Start with the reference sources:
Oxford Art Online - Oxford's combined art databases(incl. Grove Art Online and Oxford art reference), searchable uniformly or individually
Dictionary of Chinese and Japanese art
The Cambridge History of China
Vol. 1. The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C.–A.D. 220 ,
Vol.10, Late Ch'ing 1800–1911, part 1
Vol.11 Late Ch'ing, 1800–1911, part 2
Vol.12,Republican China 1912–1949 part 1
Vol.13,Republican China 1912–1949, Part 2
The Cambridge illustrated history of China has a chapter on Buddhism and Buddhist art
Search Duke University Catalog & TRLN & Worldcat together or seperately for books. The following are some sugested subject keywords:
Tip: When you find a good title, look at its subject and use that to further search in order to find titles on the same subject.
Databases:
JSTOR : full text database of archived academic journals. There're links to images in Jstor and ARTstor
ATLA religion database: full text with publications on Buddhism
Bibliography of Asian Studies : index database on scholarly literature on Asia in Western languages
Art Abstracts & Art Index Retrospective : the two are the same database but covers different year.
China: Trade, Politics & Culture, 1793-1980 provides a wide variety of original source material in English relating to the activities and observations of British and American diplomats, missionaries, business people and tourists in China from 1793 to 1980, together with rare periodicals, color paintings, maps, photographs and drawings
Asian Arts:
Artibus Asiae : has scholarly articles and research notes devoted to the history of art and archaeology of Asia. Initiated in 1925, it is now published by the Museum Rietberg Zurich in cooperation with the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery , Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Artibus Asiae. Supplementum : The series Artibus Asiae Supplementum complements the journal and has a broad range of lavishly illustrated studies
Archives of Asian art : devoted to the arts of Asia. Each issue presents articles by leading scholars and a selection of outstanding works of Asian art acquired by North American museums during the previous year.
Ars Orientalis : cosponsored by the Department of the History of Art, University of Michigan, and the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution. It is an annual volume of scholarly articles and book reviews on the art and archaeology of Asia.
Oriental art : from Britain, it has research articles on Chinese, and other Aisan art, including articles on the art of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam.
Orientations: from Hong Kong, it is for collectors and connoisseurs of Asian art offering information on the arts of East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia and provides insights into the international Asian art market.
Buddhism:
The journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies
