Page 150 - Christie's Hong Kong Important Chinese Works Of Art May 30 2022

SACRED OFFERINGS: A PAIR OF GILT-BRONZE

LUOHAN FIGURES

The current pair of gilt bronze luohan is masterfully cast and of The worship of luohan reached its zenith in the Song period, when
notably large size in the form of two youthful monks, one wearing an stories of miraculous events associated with luohan were widespread
Indian-style robe exposing the right shoulder, the other a Chinese- and propagated by the literati class. From the imperial family to
style robe with a right-hand opening, both sitting with legs pendant laymen, all were participating in the worship, and Su Shi was the
in a relaxed pose. They are inscribed with the characters ‘zuo si (left most famous amongst them. His grandfather on his mother’s side,
four)’ and ‘you si (right four)’ respectively, probably indicating their Cheng Wenying, was said to have received generous help from sixteen
positions when displayed in a temple. However, no manufacture dates monks, who he believed to be the Sixteen Luohan in disguise, when
are inscribed, and some exploration is required to ascertain their age. he suffered crippling adversity at one point in his life. Thereafter, he

Although the origin of luohan can be traced to the arhats in Indian
scriptures, arhats were not objects of devotion in ancient India. The
cult of luohan and its artistic representation is therefore indigenous
to China, a by-product of Buddhism’s long history of Sinicization.
Xuanzang’s translation of Nandimitravadana in 654, a scripture
dedicated to the Sixteen Arhats (Luohan), provided the theological
foundation for the cult of luohan as well as the basis for their artistic
representations, which took shape in the late Tang/Five-Dynasties
periods. Although there are depictions of monks in Tang cave
sculptures, the earliest depiction of the Sixteen Luohan as prescribed
in Nandimitravadana is found in the Yanxia Cave in Hangzhou (fig. 1),
dated to 953 in the Wuyue Kingdom period. Apart from the Sixteen
Luohan in the scripture, two more figures were added: Nandimitra,
the author of Nandimitravadana, and another unnamed figure, possibly
Xuanzang. This set could also be considered the earliest depiction
of the ‘Eighteen Luohan’, a composition not rooted in any Buddhist fig. 1 Stone Arhat, circa AD 935, Wuyue Kingdom,
scriptures but gained popularity from Song period onwards. A small Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
gilt bronze figure of luohan excavated at the base of Huiguang Pagoda Yanxia Cave, Hangzhou
in Ruian in 1966 is one of the earliest examples of bronze luohan in 圖一 吳越廣順三年（953）
羅漢石像杭州煙霞洞
this period.
頂禮虔心 – 鎏金銅羅漢造像一對

此對鎏金銅羅漢像製作精美，體型碩大，形象是兩位少年 五年（654）玄奘譯出《法住記》，此經專說十六大羅漢，
童顏的僧人，一位穿袒露右肩的印度式袈裟，其右小腿後 羅漢信仰及其造像藝術自此於中國扎根，逐漸於晚唐/
側刻有「右四」銘文，一位則穿著右袒的漢式僧袍，垂足 五代時期成形。雖然唐代石窟中便出現僧侶的形象，但現
裾坐，姿態閑適，氣度雍容，其左小腿後側刻有「左四」 存最早，以《法住記》中的十六羅漢為主題的造像實例便
銘文。雖然他們分別刻有標示位置的銘文，但是并無 是建造於吳越廣順三年（953）的杭州煙霞洞十六羅漢像
紀年，它們的製作年代為何，值得探討。 (圖一)。這是由吳越國吳延爽發願所造，在《法住記》的
十六羅漢基礎上添加了一尊慶友尊者(Nandimitra，
羅漢信仰雖源於古印度經典，然古印度尚未見到明確的 即《法住記》作者)和一尊不具名的羅漢，所以也可視為現
羅漢造像，因此，羅漢信仰基本上可以視為佛教漢化過程 存最早的十八羅漢實例。1966年瑞安慧光塔曾出土一件
中產生的本土信仰，而其造像藝術也發源於中國。唐永徽 吳越國金銅持經羅漢立像，是早期銅羅漢像的一件實例。

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