Lecture
Why are we so determined to find Amitābha in Gandhāra?
- Date
- Wednesday 25 September 2024
- Time
- Location
-
Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden - Room
- 2.35
Abstract
Indian Buddhist art has been explored under diverse assumptions as well as preconceptions — some incorrect or misguided — over its more than a century-long history. Many of these assumptions grew from scholarship on East Asian traditions. In East Asian Buddhism, the preponderance of evidence for deciphering visual remains is preserved in textual and epigraphical materials, and visual and material objects have continued to be created up to modern times. Knowledge from the well-documented East Asian sources frequently played an important role in exploring and elucidating Indian Buddhist art, and was often projected onto earlier Indian Buddhism as its precedents or parallels. One of the most notable instances in this regard is evident in the ardent search for the Buddha Amitābha in Indian Buddhist art, especially in the region of Gandhāra. This paper examines the roots of this dynamic in historiography and its ramifications for current scholarship.
About the speaker
Rhi Ju-Hyung is Professor of Art History at Seoul National University. He specializes in Buddhist art with a focus on South Asia and Korea. In particular, he has written extensively on the tradition in Gandhara, examining its various aspects in the history of Buddhism, iconography, and visual characteristics. He has recently completed a book manuscript on Buddha images of Gandhara.