102 art: Asia and the Pacific Maurya Empire In India, Greek artists would carve standardized torsos of men and women, leaving off the heads, and would later supply heads when orders for individual portraits were made Thus were made numerous portraits of wealthy Indians that had identical Greek bodies Indian-style sculptures were also common, especially for public works Such an example from about 200 b.c.e is in the Patna Museum It is a depiction of a yakshi, a female spirit that protected the wealth of the earth At feet, inches tall, it has a lifelike height, but its curves are exaggerated, creating fluidity in its pose and suggesting it might step forward, alive Its clothing and other physical features are done in fine detail, and it glistens with Mauryan gloss, a smooth, highly polished shiny surface that was unique to the Maurya Era The Buddha’s death sparked another kind of sculpture that came into full flower during Asoka’s reign Burial hemispheres of dirt, called stupas, had been in use on a small scale for the interment of important people, but the Buddha’s ashes were divided into eight large stupas after his death A fervent convert to Buddhism, Asoka had seven of the stupas opened, and he divided the remains among 84,000 new stupas throughout India The finest of these is the Great Stupa in Sanchi in central India Originally a mound of dirt 25 feet tall and 60 feet across, the dirt was covered by bricks and surrounded by temples and gates The stone gates date from the first century b.c.e., and they mark the end of the major building period for the shrine Sculpting the stone as if working in wood, artists adorned the gates with a dazzling number of figures so that the pillars and crossbeams appear to be crawling with life, including graceful figures of women who exemplify inner vitality Indians loved depictions of life, and their architects believed that no public building was complete without depictions of women Thus, for Indians buildings became works of art They built towers abounding with sculptures of trees, plants, animals, and stones, making the entire structure a sculpture on a grand scale that was meant to emulate mountains These towers represent a Buddha-like climb to enlightenment The ascendancy of Buddhism did not last for long in India, and by the 100s c.e Hinduism was reasserting itself New Hindu towers were adorned with sensuous images of gods, goddesses, nature spirits, and people, usually naked and almost always graceful and lively; these towers represent the phallus, symbolizing creative power Buddhism inspired another spectacular form of sculpture In Bihar, near Nepal, Asoka displayed his religious tolerance by having rooms carved into huge rocks so that a non-Buddhist sect of ascetics could meditate in them during the rainy season The interiors of the rooms are carved to look like the interiors of wooden, thatched houses They would inspire great Buddhist structures elsewhere in India Good examples of their development can be found in the Western Ghats mountain range, where thousands of rock structures were carved into the mountainsides and cliffs The fi rst structures were Buddhist monasteries, begun in 150 b.c.e These were followed by temple complexes, carved by iron tools into rock faces, with one temple having a hall 124 feet long The main structural elements were made to look like wood, as if the monastery or temple were wooden The walls were carved with scenes of the Buddha’s life and teachings Dancers, preachers, kings, and bodhisattvas were depicted on pillars and walls as well Bodhisattvas were people who could have ascended to oneness with God but who chose to put off their salvation to help other human beings reach nirvana—a state of blessedness or union with the godhead As Hinduism returned to dominance in India, caves were carved to become Hindu temples where even lower castes would worship They feature lush statues of nature deities, often monumental in stature At Elephanta Island a three-faced statue of the god Shiva from the 500s c.e is 17 feet tall and situated so that light from the entrances to the cave falls directly on the faces The Indian style of sculpture, especially when connected to the Buddhist or Hindu faiths, spread throughout Indochina and eventually to the main Indonesian islands, reaching Java in about the 700s c.e The Indian painting style also spread, though surviving examples in Indochina tend to date from the 1200s c.e In the 100s and 200s c.e Buddhist evangelists brought Indian sculptural and painting traditions to China, which already had a well-established painting tradition of its own CHINESE PAINTING The earliest known paintings in China are from Inner Mongolia Consisting of mineral pigments drawn on stone, they are on large rocks and sheer rock faces, all in the open; none so far have been found in caves The paintings depict animals and stick-figure people, and they include elephants—creatures that became extinct in the area before 8000 b.c.e Such rock paintings continued to be created among illiterate peoples in this region until about 200 b.c.e They may have been created to give the painters magical powers while they were hunting, or they may have had more prosaic uses, such as telling travelers the kinds of game that could be found nearby Lacquer at first came from the resin of the lacquer tree (Rhus verniciflua), yielding a glossy black paint that was highly durable During the Shang Dynasty (ca 1500–ca 1045 b.c.e.), Chinese painters began experimenting with pigments in lacquer to give it color, and vivid yellows, reds, and browns still survive Archaeological finds suggest that lacquer may not have come into widespread use until the Warring States Period (453–221 b.c.e.) From the 400s b.c.e on, lacquer was used for decorative art on chests, furniture pieces, walls, doors, and other household surfaces This must have made homes brightly colorful during the Warring States Period and the ensuing Qin Dynasty (221–207 b.c.e.) and Han Dynasty (202 b.c.e.–220 c.e.) Surviving paintings depict animals and mystical beasts such as dragons, usually in highly stylized forms more interesting for their symmetrical patterns than their verisimilitude