Xiwang Kongzhuang Temple: Buddha Triad
Stone
Xiwang Kongzhuang Temple: Buddha Triad
CHINA, Shandong, Qingzhou; Northern Wei dynasty
The sculpture was excavated in 1918 from Xiwang Kongzhuang Temple. The Buddha stands in the center with the existing hand held downwards in varada (wish-granting) mudra. The two Bodhisattvas are on smaller lotus pedestals. The backscreen is framed at the top by apsaras with trailing stoles. The mandorla contains nine smaller Buddhas and a dragon at the top. The mandorla also encloses the Buddha’s radiating nimbus and the smaller nimbuses of the Bodhisattvas. There are two figures in bas-relief at the bottom offering lotuses.
Smaller images of Buddhas are on the sides and back of the sculpture. An inscription on the base dates the work to 525 and states that Jia Zhiyuan and his wife, Zhang Paozhu, commissioned the work.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Sculpture St-Z, page 1393.
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 = 1393,
title = {{Xiwang Kongzhuang Temple: Buddha Triad}},
volume = 13,
year = {2016}}