Download or read book Yungang written by Joy Lidu Yi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-11-13 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first-ever comprehensive analysis of its kind in any western language, this unique volume provides a social art history of Yungang: a 5th-century rock-cut court cave complex, UNESCO World Heritage site, and one of the greatest Buddhist monuments of all time. Yungang asks why, when, and under what circumstances this impressive cave sanctuary was made, and who played significant roles at various stages. Recent economic changes in China including the expansion of roads have led to unprecedented numbers of objects being unearthed on site and near the cave-chapels. Archaeological discoveries in 2010 have shed significant new light on the architectural configuration of monasteries in the capital and the functions of different sections of the cave complex, as well as monastic life within it. For the first time, it is possible to reconstruct where the monks lived and translated sacred literary texts, and to fully understand that freestanding monasteries are an important component of the rock-cut cave complex. Illustrated throughout with remarkable full-colour photographs, this re-examination of the cave-chapels, which brings together previous scholarship, primary documentation, and more than a decade of first-hand field research, will not only fill in the gaps in our knowledge about Yungang, but also raise, and perhaps answer, new questions in art history.
Download or read book A Global History of Architecture written by Francis D. K. Ching and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-03-23 with total page 868 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A GLOBAL HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE NOW FEATURING ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL ARCHITECTURE AND MORE SUPERB DRAWINGS BY FRANCIS D.K. CHING! The book that forever changed the way architectural history is viewed, taught, and studied, A Global History of Architecture examines 5,000 years of the built environment. Spanning from 3,500 BCE to the present, and organized along a global timeline, this unique guide was written by experts in their fields who emphasize the connections, contrasts, and influences of architectural movements throughout history and around the world. Fully updated and revised to reflect current scholarship, this Third Edition features expanded chapter introductions that set the stage for a global view, as well as: An expanded section on contemporary global architecture More coverage of non-Western cultures, particularly South Asia, South East Asia Pre-Columbian America, and Africa. New drawings and maps by the iconic Francis D.K. Ching, as well as more stunning photographs An updated companion website with digital learning tools and Google EarthTM mapping service coordinates that make it easier to find sites Art and architecture enthusiasts, and anyone interested in architectural history, will have 5,000 years of the built environment perpetually at their fingertips with A Global History of Architecture, Third Edition.
Download or read book Design Studies and Intelligence Engineering written by L.C. Jain and published by IOS Press. This book was released on 2024-02-27 with total page 1126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The discipline of design studies applies various technologies, from basic theory to application systems, while intelligence engineering encompasses computer-aided industrial design, human-factor design, and greenhouse design, and plays a major part within design science. Intelligence engineering technologies also include topics from theory and application, such as computational technologies, sensing technologies, and video detection. This book presents the proceedings of DSIE2023, the 2023 International Symposium on Design Studies and Intelligence Engineering, held on 28 & 29 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The conference provides a platform for professionals and researchers from industry and academia to present and discuss recent advances in the fields of design studies and intelligence engineering. It also fosters cooperation among the organizations and researchers involved in these overlapping fields, and invites internationally renowned professors to further explore these topics in some depth, providing the opportunity for them to discuss the technical presentations with conference participants. In all, 275 submissions were received for the conference, 105 of which were accepted after thorough review by 3 or 4 referees for presentation at the conference and inclusion here. Providing a valuable overview of the latest developments, the book will be of interest to all those working in the fields of design studies and intelligence engineering.
