An Essay on Art and Buddhism
Ihn-Bum Lee*
What is the Buddhist arts? Nowadays, they are controvertible in the point of the power of persuasion. The period of religion went past remotely and we can find the glory of Buddhist art narrowly, only in the days long ago. By the way, there are various modes of the Buddhist arts. Some focus to express the doctrine of Buddhism. Others deny to expose to Buddha as a shape.
What can we talk about the Buddhist arts, in the view point of current art theory? Until now, we have seen mostly the religious narrative value from them. In case of the religious arts, it is important to confirm the iconographyical meaning of them actually.
However, this essay is to illuminate that the one of the main character in the Buddhist arts, especially in the Zen Buddhist arts, is to negate of the narrative from T'ang Period paradoxically. We could find the various examples to negate the religious message in the Buddhist arts.
We could set Chinese landscape, Mingeia etc. some good models of the Buddhist arts and explain the aesthetic value of them in the view point of Buddhism. Even though they don't talk about anything on Buddhism.
Therefore, We are to receive not only the expression but also the silence as one of the esthetic values through the Buddhist arts.