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Product Description
Buddhism is the single common thread uniting the Asian world, from India to South-East Asia and through Central Asia to China, Korea and Japan. To guide and inspire believers, innumerable symbols and images were made, beginning in India in the 3rd century BC. This phenomenally diverse tradition includes not only frescoes, relief carvings, colossal statues, silk embroideries and bronze ritual objects but also rock-cut shrines with a thousand Buddhas, the glorious stupas of South-East Asia and the pagodas of the Far East, the massive "mandala in stone" of Borobudur in Java and entire 13th-century temple complexes at Angkor in Cambodia. The author describes all the Buddhist schools and cultures, and explains their imagery, from Tibetan cosmic diagrams and Korean folk art to early Sri Lankan sites and Japanese Zen gardens.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the first book I bought on the topic of Buddhist art. As a beginner on the subject, I found the author's writing very fluid and easy to understand. The photographs of the art objects were relevant and nicely done. The book is organized into Buddhist art according to the regions: India and Neighbouring Regions, China, Korea and Japan, and South-east Asia with plenty of maps and a small glossary at the end. The reason why I did not give the book a five star was because the book lacked details about how to observe and understand a Buddhist sculpture or painting. For example, there was no explanation of the various mudras, (the various hand gestures) on the Buddha sculptures and there were little details about the many symbols in Buddhist art. Also the photos have hardly any explanations next to them so you have to search through the thick texts to seek the information about a particular photo. Other than that, it is a good overall book on Buddhist art that covers quite a lot of basic information, and I found it to be a good start for a beginner like me.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Just to qualify the review by A Customer, it is not difficult to find information about the photographs in this book as descriptions in the text are identified by the photograph's number in the margin. Apart from that I agree that this is an excellent introduction; I have knocked off a star only because it would have been good to see more photographs in colour.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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5 reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
A well organized introductory text
5 July 2000
Format:Paperback
Fisher's book offers an accessible, well-organized overview of both the evolution and meaning of Budhist art and architecture for the uninitiated. Never having studied Buddhism or Asian History prior to a recent trip to Southeast Asia, I found the balance between general explanations of subject matter and geographic breakdown useful. Returning to the book upon return, it was clear that most of the major, recurring symbols observed (Budha's subduing of the Mara, other meditative and teaching postures, the sometimes uneasy juxtaposition of Hindu and Budhist structure and symbols, etc.) were mentioned in this survey.
The narrative is clear, if occasionally dry. The photographs are not, however, ideally located to match their corresponding texts, and it would have been helpful to have included in the captions a note about where the given object was located (rather than having to wade through a paragraph at the back of the book that does not even list the citations numerically). Still, the book is well indexed and the illustrations are well chosen.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Revised Edition (2002)
31 Oct 2003
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The 1993 edition of Fisher's "Buddhist Art and Architecture" was reprinted, with revisions, in 2002. The cover of the revised edition is like the 1993 edition (i.e. the Kansas Guanyin), but now framed within a diamond-shape which is inset into a black background. The text is current on recent scholarship, such as the role of aniconism in Early Buddhist art, and cosmological interpretations of Angkor Wat. Attention is paid to the organic development of Buddhist art styles as they evolved in being transmitted from country to country, although I wish that even more emphasis had been put on this.
The book is organized by region: of its 200 pages, approximately 40-50 pages each are devoted to India, China, Korea/Japan, and Southeast Asia. The book's wide area coverage is both an advantage and a disadvantage, since much has been left out. For example, there is only one paragraph on the life of the Buddha himself, and not even a mention of Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavillion), arguably Japan's most famous and beautiful architectural icon. I would also have liked to see a greater use of color illustrations (only 32 of 179, in the present edition).
I hope that readers who start with this book will go on to more in-depth treatments, such as the same author's excellent introduction to the Art of Tibet (Thames & Hudson, 1998).
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
A solid introduction
30 May 2001
Format:Paperback
I am an architectural historian with a fairly extensive knowledge of Buddhist architecture. Even though this is an introductory text, Fisher's book explained some things I've failed to find anywhere else. Another plus is that Fisher includes Buddhist art/architecture from every Buddhist country. Usually books of this type leave out countries for expediency. Though this book is short, Fisher touches it all.
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