Mogao Cave 278: Life of the Buddha - Conception
Mogao Cave 278: Life of the Buddha - Conception
CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Sui dynasty
This image is painted in the upper right corner of the niche on the back (west) wall. It portrays Queen Maya’s dream of a white elephant wherein she conceives her son, Prince Siddhartha. Siddhartha appears as a Bodhisattva riding on the elephant. Lotus blossoms bloom beneath the elephant’s feet. The Bodhisattva’s expression is gentle, and the hands form a mudra. On each side is a heavenly musician, one playing a harp and the other a pear-shaped lute. The colors in the image have changed over time. It corresponds with another illustration on the left side of the niche that depicts Prince Siddhartha’s departure from the palace and renunciation.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves Mo-S, page 1099.
Cite this article:
Hsingyun, et al. "Mogao Cave 278: Life of the Buddha - Conception." Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves Mo-S, vol. 8, 2016, pp. 1099.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Peter Johnson, Mankuang, Susan Huntington, Gary Edson, and Robert Neather. 2016. "Mogao Cave 278: Life of the Buddha - Conception" In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves Mo-S, 8:1099.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Johnson, P., Mankuang, Huntington, S., Edson, G., & Neather, R.. (2016). Mogao Cave 278: Life of the Buddha - Conception. In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves Mo-S (Vol. 8, pp. 1099).
@misc{Hsingyun2016,
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Johnson, Peter and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves Mo-S},
pages = 1099,
title = {{Mogao Cave 278: Life of the Buddha - Conception}},
volume = 8,
year = {2016}}
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Johnson, Peter and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves Mo-S},
pages = 1099,
title = {{Mogao Cave 278: Life of the Buddha - Conception}},
volume = 8,
year = {2016}}