Jiuquan: Ma Dehui Pagoda

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Northern Liang Kingdom

The stupa was discovered in Jiuquan in 1999 and is among the earliest forms of such sculptures in China. The missing portion at the top probably consisted of stacked rings. The inverted bowl-shaped body displays eight arched niches containing bas-reliefs of seven Buddhas and a Bodhisattva while immediately above them are eight apsaras. The section below the body is a circular pillar with a 29-line inscription of a passage taken from the Ekottara Agama. A dedication by Ma Dehui to his parents, dated 426, is at the end of the inscription. The octagonal base features figures of four men and four women incised on the sides with a bagua (Daoist eight diagrams) symbol cut above each figure. They begin with the thunder symbol and, proceeding clockwise, ends with the mountain symbol.