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For centuries, wherever Thai Buddhists have made their homes, statues of the Buddha have provided striking testament to the role of Buddhism in the lives of the people. The Buddha in Lanna offers the first in-depth historical study of the Thai tradition of donation of Buddha statues. Drawing on palm-leaf manuscripts and inscriptions, many never previously translated into English, the book reveals the key roles that Thai Buddha images have played in the social and economic worlds of their makers and devotees from the fifteenth to twentieth centuries. Author Angela Chiu introduces stories from chronicles, histories, and legends written by monks in Lanna, a region centered in today’s northern Thailand. By examining the stories’ themes, structures, and motifs, she illuminates the complex conceptual and material aspects of Buddha images that influenced their functions in Lanna society. Buddha images were depicted as social agents and mediators, the focal points of pan-regional political-religious lineages and rivalries, indeed, as the very generators of history itself. In the chronicles, Buddha images also unified the Buddha with the northern Thai landscape, thereby integrating Buddhist and local conceptions of place. By comparing Thai Buddha statues with other representations of the Buddha, the author underscores the contribution of the Thai evidence to a broader understanding of how different types of Buddha representations were understood to mediate the “presence” of the Buddha. The Buddha in Lanna focuses on the Thai Buddha image as a part of the wider society and history of its creators and worshippers beyond monastery walls, shedding much needed light on the Buddha image in history. With its impressive range of primary sources, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Buddhism and Buddhist art history, Thai studies, and Southeast Asian religious studies.
"Santi Leksukhum's text traces the complex history of these paintings. It examines the development of their distinctive style, from the arrival of Buddhism, to the overwhelming influence of the royal workshops of Bangkok to the incorporation of Western techniques as Thailand opened to the West in the mid-nineteenth century." "The renowned French photographer Gilles Mermet made several expeditions to Thailand to photograph these magnificent murals especially for this volume.".
The Present Book, Thai Art With Indian Influences, Studies The Subject In Its Different Spheres. As A Major Pioneering Scholar In The Field, Dr. Promsak Jermsawatdi Possesses An Extraordinary Background In Art History, Aesthetics And Asian History And Philosophy. This Fascinating Study Is One Of His Finest Works Which Will Continue To Be Regarded As One Of The Most Significant Contributions To Our Understanding Of Thai And Indian Art For A Long Time To Come. Divided Into Five Chapters, The Book Takes Into Account Material From The Earliest Archaeological Finds Through The Bangkok Period Including The Early Art And Craft Works. Most Of The Study Deals With Thai Art But India And The Peripheries Of South East Asia Are Covered Where They Reflect Indian Influences. The Focus Of This Study Is Upon Architecture, Sculpture And Iconography. However, It Also Encompasses Other Aspects Of Art And Crafts. Background Information On The History And Geography Of The Area Is Also Provided Along With Philosophical Religious And Social Insights That Are Significantly Valuable To Readers In General And Those Of South-East Asia And India In Particular.As A Student Of Ancient History And Art In India, Dr. Promsak Jermsawatdi Was Deeply Sensitive To The Beauty Of Thai And Indian Art Works. As A Result, The Illustrations He Had Selected Are Unusually Pertinent And Fitting, Comprising Some Of The Most Impressive Examples Of Thai Art. Students Of The History Of Oriental Art Could Ask For No Finer Exposition Of The History And Aesthetics Of Thai And Indian Art. The Author S Penetrating Cultural Insights Make It An Indispensable Text For All Who Plan Further Study In The Field. This Is Also A Book Which General Readers Will Read With Great Interest And Pleasure.
A stunning showcase of exceptional and rare works of Buddhist art, presented to the international community for the first time The practice of Buddhism in Myanmar (Burma) has resulted in the production of dazzling objects since the 5th century. This landmark publication presents the first overview of these magnificent works of art from major museums in Myanmar and collections in the United States, including sculptures, paintings, textiles, and religious implements created for temples and monasteries, or for personal devotion. Many of these pieces have never before been seen outside of Myanmar. Accompanied by brilliant color photography, essays by Sylvia Fraser-Lu, Donald M. Stadtner, and scholars from around the world synthesize the history of Myanmar from the ancient through colonial periods and discuss the critical links between religion, geography, governance, historiography, and artistic production. The authors examine the multiplicity of styles and techniques throughout the country, the ways Buddhist narratives have been conveyed through works of art, and the context in which the diverse objects were used. Certain to be the essential resource on the subject, Buddhist Art of Myanmar illuminates two millennia of rarely seen masterpieces.
