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A Dated Buddhist Painting from Tun-Huang

Author(s): K. T.Source: Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Vol. 25, No. 152 (Dec., 1927), pp. 88-89Published by: Museum of Fine Arts, BostonStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4170081

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XXV, 88 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETINA Dated Buddhist Painting fromTun-huangINwestemmost hinaproperies the oasisofTun-huangith tstown flikename. Situated

ontheoldhighwaywhich onnectedhe FarEastwithCentralAsiaand the countriesorderingheCaspian nd Mediterraneaneas, he Tun-huangdistrict asthemeeting laceof the civilizationsfEastandWest-a link stablished ore han wothousand earsago. Sachiu or Sha-chou),hefirstChinese ity o be visitedbyMarcoPolointhe thirteenthentury,fterone month'sourneyacrosshe "Desert f Lop,"sthenamebywhichTun-huangas thenknown. MarcoPolo notedin"Sachiu a numberf monasteriesndabbeysfilledwith mages ndthronged ithworshippers.The Venetian, owever, id not see theBuddhistsanctuariesn theirsplendor;or in thisregionBuddhismas in its fullgloryduringhe Wei,T'ang,nd arly ung eriods5th o1Othenturies).Of the manyancientemples nown o haveexistednTun-huang,hereremainsnlya groupof chapelsut nthesideof a cliff, few miles othesoutheastf the own fTun-huang,ollectivelycalled heCh'ien-fo-tungCaves f the ThousandBuddhas).A few hundred n number,hesegrottos,atingrom he fifth o the eleventh en-tury, redecoratedwithfrescos ndstillpreservenumerous uddhisttatues n stoneand clay.*Two expeditions,ne British,ed by Sir AurelSteinn 1907, the otherFrench, nderProfessorPaul Pelliot n 1908, exploredhesecavesandboth recoveredargequantitiesf paintingsndmanuscriptsroma niche n one of the chapels,whichProfessor elliotbelieveswaswalledup n1035. In 1899(?) the niche wasaccidentallydiscoverednd its contents isclosed; ut afterspecimensad been submittedo the Viceroy tLan-chou,t was again ealedandremainedn-accessiblentil1907. The great indsof SteinandPelliot tTun-huangotonlyreveal he stateof civilizationnthatpartof Asia,so littleknownuntilnow,butalsobringo lightactual pecimensof religiousrtdatingromheclosing enturiesfthefirstmillenniumftheChristianra.Because f thetransfero London nd Paris fsucha largenumberf theTun-huang anuscriptsand paintings,t has been thoughtdifficultoassemblevena fewexamplesf thisancient rt;but by good fortune he Museumhas latelyacquiredhreedatedpaintingsromTun-huang,oneofwhich s describedelow.Thesepaintings,together ith wo otherswhichhavebeen in thepossessionf the Museumor omeyears, orm henucleus f a collection hich,t is to be hoped,maybe augmented.Thepaintingtrom un-huangeproducedere-

with bears a Chinese date which corresponds toA. D. 975. It was originally a votive hangingdedicated to the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara(Kuan-yin) by the nuns of the Buddhist temple ofLing-hsiu-ssu. Avalokitesvara is here shown withsix arms, within a circle, seated on the lotus thronewhich rises from a small tank representinga pond.Of the six arms,the firstpair is uplifted, supportingin each open palm the sun and moon respectively,the former containing the traditionalthree-leggedbird and the latter the cassia tree, hare, and mortarand pestle. The second pair of hands is invyAhkyana mudra(the "signof exposition"),raisedto the breast, each hand holding a long-stemmedlotus flower. The third pair is held at the side&,each hand forming possibly the varada mudra(the "signof bountifulness"). On the crown is aseated figure of a Dhyani Buddha. The halosbehind the body and the head are bordered withflames. Over the largecircle a canopy is suggestedby conventionalized lowers and leaves ornamentedwith beaded garlands,while an altarwith a drapedvalance, on which are vessels for offerings,may beseen in front of the Bodhisattva. On either sideof the Bodhisattva stands a young person, the oneon the proper right labelled " Good Young Boy,"and the one on the left " Evil Young Boy," eachholding a scroll. The story of these princes,whoare brothers, s related in the Buddhistscriptures.*Briefly,the boys set out together to get possessionof the all-wish-granting-jewel (cintdmani). Thegood prince acquires it, but the evil one, afterblindinghis brother, teals the preciouspearl. Uponrecovering his sight, the good prince saves hisbrother rompunishmentat the hands of their father.The good prince proves to be S'akya-munihimselfand the evil one, Devadatta.There are four detached scenes, two on eitherside the large glory. These scenes illustrate sub-jectstaken from he suitraMiao-fa-lien-hua-ching.tThe upper scene at the properrightshows a youngman on a conventionalized peak, leaning forward;below, a young man standing amid flames. Theupper scene at the proper eft depicts a young manon the edge of a precipice ready to jump; below,a young man risingfrom the water. These scenes,in the order just described, referrespectivelyto thefollowing passages in the salra :

