Chinese Buddhist Sculpture

 

Seated Buddha, probably Shakyamuni (Shijiamouni) China late 4th–early 5th century 

 Representations of the Buddha wearing a thick shawl over both shoulders and sitting atop a throne with lions on either side are Chinese adaptations of images derived from the northwest region of the Indian subcontinent, particularly from areas in present-day Pakistan (known as Gandhara in the ancient world). Scientific examination of this sculpture has shown that it was cast using several ceramic molds, a technique that was also used to create the ancient bronze ritual vessels on view in this gallery. By the fifth century, the lost-wax method, which may have been introduced with Buddhism, was used more often for the casting of Chinese sculptures. 

Buddha Maitreya (Mile) China dated 486 (10th year of Taihe reign) 

This is the largest early gilt-bronze Chinese sculpture known today. The Buddha’s broad shoulders, powerful physique, and long legs derive from fifth century Indian prototypes that spread to China along the Silk Road, an example of which can be seen directly behind you in the gallery for Indian art. Maitreya is worshiped both as a bodhisattva and as a Buddha, for it is believed that once the current cosmic era has destroyed itself, he will be reborn as the teaching Buddha of the next great era. The identification of this figure as the Buddha Maitreya is based on the dedicatory inscription at the back of the base, which dates the sculpture to 486 and states that it was commissioned in honor of the dowager empress Wenming (442–490), who controlled the Northern Wei dynasty during the last three decades of the fifth century. 

Buddha Dipankara (Dingguang) China dated 495 (19 (?) year of Taihe reign) 

 The inscription on the back of this stele identifies the Buddha depicted on the front as Dipankara, who was thought to have lived before the historical Buddha Shakyamuni. He is shown here attended by a group of small figures wearing the clothing of the Xianbei, the non–Han Chinese peoples who ruled the Northern Wei dynasty. The smaller standing figure to the Buddha’s right may represent a youth named Sumedha, who was destined to become the historical Buddha in another lifetime. The imagery of this large sculpture is therefore intended to illustrate the promise or possibility of enlightenment in a future life. In Buddhism, the achievement of this advanced spiritual state is the goal of all practitioners. The bodhisattva with crossed ankles on the back of the stele recalls similar figures in the collection from the Yungang cave temple complex.

Buddha Maitreya (Mile) Altarpiece China dated 524 (5th year of Zhengguang reign) 

This complex assembly depicts the Buddha of the Future, Maitreya, who descends to earth to enlighten and save devout believers. He stands in front of an openwork back panel encircled by flames and flying celestial musicians, gesturing to reassure worshipers and promising to grant their wishes. Two attendant bodhisattvas stand at his side, with another pair at his feet. Next to them are four patrons—two on each side—dressed in secular clothes and holding bowls of offerings. Thunderbolt bearers are placed as guardians at opposite front corners of the altarpiece. Below the main platform are two seated lions—protectors of the dharma, or the universal truth of Buddhism. An incised text on the base records the name of the person and date upon which he commissioned this sculpture to invoke the Buddha’s blessing for his deceased son and relatives.

Bodhisattva, probably Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin) China ca. 550–560 

Large-scale sculptures of bodhisattvas wearing extraordinary jewelry epitomize stylistic and iconographic innovations in Chinese sculpture from the second half of the sixth century. The astonishing jeweled harness adorning this bodhisattva is made up of two long strands of pearl-like clusters and multifaceted beads. Some elements, such as the triangular pendants, have Chinese precedents. Others, such as the pearl cabochons, derive from Central Asian traditions. The appearance of such elaborately figural sculptures, which later became standard in Chinese Buddhist art, attests to a growing devotion to Avalokiteshvara in the second half of the sixth century. It is possible that the jewels refer to a passage in the Lotus Sutra in which the historical Buddha Shakyamuni and another bodhisattva extol Avalokiteshvara’s great compassion and presents him with a pearl necklace as a symbol of his benevolence. 

Buddha, probably Amitabha China early 7th century 

 The position of the Buddha’s arms indicates that the hands were once held in a gesture of meditation and suggests that this sculpture represents Amitabha, a celestial Buddha who presides over his Western Paradise. Devotion to Amitabha, a major component of Chinese Buddhist practice since the sixth century, promotes the goal of rebirth in Amitabha’s Pure Land, where conditions are conducive to achieving spiritual understanding. The sculpture was made using the dry-lacquer technique, in which a core (often made of wood) is covered with clay and then wrapped in layers of cloth that have been saturated with lacquer— a tree resin that hardens when exposed to oxygen. As many as seven or eight additional layers of lacquer might then be applied. In the eighth century, this technique spread from China to Japan, where it was used widely in the production of Buddhist sculptures. 

