Buddhism Statue Art of the Ming and Qing DynastiesDuring the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Buddhism statue art in Beijing entered into an obvious decline period. This is related with the descending of aesthetic concept in the whole society of the Ming Dynasty on the one hand, and is also linked with the extensive prevalence of the statue art of Tibetan Buddhism, which paid attention to the scale and measurement of the statues, restricted the creation and exertion of the artists, giving rise to a universal development trend of stylization for statue art and the loss of individualized artistic charm.In the Ming Dynasty, both Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism statues were prevailing in Beijing, and they developed under the support of the emperors. Court statues were dominant in the Ming Dynasty, they were mainly used as important religious gifts to be awarded or presented to upper-class Tibetan religious personnel. Overall style and feature of these statues reflected the political and economic mightiness and prosperity during the reign of Yongle and Xuande of the Ming Dynasty. As compared with Tibetan Buddhism statue art, traditional Chinese Buddhism statue art of the Ming Dynasty in Beijing was dull. It is noteworthy that, despite the declining overall development of Chinese Buddhism statue art at this period, the folk statue was brisk instead.Till the Qing Dynasty, because of the full-scale support for the "Yellow Religion" by the emperors, Tibetan Buddhism statue art occupied Beijing as an absolute mainstream form, influencing all over China, resulting clear predomination in the form of Beijing Buddhism statue; at that time, however, Beijing’s traditional Chinese Buddhism statue had been thoroughly sticking to the swelling and fawning-on-vulgarity relique of the Ming Dynasty, without any development and innovation. Therefore, it can be said that, as in the Buddhism statue history of Beijing, the Qing Dynasty is a time when Tibetan Buddhism statue took the lead. Attention paid and the passion shown by emperors of the Qing Dynasty to Tibetan Buddhism statue were well above that of emperors of Yuan and Ming Dynasties.
