ECHOES OF THE PAST: THE BUDDHIST CAVE TEMPLES OF XIANGTANGSHAN . By Katherine R. Tsiang . Chicago : Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago , 2010 . Pp. 269 ; plates, map. Paper, $45.00 .
摘要
The University of Chicago's Smart Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery organized the exhibition for which this book was published in Chicago in 2011. The catalog is a major resource for anyone interested in Buddhist art, architecture, culture, and religion. The volume, with its many color plates, map, annotated chronology, and glossary, focuses on the Northern Qi Dynasty (550‐77) cave temple sites known today as the Xiangtangshan (“Mountain of Echoing Halls”) Caves in the southern Hebei province. W. Hung's preface concisely describes the research, technology, collaborations, and events the project generated and its “future‐oriented approach.” Tsiang's excellent essay provides analyses of the basic concepts and sutras represented by the caves' images and iconography. N. S. Steinhardt's close reading of architectural and textual sources for the caves places them in the broader contexts of Buddhist cave architecture through the mid‐sixth century and China's monastery and palace architecture (534‐77). She also traces the caves' international links to monuments in Central Asia, Iran, and India. A. E. Dien's vivid narrative makes clear the complex history of the period and brings the royal patrons to life. J. Chen examines how the caves' form and use reflect the monks' and royal patrons' purposes, aspirations, and religious practices. J. K. Wilson and D. Yiyou Wang extensively document the twentieth‐century “discovery” and fate of the caves and their sculptures. Finally, the application of digital imaging and three‐dimensional models for reconstruction of the caves has quite literally added exciting new dimensions to art historical scholarship.
