Liao Dynasty Tibetan Wood Carving View of Freedom Statue (Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA).
Characteristics of Buddha statues in the Liao Dynasty.
The Liao Dynasty 516-1125 was a regime established by the Khitan people, and Buddhism flourished under the support of the Khitan royal family. Many magnificent Buddhist temples and pagodas were built around the five capitals of Liao, Shangjing, Zhongjing, Xijing, Nanjing, and Tokyo. So far, there are many exquisite brick carvings on the tower body of Huayan Temple, Shanhua Temple in Datong, Shanxi Province and Dule Temple in Jixian County, Hebei Province, and Inner Mongolia Hohhot Liao Dynasty Wanbu Huayan Tower, Bahrain Left Banner Liao Dynasty White Tower, Beijing Tianning Temple Tower, from which you can see the style of Liao Dynasty Buddha statues.
Although the Liao Dynasty was ruled by the Khitan people, the statue style still belonged to the Northern Song Dynasty system. In particular, the style of clay sculpture still inherits the afterglow of the Tang Dynasty, and there is no lack of exquisite works. Such as Datong Huayan Temple Bhagavata Tibetan Hall of a Buddha, Bodhisattva, Lux color sculpture, the shape is extremely accurate and vivid, especially the Bodhisattva statue with both hands folded, the head is slightly sideways, the expression is dignified and quiet, slightly smiling, it can be called the peak of the sculpture of the Liao Dynasty.
The general flesh bun of the Buddha statue of the Liao Dynasty is relatively gentle, and the snail hair has many bun beads. The face is moderately fat and thin, the upper body of the seated Buddha statue is long, and the chest is broad. There are also six flower mouth shapes and square and round on the plane of the Buddha seat, and the lotus petals are plump and blooming, and the petals are fat and full. The middle part of the cloth on the square pedestal is semicircular, and the two sides droop in a biagonal shape, which has been transformed from the realistic cloth of the Tang Dynasty into a pattern.
The Bodhisattva's costume is slightly simpler than that of the Tang Dynasty, with three sets of leaf crowns, and a very tall crown with a barrel-shaped front, which seems to be related to the gold and silver crown style that the nobles of the Liao Dynasty liked to wear. The girdle of the crown is flowing and hangs down the shoulders.
Liao Dynasty Manjushri Bodhisattva statue.
The bronze gilt Buddha statue of the Liao Dynasty has many fine products so far, now in the United States, Britain and Japan, the size is generally more than 20 centimeters or so, its common law is mostly the flower-mouth type plane pedestal, the lotus petals are full, the upper body of the sitting statue is slightly longer, and the lower part of the cuff and skirt often has a curved and winding such as a small snake-like clothing pattern.
The three-color Arhats of the Liao Dynasty also have excellent ones, such as the group portraits of the Arhats found in the early years of the Bafowa in Yixian County, Hebei Province, which are now scattered in various museums in Europe and the United States, and their size is tall, the expression is vivid, and the modeling is accurate, representing the superb skills of the sculpture of the Liao Dynasty.
The wooden carved Bodhisattva statue at the end of the Jin Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty.
Characteristics of the Buddha statue of the Jin Dynasty.
The statues of the Jin Dynasty still inherit the tradition of the statues of the Liao Dynasty, and there is not much difference between them and the Liao Dynasty in terms of technique, but the Buddha statues of the Jin Dynasty have a fuller body, a prominent chest, and a strong body, revealing the simple style of the northern peoples. The statue has a strong body, broad shoulders and broad chest, strong realism, and pays attention to gorgeous and complicated colors.
Nelson Tibetan Jin Dynasty wood carving Bodhisattva statue, Bodhisattva abdominal cavity found in the end of the Yuan put into the storage.
The rulers of the Jin Dynasty also actively advocated Buddhism, but they were not as enthusiastic as the rulers of the Liao Dynasty, and in view of the disadvantages caused by the worship of Buddha in the Liao Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty made some strict restrictions and regulations, in order to standardize the development of Buddhism, so that the Buddhism of the Jin Dynasty as a whole was slightly inferior to that of the Liao Dynasty. Nevertheless, due to the deep foundation laid by the Liao Dynasty, Buddhism and Buddhist statue art in the Jin Dynasty still had a certain influence. In particular, Zen Buddhism flourished in the Jin Dynasty, and it had a certain influence on the further development of the realistic style of Buddhist art. The style of Buddhist statues in the Jin Dynasty basically inherited the legacy of the Liao Dynasty.