Download or read book The Global Connections of Gandha ran Art written by Wannaporn Rienjang and published by Classical Art Research Centre. This book was released on 2020-09-02 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gandhāran art is often regarded as the epitome of cultural exchange in antiquity. The ancient region of Gandhāra, centred on what is now the northern tip of Pakistan, has been called the ‘crossroads of Asia’. The Buddhist art produced in and around this area in the first few centuries AD exhibits extraordinary connections with other traditions across Asia and as far as the Mediterranean. Since the nineteenth century, the Graeco-Roman associations of Gandhāran art have attracted particular attention. Classically educated soldiers and administrators of that era were astonished by the uncanny resemblance of many works of Gandhāran sculpture to Greek and Roman art made thousands of miles to the west. More than a century later we can recognize that the Gandhāran artists’ appropriation of classical iconography and styles was diverse and extensive, but the explanation of this ‘influence’ remains puzzling and elusive. The Gandhāra Connections project at the University of Oxford’s Classical Art Research Centre was initiated principally to cast new light on this old problem. This volume is the third set of proceedings of the project’s annual workshop, and the first to address directly the question of cross-cultural influence on and by Gandhāran art. The contributors wrestle with old controversies, particularly the notion that Gandhāran art is a legacy of Hellenistic Greek rule in Central Asia and the growing consensus around the important role of the Roman Empire in shaping it. But they also seek to present a more complex and expansive view of the networks in which Gandhāra was embedded. Adopting a global perspective on the subject, they examine aspects of Gandhāra’s connections both within and beyond South Asia and Central Asia, including the profound influence which Gandhāran art itself had on the development of Buddhist art in China and India.
Download or read book Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road written by Neville Agnew and published by Getty Publications. This book was released on 2010-08-03 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Neville Agnew, senior principal project specialist at the GCI, is the author of numerous publications in research chemistry and conservation, including (with two coauthors) the book Cave Temples of Mogao: Art and History on the Silk Road. --Book Jacket.
Download or read book The Arts of China to AD 900 written by William Watson and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1995-01-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first in a major three-volume series that will survey China's immense wealth of art, architecture, and artifacts from prehistoric times to the twentieth century. The Arts of China to A.D. 900 investigates the beginnings of the traditions on which much of the art rests, moving from Neolithic and Bronze Age China to the era of the Tang Dynasty around A.D. 900. William Watson discusses in lively detail a wide range of art forms and techniques: porcelain and pottery, lacquer, religious and secular painting and sculpture, mural painting, monumental sculpture and architecture. He explains the materials and techniques of bronze casting, jade carving, pottery manufacture, and other arts, and he describes the most important sites, the artifacts that were produced at each one, and the historical interactions between different areas. He discusses the iconography, the technique and the function of every art form. Written by one of the most distinguished scholars in the field of Chinese art and archaeology, this lavishly illustrated book will be a valuable resource for both experts and beginners in the field.
Download or read book The Civilization of Ancient India and Southeast Asia written by Tom Lowenstein and published by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. This book was released on 2012-12-15 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buddhism has produced a cultural legacy more glorious than most great faiths. Initially spreading throughout Asia, over the centuries it triumphed not by the might of military conquest but by virtue of its revolutionary ideas and profound insights. For two-and-a-half millennia, both wealthy patrons and humble devotees have created a rich legacy of sacred art and architecture, from devotion paintings and manuscripts to some of the most magnificent temples and monasteries ever built. Stunning color photographs present a vivid portrait of this venerable religion and its great treasuresfrom its place of origin in northern India and out through its diffusion among the different kingdoms and empires of central, southern and eastern Asiaexamining each geographical region in turn and Buddhism's influence on and contribution to the culture. An illuminating commentary places the creations of Buddhist artists and artisans in their geographical, historical, and artistic contexts and explains the significance of the faith's devotional paintings, manuscript art, sculptures, architecture, and sacred motifs and symbols.
Download or read book The Silk Road in World History written by Xinru Liu and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-07-09 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Silk Road was the contemporary name for a complex of ancient trade routes linking East Asia with Central Asia, South Asia, and the Mediterranean world. This network of exchange emerged along the borders between agricultural China and the steppe nomads during the Han Dynasty (206BCE-220CE), in consequence of the inter-dependence and the conflicts of these two distinctive societies. In their quest for horses, fragrances, spices, gems, glassware, and other exotics from the lands to their west, the Han Empire extended its dominion over the oases around the Takla Makan Desert and sent silk all the way to the Mediterranean, either through the land routes leading to the caravan city of Palmyra in Syria desert, or by way of northwest India, the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea, landing at Alexandria. The Silk Road survived the turmoil of the demise of the Han and Roman Empires, reached its golden age during the early middle age, when the Byzantine Empire and the Tang Empire became centers of silk culture and established the models for high culture of the Eurasian world. The coming of Islam extended silk culture to an even larger area and paved the way for an expanded market for textiles and other commodities. By the 11th century, however, the Silk Road was in decline because of intense competition from the sea routes of the Indian Ocean. Using supply and demand as the framework for analyzing the formation and development of the Silk Road, the book examines the dynamics of the interactions of the nomadic pastoralists with sedentary agriculturalists, and the spread of new ideas, religions, and values into the world of commerce, thus illustrating the cultural forces underlying material transactions. This effort at tracing the interconnections of the diverse participants in the transcontinental Silk Road exchange will demonstrate that the world had been linked through economic and ideological forces long before the modern era.
