liv. 007), according to the Chinese inscription in the left-hand top

corner, dates from A. D. 897, and yet is painted in a style which, as pointed out by Mr. Binyon,[82] looks distinctly earlier. It represents the Buddha Tejaḥprabha (‘radiant with light’) on a chariot which two bullocks draw, and surrounded by the genii of the five planets whom the inscription mentions. The same subject appears to be treated also in one of the finest of the wall-paintings of the Thousand Buddhas’ Caves.[83]

The Buddha is shown seated on a blue lotus which occupies the top of an open two-wheeled car. A draped altar placed in front of him across its shafts is decked with gilded vessels. Two elaborately decorated flags float behind the car, hung from slanting poles. The Buddha, whose figure alone in the picture shows distinct Indian convention, raises his right hand in the _abhaya-mudrā_. His flesh was originally gilded and his hair is shown blue. Rays of different colours radiate from his person, replacing a halo. Overhead a rich canopy waving in his advance symbolizes rapid movement. By the side of the trotting bullock strides a dark-skinned attendant, recalling the ‘Indian’ leaders of Mañjuśrī’s and Samantabhadra’s mounts, but carrying a mendicant’s staff instead of a goad and playing a sistrum with his left hand, as clearly seen in the original.

Of the genii represented two stand beyond the car dressed in Chinese official costume with trailing under-robes and wide-sleeved jackets. The one on the left carries a dish of flowers, and within the crown of his black head-dress appears a white boar’s head. The other on the right holds a brush and a tablet in his hands; between two loops of his elaborate head-dress there rises the figure of a monkey. A third, dressed all in white, plays upon a large lute with a very long plectrum;[84] his head is surmounted by a phoenix. The figure of the fourth divinity is of demonic type, four-armed, with fiery hair and grotesque features. The right hands carry sword and arrow, and the left hands a trident and bow; above his crown is seen a horse’s head.

With the comparative stiffness of the figures contrasts the freedom of the whirling mass of cloud upon which the whole group is shown sweeping past as in a vision. The colouring is strong, yet harmonious, and the workmanship careful.

The picture below (Ch. lvii. 002), which is in excellent preservation and still retained its original Kakemono mounting of brown silk, is a noble composition strikingly different in style and entirely Chinese in feeling. It shows the figure of Avalokiteśvara, as Guide of Souls, drawn with much dignity and grace, and behind him an attendant soul represented on a smaller scale in the guise of a Chinese woman.

The figure of Avalokiteśvara, who turns head and gaze backwards over the left shoulder, is in physical features and dress a fine specimen of the ‘Chinese’ Bodhisattva type already repeatedly noticed. In his right hand he carries a smoking censer, in his left a curving lotus spray and a waving white banner with triangular top and streamers, the whole exactly alike in shape to the silk banners brought away from Ch‘ien-fo-tung. In the dress of soft and harmoniously blended colours the elaborate rosettes of the borders may be noted as manifestly reproducing contemporary textile patterns.

The figure of the woman behind, with her head bowed and hands muffled in wide sleeves at her breast, well expresses devout reliance on the divine guide. Her attire, by the brilliant colouring of the robes and the absence of the elaborate metal head-dress, stands out in marked contrast to the costume familiar from the donor figures of our tenth-century paintings. The purple cloud which carries both figures sweeps up behind them to the top of the picture. There a Chinese mansion resting on conventional cloud scrolls represents the Paradise to which Avalokiteśvara leads his worshippers.

By the evidence of the dress and coiffure of the Bodhisattva’s attendant, which seem to belong to post-T‘ang times, the painting may be classed amongst the latest of the deposit. But what for our appreciation of this beautiful picture must matter far more than this chronological difference is the fact that the style of its design and its refined execution give full and exclusive expression just to those qualities which are characteristic of Chinese pictorial art at its best. As Mr. Binyon, when comparing this picture with another presentation of Avalokiteśvara, the one reproduced in our Plate XLII, has pregnantly put it, ‘we have [here] a sense of suavity and flexile movement. Flowers seem really to be floating down the air, and the cloud on which the votaress follows the Bodhisattva coils up with a wavering motion. We feel the presence of the Chinese genius, with its instinct for living movement, and its love of sinuous line, and its reticent spacing.’[85]

PLATE XXXIX

KṢITIGARBHA WITH THE INFERNAL JUDGES

The small picture (Ch. lxi. 009) reproduced here on half-scale is remarkable for its peculiar colour scheme and for its archaic appearance in composition and drawing. It represents Kṣitigarbha in his combined character as Patron of Travellers, Regent of Hell, and Lord of the Six Worlds of Desire. We have already above, when dealing with the paintings reproduced in Plate XXV, had occasion to indicate briefly the several functions which have made this Bodhisattva one of the most popular figures in the Buddhist Pantheon of the Far East.[86] Our observations here may, therefore, be restricted to particular features of his presentation.

The picture is painted on indigo blue silk which, though much broken, especially on the edges, yet retains the strong colours of the painting in great freshness. Kṣitigarbha in stiff hieratic attitude is seated on a red Padmāsana with his left leg resting on a small lotus and the right bent across. With his right hand raised he grasps the mendicant’s staff, while the left, palm uppermost, is held outwards empty. Over an under-robe of yellow with vermilion border he carries a maroon-bordered mantle of perished colour, while a traveller’s shawl of maroon covers head and shoulders. Gilded diamonds sprinkle shawl and borders. The face and breast are gilded, but the exposed portions of the limbs are painted light red.

From the large circular halo in blue, vermilion, and white spread out on either side three waving rays in the same colours, intended to bear figures representative of the Six Worlds (_gati_) as seen in Plate XXV; but these have not been drawn in. On either side of the Bodhisattva stands an amply robed figure with hands in adoration. From the fashion in which the hair of the figure on the left is done in two knobs it can be recognized as a man, while the hair descending in a roll on the neck of the other figure marks it as a woman. Whether the donor and his wife are intended is not certain.

In slanting rows descending from Kṣitigarbha’s lotus seat the Ten Infernal Judges are shown sitting on their heels, five on each side. They wear magisterial robes with head-dresses of varying shapes and carry narrow rolls of paper in their hands. Their faces, drawn in three-quarter profile, show some endeavour at individual characterization. Behind them on the right stand two men, with belted coats and wide-brimmed hats, holding a small and a very large roll of paper respectively. A third man, in a corresponding position on the left, carries what appears to be a writing-brush.

In the foreground we see again, crouching, a white lion, of very stylized form. A man’s figure, probably representing the soul of a departed, stands in adoring pose at its head, while on the opposite side another person with grotesque features raises his hands imploringly towards Kṣitigarbha. Both as regards its archaic style of design and its peculiar hard colouring the picture has no pendant in our collection. But, as Mr. Binyon has justly observed, it remains at present uncertain ‘whether the primitive features may not be due to provincial style preserving old tradition rather than to actual antiquity’.[87]

PLATE XL

KṢITIGARBHA AS PATRON OF TRAVELLERS

The painting (Ch. 0084) reproduced here on half the scale of the original also represents Kṣitigarbha, like the one in the preceding Plate, but shows striking differences of style in composition, drawing, and colouring. Simplicity of design, delicacy of line, and harmonious quiet of colours all combine to give to this picture a singular charm of its own, admirably expressive of serene beatitude. It is painted on pale green silk and, except where it is broken at the bottom, well preserved along with its border of greenish-blue silk.

We see the Bodhisattva seated cross-legged on an open lotus with gracefully pointed red petals. His face, round and youthful, bears an expression of benignant mildness. The eyes, long and straight, are cast slightly downwards. The right hand holds the mendicant’s staff and the left, resting on the knee, a flaming ball of crystal. He is dressed in a yellowish under-robe, apparently lined with pink, and a light green mantle which is barred and bordered with black. Head and shoulders are draped in a shawl of Indian red ornamented with a faint spot pattern in yellow.

The nimbus and circular halo are ornamented with elaborate ray and floral patterns in red and green and edged with flames. A broad band of white surrounds the whole figure and lifts it out of the green background. In the corners of this are seen floating sprays with red flowers.

