Art History 370/East Asian 355: Arts of China

Study Sheet #5: Buddhism

Map - distribution of Buddhist cave-temple sites

BACKGROUND:

The Buddhist religion originated with the teachings of the man called the Buddha (Enlightened One). Born Prince Siddhartha of the Sakya clan, he lived in northeast India from ca. 567-483 BCE He is also referred to as Sakyamuni (Sage of the Sakyas) or the Historical Buddha. His teachings gained wide currency in the 3rd c. BCE under the vigorous patronage of Emperor Asoka.

Traveling over the "Silk Road" land route as well by the southern sea route from India, Buddhist teachings and images were introduced to China as early as the 1st c. BCE, but did not find wide acceptance until the 3rd c. CE


DEVELOPMENT OF BUDDHIST THEOLOGY:

Hinayana (Theravada) -

emphasis on the individual's efforts to attain enlightenment through meditation and asceticism.

Mahayana (the "Greater Vehicle") -

emphasis on universal salvation through faith, rituals and prayers invoking the aid of Buddhist deities.

Esoteric (Chinese: Zhenyan ["True World"]; also called Tantric) -

emphasis on spells, elaborate and often secret rituals, minutely prescribed icons; horrific images. Main deity - Vairocana, the Cosmic Buddha.

Chan (Japanese: Zen; "meditation") -

developed in China. Emphasis on meditation to achieve enlightenment. Anti-scriptural, non-iconic. Transmission traced through spiritual lineages constructed on a genealogical model.

NAMES & TERMS:

 

Buddha =

enlightened being. Forms most popular in China: Sakyamuni (the Historical Buddha), Maitreya (Buddha of the Future), Amitabha (Buddha of the Western Paradise), Vairocana (Cosmic Buddha).

bodhisattva =

attendant of Buddha; being who delays nirvana in order to save others. Most popular bodhisattva in China is Guanyin.

luohan (Sanskrit: arhat) =

ascetic holy man who seeks his own enlightenment, regarded in China as eccentric Indian "saints" akin to Daoist immortals.

apsaras =

flying angels, musicians and devotees depicted in sky above Buddha.

karma =

a deed and its result, with consequences for future rebirths.

nirvana =

extinction; ending the cycle of rebirth.

sutra =

scripture [many purport to be transcriptions of sermons delivered by the Buddha].

jataka =

one of 547 moralizing tales about former lives of the Buddha.

mudra =

symbolic hand gesture made by the Buddha and codified in iconic images. E.g. have-no-fear, charity, turning the Wheel of Law.

mandorla =

halo, body-halo.

BUDDHIST MONUMENTS IN CHINA:

Early Buddhist sculpture and painting in China are preserved in cave-sanctuaries Yungang, Longmen, Dunhuang etc. and in freestanding votive icons of stone and metal (bronze or gilt-bronze) .