Page 148 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

religious concepts such as impermanence and
insubstantiality and to describe the transcendental
notions of transmigration and reincarnation.
According to tradition, extensive translation
activities began with the arrival of two Indian
monks, Dharmaratna and Kasyapa Matahga. They
allegedly joined a group of Chinese envoys that had
been dispatched by Emperor Ming of the Eastern
Han dynasty (r. 57-75 ce) in order to track down
the import of a miraculous dream Weapparition.
are told that the two missionaries brought with
them a copy of "The Scripture in Forty-Two
Sections," which they translated into Chinese as
—Sishi'er zhangjing traditionally the first Chinese
rendition of an Indian Buddhist text. The true
origin and date of this work, however, have been
subjects of scholarly controversy. By medieval times,
Dharmaratna and Kasyapa Matahga were regularly
credited with the translation of this "short
collection of aphorisms and pithy moralistic
parables." 1 The emperor is said to have established
the Temple of the White Horse (Baimasi), the first
official Buddhist institution on Chinese soil, as their (618-907) dynasty.
new residence in Luoyang.
Another pioneer missionary and translator was the
Parthian prince known to the Chinese as An
Shigao, who came to Luoyang in 148 ce. The
impact of the Central Asian missionary translator
AKumarajTva (344—409/413?) was even greater.
Kuchean aristocrat turned monk, he had been
invited to China by the ruler of one of the Sixteen
Kingdoms, but en route was captured by a rogue
general and held for nearly two decades in the area
of present-day Gansu Province. There the Kuchean
monk learned Chinese. A new ruler, equally pro-
Buddhist, finally destroyed the rogue general, at
least partly in order to secure KumarajTva's release.
KumarajTva arrived in Chang'an in 402 and became
the spiritus rector of one of the greatest Buddhist
translation projects of sacred scriptures.
At first, Buddhist congregations existed primarily in
the foreign merchant quarters of larger cities; only
gradually did the new religion gain a substantial
following among native Chinese. From roughly the
fourth century, however, religious life in China was
largely dominated by Buddhism. In his preface to
the Luoyang qielau ji ("Record of Buddhist Temples
in Luoyang"), completed in 547, the military leader
and chronicler Yang Xuanzhi noted:
The people and wealthy families parted with
their treasures as easily as with forgotten
rubbish. As a result, Buddhist temples were built
side by side, and stupas [pagodas] rose up in row
after row. People competed among themselves
in making or copying the Buddha's portraits.
Golden stupas matched the imperial
TRANSFIGURING DIVINITIES: BUDDHIST SCULPTURE IN CHINA
observatory in height, and Buddhist lecture
halls were as magnificent as the [ostentatiously
wasteful] Efang [palaces of the Qin dynasty
(221—207 bce)]. Indeed, [Buddhist activity was
so intense] that it was not merely a matter of
clothing wooden [figures] in silk or painting
earthen [idols] in rich colors. 2
Yang Xuanzhi reports that there were forty-two
temples in Luoyang by the beginning of the fourth
century ce and that this number increased rapidly;
by the end of the Wei dynasty in the second half of
the sixth century we have an estimate of no less
than 1,367 Buddhist temples in and around the
capital city. Medieval Chang'an was also early
famed for its magnificent temples. Notwithstanding
—two serious persecutions during 446—452 under
Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei and again
during 574-578 under Emperor Wu of the
—Northern Zhou the Buddhist church continued
to flourish during the Period of Disunity
(220-589), the Sui (589-618), and most of the Tang
The third and most severe suppression, gathering
head from about about 841 and culminating in
844—845, under the reign of the Tang emperor
Wuzong, marked the beginning of a gradual
decline in influence, power, and wealth of the
Buddhist church as an established Ainstitution.
series of increasingly harsh imperial edicts was
directed toward confiscation of monastic property
and secularization of the clergy. The violent return
to secular life of more than a quarter of a million
nuns and priests was witnessed and recorded by the
Japanese pilgrim Ennin (793—864), who kept a
detailed diary of his sojourn in China. The vast
properties and monetary wealth of the Buddhist
church were confiscated by the government, and
some of the splendid temple compounds in
Chang'an were converted into imperial parks.
Buddhist bronze bells and metal icons were ordered
to be surrendered to the state authorities and were
eventually melted down. In the entire empire no
images of bronze, iron, gold, or silver were
permitted for public or private worship. Only
sculptures made of stone, wood, clay, or other
nonmetallic materials are said to have been exempt
from the tragic suppression and devastation. The
actual extent of the loss of religious art and
architecture and of Buddhist literature, icons, and
sacred paraphernalia toward the end of the Tang
dynasty can hardly be imagined. Arriving in
Dengzhou after his own expulsion from Chang'an,
the Japanese pilgrim Ennin noted in his diary:
Although it [Dengzhou] is a remote place, it has
been no different from the capital in the
regulation of monks and nuns, the destruction
of the monasteries, the banning of the
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