Temples in the Cliffside

"[A] very inspiring contribution to our understanding of ecological art history from the perspective of Asian art. It should be read by anyone who is interested in the interrelationships among Buddhist studies, art history, and environmental humanities."

"Sonya Lee’s Temples in the Cliffside is a welcome addition to studies of the religious cliff sculpture of southwestern China."

"[A] truly multidisciplinary work of scholarship that examines Buddhist art from intertwined technical, environmental, religious, historical, aesthetic, economic, and political perspectives...Temples in the Cliffside innovatively locates religious art within its historical, political, and natural landscapes to show how people have managed their relationships to nature, and nonhuman entities in general, in different contexts. At a time when floods will likely wash the Great Buddha’s feet more and more frequently, thinking about art holistically and ecologically is particularly urgent."

"Sonya Lee's superbly researched work has paid attention to the aesthetic and historical content of the monuments, but has also updated it by framing the events in the context of environment and sustainability which are very much part of our present time. This most original approach will inspire a younger generation of art historians. Lastly, her uncommon familiarity with all matters related to conservation and restoration have contributed to this groundbreaking book."

"Sonya Lee’s informative book adds another layer to the research on stone carvings in Sichuan and Chongqing: ecology and image-making."

"Lee presents exquisite photographs and data through long-term fieldwork and research, providing a significant reference for understanding the Buddhist cave art in Sìchuan."

"The first book to systematically bring together scholarship on the Buddhist art, heritage management, and environmental histories of China. By emphasizing and synthesizing different modalities of imagining cave architecture, Lee offers a novel approach to the study of space and place."

"By situating her study of cave temples in relation to questions of environmentality and sustainability Sonya Lee takes the study of Buddhist art and its entanglements with society and the natural world to a whole new level. Indeed, her work compels us to reimagine the meaning and nature of art during not only the long durée, but also as we go further into the Anthropocene."

"In Temples in the Cliffside, Sonya S. Lee achieves something remarkable: she transforms the historical study of Chinese Buddhist art into a powerful means of addressing the most pressing global concern of the present—ecological sustainability. Weaving together religious studies, environmental history, heritage studies, and more, Lee proposes a compelling approach to art history and provocative interpretations of well-known sites."

"Impeccably researched yet immensely readable, Sonya Lee's creative study of the rock-cut art of Buddhist sites in Sichuan ranges across time and discipline to demonstrate how the past lives in multiple presents of human engagement with the environment. The book is a masterful display of interdisciplinary scholarship and a timely model of ecological art history with ramifications that extend far beyond China’s past."