Below in the left corner there remains the upper portion of the kneeling donor, recognizable as a boy by his features and the way in which his hair is dressed. In his joined hands he holds a lotus flower. His loose-sleeved red coat is sprinkled with a circular flower pattern in yellow and black. Red flowers on tall stems rise on either side of him. The cartouche to the right is left blank, and so, too, the remainder of the space probably intended for a dedicatory inscription.

PLATE XLI

AVALOKITEŚVARA AND TWO OTHER BODHISATTVAS

The three pictures which this Plate shows, reduced to one-half of the original in the case of the two on the sides and to three-eighths in that of the middle one, are characteristic specimens of those Bodhisattva banners on silk which are very frequent among our Tun-huang paintings.[88]

The banner in the middle (Ch. i. 0013) is completely preserved with its head-piece, streamers, and other accessories, and its painted portion, which alone is reproduced here, retains its colours in excellent condition. Its subject is easily recognized as Avalokiteśvara by the flask and the red lotus bud which he carries in his right and left hand respectively. The Bodhisattva’s figure is shown sweeping to the left with trailing draperies and the head slightly bent, gazing down at the lotus.

In features, dress, and general style of work it shares the characteristics of the ‘Chinese’ Bodhisattva type repeatedly referred to before; but the hollowed back gives a particularly graceful curve to the whole figure. Its special slimness and the wide semicircular line showing the setting of the eyes also deserve notice. The modelling of the flesh by pink shading is well marked. The parted mouth, showing white teeth, is unusual. The colours are very bright, and as the paint is applied very thickly, the opaque white of the girdle and streamers contrasts rather harshly with the strong blue of the stole.

The silk banner on the left (Ch. xxiv. 006) is also in excellent preservation, except for the lost accessories. The Bodhisattva who stands on a bluish-green lotus with hands in adoration remains in the absence of any particular indications unidentified. Figure, attire, and adornment conform to the ‘Chinese’ type of Bodhisattvas; but the skirt gathered up in front and showing bare legs is not usual. The colour scheme is rich but harmonious and the workmanship in general faultless, though confined to the familiar conventions of the type.

It is different with the fine Bodhisattva of the banner (Ch. i. 002) seen on the right. His figure is one of the most striking represented in the banners, remarkable for the skilful pose combining dignity with rapid movement, for the graceful sinuous lines of body and garments, and the pronounced and distinctly non-Chinese features of the Bodhisattva’s face. In view of a figure so distinctive and well defined, it is a matter of regret that there is no clue at present to its iconographic identity.

The Bodhisattva is seen walking away to the left, presenting a three-fourths back-view, with the head in profile over the left shoulder. With the left hand he gathers up the folds of the gracefully coiling stole, while the right, bent back at shoulder level, carries a pink lotus bud on the palm. The erect carriage of the body and its movement with the weight thrown forward on the right foot are admirably expressed. The canopy overhead, with its freely swinging tassels and bells, emphasizes the rapid movement which is suggested also by the feet being placed on two separate lotuses. The nimbus shown merely in outline as an elliptical black ring allows the back of the head and coiffure to be seen through.

The falling loops of the stole and the drapery tied in a knot at the neck hide details of the upper portion of the dress. But below it the waving folds of the glowing scarlet skirt are very skilfully rendered. A close-fitting cap of red, set with gold ornaments, covers the head, and from it projects at the back a large richly decorated gold ring apparently holding a tress of hair.

Special interest attaches to the Bodhisattva’s face. Distinctly non-Chinese features are the long and prominent nose, the marked depression below the low sloping forehead, the long and straight eye. The head is equally far removed from the classical type which Gandhāra art propagated. A curious scornful expression is imparted to the face by the eyelid drawn in a straight line across the half-closed eye and by the pouting mouth. Its strangely foreign look remains doubly puzzling where everything else bears so clearly the impress of Chinese workmanship.

PLATE XLII

AVALOKITEŚVARA, THOUSAND-ARMED, WITH ATTENDANT DIVINITIES

The large silk painting (Ch. xxviii. 006) reproduced in this Plate on the much-reduced scale of one-sixth is a fine illustration of that intermingling of art influences for which Tun-huang provided a classical meeting-place. It shows Avalokiteśvara with a thousand arms seated within a central disc, and outside this some attendant divinities symmetrically grouped. The scheme is thus closely akin to that of the Avalokiteśvara ‘Maṇḍala’ seen in Plate XVII and fully discussed above. But the number of divinities is much smaller and the composition in general less elaborate, though there is abundance of ornament in the details. The painting is complete except along its bottom, and its colours are remarkably fresh. The rich painted border of flower sprays which encloses the whole suggests the effect of naturalistic embroidery such as is found among the textile relics from the Thousand Buddhas.[89]

Avalokiteśvara’s figure single-headed appears here too, seated within a large circular halo formed by his ‘thousand arms’, each showing the symbolic open eye on the palm. Against this background are numerous inner arms, all except four in the centre line of the figure carrying a multiplicity of sacred emblems well known to Buddhist iconography, such as the discs of the Sun and Moon, trident, Vajra, &c. Owing to the excellent finish, the details of all these, as well as of the rich ornaments which deck the Bodhisattva’s body and head, can be made out clearly. In front of the high tiara appears the figure of Amitābha, his Dhyāni-buddha. The Bodhisattva’s flesh is shown dull yellow shaded with pink.

The nimbus is made up of a superimposed series of pointed rays brilliantly coloured. It is flame-edged like the border of the circular halo behind. The variegated petals of the lotus seat have also brilliant colours; gilding is used for their outlines as well as for all jewellery, the vessels on the altar in front, and the folds of Avalokiteśvara’s robes.

The background is divided into an upper and lower half. The upper, painted a thin light blue (now almost gone) and representing the sky, is sprinkled with small gilded stars and falling blossoms. In its top corners, to the right and left respectively, are shown the Bodhisattvas of the Sun and the Moon seated on their respective ‘Vāhanas’ of horses and geese, within red and white discs which piled-up clouds carry.

Against the lower half of the background, painted a deep blue and representing a tiled floor, are the haloed figures of the ‘Sage’ and the ‘Nymph of Virtue’, kneeling on lotuses to the right and left respectively. The former, an emaciated old man of ascetic type, yet wearing rich apparel, raises his right hand in salutation, and the ‘Nymph’ carries her dish of flowers, as also in Plate XVII. In the tank below we see again two armour-clad Nāgas holding up Avalokiteśvara’s disc. In front of the tank is an altar decked with draperies of exquisitely rendered floral designs and carrying gilt sacrificial vessels.

In the bottom corners stride in violent movement many-armed demonic Vajrapāṇis in red and blue against a vividly painted background of flames. With their fiery hair and grotesque features, and by the Tantric emblems they brandish in their hands, they show closest kinship to the monstrous divinities of Tantric origin in which the imagery of Tibetan Buddhism delights. Below them there kneel in adoration two small figures, one with an elephant’s head on the left and another with that of a rat on the right. In these we may, perhaps, recognize Gaṇeśa, familiar to Hindu mythology, and the ‘king of the sacred rats famous in Khotan local worship.[90]

In these figures and in a variety of other details to which Mr. Binyon has very justly called attention,[91] we have striking indications of that mixed style of painting to which Indian prototypes, Iranian and Central-Asian influences, and Tibetan taste have all contributed elements, albeit in very disparate proportions. Yet it does not need the Chinese inscriptions, found in a few of the cartouches and containing epithets of the respective divinities, to convince us that we owe this highly finished painting to Chinese workmanship. This has left its marks clearly in a mass of exquisite detail and in that perfectly mastered technique which accounts for the strong decorative effect of the whole.

