Yi Gong Zi introduces the "Heart Sutra."

This video tells the story of Siddhārtha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism.

Siddhārtha Gautama's student, the "Most Venerable Ānanda," came up with the first batch of Buddhist scriptures.

Among the different versions of the "Heart Sutra," by far the most popular one is the version by Xuan Zang.

In contrast to what was portrayed in the "Journey to the West," Master Xuan Zang's journey was, in fact, long and lonely.

The "Heart Sutra" helps impart a Buddhist world outlook and methodology.

The "Heart Sutra" gives you the tools to face the challenges that life brings.

Which emperor could possibly restrain the "Eastern Heretic," Huang Yaoshi and "Western Venom," Ouyang Feng, as well as a host of other strange-looking fellows from the same era?

Song Huizong was the Chinese emperor with the best taste of them all.

Song Huizong had greater ambitions with his self-created font, "Slender Gold."

Song Huizong assigned very challenging subjects to his painters.

Song Huizong had an uncanny way of making the invisible visible.

The complexity underlying the simplicity of Song Huizong's art is especially evident in the Ru porcelain of his time.

We may not be able to live as extravagantly as the emperors before us, but we can still afford to live life with a bit of elegance.

This episodes is a continuation of our Art series! We will be talking about Chinese sculpture in the next few videos. Sculpture in China has a long history and even predates most Western sculpture.

In the chaos and instability during Wei, Jin, and North-South dynasties people looked for hope and relief everywhere. When you have nothing how can you still have hope?

How and why did does an icon of Buddha stop refugees in their tracks? Is is because of the religious symbolism behind the icon or is there more to this classic, ethereal icon?

Let's compare the Beiqi Buddha to that of the Northern Wei! Who knew Buddha icons could represent the same ideology yet be so different visually. Take a look for yourself.

The expression that Buddha bears is one of deep peace, but where does this expression come from? What exactly is this so called, "deep peace" and how can we achieve this state of being?

Submission and acceptance of the world is something to respect. There is a phrase in Lao Tzu's "Dao De Jing", "the sage is ruthless, to them ten thousand things are but straw dogs". This phrase doesn't necessarily denounce sages or monks but rather reveres them for their ability to accept things as they are, which in it own right is a remarkable ability.

Living in the political instability of the Wei, Jin, North-South dynasties was in itself an experience of great suffering. How did people like Xiaoming survive? The Buddhist ideas of submission and acceptance may have played a part.

An older artist explains how there were no artist studios back in his day.

The artist begins by explaining his daily process of painting.