" If one who is on the peak of MountSumeru bepushed down by anotherand think of the power ofKuan-yin, hen shall he stop ike the sunfirm n the air."" If one thrown into a pit of fireby a wicked manwith the intentof killing hinkof the powerof Kuan-yin,then shall the fire-pit urn ntoa pond.""If one chased by a wicked man fall from theDiamondMountain nd thinkof thepowerof Kuan-yin,thenshall notevenone hairbe hurt."" If one happento fall intoa hugeoceanand, exposedto the dangerof meetingdragons, ishes, and demons,think of the power of Kuan-yin, then shall even thewavesnotdestroyhim."

*For detailedaccountsand reproductions,ee Serindia and Ruinsof Desert Cathay,by Aurel Stein,and Les Grottesde Touen-houang,by Paul Pelliot.tReg. No. 27.570. Height, 880 millimeters34X8 nches); width,.586 millimeters23'V inches). This paintingmusthave been one of afew specimens hich werecarried o Lan-chouwhen the" great hiddendeposit"was discoveredn 1899, and wassubsequentlyresented o thelate TuanFang, Viceroyof Kiangsu nd a celebratedollector.* Ta-fan-pien-fo-pao-en-ching, Chap. 6; Hsien-yu-yin-yuan-ch.ng,Chap.37. tChap. 25.*Miao-fa-lien-hua-ching, Chap.25.

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MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN XXV, 89The lower register ncludes, n the center, avotive nscription,ated 975, in which the donorsof the painting ffer hanks o Avalokitesvaraor abountifulharvest,or enablingthem to repair hetemple,and for his aid to them in attaininghighmonasticorders. Then follows a prayerto andpraiseof the Bodhisattva. To the proper ightofthis inscription ppearsone of the donors,a nunseated on a pedestal in front of trees,holdingacenserand attendedby a young nun and a girl.Accordingto the accompanyingegend this chieffigure epresents hieh-ching, nun of the superiororderat the templeLing-hsiu-ssu,ho belonged othe Li familyandwho executed hisvotivepicture.On the otherside of the inscriptions seen anotherdonor, Ming-chieh,also a nun of high orderofthe same temple, eated on a mat before a tree,

holdinga lotusblossom nd attendedby a girl.

The painting hows that the preliminaryketchin faint black having been made on figured silk(patternso smalland delicate are hardlydiscem-ible), the detailswere then filledwith water-colors;then the outlineswere drawnin red and black.The predominatingolorsare shades of redyellowish,brownish,ndpurplish deep and lightgreen;the othercolors re white,black,andyellow.The paintings notby anymeansexecutedwiththe skillof an accomplished rtist, or, comingas itdoes fromremoteTun-huang,t represents rimarilya provincial rt. Its importanceies in the fact thatit embodiesthe tradition f a pictorial rt thegreatart of the T'ang of whichundisputed x-amples reyet too few. There canbe noquestion,however,that this is a well-documented aintingof great mportanceo the Museumcollection.K. T.

Landscapewith Two Fir Trees AlbrechtAltdorferHoratioGreenoughCurtisFundA Landscape Etching by AltdorferA MONG the mportantrintsecentlycquiredbytheMuseumAlbrechtAltdorfer's and-scapewith Two Fir Treesdeservesa passingnotice, othonaccount f itshistoricallacenthedevelopmentf landscape rt and as a highlysuccessful ioneer ffortby the mostversatile fDurer's ontemporaries.he landscapeswhich

Rembrandtroducedbout hundredearsaterhaverightly ommandedhe admirationf thestudent nd the respectfulttentionf thepublicover a considerableeriod. Their"modernity"haslongbeena hackneyed atchword, hile nmethod ndessenceheyhaveconsistentlynspired

and challengedall who have soughtto wear thelaurels f the Dutch master s interpretersf nature.In the 1520's there was no blazed trail inlandscapeetching. There was indeed verylittleetching. The mediumhen n itsawkwardnfancyhad only justbeen takenoverfromthe armourersand theirpracticeof decoratingweapons. Mate-rialswere crudeand haphazardlysed. Engraverstrained o the precise ayingof lines on wood orcopperapparentlyid not relishthe unaccustomedfreedomof the needleor the vagaries ttendantobiting. As earlyas 15 15 Durerhad executedanetchingon iron,subsequently roducingiveothers,but the medium eemed at variancewith his moremethodicalurnof mind. The signature f Urs