C H I N A - P A I N T I N G
Buddhism arrived in China during the 2nd Century CE in its Mahayana form by Indian Buddhist monks. The first Chinese Buddhist paintings began during that period. Many of the earliest paintings that were made on paper and cloth no longer exist, so the earliest examples Buddhist painting in China may be from caves, such as Dunhuang.
In the Tang dynasty, China developed a style of landscape painting which is renowned in the literature and poetry of China, but almost all examples of which no longer exist. One of the best known styles of this lost art is the “blue-green landscape”, which Tibetan artists adopted, particularly in the eastern areas of Tibet, such as Kham. This style in Tibet is known as “Karma Ghadri”, known for its minimal qualities and emptiness.
