Early Buddhist Art of China and Central Asia, Volume 2 The Eastern Chin and Sixteen Kingdoms Period in China and Tumshuk, Kucha and Karashahr in Central Asia (2 vols)

Volume two of Marylin Rhie’s widely acclaimed and formative multi-volume work presents a comprehensive, scholarly and detailed study of the Buddhist art of China and Central Asia from 316-439 A.D. during the formative early periods of Buddhism in the Eastern Chin and Sixteen Kingdoms Period. Using texts translated from the Chinese together with stylistic and technical analyses, the chronology and sources of the art are more clearly defined than in previous studies for the regions of South and North China (other than Kansu) and the important sites of Tumshuk, Kucha and Karashahr on the Northern Silk Route in eastern Central Asia. Furthermore, by incorporating extensive religious and historical materials, this work not only contributes to clarifying the regional characteristics of the art, but also offers new insights into the broader, interregional relationships of this politically fragmented period.

"…a reference tool for subsequent generations, providing the raw data for interpretive studies of the disparate, piecemeal material that survives of early Buddhist art … scholars wishing to unravel the complexities of Central Asian and medieval Chinese art will rely on Rhie's massive study." – Sarah E. Fraser, in: The Journal of Asian Studies, 2005

Marylin Martin Rhie, Ph.D. (1970) in Chinese Buddhist Art History, University of Chicago is Professor of Art and East Asian Studies at Smith College, Northampton. Her most recent publications are Early Buddhist Art of China and Central Asia (Vol. I) and Worlds of Transformation, the Sacred Art of Tibet (with R. Thurman).