The Transmission of Buddhist Art: Jianzhen's Travels to Japan April 26, 2012

In the landscape of cultural crossings between China and Japan in the Tang dynasty (618-907), the monk Jianzhen was a traveler extraordinaire. He was honored for his religious zeal and determination to travel to Japan to spread Buddhism, and for the goodwill in Sino-Japanese exchanges that he came to embody. Between 743 and 753, he attempted to travel to Japan six times, finally arriving in late 753, by which time he had lost his eyesight. Through a study of the art and artifacts that have remained from Jianzhen's time as well as his biographies and other contemporary writings, the lecture examines the kind of Buddhist artworks and cultic practices that were prevalent in China and which, through the activities of pilgrim-monks like Jianzhen,
were transmitted to Japan in the period circa 740 to 760.

Official Website: http://www.vmfa.state.va.us/Calendar_and_Events/Talks/The_Transmission_of_Buddhist_Art__Jianzhen_s_Travels_to_Japan.aspx