Dong Wang is distinguished professor of history and director of the Wellington Koo Institute at Shanghai University since 2016, a Chatham House member, and a research associate at the Fairbank Center of Harvard University since 2002. Her books include The United States and China: A History from the Eighteenth Century to the Present.

The famous Buddhist sculptures at the World Heritage site at Longmen are among China’s most important historical and artistic monuments. In this fascinating book, Dong Wang presents a path-breaking analysis of the ways Chinese and foreigners have understood the sculptures throughout the twentieth century, and how cultural heritage shaped views of modernity in China and elsewhere. In stressing universal spiritual values rather than nationalistic politics, the book makes an important and original contribution to our understanding of Sino-foreign cultural relations, at the same time casting new light on the modern history of Chinese art and religion and on China’s development of a consciousness of heritage.

Dong Wang is distinguished professor of history and director of the Wellington Koo Institute at Shanghai University since 2016, a Chatham House member, and a research associate at the Fairbank Center of Harvard University since 2002. Her books include The United States and China: A History from the Eighteenth Century to the Present.

The famous Buddhist sculptures at the World Heritage site at Longmen are among China’s most important historical and artistic monuments. In this fascinating book, Dong Wang presents a path-breaking analysis of the ways Chinese and foreigners have understood the sculptures throughout the twentieth century, and how cultural heritage shaped views of modernity in China and elsewhere. In stressing universal spiritual values rather than nationalistic politics, the book makes an important and original contribution to our understanding of Sino-foreign cultural relations, at the same time casting new light on the modern history of Chinese art and religion and on China’s development of a consciousness of heritage.

Dong Wang is distinguished professor of history and director of the Wellington Koo Institute at Shanghai University since 2016, a Chatham House member, and a research associate at the Fairbank Center of Harvard University since 2002. Her books include The United States and China: A History from the Eighteenth Century to the Present.

The famous Buddhist sculptures at the World Heritage site at Longmen are among China’s most important historical and artistic monuments. In this fascinating book, Dong Wang presents a path-breaking analysis of the ways Chinese and foreigners have understood the sculptures throughout the twentieth century, and how cultural heritage shaped views of modernity in China and elsewhere. In stressing universal spiritual values rather than nationalistic politics, the book makes an important and original contribution to our understanding of Sino-foreign cultural relations, at the same time casting new light on the modern history of Chinese art and religion and on China’s development of a consciousness of heritage.