Colossal Buddha Statues along the Silk Road (original) (raw)
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Living Buddhist Statues in Early Medieval and Modern Japan - By Sarah J. Horton
Religious Studies Review, 2009
science. Each section of the text is preceded by a brief synopsis, including an indication of the section's "most interesting and often-discussed passages," and nearly every passage is punctuated by an excerpt from commentarial literature as well as Van Norden's own insightful comments. This edition not only illuminates the Mengzi's milieu, but also that of Zhu Xi and the "Neo-Confucian" orthodoxy that Zhu helped to create in medieval China. Moreover, Van Norden demonstrates how, despite the fact that Zhu's interpretation (itself designated canonical in the fourteenth century CE) elevated the Mengzi to canonical status as one of the so-called "Four Books" of the Confucian curriculum, his "metaphysics derails his otherwise keen textual insight" by often reading this early pre-Buddhist text in terms of categories inherited from a millennium of Chinese contact with Buddhist thought. Those who seek to encounter "the most cogent, coherent, and comprehensible" of Confucian classics in an inexpensive, idiomatic, and accurate edition with an ample yet unobtrusive textual apparatus can do no better than to seek out this translation.
Buddhist-Christian Studies , 2018
This paper examines the Xi’an stele, set in place in 781 in China’s capital of Chang’an (modern day Xi’an), and by the East Syrian Christian community resident in China officially since 635. The Xi’an stele indicates that an elite within the East Syrian Church presented “an image” (xiang 像) to the Chinese emperor in the church’s first year of official residence in order to solidify relations between the church and the still recently established Tang Empire (617-907). The paper raises the question of what kind of image, precisely, this might have been. The paper explores the possibility that this image was a Byzantine Christian icon with Esoteric (Tantric) Buddhist influences. The paper makes three basic arguments in support of this assertion. One is that though the exact nature of the image cannot be determined, some access to the thinking that surrounded the gift a century and a half after it was given, and that enough Buddhist and Christian elements were present in this milieu to make the suggestion plausible, i.e. the second argument. A third argument is that an early form of inter-imperial and inter-monastic debate about the role of images in religious worship was taking place in and around this gift of images. This was not the formal debate one normally thinks of in which two sides write, or speak, back and forth to one another, presenting their views and reasoning on a particular issue, and examining (or attacking) the views of the opposing side. But the Christians of Tang dynasty China were imperial representatives, and their gift of images gave expression to dialog and debate. This debate culture is recoverable through an examination of the flourishing of Esoteric Buddhism which occurred across the empires of the Silk Road starting in the sixth century, and which gave rise gradually to a new type of monastic and charismatic holy man, one present among both Buddhists and Christians.
Made of Stone: Buddhist Statues of the Kansai Countryside
Beliefs, Ritual Practices, and Celebrations in Kansai II, 2022
The stone buddha statues which are scattered on mountains and along roads, placed within the sacred boundaries of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, perfectly demonstrate how Buddhism has come to intertwine Japanese culture in the past one and a half millennia. These statues are the product of a unique combination of Japanese religious thought and practice, the implements of mountain practice, and are known by the common Japanese people who travel around the countryside or old cities, such as Kyoto. They are also the center of attention for some who enjoy mountain hikes as a hobby in recent years. With their long history, however, they are underrepresented in the fields of art historical, or social studies as well. This paper aims to give insights on various problems a researcher may face upon investigating such stone works, by telling personal experiences, gained mainly in the Kansai area, and examining the literature about stone buddhas. Special attention is given to the magaibutsu of Mt. Kasuga and how Buddhist stone statuary is viewed and considered in Japan today.
The Future of the Bamiyan Buddha Statues
The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this book and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization.
"The Enthroned Buddha in Majesty: An Iconological Study" (PhD Dissertation 2016)
This dissertation provides a detailed study of a particular representation of the Buddha, in which he sits on a prominent throne, i.e. a bhadrapīṭha or bhadrāsana, in a majestic posture with two legs pendant, that is, in bhadrāsana or the ―auspicious pose.‖ This pendant-legged imagery, generally associated with the throne, has been found widely depicted in South, East, and Southeast Asian art and is, as a rule, mostly associated with kingship, fertility, and even divinity. The results of this iconological examination have wide implications for understanding the origins, spread, and development of Buddhist art in those lands, particularly during the first millennium CE. (The complete dissertation can be accessed in two volumes through this link: https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01552082)
The Image of the Buddha: Buddha Icons and Aniconic Traditions in India and China
Transcultural Studies, 2011
This is a study of aniconic Buddhist art in India and China that refers back to the iconoclasm (Bilderstreit) of the 8th and 9th centuries in the Byzantine empire and the subsequent development of an image theory that justified the already well established image cult. By deliberately adopting methodological approaches and terms that have been used for some time in Byzantine art history, relevant visual and textual evidence about the Buddhist tradition will be restructured and evaluated, pointing out similarities and dissimilarities. Anthropomorphic Buddha images and aniconic representations of the Buddha in India and China are compared; furthermore, an overview of the establishment of a Buddhist icon cult with image worship in China is given, discussing related phenomena like narratives about the First Image, the True Countenance, and miracle-working Divine Images. Against this background, Chinese aniconic tendencies and the image discourse within the Chinese Buddhist community arou...
Art may have either literal or symbolic functions. Iconography- the correlation between symbolic characteristics and otherworldly concepts- is like a code. When the semiotics of the art is studied, deeper meaning can be excavated. In surveying the diverse statues of Buddha from across Asia, certain repetitious themes appear. The ways in which the various parts of the head, the hands in their mudras, the legs of the Buddha- be it seated or standing- and the accouterments that surround the Enlightened One are created to serve a heuristic function for the devotee. Once these aspects of Buddhist art are understood, additional insight into the account of Siddhartha and the way of Buddha can be more readily internalized. To gaze upon a statue of Buddha and observe the representational details of the head, arms and legs is to understand the cycle of samsara and diligently pursue Nirvana.
The Spread of Sarnath-Style Buddha Images in Southeast Asia
Certain Buddhist statues discovered in Southeast Asia were sculpted after Sarnath-style sculptures. Thus, these statues were produced between the late fifth and early sixth centuries. Considering the sea route during that period, it was natural that Buddhist statues would be introduced from Sarnath to Funan in its prime via the Ganges and the Indian Ocean. Buddhist sculptures conveyed through that channel became the foundation for early Buddhist art in Southeast Asia. Based on the style created at Sarnath in India, this art is significant because it reveals the first stage of Buddhist art in Southeast Asia. These Buddhist sculptures reflect the Central and Southern Indian styles of the Gupta period. Hence, Buddhist art forms must have spread to Southeast Asia by different routes. Certain sculptures that were recently excavated in Shandong have no traces of drapery and have slender physical outlines. Such features were most likely influenced by styles employed in Sarnath Buddhist sculptures. These Shandong sculptures were most likely modelled after Buddhist statues discovered in Southeast Asian regions such as Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, indicating that Central Indian Buddhist art was introduced earlier than Southern Indian art and conveyed from the Ganges to the South China Sea through the Gulf of Bengal via the sea routes. Thus, Southeast Asian Buddhist sculpture was the "missing link" that connected Central India to East China, and it was highly valuable as the first stage in the area.