Description

The Image of the Buddha
Edited by David L. Snellgrove
Contributing authors: Jean Boisselier, Ahmad Hasan Dani, Su-yong Hwang, Niharranjan Ray, Dietrich Seckel, David L. Snellgrove, Alexander C. Soper, Maurizio Taddei and Osamu Takata
This volume contains six chapters arranged chronologically and by geographic and cultural areas. Chapter I covers the period from approximately the third century B.C. to the first century A.D. and introduces the earliest conceptions of the Buddha in legend and symbol. Chapter II deals with the period from the first century to the fourth century - the representation of the Buddha in human form. Chapter III, covering the fourth to the eighth century, discusses the maturity and efflorescence of the Buddha image. These first three chapters deal primarily with India and Pakistan, since Buddhism was in the first place and Indian religion, passing through many different phases in its place of origin over some 1,700 years. In Chapter IV, other Asian nations are considered (Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, Kashmir and Nepal, Afghanistan and Central Asia, China, Korea and Japan) from the time Buddhism was first introduced until about the eighth century to the fifteenth (and in some cases later) in all of Asia. The final chapter is a survey of the symbols that were constantly used in conjuction with the Buddha.

The chapters are introduced with historical-cultural sections that provide background on the development of theories of Buddha nature - essential to an understanding of the richness and complexity of the art. While remaining a scholarly work, this book will have widespread appeal for its faithful presentation of Buddhist sensibilities as well as for the wealth of illustrative materials.