The Sinicization of Dunhuang Mogao Cave Buddhist Art

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The Sinicization of Dunhuang Mogao Cave Buddhist Art

Journal Title: International Journal of Korean History - Year 2014, Vol 19, Issue 1

Abstract

The introduction of Indian Buddhism in China occurred around the Christian era. However, Indian Buddhism was not directly accepted by the Han Chinese as they could not rival the philosophical religions which were already in existence. The existing philosophical religions were Confucianism and Taoism; therefore Indian Buddhism was not a necessity for the Han Chinese. Large volumes of Indian Buddhist scriptures, written in ancient Hindustani, began to be translated into Chinese, known as the ‘Chinese Translation Project.’ Accordingly, Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures appeared. As for the Chinese translations, it was clear that ancient Chinese philosophies were instilled into these translations in order to make them more easily acceptable by the Han Chinese. It took a long period of time, around 200 years, for Indian Buddhism to assimilate into Chinese culture. Once Indian Buddhism was embraced by East Asia’s largest developed country, the foundations of Chinese civilization such as Chinese characters, paintings, sculptures, crafts, architecture, construction, and casting methods, then were transformed by Chinese Buddhism and Chinese Buddhist art. In the instance when one developed civilized country adopts features of another developed civilization, it takes a long period of time for harmonization to occur. However, within a short period of time, Chinese Buddhism became a significant culture within the East Asia region, and was accepted in the surrounding regions of China, such as the Korean Peninsula and islands of Japan. However, soon after the collapse of the Han Dynasty in 220A.D, the country was divided into three parts and the troubled time of 5 Hu 16 Guo began. Most aristocrats, bureaucrats and people in Chang’an became refugees, escaping towards the southern area of the Gansu River. Among them, painters and sculptors from Chang’an created splendid wall paintings and produced luxurious clay statues in the Mogao Caves. At that time in Dunhuang, there was a group of artisans which included painters and sculptors with great skill and creativity, who had learned the traditional culture of the Han Chinese in order to construct these caves. In other words, the best quality of central district’s art was relocated into Dunhuang. The 257thand 428thMogao Caves clearly describe the acceptance of a different civilization. In the center of the former cave’s Southern wall, a building was painted in the middle of Chonbul. It is a traditional Chinese roof-tile with Chiwei at the ends of both ridges, while an Indian Buddhist stupa with a top of stupa shaped like a pillar sits at the top in the center of the ridge, and Fans (narrow and lengthy flags) wave on either side of the stupa.In the structure, standing at the Seated Statue with Lotus Pattern, the Buddhist statue is at the center with Dayi wearing something similar to a mourning clothes, and Buddhist image of Jia Shi stand at both sides. There are also curtains, which hang under the eaves in front of the Buddhist statue. It is certain to say that there exists a robust and creative appetite when one civilization accepts features of a different civilization; which can be seen through this bold collaboration in which a stupa of Indian Buddhism which was used as the basis for arch, the traditional wooden structure of Han Chinese. Moreover, this structure is a significant piece of pictorial data which conveys the situation at the time, where within Chinese architecture, the stupa, enshrined Buddha’s ashes, and the Buddhist temple enshrined statue of the Buddha were still unspecialized. As Bultapdo was a stupa located along the South side of the Western wall in the latter cave 428, the demand for higher stories was required as enhanced construction was seen as sacred and valuable. Therefore, construction increased from being single-story to multi-story. The murals are surrounded by four small stupas which encircle the main stupa. While all of the small stupas are three-storied, the main stupa is unclear. However taking into account the process of enhancement and positive numbers which the Han Chinese enjoyed, three-story, five-story, seven-story and nine-story commonly emerged. Thus, the Mogao Caves retain valuable pictorial data demonstrating the process of how the Han Chinese accepted different civilizations through the sinicization of Indian Buddhism.

Authors and Affiliations

Katsuaki Ōhashi

Keywords

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EP ID EP26399
DOI https://doi.org/10.22372/ijkh.2014.19.1.47
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