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.