Four Sichuan Buddhist Steles and the Beginnings of Pure Land Imagery in China
Author(s): Dorothy C. Wong
Source: Archives of Asian Art, Vol. 51 (1998/1999), pp. 56-79
Published by: University of Hawai'i Press for the Asia Society
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Four Sichuan
Buddhist
of Pure Land
the Beginnings
Dorothy
Steles
of Virginia
and Southern Dynasties
1 he Northern
(386?589) iswell
a
as
in
of
recognized
period
significant
developments
art history. Idioms and artistic conventions
Chinese
estab
lished in Han-dynasty
(202 BCE?220
CE) art continued,
art forms
while
the acceptance
of Buddhism
and Buddhist
new
artistic
Mutual
influence
expressions.
inspired
and foreign artistic traditions engen
between
indigenous
led
dered vitality, and sometimes
these fertile interactions
to fundamental
in
in
of
and
ways
seeing things
changes
Such
representation.1
and
interactions
how
innovations,
ever, did not occur uniformly A case in point is the coex
and
istence of disparate but parallel traditions at Nanjing
- two
artistic
and
cultural
important
Luoyang
capitals of
and Northern
the Southern
dynasties,
respectively. Even
were
centers of
and
well-known
Luoyang
though Nanjing
mor
content
of
their
the
Buddhism
and of Buddhist
art,
tradi
tuary rituals was still informed by the indigenous
art on steles,
tions of Confucianism
and Daoism. Ritual
to express the
shrines, and sarcophagi continued
mortuary
or
Daoist
virtue
of Confucian
concepts
immortality.
of the thematic repertory of the Han dynasty con
Much
tinued popular: paragons of filial piety or womanly
virtue,
or Immortals and fantastic beasts that populated
the Land
of tra
of the Immortals. One may say that this persistence
a
conservative
ditional ritual art expressed
spirit. Buddhist
on
the
other
hand,
remained
arate" or "other"
tradition.
artistic principles
established
that these two cultural capitals
nous
have
traditions may
a
foreign,
and
thus
"sep
It followed
and
prototypes
by foreign models. The fact
were strongholds of indige
freer interactions
inhibited
between native and foreign traditions.
innovative
This paper argues that some of the more
It examines a group of
occurred
elsewhere.
developments
stone steles
Buddhist
and Southern Dynasties
Northern
new
content
that combined
from Sichuan
ideological
an experimental
of representing
space.2 The
from
Han was
inherited
perspective
parallel orthogonal
a
convergent, multiple-viewpoint
perspective
replaced by
scheme in later
formed the principal compositional
which
with
in China
Imagery
C.Wong
University
art,
and
mode
large-scale Pure Land paintings. The lyricism and sensitive
treatment of landscape in these carvings also marked
the
a
art
those
in
China.
innova
of
That
landscape
beginnings
achievement
tions and that extraordinary
should have
in Sichuan is not surprising. Sichuan had been a
occurred
and cultural center since Han
times,
thriving economic
but compared with Nanjing
and Luoyang,
capital cities
where
ritual art in the service of a state ideology remained
an imperative,
Sichuan
artists a much
always allowed
greater degree of freedom. An analysis of the inventiveness
of the Sichuan
steles elucidates how local artists adroitly
to
conventions
and
transformed
adapted
pre-existing
articulate a new religious doctrine.
The content of the four steles to be discussed informs us
about Buddhist beliefs in Sichuan during the Northern
and
Southern Dynasties. Two of them depict prototypical
images
Pure Land
of the Western
associated
with
Buddhas
s par
the third stele portrays Maitreya
Amit?bha/Amit?yus;
adises; and the fourth contains iconic images of Amit?yus
and Maitreya. The depictions of theWestern
Pure Land and
s paradises count among the very few examples
of Maitreya
that predate
the Tang dynasty
and provide
(618-907),
for understanding
the beginnings
of
evidence
important
Pure Land painting in China.3 The strong devotional
focus
on Amit?bha/Amit?yus
and Maitreya
also distinguishes
the
character of Sichuan Buddhism within
the larger context of
in
Buddhism
China.
early Mah?y?na
It iswell known
that Daoan
(312?385) and his disciple
in
intellectual
(334?416)?two
Huiyuan
key
figures
of Maitreya
Chinese Buddhism?emphasized
the worship
is considered
the
and Amit?bha,
Huiyuan
respectively
in China,
founder of the Pure Land school of Buddhism
but his practice
differed
somewhat
(and that of Daoan)
as a savior that
to Amit?bha/Amit?yus
from the devotion
Both
characterized
later popular Pure Land Buddhism.
were
Daoan
eclectic:
and Huiyuan
they advocated
the earliest
of Wisdom,"
("Perfection
Prajn?p?ramit?
school
of Mah?y?na
devotional
the bodhisattva
Buddhism),
and dhyfina ("meditation")
Buddhism,
the missionary
work of their disciples,
Through
ings of Daoan
doctrine,
practice.
the teach
belief
and Huiyuan
influenced Buddhist
the nature of the
and practice in Sichuan. Understanding
in Sichuan provides a context within
Buddhism
practiced
to interpret the complex
which
programs of
iconographie
Sichuan
the pictorial
reliefs on the hitherto
unexplored
steles. This interpretation
suggests that the origins
Land imagery may be rooted in the early Chinese
as expounded
doctrine
standing of Mah?y?na
of
and
Daoan
teachings
Huiyuan.
56
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of Pure
under
in the
As Pure Land Buddhism
strength, Amit?bha's
gained
elsewhere
Pure Land was also being represented
Western
in
as in
China,
sixth-century
relief figurai
porate
cave-tem
the Xiangtangshan
the Sichuan steles are unique in
low
landscape and in their graphic,
incor
characteristics
and
these
unique
style,
ples of Hebei-Henan.
their treatment of
But
art
pre-existing
tomb
styles
in
prevalent
Sichuan,
exem
tomb reliefs of the
tiles and other
plified by pictorial
interactions with
local artistic
Han dynasty. Buddhism's
account
artistic
for the distinctive
traditions
therefore
In
of
steles.
the
these
Sichuan
Buddhist
highly
expression
and Luoyang,
societies of Nanjing
individual
sophisticated
were
artists, some from literate and elitist backgrounds,
to
social
stand
and
gain recognition
beginning
improved
ing by virtue of their art. But in Sichuan artists/artisans
Since
the Sichuan
steles
remained
largely anonymous.
cannot be associated with
known
artists, they bring to
attention
the
role
tional
innovation,
creative
ascribing
have
survived
of
and
in
craftsmen
anonymous
cast doubt
breakthroughs
in literary records.
on
representa
the
of
relevancy
names
to artists whose
Our steles number
1-3, portraying Pure Land and para
dise imagery, all come from the famous Wanfosi
("Temple
of Myriad
site in Chengdu,
Sichuan. Our
Buddhas")
iconic
of Amit?yus
number
and
4, bearing
images
comes
Mao
from
of
The
north
xian,
Maitreya,
Chengdu.
in fragments by the time they were
Wanfosi
steles were
first excavated,
recently.
whereas
But
careful
the Mao
comparison
xian
stele was
of
the
damaged
reconstruct
ed fragments confirm that all four steles were oblong slabs,
relatively shallow in depth but carved on all four sides. All
probably stood between one and two meters high. In both
from
style and content these Sichuan steles vary markedly
the typical northern Buddhist
steles of the fifth and sixth
centuries.4
Wanfosi was a large monastery
located about five hun
dred meters outside the western
gate of the old city wall
of Chengdu. Within
the last century the site has yielded
sculpture hoards totaling hundreds of objects: the
came in 1882, followed by others in 1937,
first discovery
and 1954. Many
1953,
1945?46,
sculptures from the first
hoard have since been lost. Those from the later finds are
a small number
in the Sichuan Provincial Museum;
mostly
several
are kept in the Chengdu Municipal
Museum
and in the
Sichuan University Museum. All carved from the soft red
in the Sichuan plateau,
dish sandstone
typically found
consist of individual Buddhist
sculptures
figures,
steles, and a few swira-pillars (multifaced
carvings,
texts of sutras). They mainly
date
pillars inscribed with
from the Northern
and Southern
and Tang
Dynasties
these
relief
sculptures,
however,
has
yet
to
appear.
steles all date from the Northern
three Wanfosi
a
when
the temple first became
and Southern Dynasties,
1
most
art
center.
is
Buddhist
Stele
the
major
problemat
ic of the three, because
it is known only from a rubbing
in Chinese
sources, the stone
(Fig. 1).6 Based on accounts
The
was
part of the first find, that of 1882. Wang
Liansheng
in Tianxiangge
the discovery
recorded
biji, mentioning
that three of the sculptures bore inscriptions. He further
wrote that the earliest of these three was dated to theYuanjia
and that itwas superbly carved. At
(424-453)
reign-period
the request of his father, who was then chief of Chengdu
to
built a small temple, called Xiao Wanfosi,
county, Wang
house
the
The
later
and
the sculptures.
temple
collapsed
the three
lost, but not,
sculptures were
apparently,
inscribed pieces, which Wang
had removed
earlier. The
to
stele is said
have been sold by his descen
Yuanjia-dated
a few rubbings of the stele survived. In the
dants.7 Only
and
early part of this century one of them was published
circulated as a "Han pictorial
relief." On the basis of the
on the right side of the rub
modern
inscription written
asserts
the
that this rubbing was
1958
catalogue
bing,
FOUR SICHUAN STELES:
FORMS, CONTENT, AND DATING
more
In 1958 fifty selected pieces were published
by
periods.
A full study of theWanfosi
Liu Zhiyuan
and LiuTingbi.5
taken from the Yuanjia-dated
stele.8 This claim, however,
cannot be ascertained
has
the dated inscription
because
never been published
In
the
with
together
rubbing.9
of
Toshio published
the first major
1969 Nagahiro
study
it to be a fine work
the stele, judging
of Southern
Buddhist
art.10 Given
the uncertainties
about
Dynasties
the authenticity
and date of the stele, it deserves a thor
in conjunction
with
the
investigation,
ough
especially
other
Sichuan
steles.
in
made
rubbing in Figure iA is a reconstruction,
on
Liu
based
the
Japan,
original
rubbing published
by
It shows a large
and Liu Tingbi
and by Nagahiro.
Zhiyuan
fragment of a stone slab that has been damaged at the top
and at the bottom. The main
relief depicts a number of
scenes in landscape settings, which will be examined
in the
next
section. Of
the damaged
section,
upper
enough
details remain to show that it represents a bridge over a
The
lotus pond?one
of the earliest representations
of this key
Pure
of
element
Land
The
relief
iconographie
imagery.
on
one
the
of
the
from
right edge
panels
rubbing?taken
as
of the narrow sides of the stele?have
been identified
scenes from the story of the Buddha's
a
common
life,
theme in early Buddhist
art.11
Stele 2 bears no date but can be assigned approximate
into
century. It is broken horizontally
ly to the mid-sixth
two halves, and the upper half is somewhat
at
damaged
cm
cm
the top (Figs. 2, 2A).12 Itmeasures
119
high, 64.5
and 24.8 cm thick. The obverse
is composed
of
wide,
in
in
three tiers of unequal
the
topmost,
height:
high
relief, are two standing bodhisattvas
by
accompanied
57
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with secular landscape. Rubbing
of reverse of Stele
i,
from Wanfosi
6th century
site,
(?). Recovered
sth-early
in Sichuan
Provincial
Dimensions
unknown.
Rubbing
Chengdu,
shike yishu
From: Liu Zhiyuan
and LiuTingbi,
Museum.
eds., Chengdu Wanfosi
1958), pi. 3 1.
yishu chubanshe,
(Shanghai: Zhongguo
gudian
Fig.
i. Pure Land
partially
depiction
I. From:
of Stele
Toshio,
Fig. iA. Reconstruction
Nagahiro
no kenkyu
Rikuch?
(Tokyo: Bijutsu
jidai bijutsu
shuppansha,
1969), pp. 56-66, pi. 9.
damaged,
Sichuan.
three pairs of subsidiary figures holding various offerings
(the two subsidiary figures in front wear high crowns and
donors or Hindu
deities such as
may represent princely
tier a pair of guardian figures and a
Indra); in the middle
urn from which
grow
pair of lions flank the brimming
that serve as pedestals for the two
the two lotus blossoms
in the bottom
tier is a row of gandharvas
bodhisattvas;
a censer in the shape of a
musicians)
(heavenly
flanking
lotus. On
the reverse is a large pictorial
relief, closely
that of Stele 1 (to be discussed below).
comparable with
section corresponding
The upper half of this relief?the
area of Stele 1?clearly
to the missing
shows a prototyp
ical
Pure
Land
scene?across
a lotus
pond
we
see
a hier
and palace archi
atic Buddhist
assembly, lush vegetation,
tecture. Comparison
of these two reliefs makes clear that
albeit with
the same subject matter,
they represented
as the very top of the rubbing of Stele 1
small variations,
across a lotus pond,
located bridge
shows a centrally
to
and
similar
the
bridge
pond in the top half of
closely
also suggests that, like Stele 2, Stele
Stele 2. Comparison
1was probably carved with
iconic images in high relief
Fig.
