MEETING OF TWO BUDDHASA gilded bronze statuette
(FIG. 7-13) shows how the sculptors of the Northern Wei dynasty
(386–534) transformed the Gandhara-derived style of earlier Bud-
dhist art in China (FIG. 7-11). Dated 518, the piece was probably
made for private devotion in a domestic setting or as a votive offering
in a temple. It represents the meeting of Shakyamuni Buddha (at the
viewer’s right) and Prabhutaratna, the Buddha who had achieved nir-
vana in the remote past, as recounted in the most famous sutra,the
Lotus Sutra,an encyclopedic collection of Buddhist thought and po-
etry. When Shakyamuni was preaching on Vulture Peak, Prab-
hutaratna’s stupa miraculously appeared in the sky. Shakyamuni
opened it and revealed Prabhutaratna himself, who had promised to
be present whenever the Lotus Law was preached. Shakyamuni sat
beside him and continued to expound the law. The meeting of the
two Buddhas symbolized the continuity of Buddhist thought across
the ages.
Behind each Buddha is a flamelike nimbus (mandorla). Both
figures sit in the lalitasana pose—one leg folded and the other hang-
ing down. This standard pose, which indicates relaxation, under-
scores the ease of communication between the two Buddhas. Their
bodies have elongated proportions, and their smiling faces have
sharp noses and almond eyes. The folds of the garments drop like a
waterfall from their shoulders to their knees and spill over onto the
pedestal, where they form sharp ridges resembling the teeth of a saw.
The rhythmic sweep and linear elegance of the folds recall the brush-
work of contemporaneous painting.Tang Dynasty
The emperors of the short-lived Sui dynasty (581–618) succeeded in
reuniting China and prepared the way for the brilliant Tang dynasty
(618–907). Under the Tang emperors, China entered a period of un-
equaled magnificence (MAP7-1). Chinese armies marched across
Central Asia, prompting an influx of foreign peoples, wealth, and
ideas into China. Traders, missionaries, and other travelers jour-
neyed to the cosmopolitan Tang capital at Chang’an, and the Chi-
nese, in turn, ventured westward. Chang’an was laid out on a grid
scheme and occupied more than 30 square miles. It was the greatest
city in the world during the seventh and eighth centuries.LONGMEN CAVES In its first century, the new dynasty contin-
ued to support Buddhism and to sponsor great monuments for Bud-
dhist worshipers. Cave complexes decorated with reliefs and paint-
ings, modeled on those of India (see Chapter 6), were especially
popular. One of the most spectacular Tang Buddhist sculptures is
carved into the face of a cliff in the great Longmen Caves complex
near Luoyang. Work at Longmen had begun almost two centuries ear-
lier, during the Period of Disunity, under the Northern Wei dynasty
(386–534). The site’s 2,345 shrines and more than 100,000 statues and
2,800 inscriptions attest to its importance as a Buddhist center.
The colossal relief (FIG. 7-14) that dominates the Longmen
complex features a central figure of the Buddha that is 44 feet tall—
seated. An inscription records that the project was completed in 676
when Gaozong (r. 649–683) was the Tang emperor and that in 672
the empress Wu Zetian underwrote a substantial portion of the con-
siderable cost with her private funds. Wu Zetian was an exceptional
woman by any standard, and when Gaozong died in 683, she de-
clared herself emperor and ruled until 705, when she was forced to
abdicate at age 82.
Wu Zetian’s Buddha is the Vairocana Buddha, not the historical
Buddha ofFIGS. 7-11and 7-13but the Mahayana Cosmic Buddha,
the Buddha of Boundless Space and Time (see “Buddhism,” Chapter
6, page 161). Flanking him are two of his monks, attendant bodhi-
sattvas, and guardian figures—all smaller than the Buddha but still
of colossal size (shown in FIG. 7-14are visitors to the site, whose size
underscores the scale of the work). The sculptors represented the
Buddha in serene majesty. An almost geometric regularity of con-
tour and smoothness of planes emphasize the volume of the massive
figure. The folds of his robes fall in a few concentric arcs. The artists
suppressed surface detail in the interest of monumental simplicity
and dignity.DUNHUANG GROTTOES The westward expansion of the
Tang Empire increased the importance of Dunhuang, the western-
most gateway to China on the Silk Road. Dunhuang long had been a
wealthy, cosmopolitan trade center, a Buddhist pilgrimage destina-
tion, and home to thriving communities of Buddhist monks and
nuns of varied ethnicity, as well as to adherents of other religions. In
the course of several centuries, the Chinese cut hundreds of sanctu-
aries with painted murals into the soft rock of the cliffs near Dun-
huang. Known today as the Mogao Grottoes and in antiquity as the
Caves of a Thousand Buddhas, the Dunhuang grottoes also contain
sculptured images of painted unfired clay and stucco. The earliest
recorded cave at Dunhuang was dedicated in 366, but the oldest ex-
tant caves date to the early fifth century. The Dunhuang caves are es-
pecially important because in 845 the emperor Wuzong instituted a
major persecution, destroying 4,600 Buddhist temples and 40,000
shrines and forcing the return of 260,500 monks and nuns to lay life.
Wuzong’s policies did not affect Dunhuang, then under Tibetan
rule, so the site preserves much of the type of art lost elsewhere.192 Chapter 7 CHINA AND KOREA TO 12797-13Shakyamuni and Prabhutaratna, from Hebei Province, Northern
Wei dynasty, 518. Gilded bronze, 10–^14 high. Musée Guimet, Paris.
The sculptor of this statuette transformed the Gandhara-derived style of
earlier Chinese Buddhist art (FIG. 7-11). The bodies have elongated
proportions, and the garment folds form sharp ridges.1 in.
7-13ASui
altarpiece with
Amitabha and
attendants,
593.7-14ASeated
Buddha, Cave
20, Yungang,
ca. 460–470.