Grotto Art of China Book Talk: The Character of Chinese Grotto Art

G/F, Lo Kwee Seong Pavilion
CUHK Art Museum 

Why were so many Buddhist grottoes carved across China, and what do they tell us about the history of Chinese art? 

On March 6, Prof. Wu Hung—Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago and recipient of the 2022 Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award in Art Writing from the College Art Association—will speak at the The Chinese University of Hong Kong on his latest publication, Grotto Art of China: A Sourcebook. 

Grotto Art of China, co-edited by Prof. Wu Hung and Prof. Katherine Renhe Tsiang, brings together contributions from leading international scholars, providing systematic studies of major grotto complexes—including Mogao, Yungang, Longmen, Gongxian, Xiangtangshan, and Tianlongshan—alongside crucial, lesser-known regional sites in Gansu, Shandong, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Tibet, and Xinjiang. 

Organised geographically, the book explores these sacred sites as mediums of devotion, political expression, and cultural exchange, covering topics such as imperial patronage, distinctive artistic styles, and the ways these resilient sites preserve vital information otherwise lost to history. 

Titled “The Character of Chinese Grotto Art”, the lecture invites audiences to reconsider cave shrines as dynamic artistic environments and to reflect on how they reshaped the trajectory of Chinese art. 

Join us for this opportunity to explore cave shrines and Chinese art with one of the field’s most influential scholars. 

Speaker: 
Prof. Wu Hung
Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor
The University of Chicago 

Moderator: 
Prof. Josh Yiu
Director of Art Museum
The Chinese University of Hong Kong 

Language: 
Putonghua 

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Organizer: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press 
Co-organizers: Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; University of Chicago Hong Kong Center 
Publication Sponsor: Bei Shan Tang Foundation