How Gandhāran art shapes Asian civilizations

In what is now northwestern Pakistan once lay an ancient crossroads of civilizations – Gandhāra. Influenced by Persian craftsmanship, Greco-Roman realism, and Indian religious traditions, Gandhāran art emerged as a distinctive fusion of East and West.

By the first century AD, under the Kushan Empire and situated along the thriving Silk Road, Gandhāran Buddhist imagery began spreading eastward. It shaped the artistic styles of Buddhist carvings in China – such as those at Yungang and Longmen – and continued its influence across the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago.

The ongoing exhibition, "Blossoming in All Directions: Gandhāran Art and Asian Civilizations," at the Museum of Art and Archaeology at Zhejiang University, brings together over 150 artifacts from Gandhāra and its neighboring regions. Through sculptures and reliefs, visitors can retrace the artistic threads that connect Asia's diverse cultures – and witness how civilizations once distant came into meaningful contact through art.