Indian Influence and Chinese Creation: Buddhist Sculptures from the Northern Dynasties, Fifth–Sixth Century Dr. Chang Qing
The development of Buddhist art in China was dependent not only on an original transmission from India, but also on the creative adaptations and inventions by Chinese artists and patrons. Buddhism entered China along the Silk Road some time during the first and second centuries CE, grew by leaps and bounds during the third through fifth centuries, fostered a sinified style by the late fifth and early sixth centuries and reinterpreted new influences from Guptan India during the mid-sixth century. As Buddhist practice grew newly converted Chinese monks travelled West in search of dharma teachings, canonical writings, and images. From the second to the fifth century the creation of Buddhist imagery adapted and gradually reinterpreted Gandharan (Kushan dynasty first–375 CE) prototypes. In a second phase, Buddhist styles underwent Sinicization, and in a third phase (sixth century) was influenced by Guptan (320-550 CE) prototypes in creating another revolution in the history of Buddhist art in modern China. The Sinification of Buddhist art by the late fifth and early sixth centuries is based on native Chinese taste that gradually transformed Buddhist art into something specifically Chinese, while also giving rise to greater and greater numbers of clergy and devotees. Adhering to Buddhist canonical sūtras, monks and artists created not only new indigenous forms, but also new styles and interpretations. Two major periods of influence from India and one middle period of sinification define the evolution of Buddhist art in China during the Northern Dynasties period (386-589 CE). The initial one, beginning in the third century and lasting through the fifth century involved adaptation of Buddhist iconography based primarily on Gandharan and Mathuran prototypes and a second wave of influences during the early through mid-sixth century, primarily Guptan that entered south China throught Southeast Asia. Identification of these influences and the evolution of Buddhist art during the Northern Dynasties period is intimately associated with the stellar research of the late, pace-setting scholar, Alexander C. Soper, who wrote in 1960, “South Chinese influence on the Buddhist Art of the Six Dynasties.“ Soper identified the experimental process and reinterpretation that Buddhist imagery underwent during both earlier and later phases of foreign influence and how and why sinification of Buddhist art occurred. In contradistinction to Indian prototypes and influences of early and later phases, he put into perspective how indigenous south Chinese cultural practice and aesthetics served as the 9
