Rethinking Asuka Sculpture

WU Hong, Ph.D. (2020), University of Vienna, is assistant professor of Philosophy of Art and Art History at Fudan University. She has published several articles on East Asian Buddhist art and Chinese art of the medieval period.

Chronology

List of Characters

List of Maps, Tables, and Figures



1 Introduction

 1 Reconsidering the Traditional Chronology

 2 Shifting from the China-Centered to the Asuka Perspective

 3 Structure of the Book



Part 1: The Catalogue

2 Tracing an Organic Stylistic Sequence

 1 Group I

 2 Group II

 3 Group III

 4 Group IV

 5 Conclusion



Part 2: A Revised Chronology

3 Weighing the Archaeological and Historical Evidence

 1 Advent of Buddhist Practice in Japan

 2 The East Asian Context

 3 Direct Buddhist Contacts with China

 4 Opportunity for Rethinking the Chronology



4 Reevaluating Buddhist Art in Korean Three Kingdoms

 1 Textual and Archaeological Survey

 2 Reconsidering the Fifty-Year Lag between the Korean Three Kingdoms and Chinese Dynasties

 3 A History of Korean Three Kingdoms Buddhist Art Historiography



5 A Revised Chronology

 1 How the Traditional Chronology Became Established

 2 Reconsidering the Anchor Statues

 3 The Hōryūji Kondō Shaka Triad: a Close Study

 4 A Revised Chronology



Part 3: A New Account of Asuka Buddhism

6 A Tentative Beginning: 550–600

 1 Features Neither Continental nor Local

 2 Understanding the Earliest Buddhist Sculptors

 3 A Hesitant Beginning



7 Vibrant Transformation: 600–650

 1 The Shiba Story Continued

 2 A Multiplicity of Other Sculptural Modes

 3 The Buddhist Boom



8 New Technological Development: 650–710

 1 Piece-Mold versus Lost-Wax Methods

 2 From the Direct to the Indirect Method

 3 Interpreting the Technological Change



9 Conclusion

 1 Rethinking Asuka Buddhist Art

 2 Looking Forward: the Yakushi Triad and Beyond

Reference Matter

 List of Extant Asuka Buddhist Statues

 Abbreviations for Catalogue Titles

Bibliography

Index