Korean Buddhist Sculpture

"Korean art is often considered to be subordinate to Chinese art or a bridge between China and Japan. Moreover, as most Korean art history is known through the work of Japanese and Euro-American scholars, there is room for misunderstanding on the subject. But while Korean Buddhist sculpture, one of the fields representing the essence of Korean art, was certainly influenced by and is similar to Chinese sculpture at first glance, it went beyond such influence to develop many unique characteristics. The seven essays in this book investigate in-depth three examples that show this aspect of Korean sculpture--pensive images, Seokguram cave temple, and the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok, which were produced during the period between the 6th and 8th centuries. When we stand before a wonderful work of art we feel a sense of delight and experience catharsis because the artwork represents the oneness of truth and beauty. The works discussed in this book are those that show that truth is beauty and beauty is truth. Indeed, it is impossible to express absolute truth in formative language without achieving absolute beauty, and through the formative arts the author has endeavored to understand the zeitgeist that gave birth to such works. These seven essays deal not only with the iconographical and stylistic aspects, but also the philosophical side of these works of art, and thus attempt to demonstrate that there is an inseparable relationship between religious truth and artistic style." -- Publisher's description