Zhucheng Sculptures

CHINA, Shandong, Weifang

Numerous artifacts were discovered in man-made pits among the temple ruins at Zhucheng between 1988 and 1990. While the majority are fragments, more than a hundred artifacts are complete statues of Buddhas or Bodhisattvas or heads of statues. Judging from the style of these artifacts, they were from the periods of the Northern Wei (386–534), Eastern Wei (534–550), and the Northern Qi (550–577) dynasties. Four artifacts were clearly marked and noted as being from two different dynasties, namely from the mid-6th century. The methodical way in which these sculptures were buried suggests that they were damaged before they were placed there, either as a result of war or from one of the iconoclastic persecutions of Buddhism at the time.
There is considerable variety in representation and of materials used such as limestone, sandstone, and marble. Among the samples shown, there is a Maitreya triad with attendant Bodhisattvas standing on lotuses disgorged from the mouths of dragons. Another of the Bodhisattva figures wears the impressive court dress from a sinocized Mongolian dynasty of the period.