Page 461 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

Motives of the Decoration 285

his birth; (2) as an ascetic returning from his fast in the mountains;

(3) seated cross-legged on a lotus throne with right hand raised in

teaching attitude, the most frequent representation (4) recumbent
;

on a lotus pillow, in Nirvana; (5) in the Buddhist Trinity holding

the alms bowl or patra between the Bodhisattvas Manjusri and

Samantabhadra. These two last when represented singly are

usually mounted, Manjusri on a lion, and Samantabhadra on an

elephant.

But by far the most popular figure of the Buddhist theogony

in China is Kuan-yin, the Compassionate, and Kuan-yin, the Maternal

in the latter capacity she holds a child in her arms and displays a

wonderful likeness to our images of the Virgin. But a full account

of her has been given on p. 110, and need not be repeated.

Next in popularity perhaps is the jolly monk with the hempen bag,

Pu-tai Ho-shang, a semi-nude, corpulent person, ^vith smiling face,

and a large bag full of the " precious things." He is also a great
favourite in Japan, where he is known as Hotel, and worshipped
as the god of Contentment. By the Chinese he is also regarded

as Mi-lo Fo, the Maitreya or coming Buddha, and he has been

added by them to the list of Arhats or apostles of Buddha. He
is often represented surrounded by plaj^ul children to whom he is

devoted.

The Arhats, or Lohan, are all known by their several attributes,

but in porcelain decoration they usually appear in groups consisting

of the whole or a large part of their number, which, originally

sixteen, was increased in China to eighteen by the inclusion of

Ho-shang and Dharmatrata. The latter is a long-haired indi-

vidual who carries a vase and a fly whisk in his hands and a

bundle of books on his back while he sits gazing at a small image

of Buddha.

He is not to be confused with Tamo, the Indian Bodhidharma,
the first Chinese patriarch, who came to Lo-yang and remained

there in contemplation for nine years. The legend is that after

his death (about 530 a.d.) he was seen returning to India wrapped

in his shroud and carrying one shoe in his hand, the other having

been left behind in his tomb. This is the guise in which he frequently

appears in art (Plate 86), and he is often depicted crossing the

Yangtze on a reed.

Many of the symbolical ornaments on porcelain have a Buddhistic

significance, such as the eight emblems (see p. 298), the crossed