This course will cover two millennia of art produced in China to serve ritual purposes and will focus on the role that the visual arts played in defining doctrine and belief in two traditions: Daoism and Buddhism. Major themes will include the problems that early artists in China faced in their efforts to represent the sublime bodies of perfected Daoist immortals and the Buddha, and their translation of imported Buddhist images into legible Chinese forms. We will also consider the relationship of images to sacred texts, personal practice, public ritual, and political propaganda, the ongoing conversation between Daoist and Buddhist artists, the assimilation of Tibetan thought and modes of representation in China, and the effect of foreign rule and patronage on Chinese and Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhist art.

This course fulfills the following Major requirements: Geographical area (B) and Chronological period (I) or (II), based on the topic of the final research paper or project.