Surviving nirvana : death of the Buddha in Chinese visual culture /

In this "first book-length study on the subject," Lee (Univ. of Southern California) makes a very thorough, wide-ranging study of nirvana--one of the major images and beliefs in Buddhism. Focusing on the most important Chinese Buddhist era (6th-12th centuries), Lee restricts her study to relatively few artworks as she weaves historical events, personalities, and archaeological finds with formal analyses and artisans' techniques. Accordingly a rich context for the pieces emerges, complete with identification of donors. Following an introduction to the meaning of nirvana and development of its imagery are four chapters somewhat centered on different media. One table covers Jingzhi Monastery relics, and three others identify and discuss text sources of the term "nirvana." A brief epilogue addresses two gigantic nirvana Buddha figures from two standpoints: one reemphasizes Lee's belief that nirvana scenes play a major role in an individual viewer's personal experiences, and the other introduces the political and economic role that these huge Buddha figures play in contemporary China. At times, the writing is overwrought. The illustrations are poor to fair; appendixes give the Chinese texts from the major artworks treated; four maps locate nirvana images. Full notes and an extensive bibliography are included, along with a Chinese character list. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. D. K. Haworth emeritus, Carleton College