THE SPREAD OF INDIAN ART AND CULTURE
CENTRAL ASIA AND CHINA
had commercial and cultural relations with her neighbours since an early
time. Resulting from this, was on the one hand the introduction of foreign
elements into the art and culture of India and on the other the extension
of Indian religious ideas and art motifs to foreign countries. The present
study is confined to some aspects of India's cultural relations with
Central Asia and China. Central Asia denotes here mainly Eastern Turkestan.
This area is now called the Sinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China.
The older scholars called this region Serindia as it lies between China,
the Seres of the Greeks, and India. In common parlance it is often
described also as the
most part of Chinese Turkestan being arid, it was an inhospitable region.
It is bounded on all sides by mountains. It is bounded on the north by the
Tianshan, the celestial mountains, on the south by the Kunlun which
separates Central Asia from Tibet, on the east by the Nan Shan and on the
west by the mountain mass of Pamir. The redeeming feature of the region
was that there flourished here some oasis towns along the northern and
southern edges of the Taklamakan.
spite of its arid and inhospitable character, the Tarim Basin developed as
a flourishing centre of art and culture (the cosmopolitan nature of which
constitutes a fascinating study). The reasons for the prosperity of this
region are many. Firstly, it occupied a strategic position because of its
situation between China and the Western countries and India. India and
China are two great old civilisations. Secondly, the old silk road which
connected China with the western world passed inevitably through Chinese
Turkestan. Silk trade contributed greatly to the economic prosperity of
the region. The trade that passed through Western countries brought many
nationalities to Central Asia and the Hexi corridor situated on the
western frontier of the mainland of China. Added to this, was the
introduction of Buddhism in Central Asia about the first century B.C.
by Vairochana, the Arhat from Kashmir. Buddhism gave this region not
only a highly organised and benevolent religion but a stable culture
encouraging various cultural and artistic activities. The popularity of
Buddhism in Central Asia was assisted to a great extent by the appeal of
visual art in the form of the gorgeously pained shrines and cave temples
on the model of those of India. While
the learned were interested in rites and rituals, literary activities and
theological and philosophic speculations, the common man's mind and his
religious urge could be satisfied easily by concrete representation of
Buddha and various scenes from his life as well as of that of
compassionate Bodhisattvas and other popular religious subjects, like the
Jatakas and Avadanas
(3rd century B.C.) zeal in
spreading Indian culture to her neighbours was actively supported by
Kanishka who is considered to be the greatest of the Kushana rulers (2nd
century A.D.). Afghanistan,
Bactria, Eastern Iran and Central Asia-all
came in a short period under the spell of Buddhism which created a great impact also on China. China's contribution to the growth and continuity of Buddhism cannot be overemphasised. The.The first and foremost was China's interest in the translation of Buddhist texts into Chinese language. This measure led to the popularity of Buddhism among the common people in China.
Because of the silk road trade and popularity of Buddhism, Chinese Turkestan, as is well known was a meeting place of various races and peoples and served as a channel for interchange of many civilisations, like those of India, Hellenised Asia, Iran, Sagdiana and China. The art of Central Asia was thus a blend of various streams of thoughts inspired by Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaenism and Nestorian Christianity, etc. as the cultural relics found from different sites of Central Asia would show. Though Central Asian arts and thoughts bear the influence of various religions which found their way to this region it was Buddhism and other Indian ideas which came to Central Asia along with Buddhism that contributed most to the growth of the Central Asia art and culture.
the dissemination of Buddhist faith and art to Central Asia, Bamiyan and
Bactria played a unique role. Both these countries were main centres of
Buddhism. Bamiyan was a kingdom located deep in the valley of Hindukush.
