Buddhist Art and Architecture in East Asia

This chapter highlights important examples of Buddhist art and architecture in East Asia, particularly those dating from the first millennium CE, which shed light upon the inception and transmission of artistic and architectural styles that accompanied the transmission of Buddhism across borders. Some of the key issues addressed pertain to how the introduction of Buddhism into China, Korea, and Japan was accompanied by the production and transmission of artworks, as well as the creation of sites that established the new religion in each cultural context. Patronage played a key role in the acceptance of Buddhism in East Asia. The production of artworks also served as a vehicle of political legitimation and an expression of imperial authority seen in monumental Buddha sculptures at Longmen and Todaiji. Finally, the chapter considers how the transmission of Buddhist art across East Asia continued into Europe and the United States in the early twentieth century.