| Chapter 2: | The Circulation of Hangzhou Buddhist Frontispieces in the Sinosphere and Beyond |
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Chapter 2
The Circulation of Hangzhou Buddhist Frontispieces
in the Sinosphere and Beyond
Shih-shan Susan Huang
The tenth to fourteenth centuries saw a pivotal development in Buddhist bookmaking. Woodblock printing, which became more sophisticated over this period, provided a new means for reproducing Buddhist books on an unprecedented scale. The frontispiece, an illustrated page adorning the beginning of a sutra, marks one of the greatest artistic features of Buddhist books printed in woodblocks. Hangzhou, located in southeastern coastal China, stands out as the most productive hub among multiple printing centers that produced illustrated Buddhist books in the tenth to fourteenth centuries. Its abundant extant specimens of Buddhist frontispieces shed further light on artistic and religious exchanges across regions such as Korea, Japan, and the Xi Xia 西夏 Kingdom (1038–1227).