1B. Diagram
of Stele
1. By
5?
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the author.
Fig. 2A.
Obverse
Fig. 2. Pure Land
2, reconstructed
from Wanfosi
ofWanfosi
Stele
depiction with secular landscape. Reverse
two fragments.
Mid-6th
from
century. Recovered
h. 119 cm, w. 64.5
Sichuan. Red
sandstone;
site, Chengdu,
Museum.
Provincial
cm, d. 24.8 cm. Sichuan
diaosu vol.
quanji series, Wei Jin Nanbeichao
chubanshe,
1988), pi. 63.
From:
(Beijing:
Zhongguo
Renmin
Two
of
bodhisattvas
standing
2. From: China:
Stele
on
lotuses
5,000 Years,
ed. Howard
Rodgers
in the Arts,
Transformation
R. Guggenheim
Solomon
Museum,
1998),
pi.
with
attendants.
Innovation
(New
and
York:
151.
meishu
meishu
on the obverse. As on the rubbing of Stele 1, the two shal
low sides of Stele 2 are carved with pictorial reliefs divid
have not been iden
ed in registers, the subjects of which
tified.
The surviving fragment of Stele 3 (Fig.f) appears to be
the upper half, since its top edge is even, and on the
reverse the scenes immediately
below the edge are com
on
In
is a spiral-like depic
relief
the
obverse
high
plete.
in
the reverse we see Maitreya
tion of Mt. Meru.13 On
10
12
his paradises, arranged in three horizontal
registers. The
as
a
in a
bodhisattva
shows
topmost
Maitreya
register
to
The
mid
in
be
reborn.
heaven,
Tu?ita
waiting
palace
ruled by
the ideal kingdom
dle register depicts Ketumat?,
turns theWheel
a cakravartin ("king who
of the Law," or
is reborn. Once
universal
ruler), into which Maitreya
as a Buddha
will
reborn, Maitreya
gain enlightenment
/
Fig. 2B. Diagram
of reverse
of Stele
2, lower
half. By
the author.
in the
and hold three assemblies. The groups of figures
we
these
three
assemblies.
middle
Below,
register signify
see events and circumstances
in Ketumat?:
the sowing of
59
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in Tusita Heaven
and
Fig. 3.Maitreya
Ketumat?. Diagram
of reverse of Stele
3, upper half. Late 6th?7th
century.
Recovered
from Wanfosi
site,
Chengdu,
dimensions
Provincial
seeds
that
harvests
sevenfold
yield
(lower
left); the
and attendants
cakravartin, his wife,
taking the tonsure
to destroy the
(lower right); several brahmins
attempting
Seven
Tower of the
the Seven Treasures being
Treasures,
emblems of the cakravartin (middle right).The
subjects of
all three registers have been
identified
by comparison
scenes of the Tang dynasty, such
with Maitreya
paradise
as amural in
Cave 148, dated to 776, in which
Dunhuang
the Tusita heaven
is labeled as such (Fig. 7). But in con
trast to most Dunhuang
are
murals
of Tang date, which
conspicuously
composition,
a
and conventionalized
symmetrical
our Stele 3 displays a freer composition
narrative
stronger
the Wanfosi
character?traits
which
suggest
in
and
that
relief
antedates
the Dunhuang
murals.
Maitreya
imagery is not the focus of the present discus
here for the light it sheds on the
sion; it is considered
1 and
and
iconography
representational
style of Steles
Steles
1, 2,
and
3 were
examination
comparative
as
recovered
enables
us
appearance. The remains of
original
that
these were
slabs,
gest
oblong
embellished
with
carvings on all four
with
iconic or other images in high
a composite
with
relief that
pictorial
scene
at
the
top,
and
in low relief.15
panels
the rubbing
the
reverse.
showing
the
two
narrow
to
fragments,
reconstruct
but
a
their
Steles 2 and 3 sug
in depth,
shallow
sides?the
obverse
relief, the reverse
includes a paradise
sides
with
narrative
Stele 1was probably
similar, with
the proper left of the lower half of
Sichuan.
Red
unknown.
sandstone;
Sichuan
Museum.
If the authenticity
and date of Stele i remain uncer
2
and 3 offer iconographie
and stylistic evi
tain, Steles
dence that permits
the establishment
of a chronological
on
The motif
of paired
the
bodhisattvas
sequence.
in Northern
obverse of Stele 2, for example, was popular
In their sinuous curves and
Qi
(550?557)
sculptures.16
sensuous modeling
they also compare with other sculp
tures from theWanfosi
site, such as a group dated to 548
suggest that Stele 2 was
(Fig. 8).11 These
comparisons
or
made about the middle
third quarter of the sixth
part
century.
In
addition
to
the
sensuous
carving,
such
motifs
as the brimming
urn, the gandharva
figures, and the
donors
suggest very strong and
high-crowned
princely
direct influence from Gupta
India.18 Stele 3we judge to
or
be slightly later, late sixth
early seventh century, first,
because
second,
its
paradise
composition
Meru
because
the Mt.
is more
theme
on
complex,
the obverse
and
has
a number
been
associated with
of late sixth-century
1
works.19
Stele
resembles
Stele 2 far more
closely than
it does Stele 3. In a number
of key elements
the reliefs
of Steles 1 and 2 are almost identical. But the tentative
in the rep
quality of the carving on Stele 1, especially
of space, and the use of the older parallel
resentation
would
orthogonal
perspective,
place it earlier than Stele
2 (see further discussion
in the early
below),
perhaps
sixth or even the fifth century.
Stele 4, dated to 483, comes from Mao
xian, not far
north of Chengdu
in the 1920s, it
(Figs. 4, 4A). Discovered
was displayed first in a temple and later in front of a
library
60
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(right) and Maitreya
to
and reverse of Stele 4. Dated
h. 118 cm,
xian, Sichuan. Red
483. Mao
sandstone;
w. 50 cm. Sichuan
Provincial
Museum.
Fig. 4. Amit?yus
Buddha. Obverse
Buddha
From: Zhongguo
meishu quanji series, Wei Jin
Nanbeichao
diaosu vol. (Beijing: Renmin
meishu
chubanshe,
1988), pi. 44.
Fig. 4A. Reconstruction
of Stele 4. From: Yuan
"Sichuan
Shuguang,
Maowen
Nan Qi
Yongming
youguan
1990.2,
ji
zaoxiangbei
wenti," Wenwu
1.
fig.
61
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in a park. In 1935 a Sichuan warlord
stole it and broke it
into several pieces, in order to smuggle out of China and
sell the pieces bearing
the images. But this attempt was
several pieces, is now in the
thwarted; the stele, still missing
Sichuan Provincial Museum.
the main portion
Although
of the slab,with
the two Buddhas on obverse and reverse,
has long been published
and illustrated, itwas only in 1990
a reconstruction
thatYuan Shuguang published
of the stele
(Fig.4Ay?
to this reconstruction,
According
was
ment
in
rectangular
the original
about
shape,
170
monu
centimeters
and 21 centimeters
thick.
wide,
are each carved in low relief with
a
identified
single large Buddha,
by inscription:
standing
and seated
Amit?yus
(Fig. 4A, no. 4) on the obverse
of the top
Maitreya
(Fig. 4A, no. 2) on the reverse.21 Much
is missing;
the surviving
section
shows small Buddha
two narrow sides present more
small
images in niches.The
Buddha
with
and
bodhisattvas
images, along
standing
small figures in mountain
huts (one is a monk
practicing
high, 73 centimeters
Obverse
and reverse
is a standing Buddha;
the rest are
dhyfina
to
distinct
identification).
insufficiently
permit
appear on both of the narrow sides. The main
Inscriptions
inscription
(Fig. 4A, no. f) reads:
and
On
another
the fifteenth
in the guihai year, the first
day of the seventh month,
the Yongming
of
Qi. Monk
reign
[483]
[Southern]
an administrator
ofWestern
dedicates
Liang,22
reverently
of
year
Xuansong,
the images
emperor,
of Amit?yus
his ministers,
and
relatives,
brothers,
their hearts,
Virtues.
and
the Future
teachers
Buddha
Maitreya
for
the
of many
my
parents,
generations,
all sentient
all beings
open
up
beings. May
in the Three
and practice
believe
the Ten Good
Jewels,
to encounter
all have the good fortune
attend
Maitreya,
May
the Future Buddha's
three
and be released
from
the chain
assemblies,
full Dharma
[Maitreya's]
Body will
ferry every being
to achieve
full enlightenment.
Monk
shore]
[across to the other
this [project].
Sengcheng...together
accomplished
of
The
existence.
the main
is half-illegible,
but
inscription
a
as
a
the
title
donor
zhenzhu
of
of
(chief
gives
garrison
on the other side (Fig. 4A, no. 1),
town). The
inscription
next to the Buddha
hut, records
standing in a mountain
Buddhist
doctrine:
line below
are impermanent,
[forms of] existence
life is to extinguish
the causes of existence.
All
and all material
forms
cease
to exist,
bliss
therefore
When
of
the purpose
life is annihilated
arrives.
THE ICONOGRAPHY OF STELES 1AND 2
The reverse of Steles i and 2 share a similar horizontal
in the lower half are scenes in
ly divided
composition:
in
the
upper half, the imagery of a pro
landscape settings,
Pure Land (S: Sukh?vat?).
totypical Western
Pure Land paintings
of later times, such as those at
been
have
associated
with the three Pure Land
Dunhuang,
texts: the longer Sukh?vat?-vy?ha
Sutra (C: Wuliangshou
jing), the shorter Sukh?vat?-vy?ha Sutra (C:Amituo jing), and
the Amit?yur-dhy?na
S?tra (C: Guan Wuliangshoufo jing) .23
texts describe
These
the Western
Pure Land
Sukh?vat?,
over
Amit?bha
of
Infinite
(Buddha
presided
by
Light), as a
of
and
free
of
sin
all
and
place
delight
splendor,
suffering,
filled with delectable
scents, flowers, fruits, gemmy
trees,
and sweet-voiced
birds. Jeweled flowers float in its fragrant
rivers. The sky is bright with ornaments,
heavenly musi
cians (gandharvas) make music, and apsarases dance. Beings
reborn there are endowed with amultitude
of virtues, and
enjoy fine dress, ornaments, gardens, palaces, and pavilions.
come to glorify Amit?bha
Buddhas
of the Ten Directions
Buddha,
showering flowers upon him.
a realm,
in so blissful
The
of rebirth
possibility
sensuous
described
with
such luxuriant,
imagery, won
a
Pure Land beliefs
in China
and later in
large following
faith has inspired the cre
Japan. This popular devotional
ation of some of the most magnificent
Buddhist
paint
at Dunhuang
wall murals
ings. Two eighth-century
epit
omize
the grandeur
and splendor
(S: alarhk?ra) of the
Pure Land imagery
(Figs. 5, 6).24
The Wanfosi
steles show earlier
of this
imaginings
1
most
Land of Bliss. The
of
Stele
shows
of a
rubbing
over
a
a
the
lotus
lotus
bridge
pond,
being
symbol of
and
in
thus
the
Pure
element
Land
spiritual purity
key
the
in
the
stele,
imagery. Beyond
bridge,
undamaged
have appeared the Land of Bliss itself. Stele 2 fea
would
tures the lotus pond with
in it,
reborn beings swimming
luxuriant
and
architecture,
vegetation,
pavilions
palace
and apsarases dancing, and
gandharvas playing instruments
to
an
Amit?bha
preaching
assembly. All of these elements
with
later
of the Western
Pure
correspond
depictions
extant Pure Land paintings
Land. Most
date from the
two other mid-sixth-century
seventh
century. Only
are
cave
from
known?one
the Maijishan
examples
cave
and one from the Xiangtangshan
see
discussion
with
10;
9,
temples
(Figs.
below).Together
the two Sichuan reliefs they represent some of the earli
est depictions
of the Pure Land.
a central bridge clearly
In our Steles 1 and 2, however,
links the Pure Land with
the temporal
landscape below.
two
a single icono
the
constitute
that
parts
Assuming
an
of
the
half is cru
lower
graphie program,
interpretation
cial to understanding
the reliefs overall import. For clari
temples
4 places it early in our sequence of
its devotional
icons anticipate
steles. Moreover,
the focus of theWanfosi
steles. If Steles 1 and 2 represent
The
date of Stele
Sichuan
theWestern
Pure Land of Amit?bha/Amit?yus
and Stele 3
the paradises of Maitreya,
then the icons of Stele 4 attest
to the strength of the cults of these two Buddhas
in the
even
fifth
the
their
before
century,
region during
supernal
realms began
to be represented.
in Gansu,
ty in discussion,
I divide
the reliefs
62
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into horizontal
tiers
Fig.
