Page 142 - The Arts of China, By Michael Sullivan Good Book

1 sa Vairocana Buddha Ranked by
Ananda, Kaiyapa, and attendant
boJhisattvas. Stone. Fcng-hsicn-ssu.
Lungmen, Hnnan. T'ang Dynasty.
672-675.

The great Buddhist bronzes of the seventh and eighth centuries
have all disappeared, melted down in the persecution of 845 or lost
through subsequent neglect, and the style can best be seen in the
temples at Nara in Japan. Only in the cave shrines has stone and
clay sculpture survived in any quantity. At Lungmen, in 672, the
emperor Kao-tsung ordered the carving of a colossal figure of the
Buddha Vairocana flanked by the disciples Ananda and Kasyapa,
with attendant bodhisattvas. Obviously intended to rival in size and
magnificence the great Buddha of Yiinkang, this figure of the
Buddha of Boundless Light far surpasses it in power of model-
ling, refinement of proportion, and subtlety of feeling. Even
though badly damaged, the Vairocana well expresses the ideal of
15} Standing Buddha, Udayana type. the Mahay ana, which saw the Buddha not as a great teacher but as
White marble. From Hsiu-cc Pagoda
nearCh'u-yang. Hopci T'ang Dynasty a universal principle radiating out in all directions for all time.