Download or read book A Global History of Architecture written by Mark M. Jarzombek and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-10-04 with total page 864 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praise for the First Edition "Because of its exceptionally wide perspective, even architectural historians who do not teach general survey courses are likely to enjoy and appreciate it." —Annali d'architettura "Not only does A Global History of Architecture own the territory (of world architecture), it pulls off this audacious task with panache, intelligence, and—for the most part—grace." —Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians Revised and updated—the compelling history of the world's great architectural achievements Organized along a global timeline, A Global History of Architecture, Second Edition has been updated and revised throughout to reflect current scholarship. Spanning from 3,500 b.c.e. to the present, this unique guide is written by an all-star team of architectural experts in their fields who emphasize the connections, contrasts, and influences of architectural movements throughout history. The architectural history of the world comes to life through a unified framework for interpreting and understanding architecture, supplemented by rich drawings from the renowned Frank Ching, as well as brilliant photographs. This new Second Edition: Delivers more coverage of non-Western areas, particularly Africa, South Asia, South East Asia, and Pre-Columbian America Is completely re-designed with full-color illustrations throughout Incorporates additional drawings by Professor Ching, including new maps with more information and color Meets the requirements set by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) for "non-Western" architecture in history education. Offers new connections to a companion Web site, including Google EarthTM coordinates for ease of finding sites. Architecture and art enthusiasts will find A Global History of Architecture, Second Edition perpetually at their fingertips.
Download or read book Come to The Peak written by Shi YueLiuNian and published by Funstory. This book was released on 2019-11-04 with total page 682 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A man with a huge sword on his back, a monkey fighting in the wilderness, and a sparrow with wings covering the sky. So what if he became a demon! So what if he became a Buddha! If I walk my path, why should I fear that the world will judge my skill or my past...He stepped on the Dragon Sparrow Soaring Through Nine Heavens and held the huge sword in his hand as he battled with the Six Paths. Chong Yin was furious because of his beauty. He waved his sword and stained the entire street with his blood. It was normal to call upon the wind and summon the rain. This! This is the life that I, Luo Yu, want. The peak of Ascendant, this life that belongs to you ...
Download or read book Peerless Consort Wants to Divorce written by Liu Yue and published by Funstory. This book was released on 2019-12-01 with total page 902 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ben was a promising brain surgeon,She was loyal and conservative, and regarded integrity as life.But God played a big joke on her,She had actually been transported to the bed of a prince.[Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]"Heh heh ..."Only then did she realize that she was a wangfei who was despised and despised by the prince.He was also being treated by his own sister.Fortunately, fortunately, the women of the new era,Especially a female doctor who made a living with a knife, it wasn't that easy to deal with.'Let's see how she will put up a show in the palace! '
Download or read book The Road to Anfield written by June Lee and published by Austin Macauley Publishers. This book was released on 2024-02-02 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever since I was a young kid, I’ve been a die-hard Liverpool FC fan. The dream of witnessing a thrilling match at Anfield and catching a glimpse of the players in front of the Melwood training center had always lingered in my mind. After graduating from college, the pressures of the real world were looming. My friends were scrambling to secure their dream jobs, investing time and effort to climb the career ladder. Amidst this hustle and bustle, I made a daring decision: I was going to turn my dream into reality. I hopped on my trusty bicycle and embarked on an epic journey to Liverpool. It took me 235 days to finally arrive at Anfield. From the heart of China through the vast landscapes of Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, and, at last, England. I braved the scorching heat of the Gobi Desert, the desolation of Siberia, and even cycled through the European winter. A staggering 17,190 kilometers later, I had reached my dream destination, only to watch the home match in a humble Liverpool pub. While I may not have achieved the dual goal of seeing a game at Anfield and boosting my career, I’ve never regretted my decision. This journey fulfilled a lifelong desire and taught me lessons that no classroom ever could. This book brings you along for the ride, recounting the real-life adventures and experiences that shaped this unforgettable journey.
