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Fengxian Temple (Fengxiansi), VaiÅravana and VajrapÄį¹i
- Title Translation: å„å åÆŗ
- Period: Tang, 618ā907 C.E.
- Project: Sculptures in Longmen Caves
- Work Description: This imposing group of nine monumental images carved into the hard, gray limestone of Fengxian Temple at Longmen is a spectacular display of innovative style and iconography. Sponsored by the Emperor Gaozong and his wife, the future Empress Wu, the high relief sculptures are widely spaced in a semi-circle. The central Vairocana Buddha (more than 55 feet high including its pedestal) is flanked on either side by a bodhisattva, a heavenly king, and a thunderbolt holder (vajrapani). Vairocana represents the primordial Buddha who generates and presides over all the Buddhas of the infinite universes that form Buddhist cosmology. This ideaāof the power of one supreme deity over all the othersāresonated in the vast Tang Empire which was dominated by the Emperor at its summit and supported by his subordinate officials. These monumental sculptures intentionally mirrored the political situation. The dignity and imposing presence of Buddha and the sumptuous appearance of his attendant bodhisattvas is significant in this context. The Buddha, monks and bodhisattvas (above) display new softer and rounder modeling and serene facial expressions. In contrast, the heavenly guardians and the vajrapani are more engaging and animated. Notice the realistic musculature of the heavenly guardians and the forceful poses of the vajrapani.
Fengxian Temple (Fengxiansi)
- Title Translation: å„å åÆŗ
- Period: Tang, 618ā907 C.E.
- Project: Sculptures in Longmen Caves
- Work Description: This imposing group of nine monumental images carved into the hard, gray limestone of Fengxian Temple at Longmen is a spectacular display of innovative style and iconography. Sponsored by the Emperor Gaozong and his wife, the future Empress Wu, the high relief sculptures are widely spaced in a semi-circle. The central Vairocana Buddha (more than 55 feet high including its pedestal) is flanked on either side by a bodhisattva, a heavenly king, and a thunderbolt holder (vajrapani). Vairocana represents the primordial Buddha who generates and presides over all the Buddhas of the infinite universes that form Buddhist cosmology. This ideaāof the power of one supreme deity over all the othersāresonated in the vast Tang Empire which was dominated by the Emperor at its summit and supported by his subordinate officials. These monumental sculptures intentionally mirrored the political situation. The dignity and imposing presence of Buddha and the sumptuous appearance of his attendant bodhisattvas is significant in this context. The Buddha, monks and bodhisattvas (above) display new softer and rounder modeling and serene facial expressions. In contrast, the heavenly guardians and the vajrapani are more engaging and animated. Notice the realistic musculature of the heavenly guardians and the forceful poses of the vajrapani.
Buddha Head, 3D model
- Title Translation: ä½å¤“ , 3DęØ”å
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
- Work Description: At the Xiangtangshan Buddhist sites in Hebei province, cave-temple construction and image-making were supported by the Northern Qi imperial court and nobility. Under the constant shadow of political uncertainty and the theory of the "Law of the Decadence" (or mofa, the deterioration of the True Law after the historical Buddhaās attainment of nirvana), the Buddhist faith was embraced as the ideal for rulership. The Buddhaās smile offers reassurance and consolation.
Disciple Mahakasyapa, 3D model
- Title Translation: éØå¾ę©čÆčæ¦å¶ , 3DęØ”å
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
- Work Description: Mahakasyapa, the disciple of Shakyamuni, is presented with closed eyes in an expression of meditative concentration. He is holding a reliquary for the Buddhaās ashes, which symbolize the Buddha entering final spiritual attainment (nirvana) at death. The artistic simplicity exemplifies the spiritual content of this figure.
Buddha Head, 3D model
- Title Translation: ä½å¤“ , 3DęØ”å
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Monster Kneeling, 3D model
- Title Translation: č·Ŗ鬼ē„ , 3DęØ”å
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Musician Flute, 3D model
- Title Translation: éæē¬ä¹ä¼ , 3DęØ”å
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Monster Kneeling, 3D model
- Title Translation: č·Ŗ鬼ē„ , 3DęØ”å
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Buddha Head, 3D model
- Title Translation: ä½å¤“ , 3DęØ”å
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Buddha Hand, 3D model
- Title Translation: ä½ę , 3DęØ”å
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Bodhisattva Standing, 3D model
- Title Translation: č©čØē«å , 3DęØ”å
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
- Work Description: Statue of bodhisattva made of hard, dark-grey limestone which has stained and discolored with age. There are traces of green, red and blue pigment on the piece. It is almost identical with C113 but there is no figure in the aureole of the tiara. C113, C150 and C151 are from Cave #2 of the Southern Xiangtangshan. C150 could be from the front shrine, one of the three shrines surrounded by the central pillar.
Pratyekabuddha Head, 3D model
- Title Translation: č¾ęÆä½(ē¼č§)夓 , 3DęØ”å
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Bodhisattva Hand, 3D model
- Title Translation: č©čØę , 3DęØ”å
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Bodhisattva Standing, 3D model
- Title Translation: č©čØē«å , 3DęØ”å
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
- Work Description: This free-standing Bodhisattva is related to the image style of the Xiangtangshan cave temples and stylistically dates to about the same time, ca. 560sā70s during the Northern Qi Dynasty in northeastern China. It possesses the characteristically columnar form of the Xiangtangshan sculptures, though the jewel forms appear slightly more subdued than usual. The posture is frontal and unbending, indicating, as with the Xiangtangshan sculptures in general, a sense of inner, irrevocable solidity and firmness. The human body is disclosed in its most primordial shape with thin, close-fitting robes smoothing out the surfaces. Jewelry makes its own symmetric patterns of heavy, raised, textured pearl chains, X-crossed in shape as they cover the frontal expanse and contrast with the sharp edges of the bands of the hems and long shoulder scarves that descend as a framing statement to the lotus pedestal. A youthful, serene face appears remote and distant, though still human, above the rather massive form. Impressive in its monumentality, this bodhisattva exemplifies the sixth-century style of early Buddhist art in China. He stands on a lotus pedestal, which signals his transcendent nature as a being that has surpassed the mundane human state in knowledge and compassion. The mass of his body and the equal distribution of weight on both feet impart an iconic quality to this object of worship.
