The images of Buddha's life story are the most popularized theme in Buddhist art history. With the spread of Buddhism, many images depicting the life of Buddha have appeared with different themes and styles, created in various regions in both north and south Asia over the past 2000 years. Among them, those in the eight-pagoda illustration in Mogao cave 76, dating back to the Song dynasty, are completely different from those of the traditional Chinese style. This paper first narrates the birth and dissemination of Buddhism in India and in China as well as the differences in theme and style between Indian and Chinese images of the eight-pagoda illustration, and then discusses the theme and style of the group in Mogao cave 76, concluding with a final connection to the Gupta, Pala, Tibetan, and Chinese styles implied in the illustration.
