Xiangyang in Henan), wondrous sculptures made by
Daikui, the famous VIMALAKIRTIwall painting by Gu
Kaizhi, and so on. We can speculate on the appearance
of some of these recorded masterpieces of Eastern Jin
Buddhist art from later replicas. One of the most in-
teresting is the case of the inscribed King As ́oka bud-
dhas found in Chengdu that date from the mid-sixth
century but clearly replicate an older, probably fourth
century, model. Also, the Vimalakrti relief in cave 3
at LONGMEN, from the early sixth century, may fol-
low the fourth-century Gu Kaizhi prototype. Other
clues come from the invaluable sources of the Korean
Koguryo ̆tomb paintings, such as those at tomb 3 at
Anak, dated to around 357, and the tomb at
To ̆khu ̆ngri, dated to 408 or 409, and others that have
early examples of Buddhist subjects.
Most extant remains, however, probably come from
the North and from Gansu, both areas dominated by a
series of successive small kingdoms, known as the Six-
teen Kingdoms, of the five minority nationalities. This
period in North China is one of the most difficult to
access, but it is becoming evident that it is prolific in
Buddhist art remains, generally confirming and com-
plementing the important strides made in Buddhism
under the Chinese masters Dao’an and HUIYUAN
(334–416) and the overwhelming achievement of the
translations of KUMARAJIVA(350–409/413 C.E.) in the
early fifth century. Most images are from small bronze
buddha altars, which, in the few surviving complete
examples consist of a dhyanasanabuddha on a lion
throne, a mandorla, a canopy, and a four-footed stand.
The identity of these small buddhas, most in medita-
tion, is not certain, but at least one (datable to 426,
now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
names the buddha as Maitreya. The earliest identifi-
able Guanyin appears around 400 (Asian Art Museum
of San Francisco) and there are early bronze reliefs of
such LOTUSSUTRA(SADDHARMAPUNDARIKA-SUTRA)
themes as S ́akyamuni and Prabhutaratna that appear
as early as the early fifth century. The Buddhist-Daoist
stele of Wei Wenlang from Yaoxian (north of
Chang’an), though not without controversy, probably
dates to 424 and may be the oldest known stone stele
with Buddhist imagery. A gilt-bronze pendant-legged
seated buddha, dated (Liu) Song 423, confirms this
iconographic form as a Maitreya by an inscription on
the back of its mandorla, which itself is the earliest
known version in bronze of the elaborate flame-
bordered mandorlasseen in fully developed form in
numerous bronze sculptures under the Tuoba (North-
ern) Wei later in the century. It is becoming clear that
many iconographic types and stylistic features that
were previously thought to be Northern Wei were ac-
tually formulated earlier, in the late fourth and early
fifth centuries in the south, around Chang’an and in
Gansu.
The Gansu Buddhist materials are probably the most
significant discoveries of the last forty years in Chinese
Buddhist art. Though there is currently no consensus
on the precise dating of all of the early sculptures, paint-
ings, cave temples, and stone stupas from Gansu, the
Amitayus niche in cave 169 at Binglingsi is dated with
certainty to 420 during the time of the Eastern Qin in
southern Gansu. Most of the superb painted clay sculp-
tures positioned randomly around this large natural
cave, as well as the surviving wall paintings, which styl-
istically relate to paintings in cave GK20 at Kumtura in
Kucha, date to this time or earlier. Similarly, the earli-
est caves at Maijishan (caves 78 and 74, each with three
magnificent large, seated clay buddhas), where the fa-
mous monk Gaoxuan stayed for a number of years in
about 415, are probably early fifth century.From the central area of Gansu, then known as
Liangzhou, the cave temples at Tiantishan, southeast of
Wuwei, and Jintasi near Zhangye, have spectacularly
rare remains, the former mainly paintings and the lat-
ter mainly sculpture, both from the period of Northern
Liang under Juqu Mengxun (r. 401–433). Juqu
Mengxun is known from literary records to have opened
caves now believed to be those at Tiantishan, and to have
made a colossal buddha on behalf of his mother, the
earliest colossal stone (probably cave) image in China.
The early caves at both sites contain the earliest use of
the central pillar cave temple form in China.From the western end of Gansu, there are early caves
at Wenshushan near Jiuchuan and three early caves at
DUNHUANG(caves 268, 272, 275). Cave 272 includes
a Maitreya Buddha, and cave 275 has a colossal cross-
ankled Maitreya Bodhisattva. Wall paintings in cave
272 show celestial listeners and the thousand buddhas.
In cave 275 jatakasand scenes from the Buddha’s life
are portrayed along the side walls of the long cham-
ber. A rare group of stone stupas was discovered from
Jiuchuan and Dunhuang, most dating from the early
decades of the fifth century under the Northern Liang.
The stupas are carved with sutra texts, trigrams with
trigram figures from the Yijing(Book of Changes), and
the seven buddhas of the past along with Maitreya Bo-
dhisattva. Two other stone stupas have been found in
Gaochang (Turfan), where the Northern Liang fled af-
ter the Northern Wei onslaught in 439 and whereCHINA, BUDDHISTART IN