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Yesterday in my humanities course, we began discussing about Japanese art forms. To begin, we first talked about how Japan was basically a replication of China in every political way. And then Buddhism happened. Zen Buddhism, in fact. In 849 AD, Japan broke off from China, and the new Zen Buddhist religion mixed in with the current Japanese Shinto religion (worship of ancestors). Here are the 7 dominating characteristics of Zen Buddhism:

Asymmetry

The idea that you don not need balance in order to be beautiful (the definition of beautiful being 'a thing whose parts hold together').

Simplicity

Uncluttered, sparse, and naive. Imagine one large, blue, grand sky, and in the center, a single cloud.

Lofty Dryness 

A sensibility. You cherish that which is more worn
and well-seasoned over new things.

Naturalness

Unrestrained, mindless. You perform actions without any conscious effort.

Deep Reserve
Power of implication. Less is more. It's a small statement, but much is implied. 

Freedom from Attachment

Freedom from rules, forms, and habits. You do not let one single thing define you.

Tranquility

Inner peace and stillness. Not a state of mind, but a state of being.

With these new tools learned, the instructor pulled up our first picture.

A simple painting done of a few trees. Let's rip it to shreds using our new Zen Buddhism ideology.

Asymmetry: None of the painting can by reflected onto itself and look the same. However, there is a sense of balance in the painting; like no one side of it is more dominant over the other.

Simplicity: It's a few trees, and there is no complicated background. Simple design done on simple parchment.

Lofty Dryness: The trees are tall, and have grown for many years. These aren't saplings.

Naturalness: Nothing is to be thought here. It calms the mind. All we simply see are trees. Non-sentient beings.

Deep Reserve: The trees begin to fade away, implying that there is an entire forest we cannot see. But the painter chose to only focus on a few trees, and simplify the painting, again creating a calm state.

Tranquility: The lack of color and subjects in the painting create a calm state of mind. It's beautiful and intricate enough to stay interesting, and yet simple enough for us to enjoy it for what it is.

Finally, we have "Freedom from Attachment". I made a remark in class using this characteristic, and my teacher was very surprised. It was a thought he had never thought before. And that is this: The tree is not a tree. That is, this painting of a tree is not attached to any one, single tree, or a particular group of trees. We can safely assume that this painter had most likely gone out and painted many, many trees, and knew exactly what parts of a tree made a tree look like a tree. The painter painted the idea of 'tree'; not a certain kind of tree, or one that he glanced at nearby. This painting is not 'a' tree, or 'the' tree. This painting is tree.

As I started to think more about it, the idea of postmodernism came to mind. Postmodernism is difficult to define because defining it goes against the logic of postmodernism itself. To put it best, though, postmodernism is ripping out the guidelines we learn human experience and seeing the true face and value of something. For example, words are meant to define something – a thought, an object, or a phenomena. In a postmodernistic view, however, the more we describe something, the more we limit what that thing is. The concept of seeing and understanding what something is is impossible to achieve, but we have obtained ways to come close to getting there. Art is one of those ways. Art transcends words, transcends description. Artists go through a process of learning rules of art – such as balance, value, and color – only to break their own rules in the end, and create a masterpiece. A masterpiece is meant to transcend rules and understanding, and at the same time, convey everything. It becomes mindless and genius. Chaos with order.

This was what I saw when I looked at this painting of tree.