Jin Dynasty Bodhisattva gold lacquer painted wood statue (Shanghai Museum collection).
The remains of stone carvings in the Jin Dynasty are still the most abundant, and like the Liao Dynasty, they also appear on the pagodas and other buildings in the form of reliefs. Judging from these statues, the statue art of the Jin Dynasty is basically the inheritance of the style and technique of the Liao Dynasty, the statue is strong, the face is plump, and the clothes and ornaments of the Buddha and Bodhisattva are almost the same as the statues of the Liao Dynasty. The only difference is that from the face to the body, it is fatter and slightly bloated than the Liao Dynasty statues.
The Jin Dynasty's view of freedom is like a flower crown updo, hanging hair and chest, long skirt belt, the overall shape inherits the characteristics of the previous generation, although not as beautiful as Song Su, but the face is more square and round, the figure is also more plump, and the folds of clothing are particularly overlapping and complicated.
Characteristics of Buddha statues in the Yuan Dynasty.
The Yuan Dynasty was the largest dynasty in China, and in order to effectively rule the vast territory, the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty relied on its military strength on the one hand, and on the other hand, they vigorously supported Buddhism and used religion as a means to maintain their rule. Due to the support of the imperial court, Buddhism, which had declined in the Song Dynasty, showed a rising trend in the Yuan Dynasty.
The general trend of the Yuan Dynasty is Guanyin.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in the United Kingdom has a collection of Arhat statues of the Yuan Dynasty.
The statues of the Yuan Dynasty were heavily influenced by Tibetan Buddhism. In the first year of Zhongtong (1260), after Kublai Khan ascended the throne, he took Lamaism as the state religion, and named the leader of the Sakya sect of Buddhism, Ba Sipa, as the emperor's teacher, since then Tibetan Buddhism has become the state religion of the Yuan Dynasty, and the new emperors of the Yuan Dynasty have ascended the throne and must first be ordained by the emperor. In the second year of Zhongtong (1261), the Nepalese craftsman Anigo came to the capital of Yuan (now Beijing) with the Ba Sipa, and was courteous and reused by Kublai Khan, and shaped a large number of Sanskrit statues.
Among them, Hangzhou Feilaifeng Grottoes Feilaifeng Buddha Box Grottoes, with a large number of the largest number of Yuan Dynasty "Sanskrit" statues, is the essence of the Yuan Dynasty statues in China.
Bronze statue of Shakyamuni Buddha in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) Collection of the Beijing National Culture Palace.
The Buddha statue of this Yuan Dynasty has low eyes, a peaceful face, a thin waist and big buttocks, the right hand is a fearless seal on the chest, the palm of the left hand is drooping outward, wearing a necklace, the upper body is naked, the body is covered with a thin skirt, the body is draped out of the water coat, and the feet stand upright on the lotus seat, and the lotus seat is decorated with neat bead patterns. His posture is natural, his posture is graceful, and he adopts a realistic approach, with a simple style of Sarnath that is half-naked.
The Yuan Dynasty Water Moon Guanyin in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum.
The main characteristics of the statues of the Yuan Dynasty are that the face is plump and round, the face is delicate and beautiful, and the expression is tranquil and soft. The bun is towering, and most of them are crowns with three or five leaves. The body is strong, the shoulders are broad, the waist is thin, and the chest is full. The bodhisattva is exposed to the upper body, and the chest is covered with jewels, and the particles of the jewels are larger; The lower body is wearing a skirt, and the lines are simple. The lotus petals of the lotus pedestal are large and full, and the bottom edge of the outer roll face is an inverted trapezoid, and the facial features are compact, with the characteristics of the Yuan Dynasty. The Buddha statue of the Yuan Dynasty has a long waist and a charming posture, and the Bodhisattva has high breasts and plump buttocks, which has the style of the statue of the Bara Dynasty in India. Among them, the Bodhisattva in the mural of the Yuan Dynasty wears a five-fingered crown, and the Buddha is a snail, which can be seen to have the characteristics of the rise of Lamaism. (China Foguang Culture Network).