Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13.s3.t2.34

v2.c13.s3.t2.34

of this dynasty, Asoka, mentioned Gandhàra in his fifth imperial edict carved on stone. In the period of the Kushana empire, which reached its height during the period from the middle of the 1ˢᵗ century to the end of the 2ⁿᵈ century CE, Gandhàra was its core region. Buddhism was introduced in the time of the Emperor Asoka and became popular. Buddhist architecture and art also started to appear here. The development of such art was at its peak period during the Kushana period. One of the greatest constructions was the Kanishka Tower in the suburbs of Peshawar. According to records, the tower was originally 213 m high and surrounded by hundreds of smaller towers. The earlier artistic convention of depicting the Buddha merely by symbolism, through the Dharmachakra, a footprint, a banyan tree or throne was broken, and artists started to depict the person of the Buddha. Absorbing artistic elements from Greece and Rome, Gandhàra art was characterised by fine proportions, exquisite modelling, elegant posture and unique style. Later in the Gupta period, during 320-550 CE, statues were made mostly of clay. After the middle of the 5ᵗʰ century, with the invasion of the Hephthalite Empire, Buddhist temples were ruined and the statuary art also started to decline. Gandhàra’s statuary art was introduced to China via Central Asia and then further east into North Korea and Japan and had a significant impact on the style of statues in East Asia.