Research Project
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Our project "Merit, Opulence and the Buddhist Network
of Wealth" concentrates on one specific period of
artistic brilliance when these cultural traditions were
most evident. During the 10th century, when the region
became independent as the Tang empire collapsed to the
East, the arts industries were Under the direction of Sarah E. Fraser, specialists in art history, archaeology, religious studies, history and decorative arts from China, America, Europe and Taiwan will conduct fieldwork in China and produce a book-length volume on the opulence in Buddhist art and monastic culture. The electronic edition of this text will form the core of our project web site. On-site investigations will also include three regions of Sichuan, where a similar trend occurred in the 10th century, expanding the implications of our work to hundreds of sites throughout western China.
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professionalized.
Their restructuring and expansion was the result of
political decentralization but also the accumulated
demand for devotional objects from lay Buddhist patrons.
The very notion of the icon, a conduit of sacred power,
came to Inner Asia and China with Buddhism. Pagodas,
meditation banners, and mundane objects such as the
chair, sugar and tea which were used in monastic
settings, are other examples of how Buddhism contributed
to the fabric of Chinese visual and material culture. The
practice of giving gifts to the sangha (community of
monks and nuns) to gain spiritual merit manifested a
materially rich temple environment. The largess was
matched by a visual aesthetic of opulence. Paradise
scenes depicted in flamboyantly rich palettes fill the
3-dimensional world of the cave-shrine painted with
scenes on all four sides and in the ceilings. The
intricate pictorial programs and the idiom of opulence
were manifestations of the Buddhist network of
wealth.