Some 8200 feet high up on the mountains, Bamiyan is situated at the
intersection of two migration routes, one coming from China to Iran
through the Pamir and the Hindukush mountains and the other route running
from the Indus Valley to Balkh. Classical writers have described Bamiyan
as the frontiers of languages, civilisations and religions and the cross
roads of Central Asia. These routes were followed not only by the traders
but also by the conquerors and their armies, Cyrus, Alexander, Jenghiz
Khan, Timur, Babur and many others.
served as a gateway for transmission of Indian thoughts and arts to
Western countries and arrival of western arts and ideas to India. Situated
at a strategic point, Bamiyan encountered many art traditions, such as
Iranian, Gandhara, Gupta, Andhra, and Vakataka. The cave temples of
Bamiyan were inspired by the rock-cut architecture of Ajanta-the style
which it transmitted to Central Asia and China.
the Kushana times Central Afghanistan became largely Indian in spite of
the presence of Hellenistic and Iranian influences. The Kushanas ruled
over a vast empire from Central Asia to the Gangetic valley. This created
a common bond which
facilitated the interchange of art forms among the various nations
living in the Kushana empire. The Kushanas were mainly responsible for the
safety of the trade routes and they acted also as the intermediaries for
commercial relations that developed betw.een the two superpowers, Imperial
Rome and Imperial China.
was an important centre of the Lokottaravadins who considered Buddha as a
transcendental being. The colossal Buddhas of Bamiyan seem to have been
inspired by the Lokottaravadi conception of Buddha which seems to have
travelled from here to Yungang in China. The huge Buddhas of Yungang
corroborate this fact. There were many other centres of art in Bamiyan,
namely, Kakrak, Fondukistan, etc.
produced many Hindu and Buddhist deities, such as Siva, Durga, Buddha,
Avalokitesvara and several other figures. Further, it was an important
centre of the sun worship which spread from here to Central Asia and
or Balkh also was a very important centre of Buddhism. It served as a
political and cultural link between Afghanistan and Central Asia. We learn
from Xuanzang's account that when the pilgrim was in Kunduz its ruler was
Tardu who was the eldest son of the Khan of Western Turks and he was also
the brother-in-law of the king of Turfan. It clearly shows that Kunduz and
Turfan had close contacts with each other facilitating the interchange of
art motifs and religious beliefs between these countries.
Kunduz, Xuanzang met some important Buddhist monks of whom Prajnakara was
endowed with profound wisdom. The Chinese pilgrim saw here many relics of
Buddha, including his tooth relic.
active intercourse between India and Central Asia which began about the
1st century A.D. and lasted for
about 1,000 years was of a peaceful nature and beneficial to both the
sides. While India enriched Central Asian art and culture, Central Asia on
its part played a unique role in the dissemination of Buddhism to China,
Korea and Japan. It had also preseved in its sand dunes Buddhist
manuscripts and texts of varied nature: religious, medicinal and
astronomical; most of which were lost long ago in India. Thus, the
discovery of cultural relics from Central Asia has not only revealed the
character and magnitude of Central Asian culture but provided also enough
material to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of Indian cultural history.
of the Central Asian towns flourished along the silk road. The silk road
started from Changan, ancient capital of China and came to the oasis of
Dunhuang. Leaving Dunhuang it passed through the famous Jade gate where it
branched into two routes, the northern and southern. The northern route
ran across Hami and proceeded along the foothills of the Tianshan to
Turfan, Karashar, Kucha-Kizil, Aksu, Tumshuk and Kashgarh.
southern route followed the oasis townships called Miran and then Khotan
and Yarkand. From Yarkand it proceeded to join the northern route at
Kashgarh. From Kashgarh the silk road continued westward through the Pamir
and proceeded to Kokand, Samarkand and Bokhara and from there to Merv and
then through Iran it came to the Mediterranean coast and therefrom the
goods were carried by ship to Rome and Alexandria. It may be noted here
that there was a nexus of silk routes. Many subsidiary routes branched off
from the mainline to serve the local or regional needs. Not only silk but
religious ideas and art styles also travelled along it.
