painting; 繪畫(Chinese) BM-1919-0101-0.26

Period:Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Production date:926-975 (circa)
Materials:silk, 絲綢 (Chinese),
Technique:painted
Subjects:equestrian lokapala devil/demon architecture yaksa/yaksi 騎士 (Chinese) 天王 (Chinese) 魔鬼/惡魔 (Chinese) 建築 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Height: 61.80 centimetres Width: 57.40 centimetres

Description:
Painting of lokapala Vaisravana, Guardian King of the North, riding across the waters on horseback surrounded by his entourage, including his five sons in armour, yaksas and a high official with his wife (these two may be the donor figures). The lower part of the painting shows three infant souls swimming in the water, a sea-monster and a woman who is probably Śrī Devi. The building on the top left may represent one of the cities in the Vaisravana’s northern domain. Inscribed. Ink and colour on silk.
IMG


Comments:EnglishFrom Whitfield 1983:As already demonstrated by Eiichi Matsumoto, this painting of Vaisravana is related to others found by Le Coq and Grunwedel in the shrines at Bezeklik, where the guardian king is shown riding on a horse. In other respects, the painting is similar to that shown in the following plate (Pl. 16), as the entire party is seen advancing to the right across the sea, in a landscape bordered by mountains on the horizon. The setting must represent Vaisravana’s domain to the north of Mt. Sumeru, which is said to have had three cities, a park and a lake. One of the cities may be represented by the building seen in the upper left(Fig. 15); the lake is perhaps referred to in the votive inscription opposite, which reads: The devaraja on his way across the waters, preaching, offered with whole heart by the chief donor Xu Hanrong.This identification, as Matsumoto has pointed out, is a useful clue to the probable appearance of a number of paintings with similar titles, ascribed to famous painters and listed in records such as the catalogue of Emperor Huizong’s collection in the Xuanhe huapu 宣和畫譜 (A.D. 1120). Possibly, as suggested by Waley according to a story in the Bishamen yigui 昆沙門儀軌, Vaisravana is in fact shown on his way to relieve the siege of Anxi 安西 in A.D. 742. Alternatively, Vaisravana is probably shown patrolling his domain, in his function as chief protector of the Buddhist Law.The main figures are all supported on clouds. Vaisravana, in golden armour on a white horse, is surrounded by a retinue consisting of his five sons (in armour similar to that of Vaisravana himself ) and a number of yaksas. The sons carry banners, Vaisravana’s stupa and his bow. The yaksas have demonic faces and those in the foreground are seen rushing to pick up precious objects: coral, golden cash, a golden flask, a gourd-shaped bottle, flaming pearls, and so on (Fig. 14). In addition, a high official, holding a tablet, and his wife, with elaborate headdress in early tenth century style, stand behind Vaisravana’s horse. They very much have the appearance of donor figures, rather than of forming part of Vaisravana’s retinue of yaksas and warriors. Perhaps in fact the official is the principal donor mentioned in the inscription. The painting exhibits a very limited range of colours, with an orang-red dominant throughout, being used both for the bodies of the yaksa figures and as edging to the armour and to the clouds. Many of the clouds were originally blue, but this colour has not survived well.The lower part of the painting shows three infant souls struggling to swim in the water, with a pair of ducks and lotus flowers. On the right, a sea-monster appears with gaping jaws, and a small figure of a woman who, like the swimming infants, gazes upwards at Vaisravana. As pointed out by Waley, she must be Vaisravana’s sister, Sri Devi (Pl. 15-3). On the left, the zig-zag bank of the pool contains a tiny landscape of low hills and sharp-pointed peaks, with a white-spotted brown deer in the foreground (Pl. 15-4). The deer is related in scale to the main picture, but the landscape itself is reminiscent of that in Vol. 1, Pl. 21.At the top of the painting is a narrow range of triangular peaks, set along the horizon, with red clouds above.A mid-tenth century date seems virtually certain, in view of the elaborate tenth century headdress of the high-born lady behind Vaisravana, the limited range of colours, the symmetrically disposed flowers, and the facial details, both of Vaisravana himself and of his attendant warriors. The square format using a single width of silk is comparable to that of other votive paintings of the same date. ChineseFrom Whitfield 1983:正如松本榮一博士曾經指出的，此畫在毘沙門天騎馬的這一點上，與勒柯克和格倫韋德爾在高昌、伯孜克里克發現的騎馬姿勢的行道天王圖有關連。其他方面，圖的形式大致與刊載的下一圖（參照圖16）相同，渡海的隊伍向右方行進，水平線上有山相連。畫面上顯示的可能是毘沙門天守護的須彌山之北方。那裏有“三大城郭”、“苑”和“池”，畫面左上方的建築物可能是那城郭之一（參照Fig.15）。右上方的功德銘中記有“水路天王行道時 施主徐漢榮一心供養”。如松本博士指出的，可以判定此畫是《行道天王圖》，徽宗皇帝的收藏品目錄《宣和畫譜》（1120年）中，也以同樣畫題記錄了出自著名畫家之手的多件作品，爲想象此畫面的樣子提供了有效的線索。Waley介紹此是根據《毘沙門儀軌》的故事，針對天寶元年（742年）的安西的救濟而表現的毘沙門天的說法難以信服。因爲同樣的描繪，在高昌和伯孜克里克等處更早些年代製造的壁畫中也可見到。結論是，作爲佛法守護者的毘沙門天，可能是在自己的守護區內進行巡查。主要的像都表現在雲上。毘沙門天身著金鎧甲乘白馬，由五個兒子（身著和毘沙門天一樣的鎧甲）和衆多夜叉圍繞。兒子們各持象徵毘沙門天的塔、幡、弓等。夜叉有魔鬼般的臉，他們被描繪成在前景中熱衷於採集珊瑚、金幣、金瓶、瓢簞形瓶、火焰寶珠等貴重物品的姿勢（參照Fig.14）。毘沙門天的馬後方，跟隨著持笏的高官和他的著10世紀早期華麗髮飾的夫人。他們更像供養人，而不是夜叉或武者形象的毘沙門天侍从的一部分，或許是題記中所提到的施主徐漢榮本人吧。使用的顔色非常有限，相同的橙紅色使用在夜叉身體、鎧甲以及雲的邊緣等很多地方，成爲貫通整體的主調。雲彩的多處本來塗了青色，但現在殘留的很少。畫面下方有水中遊戲的三個兒童和兩隻鴨子、蓮花等。其右方有張開大嘴的海妖和小的婦人像，那婦人和戲水的兒童們一樣，仰望著毘沙門天（參照圖15－3）。如Waley所指，她無疑是毘沙門天的妹妹功德天。左下角從鋸齒狀岸邊一直擴展的平地，繪著尖的山峰和山丘，其前面露出带白色斑點的茶色鹿的上半身（圖15－4）。此鹿與畫面中央的各像相比，有些縮小。而鋸齒狀的岸邊，使人想起《勞度叉鬥聖變》（參照第1卷圖21）中的描繪。畫面上端與地平線間狹小的空間裏，排列著三角形山脈，其上漂浮著紅色的雲彩。跟隨毘沙門天後方的貴婦人首飾，顯示了10世紀的精巧式樣，限定的色彩的色數，長方形題簽框旁邊配的左右相稱的花朵。再有，毘沙門天和簇擁他的眷屬的臉部描繪，等等表現來看，考慮此畫的製作年代在10世紀中葉較爲妥當。也可與同時代的其他用一幅絹，幾乎是正方形的畫面的功德畫做比較。