Jin Hui Lu
REG 001. 2293
October 25 2008
Preliminary Museum Report
The name of the artist is Standing Buddha Offering Protection. It was born in
India, late 5th century. The title of the work which was named Red sandstone. The date
the work was made is unclear. This image of the Buddha embodies the qualities of inner
calm and stillness, the products of supreme wisdom. The figure would have made the
gesture with his raised right hand, dispensing fear and imparting reassurance to his
followers. The musculature and frontal pose are reminiscent of king-warrior-savior
figures of preceding centuries and are especially associated with the Kushan period. The
Buddha wears the simple uncut cloth of a monk, gracefully drawn around the body so as
to define form, creating an image that is at once powerful and sensuous. A large halo
emanates from behind his head, adding to the religiosity of the representation, as do the
auspicious markings, both natural and supernatural, which denote preordained sanctity
and a state of Buddhahood. The skull protuberance indicates enlightened wisdom, and the
hair curls and extended earlobes are signs of renunciation and the denial of greed. As the
summation of Buddhist stylistic development in a period of Buddhist expansion, this type
became the benchmark for Buddha images throughout Buddhist Asia, emulated most
successfully in Sui and Tang China.
I feel that museum trip is a good opportunity for me to know the ancient’s arts.
These pieces of stone vivid presented the ancient arts and conducted ancient people’s
belief.. It is quite different for me to visit the arts between online and go to visit by
person. I feel that visit museum by person is a better way. First, I can’t touch or see the
exact size online. Second, online images can’t clearly present arts’ color or size. Third,
there are not enough information describe the art and people will not acknowledge it. I
definitely prefer to visit museum by in person because it gives me a lot of information by
reading the descriptions, colors, and exact sizes. For me, ancient arts are the best way to
study and understand what is the human’s feeling and belief in that period of time. I
believe that all those things provide us the opportunity to studying ancient culture.