Buddhas

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Buddhas Bodhisattvasin China
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Background

• Buddhist teachings practices spread to
  China from India via trade routes along both land
  and sea. Some of the most visible traces of this
  spread are found along the famous Silk Road
  that ran from the Roman Islamic empires of West
  Asia all the way to China, with important side
  branches descending to North India. The icons
  shown here were created primarily in cave
  monasteries that sprang up flourished at
  important points along Chinas portion of the
  silk road, from the 5th century CE onward.
  Although such sculptural styles clearly
  originated in Northern India, they had evolved
  there only a few centuries earlier in the 2nd
  century CE when Roman artisans were hired to work
  for North Indian patrons.
• Once settled in China, Buddhist
  institutions developed primarily during the
  period of North/South division from the 3rd-6th
  centuries CE, especially with the patronage of
  emperors from the Northern Wei dynasty. Monks of
  the various orthodox schools subsequently
  consolidated their power during the subsequent
  unification brought about in the 7th century by
  the Tang dynasty. The growing sophistication of
  Chinese Buddhism is reflected in the distinct
  sculptural forms preserved at the Silk Road
  monastic centers of Dunhuang Longmen, along
  which some Chinese monks traveled back to India
  to retrieve important texts and pay homage to the
  Buddha in his homeland.

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Early Buddhist Artof the Wei Court
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Buddha seatedon a lotus(5th CE,Wei Dynasty)
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monk with lotus(5th-6th CE, Wei Dynasty)
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monks receiving alms at Wei Court(522 CE)
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2. Sculptures ofDunhuang Longmen
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sitting Buddha w/flaming halo(5th-6th CE,
Dunhuang Caves)
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cave monastery at Longmen (5th-7th CE)
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seated Buddhawith halo(5th CE, Longmen)
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standing Buddha bodhisattvas(6th-7th CE,
Longmen Caves)
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cave Buddha with attendants (6th-7th, Longmen)