Buddha Image Research Articles

China in medieval Indian imagination: “China”-inspired images in medieval South Asia

AbstractCross-cultural exchanges between India and China during the first millennium are often understood through a Buddhist lens; by investigating the impact of Indian Buddhist sources, be they literary, doctrinal, or artistic, to receiving Chinese communities. In these cultural transactions, instigated by traveling pilgrim-monks and enacted by imperial power players in China, India emerges as a remote, idealized, and perhaps “hollow” center. Imagined or real, the importance of images of India in medieval Chinese Buddhist landscape has been established beyond doubt. What seems to be missing in this unidirectional looking is the impact of these cultural communications in India. What were the Indian responses to Chinese Buddhists' demands and their physical presence? How was China imagined and translated in medieval India? This essay proposes to locate the activities of Chinese monks in India and the iconographies of China-inspired Indian Buddhist images within the larger historical context of shifting cultural and political geography of the medieval Buddhist world. By exploring different types of evidence from borderlands, vis-à-vis the monolithic concepts of China and India, the essay also complicates the China–India studies' comparative model.

Kearifan Lokal pada Perwujudan Tathagata di Candi Borobudur

This study describes about the form of local genius from tathagata Statue in Borobudur temple. Tathagata is a term to call someone who reach the truth of life. This Tathagata becomes the Buddha image which has certain characteristic (like hand gesture or mudra, and sit gesture). This study using 20 Tathagata in Rupadhatu terrace of Borobudur. Five characteristic of local genious which told by Ayatrohaedi (1986) become reference for showing the local genious that exist in Tathagata statue in Borobudur temple. The purpose of this article is giving new opinion that since Hindu-Buddha period, the old Javanesche artist (silpin) had been able to integrate foreign culture within local culture in the art and placement form of tathagata image. The research found that Tathagata have unique charateristic in art style and the placement which are the form of local genious from the Javanesche artist.

Rock-Carved Buddhas at Ch’ilburam Hermitage in Namsan Mountain, Kyongju

On the Namsan Mountain of Kyongju, can be found the Ch’ilburam rock-carved Buddhas. The seven Buddha and bodhisattva images are significant because of their coexistence in one space and their unique arrangement. The Ch’ilburam sculptor was inspired by the Chinese central pillar caves that the sculptor had knowledge of, and the opportunity to visit. These archetypes of the ‘central pillar cave’ layout exhibit sutra-inscribed walls. By adopting and adapting these architectural elements, Ch’ilburam replicates the primary function of the Chinese cave temple. Ultimately, the Ch’ilburam site is a compromise between the desire for a rock cave temple, and the intractable geology of Korea, which is unsuitable for these purposes. As for the production period, there is a strong case for the view that the Ch’ilburam Buddha triad and four-sided stone pillar were created simultaneously in the early eighth century.

Japanese monk Chonen and the Buddha Image of King Udayana which he Brought to Japan : More than One Mearning Which He and His Disciple Gave on the Image

This paper examines several meanings which Monk Chonen and his disciple Josan gave to Shakyamuni image in Seiryoji Temple. They carved a copy of the Image called King Udayana statue , that was put near the emperor of Song dynasty. They carved it at Taizhou and brought it to Japan as a symbol of friendship between the two countries. But the Imperial court of Japan, which didn t want to maintain diplomatic relations with Song dynasty, stopped service for the statue. At the same time, Chonen started to stresses the fact that he and his disciple Josan actually saw the Image with their own eyes. For founding a new temple in which they train their successors, they tried to making use of this experience as in the case of their other experiences with seeing good omens in Mt WuTai, mastering Esoteric Buddhism, and studying Siddham script. After Chonen s death, Josan advocated not only that the Image they saw in China was not imitation but genuine carved by Udayana in India, but also the image of Seiryoji temple was what they copied in front of the Image. In 12th century Cloistered Emperor Goshirakawa tried to erase remaining trace of Song emperor from the image and he rethought it as a symbol of the royal authority.

