Pan (Chinese art history, Cornell U.) places Li Gonglin, a premier artist of the twelfth century, firmly within the painter's proper context, within the northern Song Buddhist regional culture and specifically in the local Longmian Chan. In the process, he investigates the institutional environment of the Longmian Chan circles, the landscape of his early working years and the artist's White Lotus Society Picture for the Pure Land faith of its creator. His analysis is precise and compelling, the illustrations he has chosen are exquisite, and the result is the invocation of a flesh-and-blood artist and his most beloved work. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)