Description
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2023 IPPY Gold Religion Nonfiction category, sponsored by the Independent Publisher Book Award Centuries of monumental sculpture, embedded in the landscapeAt sixty-two meters the Leshan Buddha in southwest China is the world's tallest premodern statue. Carved out of a riverside cliff in the eighth century, it has evolved from a religious center to a UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular tourist destination. But this Buddha does not stand alone: Sichuan is home to many cave temples with such monumental sculptures, part of a centuries-long tradition of art-making intricately tied to how local inhabitants made use of their natural resources with purpose and creativity. These examples of art embedded in nature have altered landscapes and have influenced the behaviors, values, and worldviews of users through multiple cycles of revival, restoration, and recreation. As hybrid spaces that are at once natural and artificial, they embody the interaction of art and the environmen
Trade Review"[A] very inspiring contribution to our understanding of ecological art history from the perspective of Asian art. It should be read by anyone who is interested in the interrelationships among Buddhist studies, art history, and environmental humanities."
* H-Environment *
"Sonya Lee’s Temples in the Cliffside is a welcome addition to studies of the religious cliff sculpture of southwestern China."
* Journal of Chinese History *
"[A] truly multidisciplinary work of scholarship that examines Buddhist art from intertwined technical, environmental, religious, historical, aesthetic, economic, and political perspectives...Temples in the Cliffside innovatively locates religious art within its historical, political, and natural landscapes to show how people have managed their relationships to nature, and nonhuman entities in general, in different contexts. At a time when floods will likely wash the Great Buddha’s feet more and more frequently, thinking about art holistically and ecologically is particularly urgent."
* CAA Reviews *
"Sonya Lee's superbly researched work has paid attention to the aesthetic and historical content of the monuments, but has also updated it by framing the events in the context of environment and sustainability which are very much part of our present time. This most original approach will inspire a younger generation of art historians. Lastly, her uncommon familiarity with all matters related to conservation and restoration have contributed to this groundbreaking book."
* Studies in Chinese Religions *
