| This dissertation traces Chinese calligraphy's relevance to Buddhism and politics, with a focus on its developments in the early Tang dynasty (618.907). Through an examination of historical and artistic evidence, this study reveals a dynamic confluence where the value of calligraphy as an art form, comprised primarily of stele rubbings and sutra copies, was circulated and validated through Buddhist strategies of propagation and the Tang court's ideological vision for national unification. In the support of calligraphic practices, the interests of the Tang court and the Buddhist monasteries often converged to the benefit of both. Meanwhile, in the service of religious and political ends, calligraphy, as a practical skill and aesthetic form, was transformed and democratized, that is, its practice transcended class hierarchies. This understanding provides new insight into the relationship between art and society at that time, and Tang achievements in the history of Chinese calligraphy. This study is divided into five main chapters, with the first chapter functioning as the introduction and the last chapter as the conclusion. Chapter 2 explores the development of early writing and how calligraphy emerged from dynamic relations between religion and politics to become a dominant artistic form in early and medieval China. Chapter 3 examines the effects of early Tang imperial patronage on calligraphy, emphasizing the intrinsic role that calligraphy played in court politics. Chapter 4 displays the importance of Tang Buddhist steles. In addition to containing highly valued inscriptions penned by elite masters, these steles also attest to the felicitous confluence of Buddhism's adaptation to the Chinese cultural milieu and Tang court political and cultural agendas. Chapter 5 introduces Dunhuang manuscripts, using these Buddhist scriptures written on silk and paper to reconstruct a dynamic relationship between celebrated masters and lesser-known copyists based on stylistic connections. These manuscripts also offer the means to reconcile the value of reproductions relative to originals in the dissemination of calligraphy. Chapter 6 discusses the motivation and high productivity of sutra copyists, whose efforts democratized Chinese calligraphy but have not yet received the full attention they deserve. |