5. Amit?yus'
Pure Land,
century. Dunhuang,
From:
wall. Mural.
Tonk?
Bakkukutsu
Gansu,
Ch?goku
vol.(Tokyo:
ist half of 8th
Cave
320, north
sekkutsu series,
Heibonsha,
1982), vol. 4, pl. 4.
Fig.
'?
6. Amit?yus'
Dunhuang,
east wall.
'UR
series,
Tonko~
Heibonsha,
to the top tier and
and number
them from the bottom
from right to left (see drawings, Figs. iB and 2A).
The two reliefs show several distinctively
similar scenes
scenes
in similar positions;
also
of similar
they
comprise
as well as scenes of dissimi
content
in different positions,
lar content. Despite
the differences,
there are enough sim
Pure
Gansu,
Mural.
1982),
Land.
Dated
Cave
148,
From:
Chttgoku
vol.
Bakkukutsu
vol.
south
to
776.
side of
sekkutsu
(Tokyo:
4, pi. 39.
to suggest that they represent essentially
the same
one
matter
is
derived
and
that
Stele
2)
subject
(presumably
from the other, with some variations. The reliefs appear to
depict some kind of stories. In the first major
study of
Stele 1,Nagahiro
Toshio proposed
that it represents tales
from the j?takas (stories of the Buddha s previous lives) and
ilarities
63
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^^fia3^^**^^^^^^!^^^^
Fig. 7. Maitreya
Ketumat?. Dated
Gansu,
Mural.
Cave
in Tusita
and
to 776. Dunhuang,
148, south wall.
From: Dunhuang
bihua,
chubanshe,
1959),
(Beijing: Wenwu
pi.
163.
avad?nas (parables) explicating
the Buddhist
concept of the
six p?ramit?s
Two
collections
of such
("perfections").25
in
Buddhist moralistic
tales were
translated into Chinese
the south in the third century and thus were available as
textual sources: the Liudu ji jing (Collection of Stories of the
Six P?ramit?s), translated by Kang Senghui
(d. 280), and the
Fusa benyuanjing (Stories ofBodhisattvasyVows),
translated by
(act. 223-253).20
Zhiqian
or any
evidence
any supporting
Lacking
epigraphic
it proves almost impos
similar representations
elsewhere,
content.
For
the exact narrative
sible to determine
instance, there are five stories in the Liudu ji jing relating
lu*
to events at sea. For the sailboat scene Nagahiro
suggested
at
"A bodhisattva
sacrificing his life to save merchants
that itmight
sea,"27 but other scholars conjectured
repre
sent AvalokitesVara
saving people from shipwreck.28 These
indicate
the problems
of
widely
hypotheses
disparate
icono
identification.
the
whole
Interpreting
piecemeal
graphie program as a single unit may yield less tenuous
to link
results. Rather
than following
attempts
previous
stories such as j?takas and
individual scenes to text-based
avad?nas, I will divide the scenes into two major groups:
mundane
to 548. Recovered
from
with
attendants.
Dated
Fig. 8. Bodhisattva
h. 44 cm, w. 37 cm, d.
Sichuan. Red
wanfosi
sandstone;
site, Chengdu,
Museum.
From: Zhongguo
meishu
Provincial
15.5 cm. Sichuan
quanji
meishu
chuban
diaosu vol. (Beijing: Renmin
series, Wei Jin Nanbeichao
she,
1988), pi. 58.
and religious.
with
the first group, at top right of Stele 1, a
Beginning
carries
three
three persons
(Fig. lB). Nearby,
sailing ship
or
are
swimming,
suggesting
figures
shipwreck
danger at
sea. At the shore below
a flying
is a kneeling
with
figure,
to the left. A similar scene is depict
apsaras or bodhisattva
ed at top right of Stele 2, with
64
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the character
shui ("water")
Pure Land. Western
Fig. 9. Amit?bha's
Wei
(535-557).
dynasty
Maijishan,
Gansu, Cave
127, above a Buddha's
From:
niche. Mural.
series, Bakusekizan
Chngoku
sekkutsu vol.
Heibonsha,
sekkutsu
(Tokyo:
161.
1987), pi.
,?/"-^
left of
inscribed in the center (Fig. 2B.10). In the bottom
both reliefs, a seated figure is seen praying inside a house;
three half-naked,
demon-like
figures surround the house,
as
if they were about to attack
making
threatening gestures
it (Fig. 1B.3, Fig. 2B.6). The
Fig.
io. Amit?bhaV
Gallery
of Art,
agile figures
Pure Land. Northern
Smithsonian
Institution,
Qi
dynasty
Washington,
look menacing,
(550-577).
Xiangtangshan
ace. no. 21.2.
or demons,
that they may be troublemakers
suggesting
in Buddhist
often encountered
in
tales. The protagonists
both the sailboat and house scenes appear to be praying to
to this
deities for protection.
A third scene belonging
a
center
is
in
the
of
Stele
where
i,
group
depicted
figure
cave-temple,
Henan.
Stone;
h.
158 cm, w.
305 cm. Courtesy
of the Freer
DC,
65
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into ten bh??mi,or stages), is the only way to Enlightenment.
in China as Banruoxue, Prajn?p?ramit? was the first
Known
school of Chinese
Buddhist
major
philosophy,
flourishing
between
the third and fifth centuries. Itwas studied by most
of the well-known
masters, including Daoan
(312-385) and
his disciple Huiyuan
the arrival of the
(334-416). With
at Chang'an
in
Kuchean monk Kum?rajiva
(ca. 343?413)
now
as
the
401, Prajn?p?ramit?
systematized
teaching,
school, reached a peak in the early fifth centu
M?dhyamika
ry.30
s suggestion
that Stele 1 relates to the p?rami
Nagahiro
t? concept
is insightful, because
it interprets the relief in
context. I cannot, however, accept his
the proto-Mah?y?na
argument
linking the reliefs to j?taka and avad?na tales,
to the visual vocabulary
which belong
of early Buddhism.
Instead, I shall attempt to interpret them as visual concep
tions of the new Mah?y?na
world view.
can support
One
hitherto
motif,
unidentified,
specific
s
At
the
lower
Nagahiro
general interpretation.
right Stele
1 portrays a bodhisattva
on
a
wicker
with his
stool,
sitting
right leg crossing over the left leg; a lay figure
con
in front of him (Fig. 1B.1). The cross-legged,
is
in
bodhisattva
both
templating
frequently
represented
India and China, but the adorant makes this scene distinc
tive. A similar motif
appears on Stele 2, but here the
proper
kneels
ii. The bodhisattva's
(581-618).
Fig.
prophecy. Sui dynasty
From: ChtJgoku
mural.
sekkutsu
Gansu, Cave
423. Ceiling
Bakkukutsu
vol. (Tokyo: Heibonsha,
1980), vol. 2, pi. 34.
seizes a kneeling
ister punishment
Dunhuang,
series, Tonku
by the hair, as if about to admin
dramatic scenes clear
(Fig. 1B.5).29These
in this world: ship
ly suggest the adversities encountered
Several scenes on both ste
wreck, robbery, or punishment.
les simply show a couple of figures conversing or running
(Figs.
1B.2,
1B.6,
person
2B.1,
2B.3-2B.5).
The second group shows activities or symbols associat
ed with Buddhist worship. The key scene on Stele 1, at
middle
(Fig.
right, shows six figures seated in a semicircle
wear haloes and sit on lotuses. Before
them, a
i?.4).They
the adorants and the haloed fig
couple kneels. Between
ures stand a low table, trays, a box, and bowls. Since the six
dhoti and scarves but Chinese
figures are not wearing
But their haloes and
robes, they cannot be bodhisattvas.
lotus pedestals indicate they are spiritual entities. Based on
the symbolism of the number six, Nagahiro
suggested that
six virtues or perfec
they represent the six p?ramit?s?the
tions that must be practiced by anyone aspiring to become
a Buddha, namely, charity (d?na), morality
(s?la), patience
(ks?nti), vigor
(v?rya), meditation
(dhy?na), and wisdom
(praj?a).
The six p?ramit?s are a key concept in the bodhisattva doc
trine of early Mah?y?na
Buddhism,
particularly prominent
in Prajn?p?ramit?
of Wisdom")
("Perfection
thought.
to this school of thought, following
the bod
According
hisattva path by practicing the six p?ramit?s (later developed
is less distinct
(Fig. 2B.2)*1 The same motif
iconography
occurs
in a number
murals
of the Sui
of Dunhuang
scholars have long
dynasty (581?619; Fig. n).32 Dunhuang
as pusa shouji, or "the bodhisattva
s
identified
this motif
to an aspirant taking
(S: vy?karana), referring
prophecy"
the bodhisattva vow (S:pranidh?nd) in front of a bodhisatt
va. The bodhisattva
in turn promises
the aspirant s future
The
motif
therefore
the
portrays
Enlightenment.
ritual of taking the bodhisattva
vow, a signifi
Mah?y?na
cant moment
on
when
the aspirant is fully concentrated
a state of mind
called bodhicitta.33 The
Enlightenment,
resolve to gain Enlightenment
initiates the aspirant s bod
hisattva career of practicing
the p?ramit?s.
in front of a bod
Visually, the layman figure kneeling
hisattva parallels the famous Diparhkara motif, which
shows
Sumedha
Buddha
prostrating himself before Diparhkara
art and appears
(Fig. 12). It is a popular theme in Gandh?ran
also in early Chinese Buddhist art.The historical Buddha, in
a previous
as the young brahmin
incarnation
Sumedha,
encountered
for the first time the Buddha
of his aeon,
and
Diparhkara. He begged flowers from a young woman
to pass by, then threw the flowers
waited
for Diparhkara
over the Buddha s head and prostrated himself before the
Buddha,
spreading his hair on the ground for the Buddha
to walk upon. Itwas to Diparhkara
that the future Gautama
Buddha first made his vow to win full Enlightenment,
and
the fulfillment of this vow.34
Diparhkara prophesied
The Diparhkara j?taka emphasizes Sumedha s adoration of
the Buddha,
his resolve to gain Enlightenment,
and the
66
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12. D?pamkara
Buddha's
prophecy. Ca. late ist-2nd
Fig.
century.
One
Sikri St?pa, Gandh?ra. Gray
theUniversityPress,i960),
fig.73.
?*?*u^?""
>? ?=?
-?,
_
.,__
*? f.i
.-
..-.
?
,-?*"-.
-?
-**-
>-->??-?
.
^ ?...
'
- ? . .Ja^.
^^MM?HHM|H|MHBtfHHHMHpppp
"*^!\('?^^
^ ^^^^l^?w
yJ^^^^j^"*
lfm
?(jH^H ^*fl ^Sil^^f^^^^^
;, ,^B^H il jn 1 *&pS& v* tfL.
|L\
*?u ?Lj
!
k,
".?
fi^?'~
'
n*
*SwffjrA
V*' wl *ffiSBB* JEBE
'
??
\sjr'
''*?''Sb?S^*1t
iBSKJlffflB
That story, however, also incor
prophecy of Buddhahood.
exists in
the
that only one Buddha
porates
early concept
each kalpa ("aeon") and that therefore only a few beings
are destined
to become Buddhas.