China's political contact or influences penetrated first to Central Asia during the reign of Emperor Wu (140 B.C. to 87 B.C.). He despatched Zhang Qian as an emissary to contact the Yue Ches who left the Gansu border because of the omlaughts of the Huns. As the Huns proved a menace also to the security of the heartland of China, Emperor Wu wanted to mobilise the help of the Yue-Ches to fight their common adversaries (i.e., the Huns). Zhang Qian met the YueChes at Bactria. But the Yue-Ches were no longer interested in their original home. Though Zhang Qian failed in his original mission, the information he carried about the Central Asian countries, including Ferghana, Samarkand, Bokhara, Balkh as well as the distant regions of Persia and India helped China to frame Central Asian policy to promote their territorial expansion and trade relations. Zhang Qian's visits to Central Asia brought China, Hellenized West Persia and India into a fruitful contact. Zhang Qian who was in Bactria in 127 B.C. saw the Chinese textiles and bamboo being sold in the local market. This caused surprise to him and on enquiry he learnt that these objects from SouthWestern China were brought to Eastern India via Yunnan and Burma and then brought the whole way to North India and Afghanistan.
archaeological wealth of Chinese Turkestan attracted the notice of many a
distinguished scholar and expert. Between 1890 and 1916 many scholars
visited and explored its ancient sites. The acquisition in 1891 by Colonel
Bower of the birch-bark
containing medical texts in the Gupta script of the 4th-5th century A.D.
(the manuscripts were found by two Turks in 1891 near Kumtura on the
northern silk road) and the discovery of the birch bark fragments of the
Prakrit DŇammapada of the lst-2nd century A.D.
from the Khotan region caused a great sensation in the scholarly
world. Among the well-trained and regular archaeologists who visited and
carried out explorations in Central Asia to unravel its history and art,
mention may made here of Dr. Klementz of Russia (who seems to have been
one of the great explorers of the world), Sir Aurel Stein from the
Government of India), A. Gruenwedel and A. von Le Coq of Germany, Paul
Pelliot of France (a great Sinologist), Berisovski and Kozlaf of Russia
and Otani of Japan for their highly significant work leading to the
discovery of vast treasures of Central Asian antiquities. Sir Leonard
Wooley has called Stein's expeditions as the most daring and adventurous
raid upon the ancient world that any archaeologist has attempted".
Stein's credit lies in the fact that he was all in one acting at
once as an organizer and leader, interpreter, secretary, archaeologist,
geographer and cartographer (and when necessary as the detective who found
the Khotanese forger of antiquities and put him out of business).
Asia has yielded, apart from other objects, huge quantities of manuscript
remains of varied interest and they throw extensive light on the history
of some important aspects of Buddhist literarture. The discovery of the
fragments of Kharosti Dhammpada from Komari Bazar, 13 miles from Khotan
(by the French traveller Dutreil de Rhins) has already been referred to.
The importance of these fragments was recognized first by
Prof.Senart. They reveal a form of Kharoshti script hardly met with in any
other Kharoshti document. Again, it is interesting to note that though the
contents of the manuscript correspond to the Pali Dhammapada verses, the
language of the fragments is a
kind of Prakrit dialect.
German mission discovered from the Turfan area some very important
manuscript fragments of Asvaghosh's dramas. Asvoghosha who was a poet in
Kanishka's court (2nd century) and best known as the author of the Buddhacharita was a creator of several epic and dramatic
compositions. According to tradition, he was also an excellent musician
and he moved along the street with a band of male and female actors
singing melancholy songs on the impermanance of human life. The Chinese
pilgrim, Yijing, who visited India in 671 A.D.
described Asvaghosha as the composer of songs and author of various
works including the Buddhacharita.