Seated Buddha Vairocana China early 8th century 

The teaching gesture made by this figure, with the thumb of the right hand touching the little finger of the left, identifies him as Vairocana, the celestial Buddha who resides at the center of the cosmos. Vairocana is considered a transcendent form of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni. Though similar in appearance, he exists on another plane, unhindered by a mortal body. 

Arhat (Luohan) China ca. 1000  

This life-size sculpture is part of a group of sixteen figures that have been known in the West since 1913. Thought to have come from a cave in Yixian, Hebei province, they represent arhats (or luohans, as they are known in China). Arhats were thought to have achieved an advanced state of spiritual development, and were revered as protectors of Buddhism. Regarded as masterpieces of ceramic sculpture, for their size, naturalistic modeling, and the quality of their three-toned (sancai) glaze, they can be dated securely to the late tenth or eleventh century based on material discovered in 1983 at an ancient kiln site near Beijing. 

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin) China dated 1282 

A removable panel in the back of this image gives access to a hollow interior that would have been filled with offerings at the time of the piece’s consecration. The interior surface of the panel bears a date (1282) and a small bronze mirror (34.15.2) that functioned as a protective talisman. The bodhisattva has a rounded physique and stands in a slightly twisting pose, which creates a sense of depth. Both conventions attest to the introduction of Indo-Himalayan sculptural traditions in China in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when the Mongols controlled both China and parts of Tibet. The elaborate coiffure also derives from these traditions. 

Bodhisattva Manjushri as Tikshna-Manjushri (Minjie Wenshu) China Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Yongle period (1403–24)

Manjushri holds a sword in his primary right hand and a volume of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra (which rests on a small lotus) in his left. Remnants of a bow and arrow can be seen in his secondary hands, and the combination of the four implements identify the sculpture as a Tikshna- Manjushri, a manifestation that refers to the bodhisattva’s quick wit while further elucidating his position as an embodiment of spiritual wisdom. The inscription at the front of the lotus pedestal indicates that it was cast during the reign of the Yongle emperor, who is known to have followed esoteric or Tibetan Buddhist practices and to have sponsored the production of numerous sculptures in a style derived from India and the Himalayas. The soft folds of the clothing are typical of works produced in imperial workshops, as are the delicacy of the details and the rich pink tones of the gilding. 

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara of the Lion's Roar, or Simhanada Avalokiteshvara (Shi Hou Guanyin) China late 15th–early 17th century 

Avalokiteshvara (the Bodhisattva of Compassion) and Manjushri (the Bodhisattva of Wisdom) are identifiable by the fact that both, at times, appear atop lions. As such, they are said to assume the form of Simhanada, or the Lion's Roar, which is a reference to the intensity of the moment of enlightenment. Here, the lion's recumbent pose and the bodhisattva's sidewise posture suggest that this sculpture represents Simhanada Avalokiteshvara, although the headdress does not bear the image of a seated Buddha, which is Avalokiteshvara's standard identifying attribute. Depictions of Simhanada Avalokiteshvara developed in India around the eleventh or twelfth century and appeared in China during the twelfth. 

Buddhist monk Bodhidharma (Chinese: Damo) China 17th century 

The bald head, meditative posture, and monastic clothing identify this figure as Bodhidharma, the Indian monk credited with founding the Chan (or Zen) tradition of East Asian Buddhism. 

Buddhist Deity, Ushnishavijaya (Zun Sheng fo mu) China late 17th–18th century 

This eight-armed goddess can be identified by the implements she holds as Ushnishavijaya, one of several female deities who began to play a prominent role in Indian Buddhist practices during the seventh and eighth centuries. She has three faces and is thought to personify the ushnisha, the cranial protuberance that marks a Buddha. Therefore, she is generally associated with the development of practices focusing on spiritual understanding. The goddess holds a small seated Buddha in her upper right hand and a two-pronged vajra suspended from a long rope in her upper left. Her second pair of hands holds a bow and arrow, while the third clutches a four-pronged vajra (a ritual implement symbolic of adamantine power) before her chest. The seventh and eighth hands, the lowest pair on the sculpture, offer a gesture of beneficence and hold a covered vase. The style of the sculpture reflects the close ties between the Buddhist cultures of Tibet, Mongolia, and China during the Qing dynasty. 

Further Reading 

Howard, Angela, Wu Hung, Li Song, and Yang Hong. Chinese Sculpture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005. 

Leidy, Denise Patry. The Art of Buddhism: An Introduction to Its History and Meaning. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2008. 

Leidy, Denise Patry, and Donna Strahan. Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. 

Sculpture: A Great Tradition. Chicago: Serindia Publications, 2006. 

Weidner, Marsha ed. Cultural Intersections in Later Chinese Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2001. 

Weidner, Marsha, ed. Latter Days of the Law: Images of Chinese Buddhism, 850–1850. 

Lawrence: Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, 1994.