In the Mah?y?na
teach
vow
are
the
and
the
made
available
promise
ing, however,
to all beings and at all times. The similarity between
the
s prophecy
and the new bodhisattva
old Diparhkara motif
Since the upper halves of Steles i and 2 represent a place
of spiritual purity and bliss, then the lower halves should
be read as the mundane world, full of dangers and temp
tations but at the same time the locus of a program of reli
gious practice and worship
leading to rebirth in the Pure
Land depicted
above.
a spiritual realm above and the
The division between
a prostrate figure taking a vow in
depicting
or a bodhisattva who
in turn prophe
front of a Buddha
cies the attainment
that the newer
of this vow?suggests
is an adaptation of the older one.35 The parallel sto
motif
a conceptual
ries denote
affinity, but the new Mah?y?na
a change in the identity of the pro
doctrine necessitated
to the distinction
temporal world below also corresponds
in
between
and
lands
Buddhist
pure
impure
cosmology.38
1 (above scene
seen on Stele
The
cloud motif
1.7),
motif?each
tagonists.
tradition p?ramit? also means "gone to
invests the term with
the meaning
of
on
most
The
shown
bridge,
clearly
spiritual progress.36
and connects
the mundane
and
Stele 2, both demarcates
It
the
worlds.
thus
becomes
supernal
principal
symbol of
in
the
"vehicle"
that
ferries
reli
y?na
Mah?y?na
thought,
to
celestial
shore.
Edward
Conze
the
aspirants
gious
In the Mah?y?na
the beyond," which
wrote:
or
of a "vehicle"
because
the Buddhist
doctrine,
speaks
as a raft, or a ship, which
is conceived
carries us across
Dharma...,
to a "Beyond,"
to salvation,
to
the ocean
of this world
of suffering
7
Nirvana."3
One
artistic symbolism,
is
adapted from traditional Chinese
to separate sacred from earthly space. (In
another device
Eastern Zhou
[771-256 BCE] and Han art the cloud scroll
Immortals and fantastic beasts, or
accompanies
frequently
connotes
the Daoist
concept of qi, the breath force.) The
is
land
called
sah? (sah?loka, sah?lokadh?tu; C: suopo
impure
In
Buddhism
sah? refers to the universe
of
shijie).
early
to
In
the
persons
transmigration.
subject
Mah?y?na
scheme
sah? becomes
the "land of transformation"
(C:
the
land
where
the
Buddha dwells and in which
all
huatu),
are
an
transformed.
Each
Buddha
advanced
(or
beings
in the Mah?y?na
has his own
bodhisattva)
pantheon
z cosmos in which
Buddha field (buddhaksetra; C:fot?),
he
exerts
spiritual influence.
is
Stele 2, at top center of the lower half, a Buddha
an
to
two
in
audience
preaching
arranged
symmetrical
On
67
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a waisted
several tall spires surmounting
diamond
throne, symbolic of the sacred body of the Buddha
(Fig.
2B. 12).The Buddha preaching
and the stupa allude to the
to purify this land
transformative
power of the Buddha
and to prepare people for rebirth.
The concept of sah?loka thus explains why
the secular
scenes
virtue
both
of
Buddhist
and
landscape comprises
scenes of evil and adversity. Later Japanese Pure Land
not directly
related, depict
(Fig. if), although
paintings
similar themes, such as The White Path Between Two Rivers.
narrow
In this narrative a man hurries along a perilously
a river of water and a river of flame,
white path between
with
pursued by human and animal predators. His only hope is
to go forward along the difficult,
solitary path until he
Pure Land.39 Religious
reaches the western
shore?the
in the "land of trans
aspirants seek to purify themselves
to achieve
in order
But
formation"
Enlightenment.
Buddhists
Mah?y?na
Land as an ultimate
also believed
in rebirth
in the Pure
religious goal.
In the year 402 Huiyuan
of 123
led his community
Lotus Society on Mt.
intellectuals of theWhite
Buddhist
Lu to pray before an icon of Amit?bha Buddha for rebirth
is con
in theWestern
Pure Land. Traditionally, Huiyuan
In
in China.
sidered the founder of Pure Land Buddhism
s devotion was
this early phase of Pure Land faith Huiyuan
on the Pratyupannasam?dhi
S??tra (C:
based
probably
Banzhou sanweijing) rather than the three Pure Land texts
in
later established as standard.40 Translated by Lokak?ema
the second century, the text teaches that in meditation
(at
the level of dhy?na or sam?dhi) one can see the Buddhas of
and that if one's heart is focused on
the Ten Directions,
one will be reborn in Sukh?vati,
the Western
Amit?bha
Pure Land presided over by Amit?bha. Most
early Chinese
to practice dhy?na, or med
Buddhist monks were known
itation,
Huiyuans
including
on Maitreya,
Daoan meditated
as his object of meditation.
teacher
Huiyuan
Daoan.
Whereas
chose Amit?bha
The Indian master N?g?rjuna
(ca. 150-250) distinguished
two paths to the dharma, one difficult,
the other easy.41
The difficult way entailed religious practice and discipline
to achieve progressive
the easy way
spiritual advancement,
was to chant the Buddha-name
(buddh?nusmrtt), in partic
reverence.
in a spirit of complete
ular that of Amit?bha,
to attain Sukh?vati
and his followers
sought
own
their
through
religious practice and discipline. That
strenuous path differs profoundly
from reliance on the
means
in the teachings
of
the
advocated
Amit?bha,
grace
Pure Land sect
the
ofTanluan
who
established
(476?542),
as the sect s
as a popular devotional
faith and was honored
Huiyuan
Fig.
13. White
century.
Courtesy
ace. no.
Path Between
Two Rivers
and cut gold
Japan. Color
of the Seattle Art Museum,
2nd half of
14th
(Niga byakudu).
silk; h. 164.5 cm? w- 54-6 cm
E. Fuller Purchase
Fund,
Margaret
on
56.187.
rows (Fig. 2B. 11).The same subject may appear at the dam
1 (Fig. 1B.8), which
also shows
aged top left corner of Stele
2 further
a
row
on
a
mat.
in
floor
Stele
seated
figures
an offering to a Buddha
shows a person making
(Fig. 2B.8)
and at upper left an Asoka-type
stupa ("relic mound"),
In later practice
Pure Land Buddhism
patriarch.
Pure Land texts (see p.
the
three
well-known
emphasized
S?tra.
rather
than
the
62)
Pratyupannasam?dhi
The makers of the two Wanfosi
steles, by prominently
the
the "land of transformation"
and not merely
depicting
first
68
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Pure Land alone, show their awareness of the two disparate
two early
paths. Predating most Pure Land imagery, these
of Pure
that the beginnings
Pure Land steles demonstrate
included
the "land of
Land
imagery, which
originally
was
transformation,"
a
of
understanding
theme
an
Chinese
early
doctrine.
Buddhist
Mah?y?na
world-view
the Mah?y?na
Furthermore,
in
rooted
associat
be
may
embraced
the Daoan-Huiyuan
lineage, which
devo
bodhisattva
the
doctrine,
Prajn?p?ramit?
teaching,
I shall attempt to
and dhy?na practice.
tional Buddhism,
advance this hypothesis
investigation
through contextual
in
of the religious milieu
of the period and of Sichuan
ed with
particular.
INFLUENCE OF THE DAOAN-HUIYUAN
LINEAGE IN SICHUAN
was an ancient cultural, political,
and com
Chengdu
as
as
a
between
crossroad
mercial
of
traffic
well
city,
major
east and west. Buddhism
reached Sichuan as early as the
Eastern Han dynasty, and some of China s earliest Buddha
the second and third centuries CE?are
images?from
found in this region.42 Literary evidence also indicates that,
by the fourth century, Sichuan was already a flourishing
center and a staging area for missionary
Buddhist
work,
itself43
both from abroad and from within China
Huijiao s (497-554) Gaoseng zhuan (Biographies of Eminent
records some twenty eminent monks,
both for
Monks)
who had associations with Sichuan or
eign
between
the fourth and the mid-sixth
specifically Chengdu
Their
tell
that foreign missionaries
century44
biographies
came from Kashmir and Khotan via Gansu.They
also report
and Chinese,
travel between
Sichuan and Chang'an,
frequent monastic
and between
Sichuan and Jingzhou
(present-day Hubei
in central China.
Several eminent monks were
Hunan)
natives of Sichuan, testifying to the strength of monasteries
in recruiting and training locals.
In the spread of Buddhism
from
within
China
Monks
from
Central
Asian
itself,
work
missionary
India
trade
and
from
routes
India
was
to China
the major
the kingdoms
created
major
and
agent.
along
centers
the
of
such as Dunhuang,
Chang'an,
in present-day
and Ye (capital of Northern
Qi
Luoyang,
in turn, carried on
southern Hebei). Converted
Chinese,
and proselytizing.
Political
and
the work
of scholarship
military
instability abetted religious zeal in spreading the
faith. In north China between
the fourth and late sixth
rose
in rapid succession,
and
fell
and
century kingdoms
its
often the fall of a kingdom
impelled
court-sponsored
Buddhism
Buddhist
where
in
towns
community
the political
to flee. Many
situation was
chose
more
to go south,
stable. The
advanced
naturalized
and devel
teachings of Buddhism,
were
in
northern
and
central
thus
introduced
China,
oped
to the south and southwest.
Several instances of exodus and dispersal of Buddhist
in the fourth and fifth centuries:
communities
occurred
center at Ye in Hebei,
established
(i) the Buddhist
by
on the
and his follower Daoan,
disintegrated
Fotudeng
in 351; (2) the
of the Later Zhao
kingdom
collapse
at Xiangyang
led by
Buddhist
(Hubei),
community
the Eastern Jin and Former
Daoan, was dispersed when
Qin armies fought there about 379; and (3) the Buddhist
dis
translation bureau at the Later Qin court at Chang'an,
of
Daoan
and
the
Kum?rajiva,
by
leadership
tinguished
in 418.
sacked Chang'an
(407-431)
dissipated when Daxia
in all three of the
Daoan, who was a leading figure
in
above-named
Buddhist
centers, was also far-sighted
ensuring the survival of Buddhism
by sending his follow
ers to spread the religion in outlying regions.45 Three fol
lowers of the Daoan-Huiyuan
lineage carried out sus
activities in Sichuan, and were doubtless
tained missionary
in that
in defining the character of Buddhism
instrumental
region.
The first missionary was Fahe. Amid the chaos of the fall
of Ye, Daoan
led some four hundred followers south of the
where he stayed from 365
Yellow River. From Xiangyang,
to 379, he dispersed many disciples to different parts of the
sent Fahe to
to preach the Buddhist
faith. He
country
scenic
there
the
that
mentioning
landscape
Chengdu,
at
the cultivation
of the mind. Arriving
would
enhance
soon
won
a
the
Fahe
audience
among
large
Chengdu,
educated
Chang'an,
translation
in the
where
bureau
region. He
again at
joined Daoan
over the Buddhist
the latter presided
from
379
onward.46
the younger broth
second missionary was Huichi,
er of Huiyuan.
were
Both
members
of the
brothers
at Xiangyang
Buddhist
and students of Daoan
community
The
during
became
the third quarter of the fourth
most brilliant disciple
Daoan's
century. Huiyuan
in Prajn?p?ramit?
in about 379, the
Xiangyang
teaching. When
dispersed
two brothers
and their followers went
south, eventually
on
in
Mt.
Lu
settling
Jiangxi.There,
according to tradition,
a famous White
Lotus Society, devoted
founded
Huiyuan
to the worship
of Amit?bha. Their learning earned the two
brothers the respect of the southern court and aristocracy.
In 399 Huichi
left for missionary work in Sichuan, having
heard that Sichuan was a land of prosperity and because he
to visit Mt. Emei. Mt. Emei was by then an impor
wanted
tant Daoist
of Immortals; it was later
sacred site, home
as well. Huichi
sacred mountain
appropriated as a Buddhist
a
resided and taught at Longyuansi,
attracting
large group of
followers. He also befriended
the governor ofYizhou
(pres
priests from the region.
ent-day Sichuan) and high-ranking
Huichi
stayed in Sichuan until his death in 412.47
a disci
to Sichuan was Daowang,
The third missionary
who
ple of Huiyuan,
stayed there until his death in 465.
Northwest
of Chengdu
he established a monastery
called
west
site
is
also
of
the
Wanfosi
Qihuansi
(the
city). Like
69
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concept
theological
a
became
profound
secular, Confucian
others before him, he gained the respect and support of
and was a significant figure in local reli
local dignitaries
affairs.
gious
was
Daowang
also
a well-known
ter.48
that
of these three monks
confirm
biographies
in the region received support from
monasteries
it is
local elites and officials. Furthermore,
the educated
influential Buddhist figures in
clear that some of the most
to the mid
from the mid-fourth
the region of Chengdu
The
line
century were disciples of the Daoan-Huiyuan
This
age.
lineage
Prajn?p?ramit?
thought,
emphasized
Buddhism
and, in the case of
dhy?na practice, devotional
are
All of these elements
mountain-worship.