Asvaghosha was both a poet and dramatist, his dramatic talent was not
known to us until the discovery of the fragments of the Sariputru-Prakarana (2nd
century A.D.). The Sariputra-Prakarana is one of the oldest Sanskrit
dramas and it shows that the dramatic art attained full development by
portions of the manuscript that have survived are the ninth and the last
chapter of the drama, presenting the scene of the conversation between
Sariputra and Maudgalyayana, two of the chief disciples of Buddha. Besides
these characters, there are two other characters in this chapter and they
are Buddha and his disciple Kaundinya. The disciples utter on the stage a
verse in honour of Buddha.
German mission discovered from Turfan also a few other contemporary
fragments of manuscripts. Though the subject of these manuscripts is also
Buddhistic, the author of their composition is not found mentioned. But
from the nature of the subject matter and the style of treatment, it is
presumed that the author of these fragments representing certain dramas
was also Asvaghosha. These dramas are purely of an allegorical nature and
the characters seem to be the personification of
one of the dramas represented in some of the above fragments there are
three abstract characters, called Buddhi, Dhriti, and Kirti (measuring
intellect, retention and glory respectively). They appear on the stage to
other fragments of the collection represent perhaps another drama by
Asvaghosha and they mention characters like Buddha, Sariputra,
Maudgalyayana, an ascetic, a Brahmana, a courtesan and the Vidushaka. The
name of the courtesan was Mrigavati from Rajgir.
fragments of the dramas in question would prove that the Buddhists already
gave up their austere attitude towards the dramatic art. Among the other
Central Asian manuscript finds, mention may be made of the Sanskrit Agamas
of the Sarvastivadins and the texts of many Mahayana sutras including the
Vaipulaya sutras. It may be interesting to note that magnificent
illustrations of many Buddhist sutras occur on the walls of Dunhuang
caves. They include the Amitabha sutra, Aparimitayus sutra, Maitreya
sutra, Vimalakirti Nirdesa sutra, Bhaishajyaguru sutra, the Rudraksha
story, the Vajrachchhedika, Suvarna-prabhasa sutra, the Avatamasaka and
the Lankavatara sutra. The
Mahaparinirvana sutra is also included in the Dunhuang wall paintings.
illustrations of sutras in Dunhuang began in the Sui period and continued
till later. Very few of these sutras occur in the existing Indian art
except the Saddharma-pundarika and Mahaparinirvana sutras.
arose in Central Asia many schools of art inspired by Buddhism. Of them,
the schools of Miran, Khotan, Kucha-Kizil and Turfan deserve our special
mention. The art of this region reveals its ethnic diversity and various
religious and artistic traditions from different sources and countries
with which this region came into contact.
as mentioned above the Buddhist cave art which originated in India
travelled to Bamiyan, Kucha-Kizil, Turfan, Dunhuang and the mainland of
Buddhist caves were excavated for the meditation and retreat of the monks.
Buddhist temple culture developed on a grand scale in Central Asia and
China. So far as China is concerned it had a grand palace culture. The
Buddhists introduced temples in China which were accessible to all classes
of people, the rich and poor, high and low.
the Tarim basin, to be specific, there were four main schools of art, at
Miran and Khotan regions on the southern silk routes and at Kucha-Kizil
and at Turfan on the northern silk route.
Miran, which was situated near the western edge of the Lop desert at the
slopes of the Actin Tagh, Stein discovered some old stupas and shrines
embellished with frescoes and stucco heads. Stein's excavations revealed
at Miran a painted dado with winged angels with large and fully-opened
eyes, small dimpled lips and an acqualine nose recalling affinities as
Stein has suggested, "to those fine Levantine-looking portrait heads
preserved for us or painted panels from Fayyum mummies of the Hellenistic
period" (Aurel Stein, Serindia,
p. 494). Hellenistic influences might have entered into Central .4sia
with the conquest of Alexander the great as far as Kashgarh.
