Rethinking Asuka Sculpture

Chronology List of Characters List of Maps, Tables, and Figures 1 Introduction  1 Reconsidering the Traditional Chronology  2 Shifting from the China-Centered to the Asuka Perspective  3 Structure of the Book Part 1: The Catalogue 2 Tracing an Organic Stylistic Sequence  1 Group I  2 Group II  3 Group III  4 Group IV  5 Conclusion Part 2: A Revised Chronology 3 Weighing the Archaeological and Historical Evidence  1 Advent of Buddhist Practice in Japan  2 The East Asian Context  3 Direct Buddhist Contacts with China  4 Opportunity for Rethinking the Chronology 4 Reevaluating Buddhist Art in Korean Three Kingdoms  1 Textual and Archaeological Survey  2 Reconsidering the Fifty-Year Lag between the Korean Three Kingdoms and Chinese Dynasties  3 A History of Korean Three Kingdoms Buddhist Art Historiography 5 A Revised Chronology  1 How the Traditional Chronology Became Established  2 Reconsidering the Anchor Statues  3 The Hōryūji Kondō Shaka Triad: a Close Study  4 A Revised Chronology Part 3: A New Account of Asuka Buddhism 6 A Tentative Beginning: 550–600  1 Features Neither Continental nor Local  2 Understanding the Earliest Buddhist Sculptors  3 A Hesitant Beginning 7 Vibrant Transformation: 600–650  1 The Shiba Story Continued  2 A Multiplicity of Other Sculptural Modes  3 The Buddhist Boom 8 New Technological Development: 650–710  1 Piece-Mold versus Lost-Wax Methods  2 From the Direct to the Indirect Method  3 Interpreting the Technological Change 9 Conclusion  1 Rethinking Asuka Buddhist Art  2 Looking Forward: the Yakushi Triad and Beyond Reference Matter  List of Extant Asuka Buddhist Statues  Abbreviations for Catalogue Titles Bibliography Index