Huiyuan,
in the Wanfosi
reliefs. Prajn?p?ramit?
reflected
thought
the
provides the religious program toward enlightenment:
denotes
the
"land
of
transforma
naturalistic
landscape
the Pure Land scene portrays the attainment
tion," while
have served as visual
of rebirth. These
depictions might
devotional
and meditation
practice.
devotional
both
advocated
and Huiyuan
It is well known
that Daoan prayed before an
Buddhism.
in Tusita heaven,
and
for rebirth
image of Maitreya
an icon of Amit?bha
in
for rebirth
before
Huiyuan
icono
steles are therefore
Sukh?vati. The four Sichuan
i and 2 portray
the
since Steles
significant,
graphically
of Amit?bha/Amit?yus,
Stele
Western
Pure Land
3
in
offers
and
and
Tusita
Stele
4
Ketumat?,
depicts Maitreya
for reverence. Among
and Maitreya
jointly
Amit?yus
aids for the devotee's
Daoan
in
foci
the devotional
the four steles indicate
them,
Sichuan during this early period, and attest the influence
and Huiyuan's
of Daoan's
teaching and practice. From the
into the Tang
and continuing
time of Daoan
and Huiyuan
of Maitreya's Tusita heaven and
period,
as places of rebirth were
Sukh?vati
Amit?bha/Amit?yus'
a subject of lively clerical debate. In order to compete
Tusita heaven
and
the Amit?bha
with
cult, Maitreya's
as
Pure
Ketumat? were
Lands,
interpreted
increasingly
even though early Buddhist
teachings located both in the
of the cosmos
lowest, impure realm (K?madh?tu)
(see n.
at
Tusita
In
Dunhuang
3).
representations
Tang-period
are both popular
and evidently
and Sukh?vati
equal in
the relative merits
status.
LANDSCAPE AND FIGURAL STYLES
AND THE SICHUAN HERITAGE
conception
be associated
may
Chinese
and,
deeply
with
Buddhism.
more
particularly,
rooted
as a mountainscape
mountain
cult in
the burgeoning
nature
with
connection
close
Man's
of the sah? world
The
deep
in Chinese
reverence
are
for mountains,
culture. Munakata
Kiyohiko
wrote:
People
second
who
religious Daoism,
practiced
associated
century AD onward,
which
developed
the great mountains
from
with
the
the
has been
senses,
Buddhist
fifth
the realms
source
of
the
immortals.
This
association
for poets and artists. More
inspiration
as
in contrast,
the mountains
scholars,
regarded
Eremitism
in
in
world
Daoistic
of
order.
both
the
China,
paradigms
or freedom
of mind)
and the
(i.e., seeking
spiritual
enlightenment
from
Confucian
social circumstance)
(taking
refuge
unacceptable
mas
dhy?na
of
the benign
forces
of
associated
inextricably
of the mountains.49
with
both
the awesome
and
Buddhism's
interactions with
this indigenous
tradition
new
to
a
rise
form
that
has
been
called
gave
religious
the
Daoists
Whereas
associated
Buddhism."
"Landscape
cult, and the
Immortality
moun
made
the
Buddhists
statecraft,
tains into the abodes of their various deities, and thereby
in
sacred.50 Buddhists
also practiced dhy?na ("meditation")
to cultivate psychic and magi
seclusion in the mountains
mountain-worship
with
Confucianists
cal
with
the
powers.
In China
the natural
with
in natural
interest
awakening
one
to
rise
of the
and their beauty, giving
phenomena
arts: landscape. The
most
in Chinese
themes
important
the Han
the Northern
and
from
through
period
as a
been recognized
Southern Dynasties
has generally
aesthet
formative
phase of this tradition, a period when
the affiliation
an
accompanied
world
ic, poetic,
and
emotional
of spirituality
responses
to nature
were
artic
in art and literary criticism,
in metaphysics,
and in
the Northern
arts.51 During
and
representational
as turmoil in the north impelled
the
Southern Dynasties
ulated
Chinese
temperate
"aesthetically
tributing
the
the lush, scenic
southward,
of the south further
climate
elites
conscious
to the flowering
of
appreciation
of landscape
landscape
enhanced
nature,"
and
an
con
arts especially
in
south.
and representational
literary, aesthetic,
religious,
came
to a head in the
tradition
all
of
the
aspects
landscape
as Xie Lingyun
Poets
such
fifth
of
the
century.
early part
andTao
(365?427) expressed an aesthetic
Qian
(385?433)
life deeply
intertwined
view of human
and philosophic
first well
the
with nature. Gu Kaizhi
345?ca.
(ca.
406),
to
have
written
is
said
known master of Chinese
painting,
Terrace
the
Cloud
HuaYuntaishan
Mountain),
ji (On Painting
or did depict the Daoist
an essay on how he would
sacred
as an ideal landscape.52 Dai Kui
mountain
(d. 395), the
The
famous sculptor and painter of Buddhist
subjects, and his
son Dai Bo are both said to have excelled
in painting land
is said to have
the same time, Huiyuan
scapes.53 About
Lotus Society on Mt. Lu, and his fel
established theWhite
the first major
low Buddhist Zong Bing
(375-443) wrote
treatise on landscape painting, Hua shanshui xu (Preface to
Painting Landscape) .54
of the Wanfosi
characteristic
The most
remarkable
of landscape elements.
reliefs is their sensitive rendering
As
visual
paramount
representations
function was
of Buddhist
religious,
70
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but
their
doctrine,
that did not pre
(detail). Northern
Fig. 14. Deer J?taka
Bakk?kutsu
vol. (Tokyo: Heibonsha,
ist half of
Wei
dynasty,
1980), vol. 1, pi. 44.
5th century.
elude expression
of an artistic consciousness.
Probably
executed
skilled
craftsmen
under
the direction
of
by
cannot
Buddhist
doctrinal
the
reliefs
be
specialists,
ascribed to any known artist. Scholars studying represen
tational arts of this period
have often noted
that the
advanced aesthetic
theories of the time are of known or
can
ascribable authorship, whereas
the extant art works
or to works men
not be linked to these theoreticians
tioned by them.55 And yet, did those literary and aes
thetic theories not draw their inspiration
from the reli
Daoism
and
of
both
and
gious experiences
metaphysics
Buddhism?
Would
the landscape
of
famed
paintings
artists be utterly divorced
from those of their fellows,
to express religious
ideas in visual
commissioned
who,
have brought
all their artistic skills to bear
form, would
on the task? Should
innovations
all representational
be
to
masters
none
attributed
and
automatically
recognized
to anonymous
artisans? In this era only a small number
of individual
from literate backgrounds,
artists, mostly
centers
in sophisticated
and only
cultural
such as
were
to
social
the
gain
recognition;
Nanjing,
beginning
to
who
catered
demands
and
the
of
ritual
reli
majority
artisans, relatively low in social
gious art were considered
to the
added nothing
status, and since their identities
remained
value of their works,
the works
anonymous.
The aesthetic merit
and inventiveness
of these Sichuan
reconsideration
of the role of unknown
carvings warrant
artisans. Moreover,
lacking surviving authentic works of
reliefs offer rare examples
known
of
artists, theWanfosi
this
nascent
landscape
art.
scene
is set in a
large individual
a
surrounded
of
space
by trees and
landscape,
pocket
in space is suggested.
hills. Within
each unit, recession
trees and wooded
For example,
hills fill the continuous
the sailboat scene, making
for a
shore line that encloses
a
water
is
naturalistic
The
of
surrounding.
body
rough
On
Stele
diamond
bird's-eye
i, each
shape, the
perspective.
viewpoint
Lower on
is an oblique-angled
the picture plane signi
Dunhuang,
Gansu,
Cave
257. Mural.
From:
Chngoku
sekkutsu
series,
Tonku
fies closer to the viewer. The scene of six haloed beings
in a semicircle
is similarly portrayed
from a high view
two
at
with
the
in
lower
point,
right shown
figures
scene
at
In
views.
and
side
the
lower
left
three-quarter
is again depicted
the house
from an angle; placing
the
at three of the house's
three threatening
four
figures
corners and surrounding
trees creates a
the scene with
believable
spatial setting. The artist was adept in captur
in motion,
and their dramatic gestures
fur
ing figures
ther enliven
the narratives. Other
smaller scenes with
on an arbi
only one or two figures are simply depicted
line.
trary ground
The linear, rhythmic patterns used to render rolling hills
and trees (palm trees and leafy trees typical of southern cli
mate) flow together, creating an overall illusion of a single
their primary
role is as scene
landscape. But
action
where
takes place. In
encasing "space-cells"
hill forms
murals
from
j?taka
fifth-century
Dunhuang,
scenes
sometimes
also
the
of
narratives,
separate
(and
trees)
as in the Deer J?taka of Cave 257 (Fig. 14).As already noted
treatment of
by Soper and Sullivan, the formal, schematic
in
elements
narratives
landscape
early Dunhuang
probably
reflects West Asian and Indian influences.56 Their decora
tive qualities,
inverted scale (humans, animals, and trees
than
hills), and total flatness contrast sharply
being larger
with
the more realistic spatial treatment and fluid pictori
coherent
dividers,
al style of theWanfosi
reliefs.
The artistic patrimony
of theWanfosi
reliefs comes from
the Han art of Sichuan, especially pictorial
tomb tiles ren
dered in a style known
for naturalism
and lyricism, for
bold
explorations
motifs.57 Michael
of space, movement,
Sullivan wrote:
and
landscape
us face to face with
a down
[Sichuan]
reliefs...bring
were
that has no parallel
elsewhere.
Their makers
concerned
with
the literal, accurate
of an
primarily
description
or of the activities
or of
industrial
of farmers
and peasants,
process,
to
in which
In attempting
the environment
they lived and worked.
The
Szechwan
to-earth
realism
set
these
down
delineation
of
they encountered
three-dimensional
certain
space,
of
specific
problems
trees, birds, and
in the
plants,
71
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which
lems
had
to be
constitute
solved. Their
the first
tentative
to solve
efforts
advance
significant
toward
true
these
prob
landscape
in China.58
painting
In a pottery tile depicting a saltmine and laborers in the
as well as hunters and animals in the forest in
foreground
are united
in a
the background,
the various
elements
coherent
by the simple silhouettes of
spatial composition
one another (Fig. 15).Another
hills overlapping
tile shows
a boatman paddling amidst lotuses and waterbirds, with a
row of low wooded
hills in the distance
(Fig. 16). Sullivan
a con
notes that "the artist has here successfully managed
tinuous recession
and
horizon,"
tation
Fig.
15. Stf/f mine,
Sichuan.
Han
hunters. Eastern
(25?220).
dynasty
tile; h. 40.8 cm, w. 46.7 cm. Chongqing
From: Zhongguo
meishu
hua
quanji series, Han
vol. (Beijing: Renmin
meishu
chubanshe,
1988),
workshops,
Ceramic
Municipal
Museum.
xiangshi
pi. 239.
huaxiangzhuan
thus
has
the immediate
a
presented
three-dimensional
foreground
"convincing
to the
represen
space."59
relief on Stele 1 is much
larger than any
scenes. Close
and
tile,
encompasses
pictorial
multiple
reveals
hill
sometimes
that
end abrupt
ranges
inspection
at
next
to the
the
of
the
for
scene, as,
ly
edge
example,
the six haloed figures. This awk
left of the scene with
ward feature indicates that the artist of Stele 1 adapted,
The
Chengdu,
of
from
entire
synthesized,
in order
to
and elaborated
create
an
earlier pictorial
ambitiously
complex
conventions
composition,
SS?sT'v
Fig.
16. Boatman
dynasty
Sichuan.
Sullivan,
The
Painting
in China
Angeles:
Univ.
1962),
72
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
in a lotus pond. Han
(206 BCE-220
CE). Deyang,
tile. From: Michael
Ceramic
pi. 93.
Birth
of Landscape
and Los
(Berkeley
of California
Pr.,
to impart a
is subtle enough
the ground,
the modelling
sense of volume,
in
areas,
especially
slightly protruding
such as cheeks and noses. In carving technique,
soft mod
elling, and two-dimensional,
these figures are comparable
linear conception
of form,
to the two Mao xian Buddha
images.61
BREAKTHROUGH INTHE DEPICTION
OF ILLUSORY SPACE
seen in Stele i is resolved
in
The
spatial disjuncture
a more
accom
is
Stele 2. Here
rational pictorial
space
in the por
and continuity
plished by virtue of consistency
invention
of
elements
and
the
of a con
trayal
landscape
by
sets
with
of
vergent perspective,
symmetrical
orthogonal
on a series of points along an imaginary
lines converging
innovations would greatly abet the later
central axis. These
Pure Land scenes and land
of
panoramic
development
scape paintings.
in Stele i, the land
into space-cells
the division
Unlike
2
in
is unified by over
the
lower
half
of
Stele
scape space
a
constituent
its
method
first explored
elements,
lapping
to
tomb. Dated
carved on doors of a Jin-dynasty
Fig. 17. Two relieffigures
at Yangzishan,
tomb doors
Sichuan.
