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Buddhist Arts of Asia

Follow the path of Buddha (the Enlightened One) and gain an understanding of one of the world’s great religions. Buddhist Arts of Asia traces the styles and influences of Buddhist art through various countries of Asia. Over 100 paintings, sculptures and ritual objects from our permanent collection will be exhibited. Several recent acquisitions will be shown.

Buddhism originated in India five centuries before Christ. The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama of the Sakya tribe, was born around 563 BCE in northern India (at a place now inside the border of present-day Nepal).  In the centuries after his death, Buddhism spread far beyond its origins in India to most of Asia. It became the single common philosophical thread that provided a cultural unity which linked the Asian world, from India to Southeast Asia and through Central Asia to China, Korea and Japan. Buddhism, which promised personal salvation, answered a spiritual need not found in the existing local religions and philosophies. Buddhism believes in rebirth and maintains that individual life was one of a series in which life was conditioned by the moral value of deeds (called karma) performed in a previous existence. By bringing a developed system of morals Buddhism brought about great changes in Asia.