Xi’an: Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva
Marble
Xi’an: Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva
CHINA, Shaanxi, Xi’an; Northern Zhou dynasty
The statue was excavated in 1992 in the village of Hancheng in Xi’an, and is characteristic of the Northern Zhou (557–581) style. The head is proportionately larger, the face is broader and the body more robust than earlier figures. The detail in the ornaments is reminiscent of the early Sui dynasty (581–618) and they have been gilded.
The figure is identified as Avalokitesvara by the headdress that has a Buddha and by the attributes held in the hand, a whisk and a vase. Stoles fall down the body from the crown’s sidepieces. A complicated bead ornament joins and subdivides from the heavy collar about the neck over the front of the body and down to the knees. The statue stands on a double lotus throne that has guardian lions at its base and the two part, figure and base, are connected by a tenon.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Sculpture St-Z, page 1364.
Cite this article:
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Lovelock, Yann and Chou, Yuan and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Sculpture St-Z},
pages = 1364,
title = {{Xi’an: Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva}},
volume = 13,
year = {2016}}