Stone;
274. Excavated
Chengdu,
cankao zhiliao,
h. 165 cm, w. 83 cm, d. 12 cm each. From: Wenwu
1955:7,
1.
pi.
the linking of the individual
but could not quite master
a
into
coherent
cells
(see further
space
landscape
single
discussion
below).
the Sichuan
The carving of Stele 4 further demonstrates
to existing
local artistic traditions. Its
steles' indebtedness
two principal
icons are rendered in raised low relief (Figs.
Their
heads, with broad faces and gentle features,
4y 4A).
are subtly modelled.
Except for the hands, the figures are
with
two-dimensional,
linearly defined
entirely
out
into
"fish-tail"
folds
pleats at the hem
flaring
drapery
of form and the technique of
lines. Both the conception
and may
carving contrast drastically with the Indian mode
be attributed to the direct influence of a native, local style.
A close link between
the indigenous
carving tradition and
xian images may be found in a pair of figures
the Mao
tomb
carved on the doors of a Jin-dynasty
(265-420)
two
excavated at Chengdu
(Fig. i7).6oThe
standing figures
wear hats and large robes with
loose sleeves; one holds a
staff and the other a tablet, and they incline slightly toward
the center in respectful attitudes. Probably
they represent
are carved in low
officials or guards of the tomb. They
relief, on a ground of zigzagging
(a typi
parallel grooves
almost
cal Han stone-carving manner). Even, fine Unes define the
contours
their internal
of their features and costumes;
curves.
smooth
and
consists
of
flat
broad,
planes
modelling
two
centimeters
above
the
relief
projects only
Although
in Han
tomb tiles such as the landscape and salt-mine
scene (see Fig. 13). In the latter, however,
the mountains
are simple triangular silhouettes, whereas
in Stele 2 the
so that
mountains
and valleys are internally modelled
of planes
that create the
each consists of a succession
from a bird s
appearance of volumetric
depth. Depicted
with winding
the structured mountains
eye viewpoint,
one
s
the
relief
and into the
draw
gaze upward along
paths
on
to
focus
the
Buddha's
distance,
assembly just
pictorial
below the bridge leading to the Pure Land. A row of low
hills at the top edge represents the horizon,
the
replacing
1.
of
the
of
cloud
scrolls
Stele
Whereas
maker(s)
magical
as subordi
of the landscape elements
Stele 1 conceived
nate to the narratives, in Stele 2 the coherent depiction
of
an
manifests
and
appreciation
advancing
illusory space
to
of naturalism. And yet this rational approach
not
diminish
reliefs
does
the
representation
religious
to concen
since the viewer's gaze is directed
symbolism,
trate on the Buddha's
of this
assembly. The
centrality
on axis with
iconic group is reinforced by its alignment
in the Pure Land scene above. Furthermore,
the
Amit?bha
mountain
form is also iconic. As in Stele 1, the mountains
are repeatedly
rendered as a central peak flanked by two
a Buddhist
triad and recalling the
smaller hills, resembling
mastery
Chinese
character
shan.62
of depicting
Chinese method
pictorial
the
space
perspective.
employs
parallel
orthogonal
tomb tile from Sichuan,
by another Han
Exemplified
a
is articulated
this
which
feast,
represents
perspective
the
lines
of
rectangular objects such as
through
orthogonal
floor mats and tables (Fig. 18). The base lines of these
the picture base, and
objects are presumably
aligned with
The
traditional
73
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" ''
' .^fl^^^K^yW^MBk?r?HKvr
%
Vi*'
*3r**?
V?flfc?? ^
wjicjife.j.7?9kF8BmiBEJ??^?S^ ^^^I^^^^^^^^^^^^M?
^Kt^*>
Asp^ES^HflSUNr'
the parallel inclination
of their sides suggests an upward
in turn signifies spatial reces
tilted ground plane, which
extension
the
of the scene into space beyond
sion?the
As
slant
the
upward, figures in
picture plane.
orthogonals
above those in the foreground.
the distance are depicted
in a believable
formal elements
of disposing
This manner
in Han
space is widespread
in Henan
artistic centers
Nanyang
andYi'nan
pictorial art, from Sichuan to
such as the
and Shandong,
tombs.
also appears
The Han parallel orthogonal
perspective
and
in the large scenes of Stele i discussed
above, with
lines. In the upper scene
without
the aid of orthogonal
lead away from the center
of the bridge
the orthogonals
to the upper right, confirming
that the artist followed
the
art.
In
Han
in
Stele
conventions
established
2,
pictorial
convention
has under
this Han perspectival
however,
a
In
the
the scene
half,
upper
gone
revolutionary
change.
instead of one set of orthogonals
of Sukh?vati,
receding
two sets of
in only one direction,
into the distance
from the sides symmetrically,
lines proceed
orthogonal
on
axis at several points. The
the
central
converging
is to focus the viewer's eye and attention on the
intention
over
Buddha
the
central
icon, Amit?bha
presiding
Western
Pure Land. The bridges,
the rows of trees, the
all reinforce
this
listeners, and the palace architecture
at the same time creating an illu
directed concentration,
sion of a rational, three-dimensional
space. The orthogo
as visual cues in the paradise scene
nal lines so prominent
are mostly
absent from the landscape scene below, which
to the same multi
is nevertheless
organized
according
point convergent
perspective.
This new perspective
resembles but is not
superficially
to
the
linear
perspective with a
fundamentally
comparable
in
Renaissance
discovered
Italy,
point
single vanishing
is based on a scientific understanding
of the optics
which
in Stele 2
of a visual pyramid. The illusory space described
at least five vanish
is only partly rational, as it comprises
the new system not
ing points. Sichuan artists understood
in the scientific sense but as ameans of symbolizing
order
this is a
and serenity, that is, a superior world. Nonetheless,
brilliant
pictorial
first
step
space.
toward naturalism
74
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and
the mastery
of
COMPARISON OF STELE 2WITH
OTHER PURE LAND DEPICTIONS
with
of the Pure Land contemporary
Among
depictions
Wanfosi
Stele 2, we know of two others that employ con
is aWesternWei
(535-557) mural
vergent perspective. One
s
in Maijishan
Cave
127 (Fig. g).63 It shows Amit?bha
an
in
invert
in
the
with
attendant
center,
figures
assembly
each file of attendants and in par
ed V formation. Behind
below the mural is the
allel with them are palaces. Directly
if so,
icon of the cave-temple,
presumably Amit?bha;
abode and
then the mural depicts Sukh?vati, Amit?bha's
land of rebirth for devotees. This Pure Land
the promised
and the one in our steles offer similarly deep and similar
the close sty
recessional
space, exemplifying
ly organized
traffic between
about by frequent
listic linkage brought
main
the Sichuan and Gansu regions.
is a relief panel dating to the third
The second example
cave
sixth
of
the
century from the Xiangtangshan
quarter
now
Art
in
Freer
and
of
the
(Fig. 10).64
Gallery
temples
of the origins of Pure Land imagery
Earlier discussions
on
It shows
the
this panel.
have focused
primarily
in the fore
flanked
Amit?bha
triad (Amit?bha Buddha
and
bodhisattvas AvalokitesVara
ground by his principal
afloat
and
upon a
subsidiary figures
Mah?sth?mapr?pta)
in the process of rebirth are shown
lotus pond. Beings
some are still enclosed
in
from lotus blossoms;
emerging
on
the
the buds, the time of their emergence
depending
in previous
of good karma
they accumulated
incarnations. Palace pavilions frame the scene, and in the
from other Buddha
Buddhas
upper part transformation
In its organization
to glorify Amit?bha.
lands are coming
amount
the Xiangtangshan
al principle,
observes:
Stele 2. As Bachhofer
relief
resembles Wanfosi
vol.
and so do the
in the center converge,
side lines of the pool
at either end. Such converging
lines of the pavilions
orthogonal
occur on steles from the beginning
not infrequently
of the sixth
at that time not the result of acute observation,
tury. They were
The
to obtain perfect
rather an attempt
one half antithetically
by treating
case with
from
the
relief
the
triad. Dedicated
19. Buddha
Fig.
Southern
(502-557).
Liang dynasty
Museum.
From: Zhongguo
meishu
balance
and a hieratic
to the other. This
was
(Beijing: Renmin
meishu
to 546.
dated
Huiying,
cm.
h.
34.2
gilt;
Shanghai
diaosu
series, Wei Jin Nanbeichao
by Monk
Stone with
quanji
chubanshe,
1988), pi. 57.
side
lines
cen
but
symmetry
no
longer
Nan
[Southern
Hsiang-t'ang
a
It
There
the device was used to produce
spatial effect.
Xiangtang].
was not consistently
artist simply repeated
the formula
applied. The
two
he drew the other
of the central pond when
pools.65
Bachhofer
perspective
correctly noted that convergent
to either or both of two disparate
be
might
employed
ends: to create a hieratic symmetry and focus, and to sug
art
Buddhist
gest spatial recession. Other
sixth-century
sometimes
show the same double
works
intention,
only
triad of the Southern
half successful, as in a Buddhist
Liang state, dated to 546 (Fig. 19). Incised in the mandorla
above the principal deity is another Buddha
triad, flanked
in
V
formation.
The
in
attendants
inverted
(as
Fig. 9) by
on
mats
axis.
the
central
floor
of
the
converge
orthogonals
Mountain
forms
and
ocean
waves
form
an
attempt
at
a
natural setting, but the scene is utterly flat, with no trace
of a suggestion of three-dimensional
space.
conventions
influenced
Chinese
Just as indigenous
art in China, so also Buddhist
influ
Buddhist
iconography
In his
conventions.
Chinese
pictorial
indigenous
Han
that
the
introduction
of
of
noted
art,Wu
Hung
study
icons into China may have inspired the Chinese
Buddhist
to represent
such as Xiwangmu
cult figures
(Queen
in frontal forms; previously Chinese
Mother
of theWest)
in pro
artists had represented
human figures primarily
enced
file.66 The
with
per
convergent
experiment
orthogonal
in
influ
sixth
the
century may also have been
spective
characterized
enced by the iconic mode of representation,
Han parallel
The
and
symmetry.
by frontality, centrality,
was
when
the princi
transformed
perspective
orthogonal
were
two
sets of
of
and
balance
symmetry
applied:
ples
on
meet
the
and
symmetrically
placed
angled,
orthogonals,
75
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central
axis,
where
the main
icons
are
a pictorial
the ways
This produces
space congruous with
to be viewed. Since Pure Land
in which
icons are meant
the practice of meditation
associated with
images were
the converging
and visualization,
orthogonals
the viewer s gaze
ritual practice by directing
enhance this
to the central
icon.
and the
the Xiangtangshan
Notwithstanding
accom
use
to
of
Wanfosi
convergent
perspective
carvings'
are
differences
there
fundamental
effects,
plish
spatial
and
former
the two. The
between
augments
centrality
in
to
hieratic
scale
order
with
convergent
lay
perspective
maximum
triad, and thus on
emphasis on the Amit?bha
It also lacks the elaborate land
the deities' omnipotence.
scene
the dangers of the
describes
which
below,
scape
and the path of spiritual progress toward
Realm
of Desire
denote diver
rebirth in the Pure Land. These differences
in
and
doctrinal
gence
emphasis
religious practice, even
both
to Pure Land beliefs. The
reliefs pertain
though both
in
relief and inmost later Pure
the
absence,
Xiangtangshan
of the Amit?bha
Land depictions
figure, of any description
to be undertaken
in this world,
of the spiritual program
the relatively greater size of the Amit?bha
to the hypothesis
that these images
figure, gives credence
a
Pure
Land attainable solely through faith in the
portray
Stele 2, by show
grace of Amit?bha. The carver ofWanfosi
no
larger than the human figures,
ing the Buddha figures
a more
was able to present
rational three-dimensional
together
with
to the rigorous human
space as well as to give due weight
to merit
rebirth in the Pure Land. Stele 2
effort necessary
idiom that distinguishes
also displays the lyrical, graphic
of
from
that
Sichuan
the
style
sixth-century
is derived from the
in the north, which
Xiangtangshan
rounded carving styles transmitted from India.
relief in
is closer to theWanfosi
mural
The Maijishan
the scale of the figures and in its rather deep spatial reces
robes are also clos
sion. The elongated figures in flowing
er to the southern figurai style.Withal,
the mural ismeant
to complement
below and, like
the main icon of Amit?bha
the Xiangtangshan
carving, does not depict the travail that
one
must
endure
in
the
sah? world
before
attaining
rebirth.
