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Lot Essay
This magnificent sculpture from the caves at Yungang, Shanxi province, depicts the Buddha as a Prince, Prince Siddharta, and was carved during the last quarter of the 5th century. Although early Chinese Buddhist sculpture contains many Indian and Central Asian forms, strongly reflecting its Western roots in appearance, these were gradually absorbed and transformed by the individual artistic spirit of China. By means of analyzing its sculptural form, as well as the identity of the figure, the piece under discussion can be attributed to the caves at Yungang and the early stages of the formation of a native Chinese style in Buddhist art.
During the Six Dynasties period (220-589 AD) Buddhism became a major inspiration for art patronage, particularly sculpture since this is one of the principal mediums of Buddhist art. Accordingly it is in this period that we are able to trace the development of Buddhist sculpture from an eclectic mixture of Western and Chinese styles to a fully realised Chinese style that reached its apogee in the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD). The first of the formative phases of Buddhist sculpture in China, to which the current sculpture dates, lasted until roughly 495 AD and is clearly represented by the cave temples in the north at Yungang.
Constructed during the Northern Wei dynasty by imperial order of the Emperor Wencheng, work on the cave chapels began in 460 AD as an act of reparation for the Buddhist persecution of 445-452, and lasted until 494 AD when the capital was moved to Luoyang. The Yungang cliff is formed of horizontal layers of buff-coloured sandstone, which lends itself to sculpture, as well as to the excavation of large grottoes with horizontal ceilings. The first five caves constructed, commemorating the first five Toba emperors, are carved in the monumental style. While the Indian Gandharan influence is central to this style, the economic reduction of detail to stress only a figure's essential qualities is an entirely Chinese approach to sculpture. These colossal simplified figures have a powerful, monumental effect.
The chapels decorated after the five imperial caves make evident a departure from the Gandharan model which so heavily influenced the monumental style. It is in this phase of the development of a native aesthetic in Buddhist sculpture that the piece under discussion was realised. This new stylistic approach can be most clearly identified in Cave VI, which was commissioned circa 480 by the Emperor Xiaowen (471-499). The sculpted figures in this cave are innovative in both the rendering of their facial features, as well as in their dress (fig. 1). They are unmistakably Chinese. Their features are sharply cut and quite pointed in appearance, softened by gently upturned mouths. Gandharan robes have been replaced by a Chinese garment, which covers the body in stiff pleats and is reminiscent of the scholar's dress of court officials. Moreover, standard legends of the Buddha now show him rendered in an entirely Chinese context. In this scene taken from a frieze representing scenes from the life of the Buddha, he is depicted as a crowned Chinese prince departing from a Chinese-style palace.
Carved from sandstone typical of the Yungang region, the piece under discussion represents Buddha as a Chinese prince with angular features and an archaic smile, head gently angled so as to engage the viewer, and shoulders enshrouded in stiff Chinese-style robes. It compares very closely to the image of the Buddha as a Prince, portrayed in the frieze depicting the life of the Buddha in Cave VI (fig. 1). So closely in fact, that it can be confidently dated to the last quarter of the 5th century and placed in the early stages of the development of Buddhist sculpture in China at Yungang. Furthermore, it is probable that the piece under discussion may have originally been featured in the frieze in Cave VI, which celebrates the life of the Buddha.
During the Six Dynasties period (220-589 AD) Buddhism became a major inspiration for art patronage, particularly sculpture since this is one of the principal mediums of Buddhist art. Accordingly it is in this period that we are able to trace the development of Buddhist sculpture from an eclectic mixture of Western and Chinese styles to a fully realised Chinese style that reached its apogee in the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD). The first of the formative phases of Buddhist sculpture in China, to which the current sculpture dates, lasted until roughly 495 AD and is clearly represented by the cave temples in the north at Yungang.
Constructed during the Northern Wei dynasty by imperial order of the Emperor Wencheng, work on the cave chapels began in 460 AD as an act of reparation for the Buddhist persecution of 445-452, and lasted until 494 AD when the capital was moved to Luoyang. The Yungang cliff is formed of horizontal layers of buff-coloured sandstone, which lends itself to sculpture, as well as to the excavation of large grottoes with horizontal ceilings. The first five caves constructed, commemorating the first five Toba emperors, are carved in the monumental style. While the Indian Gandharan influence is central to this style, the economic reduction of detail to stress only a figure's essential qualities is an entirely Chinese approach to sculpture. These colossal simplified figures have a powerful, monumental effect.
The chapels decorated after the five imperial caves make evident a departure from the Gandharan model which so heavily influenced the monumental style. It is in this phase of the development of a native aesthetic in Buddhist sculpture that the piece under discussion was realised. This new stylistic approach can be most clearly identified in Cave VI, which was commissioned circa 480 by the Emperor Xiaowen (471-499). The sculpted figures in this cave are innovative in both the rendering of their facial features, as well as in their dress (fig. 1). They are unmistakably Chinese. Their features are sharply cut and quite pointed in appearance, softened by gently upturned mouths. Gandharan robes have been replaced by a Chinese garment, which covers the body in stiff pleats and is reminiscent of the scholar's dress of court officials. Moreover, standard legends of the Buddha now show him rendered in an entirely Chinese context. In this scene taken from a frieze representing scenes from the life of the Buddha, he is depicted as a crowned Chinese prince departing from a Chinese-style palace.
Carved from sandstone typical of the Yungang region, the piece under discussion represents Buddha as a Chinese prince with angular features and an archaic smile, head gently angled so as to engage the viewer, and shoulders enshrouded in stiff Chinese-style robes. It compares very closely to the image of the Buddha as a Prince, portrayed in the frieze depicting the life of the Buddha in Cave VI (fig. 1). So closely in fact, that it can be confidently dated to the last quarter of the 5th century and placed in the early stages of the development of Buddhist sculpture in China at Yungang. Furthermore, it is probable that the piece under discussion may have originally been featured in the frieze in Cave VI, which celebrates the life of the Buddha.