Genealogy of Buddha Images--From Gandhara to Japan--Historical Representation and the Glorious Suspended Canopy (Photos)

Author: (Japanese) Murata Yasuko
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This book is based on a series of seven articles published in the monthly magazine "Bunkazai" sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Agency of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan from June 1989 to December 1990, and was revised and compiled into a single volume by Dai Nippon Haguritsu Shuppan in May 1995. To date, it has sold 92% of its print run in Japan. Overall, it is impossible to fully trace the genealogy of Buddha statues based solely on "formal expression," so the main focus of this book is on important facial features and the hanging robe (sanchōzu), which is also a distinctive feature of this work. There are already many comprehensive surveys of general Buddha statues, and this book naturally begins with Japanese Buddha statues, exploring the origins of ancient statues with the hanging robe. The book introduces the birth of the Buddha and the origin of Buddha statues; Gandhara; India; Afghanistan; Han Chinese regions of China; the Korean Peninsula; and Japan.