Chinese Buddhist Art: New Approaches and New Excavations
In recent years, archaeological excavations and new methodological approaches have triggered vivid debates in the field of Chinese Buddhist art. The newly discovered material holds promise for addressing challenges in the field, but it may also introduce additional problems. Likewise, new methodological approaches shed light on existing materials from new perspectives, while also revealing the boundaries of interpretation.
In this issue’s ‘China Connections’ pages, we invite readers to take a closer look at the exciting development in Buddhist art and archaeology through the research and review from four art historians based at Chinese universities. They examine a wide range of sites and material culture, spanning from the discovery of the earliest gilded bronze Buddha statues in an Eastern Han (25-220 CE) tomb to the reconstruction of a timber-wood structure attached to the rock-cut grottoes of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE); from the shifting ontologies of Buddha images to the 15th-century murals in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries.
ZHAO Jinchao is an Assistant Professor in Art History at Tongji University and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Global Asia, NYU Shanghai (2021-2023). Email: zhaojinchao123@tongji.edu.cn