Fogong Temple Shijia Pagoda: Bodhisattvas Making Offerings

CHINA, Shanxi, Shuozhou; Liao to Jin dynasty

These images are painted on the lintels of the inner north and south doors on the first story of Shijia Pagoda. The Commentary on the Ten Stages Sutra states that there are three types of offerings: beneficial offerings such as clothing and bedding, reverence offerings such as flowers and canopies, and conduct offerings such as practicing right behavior, belief and discipline. These six figures make reverence offerings. Three female Bodhisattvas are painted on the lintel of the south door, while three male Bodhisattvas are shown above the north door. The Bodhisattvas have round faces and either wear a tall headdress or have their hair tied into two topknots. The female figures wear long dresses, while the male Bodhisattvas are dressed in dhotis. Both have stoles draped around their bodies and arms. They stand sideways, holding out offering trays with either a vase of flowers or a ruyi (wish-fulfilling talisman) placed upon them. The stylized faces and billowing clothes are typical of Tang style paintings.