Chinese steles : pre-Buddhist and Buddhist use of a symbolic form / Dorothy C. Wong.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [207]-220) and index.

Ancient roots of the Chinese stele tradition -- The origins and rise of Han steles -- The origins of Buddhist steles under the northern Wei -- General characteristics of Buddhist steles -- The initial flourishing of Buddhist steles in Shanxi -- The Maitreya faith and Henan steles -- The Shaanxi school : Buddhist-Daoist elements and ethnic diversity -- Buddhist steles from the Gansu-Ningxia region -- Monumental complex steles and further developments in Mahāyāna Buddhist iconography -- Sichuan Buddhist steles and the beginnings of pure land imagery in China.

"Buddhist steles represent an important subset of early Chinese Buddhist art that flourished during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period (386-581). More than two hundred Chinese Buddhist steles are known to have survived. Their brilliant imagery has long captivated scholars, yet until now the Buddhist stele as a unique art form has received little scholarly attention. Dorothy Wong rectifies that insufficiency by providing in this well-illustrated volume the first comprehensive investigation of this group of Buddhist monuments." "In her analysis of Buddhism's dialogue with native traditions, Wong demonstrates how the Chinese artistic idiom planted the seeds for major achievements in figural and landscape arts in the ensuing Sui and Tang periods."--BOOK JACKET.