Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara at Longxing Temple by Zheng Yanxun (detail); Northern Song dynasty, dated 971
Copper alloy
Zheng Yanxun
CHINA; Northern Song dynasty
Zheng Yanxun was a sculptor, who in 971, began creating a statue of the Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara at Longxing Temple in Hebei. According to a stele inscription in the temple, the sculpture was commissioned by Emperor Taizu (reigned 960–976). The enormous project employed around 3,000 craftsmen.
The statue has 42 forearms, and measures 22 m in height while standing on a 2.2 m Sumeru pedestal. The slender, upright physique, in addition to the splendid sculptural style, are testimony to Zheng’s superior artistic conception and design expertise. It is the oldest and largest bronze statue of Avalokitesvara in China.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: People, page 354.
Cite this article:
Hsingyun, et al. "Zheng Yanxun." Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: People , vol. 19, 2016, pp. 354.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youlu, Stefanie Pokorski, Yichao, Mankuang, and Miaohsi. 2016. "Zheng Yanxun" In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: People , 19:354.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youlu, Pokorski, S., Yichao, Mankuang, & Miaohsi.. (2016). Zheng Yanxun. In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: People (Vol. 19, pp. 354).
@misc{Hsingyun2016,
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youlu and Pokorski, Stefanie and Yichao and Mankuang and Miaohsi,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: People },
pages = 354,
title = {{Zheng Yanxun}},
volume = 19,
year = {2016}}
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youlu and Pokorski, Stefanie and Yichao and Mankuang and Miaohsi,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: People },
pages = 354,
title = {{Zheng Yanxun}},
volume = 19,
year = {2016}}