San Antonio College Library

"Traditional Tibetan art is largely the fruit of Buddhism; it is meant to convey spiritual truths. In their art, Tibetans aimed at faithfully transmitting and preserving Buddhism as a spiritual discipline as they had learned it from their Indian Buddhist teachers, either directly or through a transmission that included early Tibetan teachers. Each thangka painting was a small contribution to the larger cause of keeping Buddhism alive and radiant....

"Ancient Gandhara, located in the rugged foothills of the Himalayas in what is today northwest Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, was for centuries a thriving center of trade along the Silk Road linking China, South Asia, and the Mediterranean. Gandhara's strategic position and wealth attracted many invaders, including the Greeks, Parthians, and Kushans, who brought with them diverse religious traditions and artistic conventions. Much of Gandharan...

"In this illustrated book Stanley Abe explores the large body of sculpture, ceramics, and other religious imagery produced for China's common classes from the third to the sixth centuries C.E. Created for those of lesser standing, these works contrast sharply with those made for imperial patrons, illustrious monastics, or other luminaries. They were often modest in scale, mass-produced, and at times incomplete. These "ordinary images" have been considered...