Steles 1 and 2 share similar contents but represent pic
Stele 1 retains
torial space in drastically different manners.
its
and
the older Han perspectival
system,
organization
into space-cells
seriously undercuts what may have been
2 employs
an attempt at a unified
landscape setting. Stele
to
achieve a
the newly discovered
convergent
perspective
more
that was
rational portrayal of space, an innovation
in the sixth century.
in China
elsewhere
also attempted
not conclusive,
such evidence
argues that Stele
Although
1 dates earlier than Stele 2, perhaps from the early sixth
in con
century or even the fifth century. The difference
tent between
theWanfosi
reliefs and Pure Land
scenes
regions
(Maijishan and Xiangtangshan)
in Stele
nificant. The secular world depicted
includes a prescriptive
ed in Stele 2, which
other
frontally
presented
in
is also sig
i and repeat
program of
suggest that earlier
spiritual effort for the aspirant, would
Pure Land imagery reflected an earlier, more philosophi
doctrine. As the more
of Mah?y?na
cal understanding
faith gained currency during the sixth
popular devotional
century, eschewing
prescriptive
spiritual effort in favor of
salvific power, the pictorial
total reliance on Amit?bha's
scenes of this-worldly
effort
likewise discarded
imagery
for description
of the Pure Land and its omnipotent
deity.
mid-sixth
the subject of the Western
the
century
By
in at least three major
Pure Land had been represented
in
Gansu in the
the
of
China?Sichuan
southwest,
regions
in
central
China
Henan/Hebei
and
northwest,
(the artis
The
tic center of Northern
Sichuan-Gansu
Qi, 550?577).
to
and Henan-Hebei
regional traditions both contributed
subsequent
The
Tang.
developments
Amit?bha
of Pure
Land
as
in the
at
represented
imagery
assembly,
an ever larger entourage
of
developed
Xiangtangshan,
realism and
it was
the pictorial
attendant figures. But
in theWanfosi
reliefs and the
rational space emphasized
laid
for the grand
mural
that
the
foundation
Maijishan
panorama of later Pure Land depictions.
of different Buddhist
The merging
styles from the two
centers
in the Tang Pure
be
discerned
may
geographical
Cave 320 (Fig. 5). In this mural
Land scene in Dunhuang
are clearly combined
that
the two types of configurations
in
from
the
Sichuan
sixth
had prevailed
the
century:
Gansu region, a grand panorama
symmetrical
employing
and creating a sense of pictorial
perspective
orthogonal
the larger
realism, and from the Henan-Hebei
region
as at Xiangtangshan.
The
than-life Buddha's
assembly
mature Pure Land artistic tradition was therefore a fusion
of western
and
antecedents.
central
that Sichuan was
Stele 3 gives further evidence
a major center of Pure Land imagery. Maitreya's
paradises
are located in the Realm
the
of Desire, which
reinforces
Wanfosi
interpretation
that
the
continuous
mountainscape
on
in Stele 3 represents the sah?
which
they are superimposed
scene is portrayed
from a very high
world. The whole
to tilt sharply
the ground
forcing
plane
viewpoint,
perspective,
upward. Most of the relief displays convergent
but the border of the field at lower left directs away from
rather than toward the center. The resulting zigzag, called
in
is frequently
the "herring-bone"
employed
perspective,
mat
later Pure Land depictions. Here the complex
subject
ter and divergent
the visual unity
perspectives
preclude
in Stele 2. Nonetheless,
these features enhance a
achieved
cosmic vision, and
view
of
the
Buddhist
grand panoramic
would
also argue a later date for Stele 3, perhaps in the late
sixth or early seventh century.
The
with multiple
viewpoints
experiments
also laid the foundation
Pure Land compositions
76
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in these
for the
land
sophisticated
portrayal of illusory space in Chinese
In monumental
of
the
scape painting.
landscapes
the
Northern
for
(960?1127),
Song dynasty
example,
artists adroitly captured a vast expanse of space through
Guo Xi (ca.
shifting viewpoints. The painter-theoretician
1020?ca. 1090), among others, discussed in great detail the
use of three
distance"
types of perspective:
"high
(gaoyuan), "level distance"
(pingyuan), and "deep distance"
.6j
By employing
viewpoints,
(shenyuan)
multiple
along
with other conventional
depth cues such as atmospheric
texture
and
perspective,
foreshortening,
gradients,
were
a compelling
to
attain
Chinese
able
landscapists
in their paintings. Between
of naturalism
their
art
in
Buddhist
and
their
masterful
pre-Tang
early assays
use in monumental
and other
landscapes, perspectival
degree
methods
of describing
space show great conti
pictorial
In
the
of
shift
of subject from the reli
nuity
development.
to
Pure
of
the
Land
the secular space of
space
gious
the rigid principles
and hieratic scales that govern
Nature,
iconic imagery were discarded, finally liberating Chinese
artists to interpret and represent a space that was borne of
human
experience.
CONCLUSION
in Sichuan and its interac
The character of Buddhism
tions with local artistic traditions, both in landscape and fig
artistic expression of
urai, must account for the distinctive
these Sichuan steles. Religious
doctrine and practices devel
centers
in
in
Buddhist
northern
and central China by
oped
as
were
Daoan
transmitted to an
such
and
Huiyuan
figures
like
the
outlying region
by
Chengdu
dispersal of Buddhist
were
monastic
communities.
Once Buddhist missionaries
there, the region s relative stability, freedom from
and support from the local lay commu
constraint,
imperial
fostered
continued
evolution of the Buddhist
tradition.
nity
from
rich
artistic
Sichuan's
Drawing
inspiration
heritage of
established
and pictorial
realism, local artists
depiction
landscape
to render a new religious con
devised innovative methods
ception. In turn, the organizational
principles of frontality,
in
iconic imagery
and
Indian
Buddhist
symmetry
centrality,
transformed
the Han parallel orthogonal
perspective. The
new
of
recessional
way
space, a
portraying deep
resulting
synthesis of native and foreign ideologies and artistic con
of later Pure Land images
ventions, was a vital antecedent
and of classic landscape painting.
Characters
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Watanabe
Notes
i.Wu
in visual perception
the "profound
change
in "The
that occurred
this period,
during
in Medieval
Inverted Vision
and Binary
Imagery
has discussed
Hung
and
representation"
Stone:
Transparent
in
Chinese
Art," Representations
1994), p. 72; also discussed
(Spring
in Early Chinese Art and Architecture
Stanford
(Stanford:
Monumentality
Univ.
Pr., 1995), p.261.
2. This article is based on a longer discussion
of the Sichuan
steles in
in China
the author's The Beginnings
(Ph.D.
of the Buddhist Stele Tradition
344-56. Part of the material
diss., Harvard University,
1995), pp.59-156,
has
in a paper
"The Beginnings
of Pure
entitled
presented
a Reconsideration"
at the Association
in China,
for
Imagery
to those who
have
Studies' annual conference,
1996.1 am grateful
on different
or commented
versions
of the paper: John M.
also been
Land
Asian
read
Wu
Rosenfield,
dh?tu
dh?tu
Susan
Fontein,
Jan
Hung,
Anne
Bush,
and
Clapp,
is divided
the universe
into
three
realms
of Form
the Realm
(k?madh?tu),
(r??pa
and
of
Pure
k?ma
the
Realm
Formlessness
),
(ar?padh?tu). The
as the fourth
of
six heavens; Maitreya's
Tusita
includes
heaven,
Sukh?vati
transcends
is still part of the impure realm. Amit?bha's
these,
the k?madh?tu
4. The
is usually
and
a Pure
is therefore
Buddhist
northern-type
at the top and
rounded
as in Han
dragons,
isters. A
or bottom
inscription
dedicatory
of the reverse. Donor
Buddhist
Stele.
Wong,
and
5. Liu Zhiyuan
is also a vertical
stele
surmounted
obverse
steles.The
Land.
bears
the
occupies
fill
images
Liu Tingbi,
by
iconic
eds.,
one
groups,
lower obverse
all remaining
Chengdu
often
or
in reg
the top
surfaces.
See
shike
yishu
also Zhongguo
diaosu
(Beijing:
Wanfosi
gudian yishu chubanshe,i958).See
(Shanghai: Zhongguo
Wei Jin Nanbeichao
meishu
(hereafter
ZMQ),
quanji
slab, but
pairs of
oblong
or more
chubanshe,
1988), pis. 54, 55, 58, 59, 63; these are color
recent
in the 1958 catalogue. The
and pieces
published
reproductions
in the
Innovation
and Transformation
exhibition
"China:
5,000 Years,
Renmin
meishu
at the Guggenheim
in New York
Museum
(1998) also featured
Howard
ed.
several Wanfosi
cat.,
[New
Rodgers
(exh.
sculptures
R. Guggenheim
York:
Solomon
150, 151, 163,
Museum,
1998], nos.
Arts"
168, 176).
6. The dimensions
of
the
are not
rubbing
in any publica
available
tion.
shike zao
in Liu Tingbi,
is given
"Chengdu Wanfosi
wenwu,
1987:1.
xiang," Chengdu
8. Liu Zhiyuan
and Liu Tingbi,
p. 4, pi. 31. A.C.
Soper briefly men
in "South Chinese
Influence
tioned
the stele and reported
this account
on the Buddhist
Art of the Six Dynasties
Period," Bulletin
of theMuseum
account
7. The
vol.32
of Far Eastern Antiquities,
9. Audrey
Spiro raised this
(i960), p. 107, n. 243.
the Wind:
issue in "Shaping
Taste
and
vol. 21 (1991),
China," Ars Orientalis,
are modern-day
on the original
p.
rubbing
by seals.
accompanied
colophons,
no kenkyu
10. Nagahiro
Rikuch?
Toshio,
(Tokyo: Bijutsu
jidai bijutsu
1969), pp. 56-66, pi. 9.
shuppansha,
11. From
show: the infant Buddha
relief panels
the top, the framed
in Fifth-Century
104, n. 28. The writings
Tradition
born
under
the
South
arm
of Queen
while
she
stands
M?y?
right
that the infant Buddha,
s?la tree; an astrologer
foretelling
a mother
a halo, is to be the Enlightened
shown
One;
standing with
to carry Prince
who
is destined
with
her
horse
colt Kan?haka,
being
beneath
the
in search of Enlightenment;
and
the palace
a tree. The fifth panel has
in contemplation
under
de fobenxing
not been
"Nanchao
See Yang Hong,
identified.
gushi
textual source for
Chinese
diaoke," Xiandaifoxue,
31?33.The
1964:6,pp.
taizi ruiying benqi jing, trans. Zhiqian
is the Foshuo
the legends
(act. 3rd
Siddh?rtha
c),
away
Siddh?rtha
Taish?
shinsh?
from
daiz?ky?
(hereafter
TD),
ed. Takakusu
Junjir?
and
shinsh?
1924
kank?kai,
daiz?ky?
and Liu Tingbi,
pis. 27,28; ZMQ, Wei Jin Nanbeichao
diaosu vol., pi. 63; China: 5,000 Years, cat. 151.
of both the obverse
and reverse of
13. I have examined
photographs
of Ms. Yuan
Stele
Provincial
3 at the Sichuan
Museum,
courtesy
at the museum.
to thank Professor
I wish
Li
researcher
Shuguang,
of the Sichuan Academy
of Fine Arts at Chongqing,
who
pro
Shisheng
a xerox
vided me with
of a photograph
of the reverse
for study.
are not available.
the measurements
of the fragment
Unfortunately,
of Stele
of Maitreya
14. For a discussion
3 in the context
imagery,
seeWong,
Buddhist
Stele Tradition, pp. 303-55.
stele differs from the leaf-shaped
15. The
stele, of which
tablet-type
site has also yielded
theWanfosi
several. The
steles are dom
leaf-shaped
inated by the iconic group on the front; the reverse sides are sometimes
carved with
relief scenes, but none of these approach
the complexity
of
Pure Land scenes under discussion.
the prototypical
16. Denise
Spiro.
Audrey
3. In Buddhist
cosmology
of Desire
(trilokya): the Realm
Prince
(Tokyo: Taish?
Kaigyoku
29), no. 185.
12. Liu
Zhiyuan
Chinese
P. Leidy,
Buddhist
"The
Sculpture,"
in Sixth Century
A.D.
Figure
21
ofAsian Art, vol. 63 (1990), pp.