Crowned Buddha of Amaravati and the Cakkavatti canonical concept

The article represents a kind of “postscriptum” to the author’s hypothesis about fundamental sources found in Pali canon and early post-canonic literature that gave birth to formation of the crowned Buddha image. This hypothesis underlies this study of early Buddhist iconography, in particular with respect to images belonging to the Amaravati school, which illustrate the relationship between the Buddha and Cakkavatti. The author substantiates the conclusion that the image of the crowned Buddha had emerged almost simultaneously with the anthropomorphic image of the Enlightened One.

A Review of Archaeological Reports and Literature on the Gandhara Sculpture Collection of the Royal Ontario Museum

This review paper focuses on a forty-three-piece collection of Gandhara sculpture in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada. Although individual pieces of Gandhara sculpture are widely known to scholars, much of the collection of the Gandhara sculpture of the Royal Ontario Museum is unknown to scholars. In this paper, these sculptures have been described and analysed as a collection. The paper is organised on Gandhara ancient history, physical geography, and the history of the Buddha image in ancient subcontinent Pakistan in South Asia. Emphasis is placed on the era of the Kushan Empire from the 1st to 4th century AD when the school of Gandhara sculpture achieved its highest levels of production and craftsmanship. The Gandhara School of sculpture produced work continuously for at least six centuries and reached its peak of achievement during the era of the Kushan Empire that dominated Central Asia and Northern sub-continent India-Pakistan from the 1st to 4th centuries AD.

Application of Pictorial Elements in Body Art: Focusing on the Buddha expressed in Buddhist art in the Unified Silla Period

In modern society, with its coexistence of diverse culture, it is a process of genuine cultural development to remember the beauty of the traditions in our cultural heritage and allow it to continue to evolve through art and cultural exchange and creative work. The truth and concept of religion are invisible in our daily lives. To expose it, help from art is needed. Buddhism, in which people realize truth on their own, samsara, and the redemption of all people are recognized as the highest values, has long been entwined with the history of the Republic of Korea. During the era of the Unified Silla Dynasty, Buddhism was beyond a mere religion and was an official state religion. Since it was directly connected with the country’s fate, Buddhist temple-related fine arts flourished. Therefore, this study attempted to reinterpret the images of Buddha based on a theoretical review of Buddhist concepts and characteristics of Buddhist art during the Unified Silla period and suggested new styles of both Korean and modern ambivalence by expressing pictorial element-applied design through body painting in a torso mannequin style. It is expected that these works would offer an opportunity to contemplate the meaning and value of Korean traditional patterns by expressing the Buddhist art of the Unified Silla Dynasty. It is also anticipated that they would be available as art and aesthetic cultural contents in a creative and diverse fashion.

We Do Not Worship Buddha Images: Buddhist Response to Religious Bullying in Online Media

The stereotyping view of radical Islamic groups manifested in verbal violence against other religious groups is increasingly growing freely along with the expansion of public communication spaces in cyberspace. This has made it even more frustrating for people of other religions to respond to this bullying. Religious minorities, such as Buddhists, also use information technology to express responses to negative stereotypes. In Indonesia, Buddhism often gets a negative impression because it is considered as idol worship, something which for Muslims, as the majority group, is the biggest sin. This mistaken view of Buddhists has not only resulted in a bad view of Buddhists, but has led to violence as evidenced by the case of lowering the Buddha statue in Tanjung Balai. Buddhists who are based on the moral teachings of self-control try not to give a negative response that is reactive, but they appear increasingly progressive in spreading the “right view” of their teaching principles so that they are no longer misunderstood and become objects of discrimination. Apart from being in the form of lectures disseminated in online media, efforts to provide religious literacy education are also conveyed through short stories and popular songs. Through content analysis, this paper will describe various ways of public communication of Buddhists to overcome negative stereotyping about them, especially the perception of being idolaters. Also see to what extent the effectiveness of this monologue-impressed communication is conveyed to those who bully.

