Reviews
Patricia Karetzky's book Chinese Religious Art deals with a complex, broad, and long tradition of Chinese religious art; namely art of native traditional beliefs in spirits, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Her approach is innovative since this fascinating book includes intriguing ancient Chinese art, both Confucian and Taoist art, which only recently received attention, and Buddhist art, which brought China a rich visual tradition. At the beginning of each chapter, she provides a brief historical and political background in a very organized manner that enablesreaders to understand bothcontinuity and change over the centuries, as Chinese sacred art was largely developed with imperial and aristocratic patronage. She does not deal with the dominance of one tradition or the other but observes the complex interactions and interdependence of Chinese artistic inspirations over several thousand years from prehistoric times to the present. As voluminousnew materials on Chinese art are now available on the internet and other electronicmedia, this fascinating book guides us with a steady stream of artistic formats and styles to a full appreciation. It provides general readers and students an organized framework to understand not only Chinese sacred narrative art, but also architectural works such as temples and palaces as structured ritual space.The book contains many of the author's photos taken during her extensive travels in China.This valuable book demonstrates why Patricia Karetzky is considered among our foremost interpreters and educators in the field of Chinese religious artistic traditions., Chinese Religious Art is the first single volume to treat Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist traditions of art in China. This is a substantial undertaking by Karetzky. Her book-slim in size relative to the parameters of her study-introduces general readers and new students to a sweeping range of art and architecture from the Neolithic to the late imperial periods. Coverage is a major strength, allowing students to readily perceive both common expressions and dramatic distinctions among the arts of China's major religions. . . .Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates; general readers., Chinese Religious Art deals with a complex, broad, and long tradition of Chinese religious art; namely art of native traditional beliefs in spirits, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Her approach is innovative since this fascinating book includes intriguing ancient Chinese art, both Confucian and Taoist art, which only recently received attention, and Buddhist art, which brought China a rich visual tradition. At the beginning of each chapter, she provides a brief historical and political background in a very organized manner that enables readers to understand both continuity and change over the centuries, as Chinese sacred art was largely developed with imperial and aristocratic patronage. She does not deal with the dominance of one tradition or the other but observes the complex interactions and interdependence of Chinese artistic inspirations over several thousand years from prehistoric times to the present. As voluminous new materials on Chinese art are now available on the internet and other electronic media, this fascinating book guides us with a steady stream of artistic formats and styles to a full appreciation. It provides general readers and students an organized framework to understand not only Chinese sacred narrative art, but also architectural works such as temples and palaces as structured ritual space. The book contains many of the author's photos taken during her extensive travels in China. This valuable book demonstrates why Patricia Karetzky is considered among our foremost interpreters and educators in the field of Chinese religious artistic traditions., Patricia Karetzky's book Chinese Religious Art deals with a complex, broad, and long tradition of Chinese religious art; namely art of native traditional beliefs in spirits, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Her approach is innovative since this fascinating book includes intriguing ancient Chinese art, both Confucian and Taoist art, which only recently received attention, and Buddhist art, which brought China a rich visual tradition. At the beginning of each chapter, she provides a brief historical and political background in a very organized manner that enables readers to understand both continuity and change over the centuries, as Chinese sacred art was largely developed with imperial and aristocratic patronage. She does not deal with the dominance of one tradition or the other but observes the complex interactions and interdependence of Chinese artistic inspirations over several thousand years from prehistoric times to the present. As voluminous new materials on Chinese art are now available on the internet and other electronic media, this fascinating book guides us with a steady stream of artistic formats and styles to a full appreciation. It provides general readers and students an organized framework to understand not only Chinese sacred narrative art, but also architectural works such as temples and palaces as structured ritual space. The book contains many of the author's photos taken during her extensive travels in China. This valuable book demonstrates why Patricia Karetzky is considered among our foremost interpreters and educators in the field of Chinese religious artistic traditions., It seems hard to believe that there has not been a volume prior to this one devoted to Chinese religious art, but this work by Patricia Eichenbaum Karetzky is the first comprehensive volume on the subject. It thus fills an important gap in literature on Asian art by providing a less-familiar lens for examining dynastic art. In this book, the Tang Dynasty, instead of being characterized by its frequent artistic symbols, tricolor horses and polo-playing women, is analyzed through objects such as Daoist and Buddhist carvings found in caves. . . . This work provides an admirably broad and deep range of information on Chinese religious art organized into a single volume, with many sources and sites included., Patricia Eichenbaum Karetzky has given us an important book, the first truly comprehensive scholarly study of Chinese religious art. What is particularly notable is that Karetzky correctly presents certain iconographical types of Confucian art as religious, side by side with Daoist and Buddhist art. For the first time, therefore, we are in a position to assess the significant commonalities linking all aspects of Chinese religious culture. Many works, including architectural sites, are presented for the first time in a fascinating series of photographs by the author herself. The scholarship is current with the very best being done in China and in the West.