Period:Ming dynasty Production date:1403-1424
Materials:bronze
Technique:cast
Subjects:bodhisattva
Dimensions:Height: 19 centimetres
Description:
Figure of Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. The Bodhisattva’s two left hands hold a lotus, which supports the ‘Prajñāpāramitāsūtra’, and a bow; his upper right hand clasps the sword, and the lower, empty. Made of gilded cast bronze.
IMG
![图片[1]-figure BM-1953-0713.4-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Ming dynasty/Bronzes/mid_00228232_001.jpg)
![图片[2]-figure BM-1953-0713.4-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Ming dynasty/Bronzes/mid_01511467_001.jpg)
![图片[3]-figure BM-1953-0713.4-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Ming dynasty/Bronzes/mid_01512496_001.jpg)
Comments:Zwalf 1985The Bodhisattva’s two left hands hold a lotus, which supports the ‘Prajñāpāramitāsūtra’, and a bow; his upper right hand clasps the sword that cleaves ignorance, and the lower, empty, would have held an arrow. The style is completely dependent upon a Tibetan or Nepalese original: the torso has a sinuous elastic line rarely seen in Chinese Buddhist art. This image, like the Yong’le Buddha and ‘khaṭvāṅga’, was made at a time when China was keen to revive its flagging relationships with Tibet for political, commercial and religious reasons. The Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī The four-armed form of Mañjuśrī , the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, was prevalent in the early Ming period. The Bodhisattva’s two left hands hold a lotus, which supports the ‘Prajñāpāramitā sūtra (‘Perfection of Wisdom Sutra’), and a bow. His upper right hand clasps a sword, and the lower right hand an arrow. In 1413, The Yongle emperor wrote that a Buddha had appeared to him in a vision with the thirty-two marks of the chakravartin effectively a “Universal King”. Qubilai Khan of the Mongols had been regarded by the Tibetans as a reincarnation of Mañjuśrī . The Yongle emperor promoted the idea that he too was the earthly manifestation of Mañjuśrī and so “Universal King”. He was not only an all-powerful Confucian Son of Heaven, but also an enlightened Buddhist lord. Gilded bronzeYongle era, 1403-24Nanjing or BeijingBritish Museum, Asia donated by Walter Leo Hildburgh, 1953.07-13.4
Materials:bronze
Technique:cast
Subjects:bodhisattva
Dimensions:Height: 19 centimetres
Description:
Figure of Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. The Bodhisattva’s two left hands hold a lotus, which supports the ‘Prajñāpāramitāsūtra’, and a bow; his upper right hand clasps the sword, and the lower, empty. Made of gilded cast bronze.
IMG
Comments:Zwalf 1985The Bodhisattva’s two left hands hold a lotus, which supports the ‘Prajñāpāramitāsūtra’, and a bow; his upper right hand clasps the sword that cleaves ignorance, and the lower, empty, would have held an arrow. The style is completely dependent upon a Tibetan or Nepalese original: the torso has a sinuous elastic line rarely seen in Chinese Buddhist art. This image, like the Yong’le Buddha and ‘khaṭvāṅga’, was made at a time when China was keen to revive its flagging relationships with Tibet for political, commercial and religious reasons. The Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī The four-armed form of Mañjuśrī , the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, was prevalent in the early Ming period. The Bodhisattva’s two left hands hold a lotus, which supports the ‘Prajñāpāramitā sūtra (‘Perfection of Wisdom Sutra’), and a bow. His upper right hand clasps a sword, and the lower right hand an arrow. In 1413, The Yongle emperor wrote that a Buddha had appeared to him in a vision with the thirty-two marks of the chakravartin effectively a “Universal King”. Qubilai Khan of the Mongols had been regarded by the Tibetans as a reincarnation of Mañjuśrī . The Yongle emperor promoted the idea that he too was the earthly manifestation of Mañjuśrī and so “Universal King”. He was not only an all-powerful Confucian Son of Heaven, but also an enlightened Buddhist lord. Gilded bronzeYongle era, 1403-24Nanjing or BeijingBritish Museum, Asia donated by Walter Leo Hildburgh, 1953.07-13.4
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![[Qing Dynasty] British female painter—Elizabeth Keith, using woodblock prints to record China from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China—1915-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image-191x300.png)
