Buddhist Cave Temples of China: A Sourcebook

Buddhist Cave Temples of China: A Sourcebook

Symposium
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Add to Calendar 2019-05-24 00:00:00 2019-05-25 00:00:00 Buddhist Cave Temples of China: A Sourcebook May 24-25, 2019 Cochrane-Woods Art Center at the University of Chicago Room 157   Buddhist cave-shrines first appeared on the Indian sub-continent, then quickly spread, along with Buddhism itself, across Asia to China. Over the centuries, Buddhist devotees produced many hundreds of caves with carved sculptural images, ranging in size from the very modest to the colossal. Communities of sponsors, including royalty, believed that image-making and temple building generated merit that could ensure karmic benefits such as protection of the state, good fortune, good health, and good rebirth. Although this important socio-cultural and religious phenomenon has been widely studied by scholars in a range of disciplines, there is no single book in a Western language that provides an overview of the major cave sites together with a critical bibliography. The workshop brought together a group of scholars in the U.S. who have made significant contributions to the research and publishing on Chinese Buddhist cave temples to plan the compilation of an internationally co-authored volume that will serve as a handbook for current scholars and teachers and as a foundational reference for students and future researchers. It included presentations by scholars and roundtable discussion. Department of Art History drupal@seastar.uchicago.edu America/Chicago public

May 24-25, 2019
Cochrane-Woods Art Center at the University of Chicago Room 157

 

Buddhist cave-shrines first appeared on the Indian sub-continent, then quickly spread, along with Buddhism itself, across Asia to China. Over the centuries, Buddhist devotees produced many hundreds of caves with carved sculptural images, ranging in size from the very modest to the colossal. Communities of sponsors, including royalty, believed that image-making and temple building generated merit that could ensure karmic benefits such as protection of the state, good fortune, good health, and good rebirth. Although this important socio-cultural and religious phenomenon has been widely studied by scholars in a range of disciplines, there is no single book in a Western language that provides an overview of the major cave sites together with a critical bibliography. The workshop brought together a group of scholars in the U.S. who have made significant contributions to the research and publishing on Chinese Buddhist cave temples to plan the compilation of an internationally co-authored volume that will serve as a handbook for current scholars and teachers and as a foundational reference for students and future researchers. It included presentations by scholars and roundtable discussion.