Overview
In Mongolian Buddhism, texts, rituals, and images are deeply interwoven, yet they are typically studied separately. This book is a groundbreaking interdisciplinary exploration of Mongolian Buddhism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, drawing on previously unexamined writings and artworks to shed new light on the intricate interrelationships that define this tradition. Vesna A. Wallace and Uranchimeg Tsultemin-a religious studies scholar and an art historian-combine their expertise to demonstrate how textual and visual imagery have built and maintained Mongolian Buddhist community and identity over time. They show that individual and collective acts of imagination are central to a vast range of contemplative, ritual, liturgical, and artistic practices, shaping religious and cultural experience and tradition. Wallace and Tsultemin track the transmission and development of Buddhist belief and practice through a vast range of textual and visual sources. This book also considers how Mongolian Buddhist scholars, contemplatives, and artists expressed their religious views and social concerns in response to the political events of their times. Highlighting little-known treasures of Mongolian culture and featuring extensive illustrations, Art and Imagination develops pioneering insights into Mongolian Buddhist texts, objects, and practices.
Full Product Details
Author: Vesna Wallace , Uranchimeg Tsultemin
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Imprint: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231194785
ISBN 10: 0231194781
Pages: 360
Publication Date: 14 April 2026
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
College/higher education
,
Professional & Vocational
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Awaiting stock 
The supplier is currently out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out for you.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments Conventions Introduction, by Vesna A. Wallace and Uranchimeg Tsultemin Part I: Memory, Imagination, and Imagery Introduction to Part I, by Vesna A. Wallace 1. Aspiring for Śambhala: Desire, Imagination, and Linguistic Imagery, by Vesna A. Wallace 2. Imagination in the Ritual of the Transference of Consciousness to Śambhala and Other Related Practices, by Vesna A. Wallace 3. Imagination in Repelling the Barbarian Troops Through Ritual, by Vesna A. Wallace Part II: The Jebtsundampa’s Guru Yoga: Building Imagined Community in the Present, Past, and Future Introduction to Part II, by Uranchimeg Tsultemin 4. The Supreme Teacher, by Uranchimeg Tsultemin 5. The Historical Consciousness of the Community, by Uranchimeg Tsultemin 6. Projection Into the Future: Visual Supplication for the Arrival of the Next Teacher, by Uranchimeg Tsultemin Conclusion, by Vesna A. Wallace and Uranchimeg Tsultemin Appendix A: Translations and Transliterations of Mongolian Inscriptions on the Two Paintings Appendix B: Consecration Inscription Notes Bibliography Index
Reviews
Significantly expands our understanding of how Buddhist texts and objects are produced, circulated, received, and deployed within the wider Tibetan Buddhist world. -- Andrew H. Quintman, Wesleyan University
Author Information
Vesna A. Wallace is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the editor of Buddhism in Mongolian History, Culture, and Society (2015), among other books. Uranchimeg Tsultemin is the Edgar and Dorothy Fehnel Chair in International Studies and an associate professor of art history at Indiana University’s Herron School of Art and Design. She is the author of A Monastery on the Move: Art and Politics in Later Buddhist Mongolia (2021), among other books.
Tab Content 6
Author Website:
Countries Available
All regions
|
