Throughout history the peoples of Asia have been known for their mobility and interactions. The notion of territorially defined nations is historically recent. There was a continuing dialogue between Asian cultures which functioned at both the spatial and the temporal level, propelled by the movement of the great religions of Asia across continents via trading communities, clergies, Buddhist and Sufi scholars and communities of artisans. This book explores the aesthetic theories underlying many genres of the Asian arts. These characterise the dialogue between and amongst different Asian regions. The same Asian notions of space and time are manifested in architectural form as also in a wide variety of visual arts. The contributors in this volume identify the multi-layered discourse comprising the nature of monuments, as also the movement of motifs and symbols though sculptured and pictured representation. Some essays focus on fundamental notions such as Sunyata as common to the Indian, Korean and other Asian countries. Also, the papers bear testimony to the phenomena of dialogue and distinctiveness, continuity and change. This is evident in architectural structures, sculptural forms, particularly in iconography, and of course in the performing arts. The IIC-Asia Project in its second phase has, with purpose, traced the trajectory of transmission systems in Asian civilisation in different domains and at different levels, be it the vertical transmission from generation to generation in education, or the artistic transmission and diffusion through the arts. It is hoped that this volume will add to the meagre literature that exists on the subject and will stimulate further research and study.

Table of Contents:
Preface; Introduction; Aesthetic Theories Underlying Asian Performing Arts; Sunya: Immanent & Transcendent: Investigating Meanings of Void Through Art's space; The Stupa: Symbolizing Religious Architecture in Asia; Merchants, Ghazis, & the Inception of an 'Islamic' Architecture in South Asia; Marks & Symbols of Professionals on Mughal Monuments; Spatial Organization of Paharpur Buddhist Establishment; A Study of Living Culture: Type-morphology of Vernacular-traditional Houses in Kerala; Avalokitesvara as Continuing Theogony of Interiorization; The Flying Messenger; The Saiva Pantheon in Indonesia: Acculturation/Assimilation/Convergence?; Kala-Makara-Toranas: Javanese Expressions of a Shared Motif; Questioning Narrativity & Inscribed Labels: Buddhist Bharhut, Sannati, & Borobudur; Understanding the Painted Jatakas in Ancient India & Sri Lanka; Crown Jewels of Buddhist Art: Comparisons between Ajanta & Dunhuang; A System of Knowledge Transmission: The Narrative in Indonesia (c. AD 700-900); A Comparative Study of the Wayang Kulit & the Tolpavakoothu Shadow Puppet Theatre; Index.