PLATE XLIII

AVALOKITEŚVARA WITH LOKAPĀLA ATTENDANTS

The silk painting reproduced here with a reduction to one-third of the original (Ch. 00121) is a particularly fine example of Indian tradition preserved in Chinese Buddhist painting. The picture, damaged at the top and still more at its bottom, shows us Avalokiteśvara seated on a flat Padmāsana in the pose of ‘royal ease’. The shapely right hand hangs open over the raised right knee, while the left hand, now lost, evidently rested on the other knee and held the long spray of purple lotus which rises beside the head.

The figure of the Bodhisattva is presented in accordance with Indian iconographic canons. But the ease and distinction of the drawing, which the simplicity of the figure and the scarcity of colour make all the more noticeable, betoken the Chinese artist’s brush. The slender-waisted body leans towards the left shoulder; the limbs are long and slim; the head erect. The face is young and clean-shaven with an expression of serenity in the downcast slightly oblique eyes and the finely curved lips. The hair rises in a high cone above the three-leaved tiara, the front of which shows Avalokiteśvara’s Dhyāni-buddha, Amitābha. The flesh is left uncoloured.

The dress is confined to a short crimson laṅgōṭī wrapped about the loins, a thin transparent skirt hanging about the legs, and a narrow scarf entwined on the breast. The jewellery is of the type usual in ‘Indian’ Bodhisattvas, but plain. The elliptical nimbus and circular halo behind the figure are painted in pale blue and green. In the background are shown feathery floral sprays of a type common in printed silk fabrics from the Ch‘ien-fo-tung hoard.

In the top corners appear the small figures of two Lokapālas in mail armour, Vaiśravaṇa on the right and Virūpākṣa on the left, both seated on rocks. Corresponding figures of the other two Guardians of the Regions, no doubt, occupied the lost bottom corners.

PLATE XLIV

FRAGMENT OF STANDING AVALOKITEŚVARA

This Plate shows the remaining upper portion of a large silk painting (Ch. 00451, scale one-third) which represented Avalokiteśvara standing without attendants. Considerably broken as the painting is and injured in its surface, we recognize in it a fine pendant to the Avalokiteśvara picture reproduced in Plate XXI. Here, too, we see a figure of the conventional ‘Indian’ Bodhisattva type imbued with that grace and refined quality which Chinese mastery of fluid line and reposeful design is specially able to impart.

The physical type and the pose of the body, with its inclination to the left shoulder, closely correspond to those seen in Plate XXI. But here this line is counterbalanced by the pose of the head, which leans gently over the right shoulder. The eyes are turned back to the left proper and look down with an expression of mildness and compassion. They are almost straight, and the recurving line added to the eyelids is here absent. Of the willow spray in the right hand only a few faint indications remain.

The dress, jewellery, and colouring agree closely with those displayed by the figure in Plate XXI. But more remains here of the white shaded with pink which is used for the colouring of the body. The nimbus is made up of plain circular rings of dark olive, red, and white. The Chinese inscription of the cartouche to the right still awaits interpretation.

PLATE XLV

VAIŚRAVAṆA CROSSING THE OCEAN

The small Kakemono-shaped picture on silk (Ch. 0018) which this Plate shows with a reduction to two-thirds of its size is one of the most finished of our Tun-huang paintings. It presents Vaiśravaṇa, the Guardian-king of the North, as he advances on a cloud across the heaving sea, with an imposing suite of attendants, some human, some demonic, but all of them in striking attires. The painting was found in excellent preservation, still retaining its border of purple silk (omitted in the reproduction), and thus it is fortunately possible to appreciate in all details the high artistic merit of a work which clearly is from the brush of a master.

When dealing above with another presentation of Vaiśravaṇa’s Progress, the painting shown by Plate XXVI, we have already had occasion to refer to the special importance which the Protector of the Northern Region claims as chief among Lokapālas, and also to the reasons accounting for the popularity of his worship in Central Asia and the Far East. Hence we may turn here at once to the varied points of iconographic interest presented by our picture. The main figure of Vaiśravaṇa, disproportionately large in accordance with a convention familiar already to Graeco-Buddhist as well as to late Hellenistic art, strides ahead to the right, carrying the halberd, his characteristic emblem, in the right hand, and on a cloud rising from his left a small pagoda-shaped shrine, a secondary attribute, also otherwise attested. His face is heavy but not grotesque, with large oblique eyes and heavy eyebrows. The middle of the body is thrown out, giving to the pose an air of ponderous dignity.

His dress is that of a warrior king, as proper to all Lokapālas, but of a particularly elaborate type. His coat of mail reaches down almost to the knees. The arrangement of the scales, shown by a diaper of three-armed crosses, is the same peculiar one already noted in Plate XXVI. It appears also on the corslet, which is edged by bands of lacquered plate, while the forearm guards and what is visible of the greaves show oblong scales secured by transverse bands. The whole armour is gilded. Decorated flaps, probably of shaped leather, descend over the hips and are joined in front by a stomacher in the shape of a hawk or eagle mask. The shoulder-pieces end in a lion head, through the jaws of which the arm passes. Gilded shoes cover the feet.

The high three-leaved crown on Vaiśravaṇa’s head, with the wing-shaped ornament at the top and the white streamers flying up at the sides, unmistakably recalls the royal head-dress of Sassanian times.[92] The flames rising from his shoulders are an emblem also likely to have an Iranian origin.[93] Their flickering tongues, like the fluttering streamers and the freely floating stole, emphasize the Guardian-king’s rapid movement.

The same curling maroon cloud on which Vaiśravaṇa advances carries also his retinue of varied aspects. Before him to the right we see the graceful figure of a nymph bowing and presenting a dish of flowers. Her identity is uncertain; in form and attire she resembles the ‘Nymph of Virtue’ we have already met in the paintings of the Thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara.[94] Of her rich attire may be specially noted the wide sleeves which almost sweep the ground, the acanthus-like leaves covering her shoulders, and the wreaths thrown over her arms.

The _cortège_ behind the Lokapāla consists partly of demons, evidently representing the Yakṣas over whom he rules, and partly of figures purely human, which are clearly individualized but still await definite identification. Of the former, two in the background have the heads of monsters, with fiery hair and tusked jaws. One of them carries Vaiśravaṇa’s flag of the same elaborate design we have noted in Plate XXVI. Another demon in front of the pair, with brown skin, hairy arms, and animal-like head wrapped in a scarlet hood, carries a large round jar covered at its mouth. A fourth in the foreground, with ferocious animal head and long upstanding hair, carries a club and wears a Lokapāla’s armour over a richly embroidered scarlet coat.

Among the human attendants the most striking figure is that of a finely drawn aged man. He is clad only in a white skirt, with a scarf across the breast. His hair is tied in a topknot and is white, like his eyebrows and beard, all painted with minute care. His sunken features and the sidelong glance of his eyes are expressively rendered. In his right hand he carries a gilded cup (or Vajra?). Behind him we see a portly male figure with placid clean-shaven face and a high mitre-like head-dress from which drapery falls behind on the neck. He wears a green robe over what looks like a coat brocaded in a ‘Sassanian’ pattern and carries a flaming jewel on a gilded stand.

In the rear is a bearded muscular archer, preparing to shoot at a bat-like demon in the sky high up to the right. In the latter we can safely recognize a Garuḍa, the hunting of whom is a frequent motif in Turkestān frescoes, and whose winged figure is well known to Graeco-Buddhist sculpture also.[95] The drawing of the archer’s figure as he bends down to fit the arrow to the bow, while his gaze follows the flying Garuḍa, is remarkably firm and vigorous. On his head he carries a high conical cap of white, with metal boss at the top and wide upstanding brim. His dress comprises a blue tunic which leaves the right arm and breast bare, white breeches, and black top-boots. His purposeful figure in movement is cleverly set off by the serene appearance of a man standing in front with hands folded in adoration. He wears a full-sleeved maroon jacket over a flowing white under-robe and over his smooth black hair a gilded tiara of peculiar shape.

The special powers of Chinese pictorial art pervading the whole picture manifest themselves with particular clearness in the masterly spacing of the background. This shows the greenish-brown sea heaving in majestically rolling ridges of white-crested waves. Far away in admirably conveyed distance rises a range of blue and green mountains, probably meant to represent the fabulous Mount Meru where Buddhist mythology locates the Guardian-kings of the Regions.

