Ling Li

The field of Chinese and Tibetan Tantric Buddhist iconography is vast. Within it one should distinguish not only the (relatively pure) Chinese Tantric iconography and Tibetan Tantric iconography, but also the sub-branches of Sichuan Tantric iconography and Dali (Yun’nan) Tantric iconography. Despite its great significance for East Asian religious history, and East Asian art history, this field has hardly been studied. So far we possess no systematic historical and geographical surveys of Tibetan and Chinese Tantric art. Unlike, for example, the iconography of the Christian faith which has been studied for generations, the vast field of Tantric iconography has remained largely uncharted. The reason for this is the vast dimensions of Buddhist Tantric art, coupled with the great complexities of historical, geographical, and cultural factors, which have contributed to its endless transformations.

My research project aims to lay the foundations for a systematic, multi-volume, history of Chinese and Tibetan Tantric Art. This project will pay attention to historical evolution and geographical variations, no less than to the intimate connections between iconography and canonical Buddhist scriptures as well as iconography and apocryphal Buddhist scriptures.