Liu Hong-Cai

DOI: 10.64212/MCKZ2016

Abstract
Stone Buddhist statues are an important representative of Chinese art in collections in American museums. Based on the statistics and research about these collected stone statues, they come from two main sources: donations and purchases. Most of these collections were completed during the 1910s, and the two major subjects of these statues are Bodhisattva and Buddha. American museums preferred the style of the sculptures in the Northern Qi Dynasty and didn’t differentiate which Chinese regions these statues come from. The majority of those collections are from four different periods. Western and Japanese art concepts lead these Chinese stone collections in American museums. In the twentieth century, relevant research in overseas sinology circles focused on the style, loss, and collection of statues. It has been revealed that Chinese stone Buddhist statues are widely collected not only because of their unique art form and beauty, but also because of the Buddhist thoughts which coincide with the inner cultivation of human nature. Thus, it is easy for the recipient with corresponding cultural needs and similarities to accept the foreign culture.

Key Words
Chinese stone Buddhist statues, Chinese stone Buddhist sculptures in American museums, loss of Chinese statues overseas, Buddhist statue collections