Wherever the eye falls in this small but exquisite picture we may appreciate the sure drawing with its cleanness of touch, the harmonious colouring, and the highly finished workmanship. But it is in this background that we can realize best to what extent the artist shared that understanding of the Chinese genius for the control of ordered fluent line and the power of suggestion in spacing.

PLATE XLVI

FRAGMENT WITH CHILD ON DEMON’S HAND

The fragment of a large paper painting (Ch. 00373) reproduced here on the scale of three-fourths is of interest as it represents somewhat rare details in skilful execution, and also on account of its unusual technique. The picture, of which another fragment survives, has been drawn upon a fine ground laid over smooth buff paper. The colours delicately painted over this are bright and particularly pleasing by their softness, and I regret that their reproduction had to be forgone. The execution is more finished than that of any of the other paper paintings from Ch‘ien-fo-tung. Of the subject of the whole painting it is impossible to say more than that it probably represented the ‘Maṇḍala’ of a Buddha or Bodhisattva.

Our fragment shows on the left, against a background of large-leaved flowering trees, a demon of dark blue body and limbs holding up with his hands a naked infant who leans towards him smiling and with arms stretched out. The infant’s form and features are exquisitely drawn with fluent lines expressive of baby-like plumpness and shaded in pink and white. He has black hair and a red trefoil mark on his forehead. The reddish-pink face of the demon bears a cleverly conveyed tender expression, which contrasts with his fierce features and shock of red and green hair. We have already met with the figure of a similar demon holding an infant in the group attending the Bodhisattvas on the right in Bhaiṣajyaguru’s Paradise as shown by Plate I, and another is found among Vaiśravaṇa’s attendants in a woodcut from Ch‘ien-fo-tung.[96]

On the right is seen a many-tiered umbrella hung with streamers and tasselled chains, as found often over the chief Bodhisattvas in large Paradise paintings (see Plate I). In the middle of the bottom portion of the fragment appears the upper part of the halo, topknot, and tiara of a Bodhisattva. Above the central ornament of the tiara is seen the head of a white stag with antlers painted in silver.

PLATE XLVII

THREE LOKAPĀLA BANNERS

The three silk banners which this Plate reproduces on the scale of one-third all depict Virūpākṣa, the Guardian-king of the West and, after Vaiśravaṇa, the most popular of the Lokapālas. When describing above his fine picture as seen in Plate XXVII, I have already had occasion briefly to indicate the iconographic features which are common to all our Lokapāla representations, and to touch also upon those minor characteristics which allow us to distinguish certain groups among our numerous banners of these divinities.[97] Hence my account of those shown in our Plate may be restricted to individual points deserving of notice.

In the banner on the left (Ch. lv. 0020), which is well preserved except at the top where the painting has broken and been attached to the head-piece (not shown) by a patch of purple silk, we see a good example of the Lokapāla type designated above as ‘Chinese’. Virūpākṣa stands with his feet planted on the back and head of his crouching demon cognizance and holding the drawn sword upright in his left hand.[98] His face is middle-aged and serious, the oblique eyes slightly enlarged, and the iris painted a dark yellow. His coat of mail shows oblong scales all through from the shoulders to the skirt portion. The flesh is shaded light pink over the brownish white of the silk. The corslet is secured by broad shoulder-straps, probably of lacquer, here clearly marked. Beneath the hip-belt appear an apron and hip-flaps of shaped leather, providing additional protection. Round the lower edge of the belt hang loose rings, probably meant for the attachment of the scabbard and other equipment. The breeches are tucked into greaves, and the feet shod with plain sandals. The general colour effect is subdued owing to the prevalence of light brown and pale red tints.

The painting in the middle (Ch. lv. 0046) is broken at the top and has lost its banner accessories, but retains its colours in remarkable freshness. Virūpākṣa, turning slightly to the left, stands with his feet on the shoulder and knee of a squatting demon. He holds before him with both hands a long sword in a lacquered scabbard, whose point rests on the demon’s head. His face, large-cheeked and with strong chin, bears a pleasant expression. The oblique eyes with light iris gaze upwards.

The coat of mail painted yellow and red shows round-edged scales overlapping downwards as far as the hip-belt, while the skirt portion has oblong scales apparently overlapping upwards. Trefoil-shaped flaps of green leather give additional protection to the hips and abdomen. A sausage-shaped collar is fastened round the neck and over a brown mantle. Solid guards of lacquered leather protect both upper and fore arms. The legs are clad only in breeches tied below the knees and hanging loose to the ankles. The shoes of woven string are of some interest, as their make exactly corresponds to that of shoes brought to light by me from ruins of Han and later times.[99] The elaborately jewelled head-dress is fitted with a red ‘cock’s crest’ at the back, and the halo behind is flame-edged.

The Chinese inscription describes the Lokapāla correctly as Virūpākṣa, ‘celestial king of the Western Region’. The work is carefully finished throughout, and the colours harmonious, though more opaque than usual in these banners.

The banner (Ch. 0010), of which the painted portion is reproduced on the right, is complete and excellently preserved. Virūpākṣa’s figure combines here characteristics of that Lokapāla type which may conveniently be called ‘Central-Asian’ with a treatment and certain details not unlike those in the ‘Chinese’ type.

The Lokapāla stands facing the spectator on the head and knee of a contorted demon. His right foot is placed on a higher level than the other, and the weight of the body thrown on the left hip. The right hand holds the naked sword aslant across the body and the left supports it at the breast. The face is heavy and with the frowning forehead, the snarling mouth, and glaring eyes bears a fiercer expression than usual. The large round eyes are level and the iris green. The hair, shown light blue, is bunched back behind the ears. The flesh is painted a pinkish red with but little shading.

The coat of mail from shoulders to skirt is uniformly made up of round-edged scales overlapping downwards; but their colouring varies in different parts. A jerkin of blue leather elaborately ornamented with metal-work appears above and below the mail corslet. The forearms are swathed in red draperies, which also show above the knees. The white leg-coverings are tucked into greaves which display elaborately scrolled metal-work, manifestly painted in with an eye mainly to decorative effect. Similar metal-work is shown on the black shoes. The yellowish-brown colour of this metal-work, suggestive of bronze, is applied also to the solid metal tiara, with wing ornaments and high crown, which forms the head-dress.

Though the drawing is careful and the colours clear and fresh, much is lost in general effect through excessive concentration on detail and ornament. In the want of space and free line and in the resulting lack of spontaneity we are made to feel, as it were, the influence of non-Chinese models.

PLATE XLVIII

FRAGMENT WITH FIGURE OF DEMONIC WARRIOR

This fine fragment of a large silk painting (Ch. 0098), reduced here to three-fourths of the original, shows the head and upper part of the body of a figure demonic in look and of violent pose. No definite identification seems at present possible. If the trident-like weapon lifted up in the left hand might suggest a Lokapāla, there are to be noted against this the flames streaming back from the head and the total absence of armour. Again, if the ferocious look and pose would make us think of a Vajrapāṇi Dharmapāla, other difficulties arise from the unusual weapon, the fiery hair, and the want of exaggerated muscles. So it will be best to leave this fine figure unnamed and to rest content with an appreciation of its artistic merit.

The head, well preserved on the whole, shows a face demonic in features and convulsed with rage. It is painted dark grey with red lips and black hair. The eyes are distended and glaring in fury, the eyebrows contracted, and the forehead bowed with wrinkles. The widely grinning mouth shows the tongue and both rows of teeth. Excessively high cheekbones and nose, bushy eyebrows, a moustache sweeping fiercely upwards, and stiff spreading beard and whiskers add their quota to the terrifying appearance of the head. The hair on the forehead passes black under a jewelled tiara; but what streams up from the whole head is a cone of red flame.

