At about the beginning of the Christian era, Buddhism was introduced to Chinese soil. Not only were new themes and ideas brought with the religion, but it also stimulated Chinese art. However, it was not until the beginning of the 20th century that scholars began to realize the importance of Chinese Buddhist art. This paper is a review of the works which have been done in this field. It consists of two parts. The first part includes a brief history of the regional study of Chinese Buddhist art and introduces two major figures in this field. Professors Osvald Siren and Saburo Matsubara, who have played important roles in the research history of this field. Prof. Siren is the scholar who first pointed out the significance of the regional study of Chinese Buddhist sculpture and laid the foundation for this field. Prof. Matsubara has published numerous articles on the sculptural styles of Hopei, Honan, Shandong, etc. and is by far the most scholarly expert in this field. Since Tun-huang has drawn great the attention of Buddhist art historians since 1900, it may be the best example for the study of regional Chinese Buddhist art. The second part is a review of the works which have been done in Tun-huang Buddhism art. During the past hundred years, scholars have discussed the stylistic development of Tun-huang paintings and sculpture, dated Tun-huang caves according to scientific archaeological methods, studied the iconography of Tun-huang Buddhist paintings, and traced the stylistic and iconographic sources of Tun-huang Buddhist art. These efforts have indeed yielded great results; nontheless, the author does not consider the Tun-huang study to be a successful case for the study of regional Chinese Buddhist art, since many questions remain unanswered. For example, does a Tun-huang style really exist? What are characteristics of Tun-huang Buddhist art which make it easily distinguished it from those of other areas? In order to solve these problems, not only is a profound understanding of Tun-huang Buddhist art required, but knowledge of Buddhist art in related areas, such as Kizikl, Yunkang, etc., is also needed. In conclusion, the author proposes that profound knowledge of Buddhist art in the specific area which one studies and an overall comprehension of Chinese Buddhist art in various regions are two basic requirements for the study of regional Chinese Buddhist art.
