Chinese Edition:

The 20-volume Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts, published by Fo Guang Shan in March 2013, is the first great modern-day compendium of the world’s Buddhist arts. Comprising four volumes on Buddhist architecture, five on grottoes, four on Buddhist sculpture, three on painting, one on crafts, one on calligraphy and seals, one on biographies, plus an index, the Encyclopedia contains almost 3.8 million Chinese characters of texts and more than 15,000 pictures. The complete volume is essentially a compendium that fills a gap in Taiwanese publications on Buddhist arts, and its gift to the library would no doubt benefit researchers and students in the realm of Buddhist arts.

English Edition:

The Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts is the first comprehensive compilation of Buddhist art from around the world. It contains nearly 10,000 entries and over 14,000 full-color images to serve the needs of scholars and general readers alike, making it an excellent reference book for libraries. The Encyclopedia broad range of entries makes it an important resource to the fields of Art History, Anthropology, Asian Studies, History, and Religious Studies.

The monumental 20-volume collection includes one index volume and is divided into 8 categories:

• Architecture (4 volumes)
• Caves and Rock Carvings (5 volumes)
• Sculpture (4 volumes)
• Painting (3 volumes)
• Calligraphy (1/2 volume)
• Seal Engraving (1/2 volume)
• Artifacts and Decorative Arts (1 volume)
• People (1 volume)