From the rest of the fragment all paint is lost. The outline drawing, however, remains of a body vigorous and muscular. But for jewelled chains, necklace, &c., it is nude to the hip-belt, over which appears pulled the edge of a skirt-like garment. A stole is gathered over the right upper arm, and the right hand is held before the breast, with fingers stiffly upturned and palm downwards. The left arm is lost, but the hand appears above grasping the staff of a weapon with barbed points.

The whole figure is drawn with admirable verve and freedom. Fragmentary as it is, it allows us to surmise what we have lost here of a work of true Chinese genius—and at the same time to realize what we owe to the safe hiding-place the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas have provided for so many other relics of art.

INDEX

_ahhaya-mudrā_, 25, 27, 32, 51, 53.

acanthus leaves, 60.

Ajaṇṭā, frescoes of, 3, 8.

Ajātaśatru, legend of, 44.

Ākāśagarbha, 16, 17.

altar, valance of, 18.

Amitābha, Buddha, 4, 5, 11; Western Paradise of, 5, 6, 11, 17, 18, 20, 21 sq., 44, 52; triad of, 18.

Ānanda, legend of, 49.

Andrews, Mr. F. H., xii, 44.

Antioch, 4.

Apsaras, 12, 20, 22, 49; _see_ Gandharvī.

Asuras, World of, 38.

Athene, on seal, 4.

Avalokiteśvara, Bodhisattva of Mercy (Kuan-yin; Kwan-non), 4, 13, 18, 20, 22, 27, 28, 49, 56, 58, 59; guide of souls, 53; six-armed, 35; thousand-armed, 30, 57; emblems of, 30, 57; four forms of, 29; male and female forms of, 4; Maṇḍala of, 13, 30, 31; paintings of, 6; under willows, 36; with willow spray, 31, 32; worship of, 4.

Badakhshī breed of horses, 20.

banners, on silk, 2, 23, 25, 40, 43, 51, 53, 56, 61; groups of, 23; on linen, 3.

Barnett, Dr. L. D., 47.

Bath, of Gautama, 52.

Benares, Deer Park of, 24.

Bhaiṣajyaguru, Buddha, Paradise of, 11 sqq., 14, 50.

Bhaiṣajyarāja, 5.

_bhūmisparśa-mudrā_, 27.

Bimbisāra, 44.

Binyon, Mr. L., ix, xi, xii, 13, 36, 37, 45, 53, 54, 55, 58.

boar, head of, 53.

boar-headed demon, 31.

Bōdh-Gayā, image at, 27.

Bodhisattvas, 4 sq., 11 sqq., and _passim_; banners of, 56; ‘Indian’ and ‘Chinese’ types of, 14, 29, 56; worship of, 28; _see_ Avalokiteśvara, Kṣitigarbha, Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra.

borders, of paintings, 2, 53, 55, 59.

Brahman, 12, 30.

British Museum, paintings at, ix, xi; Trustees of, xi.

Buddha, _see_ Gautama, Śākyamuni.

Buddhas, 4; subsidiary, 13, 17; ‘of ten quarters’, 30.

Buddhism, spread of, into Central Asia and China, 3 sq., 7; _see_ Mahāyāna.

Buddhist art, of China, 3, 6; of India, 3 sq.; of Japan, 4 sq.; of Tibet, 9.

Buddhist Heaven, _see_ Paradise.

Buddhist images, from India, 6.

bullocks, 53.

_Butsu-yé_ 3.

_Cakravartin_, 53.

cangue, 35, 38.

cartouches, inscribed, 23, 26, 29, 32, 49, 52, 58, 59; uninscribed, 36, 38.

castanets, 12.

‘Caves of the Thousand Buddhas’, 1, 13, and _passim_.

celestial mansions, 11, 17, 18, 51, 54.

chain-armour, 42.

Chamberlain, the Right Hon. Mr. A., xi.

Chandaka, 24.

Chavannes, M. Éd., x, 16, 19.

_Ch‘ien-fo-tung_, Chinese for ‘Caves of Thousand Buddhas’, _passim_.

China, westward expansion of, 4.

Chinese art, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Chinese painting, Buddha legend in, 8; Central tradition of, 5; style of, 54.

‘Chinese’ type of Bodhisattvas, 29, 32, 36, 43, 54, 56.

Christians, at Turfān, 5.

chronology, of paintings, 7, 16, 21, 50.

clappers, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 25, 36.

Clarendon Press, Delegates of, xi.

cleaning, of paintings, 2.

cloud scrolls, in textiles, 36.

coiffure, of donatrices, 16, 17, 19, 30, 38; _see_ head-dress.

coins, Chinese, 48.

Conception, of Gautama, 52.

costume, of donatrices, 16, 21, 22, 30, 50; of donors, 17, 22, 36, 37, 38, 50, 56.

crane, 12, 18, 22.

crown, of Sassanian type, 39, 60.

dancer, 12, 15, 17, 18, 51.

Deer Park, Śākyamuni in, 27.

Delhi Museum, xi.

demons, 12, 15, 40 sq., 61, 62, 63; Tibetan, 47; World of, 38; _see_ Yakṣas.

Dharmapālas, 43, 63.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra, 42.

Dhyāni-buddha (Amitābha), 4, 20, 28, 29, 32, 35, 57, 58.

Dīpaṅkara, Buddha, 51.

disciples, figures of, 17, 19, 21.

discs, of Sun and Moon, 17, 38.

distemper, painting in, 9, 46.

donors, in paintings, 7; _see_ costume, portraits.

dragons, 12, 19, 48, 52.

drapery, Hellenistic, 20.

dress, _see_ costume; magisterial, 19, 24, 44, 37, 55.

drums, 12, 45.

ducks, 22; wild, 25.

embroidery picture, 10, 48; remains, 44.

fan-bearers, 37.

First Sermon, _see_ Gautama.

flame streamers, 39, 60.

flask, of Avalokiteśvara, 36, and _passim_.

flutes, 12, 14, 18, 36, 45.

Foucher, M. A., 23, 27, 28, 31, 43.

‘Four Encounters’, _see_ Gautama.

Freer Collection, 7, 8.

Fu-hsi, Emperor, 48.

fungus sceptre, 38.

Gandhāra, Buddhist art of, 3, 4, 7, 49; types from, 8.

Gandharvīs, 14; _see_ Apsaras.

Gaṇeśa, 58.

Garuḍa, 12, 16, 17, 18, 60.

_Gatis_, _see_ Worlds of Desire.

Gautama (Buddha, Śākyamuni), scenes from Life of, 5, 6, 25, 51; Chinese treatment of, 7, 23; Conception of, 52; Birth of, 52; Bath of, 52; Seven Steps of, 52; Four Encounters of, 23 sq., 51; Search for, 24; Farewell from Kaṇṭhaka, 24; Enlightenment of, 27; First Sermon of, 24, 27; as teacher, 6; Miracle of Śrāvastī, 27; on Gṛdhrakūṭa, 25, 27, 48, 49; _see_ Buddha, Jātakas, Śākyamuni.

Giles, Dr. L., xii.

glass bowl, 43.

Graeco-Buddhist art, x, 12, 15, 20, 23, 26, 27, 28, 52, 59, 60.

Gṛdhrakūṭa, _see_ Vulture Peak.

gryphon, 12.

Guardians of Regions, _see_ Lokapālas.

halo, flame-bordered, 15; transparent, 21, 22.

hands, pair of colossal, 26.

Hāritī, 31.

harp, 12, 16, 45.

hats, shape of, 17.

head-dress, of donors, 19, 23, 30, 32; _see_ coiffure.

Hell, Kṣitigarbha Regent of, 37, 54.

Hellenistic art, influence of, 4, 20, 59.

Heracles, on seal, 4.

hermit, picture of, 47.

Herzfeld, Prof. E., 40.

high lights, 9, 21, 22.

hills, 14, 17, 19.

Hīnayāna Buddhism, 4.

Hindu mythology, 31.

Horiuji Temple, 3.

horse, drawing of, 19; types of, 20, 25, 39.

horse’s head, 54.

horse-dragon, 47.

‘horse-millinery’, 20, 39.