Monster Kneeling
- Title Translation: č·Ŗ鬼ē„
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Musician Sheng
- Title Translation: č©čØ夓
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
- Work Description: This magnificent sculpture comes from an important complex of mountainside Buddhist shrines hewn from the living rock at Xiangtangshan in Hebei province. It originally belonged to a full-length statue of a bodhisattva (an enlightened being who has postponed nirvana in order to help achieve salvation for others); the vase in the center of the crown may identify the figure as MahaĢsthaĢmapraĢpta, one of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas of Mahayana Buddhism. The principal grottoes at Xiangtangshan were carved during the short-lived Northern Qi dynasty (550-77), which ruled much of northern China prior to the reunification of the country in 589 under the Sui (589-618).
Guardian King
- Title Translation: 天ēćę¤ę³å士
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Buddha Head
- Title Translation: ä½å¤“
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
- Work Description: According to Buddhist tradition, when the young prince Sakyamuni resolved to seek spiritual enlightenment, he discarded his courtly garments and cut off his long hair. In Indian and East Asian sculpture, the tonsured Buddha is occasionally shown as bald, but more often he is portrayed as seen here, with a head of tiny, snail-shaped curls. This head of a Buddha was originally part of an impressive sculptural diorama of life-size figures carved into the living rock at Xiangtangshan (Mountain of Echoing Halls), a site not far from the Northern Qi capital of Ye. More than ten caves were excavated at Xiangtangshan during the third quarter of the sixth century, under the patronage of the Northern Qi ruling family and nobles.
Bodhisattva Standing
- Title Translation: č©čØē«å
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
- Work Description: Statue of bodhisattva made of hard, dark-grey limestone which has stained and discolored with age. There are traces of green, red and blue pigment on the piece. It is almost identical with C113 but there is no figure in the aureole of the tiara. C113, C150 and C151 are from Cave #2 of the Southern Xiangtangshan. C150 could be from the front shrine, one of the three shrines surrounded by the central pillar.
Bodhisattva Hand
- Title Translation: č©čØę
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Buddha Head
- Title Translation: ä½å¤“
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Monster Kneeling
- Title Translation: č·Ŗ鬼ē„
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Buddha Hand
- Title Translation: ä½ę
- Period: Northern Qi, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
Northern Xiangtangshan, Middle Cave, interior
- Title Translation: ååå å±±äøę“ , å ęÆ
- Period: Northern Qi, Ming, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
- Work Description: The Middle Cave, the second largest of the caves in scale, still has its impressive entrance and large stone porch largely preserved. In recent times, a wooden porch-like structure was added to the front of the cave. Above the eaves of the porch and carved into the stone mountainside, there is a domed roof with a fenced harmika or platform at the top. The single-story stupa with domed roof is a distinctive feature of the design of the Xiangtangshan caves and appears on the walls of the North Cave and on many smaller stone carvings of the middle and late sixth century. Tall armored guardian figures stand under the stone eaves of the porch, and large lions support the columns flanking the door. Walking into the cave, visitors pass under the gaze of two tall bodhisattvas who face the entrance. The Middle Cave, like the great North Cave, has a large central pillar. However, it has only a single large niche deeply cut into the front of the pillar to form an altar on which a Buddha sits on a lotus throne accompanied by two tall standing disciple figures and two bodhisattvas. The base of the central pillar has relief figures of Spirit Kings, lions, and incense burners, much like the North Cave. The cave walls were originally left largely plain, but devotees of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) added a row of seated Buddhas contained in shallow niches that encircle cave's interior.
Northern Xiangtangshan, Middle Cave, interior
- Title Translation: ååå å±±äøę“ , å ęÆ
- Period: Northern Qi, Ming, 550-577 C.E.
- Project: Xiangtangshan Caves
- Work Description: The Middle Cave, the second largest of the caves in scale, still has its impressive entrance and large stone porch largely preserved. In recent times, a wooden porch-like structure was added to the front of the cave. Above the eaves of the porch and carved into the stone mountainside, there is a domed roof with a fenced harmika or platform at the top. The single-story stupa with domed roof is a distinctive feature of the design of the Xiangtangshan caves and appears on the walls of the North Cave and on many smaller stone carvings of the middle and late sixth century. Tall armored guardian figures stand under the stone eaves of the porch, and large lions support the columns flanking the door. Walking into the cave, visitors pass under the gaze of two tall bodhisattvas who face the entrance. The Middle Cave, like the great North Cave, has a large central pillar. However, it has only a single large niche deeply cut into the front of the pillar to form an altar on which a Buddha sits on a lotus throne accompanied by two tall standing disciple figures and two bodhisattvas. The base of the central pillar has relief figures of Spirit Kings, lions, and incense burners, much like the North Cave. The cave walls were originally left largely plain, but devotees of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) added a row of seated Buddhas contained in shallow niches that encircle cave's interior.