Download or read book Regulating Land and Pollution in China written by Benjamin van Rooij and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annotation. Many of China's rivers and lakes are strongly polluted, the air in cities is amongst the worst in the world, while some have warned that if the country is not careful it may soon have insufficient arable land to feed its population. This book looks at why the protection of natural resources through stricter legislation and more stringent law enforcement has been so difficult. It does so through a combination of a local case with comparative and theoretical insights about lawmaking, compliance and enforcement. It offers a unique view on how law functions in the world's largest legal system, and how such law interacts with the social, economic and political circumstances at hand. This book offers an incomparable body of empirical and theoretical knowledge for those interested in how law functions in China, as well as those interested in the workings of regulatory lawmaking, compliance, and enforcement in a comparative perspective. This title can be previewed in Google Books - http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9789087280130.
Download or read book Shaping the Lotus Sutra written by Eugene Yuejin Wang and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Lotus Sutra has been the most widely read and most revered Buddhist scripture in East Asia since its translation in the third century. The miracles and parables in the "king of sutras" inspired a variety of images in China, in particular the sweeping compositions known as transformation tableaux that developed between the seventh and ninth centuries. Surviving examples in murals painted on cave walls or carved in relief on Buddhist monuments depict celestial journeys, bodily metamorphoses, cycles of rebirth, and the achievement of nirvana. Yet the cosmos revealed in these tableaux is strikingly different from that found in the text of the sutra. Shaping the Lotus Sutra explores this visual world. Challenging long-held assumptions about Buddhist art, Eugene Wang treats it as a window to an animated and spirited world. Rather than focus on individual murals as isolated compositions, Wang views the entire body of pictures adorning a cave shrine or a pagoda as a visual mapping of an imaginary topography that encompasses different temporal and spatial domains. He demonstrates that the text of the Lotus Sutra does not fully explain the pictures and that a picture, or a series of them, constitutes its own "text." In exploring how religious pictures sublimate cultural aspirations, he shows that they can serve both political and religious agendas and that different social forces can co-exist within the same visual program. These pictures inspired meditative journeys through sophisticated formal devices such as mirroring, mapping, and spatial programming - analytical categories newly identified by Wang. The book examines murals in cave shrines at Binglingsi and Dunhuang in northwestern China and relief sculptures in the grottoes of Yungang in Shanxi, on stelae from Sichuan, and on the Dragon-and-Tiger pagoda in Shandong, among other sites. By tracing formal impulses in medieval Chinese picture-making, such as topographic mapping and pictorial illusionism, the author pieces together a wide range of visual evidence and textual sources to reconstruct the medieval Chinese cognitive style and mental world. The book is ultimately a history of the Chinese imagination. Read an interview with the author: http: //dgeneratefilms.com/cinematalk/cinematalk-interview-with-professor-eugene-wang-on-chinese-art-and-film/
Download or read book Dynamics of Interregional Exchange in East Asian Buddhist Art 5th 13th Century written by Dorothy C. Wong and published by Vernon Press. This book was released on 2022-10-10 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines the various patterns of trans-regional exchanges in Buddhist art within East Asia (China, Korea, and Japan) in the medieval period, from the fifth to the thirteenth centuries. A traditional approach to the study of East Asian Buddhist art revolves around the notion of an artistic relay: India was regarded as the source of inspiration for China, and China in turn influenced artistic production in the Korean peninsula and Japan. While this narrative holds some truth, it has the implicit baggage of assuming that art in the host country is only derivative and obscures a deep understanding of the complexity of transnational exchanges. The essays in this volume aim to go beyond the conventional query of tracing origins and mapping exchanges in order to investigate the agency of the “receivers” with contextual case studies that can expand our understanding of artistic dialogues across cultures. The volume is divided into three sections. In Section I, “Transmission and Local Interpretations,” the three chapters by Jinchao Zhao, Li-kuei Chien, and Hong Wu all address topics of transnational transmission of Buddhist imagery, their figural styles, and subsequent alterations or adaptations based on local preferences and interpretations. Buddhism had important impacts on East Asian countries in the political dimension, especially when the religion and certain Buddhist sutras and deities were believed to have state-protecting properties. The chapters by Dorothy C. Wong, Imann Lai, and Clara Ma in Section II, “Buddhism and the State,” attend to the political aspect of Buddhism in visual representation. Section III, “Iconography and Traditions,” includes chapters by Sakiko Takahashi, Suijun Ra, and Tamami Hamada that closely study the cross-border transmission of and subtle variations in iconography and style of specific Buddhist deities, notably deities of esoteric strands that include the Thousand-Armed Avalokiteśvara (Bodhisattva of Compassion).
