Japanese Sculpture of the Tempyo Period: Masterpieces of the Eighth Century, One-Volume Edition

This book combines magnificent illustrations of the treasures preserved at Nara, the eighth-century center of Buddhism in Japan, with Langdon Warner’s illuminating commentary. First published as a collection of plates with a separate text, the work was acclaimed by critics. This single volume makes Warner’s brilliant discussions, the fine illustrations, and his perceptive analyses of each of them available to a wider audience. This is the one-volume edition of a work first published as a collection of plates with a separate text. It combines excellent illustrations of the treasures preserved at Nara, Japan, with the late Langdon Warner's illuminating commentary. From india, Buddhism spread through China and Korea, reaching japan in the sixth century. It became so formidable a rival of shinto that eventually the two religions merged. The eighth-century center of Buddhism was the town of Nara, the first permanent capital of Japan. Here were built temples and shrines, the Daibutsu of Great Buddha, and here today are preserved in valuable relics of magnificence, beauty, and dignity. The author describes the craftsman, Nature, and Shinto in Japanese culture, and devotes a chapter to Buddhism and the arts, Lacquer sculpture, masks of Gigaku drama, and image-making are also analyzed. The second part of the book describes each of the 219 plates in detail, nothing the material of the art object, its size, location, h NOTE ON THE NAME TEMPYO CONTENTS INTRODUCTION A MAN AND AN ERA PART ONE THE PERIOD CHAPTER I. SOCIETY AND THE CRAFTSMAN CHAPTER II. CRAFTSMAN, NATURE, AND SHINTO CHAPTER III. BUDDHISM AND THE ARTS CHAPTER IV. T'ANG CHINA AND TEMPYO JAPAN CHAPTER V. ABBOT GANJIN CHAPTER VI. LACQUER SCULPTURE CHAPTER VII. MASKS OF THE GIGAKU DRAMA CHAPTER VIII. THE ESSENTIALS OF IMAGE-MAKING PART TWO. THE SCULPTURE SECTION I. BRONZE(HAKUHOPERIOD,645-710) SECTION 2 TEMPYO TEMPLE INTERIOR SECTION 3. BRONZE (TEMPYO PERIOD, 710-794) SECTION 4. CLAY SECTION 5. HOLLOW LACQUER SECTION 6. HOLLOW LACQUER WITH LATTICE SUPPORT SECTION 7. LACQUERED WOOD CORE SECTION 8. LACQUERED CARVED WOOD SECTION 9. WOOD (TEMPYO AND POST-TEMPYO) SECTION 10. GIGAKU MASKS APPENDIX. BIBLIOGRAPHY. INDEX TEMPLES and KINDS OF SCULPTURE LIST OF DEITIES AND SAINTS LIST OF SUTRAS AND OTHER SCRIPTURE PRINCIPAL PERIODS OF JAPANESE ART ERA NAMES EMPERORS AND EMPRESSES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX PLATES