painting; 繪畫(Chinese) BM-1919-0101-0.70

Period:Tang dynasty Production date:801-850 (circa)
Materials:silk, 絲綢 (Chinese),
Technique:painted
Subjects:buddha bodhisattva paradise musical instrument musician bird architecture 佛 (Chinese) 菩薩 (Chinese) 淨土 (Chinese) 樂器 (Chinese) 樂獅 (Chinese) 鳥 (Chinese) 建築 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Height: 168 centimetres Width: 123 centimetres

Description:
Large painting of Pure Land of Amitābha shown in an architectural setting. Central figure of Amitābha, with Bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Mahasthamaprapta. Six musicians, infant souls, numerous other figures. In central foreground, Garuḍa plays a lute for peacocks and parrots. Illustrations of episodes from commentary on the Amitābha Sutra on the sides. Ink and colour on silk.
IMG


Comments:EnglishFrom Whitfield 1982:This Amitābha paradise is comparable in size to the Sakyamuni paradise of Pl.8 and in date to the paradise of Bhaisajyaguru (Pl.9). It is, however, markedly inferior both in quality of execution and in its present condition.In the centre, his features difficult to make out owing to the fading of the colours and the deformation of the silk, sits Amitābha, with Avalokitesvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta seated with legs pendent on either side. He is attended exclusively by Bodhisattvas. The standing figures at the sides can be compared with a fragment from Stein painting 222 (Fig.31) which, though considerably larger and probably somewhat later, is similar in composition (other fragments from this painting still await mounting). In front of the altar and the steps leading to it is a dancer’s platform with musicians. The less ambitious nature of the painting can be gauged from the fact that instead of the usual total of ten or twelve musicians, here there are only six, three on each side. Additional platforms rising out of the lotus tank in the foreground support two more groups of a Buddha with accompanying Bodhisattvas. In a charming vignette in the centre foreground, a single garuda plays the lute for a group of birds, two peacocks and two parrots (Pl.10-3). Piles of golden sand and red and purple lotuses rise from the water, but the infant souls, newly born to paradise, find room only on the steps leading to the lower terraces on either side.The architectural detail of the buildings above has undergone a similar process of simplification. The pattern of gateway, main hall, two-storeyed side pavilions and connecting galleries is familiar, but the columns, railings and bracketing are all indicated by flat red lines on a white background with no attempt to define the floor spaces within the buildings. Above the main buildings, where the Buddhas of the Four Directions rise in groups of three above the whole, are two empty round pavilions that presumably correspond to the bell and drum towers seen in more ambitious paintings such as Pl.9, but which in this painting have been moved to the rear for lack of space at the sides.The side scenes (Fig.29)are those normally found with depictions of the Western Pure Land of Amitābha, namely the legend of Bimbisāra and Queen Vaidehī (see also Pl.19 and Fig.41, where the soul of the rishi slain by Bimbisāra in order to obtain a son for his wife is shown as a white hare, according to one version of the story). Arthur Waley has explained how these scenes illustrate Shandao’s commentary to the Amitayurdhyāna-sūtra, rather than the sutra itself so that they represent an Esoteric doctrine, not mere narrative illustration. This doctrine is that of “contradictory causation”, whereby evil may lead to good:“thus if Bimbisara had not slain the rishi, the rishi would not have been reborn as Ajātasatru;and if the rishi had not been born as Ajātasatru, Ajātasatru would not have imprisoned his father (Bimbisāra), and if he had not imprisoned his father, his mother could not have visited his in prison…and so on, leading finally to the point at which Ajātasatru’s crime in imprisoning his mother leads her to call upon Buddha, and hence to her reception of the famous sixteen visions. Thus Bimbisāra’s wickedness in slaying the rishi ultimately produced a contradictory (i.e.a good)effect.”(Waley,1931,p.xxi.)Even in this painting which uses fairly simplified means of representation, there seems to have been room for the expression of individual artistic variation, as in the strangely shaped banks of the side scenes, rather like the interlocking pieces of a puzzle, and also in the life-like birds (actually magically created visions, since there are no lower forms of creation in the Pure Land). ChineseFrom Whitfield 1982:此觀無量壽佛經變相圖的大小可以與圖8的《報恩經變相圖》相媲美，年代則與前面的《藥師淨土變相圖》（圖9）相當，然而其質地以及目前保存狀態都非常差。中央部分，阿彌陀如來結跏趺而坐，二脅侍菩薩觀音和勢至善跏趺於如來兩旁，因褪色及絹子的變形，如來面容很難看清。佛的周圍均是菩薩。可與兩側立像菩薩進行比較的資料，有斯坦因繪畫222殘片（參見Fig.31）。盡管該繪畫尺寸比較大，時代略有些晚，但構圖還是有相似之處（這幅畫的斷片有多塊，仍待裝裱）。祭壇前邊的臺階通向舞臺，舞伎伴隨樂伎舞於臺上。該圖的畫面缺少激情，與通常的舞臺上有舞伎十或十二人相比，這裡每側卻只有三人，總計才六人。前景的蓮池上，左右伸出另外兩個寶台，承載着佛和隨侍的菩薩。在迷人的蔓葉花飾的前景中央，有一隻金翅鳥為二隻孔雀、二隻鸚鵡彈奏著琵琶（參見圖10－3）。池中現出金沙島以及浮出水面的赤色、紫色蓮花，化生童子則安置在下方兩側寶臺的臺階上。上方建築物的細部也同樣被簡化。雖然保留了門樓、中堂以及兩層樓閣、長廊等建築，但把柱子、勾欄以及斗栱等均處理成平面，只在空白處用紅色線來表現，而且無意表現建築物內的空間。從中心建築物騰起的雲彩上面，有四方佛三身。建築物的上方，繪有圓形空殿兩座，相當於圖9所見到的鐘鼓樓。在這幅畫中因為兩邊沒有空間，而被移到後面。邊緣的故事圖（參見Fig.29），與通常所見的阿彌陀佛西方淨土變兩側一樣，即頻婆娑羅王和韋提希夫人的故事（參見圖19及Fig.41，根據一個譯本，頻婆娑羅王爲求子而殺仙人，仙人的靈魂以白兔形像出現）。Arthur Waley認爲，這種場面是根據善導的《觀無量壽佛經疏》而不是經典本身，從而不僅是故事圖，也體現密教的教義。即把“惡”引向“善”的“否定因果”。“這樣，如果頻婆娑羅沒殺仙人，仙人則無法轉生為阿闍世；如果仙人沒有轉生為阿闍世，那麽他也不會把父親（頻婆娑羅）幽禁起來，如果他沒把父親幽禁起來，那麽他母親也不會去探訪幽禁中的父親……等等，最後，阿闍世所犯的幽禁母親之罪，促使母親（韋提希夫人）求見佛陀，由此使她接受著名的十六觀。這樣，頻婆娑羅殺害仙人的惡因而產生了完全相反的結果（善）。”（Waley,1931,p.xxi.）此繪畫中表現方式相當簡化，然而仍有空間表現畫家的獨特藝術變化，如兩側故事畫中奇妙形狀的河岸，倒不如說像迷一樣的連環鎖，及好像是實物寫生的鳥（淨土中的創造物沒有規定的形式，實際上都是幻化出來的）。