Miran has also yielded a large number of other mural fragments one of which shows Buddha with six shaven-headed disciples. It represents according to my study the scene of the conversion of six Sakya princes. It is interesting to note that while the head of the Buddha is definitely Western, his ushnisha and long-lobed ears follow the established Buddhist convention of India. Another very interesting subject occurs in the Miran temple No. 5. It is a broad undulating festoon of wreaths and flowers carried by youthful figures on the shoulders. The fresco-frieze surmounting this dado depicts the Vessanta-a Jataka. On the right leg of Vessantara's elephant occurs the word Tita in Indian script. According to Aurel Stein, Tita corresponds to Oman Titus who was probably an artist and author of this painting. This was rendered possible as the Tarim basin was connected with the Roman world by silk trade. In Miran existed Hellenistic, Graeco-Roman and Gandhara styles. The theme of the Miran paintings was largely Indian. These paintings have been ascribed by scholars to the third or fourth century A.D. They are the extension of the Kushana style of painting which is lost in India.
is the most important Buddhist centre on the southern silk route. It had a
cosmopolitan character with Indians, Chinese, Iranians and many others
inhabiting this region and the art of Khotan bears the impress of this
fact. Of all the sites of
Khotan schools of painting, Dandan-uliq, excavated by Stein, proved to be
the richest in art treasures. They
have been ascribed by scholars on numismatic and other grounds to the
eighth century. The walls of the cells of the Dandan-uliq shrine No. 11
had a small series of frescoes, one of which depicts a unique female
figure. The painting, marked by a spirited drawing, shows a woman standing
in an oblong tank of water enclosed by a tassellated pavement and filled
with lotuses of Indian or Kashmirian type. The figure has been described
as a water nymph, nagi and yakshi, etc. by various scholars. In my
opinion, this is a composite figure representing or combining attributes
of both Hariti (as indicated by the presence of a child) and of Lakshmi
indicated by her attribute, lotus and by her association with water in
which she stands. Now, regarding the style of the figure the use of the
vine leaf as the lower garment is a proof of Western influence on Khotan
art. The pose and contour of the body points to Indian art idiom.
from Balawaste, an ancient site on southern silk road, is also a product
of mixed Indo-Iranian traditions. Hariti from Farhad-beg-yailaki (southern
silk road) and Vairochana from Balawaste present a synthesis of
Indo-Iranian art traditions.
Siva cult associated with Tantric elements was deeply rooted in
Dandan-uliq as is apparent from Siva-sakti figures represented on some
wooden panels, from this region. Dandan-uliq has yielded also a few wooden
panels with the silk deities and the story of the introduction of silk
into Khotan. The figures represent Iranian and Chinese art idioms. A panel
from Dandan-uliq represents the worship of a rat. Kautilya's Arthasastra
informs us that in ancient India rats were worshipped during the time
of emergency. Thus, the Khotan art presents a variety of themes and
styles, mainly Indian and Iranian, mixed with Chinese art traditions.
enjoyed a special position both politically and culturally in the history
of Central Asia. It is mentioned in the dynastic annals and other Chinese
texts from Han to Tang
There existed many Buddhist sites in the district of Kucha. As is well
known, Buddhism came to Kucha towards the end of the first century A.D.
The famous Buddhist scholar Kumarajiva originally lived in Kucha. He
was brought to China in 385 A.D. by
General Li Guang after his conquest of Kucha. He was a person of
encyclopaedic learning. During 12 years of his stay in China he translated
many Buddhist texts into Chinese and introduced Mahayana Buddhism there in
a systematic manner.
all the monastic establishments in Kucha, the Kizil cave complex, known as
Ming-oi is the most famous. The Kizil paint-ings depict various Buddhist
themes, the Jatakas, Avadanas (following the example of Ajanta), scenes
from Gautama Sakyamuni's life, the figures of Buddha and Bodhisattvas,
devatas, musicians, and donors, and scenes of hell and some Brahmanical
subjects, such as Brahamana figures, Saints and Yogis.1
developed a composite culture with Indian and Iranian elements The art of
Kizil can be divided into two phases, the earlier and the latter, both
showing Iranian and Indian art idioms. The earlier works of art from Kucha
belong to 500-550 A.D., while
the latter phase can be dated to 550-700 A.D.
