The Silk Route

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The Silk Route

• Buddhist Caves
• Mural Painting

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Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties

• Northern Wei (Toba) 386-535
• Sui 581-618
• Tang 618-907

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Buddhism

• Mahayana Buddhism Western Paradise (Pure Land
  paradise) spread from India around the 5th
  century, Esoteric Buddhism (Tang-7th) and Chan
  Buddhism (Song-10th)
• Important images are Amida Buddha (Amitabha) who
  resides in the Western paradise, Maitreya Buddha
  (Future Buddha) and Gyanyin (bodhisattva of
  Compassion)
• Amida
• Gyanyin (became more feminine from 1279)
• Maitreya laughing pot-bellied Buddha in China

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4.12 Colossal Buddha, Cave 20, Yungang Cave, late
5th C. (13.7 m)
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Yangang Caves

• 50 caves at Yangang began around 460-490
  (Capital moved to Luoyang) (contemporary with
  Ajanta caves in India) located in Shanxi.
• Cave 20 was is one of the oldest caves,
  dedicated by the Toba Wei rulers.
• The Buddha seated in mediation (fifteen meters)

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Yungang Cave, late 5th C.
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Sakyamuni, Yungang Cave
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Dun Huang caves

• Buddhist caves situated on the Silk Route it is
  an important stopping between the N and S tracks
  of the Tarim Basin.
• They were carved out of natural soft gravel
  cliffs approximately a thousand caves but only
  half of them survived.
• Many were decorated with wall paintings the
  themes mainly focus in the Western Paradise of
  Amitabha Buddha.
• Avalokitesvara (Chinese Gyanyin) became highly
  popular

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4.17 Western paradise, Dunhuang, Tang Dynasty,
late 8th c
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Avalokistesvara and Gyanyin

• Bodhisattva of Compassion
• He was regarded as the guide of souls and one who
  bring the blessing of many children
• Reside in the Western paradise of Amithaba
• In Chinese art, he is depicted as a male
  bodhisattva, like those of India, until around
  the end of the 12th C (early part of Song
  Dynasty)
• He gradually transform into a male figure with
  some female qualities such as the body, the face,
  and the hands
• By the 17th century (Ming period), the male form
  was replaced with more feminine form

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4.18 Gyanyin as the Guide of Souls, Dunhunag,
10th c.
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Lotus sutra

• Gyunyin images became feminized represented as a
  middle-aged fair lady in a white robe.
• The transformation marked the Sinification of
  Avalokistesvara by the Chinese who believed in
  the Lotus Sutra, which gives Ava the ability to
  assume innumerable forms.
• She is depicted as a lady in white robe or a
  bodhisattva with a thousand hands

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Gyanyin, 12-13th C.
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Pagoda

• Watchtower-like structure (from clay models made
  for the dead to use afterlife)
• Represents the center of the earth, axis mundi
• Han period, exterior decorated with paint and
  lacquer
• Motifs evoke the World outdoors (trees and birds)

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Great Wild Goose Pagoda
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Brick Pagoda of Songyuesi, Mt. Song, 520 CE
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4.16 Isometric view of the timber-framing, main
hall, Foguangsi temple, Shanxi, c. 857
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Three-color wares

• They were tomb deposited earthenware with
  pigments
• They vary in size from animals and tpys a few
  inches high to gigantic horses, Bactrian camels,
  armed men, dancers, musicians women figurines
  were predominate
• Human figurines were made in molds, with front
  and back cast separately animals were made in
  several pieces
• They declined after the mid 8th century

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4.19 Yen Lipen (attributed), Emperor Wu Di, the
Scroll of the Emperors, Tang Dynasty, 7th c.
(11th century copy)
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Tang period (618-907 CE)

• It is the golden age of Chinese civilization
  expanding their territories to Korea, Vietnam,
  and Central Asia
• Emperors supported trading on the Silk Road
• Emperor Wu Di
• Capitals at Luoyang and Changan (modern Xian)
  population of one or two millions it was the
  most cultivated metropolitan center in the world
• Art and literature flourished Buddhism was
  supported by the Kings

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Court lady figurines, Tang period, 7th century
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Camel with musicians, Tang period (618-907 CE)
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Foreign attendants, Tang Dynasty (618-907),
earthernware
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Girl resting on a camel, Tang period,(618-907),
earthenware with pigments
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Horse and groom, pottery with polychrome glaze,
Tang Dynasty From Henan