Page 21 - jingyatang sculptures march2018

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Fig. 1 A stone carving of an apsara,
Northern Wei dynasty, Longmen
Grottoes, Luoyang
© Yang Chaojie, Researcher,
Longmen Grottoes Academy,
Luoyang, Henan Province
̛
ྡɓ ̏ᕧ ͩᎉ࠭˂྅ Ꮂژ
ͩິ ݾජ
© เ൴௫ ޼Ӻࡰ Ꮂژͩິ
޼Ӻ৫ ݾජ ئی

th
th
caves in Aurangabad district, Maharashtra state, created in the 5 /6 centuries and earlier, ͚స҈᪆͚丈๖็В䰟ᴁᰩໆ⮱Іຠᒏ䆎ܧ⤫ȡ♣
whose celestial singers and dancers evoke sensual pleasures for divine beings. 㔹᱙׼ݴ̺ह喑̺㺸ᬻ䶜ᕔݒ➦ᓢ喑䰆᝸व࡮喑༬
Chinese representations generally conform to this image of apsaras as alluring, angelic ᙸ〜㢷喑௡㖲㮁᪙喑ॵ⤫ܧ丈๖ओ̭᝗♣䲏䆹喑ᝃ
creatures. The present stone carving, however, represents a gracious and divine, gender- ᰡᆙ⑏ࡃᒏ䆎ȡₑ׼ᒏᙸᓋღᖚᏓ喑㢷௡䯺䯲喑㜴
neutral Buddhist image and thus o! ers a completely di! erent facet of an apsara: its demure ҈ݺ䎟䌗ӈ๶͸Ԏᒿᒏ䆎䵄ᰶⰥѩ喑䑁͸В㗹ٶ喑
pose and pious gesture depict a serious, devout stance that is unusual in this context and ᰡߍ䯞⤫♎̷҈ᘼȡ
may represent a more sinicized version of these celestial beings. The composed, chaste
manner in which this apsara is depicted reminds us of the humble donor " gures often ᱙׼㶕⤫ᒏᐼẢ◧㒂㺸喑Ⱋݺᅇ᱗㺸ЃҸܧ❵ȡੜ
shown kneeling, in adoration of the Buddha, rather than the radiant celestial nymphs # oat- ज℁̭Ⱕ䓾Ҹ喑㺸᫩咺䪭ⴠ⿌ͨ≋͸̭䈀䮪͚≋͸
ing in mid-air. This rendering is further emphasized by the distinct double halo behind the ᒹ෮ȡₑⴠ⿌Ѻ᫩⇠ࢄ≈䮪䭱䓾喑⩞ࡄ偼აₓፊ̸
head, which underlines the signi" cance of the spiritual message. Б㜵ᐧ喑ڙٰ523ᎡႹ᜽ȡⴠ෮᝭䰂䭬䰐䏘᫮ज㺸
This rendering appears to be extremely rare and no closely related carving appears to be ̭丈๖׼喑㶐丫㜴᱙৮Ⱕ䓾喑༬ࠏⰥह喑♣䰂ݨ
recorded. One similar " gure can, however, be seen on the rear wall of the Central Binyang ䷕ᵩⰥ⪝喑⊛䰂ᰡ⌧喑䐶᫩Ȩ͚స㒻㶀ڕ䯳•䰂ൾ
cave, one of the main caves at Longmen near Luoyang, Henan province, which was carved ヴȩ喑Ȧ11•咺䪭ⴠ⿌䰂ݨȧ喑̷⊤喑1998Ꭱ喑ృ
to the order of the Northern Wei Emperor Xuanwu (r. 500-515) and completed in 523. On ❵40喍ృ̭喎ȡ
the aureole surrounding the main Buddha, next to the " gure of Ananda, we see an apsara,
᱙׼䰂ݨឭ∂㇫㉝ీ⒑喑㛶ಸԛ䪤喑̰ܳ䲏㻿Ꮣ喑
very similary attired and depicted in the same pose, but carved in a very di! erent style, in
more shallow relief; see Zhongguo meishu quanji: Diaosu bian [Complete series on Chinese ୡ㻿ক఺⌞䮤喑䯞♣≮䱟ܧ㜗♣ᓛ〾喑㜴䲼㍐ⴠ⿌
art: Sculpture section], 11: Longmen shiku diaoke [Sculptures of the Longmen caves], 䰂ݨ䷕ᵩⰥѩȡ㾟ⴠ⿌Ѻ᫩⇠ࢄⰮ䲼㓖ጯ喑⩞ࡄ偼
Shanghai, 1988, pl. 40 ( g. 1).

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