Early Buddhist Art of China and Central Asia, Volume One, Later Han, Three Kingdoms and Western Chin in China and Bactria to Shan-shan in Central Asia

Artibus Asiae ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 59 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
Thomas Lawton ◽  
Marylin Martin Rhie
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Buddhist Art

Buddhism and Features of the Buddhist Art of Bactria-Tokharistan

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
TIGRAN MKRTYCHEV
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Buddhist Art ◽  
Professional Artists

This chapter examines Buddhism and the features of the Buddhist art in the Bactria-Tokharistan region of Central Asia. The findings indicate that Buddhism spread to Bactria in the Kushan period because of the support of the Kushan nobility. During the first to third centuries there was a considerable growth of Buddhist art, mainly that of the monumental variety. Most of the work on the decoration of Buddhist monuments at that time was undertaken by professional artists who did not belong to the Buddhist community.

The Archaeology of Gandhāra

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Maria Olivieri
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Distinctive Feature ◽  
Breeding System ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Buddhist Art ◽  
Frontier Region

The main themes of archaeological research in Gandhāra are currently developing along a timeline that starts in the Late Bronze Age and ends in the Shahi period. The majority of scholarship, however, is focused on the chronological phase between 150 bce and 300 ce. Because of the unbalanced level of studies, it is not easy to define what archaeology can positively say about the knowledge of the ancient world in this corner of Asia. However, the overall result of archaeological research in Gandhāra shows that the region was itself a center, not simply a frontier region of interaction between Central Asia and Iran, India, and its coastlands. Gandhāra appears to have played a central role in many of the developments that occurred throughout the period considered here. With the spread of domesticated rice during the mid-2nd millennium, a double-crop agricultural system and associated farm breeding system developed, linking Gandhāra with Kashmir and trans-Himalaya. Toward the end of the 1st millennium, the northern valleys saw the diffusion of burial and settlement features and associated material culture, which allows archaeological and genetic comparisons with earlier complexes of Central Asia and Iran up to 1000 ce. The initial urban phase in Gandhāra (500–150 bce) is defined by the evidence from Barikot, Bhir Mound (Taxila I), and Charsadda. Mature urban phases (150 bce–350 ce) are defined by the evidence of the restructuring of old cities (such as Barikot) and new urban foundations (e.g., Taxila III and Charsadda/Shahikhan-dheri) during the phases of contact with the Indo-Greek, Saka-Parthian, Kushana, and Kushano-Sasanian systems of power. During the last three centuries of the mature urban phase, the Buddhist art of Gandhāra developed a narrative biographical mode, which represents its most distinctive feature. The following period until 650 ce, distinguished by uncertain or scarce assemblages, is defined as post-urban. The post-650 to c. 1000 ce evidence, marked by cultural material associated with the Shahi dynasties and the first phase of contact with the Islamic dynasty of the Ghaznavids, defines the late ancient period.

Reshaping the J?taka Stories: from J?takas to Avad?nas and Pra?idh?nas in Paintings at Kucha and Turfan

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianshu Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Visual Representations ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Major Theme ◽  
Buddhist Art ◽  
Cultural Center ◽  
Buddhist Teaching ◽  
Central Pillar ◽  
The Silk Road

Kucha was the major Buddhist center on the Northern Route of the Silk Road, and well known for being dominated by the Sarv?stiv?da school for most of its history. Replacing the j?taka story, the avad?na story (story of causation) became the major theme depicted on the ceiling of the central-pillar caves in this area (fifth–seventh centuries). Turfan is another important cultural center in Central Asia where Buddhism once flourished. The pra?idh?na (or ‘vow’) painting, which was based on the Bhai?ajyavastu, a vinaya text of the Mulasarv?stiv?da school, was a unique subject normally appearing on the walls of Buddhist caves in Turfan (ninth twelfth centuries). Both the avad?na and pra?idh?na stories are derived from j?taka stories, with significant shifts of focus, as well as of the format of the narrative. In this paper, through studying the avad?na and vow paintings at Kucha and Turfan, and comparing them with j?takas in early Buddhist art, I attempt to show how j?taka stories were transformed for different doctrinal messages of Buddhist teaching in some late ‘H?nay?na’ schools, namely Sarv?stiv?da and Mulasarv?stiv?da, and how the visual representations mirror the narrative styles in Buddhist texts.

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