Art can be a powerful tool when used correctly. It can make you cry, it can make you smile, it can even trick your brain into seeing things that aren’t there but most importantly it can be used to show authority. A great example of art being used as form of authority is the Ming Dynasty of China. The Ming Dynasty helped expand upon current painting techniques as well as help restore older artistic traditions thanks to a old and powerful Chinese clan, the Han, being given a chance to rule. The paintings produced during this time period were very realistic and were often intend to to teach the viewer something rather than just be a pretty sight for the eyes. When people saw these paintings inspired by one of the older traditional paintings from the Song or Yuan Dynasty it would reminded them of the power that the Han held in the Imperial Court as well as in general as the Han clan had been in power for quite a long time.
Around the same time the Momoyama Period of Japan was also starting to kick up. With the ruling clan’s power declining many feudal barons took it upon themselves to start fighting for a chance to control of Japan. During these four decades of chaos the art of the Momoyama Period became luxuriously decorative; people flaunted their wealth as a way to show their power, some buildings were even gilded with gold. Even as the military elite, who had lots of power, showed their support of more simplistic and natural styles, such as the art of performing a tea ceremony, people such as the daimyo, or feudal lord, continued to flaunt their wealth by constructing large and heavily decorated fortresses which could be seen by many.
Although these two periods happened at around the same time their people showed their power very differently. While the people of the Ming Dynasty fell back on their old roots to show how long they have been in power the people of the Momoyama Period chose instead to use their wealth to show power as they had no roots to fall back on. These differences help show us the many ways art can be used to reinforce authority.
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