Judith Wright’s Fire Sermons

ABSTRACT Australian poet Judith Wright has been read for her lyrical presentation of a woman-centred perspective on love, for her expression of guilt over colonial history and her solidarity with Aboriginal writer Oodgeroo Noonuccal, and for her support for environmental causes. Some critics have noted elements of mysticism, connecting them to Western literary traditions, but this article outlines her debts to Hindu, Buddhist and Sufi images and thought, concluding that these are multicultural tools for her to form a poetic that can be defended against claims that she failed to integrate lyric immediacy and philosophical abstraction.

THE INFLUENCE OF IMAGE MEDIA AND BUDDHIS SONGS ON LEARNING OUTCOMES OF BUDDHA RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

This study aims to determine the differences in learning outcomes of Buddhist education at the elementary school level in Wonogiri Regency between learning using Buddhist pictures and songs as compared to learning through material presentation by teachers using textbooks. The research design used the Nonequivalent Control Group Design. The research subjects were third grade students of Buddhist elementary schools in Wonogiri Regency. The normality test uses the One-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test and the homogeneity test uses the Levence Test on SPSS. Meanwhile, to test the hypothesis using the Independent Sample T Test and Paired Sample T Test on SPSS. The results showed that the learning outcomes of the experimental group and the control group were normally distributed and homogeneous. The average increase in learning outcomes of the control group was 5.1250, the experimental group was 16.5000. The results of the independent sample t test show that Sig. (2-tailed) or p 0.000. Meanwhile, α 0.05, so p <αmeans that Ho is rejected. The results of the paired sample t test are known to be sig. (2-tailed) or p 0.000. While α 0.05 so p <α means that Ho is rejected, meaning that Buddhist images and songs have a more positive effect on learning outcomes

Buddha’s Image in Modern Art: Expert and Critical Approaches

The goal of this article is to formulate the main criteria for the analysis of contemporary art in general, with a specific focus on works including sacred image of Buddha, from an art-historical perspective. The development of an expert assessment approach in this area is a necessary step because most researchers of contemporary art containing various religious or sacred images describe them only from an artistic viewpoint or explore the general cultural context. The authors present several questions as assessment criteria, answers to which will be able to help the experts reach their conclusions. What is the purpose of creating an image? What role does the material chosen by an artist play in shaping the artistic image? Does the multidimensionality of meanings appear in the artistic image of the work? Does the work refer to a non-finite? While discussing these issues, we analyse the works of Pema Namdol Thae, Climent Brie, Nam Joon Paik, Yeshe Gombo and others.
 Keywords: contemporary Buddhist art, Pema Namdol Thae, analysis and criticism of contemporary art, examination of contemporary art.

무염파(無染派) 불상의 계보와 고창 문수사(文殊寺) 무염파 불상(삼세불·지장시왕상)의 연구

고창 문수사의 불상은 조선시대 조각사에서 매우 중요한 불상으로 평가된다. 첫째, 문수사 불상의 조성배경을 조성기를 위주로 그 의미를 찾아보았다. 이 불상들은 17세기 2/4분기의 최고 조각승 무염이 조성 지도하여 조성한 사실을 밝힐 수 있었다. 둘째, 문수사 대웅전 삼세불상의 도상 특징을 밝히게 되었다. 문수사 삼세불상은 불갑사 삼세불상을 계승한 석가, 약사, 아미타의 삼세불상으로 대웅전 정벽 수미단 위에 봉안된 완전한 불상들이다. 이 불상들은 양감 있는 얼굴, 건장한 체구 등 삼세불의 도상 특징을 잘 갖추고 있다고 평가된다. 셋째, 문수사 지장시왕상의 도상특징을 밝힐 수 있었다. 지장보살상을 중심으로 좌우로 각 5구씩 10왕상을 배치했는데 지장보살상은 승형의 머리와 갸름한 얼굴, 단정한 체구의 지장보살상이며 10대왕들은 제각기 10대왕의 특징을 나타내면서 좌우로 각각 5구씩 배치되어 있는 점을 밝힐 수 있었다. 넷째, 문수사 불상의 양식적 특징을 살펴보았다. 문수사 삼세불은 양감 있는 세련된 얼굴, 건장한 체구, 오른팔을 휘감은 활력 있는 옷자락 등 당당하고 활기 찬 양식의 불상으로 평가된다는 점을 밝히게 되었다. 다섯째, 무염파는 석준-원오-각민-행사-무염-도우, 승일, 해심으로 이어지는 석준·원오파에 속하면서 독자적인 대 문파를 이룬 조선 후반기 제1기 17세기 2/4분기의 대조각파임을 파악할 수 있었다. 따라서 이 문수사 불상은 무염파 불상 가운데서도 가장 뛰어난 대표작의 하나로 의의가 크다고 판단된다는 점을 밝힐 수 있었다.

