspective: Western painters often use a single, fixed perspective to create an illusion of depth, while most East Asian painters, although capable of painting in fixed perspective, reject this idea and instead create depth by using empty space or voids.
   
• Medium: most Western paintings are painted with oil-based paints on canvas; East Asian paintings are usually done on paper or silk using black ink and sometimes light watercolors.
   
• Formats: East Asian paintings come in many formats, including handscrolls (meant to be viewed at arms length, read right to left as sections of the painting is unrolled), hanging scrolls, fans, album leaves, and screens. The majority of Western paintings are framed to hang on walls.
  
  

Resources

To learn more about the Asian art collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts, visit http://www.dia.org/collections/asian/

Calligraphy Books

Coerr, Eleanor and H. Cecil Uyehara. Mieko and the Fifth Treasure. New York, 1993.
This children's story about a Japanese girl who rediscovers the beauty of Japanese calligraphy juxtaposes the strength of Japanese art and philosophy with the devastating impact of the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan during World War II.

Qu, Lei Lei. The Simple Art of Chinese Calligraphy. New York, 2002.
This book is a complete, step-by-step beginner's guide to creating characters of Chinese script. Calligrapher Qui Lei Lei teaches the philosophy of this ancient art and demonstrates how to create important symbols of Chinese folklore.

Calligraphy Web sites

http://www.mandarintools.com/chinesename.html
This Web site contains a program that translates English names into Chinese and explains the meanings of the chosen characters for the Chinese name.

http://www.sigmainstitute.com/koreanonline/hangul.shtml
This Web site provides information on the history, appearance, structure, and pronunciation of Korean characters, or Hangul.

Gardening Books and Articles

Chung, Jae-hoon. Korean Gardens: Where Man and Nature Become One. Koreana, v. 17, N. 1, Summer 2003.
This article is an introduction to the appreciation of Korean gardens as a way to discover the aesthetics, view of nature, and philosophy of life of the Korean people, using famous Korean gardens as examples.

Glasgow, Aline. Honschi. New York, 1972.
Relates a children's story about the adventures of a Japanese chickadee after she leaves her parents' nest. Illustrations help convey the landscape and natural settings of Japan, as well as show native plants and dress.

Horton, Alvin, and Cedric Crocker, Creating Japanese Gardens. Des Moines, 1989.
Contains pictures of gardens and describes the purpose and five main styles of Japanese gardens. It also contains information on the meanings of certain plants and garden elements.

Student, Shirley and Larry. Beginning Bonsai: The Gentle Art of Miniature Tree Growing. Boston, 1992.
Contains some information about the history of bonsai trees related to trade between China and Japan, information on the importance of the bonsai tree, and pictures of the various styles.

Wang, Joseph Cho. The Chinese Garden (Images of Asia). Oxford, 1998.
Presents the fundamentals of Chinese garden design, explaining the aesthetic principles and practical concerns of the designer. Illustrated with photographs of sites in Suzhou, Yangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing.

Gardening Web sites

Chinese gardens

http://www.mobot.org/hort/tours/cgtourintro.shtml
This Web site details the Chinese garden at the Missouri botanical garden in St. Louis, and contains general information on the history, philosophy, and elements of a Chinese garden, as well as a section on the symbolism of plants such as bamboo, chrysanthemum, and flowering plum.

http://www.chinesegarden.org/aboutchinesegardens.htm
This Web site introduces the history and important elements of classical Chinese gardens, as well as activities that can take place in them. There is a short section on Japanese gardens.

http://metrotel.co.uk/jpr/iacg1.html
This web site contains a short story by John P. Rastello elegantly describing how an old man spent his last days tending and enjoying his Chinese garden.

Korean gardens

http://www.lifeinkorea.com/culture/patterns/
patterns.cfm?Subject=Plants
Contains plant symbolism in Korean art and architecture, including orchid, peach, pomegranate, melon, and willow.

http://www.korea.net
Under the sub-headings "Culture" and "Images of Korean Culture" on this Web site, the section on "Garden" details some important features found in famous Korean historic gardens.

http://user.chollian.net/~ucnet2006/English%20version/
ENGLISH-Beauty%20of%20Korean%20Garden-01.htm
This Web site contains a short article, "Beauty of Korean Traditional Garden," with brief descriptions of Korean garden elements, and information on some of the best-preserved historic gardens in Korea.

http://www.koreana.or.kr/
Koreana, a quarterly magazine published by the Korea Foundation, is dedicated to increasing awareness about Korea's cultural heritage. Back issues on aspects of Korean culture, such as the summer 2002 issue on the flowers of Korea, are available online.

Japanese gardens

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/V3613/
gardens/elements.html
This Web site designed by students at Columbia University introduces Japanese gardens and contains an informative and well-organized section on garden elements such as paths, stones, fences, plants, and water.

http://www.huntington.org/BotanicalDiv/JapanGard.html
Contains a short description of the Japanese garden at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California.

http://www.holymtn.com/garden/JapaneseGardens.htm
Contains general information on Japanese gardens, as well as a short description of the Japanese tea garden in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Haiku Books

Hass, Robert. The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, & Issa. Hopewell, NJ. 1994.
This book is a collection of the finest works of three distinct masters of the Japanese haiku tradition: Matsuo Basho, the ascetic and seeker, Yosa Buson, the artist, and Kobayashi Issa, the humanist.

Nishimoto, Keisuke. Haiku Picturebook for Children. Torrance, CA, 1999.
Contains an introduction to haiku poetry for children.

Video

Evans, Jane. Chinese Brush Painting. New York, 1995. Video cassette, 90 minutes.
Discover the traditional techniques and materials used in the art of Chinese brush painting in this two-part video.