Download or read book China written by James C. Y. Watt and published by Metropolitan Museum of Art. This book was released on 2004 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the great tradition of publications on Chinese art from the Metropolitan Museum, China: Dawn of a Golden Age will become an essential text for years to come. This book is the catalogue for a major exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (October 5, 2004 to January 23, 2005).
Download or read book The Grandeur of Gandhara written by Rafi U. Samad and published by Algora Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The northwestern regions of Pakistan and southeastern regions of Afghanistan were once the heart of a highly developed civilization whose cultural impact was felt from China to Persia. A major center of Buddhism, its cultural attainments were highlights of ancient civilization. The author's research, accompanied by some 60 illustrations, offers Americans an entirely new understanding of the desolate region shown on the nightly news. The Persian, Greek and Central Asian invasions of Gandhara, rather than causing wide scale destruction in the region, promoted the development of a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic society. After a gestation period of about half a millennium, this region blossomed into a unique civilization in the opening years of the Common Era. Detailed archaeological excavations were started at sites in northern Pakistan and Afghanistan in the late-19th century. Through these excavations, eminent archaeologists such as Aurel Stein, Alexander Cunningham, John Marshall, J. Barthoux and Professor A.H. Dani recovered hundreds of thousands of beautiful stone sculptures belonging to the Gandhara Civilization. In the last century or so, much has been written about the artistic quality of these beautiful stone sculptures. But hardly anything has been written about the Civilization itself that gave birth to these extraordinary pieces of art. In this book an effort has been made to present Gandhara in its wider perspective, highlighting the different features of a unique civilization in which many different races contributed and many cultures merged to bring about a major sociological change and establish a distinct cultural identity in this region of the South Asian sub-continent. This book is based on the author's analysis of archaeologists' reports, information gathered through extended visits to numerous archaeological sites associated with the lost Gandhara Civilization including those in the Taxila, Peshawar, Charsadda, Mardan and Swat regions in Pakistan, and study in museums. His research reveals a great deal of continuity in the field of socio-cultural development of the region, which is referred to in this book as Greater Gandhara, from the time it became a part of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE till the end of Kidara Kushan's rule in the 5th century CE. Further, it reveals that after the Achaemenids had established the physical and administrative infrastructure in Greater Gandhara, the continuity in socio-cultural development in the region was maintained mainly by the growing Buddhist population. This book illustrates the spirit of independence and features in the character of the ancient people of the Gandhara region which facilitated the sustained progress towards the emergence of the Gandhara Civilization. Following the invasion of Alexander the Great, his successors had no difficulty in colonizing Bactria (Northern Afghanistan) and Sogdia (Uzbekistan), but they could not do the same in Gandhara. Similarly the Scythians, Parthians and the Kushans ruled over the Central Asian region as colonizers, but not so in Gandhara. Here they ruled not over the people, but with the people. Their administration was highly de-centralized, with the locals playing a major role in the regional administration and having a major say in the social and cultural affairs of the entire population. Finally, the book highlights the interactive environment which prevailed in Gandhara throughout the transient and mature phases of the Gandhara Civilization: Alexander's companions hobnobbing with the naked fakirs of Taxila; Menander, the great Indus-Greek ruler, finding time to engage in prolonged question-and-answer sessions with Buddhist scholars at the monastery near Sagala (Sialkot); and the greatest of the Kushan conquerors, Kanishka, finding pleasure in the company of local intellectuals and artists such as Asvaghosha and Vasumitra, and presiding over the official launch of Mahayana Buddhism.
