MOUNT WUTAIIn the Dunhuang mural, Amitabha appears
against a backdrop of ornate buildings characteristic of the Tang era.
The Tang rulers embellished their empire with extravagant wooden
structures, colorfully painted and of colossal size, decorated with
furnishings of great luxury and elaborate gold, silver, and bronze or-
naments. Unfortunately, few Tang buildings survive. Among them is
the Foguang Si (Buddha Radiance Temple) on Mount Wutai, one of
the oldest surviving Buddhist temples in China. It lacks the costly
embellishment of imperial structures in the capital, but its east main
hall (FIG. 7-16) displays the distinctive curved roofline of later Chi-
nese architecture (FIG. 7-10), which was not present in the Han ex-
amples (FIGS. 7-8and 7-9) discussed earlier. A complex grid of
beams and purlins and a thicket of interlocking brackets support the
overhang of the eaves—some 14 feet out from the column faces—as
well as the timbered and tiled roof.YAN LIBENThe Tang emperors also fostered a brilliant tradi-
tion of painting. Although few examples are preserved, many art his-194 Chapter 7 CHINA AND KOREA TO 1279
7-16Schematic cross-section and
perspective drawing of east main hall,
Foguang Si (Buddha Radiance Temple),
Mount Wutai, China, Tang dynasty, ca. 857
(after L. Liu).
A complex grid of beams and purlins and
a thicket of interlocking brackets support
the 14-foot overhang of the eaves of the
timbered and tiled curved roof of this early
Chinese Buddhist temple.
7-17Attributed to Yan Liben,Emperor Xuan and Attendants,detail ofThe Thirteen Emperors,Tang dynasty, ca. 650.
Handscroll, ink and colors on silk, detail 1 81 – 4 1 51 – 2 ; entire scroll 17 5 long. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
This handscroll portrays 13 Chinese rulers as Confucian exemplars of moral and political virtue. Yan Liben, a celebrated
Tang painter, was a master of line drawing and colored washes.1 in.