The Indian element in Kucha consists in the sensitive modelling of the
figures and smooth blending of colours. The Chandraprabha Avadana and
Jatakas of Kucha show the influence of Andhra and Ajanta art.
Bodhisattva Maitreya from Kizil is a good example of Indo-Iranian style,
so also the painting depicting a beautiful celestial god and goddess. The
Iranian element in Kizil art can be noticed specially in its pictorial
is worth mentioning that the Kizil artists have drawn largely on Ajanta
art, especially in the case of the representation of the Jatakas and
Avadanas Scholars have drawn our attention to the fact that many of the
Jatakas and Avadanas depicted in Kizil correspond to those painted in
Ajanta, for example the Sasa Jataka, Vyaghri Jataka, Visvantara Jataka,
the Prabhasa Jataka, the Kshantivadin Jataka, the Sutasoma Jataka, the
Syama Jataka, the Saddanta Jataka, the Riksha Jataka, the Mahakapi Jataka,
the Sibi Jataka, the Maitribala Jataka, the Mukapangu Jataka, the
Simhakunjara Jataka, the Vanara Jataka, the Hasti Jataka, the Ruru Jataka,
the Vartakapota Jataka, the Bodhi Jataka, the Purna Avadana the Sudhana
Avaduna, etc. There is, however, some difference in the mode of
delineation of the Jatakas, in Ajanta and Kizil. While at
Ajanta the stories are depicted in various scenes in spatial
according to the different settings of the Jatakas, in Kizil only the most
dramatic part of the story is generally delineated.
Gaochang or Turfan has a long and varied history. It was an important staging point on the silk road skirting the northern oasis towns of the Taklamakan. As the northern silk road was vital for the expansion of silk trade, China was deeply concerned with the safety of the Tut-fan region (which was often subjected to nomad raids) and conquered it during the first century B.C. Since then Turfan was mostly under the Chinese control until its occupation by the Uighur in 870 A.D. Before the Uighurs rule, Turfan was conquered for a short period by the Tibetans.
Uighur rule over Turfan, marked by prosperity, lasted for a long time
until it was conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century A.D. The imperial Chinese envoy Wang Yande who visited the Uighur
king in 982 has recorded the flourishing conditions prevailing in Turfan,
the abundance of Buddhist convents, the presence of the Manichaean priests
from Persia as well as the intelligent and capable character of the
finds from Turfan consist of a varietg of objects, such as manuscripts of
all kinds, Buddhist, Christian, Manichaean and Zoroastrian, mural
fragments, stucco reliefs, decorated textiles, and several other things.
As is apparent from the manuscript finds, Manichaeism, Nestorian
Christianty, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism-all found a favourable soil in
Turfan. The Uighur rulers adopted Manichaeism as their personal faith but
they were tolerant towards all the religions. The mural fragments from
Bezeklik and Toyuk would show that Buddhism and Buddhist monastic
establishments in Turfan enjoyed great popularity in spite of the presence
of other religions, specially Manichaeism which was the royal faith, under
the Uighur rule. During the ninth century, Buddhism gained an unassailable
position both in China and Central Asia and the Buddhists gave a feeling
of superiority over the minor groups of "Western" religious
followers as is recorded by Shu Yuan-yu on a stone as follows: "Among
the different foreigners who have come there (i.e. china) are the Moni (Manichaeans),
the Daqin (Christians), and the Xianshen (Zoroastrians). All the
monasteries of these three sorts of foreigners in the Empire together are
not enough to equal the number of our Buddhist monasteries in one small
city" (jane Gaston mahlor, The
Western among the Figurines of the T'ang Dynasty Mahler, The Western among
the Figurines of the Tang Dynasty, Rome, 1959, p. 48).
Uighurs adjusted themselves well to the existing civilisation in Chinese
Turkestan and they have left the evidence of their skill in art and
interest in the older culture of Asia.