고성 옥천사 연대암 치성광여래도 도상연구 - 칠성각부도상을 중심으로 -

四部大衆이 뜻을 모으고 佛畫僧 奉宜가 그려 연대암 칠성각에 봉안한 <치성광여래도>는 연 대암의 칠성계가 조성될 수 있는 동기를 이끌어낸 의미 있는 불화이다. 연대암 <치성광여래도>의 도상적 근원이 되는 七星各部圖는 칠성여래와 칠성 각각의 조합을 개별적인 화폭에 담아 칠성의 비중을 높여 구성한 새로운 도상이다. 이 도상은 16세기 개판된 『北斗七星延命經』 삽도에서 처음 보이는데 칠성이 각각 다스리는 12 간지에 해당하는 년도에 태어난 사람의 개별적 기양기도에 목 적을 두고 제작되어진 것으로 사료된다. 연대암 치성광여래도는 칠성각부도상의 전통을 이으면서 여러 화면을 모아 하나의 화면에 포 치하는 독창적이고 새로운 구도를 시도한 특징적인 작품이다. 이 그림은 조선 전기 칠성각부도상 의 전통을 계승하여 새로운 구도를 창출했다는 점에서 그 가치가 높다. 의자에 앉아 있는 또 하나 의 존상으로 치성광여래 도상에 묘사되는 자미대제 모티프는 전라도 화승인 천여의 제자들에 의 해 고안 되어진 새로운 도상이었다. 이들은 통도사 안양암에서 응상과 <치성광여래와 칠성각부 도>를 함께 작업하며 이 구도를 선보였고 응상은 도교적 색채를 짙게 보이던 서울지방 신앙을 접 했던 경험을 살려 <칠성각부도>까지 확대하여 작품을 완성하였다. 이와 같은 일련의 작업을 함께 하였던 봉의는 한 걸음 나아가 하나의 화면에 칠성각부도의 모든 존상을 표현하여 공간적인 제약 을 극복하는 방식으로 연대암 <치성광여래도>를 그려내고 있다

Re-purposing the Portrayal of Eminent Monks in Memorial Steles: Strategies of Identity Legitimation in 17th Century Korean Buddhism

Steles are the ultimate medium for touting the illustrious life of eminent monks. The engraved biographies of these monks on these steles are a record of the most prestigious monks and are thus representations of ideal images held at the highest esteem. In the case of Korean Buddhism, steles played an important, if not central, role in forming ideal images and identities. However, the method of constructing ideal images was by way of secular claims such as highlighting the official titles bestowed by the monarch or the great deeds in service of the state. The images of these monks were also the result of adopting the then current ideal Confucian images and virtues. <BR> Expressed differently, the claims etched on the steles of eminent monks while advancing idealistic notions were an amalgamation with situational conditions. It is clear that the secular claims were integral as a form of buttressing the claims of ideals— a tight balance of idealism and realism during the tumultuous times of enormous sociopolitical change. The conditions were such that while it was important that uniquely ideal Buddhist images were claimed, it also had to adopt images from the dominant ideology at the time, Confucianism.<BR> This paper is an attempt to bridge the ideal and pragmatic facets in the establishment of the Buddhist identity at a time of turbulent change which will provided a nuanced understanding of Buddhism set within the socio-historical setting of the late-Chosŏn period (1600–1910). While this paper focuses on epigraphical texts for the espoused images of eminent monks, it is an attempt to explain the aim of the steles and the rhetorical narratives that are contained in these texts.

