Surviving Nirvana: Death of the Buddha in Chinese Visual Culture by Sonya S. Lee (review)

Book Reviews 113 specialized audience. For a fuller treatment of Sima Chengzhen’s life the reader should still consult Russell Kirkland’s thesis.7 STEPHAN PETER BUMBACHER, Universities of Tübingen and Zürich Surviving Nirvana: Death of the Buddha in Chinese Visual Culture SONYA S. LEE. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2010. xv, 355 pages. ISBN 978-962-209-125-2. HK$395.00, US$50.00 hardcover. Sonya S. Lee’s book, Surviving Nirvana: Death of the Buddha in Chinese Visual Culture, examines “medieval” Chinese nirvana iconography. Lee begins with the inceptional period, the nirvana iconography on Kongwangshan 孔 望 山 , Jiangsu Province, moves on to iconographies that highlight the concept of the Three Buddhas, and then to nirvana iconography that dovetailed with concurrent political environments, and finally, discusses worship of eminent monks’ relics (sheli 舍利, Skt. śarīra) by posing the question, “whose nirvana?” The book is divided into an introduction, four chapters, an epilogue, an appendix, and notes and bibliographical information. The Introduction guides readers through Indian nirvana iconography, and points out several theoretical principles that Lee adopts in this book. Among them, perhaps the most important, and the focus of the book, is “to explain the nirvana images within a network of human relationships and a matrix of historical conditions that had informed its creation and initial reception” (p. 4). The first chapter, “Doubles: Stone Implements,” takes a Western Wei (535–557) stele (dated 551) as its main subject. Lee emphasizes that the rise of nirvana iconography was closely connected to local culture, which would adopt and transform it. She suggests that the Kongwangshan nirvana iconography had already departed from its South and Central Asian prototypes and no longer emphasized biographical stories of Śākyamuni. By the sixth century, when the 551 stele was created, nirvana iconography had become part of the Three Buddhas iconography, playing a transitional role from the present to the future Buddha (Maitreya). 7 Russell J. Kirkland, “Taoists of the High T’ang: An Inquiry into the Perceived Significance of Eminent Taoists in Medieval Chinese Society,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Indiana University, 1986: 43-71 and 220-297. 114 Journal of Chinese Religions The second chapter, “Transformation: Pictorial Narratives,” and the third chapter, “Family Matters: Nirvana Caves,” cover the period from Wu Zetian’s 武則天 rule in the late seventh century to the Tibetan rule of Dunhuang 敦煌 in the middle-to-late eighth century, and focus on three specimens: the 691 stele, Dunhuang Cave 332 (dated 698), and Cave 148 (dated 776). The stele and both caves reveal how nirvana iconography was part of the closeknit temporality (contemporary metropolitan political environment) and spatiality (local conditions). Chapter 4, “Impermanent Burials: Relic Deposits,” focuses on two archaeological finds from Dingzhou 定州 dating to the late ninth century, one at Jingzhi Monastery 靜志寺 and the other at Jingzhong Cloister 靜眾院. Lee connects the Jingzhi Monastery site with the concurrent unsettled political atmosphere. With the Jingzhong Cloister site, Lee emphasizes the relationship between nirvana iconography and the worship of eminent monks’ sheli. Lee sees the sixth century as an important benchmark when Chinese monks began to emulate Śākyamuni’s recumbent nirvana posture, paving the way for worshiping eminent monks’ sheli, exemplified by the nirvana image carved on the box containing sheli discovered at the Jingzhong Cloister site. The epilogue cites the 2006 revival ceremony at Great Buddha Monastery in Zhangye 張 掖, Gansu Province, to summarize key points discussed in this book. Lee draws similarities between financial support from the Communist Party to revive this monastery and the historical cases discussed in the book. A noteworthy contribution to the field, Lee’s book is suitable for an audience ranging from undergraduate students to scholars of Chinese Buddhist art. The comments I provide below are to supplement topics covered in the book in the hope that we may expand our observations and study of Buddhist art. Excluding the first chapter and the latter half of the fourth chapter, the book’s thematic discussion covers the concurrent social and political environments and their effect on the adjustments of nirvana iconography. Careful examination of the ancient stele texts in question will reveal that much of the language and terminology were common political expressions of the day. Should...