Hsüan-tsang, pilgrim, 6, 27.

human form, Chinese treatment of, 7.

iconography, Buddhist, x.

India, Buddhist painting in, 3.

Indian art, genius of, 8.

Indian garb, of divinities, 7.

Indian type, of Bodhisattvas, 28, 29, 36, 42, 47, 59.

Indians, dark-skinned, 14, 15, 29, 53.

Indra, 12, 30.

infants, 12, 16, 22, 36, 61.

Infernal Judges, 37, 38, 55.

Iranian, art motifs, 4; influences, 58; emblems, 39, 60; _see_ Persia.

iris of eyes, blue, 39; yellow, 62; green, 62.

Japan, Buddhist art of, 5; Buddhist paintings of, 3.

Jātakas, scenes from, 5, 6, 8, 23; _see_ Gautama.

Jizō (Kṣitigarbha), 37.

Kābul, 27.

Kakemonos, paintings mounted as, 2, 39, 53, 59.

Kālika, 47.

Kalyāṇaṃkara, legend of, 16, 17.

Kaṇṭhaka, Buddha’s horse, 23, 24, 53.

Kapilavastu, 52.

Kapiśa (Kabul), 27.

Kāshgar, 1.

Kashmir, 1, 4.

Kāśyapa, 49.

Khotan, 1, 4; mural paintings of, 28; painter from, 10; Vaiśravaṇa’s worship at, 39.

Kings, Twelve, protectors of the Law, 13, 51.

knee-caps, 35.

Kṣitigarbha, in paintings, 5, 8, 16, 17, 37; patron of travellers, 38, 54, 55; Regent of Hell, 37, 54.

Ku K‘ai-chih, painter, 6, 7; style of, 8.

Kuan-yin, Chinese name of Avalokiteśvara, _q.v._

Kubera, 39.

Kwan-non, Japanese name of Avalokiteśvara, _q.v._

Lamas, hoods of, 46.

landscape, treatment of, 7; dividing scenes, 13; _see_ hills.

_laṅgōṭī_ (loin-cloth), 42, 58.

Laufer, Dr. B., 41.

leather, armour, 42, 62; scales, 41.

linen, paintings on, 3, 46.

lion, 15, 41, 49, 55.

Littlejohn, Mr. S. W., 2.

_Ló-shen-fu_, painting, 6.

Lokapālas, 5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 31, 36, 39, 40, 41, 53, 58, 60, 61, 62.

Lop desert, 5.

Lorimer, Miss F. M. G., xii.

lotus-lake, 12, 17, 18, 22.

lotus-seats, 20, 50, 55.

Lumbinī garden, 6, 52.

Lung-mên, relievos of, 22, 43.

lute, 16, 17, 18, 45, 53.

Magadha, 27.

Mahākāla, 30.

Mahāsthāma, 18, 20, 22, 49.

Mahāyāna Buddhism, ix, x, 4, 28.

Maheśvara, 31.

mail-coat, 41, 59.

Maitreya, Buddha, 5; Paradise of, 19.

_Maitreya-vyākaraṇa-sūtra_, 18.

Maṇḍala, compositions, x; of Avalokiteśvara, 13, 36, 57.

Manichaeism, 5.

Mañjuśrī, 5, 12, 14, 15, 29, 40.

manuscripts, at Ch‘ien-fo-tung, 1, 8; rolls, in paintings, 20, 48.

Māra, attack of, 27.

marginal scenes, 13, 16, 17, 47, 51.

Māyā, 52.

Meru, Mount, 17, 40, 61.

Milne, Mr. J. C., xi.

Mīrān, mural paintings at, 4, 21.

mirror, metal, 19; magic, 38.

Mithras, worship of, 4 sq.

modelling, in two tones, 10.

monkey, 53.

monks, 17, 30, 38, 47, 49.

Moon, Bodhisattva of, 30, 57; disc of, 47.

mouth-organ, 14, 15, 16, 36.

musical instruments, 12, 16 sqq.

musicians, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 45, 51.

Nāga-tree (coral), 40.

Nāgas, 31, 40, 52, 57.

Nara, frescoes at, 3.

Nativity, of Gautama, 52.

Nepalese miniatures, 27; paintings, 3, 9.

‘Nymph of Virtue’, 31, 57.

Nymphs, 12, 15, 50, 60.

officials, dress of, 37; _see_ dress.

ox-headed demon, 45.

palanquin, 20, 52.

Pāpaṃkara, legend of, 16, 17.

paper paintings, 36, 47 sq., 61.

Paradise, of Amitābha, _see_ Western Paradise; of Bhaiṣajyaguru, 50; of Maitreya, 19; of Śākyamuni, 15, 16.

pavilions, 13.

peacock, 12, 18, 22, 31.

pearl, of Kṣitigarbha, 37.

Pelliot, M. Paul, 2.

Persia, 4; _see_ Iranian.

Petrucci, M. R., viii, x, xi, xii, 14, 16, 17, 19, 27, 30, 37, 50.

phoenix, 12, 22, 31.

pipe, 12, 14, 16, 25; _see_ whistle-pipe.

Planets, divinities of, 8, 53.

plectrum, 53.

portraits, of donors, 7, 16, 21.

_pretas_, 31, 38.

processions, 14 sq.

psaltery, 12, 17, 18, 45.

Rājagṛha (Rājgir), 27, 48.

rat-king, 58.

_ratnām_, _see_ seven.

Rawak Vihāra, 27.

reborn souls, 12, 16, 18, 22.

reed-organ, 12, 17.

Roman Empire, silk trade to, 4.

‘royal ease’, pose of, 35, 58.

saddles, 20.

‘Sage of the Air’, 31, 57.

Śakti, of Avalokiteśvara, 45, 46.

Śākyamuni, 17; in pictures, 5; legend of, 6; Paradise of, 15, 16; type of, 4; _see_ Gautama, Buddha.

Samantabhadra, 5, 12, 14, 15, 29, 45.

sandals, 41; of string, 37.

Śāriputra, 25, 49.

Sassanian relievos, 40.

‘Sassanian’ textile motifs, 40, 45, 60.

scabbard, lacquered, 62.

scale armour, 39, 41, 42, 53, 59 sq., 62.

Schlesinger, Miss K., 12, 53.

_Serindia_, ix, xi.

Seven Jewels, 53.

Seven Steps, of Gautama, 52.

shading, method of, 15.

shoes, of string, 62.

Shōsōin Collection, 12.

silk, of paintings, 2; gauze-like, 23; trade from China, 4.

_siṃhāsana_, 36.

Śivaitic divinities, 30.

slab for inscription, 21, 22, 38.

spacing, Chinese, 9, 46, 60.

Śrāvastī, ‘Miracle of,’ 27.

stag, white, 61.

statues, of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, 26; _see_ Vulture Peak.

Stone & Son, Messrs. Henry, xi.

Stūpa, consecration of, 20.

Śuddhodana, 25.

Sukhāvatī, _see_ Western Paradise; type of, 22.

Sun, Bodhisattva of, 30, 57; disc of, 47.

Sung period, art of, 7.

Syrinx, 16.

Taki, Prof., xii.

Taklamakān desert, 5.

T‘ang period, art of, 5, 6, 7.

Tantra doctrines, 46; emblems, 58.

Taoist monk, at Caves, 1 sq.

Tārā, goddess, 45, 46.

Tejaḥprabha, Buddha, 53.

tempera, painting in, 46.

textile patterns, 54; _see_ Sassanian.

Thunder god, 26.

Ti-tsang (Kṣitigarbha), 37.

Tibet, Buddhism of, 46, 58; Buddhist art of, 9, 46.

Tibetan paintings, 3, 9.

Tibetans, at Tun-huang, 45, 46, 47.

tiger, 48.

tonsure, 19.

trees, in paintings, 11, 16, 20, 22.

‘triple cord’, 42.

Tun-huang, oasis and town, 1 sq.; chiefs of, 36; Tibetan conquest of, 9.

Turfān, 5; painting from, 21.