They were reorganised as the most civilised of the Altaic people
who preserved the heritage of Indo-European culture.
early Turfan paintings, two elements are prominent, the Iranian and the
Chinese. Iranian elements are very distinct in the Manichaean wall
paintings and miniatures discovered from Khocho by the German
archaeologists. Khocho has yielded also certain mural fragments pertaining
to Nestorian community which brought Western art elements to this region.
So far as the Chinese influence in Turfan paintings is concerned, it is
vivid mostly in the mural paintings of Bezeklik, a very big I Buddhist
temple complex consisting of more than a hundred monasteries.
expedition in Turfan is especially memorable for the discovery of
illustrated Manichaean texts. The founder of Manichaeaism is Mani who was
born about 215 or 216 near Ctesiphon in the province of Babylon which
belonged then to Persia. Manichaeaism is a strictly ascetic religion
forbidding all sexual union, the use of meal or wine and acquisition of
wealth and other worldly goods. In this respect it resembles the Buddhist
by way of life.
Manichaean manuscripts are distinguished by excellent calligraphy and
decorated with leaves, flowers and foliages. These manuscripts are written
either in Syrian or Sogdian alphabet. Some of the Manichaean manuscripts
contain the figures of the Hindu gods like Brahma, Vishnu and Siva along
the rule of the Uighurs there was a great activity in temple construction
in Bezektik. These temple cells, partly cut into the rock, are decorated
with paintings in tempera, representing scenes of Buddhist legends and
worship in a considerable variety of style and subject.
has yielded several large-sized paintings of Buddhist monks, both Indian
and East Asiatic distinguished by their physical features, Buddha figures
of different types, seated and standing, various scenes from his life,
including his journey in a boat, probably to Vaisali, lamentation of his
disciples over his death, the Dipankara Jataka and Various other subjects
such as devas, devotees, musicians, dragons as well as some Tantrik
deities, called Dakinis. These
paintings show various ethnic groups, Indian, Persians, Uighurs, Arabs and
Chinese. A notable feature of Bezeklik paintings is that the figures
are shown in profile and the Buddha figures are shown with moustaches, and
endowed with elaborate haloes and they wear sandals. The style of Bezeklik
paintings is predominantly Chinese with a strong admixture of Gandhara
elements. Very little Iranian
elements are noticed in Bezeklik paintings.
Spread of Buddhist art to China
As is well known, Buddhism spread to China in the first century A.D. It is, however, worth noting that during the early period of India-Chinese relations, India was represented not by the Indians directly but by her neighbours, the Yue-Ches, the Parthians and Sogdians. Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaratna (?) who were the first missionaries to go to China belonged perhaps to the Yue-Che country. Again, it was in the year 148 A.D., that a Parthian prince came to China with a large number of Buddhist texts. He was called An Shigao by the Chinese.
Sogdians too played an important role in the transmission of Buddhism to
China. The most important of the Sogdian monks who preached Buddhism in
China was Kang Senghui. His father was a Sogdian merchant who settled in
Tonkin in the third century A.D. After
his father's death, he became a monk and came to Nanjing where he built a
monastery and established a Buddhist school. He was the first to introduce
in Southern China. From the fourth century onward, however, there was a
regular flow of Indian monks to China, who devoted themselves to the
translation of Buddhist texts and propagation of Buddhism. This was the
period when many Chinese monks also came to India.
to many Chinese and Japanese works the introduction of Buddhist art into
China is closely associated with
the arrival of Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaratna along with an icon
of Buddha to the court of the Han Emperor Ming. But it is doubtful if
there was any Buddha image made at such an early date.
earliest Buddha image seems to have been made probably around A.D.
