Page 159 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

Temples and Pagodas"), published in 853, the Anguo
Temples Buddha Hall was originally the bed-
chamber hall of the emperor Xuanzong (r.
712—756). 2I The structure was purportedly
dismantled and transferred to the temple grounds
by imperial decree in 713. Its main image seems to
have been a Maitreya statue that frequently emitted
miraculous light. Unfortunately, there is no mention
of any other icons. As a renowned study center for
Esoteric Buddhism and a colossal monument to
piety and the arts in the capital city of Chang' an,
the Anguo Temple was a chief target in the violent
persecution of 845. Anti-Buddhist iconoclasts may
have buried the sculptures at such a great depth
because they feared revenge and punishment
through the magical powers of the terrifying deities
embodied in the images. The turmoil
accompanying general An Lushan's insurrection of
755-763 had far-reaching negative effects, not only
on the subsequent political, economic, and social
structure ofTang China, but also on the prestige
and development of the Buddhist church and its
arts. The Anguo Temple sculptures probably predate
this dramatic decline, and thus may have been
completed in the second quarter of the eighth
century.
It was just at this time, during Xuanzong's reign,
that Esoteric Buddhism first received official
recognition and active encouragement from the
court. In 716 the famous Indian Tantric theologian
Subhakarasimha (637-735), known to the Chinese
as Shanwuwei, arrived in Chang'an with a number
of Sanskrit texts. Eight years later his Chinese
disciple Yixing (638-727) assisted him in translating elegance and sensuous beauty.
and commenting on one of the fundamental
Esoteric Buddhist scriptures, the Mahavairocana
Sutra (C: Darijing; "Sutra of the Great Radiance of
Illumination"). This text describes most of the
important Esoteric Buddhist deities in some detail:
they were novel and infinitely more varied in their
iconography than their traditional counterparts. The
powerful presence of the Bright Kings, in particular, restoration and research have greatly clarified and
must have overshadowed the appeal of the
bodhisattvas, whose prominence they were
usurping.
stylistic; trends in buddhist
sculpture
The number of securely dated Chinese Buddhist
— —icons mainly gilded bronzes of the fourth
century is very small, and their style is reminiscent
of images, from Gandhara. Although attached
canopies are also known in early Indian sculpture,
the leaf-shaped mandorla with flaming border
seems to be a Chinese innovation. The attempt to
emulate the Indian naturalism soon fused with
indigenous Chinese tendencies toward stylization
and abstraction. Early Chinese Buddhist images
tend to ignore rather than emphasize human
TRANSFIGURING DIVINITIES: BUDDHIST SCULPTURE IN CHINA 157
anatomy. Thus, the robes do not drape easily; on the NOTES
contrary, they are stiffly modeled and rigidly
1. Robert H. Sharf. "The
symmetrical, creating a rather austere, disincarnat&- Scripture in Forty-Two
Sections," in Religions of China
image, but one of compelling majestic poise. By the in Practice, ed. Donald S. Lopez.
end of the fifth century all the stylistic idioms of Jr., Princeton Readings in
Buddhist sculpture that had reached China from
Gandhara, India, and Central Asia had been slowly Religions (Princeton:
Princeton University Press,
assimilated into a consistent Chinese declaration of IQQ 6), P- 360; for a concise
faith and zeal. Throughout the first half of the sixth introduction to and full transla-
century traditional styles and motifs persisted in the tion of the text, ibid..
Chinese Buddhist sculptor's art, but from about the pp. 360-71 ; and for the
mid-sixth century a novel style was evolving in Chinese version see Taislto
north China. shinshu daizokyo, ed.Takakusu
Junjiro and Watanabe Kaigyoku
The sculpture of the Northern Qi and Sui periods (Tokyo, 1925; reprint, Tokyo:
Taisho shinshu daizokyo
is clearly distinct from earlier linear, geometric kankokai, 1968), vol. 17,
no. 784, pp. 7223—7243.
treatments of Buddhist images. In this new stage of
the development we see a genuine attempt to 2. See Taisho shhisltu daizokyo
indicate the human body beneath the garments, an (Tokyo, 1928; reprint, Tokyo:
Taisho shinshu daizokyo
attempt that was stimulated by Indian influences of kank5kai, 1973), vol. 51,
the classic Gupta period. In their striving for no. 2092, p. 999a. Translation,
with minor changes, by Yi-
volume and graceful movement in their figures,
Tang sculptors of the seventh and eighth centuries t'ung Wang, A Record of
went even a step further, combining solid, almost
Buddhist Monasteries in Ix-yang
weighty reality with voluptuous fleshiness. Suave, by Yang Hsuan-chih (Princeton:
rhythmic drapery patterns follow the form of the Princeton University Press.
body so closely that one senses the texture, weight, [984), pp. sf.
and fall of the cloth. As the figures became
substantial, often plump, there was an ever- 3. Edwin O. Reischauer, trans..
increasing tendency toward rich detail, complexity
Ennin's Diar)':Tltc Recoid of a
of forms, and restless movement in the sweeping Pilgrimage to China in Scaitli 0)
curves of the drapery folds. Their extraordinary the Law (New York: Ronald
technical skill allowed the sculptors to reproduce
the finest details of hair, ribbons, and jewelry with Press. I9SJ), pp. 3811".
utmost accuracy. In the end the monumental
solidity of the mature Tang style was diminished 4. Translation by Alexandei (
through an overconscious striving for aristocratic Soper, Literary Evidence fo\
Buddhist Art in China, Ambus
Over the past decades several of the large cave-
temple sites have been thoroughly investigated; a Asiae, Suppl. n> (Ascona:
number of individual temples and buildings have
been restored; groups of religious icons as well as Ambus Asi.u-. [959), pp. it'.
isolated images have been excavated; and several
spectacular reliquary deposits have been recovered 5. Another version of this
from China's great Buddhist heritage. All these apparition talc has been pre-
substantive archaeological finds and results of recent
i in the Mingxiatigji
enriched our understanding of historical records ("Records ot" Miraculous
and literary sources. They help to document
changes in Buddhist piety, worship, and faith; Omens"), b\ VrangYan (act
developments in the structure and importance of
various schools and temples: prominence of Lite sih-early 6th . I Ik- 131
individual deities, saints, patriarchs, donors, and stones th.it can be attributed to
rulers over the centuries. They also allow us deepei
the now lost Mingxiang n make
insight into the nature and living tradition ot W.mcY.m's compilation one ot
Chinese Buddhist art. its liturgical foundations, the most fascinating early
iconography, style, materials, techniques, .\n<\ last but Buddhist miracle-tale collec-
not least, its perfect Sinicizatdon. tions. In 1.1.4 Daoxuan included
this anecdote as the first 111 .1
ol famous images in
chapter ; ofhisji shenzhou son-