Mogao Cave 420: Illustration of the Lotus Sutra

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Sui dynasty

This mural, which occupies the four slopes of the ceiling, is among the largest of the Lotus Sutra illustrations from the Sui Dynasty (581–618), and one of the richest in content. The mural is in the style of a horizontal scroll composition, with each scene connected by a background of mountains and forests or buildings and city walls, inheriting the structure commonly found in the Jataka narrative illustrations of the Southern and Northern Dynasties (386–589).
The “Introductory Chapter” is displayed on the north and west slopes, and presents the grand assembly during which the Lotus Sutra was expounded. The lower section of the north slope illustrates Sakyamuni Buddha at Vulture Peak teaching the Lotus Sutra. The head of a bird is at the top of the mountain. On the right side of the north slope are Sakyamuni and Prabhutaratna Buddhas seated together from the “Chapter on the Emergence of the Prabhutaratna Pagoda.” In the center of the north slope is the scene of the Buddha’s parinirvana. In the center of the west slope is the scene of the assembly of Sakyamuni and Candrasuryapradipa Buddhas from the “Introductory Chapter,” though it has also been interpreted as a depiction of the “Chapter of Skillful Means,” where the Buddha manifested in various expedient forms to teach the Mahayana path. On the east slope is the “Universal Gateway Chapter,” and on the south slope is the “Chapter on Similes and Parables.”