190 in Jiangsu by the patron, Chai Rong who was known as an active
propagandist for Buddhism. The account of his career given in the history
of the Three Kingdoms
erected a Buddha shrine making a human figure of
body is coated with gold and clad in
He hung up nine tiers of bronze plates (on the
spire) over a multi-storeyed pavilion; his covered galleries
three thousand men or more.
description approaches that of a Buddhist temple (Alexander Soper, Literary
Evidence For Early Buddhist Art in China,
concentrate now on the rock-cut Buddhist temple complex of Dunhuang
situated in the Gansu province of China.
Buddhism was deeply implanted in Dunhuang as early as the 2nd-3rd
caves have been hewn into the soft sedimentary rock. They are embellished
with magnificent murals, stucco, sculptures and pictorial remains, such as
silk banners and canopies recovered by Sir Aurel Stein and Paul Pelliot
from a walled-up chapel of the temple-complex. The grottoes of Dunhuang,
known also as the caves of thousand Buddhas, are a vast complex stretching
for a mile. Both quantitably and qualitably, it is a wonderful repository
of Mahayana art and iconography.
Dunhuang wall paintings show a wide range of subjects, such as Buddha and
Bodhisattava figures; Jatakas; scenes from Buddha's life; paradise scenes;
sutra illustrations; vaulted roof painted with Asuras and monsters,
chariots of the sun and the moon; the story of Vaidehi; dance and music in
heaven; Arhats and donors; Xuanzang's journey to India, Khotan royal
families; Gandharvas; Apsaras and other celestial beings, among others.
Dunhuang art reached its zenith during the Tang period as was the case
with the mainland of China. This art, though predominantly Chinese in
inspiration and style, has absorbed some amount of Western influences,
such as Indian, Graeco-Buddhist and Iranian. Though the art of the
Northern Wei period is dominated by the Jataka scenes and scenes from
Buddha's life, from the Sui period onwards Mahayana themes gained in
popularity. Some of the Avalokitesvara and Manjusri, Samantabhadra and
Kshitigarbha figures from Dunhuang are excellent works of art. Regarding
the paradise scenes, the paradise of Amitabha has attracted the attention
of the local artists most because of the popularity of the theme. The
Saddharma-pundarika too was a source of great inspiration to the Dunhuang
Indian influence on Dunhuang banners is marked by partial nudity of
figures, lolling poses (head on one side, body bent on hips, and one leg
drawn up) and Indian type of countenance.
The Chinese Buddhist type shows rigid symmetrical pose and Chinese
or non-Indian type of faces. The side scenes of the banners showing the
donors in typical Chinese costumes mark the influence of Chinese secular
style. Some of the figures depicted in Dunhuang banners are marked by
Tibeto-Nepalese art idioms. We may refer here also to a few other Buddhist
cave temples of China, namely, the Yungang, Longmen and Maijishan. Though
the themes of these caves are not as varied as those of Dunhuang, they are
also very important for the study of the early Buddhist cave art of China.
In the Yungang figure style we notice deep links with the west. The
central Asiatic Yungang style is composed of Gandhara, Iranian and Indian
elements. The colossal Buddha figures of Yungang seem to have been
inspired by the Lokottaravada concept (which considers Buddha as a
transcendental being) as is the case with the large-sized Buddha figures
Longmen caves had been begun in 494 in the southern out-skirts of Loyang.
The first phase of Longmen art is represented in the Guyang cave and can
be dated to the late fifth century. But
here more striking are the later shallow-cut, cross-ankled Bodhisattava
figures with emaciated body and narrow face.
The drapery envelops the form heavily.
Maijishan there are figures as early as the fifth century.
Early Northern Wei works at Maijishan are the recesses Nos. 69, 86,
167, and 169 and cave Nos. 90, 92, 100, 114, 129, etc. In cave No. 100
there is a standing Avalokitcsvara figure of excellent workmanship with
the elongated body, and thin robe. The drapery folds show fine incised
lines and there is a 'lively movement' in the scarf-ends! Cave sculpture
in China reached its zenith in the Tang period.
Copyright © Dr. Priyatosh Banerjee