From the paintings of the Jataka stories, grotto murals to crafted Buddhist statues, Buddhist art manifests the boundless creativity, imagination and yearning for a better life of people in different places and from different cultures.

Three themed exhibitions were opened on Tuesday at Mount Xuedou, in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, to trace the spread of Buddhism in the country and the manifestation of its ideas and values in various kinds of art and crafts in all times.

The shows are being held at the Maitreya Museum as part of the Sixth World Buddhist Forum, from Oct 15-17, which has brought personas from the Buddhist community, scholars and members from other trades from 72 countries and regions to Ningbo.

On show are Buddhist statues and sculptures from different periods of time, architectural models, digital reconstructions and 3D-printed models of murals to show the integration of Buddhism into the many aspects of people's daily life, through the presentation of all kinds of objects that enrich men's material and spiritual life, hearts and minds.

There are also photos of temples and monasteries around the world, as well as paintings and works of Chinese calligraphy by members of the Buddhist community to show a long-held tradition of which monks have practiced art as a way of cultivation and meditation.

Another exhibition shows copies of Chinese Buddhism-themed paintings from ancient times which are now housed at museums, institutions and private collections around the world, and featured in A Comprehensive Collection of Ancient Chinese Paintings, an ambitious project of publication and exhibition which took some 17 years to accomplish.

There are also large-format paintings made by teachers and students of China Academy of Art, in Hangzhou, including a 30-meter-long landscape by a painters' team headed by Zhang Jie. He says it took them about six months to work on depicting the several mountains that command enthralling views and have been celebrated as sacred Buddhist shrines in the country.