Ssu-wei
Archives
34
diaosu vol., pi. 58.
17. ZMQ, Wei Jin Nanbeichao
18. See Soper, "Southern
Chinese
Influence."
of Sui and Tang Buddha
19. A number
images
on
depicted
prominently
the
Buddha
Cosmological
of
show Mt.
F. Howard,
(see Angela
[Leiden: Brill,
1986]).
Nan QiYongming
"Sichuan Maowen
20. Yuan
the robe
Shuguang,
1990.2, pp. 67-71.
wenti," Wenwu,
ji youguan
21. Yuan Shuguang
called the side with Maitreya
to disagree
inclined
because
the main
inscription
Meru
The
Imagery
zaoxiang
bei
but
the obverse,
I'm
names
first.
Amit?yus
in
centered
kingdom
22. Western
was a short-lived
(400?421)
Liang
the Dunhuang/Jiuquan
Liang
region. Both Western
with
Northern
had much
traffic and contacts
Liang
and
cao" here probably means
that Monk
Xuansong
"Xiliang
an administrator
in the former Western
territory,
Liang
center of Dunhuang.
ed the major Buddhist
the nearby
southwest.
the
as
served
had
which
includ
the Longer
and Shorter
23. TD nos. 360, 366, and 365 respectively;
into English
and
have been translated
Sukh?vat?-vy?ha
by F.Max M?ller,
the Amit?yur(in The Sacred Books of the East,
dhy?na Sutra by J.Takakusu
vol. 49 [Oxford: Clarendon
ed. F.Max M?ller,
Press,
1894], pp. 1-108,
Univ.
See also Luis O. Gomez,
The Land of Bliss (Honolulu:
159-202).
of Hawaii
Pr., 1996).
Tonk? Bakk?kutsu
320 and 148, respectively;
24. From Caves
vol. 4, pis. 4, 39.
after TB]
1980-82),
(Tokyo: Heibonsha,
Rikuch? jidai bijutsu no kenkyu, pp. 56-66.
25. Nagahiro,
26. TD, no. 152, vol. 3, pp. 1-52, and TD, no. 153, vol. 3, pp.
respectively.
Rikuch? jidai bijutsu
27. Nagahiro,
at sea include
to events
ries relating
[here
52-70,
no
the five sto
kenkyu, pp. 64-65;
tales 9, 33, 37, 39, and 67 of the
Liudu ji jing.
28. Soper
remarks
in his footnote
represent
AvalokiteSvara's
Influence,"
this topic
tsu, vol.162
("Nanch?
p.
to the Stele
miracles
salvation
107, n. 243).Yoshimura
no Hokkekyo
Rei
devoted
Fumonbon
1
rubbing
that itmight
Chinese
("South
an entire
hensh?,"
has examined
author
[1985], pp. 11-28). This
of theWanfosi
that the association
and concluded
argument
at this
a
cult
and
Avalokitesvara
iconography
developed
Buddhist
Stele, chap. 2).
(seeWong,
unlikely
article
to
Bukky? geiju
Yoshimura's
reliefs with
early
date
is
as
"Prince
the motif
identified
29.
Yueguang
Nagahiro
at the request of a brah
himself
for beheading
offering
(Candraprabha)
roundel
from the
min"
(Pusa benyuan jing, pp. 62-64). But a Hellenistic
shows Aphrodite
Gandh?ra
Cupid
by seizing him by
punishing
region
the British
and Hindu
the hair
Sculpture from
of Buddhist
(Masterpieces
and Asahi
exh. cat. [The British Museum
Shimbun,
Museum,
1994], cat.
54), and a figure grasped by the hair appears also in the avad?na narra
in Dunhuang
Cave
tive of the Five Hundred
Thieves
285 (TB, vol. 1,
78
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
in Dunhuang
Cave
275
j?taka
three heads
sacrifices)
(multiple
pis. 131-32). The Candraprabha
Prince
presenting
Candraprabha
(TB, vol. 1, pi. 14).
plate
30. Richard
Robinson,
ofWisconsin
(Madison: Univ.
31. The
indistinctness
shows
1.
copies Stele
32. TB, vol. 2, pi. 34.
order of bodhisattvas,
with
the origins
of the
associated
33. The
in India, was also practiced
in China
from the early fifth cen
Mah?y?na
vow was
of taking a bodhisattva
tury onward. The ceremony
performed
on an ordination
in the presence
of a master. Thereafter
the
platform,
emphasize
included
tion
abide
by a rigid
and
self-discipline
the confession
in front
of
images
code
of bodhisattva
stringent
of sins, meditation,
(Michihata
ascetic
precepts
practice.
feasts,
maigre
Chugoku
Ry?sh?,
shoten,
bosatsu-kai
(S: sila) that
Other
rituals
and visualiza
and
the Monsters
no
shis?shi
bukky?
1979], pp. 381-94);
Funayama
no juy? kaitei Ry?s?-Nansei
Susan
67
pp. 6-51;
[1995],
[Kyoto: Heirakuji
kenky?
"Rikuch?
jidai ni okeru
ch?shin
vol.
ni-," Toh? gakuh?,
Ku K'ai-chih
and Change:
"Continuity
Toru,
ki o
Bush,
1
the transitional
exemplifies
ie program,
continuing
new ones on the other.
older
character
motifs
on
of the overall
the one
hand,
39. Elizabeth
ten Grotenhuis,
A
on
it?,
of
South
Two Rivers:
Path Crossing
the Past," Journal
Represents
of
pp. 1-18; fig. 5.
Buddhism, pp. 256-57.
state
Sutra (the fullest
the bodhisattva
The Dasabhumika
S?tra
doctrine).
(C: Pusa
into Chinese
in the third
benye jing, or Shidi jing) was first translated
as part of the
it later was
century
(TD, nos. 281-84);
incorporated
Sutra (C: Huayan
Avatamsaka
jing; TD, nos. 278, 279), one of the most
in Chinese
influential works
Buddhism.
chuchuan
Nanjing
Bowuyuan,
Fojiao
nanfang zhilu
(Beijing:
in
"Buddhist
Elements
chubanshe,
1993); see also Wu Hung,
Art," Artibus Asiae, vol. 42, no. 3/4 (1986), pp. 263-316.
Early Chinese
43. Alexander
Soper, Literary Evidence for Early Chinese Buddhist Art in
China
(Ascona: Artibus Asiae Supp. 19, 1959), pp. 34-35, 44, 51.
44. Gaosengzhuan
TD, no. 2059. A listing of these
(hereafter GSZ),
monks
and their references may be found
in Ry? k?s?den sakuin, comp.
42.
Wenwu
MakitaTairy?
(Kyoto: Heirakuji
s
45. For Daoan
biography,
Meis?den
zoku
sh?, in Dai Nihon
ist coll.,
pt. 2b, case
shoten,
1972), pp. 296-97.
see GSZ,
5, pp. 351-54;
juan
z?ky?
(Kyoto:
of Daoan
7, ce 1. Studies
Z?ky?
include
shoin,
47. GSZ,
pp. 361-62.
48. GSZ,
pp. 371-72.
in Chinese Art (Urbana and
Sacred Mountains
49. Munakata
Kiyohiko,
Univ.
of Illinois Pr., 1991), p. 2; see also Michael
Sullivan, "The
Chicago:
in Studies
in theArt of China
and Southeast Asia, vol.
Mountain,"
Magic
1 (London: Pindar,
50. A collection
also
1905-12),
Tang Yongtong,
1991), pp. 98-108.
of essays on mountains
and Chinese
is
Buddhism
nenp?, vol. 5 (1942). The moun
were
often those already sacred
in Nikka
published
bukky? kenkyUkai
as sacred by the Buddhists
tains selected
to the Daoists.
to be the abode of
which
Buddhists
believed
Mt.Wutai,
an example;
see
Bodhisattva
in
is
of
Shanxi
(the
Ma?jusri
Wisdom)
Ono Katsutoshi
and HibinoTakeo,
Godaisan
kank?kai,
(Tokyo: Zayuh?
of the Representation
1942), pp. 9-17, and this author's "A Reassessment
ofMt. Wutai
from Dunhuang
PP-27-52.
51. Alexander
vol. 23
Bulletin,
Cave
C.
Soper,
"Early
pp.
(1941),
in China
Painting
Landscape
California
of Asian
61," Archives
Art,
66
vol.
Chinese
in
Art
Painting,"
The Birth
Sullivan,
of
Los Angeles:
Univ.
of
Landscape
Michael
169-98;
and
(Berkeley
Pr.,
1962).
essay is recorded
52. The
5; a translation
and
in ZhangYanyuan's
discussion
of Gu's
of 847,
Lidai minghuaji
in
be found
essay may
in China,
pp. 90-101.
54. Lidai minghua ji, juan 6; Susan Bush,
"Tsung Ping
[Zong BingJ's
on Painting
and the 'Landscape Buddhism'
of Mount
Landscapes
Lu," in Theories of theArts in China, ed. Susan Bush and Christian Murck
Essay
(Princeton:
Princeton
Univ.
Pr.,
1983),
pp.
133-64.
The Birth
in China, p. 87.
of Landscape Painting
56. Soper, "Early Chinese
p. 156; Sullivan,
Painting,"
Landscape
Birth of Landscape Painting
in China, p. 128.
55. Sullivan,
"The White
Garden
Japanese
Contemporary
Garden History,
vol. 15, no.i
(1995),
Paul Williams,
40. TD, nos. 417,418.
Mah?y?na
on the Dasabhumika
41. In his commentary
ment
p?ram
p. 354.
Sullivan, The Birth of Landscape Painting
53. Lidai minghuaji,juan
5.
is derived
from the adjec
and Pali the noun p?ramit?
36. In Sanskrit
tive parama, meaning
and therefore
"high, complete,
p?ramit?
perfect,"
means
most
In the
the highest,
of truth.
complete
understanding
as a bin?me,
the term has been analyzed
tradition,
to
the
meaning
"gone
beyond."
Univ.
Studies
37. Thirty Years of Buddhist
(Columbia:
Carolina
Pr., 1968) p. 48.
38. See n. 3.
180-204.
1959), pp.
46. GSZ,
juan
iconograph
and inventing
Mah?y?na
(Beijing: Zhonghua
fojiaoshi
shuju, 1983),
The Buddhist
(Leiden:
Conquest
of China
(1993),
of Liang"
[1996, unpublished
paper].
in the
is recorded
34. In the Chinese
Tripitaka, D?parhkara's
prophecy
Sutra (TD, vol. 8, p. 749), and in the Lotus Sutra (TD, vol. 9, p. 42).
Diamond
of the Buddha's
life stories on the side panels of
3 5. The presence
Stele
vol.
Brill,
and China
in India
M?dhyamika
Pr, 1967), pp. 71-95.
in this motif may
the view
that Stele
support
Early
2
aspirant would
Liang Jin Nanbeichao
1, pp. 133-63; Z?rcher,
Han Wei
a
on
The
C. Rudolf,
Han Tomb Art ofWest China
and
57. Richard
(Berkeley
Los Angeles:
Univ.
of California
Pr., 1951). Lucy Lim, ed., Stories from
China's Past: Han Dynasty
Pictorial Tomb Reliefs
and Archaeological
Objects
from Sichuan Province, People's Republic
Chinese
Cultural
Center,
1987).
58. Sullivan, The Birth of Landscape
of China,
exh.
cat. (San Francisco:
in China, p. 72.
Painting
in China, p. 70.
59. Sullivan, The Birth of Landscape Painting
60. Shen Zhongchang,
de Jindai
zhuanmu,"
"Chengdu
Yangzishan
Wenwu
cankao zhiliao,
1955:7, pp. 95-101,
pi. 1.
two Buddhas'
61. The
in the celebrated
"sinicized"
robes are draped
fashion
that
later became
the model
for northern
Stele Tradition, pp. 348-50.
The Birth of Landscape
Sullivan,
Painting
Bush, "Tsung Bing's Essay," pp. 143-44.
sekkutsu (Tokyo: Heibonsha,
63. Bakusekizan
64. Soper, "South Chinese
Influence,"
p. 95.
Wong,
62.
Buddha
images;
see
Buddhist
in China,
1987),
pi.
pp.
99-100;
161.
A Short History
65. Ludwig
Bachhofer,
(New York:
of Chinese Art
Pantheon,
1946), p. 99.
66. This
in his article "Buddhist
thesis was
in
advanced
Elements
Art."
Early Chinese
are recorded
in his lengthy
67. Guo Xi's ideas about landscape painting
treatise Linquan gaozhi
of Forest and Streams).
(The Great Message
79
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