Turkestān, Buddhist art of, 3, 4; pictorial style of, 9; under Chinese rule, 4.

Tuṣita Heaven, 18.

Urushibara, Mr. Y., 2.

Vaiśravaṇa, 58; paintings of, 6, 39, 59; emblems of, 40; flag of, 60.

Vajra, 43, 47.

Vajrapāṇis, 31, 43, 58, 63.

_vara-mudrā_, 41, 46, 49.

vase, glazed, 36.

Vignette, portrait in, 21.

Virūḍhaka, 15, 36.

Virūpākṣa, 40, 58, 62.

Visser, Prof. M. W. de, 37.

_vitarka-mudrā_, 11, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 28, 29, 32, 35, 47, 50.

votive inscription, 2.

Vulture Peak (Gṛdhrakūṭa), 25, 27, 48, 49.

Waley, Mr. A. D., xii.

warrior kings, 12.

Western Paradise (_Sukhāvatī_), of Amitābha, 5, 6, 11, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 44, 52.

wheel, of sovereignty, 53.

whistle-pipe, 15, 16.

willow spray, of Avalokiteśvara, 28, 30, 32; Aval, under willows, 36.

Winter, Miss E. A., 2, 49.

‘Worlds of Desire’, 37, 38, 54.

Wu Tao-tzŭ, painter, 8.

Yabuki, Mr., xii.

Yakṣas, 39, 60; _see_ demons.

Yaśodharā, 53.

Yün-kang, relievos of, 8, 22, 23.

Footnotes

[1] Cf. _Serindia_, p. 1420. For a distinctively ‘Indian’ representation of Mañjuśrī, see below, Plate XXVII.

[2] Cf. _Serindia_, Appendix E, p. 1410.

[3] See _Serindia_, Appendix _A_, pp. 1434 sqq.

[4] See particularly the painting, Ch. lv. 0023, of A.D. 864 reproduced in Plate XVI.

[5] Cf. _Serindia_, pp. 850, 885, 888.

[6] See _Serindia_, p. 1410.

[7] For an interpretation of the symbolic meaning of this representation, cf. M. Petrucci’s ‘Essai’ (Les Maṇḍalas), _Serindia_, Appendix _E_, p. 1411.

[8] See _Serindia_, p. 835.

[9] Cf. _Serindia_, p. 850 sq.

[10] See _Serindia_, pp. 899 sq., 984 sq., Pls. CIX, CX.

[11] See _Serindia_ pp. 890, 1082 sq., Pl. LVIII, and M. Petrucci’s notes in Appendix _E_ ibid., p. 1408 sq.

[12] Cf. _Serindia_, pp. 835, 890, note 38.

[13] See above, p. 17.

[14] See, e.g., Plate XXII.

[15] Cf. Stein, _Ancient Khotan_, ii. Pl. LIX.

[16] For details of the antiquarian evidence concerning the date of these pictures, cf. _Serindia_, pp. 885, 896.

[17] See above, p. 9. Of my other pictorial ‘finds’ from Central Asia only the mural paintings of Mīrān, approximately dating from the third to fourth century A.D., show this use of ‘high lights’; cf. _Serindia_, pp. 504, 508, Pls. XL-XLV.

[18] These two-lobed tufts of hair recall those shown on the heads of the angels and _putti_ in the wall-paintings of the shrines excavated by me at Mīrān; see _Serindia_, Figs. 134, 138, 140; Plates XL, XLI.

[19] Cf. _Serindia_, p. 850 sq.; also below, p. 23.

[20] See above, p. 21.

[21] For details on these points and on the question of style, cf. _Serindia_, p. 847 sq.

[22] Cf. _Serindia_, p. 848.

[23] Cf. _Serindia_, p. 850; Chavannes, _Mission archéologique en Chine_, i. Planches 207–10.

[24] Cf. _Serindia_, p. 849, note 18.

[25] This is against the fixed iconographic convention of Indian tradition which shows the _right_ hand raised and the _right_ shoulder uncovered by the under-robe. The explanation may be sought for in the fact that in the case of banners both sides of the silk gauze had to be painted. Here and in the Buddha of the banner in the middle of the Plate we have obviously cases of a mistake made by the artist as to which side was to be treated as the one intended for contemplation and properly finished.

[26] Cf. _Serindia_, p. 858, and the reproduction of the banner, Ch. lv. 0012, Pl. LXXV.

[27] Cf. _Serindia_, p. 947 (_sub_ Ch. 0039).

[28] Cf. _Serindia_, p. 880.

[29] See Petrucci, _Annales du Musée Guimet_, xli, pp. 121 sqq.

[30] Plate LXX of _Serindia_ shows the left half of the painting as originally opened out and mounted at the British Museum. As regards certain slight modifications of the arrangement effected in the course of the final mounting and now seen in our Plate, the detailed description of the painting in _Serindia_, pp. 1024 sqq., may be referred to.

[31] Cf. Petrucci, _Annales du Musée Guimet_, xli. p. 122. The figure at the first opening of the picture at the British Museum was found as a detached fragment. To its left upper edge there adhered the inscribed cartouche subsequently, on mounting, inserted in the blank space between the two standing figures at the bottom; cf. _Serindia_, p. 1025 sq.

[32] See _Ancient Khotan_, i. 493, Figs. 62–4.

[33] Cf. Foucher, _Beginnings of Buddhist Art_, p. 172.

[34] Cf. _Iconographie bouddhique_, i. 40 sqq.

[35] For the willow-spray symbol cf. below, Plate XXIV.

[36] See Plates XIX, XXIX, XLI.

[37] For a reproduction in colours, but on a much smaller scale, see _Desert Cathay_, ii. Plate VIII.

[38] For such Bodhisattva banners of the type conveniently designated as ‘Chinese’ see Plates XIX, XXIX, XLI.

[39] Cf. M. Petrucci’s readings, _Serindia_, p. 1416 sq.

[40] For specimens of this ‘Indian’ type of Bodhisattvas see Plates XXI, XXII; for detailed references concerning banners of this type, particularly numerous among those on linen, cf. _Serindia_, p. 862.

[41] Cf. M. Petrucci’s notes, _Serindia_, p. 1398.

[42] See above, p. 16.

[43] Cf. M. Petrucci, on ‘Maṇḍalas de Kouan-yin’, _Serindia_, Appendix _E_, pp. 1411 sqq.; and for a full description of our painting, ibid., pp. 1077 sqq.

[44] See M. Foucher’s brilliant essay on ‘La Madone bouddhique’ in _The Beginnings of Buddhist Art_, pp. 285 sqq.

[45] See M. Petrucci’s explanations in _Serindia_, p. 1397. The other two inscriptions seem to contain metrical invocations of the all-merciful Kuan-yin.

[46] For scenes somewhat similar, see the side of Bhaiṣajyaguru’s Paradise in Plate I.

[47] Cf. Mr. Binyon’s note in _Guide to an Exhibition Paintings, Manuscripts, and other Archaeological Objects collected by Sir Aurel Stein in Chinese Turkestān_, British Museum, 1914, p. 12.

[48] Cf. Chavannes, _Dix inscriptions chinoises de l’Asie centrale_, pp. 80 sqq.; _Serindia_, p. 1338 sq.

[49] See _Serindia_, p. 864, with note 16.

[50] Cf. Mr. Binyon’s remarks in _Guide to an Exhibition of Paintings, MSS., &c., collected by Sir Aurel Stein_ (British Museum, London, 1914), p. 7 sq.; also M. Petrucci’s account of Kṣitigarbha’s ‘Maṇḍalas’, _Serindia_ p. 1422 sq.

The history of Kṣitigarbha’s cult in China and Japan forms the subject of a full and very instructive monograph, _The Bodhisattva Ti-tsang (Jizō) in China and Japan_, by Professor M. W. de Visser, with numerous illustrations (Oesterheld & Co., Berlin, 1915), to which reference may be made for all details.

[51] For a brief summary of the facts bearing on the iconographic history of the Lokapāla figures in their transition from India and Central Asia to China, cf. e.g. _Serindia_, pp. 870 sqq., where the principal authorities are indicated.

