Chinese Art

Artists are listed alphabetically rather than by Dynasty. Part II presents a simple methodology for identifying characters by a modified stroke counting system.

Images of the Buddha are everywhere but their meaning largely depends on the background and circumstance of the viewer. In Behold the Buddha, James Dobbins invites readers to imagine how premodern Japanese Buddhists understood and experienced icons in temple settings long before the advent of museums and the internet. Buddhist images were traditionally treated as the very embodiment of the Buddha, his palpable presence among people. Hence, Buddhists approached them as living entities in their own right--that is, as awakened icons with whom they could interact religiously.

A survey of significant representations of the Buddha from key regions in Asia, Succinct essays explain the background of each work and the where it was created.

Broad coverage of the Buddhist pantheon, essays and some drawings are supplemented by an index of attributes in volume 2.

Relates the various stories and episodes of the Buddha's many incarnations, including his final one, as they appear in the literature and art of Asia. On the one hand, they represent a vital interest in the Buddha as a teacher and example of righteous behavior, which is central to Hinayana, or Theravada [Doctrine of the elders], Buddhism. On the other hand, the miraculous content of so many of these stories reveals an aspect of the other main branch of Buddhism, Mahayana [The great vehicle] Buddhism. Stories about the past lives of the Buddha (called Jatakas or Birth Stories) are also covered. (from Introduction p. 2).