Chinese Buddhist Sculpture of the Early Period. Iconographic Features

Chinese Buddhist Sculpture of the Early Period. Iconographic Features The development period of the art of Buddhist sculpture from the mid and late era of Eastern Han to the era of Western Jin is addressed in this article. The Buddhist sculpture of this period is called early Chinese Buddhist sculpture. During this period, before individual Buddhist sculptures became official objects of worship, Buddha images were made on stone carvings in tombs, on money trees, bronze mirrors, hunping vessels, etc. They have many similarities between each other, and therefore are significantly different from Buddhist sculptures of the later period. Based on currently available archaeological materials, relief was the main form of Buddhist sculptures of this period; sculptures mainly served as decor and were not an object of worship. In terms of purpose and meaning, they were mainly associated with funeral rituals, beliefs about happy omens, beliefs about celestials, early Taoist and other ideas, etc. After putting in order and combining material on the remains of early Buddhist sculptures, the following features of the art of sculpture can be distinguished: 1. In many ways, the early Buddhist sculptures expressed the early style of Gandhara. 2. The early Buddhist statues were closely related to the themes of the celestials and Huang Lao. 3. Buddhist sculpture did not occupy the most respected position. These sculptures mainly performed a decorative function, symbolized happiness and prosperity, and were not the main object of worship. Two conclusions can be drawn from this: the art of early Buddhist sculptures and religion basically developed synchronously; after appearing in China, the art of Buddhist images immediately became Chinese.

Conserving Thangka [formula omitted] A technical approach unto the preservation of Buddhist Thangka through automation

Cultural patterns have been generated from the prehistoric period and have percolated down over the ages with evolution and constant evaluation by successive generations. Such patterns are created using mechanical automation. This article is an attempt to capture such cultural patterns using iconometric analysis. In this article, first, a brief study of various technical research carried out on cultural heritage related to Buddhist iconography has been presented. And then, a computational technique has been proposed to digitize the method that is followed by the Thangka practitioners for drawing the portrait of Buddha on Thangka. The methodology can be used for preservation and learning of the patterns of special significance in this rich art form. These pattern generation techniques can be used as a learning aid in the study of subjects and can generate newer interpretations from patterns in numerous Buddha images and paintings that have been developed over the ages and by various sects within the Buddhist practice. This method, when used to churn out rich cultural heritage artefacts, can lead to the development of centralized digital archives which provide opportunities to the common people to get access to such heritage objects which otherwise may have been hard to lay eyes upon. This will also help in scientific authentication of the present repository of historical artefacts. The article discusses the automated generation of Tibetan thangka−based Buddha faces, satisfying the iconometric proportion as used by different Buddhist schools of thought. The images generated by this method can be considered as authentic Buddha Images. This paper also provides the geometry for the reconstruction of an authentic Buddha image using the key facial features of Buddha. This research can help the traditional learners of Thangka painting to use modern pattern recognition techniques for skill enhancement.

Buddhism and Tourism: A Study of Lumbini, Nepal

Buddhism is one of the major religions in the world. About four hundred million Buddhist people and millions of peace lovers around the globe admire to visit the holy places following the footsteps of the Buddha as the Buddha himself enshrined pilgrimage as an important act in the life of a peace seeker. Peace and happiness are the main pursuit of people longing for, but in many ways they are starving. Buddhism has been source and way forward for peace and happiness- this is how people have started realizing today. In pursuit of peace, billions of dollars worth Buddha images, Buddhist souvenirs and puja paraphernalia are sold every year in Buddhist sites of different countries that make local economy vibrant. There are many Buddhist heritage sites that have been explored, excavated, conserved, developed and promoted because of tourism activities all over the world. But very few studies have been done, so far, to understand relation between Buddhism and tourism. This study examines the relation between Buddhism and tourism in the context of Greater Lumbini Area, Nepal for planning, development, promotion and educative purpose. The findings of present study reveal that there is “complementary and positive relation between Buddhism and tourism”. It means promotion of Buddhism helps develop quality tourism in the GLA vis-à-vis development of tourism in the region promotes Buddhism and Buddhist sites.

