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Statue reflects rise of Buddhist culture
July 12, 2009, Sunday
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Buddhism was introduced from India to China during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220). It prevailed rapidly and was adopted as the state religion by the rulers of the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534). These rulers came from a non-Han tribe who roamed and conquered a vast territory from the Gobi desert in the west to the Bohai Sea in the east.
Building cave shrines became a fad during this period and it lasted for several hundred years. Many sculpture-filled caves in China are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang in Gansu Province, the Longmen Grottoes near Luoyang in Henan Province, the Yungang Grottoes near Datong in Shanxi Province, and the Dazhu Rock Carvings near Chongqing.
The style of Buddhist statues made in the early stage of Chinese Buddhism shows the influence of Greek sculpture. This is because the rise of Buddhism in India occurred around the same time when India was invaded by the Greeks and part of it became an Indo-Greek kingdom. There was an interaction between Greek and Buddhist cultures, resulting in a mixed style.
Gautama, the Buddha, was portrayed with coiled hair and wearing a Greek-style robe, reminiscent of Hellenic gods, but his half-closed eyes indicated a state of peace and meditation.
Shanghai Museum has a rich collection of Buddhist statues from various periods. The one pictured on the left is a 58-centimeter-high stone sculpture from the Northern Zhou Dynasty (AD 557-581), immediately after the Northern Wei.
It was made in AD 580 by a man named Zhou Jiren for his parents as indicated by the inscription on the base. It shows a polished face of Buddha but his features, however, look more like an Eastern Asian than an Indian. Perhaps, after making one copy after another, the Chinese sculptor had lost fidelity to the original image of Buddha.
Building cave shrines became a fad during this period and it lasted for several hundred years. Many sculpture-filled caves in China are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang in Gansu Province, the Longmen Grottoes near Luoyang in Henan Province, the Yungang Grottoes near Datong in Shanxi Province, and the Dazhu Rock Carvings near Chongqing.
The style of Buddhist statues made in the early stage of Chinese Buddhism shows the influence of Greek sculpture. This is because the rise of Buddhism in India occurred around the same time when India was invaded by the Greeks and part of it became an Indo-Greek kingdom. There was an interaction between Greek and Buddhist cultures, resulting in a mixed style.
Gautama, the Buddha, was portrayed with coiled hair and wearing a Greek-style robe, reminiscent of Hellenic gods, but his half-closed eyes indicated a state of peace and meditation.
Shanghai Museum has a rich collection of Buddhist statues from various periods. The one pictured on the left is a 58-centimeter-high stone sculpture from the Northern Zhou Dynasty (AD 557-581), immediately after the Northern Wei.
It was made in AD 580 by a man named Zhou Jiren for his parents as indicated by the inscription on the base. It shows a polished face of Buddha but his features, however, look more like an Eastern Asian than an Indian. Perhaps, after making one copy after another, the Chinese sculptor had lost fidelity to the original image of Buddha.
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