Page 17 - jingyatang sculptures march2018

Of course, besides these breath-taking cave temple projects, many free-standing ⴠ⿌҈䰂喑Ⴜնผ㻭喑Бϧ侇ଳȡ䮑๔ಸⴠ⿌ใ喑
Buddhist sculptures were created in China, for various purposes. To amalgamate ͚సऱౝϓᰶ㇫㸪҈׼喑⩕᫩ऱحᐼൡवȡؿ҈व
Confucian ideas into Buddhist teaching, for example, the carving of Buddhist images as
≮喑ԎⱫ◧ӈ丷ώ㻗喑ㄑⰎႊ䖀喑ԛ䕍ⶾ׼喑ₑ◧
o# erings to dead parents was propagated, in ful" llment of " lial piety – only one of many
ԎⱫԛ䕍҈׼䀥็࣌఍͸̭ȡⴠ⿌҈䰂喑ᄺ͚స҈
reasons for believers to commission Buddhist steles. The grand cave temples clearly
׼⮩ᆂᒞ䴬䬉䢢喑♣㔹ऱౝϓᰶ๔ಸ҉౷喑Ըݒ䰂
exerted a strong stylistic in! uence on the development of Chinese Buddhist sculpture in
㸪҈׼ⶾݨȡ
general, but for free-standing steles many local centers of production existed.
In Shandong province, for example, the Qingzhou region appears to have been a major ᆞᲞ䱿ጋ喑䙝䓾ⴠ▝ⴠ⹓࡭喑ᰫ◧҈᪆䕍׼䛺䣛ȡ
production center for Buddhist sculptures, with limestone quarries located close by. The ڙٰ Ꭱ喑ࡄ偼ोҢᆞᲞౝ࡭ȡऄࡄ偼ᅇ҈͸ᒞ
Shandong peninsula had been annexed by the Wei in 469, and – as in other Wei-controlled 䴬喑㜗ₑᆞᲞౝ࡭ϓ๔㜵҈᪆ȡ̷̓㈭᱘喑䱿ጋ咺
th
areas – Buddhism began to ! ourish there in the late 5 century. The chance discovery 㜵ᄧ⿃㫼㷘ᘼใ⮩⤫喑ܧౌ๔ឦ҈᪆䕍׼⣺৮喑䋠
of a carefully buried hoard of Buddhist sculptures at the site of Longxing Temple in 䁶䱿ጋⴠ䰂ጒ㬊ᰫ㋀͸㨙߰ȡⰥ䶋ጒ౷喑ϓ㺸᫩ݒ
Qingzhou has provided evidence of a most active stone carving center that catered to 㮂ȡ
the rapidly growing demand for Buddhist images at that time. Similar workshops clearly
also existed elsewhere. ͚సⴠ⿌ऺᄧ䑊♹䯱ն喑ᒞ䴬⌞䖍喠ह᭯᱙ౝ҉
౷喑ܳѵ㍮็ȡږ㔲㲺ᰰ喑Ͱ㜠͚స䕍׼᪡倁䷕
The overruling importance of the grand rock carvings of China on the one hand and the
ᵩ㊞̭喑ह᭯ϓ̺ͼऱ㜗➦㞟喑⮫㟞呷ᩫ喑䅽ჹ
existence of local centers of sculpture production in many regions on the other, led to an
็ᒖȡₐ఍ຯₑ喑͚స҈᪆䕍׼็ज䔪⏜ڣ㸪҉᭯
overall stylistic unity of China’s Buddhist imagery, but at the same time to an immense
variety of artistic expression within this framework. This explains why we can fairly well ᱌喑♣㔹䰐В⏃ⷧݑ᫤ڣ㸪҉ౝഌ喑㍞Ҭ᭜䛺㺮䕍
assign individual Chinese Buddhist images to a certain production period, yet are largely ׼ຯ䲉䯲യ͸⣺㫼ϓ♎Ҹใȡ
unable to attribute even important sculptures such as these in the Jingyatang collection,
to a speci" c production area.

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