the silk route buddhist caves mural painting

The Silk Route

Buddhist Caves

Mural Painting

Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties

• Northern Wei (Toba): 386-535

• Sui: 581-618

• Tang: 618-907

Buddhism

Mahayana Buddhism: Western Paradise (Pure Land paradise) spread from India around the 5th century, Esoteric Buddhism (Tang-7th) and Ch’an Buddhism (Song-10th)

• Important images are Amida Buddha (Amitabha) who resides in the Western paradise, Maitreya Buddha (Future Buddha) and Gyanyin (bodhisattva of Compassion)

• Amida• Gyanyin (became more feminine from 1279)• Maitreya: laughing pot-bellied Buddha in China

4.12 Colossal Buddha, Cave 20, Yungang Cave, late 5th C.(13.7 m)

Yangang Caves

• 50 caves at Yangang began around 460-490 (Capital moved to Luoyang) (contemporary with Ajanta caves in India); located in Shanxi.

• Cave 20 was is one of the oldest caves, dedicated by the Toba Wei rulers.

• The Buddha seated in mediation (fifteen meters)

Yungang Cave, late 5th C.

Sakyamuni, Yungang Cave

Dun Huang caves

• Buddhist caves situated on the Silk Route; it is an important stopping between the N and S tracks of the Tarim Basin.

• They were carved out of natural soft gravel cliffs; approximately a thousand caves but only half of them survived.

• Many were decorated with wall paintings; the themes mainly focus in the Western Paradise of Amitabha Buddha.

• Avalokitesvara (Chinese: Gyanyin) became highly popular

4.17 Western paradise, Dunhuang, Tang Dynasty, late 8th c

Avalokistesvara and Gyanyin

• Bodhisattva of Compassion• He was regarded as the guide of souls and one who bring

the blessing of many children• Reside in the Western paradise of Amithaba• In Chinese art, he is depicted as a male bodhisattva, like

those of India, until around the end of the 12th C (early part of Song Dynasty)

• He gradually transform into a male figure with some female qualities such as the body, the face, and the hands

• By the 17th century (Ming period), the male form was replaced with more feminine form

4.18 Gyanyin as the Guide of Souls, Dunhunag, 10th c.

Lotus sutra

• Gyunyin images became feminized; represented as a middle-aged fair lady in a white robe.

• The transformation marked the Sinification of Avalokistesvara by the Chinese who believed in the Lotus Sutra, which gives Ava the ability to assume innumerable forms.

• She is depicted as a lady in white robe or a bodhisattva with a thousand hands

Gyanyin, 12-13th C.

Pagoda

• Watchtower-like structure (from clay models made for the dead to use afterlife)

• Represents the center of the earth, axis mundi• Han period, exterior decorated with paint and

lacquer • Motifs evoke the World outdoors (trees and birds)

Great Wild Goose Pagoda

Brick Pagoda of Songyuesi, Mt. Song, 520 CE

4.16 Isometric view of the timber-framing, main hall, Foguangsi temple,Shanxi, c. 857

Three-color wares

• They were tomb deposited; earthenware with pigments

• They vary in size from animals and tpys a few inches high to gigantic horses, Bactrian camels, armed men, dancers, musicians; women figurines were predominate

• Human figurines were made in molds, with front and back cast separately; animals were made in several pieces

• They declined after the mid 8th century

4.19 Yen Lipen (attributed), Emperor Wu Di, the Scroll of the Emperors, Tang Dynasty,7th c. (11th century copy)

Tang period (618-907 CE)

• It is the golden age of Chinese civilization; expanding their territories to Korea, Vietnam, and Central Asia

• Emperors supported trading on the Silk Road• Emperor Wu Di• Capitals at Luoyang and Chang’an (modern Xi’an);

population of one or two millions; it was the most cultivated metropolitan center in the world

• Art and literature flourished; Buddhism was supported by the Kings

Court lady figurines, Tang period, 7th century

Camel with musicians, Tang period (618-907 CE)

Foreign attendants, Tang Dynasty (618-907), earthernware

Girl resting on a camel, Tang period,(618-907), earthenware with pigments

Horse and groom, pottery with polychrome glaze, Tang DynastyFrom Henan