painting; 繪畫(Chinese) BM-1919-0101-0.67-68

Period:Northern Song dynasty Production date:951-1000 (circa)
Materials:silk, 絲綢 (Chinese),
Technique:painted
Subjects:buddha bodhisattva lokapala disciple 佛 (Chinese) 菩薩 (Chinese) 天王 (Chinese) 供養人 (Chinese) 信徒 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Height: 134 centimetres Width: 102 centimetres

Description:
Painting fragments showing Śākyamuni Buddha accompanied by two bodhisattvas, the disciples Ānanda and Kasyapa, four lokapalas (guardian kings) and four more bodhisattvas offering flowers. The section below, with numerous small figures (some missing), illustrates scenes from the Fumu enzhong jing, an apocryphal sutra about the blessings received from parents. Lowest section, much of which is missing, including inscriptions, shows donor figures. Ink and colour on silk.
IMG


Comments:EnglishFrom Whitfield 1983:In the upper part of this painting (Pl. 28-2) is Sakyamuni, accompanied by two principal Bodhisattvas and the disciples Ananda and Kasyapa. Behind this main group are two of the Four Guardian Kings, while in front are four more Bodhisattvas with offerings of flowers. The next section of the painting identifies the whole, for it consists of scenes illustrating the Fumu enzhong jing, an apocryphal sutra popular at Dunhuang in the Five Dynasties and early Song. Eiichi Matsumoto has shown (1937, pp. 196-200) how the texts in the cartouches accompanying each scene correspond almost exactly to this text as preserved among the Stein manuscripts from Dunhuang. The mountains above the main Buddha group must therefore be Mt. Grdhrakuta 耆阇崛山, which features at the beginning of the sutra as its setting.Because the sutra deals with the blessings received from one’s parents, the figures in these small scenes correspond precisely to donor figures of the period. On the right, a boy is shown receiving instruction from his father, and there is a baby in the arms of its mother (Pl. 28-3). The relevant text is that in the cartouche to the left of the scene: “Father and mother cherish and hold him making gentle sounds; he smiles but cannot vet speak. When he is hungry and needs to cat, were it not for his mother he would have no food; when he is thirsty and needs to drink, were it not for his mother he would not be given suck.” To the far left, the upper scene illustrates what happens when the son marries and has children of his own: absorbed in private pleasures, no one visits the parents in their old age and failing strength. The central scenes, on either side of a now missing altar, show Ananda, on a lotus seat, and opposite him a devout gentleman, both accompanied by monks, and below by male and female members of the household, all kneeling and with hands clasped. They illustrate the concluding passage of the sutra, originally inscribed on the pink cartouches, in which the Buddha tells Ananda how, by various acts of devotion such as burning incense, making sutras, or giving food and drink to monks, one may requite the blessings received from one’s parents.Finally, below these scenes at the bottom of the painting and extensively damaged, some much larger figures are seen. Those nearest the centre and now almost completely destroyed are the deceased father and the mother of the donor, who is identified as a student. But the head of the father (Pl. 28-4) and the whole figure of another lady of the family (Pl. 28-5) remain to bear witness to the fine execution and lavish costume, with carefully applied rouge and beauty spots in the shape of a small bird on the lady’s face, exactly as found in the long lines of lady donors in the wall paintings. Despite the fine detail, however, there is no hint of individual characterization and the donors always remain type figures: they are depicted, in harmony with the intention behind the whole painting, as they would wish to be and not as they really were.Before leaving this painting we should note how the organisation of the main Buddha group is typical of the tenth century. By this time the geometric forms of the haloes are very prominent, and the available space is evenly filled by the main figures. The whole group corresponds closely in its proportions to the preaching groups found on the ceiling of the Song dynasty Cave 61 at Dunhuang, and to the stencil (Pl. 78), which was probably used to produce similar preaching groups on other ceilings. ChineseFrom Whitfield 1983:此畫的上段，描繪的是隨帶阿難、迦葉的釋迦如來和二菩薩（參照圖28－2）。這些主尊的群體背後有四大天王中的兩身，前方有捧花的四身菩薩。中段以圖解《父母恩重經》的場景構成。此《父母恩重經》是自五代起到北宋初期在敦煌深受歡迎的僞經（不在印度本土，而是在中國撰述的佛經）。松本榮一博士在『敦煌畫の研究』（196～200頁）中指出，各場景所附的長方形題箋中的經文，和斯坦因敦煌文書中所見的經文基本一致。從而可認爲主要三尊像上方所繪的山脈，是表現《父母恩重經》開頭設定的耆闍崛山。《父母恩重經》是講述人們從父母那里得到的恩惠，将其用圖解的方式表现的各个場面的人物像，与當時畫這人物的供養人像有大致相同。右端場景中，表現少年接受父親的教導的畫面，並加入了懷抱嬰兒的母親（參照圖28－3）。其左側長方形题笺中的“父母懷抱，和和弄聲，含笑未語，饑食須食，非母不哺，渴時須飲，非母不乳”（父母把他抱在懷裏給予爱抚，他只会微笑還不會說話。即使肚子餓了，如果沒有母親則什麽都不能吃，喉咙干了，如果沒有母親，什麽都不能喝），記錄与其場景相当。左端場面的上部，描繪那个孩子結婚後自己有了孩子時的情景。講述孩子們沈浸于自己的歡樂中，誰都沒去探望年老體弱的雙親。曾畫在中央部位的祭壇已經缺失，但其右側描繪坐在蓮華座上的阿難，左側描繪合掌的男子和随帶的衆多僧侶，其下方也繪有合掌下跪的世俗男女。此相當於《父母恩重經》末章的場景，原本為淡紅色的長方形题笺框中記錄着經文，其意爲“釋迦對阿難講，燒香，誦經，爲僧侶布施飲食等，通過種種信仰行爲，人們將回報從父母獲得的恩惠”。畫面下端缺損很大，留下來的比中段的人物像還大的供養人像的一部分，从題記得知，供養人是學仕（學生），靠近中心的二像現在幾乎完全遺失的，是供養人的亡父母。從父親的頭部（參照圖28－4）和“女三娘子”的像（參照圖28－5）等殘留的部分可看出，是非常精美的像，特別是像的奢華裝束和臉部的化妝很顯眼。在壁畫中的女供養人像，也常常見到作爲美人斑，在臉頰上用長線描出的靨妝。但在此圖中，婦人像臉頰是紅色，上面还畫了小的鳥形圖樣。然而，儘管細部描繪如此出色，但沒有發現反映人物個性的特徵，結果其表現還是和通常的供養人像毫無差別的模式化。原因是沒有按實際的人物描畫，而是有意識地去和上部整體畫面協調而形成的。最後要關注的一點是上段中衆聖簇擁釋迦如來的結構有10世紀的典型特點。此時之前，身光明顯是幾何圖案，主要諸像所佔據的空間也相對均衡。而這種聖衆的組成，與敦煌宋代石窟的第61窟的天井上所描繪的說法圖很接近。圖78的紙樣也與此相近，大概是用於天井說法圖製作中的。