votive panel; 木板畫(Chinese) BM-1907-1111.71

Period:Unknown Production date:6thC (Whitfield 1985)
Materials:wood, 木 (Chinese),
Technique:painted
Subjects:sun/moon deity vajra 日/月 (Chinese) 神 (Chinese) 金剛 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Height: 33.50 centimetres Width: 21 centimetres Depth: 2.50 centimetres

Description:
Rectangular votive panel painted on both sides. One side shows a three-headed and four-armed male deity, seated cross-legged on a chequered cushion supported by two white bulls. This figure holds in the hands the sun and the moon, a vajra (thunderbolt), and a white round object, possibly a bijapura (citrus fruit). He is also depicted as ithyphallic and with a third vertical eye on the forehead. On these iconographic grounds, he has been identified with Śiva in his Mahesvara aspect, with a female head on his right side and his aghora (fierce) aspect on the left side. The other side shows another four-armed male deity seated cross-legged on a cushion. The man shows strong Iranian influence. He is dressed in a princely costume, wears a golden crown, a green flowered tunic, high black boots, and a dagger in his lap. He appears to hold in the hands a goblet, a weaver’s comb, and a shuttle or mulberry stem. He possibly represents the God of Silk. Painted in ink and colours on wood.
IMG


Comments:EnglishFrom Whitfield 1985:This panel, perhaps the finest and best preserved of those from Dandan-oilik, is reproduced in Pl. 70-1 slightly smaller than life-size, with a close-up of the reverse in Pl. 70-2. The triple-headed deity, with one fierce grotesque head and one feminine or benign one, is ithyphallic and holds the sun and moon, a vajra and another object. He has been identified by Joanna Williams (1973, pp. 142-45) as Mahesvara, the name by which Siva appears in Khotanese texts. As such he is seated on the vehicle of Siva, the bull Nandin, here shown twice.Siva’s presence at Khotan shows the influence of tantric Buddhism and Saivism from India: forms of Siva, which reached both Yungang (Cave 8, Northern Wei, late fifth century A.D.) and Dunhuang (Cave 285, Western Wei, early sixth century A.D.) are referred to by Williams. In the case of Cave 285 (Chugoku Sekkutsu, Tonko Makkokutsu, Vol. 2, Pl. 119), he is shown with three heads and six arms, holding aloft the sun and moon discs and seated on a blue bull. The early date at which these Siva images made their appearance in China might lead one to question whether this image, and indeed the other wooden painted plaques from the Khotan area, may not also be dated nearer the sixth century than the eighth that is generally accepted (because of numerous finds of eighth-century Chinese coins) as the terminus ante quem for both the wall paintings and the votive plaques.The image on the reverse side (Pl. 70-2) reveals in its style the influence of Iran: the heavily bearded deity is garbed in princely costume, with a golden cap or crown, green flowered tunic, flowered undergarment and trousers, and long black boots; a dagger lies in his lap. The objects that he carries are not easily identifiable but are clearly the same as those carried by the four-armed figure presiding over the Legend of the Silk Princess (Pl. 66-2). It has been suggested that they represent a goblet, and a weaver’s comb and shuttle. Other single figures from the Khotan area that have been identified as the God of Silk or the Patron of Weaving are listed by Williams (1973, pp. 147-50). ChineseFrom Whitfield 1985:此畫是從丹丹烏里克攜來的木版畫中最精美的一幅，保存狀態極好。圖70－1比原大稍微小一點，圖70－2是此畫的背面，局部特寫。圖70－1所展示的畫面，是伴有威嚴怪異的臉和溫柔表情的女性臉的三面六臂，手持日月和金剛杵等的坐像。Joanna Williams (1973, 142-45頁)將此像比定爲于闐文經典中以大自在天之名出現的濕婆神。這樣，牛則成爲濕婆神的坐騎南迪，但在這裏牛被繪成兩頭。和田中的濕婆神顯示了印度密教和濕婆信仰的影響波及到了此地區。Williams還說，在雲崗（第8窟，北魏，5世紀末）和敦煌（第285窟，西魏，6世紀初）也見到濕婆像。敦煌285窟的（參照《中國石窟 敦煌莫高窟》第2卷，圖119），其像有三面六臂，高舉日輪、月輪，坐於青色的牡牛上。舉出如此早期的例子，來比較此木板畫，認爲木板畫是6世紀的不是更合適嗎？和田地區出土的木板畫其年代比一直認爲是8世紀（基於這裏大量出土過8世紀的中國貨幣），所以得出壁畫和木版畫也是8世紀的結論。背面（圖70－2）上畫的像顯然受波斯的影響，長著濃髯的此神像，頭頂金色寶冠，披著束腰綠色花紋外衣，穿著花內衣和褲子，腳穿黑長靴，腰挎匕首，是典型的貴族裝束。其手所持之物難很難確認，但確實與《養蠶西漸傳說》中出現的四臂像（參照圖66－2）的手持物相同，有杯、機織的筬和梭。在Williams的論文（參照《和田佛教美術的圖像》，1973年，頁147-150）中，列舉了在和田地區發現的其他單身像中還有認爲是絹神或編織的保護神。 The Department of Asia would like to thank Xanthe Carmichael for her help with updating the information on the site of Dandan-Uiliq.