Mahao Cliff Tomb: Seated Buddha
Stone
Mahao Cliff Tomb: Seated Buddha
CHINA, Sichuan, Leshan; Eastern Han dynasty
This small seated Buddha is located inside the front chamber on the lintel above the entrance to the Mahao Cliff Tomb. It is one of the earliest Buddha images in China. This cliff tomb was listed as a National Cultural Heritage Site in 1988.
Carved in bas-relief, the Buddha has a usnisa and an nimbus, and sits in full lotus position. The face is no longer distinguishable. The Buddha wears a flowing monastic robe, and probably forms the abhaya (fearlessness) mudra with the right hand. The relief contains features of the Gandharan style. It provides important information for the study of Eastern Han dynasty (25–220) Buddhist imagery.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves M-Mo, page 727.
Cite this article:
Hsingyun, et al. "Mahao Cliff Tomb: Seated Buddha." Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves M-Mo, vol. 7, 2016, pp. 727.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Peter Johnson, Mankuang, Susan Huntington, Gary Edson, and Robert Neather. 2016. "Mahao Cliff Tomb: Seated Buddha" In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves M-Mo, 7:727.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Johnson, P., Mankuang, Huntington, S., Edson, G., & Neather, R.. (2016). Mahao Cliff Tomb: Seated Buddha. In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves M-Mo (Vol. 7, pp. 727).
@misc{Hsingyun2016,
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Johnson, Peter and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves M-Mo},
pages = 727,
title = {{Mahao Cliff Tomb: Seated Buddha}},
volume = 7,
year = {2016}}
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Johnson, Peter and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves M-Mo},
pages = 727,
title = {{Mahao Cliff Tomb: Seated Buddha}},
volume = 7,
year = {2016}}