The dissertation explores the Buddhist sculpture of Wu Yueh within the general context of tenth-century Chinese sculpture of the Five Dynasties period. Wu Yueh (a southern kingdom in the present day Chekiang region) was especially known for its support of Buddhism. The ruling house of Wu Yueh, the Ch'ien family, was devoted to Buddhism and patronized the construction of many Buddhist temples and statues. The thesis first offers an investigation of the political, economic, social and religious background of Wu Yueh in terms of the relations between Wu Yueh and other southern kingdoms and northern dynasties. In order to provide a context for assessing Wu Yueh Buddhist art, the thesis presents a general discussion of Chinese Buddhist sculpture from the mid ninth century to the late tenth century. The thesis analyzes surviving Wu Yueh sculpture at Tz'u-yun-ling, Yen-hsia grotto, T'ien-lung ssu in the Hang-chou area as well as other Buddhist statues recently excavated in the Tiger-Hill Pagoda at Su-chou, which are of high quality and reflect a variety of subject matter. These Wu Yueh sculptures serve as the crucial evidence that the elegant, pictorial, and static style of Sung sculpture was established according to both a modified T'ang sculptral tradition and a new style and iconography that arose during the Five Dynasties period.
