Bagchee

The Buddhist Art: Vietnamese Perspectives

This book provides an illuminating study of Buddhist art in Vietnam.  Vietnam is inhabited by a number of ethic groups.  Most of them practise Buddhism along with spirit and ancestral worship.  Origin, present settlement and socio-religious practices of some of the important ethnic groups have been lucidly explained in this text.  It also presents early history of Vietnam till its emergence as a modern nation.  A flood of lights has been thrown on Non-Buddhist religious sects like Confucianism, Taoism and other local religious sects.  It has been well explained that the religious texture of Vietnamese Buddhism got refinement after the visit of several Buddhist monks at different periods.  Tracing the roots of Buddhist art in a prehistoric Bronze Age Dongson culture, the text discusses various schools of at and architectural styles of Vietnam.  The study of Viets and Chams has been accorded equal importance and examined side by side.  The minor Buddhist art forms as wood carvings, engravings, lacquer works, painting etc. has been well discussed.