[52] See _Ancient Khotan_, i. pp. 158, 252 sq.

[53] The treatment of the scales, apparently represented by three-armed crosses, is peculiar and differs from the several methods of scale armour which other Lokapāla figures (see e.g. Plate XLVII) usually display. But it is found again on Vaiśravaṇa’s armour in Plate XLV and may possibly be meant for a special kind of mail.

[54] For some of such indications, see _Serindia_, pp. 871 sq., 874.

[55] Cf. Herzfeld, _Am Tor von Asien_, p. 87. To the examples there quoted in note 141 may be added the painted panel from Dandān-oilik, D. vii. 5, shown in _Ancient Khotan_, ii. Pl. LIX.

[56] For more detailed observations on the two groups among Lokapāla pictures, cf. _Serindia_, pp. 872 sqq.

[57] See _Serindia_, pp. 873 sq., 939 sqq., &c. Questions closely bearing upon armour and costume such as our Lokapālas exhibit have been discussed with much critical learning by Dr. B. Laufer in his _Chinese Clay Figures_, Pt. 1: _Prolegomena on the History of Defensive Armour_ (Chicago, 1914).

[58] See _Ancient Khotan_, i. pp. xvi, 374, 411; _Serindia_, pp. 246, 463 sqq.

[59] See above, pp 12, 14 sq., 29.

[60] For detailed references, cf. _Serindia_, p. 873; see also _Ancient Khotan_, i. pp. xvi, 252.

[61] For reference to works of MM. Chavannes, Foucher, Grünwedel-Burgess, see _Serindia_, p. 875, note 45.

[62] Cf. _Serindia_, pp. 904 sqq., and the embroidery specimens reproduced there in Plates CVI-CVIII, CX, CXI.

[63] Cf. F. H. Andrews, _Ancient Chinese Figured Silks excavated by Sir Aurel Stein_ (B. Quaritch, London, 1920), pp. 4 sqq., Figs. 1–3.

[64] See above, Plates I, II.

[65] We meet with exactly corresponding examples of the combination of Chinese and ‘Sassanian’ textile motifs in certain printed silks from the ‘Thousand Buddhas’; see _Serindia_, p. 911, Plates CXIII, CXIV.

[66] See above, p. 9.

[67] Owing to these causes the reproduction of the painting has presented considerable technical difficulties. Hence some of the details mentioned cannot be made out in it quite as clearly as in the original.

[68] See his Appendix _K_, _Serindia_ p. 1473.

[69] Cf. Mayers, _The Chinese Reader’s Manual_, p. 48.

[70] See above, pp. 25, 27.

[71] For full details of the iconographic evidence I may refer to _Serindia_, pp. 878 sqq.

[72] Some idea of the labour implied by the execution of the embroidery may be formed from the fact that the careful remounting of the hanging on a fresh canvas backing, which became necessary at the British Museum for its preservation, kept the expert employed on this task, Miss E. A. Winter, of the Royal School of Needlework, occupied for over three months.

[73] Some connexion might perhaps be sought with an early legend relating to Śākyamuni’s stay on Gṛdhrakūṭa. While engaged in meditation within a grotto, he was believed to have pushed his right arm through its rock-wall in order to reassure his disciple Ānanda, whom Māra, in the shape of a vulture, had frightened; cf. Foucher, _L’art gréco-bouddhique du Gandhâra_, i. p. 497.

[74] See above, pp. 20 sqq.

[75] Cf. _Serindia_, p. 885.

[76] See above, p. 21.

[77] See above, p. 13.

[78] See above, p. 23.

[79] For the reasons which account for the banners with scenes from the Life usually forming small groups or at least pairs, cf. _Serindia_, p. 852.

[80] This is in complete accord with the original Buddhist tradition which presents the descent of the white elephant not as a real event, but as a dream of Māyā; cf. Foucher, _L’art gréco-bouddhique du Gandhâra_, i. p. 292.

[81] For a textual reference supporting this interpretation, cf. _Serindia_. p. xxiii, _add_. to p. 855, note 50^a.

[82] See above, p. 8.

[83] See _Serindia_, pp. 933 sq., Figs. 215, 226.

[84] For a full description of this instrument, cf. Miss K. Schlesinger’s note in Appendix _H_, _Serindia_, p. 1468.

[85] Cf. _Serindia_, Appendix _E_, p. 1429.

[86] See above, p. 37 sq.

[87] See above, p. 8.

[88] Cf. _Serindia_, pp. 861 sqq.

[89] For specimens cf. _Serindia_. pp. 904 sq.; Plates CVI-VIII, &c.

[90] See _Ancient Khotan_, i. pp. 120 sq., 264 sq.; ii. Pl. LXIII; _Serindia_, iii. p. 1277.

[91] See above, p. 9.

[92] Cf. also above, p. 39.

[93] Cf. _Serindia_, p. 874.

[94] See Plates XVII, XLII.

[95] Cf. Grünwedel, _Altbuddhistische Kultstätten_, pp. 282, 351, Fig. 583; Foucher, _L’art gréco-bouddhique du Gandhāra_, ii. pp. 32 sqq.

[96] See _Serindia_, Plate C (Ch. 00158).

[97] See above, p. 40 sq.

[98] For a likely explanation of this unusual attitude, see above, p. 24, note 25.

[99] See _Serindia_, ii. p. 874; Pls. XXXVII, LIV.

Transcriber’s Note:

Text Notes:

1. Italicized text is indicated with leading and trailing underscores. (_)

2. Superscript text is indicated with a leading caret (^).

3. Footnotes have been moved the end of each section (Preface, Introductory Essay, and main text). Numbering is unchanged.

4. Index sub-items have been placed on their own line beneath the main item.

5. The original printed version of this work was composed of a book containing the text and two books containing numbered image plates.

Change List (page numbers from original printed book):

Page 6 legend of Sākyamuni in his last life changed to legend of Śākyamuni in his last life

Page 40 VIRŪPĀKṢA AND MAÑJUSRĪ changed to VIRŪPĀKṢA AND MAÑJUŚRĪ

Page 42 crimson _langōṭī_ flowered with blue rosettes changed to crimson _laṅgōṭī_ flowered with blue rosettes

Page 65 Petrucci, M. R., viii, x, xi, xii, 14, 16, 17, 19, 27, 30, 37, 50. changed to Petrucci, M. R., v, x, xi, xii, 14, 16, 17, 19, 27, 30, 37, 50.

Printed Image Plate Dimensions (width x height in centimeters) Plate Dimension Plate Dimension 1 38.3 x 49.3 25 54.3 x 34.9 2 33.7 x 49.3 26 40.7 x 45.1 3 32.5 x 49.6 27 38.0 x 49.5 4 25.4 x 49.4 28 37.9 x 39.8 5 19.7 x 39.6 29 42.1 x 50.3 6 32.7 x 49.3 30 45.7 x 39.7 7 37.3 x 49.3 31 30.2 x 49.8 8 35.9 x 49.1 32 50.3 x 26.2 9 49.5 x 41.9 33 52.5 x 32.5 10 36.5 x 49.6 34 17.0 x 25.2 11 41.7 x 39.5 35 21.5 x 20.0 12 54.9 x 35.5 36 20.4 x 21.5 13 42.7 x 49.5 37 20.9 x 22.8 14 36.1 x 49.4 38 12.8 x 36.0 15 35.8 x 49.9 39 20.2 x 22.0 16 32.9 x 49.5 40 20.2 x 28.3 17 37.6 x 49.5 41 25.8 x 26.3 18 29.3 x 49.3 42 18.7 x 24.7 19 38.4 x 39.7 43 17.9 x 22.6 20 26.3 x 39.6 44 20.5 x 26.2 21 18.6 x 49.4 45 17.2 x 24.7 22 47.7 x 33.5 46 27.0 x 32.8 23 33.3 x 49.2 47 21.7 x 20.8 24 40.1 x 49.5 48 23.4 x 32.5