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Reinventing the Wheel
Paintings of Rebirth in Medieval Buddhist Temples
Stephen F. Teiser
Awarded the Prix Stanislas Julien by the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
The Wheel of Rebirth is one of the most basic and popular images in Buddhist visual culture. For nearly two thousand years, artists have painted it onto the porches of Buddhist temples; preachers have used it to explain karmic retribution; and philosophers have invoked it to illuminate the contrast between ignorance and nirvana. In Reinventing the Wheel, noted scholar Stephen F. Teiser explores the history and varied interpretations of the Wheel of Rebirth, a circle divided into sections depicting the Buddhist cycle of transmigration.
Combining visual evidence with textual sources, Reinventing the Wheel shows how the metaphor of the wheel has been interpreted in divergent local traditions, from India to Tibet, Central Asia, and China. Teiser deftly shows how written and painted renditions of the wheel have animated local architectural sites and religious rituals, informing concepts of time and reincarnation and acting as an organizing principle in the cosmology and daily life of practicing Buddhists.
Engaging and accessible, this uniquely pan-Buddhist tour will appeal to anyone interested in Buddhist culture, as well as to scholars of religious studies, art history, architecture, philosophy, and textual studies.
Stephen F. Teiser is D. T. Suzuki Professor in Buddhist Studies, Princeton University. He is the author of The Ghost Festival in Medieval China and "The Scripture on the Ten Kings" and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism.
Quotes:
"A milestone in the scholarship on Buddhism. This book will remain a standard and definitive account of the subject for a long time to come. It is hard to imagine that any serious student of Buddhism can afford to neglect this book." - Eugene Wang, Harvard University
Reviews:
"Groundbreaking. . . . The gorgeous visuals, detailed maps, and line drawings materially herald an exciting new phase in Buddhology, pronouncing a long-awaited, mature marriage between art history and Buddhist studies. . . . Teiser has radically changed scholarly discourse and understanding. . . . A highly engaging, in-depth treatment of an important Buddhist symbol, this exquisitely produced book has much to offer to specialist readers and undergraduate students." -Journal of Chinese Religions
"With keen aesthetic discernment, extensive historical scholarship, and sensitivity to Buddhist spirituality, this work seamlessly studies all significant aspects of the Buddhist wheel found in old Buddhist temples while bringing in relevant dimensions of Buddhist spirituality. Art, symbology, history, culture, and spirituality are interwoven in an engrossing, enlightening manner." -Midwest Book Review
Table of Contents:
Preface and Acknowledgments
1. Picturing Life and Death as a Wheel
2. The Canonical Version of the Wheel of Rebirth
3. Temples and Legends: Western India, 350-550 C.E.
4. King Rudrayana's Painting of the Twelve Conditions
5. La roue imaginaire en Chine
6. Wheels for Meditation: Kumtura, Central Asia, Ninth Century
7. Wheels in Cave Temples: Yulin, Gansu, Tenth Century
8. Wheels in Esoteric Temples: Tabo, Western Tibet, Eleventh Century
9. Wheels for Pilgrims: Baodingshan, Sichuan, Thirteenth Century
10. Conclusions
Character Glossary
Bibliography
Index
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Pub Date:
2007
ISBN:
CLOTH:
0-295-98649-2
9780295986494
Price:
Cloth: $60.00s
Subject Listing:
Asian Studies, Religious Studies, Art History
Bibliographic information:
336 pp., 88 illus., 14 in color, 9 maps, 7 tables, index, 7 x 10 in.
Territorial rights:
World
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