Page 174 - 2018 Hong Kong Important Chieese Art

AMITAYUS

THE BUDDHA OF INFINITE LIFE

This magnificent large and powerfully cast gilt-bronze figure No other comparable gilt-bronze figure to the current
of Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Life, encapsulates the Amitayus appears to be published. However, it shares distinct
distinctive Imperial style created at the Qing court in the early characteristics with the famous gilt-bronze figure of the
18th century. This complex synthesis of influences from China, bodhisattva Avalokitesvara Shadaksari commissioned by the
Tibet and Mongolia can be seen in the legacy of Buddhist Kangxi Emperor in 1686 on the occasion of his grandmother’s
sculptures created for the temples of the Qing emperors’ birthday, from the Qing court collection, preserved in the
summer retreat at Chengde and at the Yonghegong in Beijing Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Buddhist Statues of
and other Buddhist centres. Tibet: The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
Museum, Hong Kong, 2003, p. 237, cat. no. 226. The same
Like his grandmother, the Dowager Empress Xiaozhuang, the
texture of naturalism is evident on the expressions of both
Kangxi Emperor was a devout follower and patron of Tibetan
faces, cast in similar expressions of serenity and ease, with the
Buddhism. Originally of Manchu descent, the Qing ruling class
same treatment of their smoothly rounded chins, well-defined
had intermarried with the Mongol tribes and had converted
noses and gently curving brows. Like the current figure, the
to Tibetan Buddhism. With the Dalai Lama the secular as well
jewellery on the Palace Museum Shadaksari is intricately
as religious leader of Tibet, and with the Kangxi Emperor’s
contained in elaborate floral settings. Other idiosyncratic
assumption of the protectorate over Tibet, politics and
features, such as the gentle folds of the robes below the knee,
religion became inextricably linked at the Qing court. Early on
are present on both sculptures. The same style of bronze
during the Kangxi Emperor’s reign an office devoted solely to
workmanship is also clearly visible on an unpublished gilt-
Tibetan Buddhist affairs known as the Office for the Recitation
bronze figure of Shakyamuni Buddha in the Weltmuseum,
of Sutras was set up in the Zhongzheng Dian, the Hall of
Vienna, dated 1681, where the cold gilding to the surface has
Central Uprightness established in 1697. It formed part of the
rubbed off in places, revealing the rich red-lacquered layering
Department of Ceremonial Affairs and was directly supervised
on the metal, as visible on the arms of the current figure.
by the two officials from the Imperial Household (Neiwufu).
Compare also the distinctive chignon, facial expression and
Considered the centre of all Tibetan Buddhist activities at the
similar pendulous ears on a gilt-bronze figure of Maitreya of
Qing court it was from here that Tibetan and Mongolian lamas
similar size in the Yonghegong, Beijing illustrated in Buddhist
orchestrated all Buddhist activities, commissioning many of
Statues in Yonghegong, Beijing, 2001, pl. 61, dated to the early
the works of art and paintings that were then placed in the
Qing.
numerous temples and shrines. For personal and political
reasons, the Kangxi Emperor patronised Tibetan Buddhism,
erecting some thirty-five Tibetan Buddhist temples and shrines
within the walls of the Forbidden City, and many more across
the empire, especially at the Imperial Mountain Resort of
Chengde, which he founded in 1703.