Page 122 - Sotheby's Junkunc Collection March 2019

The turbulent years that followed the fall of the Han and of the Northern Wei dynasties, as well as a series
of historical events including the persecution of Buddhists in the mid-5th century, encouraged support
for the teachings of the Candragarbha Sutra. Through the doctrine of the ‘Latter Days of the Law’ (Mo
Fa), this sutra prophesised the end of Buddhism. Angela F. Howard in ‘Buddhist Cave Sculptures of the
Northern Qi Dynasty: Shaping a New Style, Formulating New Iconographies’, Archives of Asian Art, vol.
49, 1996, p. 10, proposes that the emphatic use of stupa on stone, ‘may have represented the yearning of
the believers to defend themselves from this impending disaster’.

The present stele has much in common with stele from the Northern Qi period discovered at the site of
the Xiude temple in Quyang county, Hebei province, where over 2,200 sculptures attributed between
the Northern Wei and the Tang period were excavated. This group was first discussed by Yang Boda in
‘Quyang Xiude si chutu jinian zaoxiang de yishu fengge yu tezhan’, Gugong bowuyuan yuankan, vol. 2
(1960), pp 43-60, and was recently published in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum.
Sculpture, vol. 7, Beijing, 2011, where six stele carved with two standing bodhisattva against a large
mandorla are illustrated, pls 129-134. These figures’ subtle forward bend, the rendering of their robes
tied at the waist with a knot, and their headdresses are very similar to the present example. Stele from
this group, of which more than 100 are inscribed with Northern Qi reign names, are carved from a related
cream-colored marble found exclusively in Quyang, Hebei province, which enjoyed particular popularity
in this period.

A further related example, also with a carved pedestal, in the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Osaka,
is illustrated in Matsubara Saburō, Chūgoku bukkyō chōkoku shiron / The Path of Chinese Buddhist
Sculpture, Tokyo, 1995, vol. II, pl. 408a, together with two smaller examples, pl. 414, nos b and c. See also
two further smaller stele sold in these rooms, 8th November 1980, lot 57, and 26th November 1991, lot
413.

漢室覆滅，北魏分裂，導致時局動盪，加諸五世紀中 院刊》，期2，1960年，頁43-60；文章最近重新
葉太武滅佛，種種因由，致使《月藏經》追隨者眾。 發表在《故宮博物院藏品大系·雕塑編》，卷7，北
經文「末法」預言佛教衰微。Angela F. Howard 京，2011年，當中收錄六座雙菩薩連背光立像碑，
在《Archives of Asian Art》，期49，1996年， 圖版129-134。此六碑的菩薩像均微微前傾，腰繫束
第10頁撰文〈Buddhist Cave Sculptures of the 帶，髮冠造型與本品相近。修德寺曾出百餘尊刻有北
Northern Qi Dynasty: Shaping a New Style, 齊年款之碑像。此類碑多取白色大理石材，時於河北
Formulating New Iconographies〉推測，石雕上 曲陽地區極受推崇。
明顯的寶塔圖案，「或許代表信眾渴望自保，免受即
將降臨之劫難所傷」。 有一近例，亦帶雕刻底座，現藏大阪市立美術館，載
於松原三郎，《中国仏敎彫刻史論》，東京，1995
河北省曲陽縣修德寺遺址曾出土2,200多件北魏至唐 年，卷II，圖版408a；另刊錄兩例較小品，圖版414
代雕像，本品與當中某些北齊造像碑頗為相類。這組 ，編號b及c。另有兩例，尺寸較小，售於紐約蘇富
造像碑最早由楊伯達詳細論及，參見〈曲陽修德寺 比1980年11月8日，編號57及1991年11月26日，編
出土紀年造像的藝術風格與特徵〉，《故宮博物院 號413。

120 JUNKUNC: ARTS OF ANCIENT CHINA