Abstract

In 1988 Marylin Rhie published a paper which readily established the international character that appeared in much of Buddhist art during the first half of the Tang period. Rhie argued that especially around 700 – 730 C.E. the interrelation between the Buddhist art of Afghanistan, Kashmir, China, Korea and Japan reached its peak. Especially in the Buddhist monastery of Fondukistan and Tepe Sardar (Afghanistan) we encounter a distinctive style considered by scholars as international. On the basis of some selected art objects and using the methodology of comparative stylistic analysis, historical documentation and interdisciplinary interpretation my research stresses the peripheries of the Tang empire, the importance of the Tang influence on the kingdoms of present day Eastern Afghanistan and the complex interactions of art and politics.