Buddhist temples in Southeast Asia are centers for the preservation of local artistic traditions. Chief among these are manuscripts, a vital source for our understanding of Buddhist ideas and practices in the region. They are also a beautiful art form, too little understood in the West. The British Library has one of the richest collections of Southeast Asian manuscripts, principally from Thailand and Burma, anywhere in the world. It includes finely painted copies of Buddhist scriptures, literary works, historical narratives, and works on traditional medicine, law, cosmology, and fortune-telling. Buddhism Illuminated includes over one hundred examples of Buddhist art from the Library’s collection, relating each manuscript to Theravada tradition and beliefs, and introducing the historical, artistic, and religious contexts of their production. It is the first book in English to showcase the beauty and variety of Buddhist manuscript art and reproduces many works that have never before been photographed.
Over 150 color photographs from temples, museums, historical sites, and private collections enhance this attractive survey of the Buddhist art of India, Central Asia, China, Korea, Japan, Nepal, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. It presents the life story and teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha, founder of Buddhism, as shown in paintings, sculptures, and other works of art, and explores the major schools of Buddhism--Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Zen--and the styles and characteristics of the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, deities, and other images seen in their art. Everyone interested in Buddhist art and its enduring significance will find this volume a useful reference for the study and appreciation of the various gestures, poses, and artistic elements seen in Buddhist art though the ages.
Thai national artist Thawan Duchanee has spent his life creating art that deeply reflects Buddhist philosophy. He is internationally renowned, and his art is masterful both for its intricacy and for its subtle portrayal of Buddhism. Thawan expresses Buddhist wisdom with incredible versatility. His artworks depict the dangers of doubt, lust, fear, and lack of concentration, expose humankind’s pursuit of pleasure and escape from pain, and illustrate virtues exemplified in the previous lives of the Buddha. Using over one hundred images, the book succinctly examines these themes, often hidden deep within the art itself, and guides the reader through some of Thawan’s most interesting works. This is the first book to combine a focus on these works with an exploration of Thawan’s outstanding architectural and decorative achievements in Chiang Rai and Germany. Often told in his own words, this book offers insights into Thawan’s creative genius, explores his philosophy on the arts, examines his famous signature, and recounts his life story. It is fascinating reading for all those interested in Thai art and Buddhism. What others are saying “Larger-than-life Thai artist Thawan Duchanee is one of the foremost representatives of Thai and Asian art. His penchant for traditional Asian motifs and styles and his flamboyant personality have earned him popularity and renown as one of the leading lights of the international art scene.”—The Nation Highlights - The first book to examine Buddhist content in Thawan’s artworks - Features over one hundred illustrations - Explores Buddhist philosophy in relation to Thai modern art - Includes a biography of Thawan’s life - Compact overview of Thawan’s most well-loved and interesting work
Ranging across the longue durée of Thailand’s history, Monastery, Monument, Museum is an eminently readable and original contribution to the study of the kingdom’s art and culture. Eschewing issues of dating, style, and iconography, historian Maurizio Peleggi addresses distinct types of artifacts and artworks as both the products and vehicles of cultural memory. From the temples of Chiangmai to the Emerald Buddha, from the National Museum of Bangkok to the prehistoric culture of Northeast Thailand, and from the civic monuments of the 1930s to the political artworks of the late twentieth century, even well-known artworks and monuments reveal new meanings when approached from this perspective. Part I, “Sacred Geographies,” focuses on the premodern era, when religious credence informed the cultural alteration of landscape, and devotional sites and artifacts, including visual representation of the Buddhist cosmology, were created. Part II, “Antiquities, Museums, and National History,” covers the 1830s through the 1970s, when antiquarianism, and eventually archaeology, emerged and developed in the kingdom, partly the result of a shift in the elites’ worldview and partly a response to colonial and neocolonial projects of knowledge. Part III, “Discordant Mnemoscapes,” deals with civic monuments and artworks that anchor memory of twentieth-century political events and provide stages for both their commemoration and counter-commemoration by evoking the country’s embattled political present. Monastery, Monument, Museum shows us how cultural memory represents a kind of palimpsest, the result of multiple inscriptions, reworkings, and manipulations over time. The book will be a rewarding read for historians, art historians, anthropologists, and Buddhism scholars working on Thailand and Southeast Asia generally, as well as for academic and general readers with an interest in memory and material culture.