The Eternal Smile of the Buddha佛永恒的微笑

Buddhism found its way to China around the first century and hassince exerted a significant, far-reaching influence on Chinese culture. It hasleft an indelible mark on Chinese art, with splendid Buddhist artistic works surviving the vicissitudes of time. Among them, statues of the Buddha constitute an important component,and are found in many places across the country, including the Yungang Grottoesin Shanxi Province, the Mogao Grottoes in Gansu Province, the Longmen Grottoesin Henan Province, the Dazu Stone Sculptures in Chongqing Municipality, as wellas in numerous temples. The Buddha statues, in a sense, record the developmentof Chinese civilization, displaying the achievements of sculptural arts andexpressing the aspirations of the people.