Page 82 - September 11 2018 Junkunc Collection Sculpture

The full transformation towards a ravishingly beautiful,
sensuous naturalism in Buddhist imagery, where the religious
message is delivered through a very accessible form of human
beauty did, however, only materialize in the High Tang period.
This period marks the fully matured style of Buddhist stone
sculpture, a style very similarly manifested also in gilt bronze,
clay and wood. This period unquestionably marks one of the
finest eras of China’s sculptural tradition, which brought forth
some of China’s most impressive figurative masterpieces.

The Tang dynasty saw an unequalled flowering of the Buddhist
doctrine, which exerted a major influence on all strata of
Chinese society right up to the court. In spite of repeated
controversies that unfolded around the growing popularity of
this religion and the explosion in the number of monasteries
– investiture as a monk could be useful for saving taxes –
Buddhism continued to grow in popularity until the radical
prosecution of Buddhists in the 840s, but even this setback
appears to have been of only short duration.

Emperor Xuanzong himself had a much closer affinity to
Daoism than Buddhism and undertook repeated efforts to
1 curtail the expansion of the latter religion, although Esoteric
Buddhism with its mystical practices did exert a strong
fascination on him, as on the Tang aristocracy in general. Famous Tantric masters from India worked in
the capital under imperial patronage and performed rituals and magic feats for the emperor. Imperial
sculpture commissions do not seem to have ceased either, as is suggested by a hoard of exquisite white
marble sculptures from this period, discovered at the ruins of the Anguo Temple, an edifice constructed
in 710 next to the imperial palace complex Daminggong in the Tang capital, Chang’an. As an important
place of worship of the zhenyan (‘true word’) school of Esoteric Buddhism, it is unlikely that this
temple and its grand white marble sculptures with details in gilding, could have been produced without
patronage from the imperial family.

҈׼ᒏ׼ाᄘᄓ䷕ᵩ⮱Ⴙڕ䑶䂷㺸᫩Ⰸ਽ȡₑ᭯᱌䕍 ਽⢱Ⴤ᱙ϧ䰃ᰡᅇ䖀᪆喑ࢨᄺჳჄ҈᪆ٲ␬ສ๴喑ڣ
׼㦄䛺㒻㻭喑ᙌ㻭䅽Ⰸ喑Вᣒ䓾ϧᒏȠใ㶕㜨㒻͸ᒏ Ѓ਽А䇡᫼喑ϓ๔็ᄺჳჄ⌞ᙌ㜵䋐ȡ࢝ᏓჳჄ倅ؔ
׼נ䖁Ⴤ᪆Ԏᖜ喑ᭀ᫩䈼ः๔Ⱬᣒऄȡ҈᪆ⴠ䰂䕍׼ ᫩๔਽◧⮴᫼ᑅ∂喑׆ऄ᱊ᐤக䛺喑◧⮴ፊͨᠮऱ䴲
᫩ₑ᭯䌼ڒႹڕ᜽⛌᱌ȡ䮑ⴠ䰂ใ喑䞲Ƞ䮣ࣷ᱕㸪䕍 حᐼࣷ∂θȡₑใ喑მᐤᓎБ㸪҉䕍׼ϓᠮ㎹≨䎺喑
׼ϓॵⰥ䓾䷕ᵩȡₑ᭯᱌♎⪾᭜͚స䕍׼ट̷ᰭ◧ܧ ᓋ਽А仃䘪䪤Ⴖ๔ᬻმ֡Ⴖసᄧ喍710Ꭱᐧ喎䖧౭ܧ
Ⱬ⮱᭯᱌͸̭喑᭯͸䕍׼⪣ᆙ͚సᄘᄓ䷕ᵩ㬊㶀㜨৮ ౌ͸㇫㒻⮪๔⤳ⴠ䰂׼ࢠ㺸ȡႶసᄧᆙჳჄ҈᪆ⱌ㼭
ҠҸȡ Ⴤ喑᝭ܧౌ͸๔⤳ⴠ׼౴㺸᣼䛾㎗丫喑㤜㒻㇫㉝喑㠒
♎მᐤᩜᠮ喑ᄓ䰐᜽͸ȡ
਽А҈᪆๔◧Ⰸ㵹喑ᄺ⹫ᰰ᝭ᰶ䮻ᆑ౴ᰶ䛺๔ᒞ䴬喑
᭯҈ᄧᐌႴ๔ឦ㜵ᐧ喑ؔϧ䖱ज⍈ٺ䈓⼲喑ᒹ䰃఍ᰰ ⪣᳽⃢᭯᱌მᐤᄺ҈᪆ᩜᠮ⼺ᰶ⍈ᑞ喑㬊ࡍᝃ఍㔹䑶
ᬹ⏲҈̭Ꮣ⼺ᰶॳ␜喑ࢨ᱗Ͳࣷ㔹ࣵ䓲䕌ᓖ⩓ȡ ाःᖲℾ䫀Ԏᒿ喑ᰡ䰭⾮ܧ҈׼͸㤜㒻ใ㶕ȡ᱙׼䏘

Fig. 1 A Tang dynasty bodhisattva from the Tianlongshan caves, in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Photograph © 2018
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
ృ̭ ਽Аⴠ䰂㤖㫖⿸׼ ๖咺ᆞⴠ⿌ ∏ธ䵀㒻㶀乕 ృ❴ © 2018 ∏ธ䵀㒻㶀乕 ∏ธ䵀

80 JUNKUNC: CHINESE BUDDHIST SCULPTURE