ASIA 270 - Art/Religion Along Silk Road

This course investigates the intersection of art and religion through the cave temples of Dunhuang, the vast site of Buddhist art and architecture along the Silk Road in northwest China. The nearly 500 decorated caves from this site and the thousands of paintings and manuscripts discovered there in 1900 provide multiple perspectives into 1000 years of Chinese religious art and social history (400 CE to 1400 CE). Accordingly, this course introduces the basic styles, iconography and narratives of Buddhist art in China, while emphasizing the function of these images within their social and cultural contexts. Every year. (4 Credits)