BUDDHIST HERITAGE OF KALINGA (ODISHA STATE, INDIA)

The interaction between autochthonous, Buddhist and Hindu traditions here is regarded through the historical perspective basing on the material presented in publications of the state’s historical school which describe the archaeological and epigraphic monuments of Odisha. Unlike the “brahminical” approach, which generally dominates the Indian historiography and diminishes the influence of Buddhism on the Indian subcontinent, the studies of the local school provide more attention to this factor forming the regional history. The introduction describes the early period of Kalinga's relationship with Buddhism. The main part of the article is dedicated to the evidence of the overwhelming presence of Buddhist tantric tradition and subsequent gradual adaptation of Buddhist images and symbols in Hinduism. Due attention is paid to the outstanding figures of Buddhism whose lives were connected with Odisha, and to the main archaeological sites of the state. The conclusion generalizes the historical process of assimilation of Buddhist ideas and practices on the Indian subcontinent, which ended in the 13-14 centuries by extinguishing Buddhism over the most part of the subcontinent.

&lt;i&gt;Nenbutsu&lt;/i&gt; as Ketsujō-gō 決定業:The Interpretation in the&lt;i&gt; Ketsujō ōjōshū &lt;/i&gt;決定往生集 of Chinkai 珍海

In Chapter V of the Ketsujō ōjōshū 決定往生集 written by Chinkai 珍海 (1092–1152), it is pointed out that an act of making a Buddhist image, reading or copying Mahāyāna Buddhist scriptures is able to become a fixed karma (定業). Through a similar statement in his early work, the Bodaishinshū 菩提心集, it is confirmed that the fixed karma is Ketsujō-gō決定業. In addition, discussing the superiority and inferiority of the ten-fold repitition of the nenbutsu (jūnen 十念) in daily life and at the end of life, he clearly interprets both as Ketsujō-gō in the same chapter.

Buddhist Ritual and the Bronze Buddha Mold Excavated from the Western Five-Story Stone Pagoda of Hwaŏm Temple, Korea

This paper examines the bronze Buddha mold that was excavated from the western pagoda of Hwaŏm temple 華嚴寺. The research centers on the mold’s date of production, its function, and the reason it was enshrined in the Hwaŏmsa pagoda. The pagoda itself was constructed in the ninth century and is considered to be a Dharani pagoda because Wugoujingguang datuoluonijing (無垢淨光大陀羅尼經, The Great Dharani Sūtra) is enshrined within the structure. The act of placing the Buddhist scriptures in the pagoda was to benefit the structure’s benefactors by absolving them of their sins and granting blessings in their afterlives for their meritorious deeds. Of all the dhāraṇī, Wugoujingguang datuoluonijing is the most detailed and particularly emphasizes the act of repetition. The clarity and simplicity of its instructions made it especially popular in eighth-to-ninth-century Korea. The Hwaŏmsa Buddha mold was one of the tools used in the ritual described by Wugoujingguang datuoluonijing. Considering the sūtra’s insistence on repetition and replication, the mold was a very suitable implement. The use of inexpensive clay also allowed for the mass production of Buddha images that any individual could commission at little cost. Furthermore, this method of producing Buddha images made it easy for the temple to attract followers and thus raise funding for the construction of the pagoda. The clay Buddhas themselves were small, making it possible for one to keep the image on his person and carry it wherever he went. Ultimately, these actions were meant to bring the individuals closer to Buddha and his world.