An art historian friend of mine explained to me one thing that could be part of the explanation. He said that in the East, what is valuable in art is the perfection of the human movement and technique, not the actual output artifact.

For instance, if you were to burn down the Monna Lisa, from a westerner perspective you have destroyed all that was valuable in the art. From an easterner perspective, you can reproduce the painting, as long as you prepare the materials in the same way and you use the exact same techniques that were used in composing the original. At that point, whatever you output, is exactly the same as the original and has exactly the same dignity.

Same with rebuilding a temple. As long as you use the same materials and the same building technique, even if it was burned to the ground originally it's still the same building.

The craft is fundamental, the artifact is incidental: it is just an embodiment of the craft.

No idea whether it is true, but it's interesting.