Buddhist Art and Architecture
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- Create Date：2021-05-30 11:54:59
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Robert E. Fisher
- ISBN：0500202656
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Summary
To guide and inspire believers， innumerable symbols and images were made， beginning in India in the 3rd century BC。 This phenomenally diverse tradition includes not only frescoes， relief carvings， colossal statues， silk embroideries and bronze ritual objects but also rock-cut shrines with a thousand Buddhas， the glorious stupas of South-East Asia and the pagodas of the Far East， the massive "mandala in stone" of Borobudur in Java and entire 13th-century temple complexes at Angkor in Cambodia。 The author describes all the Buddhist schools and cultures， and explains their imagery， from Tibetan cosmic diagrams and Korean folk art to early Sri Lankan sites and Japanese Zen gardens。
Reviews
7jane
，
This is a book on Buddhist art and architecture， made since first appearance in India， 3rd Century BC （but nothing seems to point to anything having been there for a while， during and after Buddha’s time， for some reason。 There are diverse traditions for many countries， often including things from earlier beliefs in each。 What is there is frescoes， relief cravings， statues of various size， silk embroideries， bronze objects， rock-cut shrines， stupas， pagodas， temples， gardens… There is also some This is a book on Buddhist art and architecture， made since first appearance in India， 3rd Century BC （but nothing seems to point to anything having been there for a while， during and after Buddha’s time， for some reason。 There are diverse traditions for many countries， often including things from earlier beliefs in each。 What is there is frescoes， relief cravings， statues of various size， silk embroideries， bronze objects， rock-cut shrines， stupas， pagodas， temples， gardens… There is also some description of all the Buddhist schools and culture， and imagery explanations。All photos inside are in black and white， which is a shame sometimes， especially when you know what is pictured is in great color。 After the introduction there are country-centric chapters: India & closest neighboring regions， China， Korea and Japan， South-East Asia， plus a couple of maps， bibliography， glossary， and locations for the objects。 No conclusion chapter， so it ends somewhat suddenly。 You might end up wanting more， but that’s what other books are for; this is just a （good） introduction book。Buddhist faith has met with success in many of these countries， partly due to royal patronage， but also persecution， competition， and in India’s （and perhaps Java’s） case， also absorption back into Hinduism。 It has spread mainly eastwards， and in the west stopped in Afghanistan。It’s interesting to learn about the facts of varieties with each country， and also to learn things that really are new to me: like， in India， art started with symbols and pillars （in Ashoka’s reign）。 Some countries I felt were touched a bit too briefly – not because they ended up lacking in information， but I felt I could’ve read more about it; India， of course， got a good chapter， and China was a good one too。 The maps were simple， of pilgrimage routes （which do show some changes， like the change in sea route from China to India， with stopping places， when you compare 5th Century with 7th Century）， and places of importance。I think this was a good introduction book， even if I would’ve wanted perhaps a bit more information beyond the basics， and color pictures would’ve added more value to this book。 Still， it was a satisfying and quick-to-read experience。 。。。more
Merythapy
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I know the point of this series is to be a brief introduction， but I still wish it was a little bit longer。 I feel like SouthEast Asia especially could have had more， compared to the amount of time spent on India and China。 I'm also not sure how easy it is to follow if you're not already familiar with the history， at least in a cursory way。 I also would have liked more of an overview at the end。 Still， it's good for traveling or as a quick introduction。 I know the point of this series is to be a brief introduction， but I still wish it was a little bit longer。 I feel like SouthEast Asia especially could have had more， compared to the amount of time spent on India and China。 I'm also not sure how easy it is to follow if you're not already familiar with the history， at least in a cursory way。 I also would have liked more of an overview at the end。 Still， it's good for traveling or as a quick introduction。 。。。more
Tom
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Plenty of pictures that are reference in the text。 Not to big to carry on the bus。 Organised geographically。 I could have done with more colour photos but otherwise what's not to like？ Plenty of pictures that are reference in the text。 Not to big to carry on the bus。 Organised geographically。 I could have done with more colour photos but otherwise what's not to like？ 。。。more
Lexxie
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This book gave a comprehensive overview of Buddhist art and architecture。 In my opinion， it was a little dry because it was just fact after fact after fact， but it totally served its purpose。 The organization of the book made it easy to follow， and easy to pick up on if you were only looking to read about Thai Buddhist art， or Chinese Buddhist art， for instance。 Much of it assumes the reader either knows or is willing to google the historical references。 It mentions dates， events， and leaders as This book gave a comprehensive overview of Buddhist art and architecture。 In my opinion， it was a little dry because it was just fact after fact after fact， but it totally served its purpose。 The organization of the book made it easy to follow， and easy to pick up on if you were only looking to read about Thai Buddhist art， or Chinese Buddhist art， for instance。 Much of it assumes the reader either knows or is willing to google the historical references。 It mentions dates， events， and leaders as if you already understand their significance。 But， again， it's true to its purpose。 I would just suggest reading a brief history of Asia if you are uncomfortable with reading without full comprehension。 As for its descriptions of the styles and form of the Buddhist art （its purpose）， it executes perfectly。 。。。more
