Summit of Treasures: Buddhist Cave Art of Dazu, China

Although the best-known cave-temples in China are located at Longmen and along the Silk Road (Dunhuang, etc.), the impressive cave reliefs in Sichuan are less visited and have been comparatively neglected. The beauty of the Song-dynasty sculptures at Dazu is matched equally by their interest as a fascinating amalgam of many different strands of Buddhist belief: Esoteric, Pure Land, Chan (Zen), and more. Angela Falco Howard's book, with its excellent color photographs and thoughtful text, gives us Dazu in all its beauty, together with her own significant contributions to the scholarship about the site. Tourists and casual visitors will appreciate her clear identification and explanation of every major and minor personage and scene on the reliefs; students and scholars will spend many happy hours delving into the bibliography, notes, and intricacies of her interpretations. The major criticism I have of this book, is that it presupposes that the reader already understands some quite obscure details of medieval Buddhist philosophy and sects (Huayan/Kegon, etc.) It's all very well to inform us that "the Bodhisattva to the right of Vairocana is Samantabhadra," but if you don't know who Samantabhadra is, you'll probably still be left scratching your head. A glossary is not provided, but would certainly have been welcome. Readers who are not very familiar with Mahayana Buddhist deities may want to read an intro like "Buddhism," by Louis Frederic, before tackling Howard's book. Regardless, "Summit of Treasures" belongs in the backpack of anybody visiting Dazu, and in the library of any enthusiast of Chinese cave-temple art. Postscript: I think it is appropriate here to add a plug for the publisher, Weatherhill, who with this book has produced, once again, a great book about Asian art. I'm not affiliated with them at all, but over the years I can't help but noticing how many of their volumes are finding their way into my library. Weatherhill seems to combine the best authors with superb editing (it is almost impossible to find a typo in their books) and to-die-for production, with durable books and copious full-color photography. I'm almost to the point where I'll buy anything with the Weatherhill Mark on it, and I can't really say that about any other publisher, except maybe for Yale. This paragraph is my thank-you to them, for the quality of their books and for all the knowledge and enjoyment that they give us - scholars, tourists, and everybody in-between.