A Seated Buddha from the Xiangtangshan Caves
The Buddhist cave temples of Xiangtangshan, which translates as “Mountain of Echoing Halls,” are intended to replicate a Buddha’s paradise. The temple was a cultural achievement of the Northern Qi dynasty (A.D. 550-577), whose rulers established Buddhism as the official religion.The Xiangtangshan caves are located in a rural and coal-mining area in southern Hebei Province. A total of about 30 caves are divided among three sites, according to researchers at the University of Chicago’s Xiangtangshan Caves Project. The site was near the Northern Qi capital at Ye, and the early caves were created with the support of the royal family, officials, and Buddhist monks. This is a seated Buddha from the Xiangtangshan caves. It was a part of an exhibit called "Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan" at NYU running from September 2012- January 2013. This piece was found and reconstructed from 3D digital technology and placed in this exhibition to allow people to experience the carvings in their original context and to better understand the sacred meanings it was meant to convey. I recognized this piece as a Buddha because of the elongated earlobes, chakras on his palms, the ushnisha, and the urna. This Buddha has a large halo that is embellished with floral and vegetal motifs. Most of the cave and artifacts were damaged due to a political upheaval in China. Most of the remaining Buddha sculptures have no heads or hands. I love how this piece has the halo and it depicts this Buddha as a happy being. He is smiling, and looks as if he is actually in the state of enlightenment.
The plant motif has to be a reference to the Lotus flower, since that's a major symbol of Buddhism, mainly because the plant had the ability to grow in the dirtiest of places and stay tall even when it isn't floating in water. It's a possibility that you might be seeing the beginnings of the Amida Buddha here too, since that's the form of Buddha that symbolizes compassion. The Northern Qi very well might have been a fan of the Pure Land school. I'm honestly a bit shocked that such a good example of their work was found, since this was actually a long period of instability for China; they didn't start stabilizing until decades after the fall of the Northern Qi.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what this piece was made from, it looks similar to the sandstone piece from class, it's shiny and that tannish color. I think it's really cool that they can re-create the broken/lost pieces, I wonder how they know what the pieces looked like when they are missing.
ReplyDeletesomething about the texture of the statue makes me think that its made of wood, but the curves along the legs are very smooth. I like the tone of the statue, its very formal and graceful.
ReplyDeleteThis is an exquisite piece. I like that you found something that has been reconstructed to an original form. He definitely looks like one of the more approachable buddhas.
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