Jan-Maat
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Going from the British museum to the National Gallery， primed by the Japanese galleries in the former it was easy to read the religious paintings in a Buddhist light - what were the angels other than guardians against the demonic forces of ignorance and grasping/。 The virgin Mary - an object lesson in compassion， george and the dragon， the dragon grasping， the knight， a liberator。 None of which has much relevance， if any to this nice volume in the world of Art series， it deals with the whole wor Going from the British museum to the National Gallery， primed by the Japanese galleries in the former it was easy to read the religious paintings in a Buddhist light - what were the angels other than guardians against the demonic forces of ignorance and grasping/。 The virgin Mary - an object lesson in compassion， george and the dragon， the dragon grasping， the knight， a liberator。 None of which has much relevance， if any to this nice volume in the world of Art series， it deals with the whole world of Asian Buddhism - India， Sri Lanka， Indonesia via central Asia out to Korea & Japan in sections， some of these are lost worlds， the cities of the Khymer or the monument of Borobudur， sites that were long abandoned and unused， others are lost worlds like the Buddhas of Bamiyanwhich have ceased to exist since this book was written。 But equally the destruction already in pre-modern times of temples in China， or the dearth of art works in Korea - in both cases examples surviving in Japan。 All this gives a pleasing sense of Chinese whispers or a kind of ship of Theseus effect: when was Buddhism Buddhist， but naturally one can ask the same question of all major religious traditions - the only things that don't embrace impermanence are dead， and even then like the gravel garden， might still be in a process of change whether they like it or not。There are then two suitably Buddhist themes in this study， the transitory nature of existence （with whole regions that were once Buddhist in practise no longer are）， and adaptation as models were adapted to local materials and to local traditions。 So in China were there were strong Doaist traditions we see the development of Chan just as in areas without suitable stone for carving there are frescos instead。 The obverse of covering such a wide area means that the text is always moving on to new places， I would have happily read more on Zen gardens （I imagine that cats cause a fair amount of extra work in the gravel ones） and it is delightful to see objects that are both ancient & colourful like the frescos from desert places。 The portraits and statues of the Chan masters and the Luohan were also impressively sober and earnest。Sadly it didn't get me any closer to the mystery of the influence of 'Provincial' Roman Art as per Rome in the East on the artistic traditions of figurative representation in India， except to mention the pre-existing influence of Persia， nor the curious development from abstract representation of the Buddha （footprints， Stupas） to statues and figurines ， such is the problem with the past， we know enough only to conceptualise big questions， if we could know more perhaps the developments would be as self evident as why people roof their houses in slate in regions where it is abundant。 。。。more
Enrico Guala
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Una buona panoramica sul vasto e complesso mondo buddhista dal punto di vista artistico。
Nick
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The title of this book is a conundrum: two and a half millenia ago， Shakyamuni had a great insight that the understanding that all things are impermanent and that freedom lay in detachment。 Art and architecture， things that last， would seem arguments against his perspective （although the Tibetans do create and destroy intricate mandalas）。 Buddhist history， on the other hand， provides some support for his original thought， since Buddhism can now hardly be found in the first two great cultures whe The title of this book is a conundrum: two and a half millenia ago， Shakyamuni had a great insight that the understanding that all things are impermanent and that freedom lay in detachment。 Art and architecture， things that last， would seem arguments against his perspective （although the Tibetans do create and destroy intricate mandalas）。 Buddhist history， on the other hand， provides some support for his original thought， since Buddhism can now hardly be found in the first two great cultures where it took hold， India and China。 Even students of religion can find the history of Buddhism difficult， with its split between those who still hold individual enlightenment as the greatest goal and those who believe in more general salvation， including the tenets of Pure Land， which can look very much like Christian salvation; the elaborate pantheon of Tibet; the worship of relics in Southeast Asia; the "esoteric" sects with their emphasis on hidden knowledge; even the more familiar Zen branch， with its reverence for lineages of masters。 Somehow， Fisher explains these very different interpretations springing from the same religious insight with great clarity。 This is really not just an examination of the pleasures of Buddhist art but， quite simply， the best history of Buddhism itself that I have ever encountered。 。。。more
Amy Chan
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