Kizil Cave 8: Life of the Buddha - Conversion of a Dancer

CHINA, Xinjiang, Aksu

This painting is located on the right side of the barrel-vaulted ceiling in the main chamber. According to the story, a dance instructor and his wife brought their daughter, who was a skilled dancer, to see the Buddha, but their daughter was haughty and did not show proper respect. The Buddha therefore used supernatural powers to transform the daughter into a stooped 100-year-old woman with white hair, wrinkles, and missing teeth. The daughter and her parents immediately realized the impermanence of the physical body, and requested the Buddha to perform a tonsure ceremony for them.
In this painting, the Buddha is seated in full lotus position on a rectangular throne. A nimbus and an aureole are depicted behind the figure who is dressed in a monastic robe that covers the left shoulder. The Buddha’s head is turned to one side and the right arm is raised. The daughter of the dance instructor stands to the left. She wears a headdress and a flowing stole, and raises her left arm. Her waist is twisted slightly to one side, and her legs are crossed in an elegant dancing pose.