Abstract

This chapter presents the text of a lecture on Buddhist archaeology in Republican China given at the British Academy's 2008 Elsley Zeitlyn Lecture on Chinese Archaeology and Culture. This texxt explains that Chinese archaeologists have transformed the notion of the nation and its artistic history with a series of dramatic discoveries during the Republican Period. It evaluates the impact of archaeological copies painted by Zhang Daqian and Wang Ziyun and explores how they rediscovered and popularised the history of early figure painting and pottery for a Republican audience.